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


2022-08-29-0046Z

48 hours or so since the last poison oak itch. Hopefully it's over. [comment]

2022-08-19-0252Z

Rash has been gone for a few days now, but the itch still persists. [comment]

2022-08-11-2232Z

Documenting the week from Hell as best as I can remember it:

Saturday, August 6th, I pulled up a poison oak (Toxicodendron diversilobum) vine by the roots, folded it up, and stuffed it in a garbage bag. Washed myself well afterwards in tepid water while my lady washed my clothes, including my shoes.

Sunday morning, all seemed well. But by the afternoon, my crotch started itching, more than usual. By Monday morning the penis shaft and head were swollen to about half again normal (flaccid) girth. By evening, a rash had developed on my right arm, followed by the right side of the torso.

Tuesday, both penis and balls were swollen, and the left side mirrored the right.

Wednesday, swelling started receding in the crotch, and by evening was gone. Still more itchy than normal, though. All the other rash is still present late Thursday afternoon. I've been releasing the histamines, and thus blunting the discomfort, every few hours with near-scalding showers, since Tuesday evening.

The Zanfel FAQ page says "Don't handle the plants unless you wear protective gloves. Avoid touching cut or mown plants. Don't directly pull on the stems or try to remove vines with bare hands." to avoid systemic reactions. So that's what I most likely got. I'm tempted to try doing the same thing for a few more weekends in the attempt to develop immune tolerance, as per R. Coifman's experiment, using the systemic dose as a less-accurate but also, possibly, less dangerous alternative to intramuscular injection. [comment]

2022-08-02-1600Z

Early this morning, in the dream just before awakening, I was explaining to someone else why I had to stop my intermittent fasting. A nomad, I was saying, needs to be able to gorge on whatever opportunity springs up in his path: a blackberry patch, plum tree, or whatever else. Plus, I found, if I don't take a little yogurt for the probiotic effect first thing in the day, I don't do it later. On waking up, the argument sounded good, so I decided to treat IF (intermittent fasting) as a guideline rather than a goal, the same way I do with ketogenic dieting.

As for the respiratory illness I had a short time ago: I may or may not have mentioned, I was gifted some lateral flow (iHealth) tests, and tried 3, all of which came up negative for covid. So who knows, maybe it was something else. Anyway, the itchy throat persisted for 2 or 3 more days after the other symptoms faded, but I've been back to normal for at least 3 or 4 days now. [comment]

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