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


2012-03-31-0154Z

Wrote a script and a blog entry for using the Amazon cloud for easy access to any of their computers or operating systems, for pennies. It can also of course be done with the web interface, but this script (parts of it stolen from the web) lets you automate some tasks. It could do more, also, such as create a new keypair for each instance, but for now it serves my needs. [comment]

2012-03-27-0009Z

Oh, and one problem with the day labor: if I'm on my way to a jobsite and Mother Nature calls, I'm screwed. When my bowels need to move they don't take "no" for an answer. Got to figure something out for that. [comment]

2012-03-26-2353Z

Interesting day today. Hung out on the corner of Howard and Western with the Mexicans, and am starting to see how it works. A car, truck, or van pulls up, and the closest people run towards it, and one starts talking to the prospective employer. Others run up and crowd around, and if the employer wants more than one person, people push forward and usually the pushiest get in. But it's all quite peaceful though a bit chaotic. Nobody made me feel unwelcome and most were downright friendly. Maybe next time I'll be a little pushier myself and get some work.

Anyway, got home and on Facebook, and a friend was about to give up on finding her documents after a Windows 7 restore. So I went over, changed the Folder Settings to show all the hidden stuff, and then Windows no longer lied and said her folder was empty when it wasn't. I got paid in potatoes, onions, and a plug on her Facebook page.

On the way over, I took the hill route, and there was actually a deer on the deer path between Hayes Lane and B Street. It stood and looked at me for a few seconds and then took off. [comment]

2012-03-23-1942Z

Jogged La Cresta again this morning, didn't wheeze nearly as much as last time and didn't get gunk from my lungs into my trachea. No Mexicans on Howard St., either they all got work today or maybe they all took a lunch break at the same time. If the former, I wish I'd been out there. It's supposed to be a rainy weekend. [comment]

2012-03-23-0659Z

Putting together a page for videos and stories I can find that illustrate the proper way to stand your ground when confronted by law enforcement officials attempting to subjugate you to their will. Keep in mind that they are well trained in this, and not everybody can handle it well. I'm usually not completely sure of myself and am somewhat whiny.

This is also my first test of putting a Facebook "Like" button and comments section in my blog. Let me know what you think! [comment]

2012-03-22-0726Z

One thing I forgot to mention in my Tumblr post the other day is that the Stand Your Ground laws were very likely put into place by the People In Charge, that is, the type of people who attend Bilderberger meetings, with the goal of population reduction, targeted towards removing violent people.

My belief is that this stategy will actually work against them in the long run, as agents like George Zimmerman will be removed from the game by other SYGers, and what we could have left is gun owners with a sense of individual sovereignty: not the type of people who will knuckle down to the system of control the PIC have put into place.

But then who knows, they're not stupid; they must have thought about this eventuality and planned for it somehow. Then again, there must be some who truly believe as Peter Thiel claims to believe. [comment]

2012-03-22-0703Z

There is a plant similar to watercress growing invasively in Laguna de Santa Rosa. It has a single 5-lobed leaf per stem. Any ideas on what it might be? I should have gotten a picture before it all wilted but no luck. I've eaten a full leaf without any noticeable bad effects. [comment]

2012-03-22-0533Z

Green coffee beans realization: a few years ago I thought I was getting a great deal on green beans at $3/lb. At the Aramburo grocery in La Paz, they had same-sized bags of green and roasted coffee. Guess what? The green beans felt at least twice the weight of the roasted beans. I was saving little if any by buying them. A better bet, if one wants to experiment with roasting, might be to buy a light roast and take it from there.

I noticed my left leg starting to peel last night. Right leg finished healing a few days ago. Weird; they both started off the same.

Molar still bothering me some, but not getting noticeably worse at least. Might hold out till I get to New Mexico later this spring, and I can hopefully get a root canal at Dr. Salazar's.

Tried roasting almonds as a coffee substitute, no go. They grind into almond butter, which gummed up my grinder. They taste good though. There's some of the almond butter in the cup I'm drinking now, but it's mostly coffee. [comment]

2012-03-15-0503Z

Walked from the TJ airport along the border fence, got lost for a while in Zona Rio going around in circles, then finally found Hotel Palacio Azteca and picked up the package we had left behind on the way down. Got harassed by not one but two sets of cops as I tried to find INMI to turn in my visa turistica, then gave up and crossed the border without further incident. printed up my tickets at the Amtrak kiosk using the credit card with which I'd bought them -- it works much better than a printed barcode -- and dashed over to Yard House for a Young's Double Chocolate Stout before coming back to board my bus to Bakersfield. [comment]

2012-03-14-0114Z

Spotted two chemtrails overhead about noon today, posted on Facebook, and a friend in Oaxaca reported two there also. Coincidence? These things are rare down in Mexico, unlike in the US. [comment]

2012-03-13-2200Z

Got first-degree burns on my legs yesterday in a sit-on-top kayak wearing swim trunks. First bad burn in a long time. But had an awesome sopa de mariscos at the restaurant on the beach north of the Pemex refinery for MX$90. There was a US Navy destroyer out in the harbor which we paddled around. [comment]

2012-03-10-2326Z

Awoke this morning with the realization, accurate or not, that these politicians spouting one absurdity after another might actually honestly believe they're resonating with the majority of Americans. The fault lies in We the People for almost always voting the "lesser of two evils" rather than someone we perceive to be good. If you think Nader is good, dammit, you should have been voting Nader, and if you thought Ross Perot would have made a positive difference you should have voted for him. Now look what we've got: Obama, Romney, or Santorum. Yuck. And all three think they're what America wants in the White House. [comment]

2012-03-07-0435Z

Went up into the cave above Tecolote Beach I saw last year and hadn't had the time to visit. It was worth it. Posted pics to my Facebook page, of that and of another "cliff dwelling" I saw from further down the beach. [comment]

2012-03-01-0532Z

Jogged the full length of the La Paz Malecon this afternoon, then found a little footpath down to the beach. Walked over to the hotel bar and had a beer. The best they had was Tecate, and it had that nasty rusty taste Mexican beers have too often. And it was 35 pesos, plus a 10-peso tip left me out MX$45. But then I walked along the back of the buildings out to the road, and found an unharvested orange tree around back of the hotel, something to keep in mind for later.

A lot of the palms along the highway have nice green coconuts, but I still don't know how to climb the damned things despite people telling me all I have to do is "shimmy". I wasn't any good at that as a kid, let alone now. [comment]

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