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


2017-03-22-1644Z

my lady comes back from the states and brings me my new PayPal debit card that came in the mail a few weeks ago. right on the front of it is a sticker that says "ACTIVATE TODAY paypal.com/activatecard". easy enough, right? so I go to the URL, sign in, and there's nothing about activating the card at that link.

after wasting a while searching their useless site for "activate card" and coming up with nothing useful, I go dig up the email they sent me a while ago, and click that link instead. now we're getting somewhere. I fill out the information requested by the form, and get:

Access Denied

You don't have permission to access "http://www.paypal.com/us/cgi-bin/debitcardweb?" on this server.

Reference #18.a6028dbb.1490200416.4d5e8e2

"ah", I think, "I should have gone through a US proxy." so I set up a tunnel to my box running privoxy and connect through Firefox. same result, only a different reference number, 18.a6028dbb.1490200996.4e2452b.

such a pain in the ass. glad it's only every few years. [comment]

2017-03-22-1338Z

woke up a few hours from that old Post Office dreamworld, you know if you've been following my blog that it's the one where I've been working for years and not been paid, and I keep forgetting to do anything about it while there.

well, this time I saw George up in the front when I arrived, and buttonholed him. I said I knew he was no longer in administration but could he help? he said sure, he trained his replacement and would take me to him. we were walking to the back, me with dollar signs in my eyes as I imagined the hundred-thousand or so lump sum back pay, when I woke up.

I lay there for a while, feeling like Ender solving the Giant's puzzle. on to the next challenge. [comment]

2017-03-21-2008Z

my latest batch of yogurt keeps bubbling out of the bottle. something weird got into it that's carbonating it and making it the consistency of whipped cream. I love it, but I'm losing a lot of it! kind of wish I could produce this effect on demand. [comment]

2017-03-21-1011Z

in another dreamworld I don't recall blogging before, I live on the street and kept having my tools and other things stolen all the time. so one day I found some good, old, solid desks in a dumpster and put two or three of them together to make a workbench/area in an open space that was generally used as a parking lot.

some people resented my being there, of course, but no cops rousted me, and as the days went by, not only were my tools unmolested, but other people started leaving theirs; there was a pile of handsaws on one side of my work area, and a large Craftsman toolbox on the other side.

and this world seemed to be earth-gravity. no steep drops everywhere as in my low-G dreams. [comment]

2017-03-16-1956Z

finally found a local source of purified water, San Jose del Esterito, on Madero approaching Guerrero from the south, on the right-hand side of the street. 120 pesos for a full garrafón, only 12 for a refill.

that's compared to, usually, 25 pesos or more for one of the two big brands: Ciel (Coca-Cola) and Santorini (Pepsi). but I'm keeping my bottles for those, too, because I don't know what contaminants are in any of these, and it's probably a good idea to switch around every now and then. [comment]

2017-03-15-2207Z

was going to do another epic jog/walk today, but petered out before the 2.5 mile mark. walked to the top of the hill then down a different path back home. and I'll try again another day. [comment]

2017-03-15-1013Z

so my community board sent out a notice that properties will be cleaned up or it will be forced on us at $10 per man hour. no doubt inspired by the arrogated powers of the US government. [comment]

2017-03-12-0038Z

finally broke off the piece of tooth that's been making eating painful. got a burger on the griddle. [comment]

2017-03-11-0417Z

my favorite beer and liquor store, Los Paceños (formerly M.a., and before that, Gayocla), on Madero at Morelos, had F. Chauvenet red wine for around 58 pesos and Puerto Nuevo, another Malbec blend, for about 62, at the end of last year. well, they then stopped carrying the Chauvenet, and the Puerto Nuevo kept climbing in price, until today is was about 79 pesos. then I looked around, and on the bottom shelf were 1.5 liter bottles of the Chauvenet blend for 87 pesos. of course I bought the latter. it's the equivalent of about USD2.22 per standard 750-ml bottle.

great deal if it tasted good, but it doesn't. sometimes it tastes sweet and raisiny, other times sour and vinegary. sometimes, though, I've tasted rich, complex flavors in it. hopefully tomorrow will be one of those days. as for tonight, I'm just getting wasted from it. [comment]

2017-03-09-2318Z

to a pound of black beans, add water to cover and soak overnight. drain off water, add 6 cups fresh water, bring to a boil. turn down heat, cover, and simmer for 1/2 hour. add spices and a little sugar, but no salt. simmer uncovered for 1/2 hour more. salt and pepper to taste.

I used some dried blueberries instead of sugar. not good, but not bad either. the important thing is that the beans softened to where they're easy to eat. this rarely happens when I cook them; maybe I always added salt previously.

broke a tooth last night. as if I needed any more pain. [comment]

2017-03-09-0359Z

my inner left ear has been sensitive (painful) for a few days now. I tested that nasal irrigator first in my ear, to see if it could be as effective as the bulb I normally use. it wasn't, and the softened wax, along with some of the water, was in my ear for about 24 hours, which led to the problem. I flushed it with the bulb after that, and got the wax and water out, but it'll probably take a few days to get back to normal.

the back pain isn't completely gone yet either. but I can do just about anything I could do before the incident.

one of my tomato plants had a bud this morning! and the mystery plant got a second one. pretty soon I'll have a better indicator as to whether it's Nicotiana glauca or not.

and there's a good chance I'll get at least one tomato before it's time to go home to Petaluma. [comment]

2017-03-06-2252Z

finally tried the equivalent of a neti pot to clean out my sinuses. not exactly a pleasant experience, and I don't notice any immediate benefit. [comment]

2017-03-05-1743Z

my first 5k of the year. I didn't make myself any promises, just kept pushing. don't know my speed, but it was probably 5MPH or below. doesn't matter, I'm really happy with the results. [comment]

2017-03-02-0100Z

back to my 1.5 mile jog. I did a few blocks day before yesterday but it was still too painful. skipped yesterday altogether. today I feel almost back to normal. still some pain transitioning between sitting and standing up.

also bidding on jobs at Upwork again, and did some coding for my current clients. I took most of February off; got to start making money again. [comment]

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