jc blog - tales of a modern-day nomadic hunter-gatherer

Follow jcomeau_ictx on Twitter This is the weblog of Intrepid Wanderer. You never know what you might find here; graphic descriptions of bodily functions, computer programming secrets, proselytizing for the antichrist, miscellaneous ranting and kvetching, valuable information on living off the land... if you don't share my rather weird interests you may want to try slashdot instead.

You can consider my Del.icio.us links an extension to my blog, as are my LifeTango goals and my other to-do items. My to-buy list is also public, but only for sharing any useful ideas that might be there; I'm not requesting charity, neither do I offer it.

You can find me easily in google searches, as jcomeau, jcomeau_ictx, or jcomeauictx. There are lots of other jcomeaus, but AFAIK I'm the only jcomeau_ictx out there so far.

If you want to comment on anything you see here, try the new Facebook comments, reachable by clicking the "[comment]" link at the end of each post. If for some reason that isn't working, go ahead and email me, jc.unternet.net. You know what to do with the first dot. Make the 'subject' line something reasonably intelligent-looking or it goes plunk! into the spambasket unread.

This RSS feed may or may not work. Haven't fiddled with it in forever. RSS Feed


2015-04-29-0601Z

made it to Sol Food for a cubano and cafe con leche. [comment]

2015-04-29-0527Z

Taste of Rome was closed. tired and hungry. waited for the 70, now on my way to San Rafael. [comment]

2015-04-29-0350Z

was across the Golden Gate bridge not long after the last of the afternoon sun's rays disappeared from the alabaster city. this despite I had lost one set of wheels on my way down Presidio. I might have been able to fix it but was hurrying because I misremembered the bridge closing to pedestrians at sunset. it's actually 2100.

so now it's almost worn through the plastic and steel, and I could damage my clothing and other belongings. so I should probably take a bus. but first to Sausalito for some food. [comment]

2015-04-28-1946Z

realized I didn't finish the story of the trek here, just on social media. 62 miles this time, finished in 46.25 hours. the 24-hour point was at La Jolla Shores and Calle Corta. the route is up on mapmywalk.com.

went to Ares and got a polymer lower, BCG, and lower parts kit.

spent $1.75 on NCTD fare to San Clemente, then used the OCTA pass I'd won last October for doing a survey to get me to the VA hospital in Long Beach. only this time I noticed the street numbers going up, and opted out at 2nd thinking it would be a shorter walk to the LB transit center on 1st. big mistake, it was way longer, but interesting. that street had a small-town feel to it: doors open, people looking me in the eye and saying "hi". got to Rock Bottom in time for 2 mugs and some bar food, for which I'm still suffering. got on the 0945 Megabus and got some sleep. about halfway to SF now. [comment]

2015-04-28-1939Z

paid the $5 fee to change my Megabus ticket to this morning rather than wait two more days in LA. we're at the Buttonwillow rest stop. [comment]

2015-04-28-1323Z

the other day when I mentioned the coffee "only" $2 at Starbucks: that's the normal price for a Grande with the ten cent cup discount. I got so used to 30-peso coffee in Mexico I somehow just misremembered the US price being higher, like USD3 or so. [comment]

2015-04-28-1317Z

found an easy way to prevent "monkey butt": simply keep a dedicated cloth rag for that purpose in a ziplock bag. every half hour or so of walking or running, pull the rag out, stick it down the front of your pants, dry the, ahem, "affected area", pull it back out, and put it away. wash and dry at first opportunity. if you start to itch, use it; don't wait for a moment of privacy that may not come for another 10 minutes of chafing. [comment]

2015-04-28-0630Z

vignettes of the journey:

scent of jasmine everywhere up the California coast.

mouse playing among the antique irons in a closed but well lit Long Beach storefront on Broadway.

the friendly guys at Ares Armor casually saving the founders' republic.

scantily-clad young women jogging past me.

friendly bars like Breakwater in Oceanside.

the happy drunk, Chris, I met on the bus today who just quit his job and is going to be homeless again.

the software professional I just met at Rock Bottom in Long Beach who has become a manager and an alcoholic, and just wants to save up enough for his son and die. [comment]

2015-04-26-1306Z

I'd forgotten how overpriced the pints at Yard House are. I spent over $30 including tip for just the $10-something burger and 2 pints. now I'll have to be exceedingly frugal for the rest of the trip. this Drive-Thru Starbucks helps, as they charged me only $2 for a Grande with my own cup. [comment]

2015-04-26-1248Z

0549 I'm at the new Starbucks at the corner of Mission Bay Dr. and Mission Bl.

I left the Chula Vista Starbucks over 8 hours ago at 2140. passed Ares at 2254, and got to Yard House at 0048. they were still serving food, so I ordered a cheeseburger and an Anchor Steam; last call came not much later so I also got a Boddington's. I took my time eating, and basically had to chug my 2nd beer since I was the last one there. left at 0138. got to the restroom across the water from the Sheraton, near the airport, at 0320 and continued through the night to here. nice place, stools outdoors, some with power. restroom numeric code is 5950. once my laptop is charged I'll look for a nice spot on the beach to sleep. [comment]

2015-04-26-0224Z

I was out of the TJ airport at 1519. no hassles whatsoever. jogged/walked the highway and crossed the ravine at 1553. all 3 dogs were at the old indigenous woman's place, but none bothered me. the German shepherd was the only one big enough to worry about anyway. got to the end of the long line at 1618. when we were in the last stretch, a sign indicated 3 lanes: general, ready, and Sentri. I asked another gringo what "ready" meant and he said it was for people with passport cards. shit! I waited in line all that time for nothing. got into the building just after the rain started. no hassles here either; not a word was exchanged. through the border and exchanged money by 1704. got lost thinking I had to go west from Beyer, but not far. had bathroom and water break at Otay Park staging area at 1835. now it's 1936, I'm at McD's at 1288 Broadway in Chula Vista, and about ready for an all-night trek. I missed Ares' hours, will have to get what I need in Oceanside. bano y agua otay park 1835 [comment]

2015-04-25-1831Z

made it into the boarding area with no hassles so far. in fact, there was almost no waiting. if they searched my luggage this time, they did it without my participation. it helps to put everything into checked baggage except the must-not-lose essentials like my netbook, instead of having full pockets and everything worn around my neck as I used to.

came into Flaps for a 49-peso beer and their wifi key, which is currently grupoareas. flight starts in about 1.5 hours. hoping for the best. [comment]

2015-04-25-1345Z

sleeping-in dreams are the weirdest. I was in a jail of sorts, actually a building full of labs whose projects were so "out there" that the government didn't know how to regulate them so they just locked everybody up and made them keep working. for some reason FunGuy passed through, looking as dirty as I've ever seen him mucking under his vehicle in the KSR, making jokes with one of the others in the cafeteria. can't remember that guy's name, but he looked similar to, and was sitting next to, a youngish man with sideburns who said he was John Macklethorpe.

since I wasn't a prisoner, I went walking around outside. the last thing I saw before I woke up was huge bugs that were parasitic to some kind of woody succulent like agave. and don't ask me about the room with floors covered with shredded cheese for a pig who wouldn't eat them but instead tore apart all the plants. [comment]

2015-04-21-1825Z

was awakened about 5:30 this morning by a woman's voice saying "Hi". but nobody was awake in the house.

on a shopping trip to Cabo. stopped for coffee and carrot cake at Baja Beans. nice place. [comment]

2015-04-20-2217Z

so it was El Gran Tlapalero, apparently, who "corrected" my city destination to the wrong zipcode that I had provided, without checking with me to see if perhaps I might be mistaken about being in Cd. Juarez rather than La Paz. can't blame Estafeta for that if so. I can still blame them plenty for their 3-day lag in responding to emails, and for preferring error-prone phone conversations to digitally-exact emails. [comment]

2015-04-20-1747Z

finally got my Mendoza RM2000, after schlepping all the way across town to the Estafeta building a block or three downstream the arroyo from City Club, on the other side. that delivery company has some serious issues. they don't answer their email, including that initiated from their website, except a few days later they respond and tell you to call. when you call, they get your information all wrong and make things worse. however, they did finally correct the zip code from Cd. Juarez CHI 32000 to La Paz BCS 23000, which was all that was really necessary. I couldn't really expect them to find the house. luckily they had given up trying, so it was at the warehouse when I went. [comment]

2015-04-17-1650Z

seems to be fixed, whatever it was. no more lag. [comment]

2015-04-17-1635Z

connectivity from La Paz BCS is really shitty today. I can reach my servers every few minutes or so, with typical lag from half a second to several seconds. [comment]

2015-04-17-1622Z

note to self: the Samsung SCH-I800 Galaxy tab is CyanogenMod code name p1c.

[comment]

2015-04-17-0034Z

well, it looks as though it finally happened, despite Gottlieb's reassurances:

"JFPO will get a new board of directors and function independently," Gottlieb revealed. "In the past we have absorbed KeepAndBearArms.com and Doctors for Responsible Gun Ownership and kept them running as they were before coming under the SAF umbrella."

Claire Wolfe warned us. but other than sign her petition, which I did, I didn't know what else to do but take my chances.

I'm sure there will be fallout from this decision. I'm not going to bother Kurt Hofmann or David Codrea about it. they'll let us know when they're ready. [comment]

2015-04-16-0345Z

attempted my first birria de chivo, goat stew, over the past 48 hours. the first day was basically a wash because I attempted to cook it with just the heat of the sun, and didn't have enough mirrors to get it to temperature.

so starting that night, I heated it and hayboxed it 3 times, and by tonight it was ready. the meat was tender and the marrow came right out of the leg bones. however, it didn't have enough flavor. I started out with roughly 1 tbsp each of paprika and chile powder, and one tsp each of garlic powder and sea salt. later today I added more salt, and some red pepper flakes, but still it lacked zing. next time I'll either double the spices or do it right, preparing it from boiled dried peppers and grinding in a molcajete. at least I know what it takes to get the meat to where it falls off the bones. [comment]

2015-04-08-0551Z

having a second bottle of Pacifico at HarkerBoard in honor of the end of alcohol prohibition so many years ago. looks more and more like marijuana prohibition will end as well.

my underarm guards are working out better than I remembered. I'll have to update the WikiHow page with the new, improved, harness.

thinking about my upcoming trip back to the Estados Bandidos. a bit worried that I might be singled out for indefinite detainment for my increasing intolerance for the police state. but I have hope that a goodly percentage of Border Patrol personnel are OathKeepers and on my side, and if something negative pops up on their computer screen they'll let me quietly slip back into Tijuana. I also plan to give people a heads up on my day of arrival so hopefully someone can be watching for me in San Diego.

exciting times. we are either headed into a worldwide spiral into tyranny and genocide, or a global awakening into glorious Freedom. if you're a praying person, please beseech your favorite deities for the latter. [comment]

2015-04-03-1541Z

I've been shouting off my virtual mouth on social media lately regarding the flap with the Indiana pizza parlor, but until today never actually read any of the first-hand information. so it seems a TV reporter basically created the whole incident. I'm glad it all seems to have worked out well for them, but where were these conservatives who coughed up over $400 grand for the right to be a bigot when John Lott's CPRC was being crowdfunded, and where are they now for Hollis vs. Holder case? priorities, people! [comment]

2015-04-03-1540Z

lip is back to normal but now I notice a callus on the top of my left big toe. always something. [comment]

2015-04-03-0626Z

crispy forms must be so named because it's so brittle. meh.

actually, I can't blame it, the problem is that it's too closely tied to Django itself, which is a moving target. before 1.6, specifying __all__ for the fields attribute in a ModelForm would give the error django.core.exceptions.FieldError: Unknown field(s) (a, l, _) specified for CrispyTestModel, obviously casting the string to a set. and starting Django1.8, any ModelForm without either the fields or exclude attribute will raise an exception. so any package that wants to support a range of Python and Django releases has to have conditional code for this and many other similar changes. it's a mess. [comment]

2015-04-03-0447Z

got treated to dinner, and one of the menu options was huitlacoche (corn smut) pizza, so I tried it. not bad. first time ever eating that fungus, at least cognizantly.

that loose piece of tooth that's been bothering me for months finally just came out while flossing. [comment]

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