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


2013-02-27-1500Z

A cup of café Americano at Frida's near Bancomer is only 10 pesos, unlike most of the other places that charge from 18 (5ta. Ave.) to 27 (Starbucks). The WPA key is 35b2b726a6. The ambience is pleasant, like Portfolio in Long Beach used to be. The music is alt.rock.

Also, the paintings on the wall are really good. And you can actually see parts of the bay from the front window seat. [comment]

2013-02-27-0239Z

Since I hate making (or answering) telephone calls, and some activism tasks require that congresscritters be called, I hired a guy on Odesk to do it for me. It cost me about $7 for 4 hours work, not bad at all. My worker in the Philippines told me that he tried Boehner's and McConnell's offices several times and just got an answering machine; seems many other patriots were calling today too, demanding hands off the second amendment. [comment]

2013-02-26-0048Z

Freelancer just sent my money, but kept about $29 for themselves. Bastards. But at least they didn't hold me hostage. Imagine if I'd had to agree to their terms before I could get my earnings.

Inspired by the book I'm currently reading, My Life as an Experiment, I decided to outsource my activism. I'm going to get people in 3rd-world countries to annoy my congresscritters for me. I hate telephoning with a passion. I'm willing to pay all of $1.67 per hour to have it done for me. [comment]

2013-02-25-0538Z

Never mind, it was vworker.migration@freelancer.com. My bad. [comment]

2013-02-25-0533Z

Freelancer.com says if you don't accept their contract you can email worker.migration@freelancer.com and they'll close the account and send you your money minus a "withdrawal fee". The email address bounces. [comment]

2013-02-25-0505Z

A few days ago, I took my computer apart, couldn't find anything wrong so put it back together without the hard drive (which I already knew was bad). Still wouldn't turn on. Probably dead power supply, so went and bought an Acer Aspire netbook at Wal-Mart in La Paz for about $300. It's got a Mexico keyboard which is a little annoying, but it seems to be a solidly built little computer, and I didn't have to configure it because I can run it off the same USB key with Knoppix I'd been using with the emachines laptop.

Finally got fired from my NZ job. It wasn't working out for either of us. I hope I don't have to jump through hoops to get my money from freelancer.com. [comment]

2013-02-23-0412Z

Harry Browne talked about "traps" like the one that you should fight for your freedom, saying it makes so much more sense to get what freedom you can by simply ignoring the oppressive government surrounding you, or by leaving it for a less oppressive one. Simon Black is also a proponent of the latter strategy. I am torn, however. Somewhere, sometimes, someone does have to fight for it. Can I be content running around the world finding and enjoying the freedoms that others have fought and died for? Or do I want to be one of those who sacrificed so that others can enjoy them? [comment]

2013-02-21-0740Z

Since I couldn't get my computer working, today I read Sacred Stone by Clive Cussler. What a tool. His characters are so simple, and put the US military and CIA on pedestals they don't remotely deserve. [comment]

2013-02-20-0505Z

Just finished The Time Traveler's Wife. Funny, sad, sexy, riveting. Strongly recommended. [comment]

2013-02-19-2051Z

Just awoke from a nice siesta. This morning my laptop would not turn on. Looks bad. [comment]

2013-02-17-2026Z

Ain't no way this Golden Hills "mantequilla" is real butter. It's a bald-faced lie. Next time I'll have to fork over the 40-something pesos for real Danish butter. This is nasty shit. [comment]

2013-02-17-0543Z

Forgot to mention, found a goodly quantity of a thick, fleshy variety of purslane just north of Hotel Araiza. Didn't taste it though. There also are two varieties of Delosperma growing nearby. [comment]

2013-02-17-0448Z

Really hard to find inexpensive, unadulterated, salted butter in La Paz. Finally settled on an unsalted butter with not too much crap for around 20 pesos for maybe half a kilo. I'll have to keep it refrigerated or make ghee out of it though.

Tried a date that had freshly fallen from the tree at the school on Abosolo. It wasn't quite ripe and had a slightly bitter aftertaste. But otherwise quite similar to Deglet, my favorite. [comment]

2013-02-14-0527Z

I'm pretty sure now that the grasses I found on the side of Hwy. 1 in Baja Sur are some type of sorghum. [comment]

2013-02-14-0250Z

A primer with references on how wild the "wild west" might really have been: http://mises.ca/posts/articles/the-culture-of-violence-in-the-american-west-myth-versus-reality/. [comment]

2013-02-14-0055Z

The blocks just north of the La Paz Wal-Mart are unusually green for a desert. One one corner I found some kind of squash growing, and a few yards to the east were two kinds of tomatoes, cucumbers, and watermelons. I picked as much as I could carry. [comment]

2013-02-12-2258Z

Made it to La Paz, BCS. Yesterday in Loreto spent about 18 hours reading The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo cover to cover. Loved it. Now to unload and go find me some Pacifico. [comment]

2013-02-11-0017Z

Yesterday on our way out of Bahia de los Angeles a group of army guys had us stop, and the one in charge said one of his soldiers needed a ride to Guerrero Negro. I indicated how full the car was and he said I could let the guy ride in my lap. I said "por favor no" and they let us on our way. The next checkpoint outside Guerrero Negro was the only place we got searched so far since the border crossing.

Today we had a coyote and two wild donkeys cross the road in front of us, and saw some wild horses cooling off in an arroyo under the a bridge. It's getting close to beer:30. [comment]

2013-02-08-0157Z

I'm at the Jardines de Baja Sports Bar sucking down botellas de Pacifico, $MX23 por cada. No problem, I've got some work coming my way. [comment]

2013-02-06-1454Z

Facebook Mobile works on my old, jailbroken iTouch again! Notifications are at the top of the newfeed, and clickable, whereas for over a year now an unclickable popup of notifications would overwrite the top of the feed. [comment]

2013-02-06-1321Z

In a long-running recurring dream -- one in which I worked in a large building and had once years ago had numerous promiscuous relationships with young women who also lived and/or worked in that same building, until one day at a party I was talking with one of them and another one walked up, which put the kibosh on that -- I've had this skin affliction for some time that I've kind of ignored despite its grossness. In tonight's episode I learned the name of it, contact something-or-other (I forgot the second word as I lay there trying to remember other details from the dream) and the sudden realization that it was something foreign made me start tearing it off, large floppy green lobes with the consistency of Morel mushrooms but the shape of prickly pear leaves. I cleared off my right arm and was working on my chest when I came to a huge open sore with no skin over the left chest. The sight of it woke me up with the thought, "have I let it go too long"?

Probably a metaphor for my drinking, right? The sore extended down from my heart to my liver. [comment]

2013-02-05-0311Z

Check out this story on a maroon van, guy with a ski mask and the back windows covered... from October 2012, only a little over an hour from Danbury, CT where a very similar van was reported seen after the Newtown massacre, and may be the one pulled over at 33 Crosby Street in Danbury, after throwing something in the garbage outside a bagel shop. I'd really like to see some reporter follow up on this. [comment]

2013-02-05-0102Z

This year-old article on Chris Kyle, together with the comments below it, clearly illustrates the great divide in the US between those who decry the interventionist wars and those who insist that without our armed forces killing people all over the globe, we would not be free. I am not going to judge Kyle by this one article, not even having read his book, but I can say for certain I align more readily with the non-interventionists, and insist that the burden of proof lies with those who claim that their foreign wars protect my freedom. Repeition just doesn't cut it. [comment]

2013-02-03-0407Z

More on the purple van, guys with ski masks and a nun outfit. One was reportedly seen throwing something in a dumpster or garbage can. Further attempts to discuss this aspect of the Newtown tragedy were met with dismissal and derision on page 7. [comment]

2013-02-03-0301Z

Relax, Obama isn't coming after your guns. Unless you're a collector or dealer with a large inventory. It may take a few months to a few years before he and his goons get down to the normal 10-to-30 gun households. [comment]

2013-02-02-0703Z

Mother Jones claims to shoot down pro-gun claims, but just following the link to the known-bogus claim "40% of all legal gun sales... don't require background checks", the page doesn't appear to mention the statistic (I searched for the number 40 and the word "background"). I'm calling the whole article bullshit just based on that. But also, myth #7 supposedly shoots down the assertion that arms don't make women safer, and it doesn't even mention armed women. I remember when Mother Jones had some semblance of integrity. Or is that just another false memory of an alcohol-addled brain?

[Correction, the 1997 article is indeed the source of the 40% figure, according to the other link. However, the data was compiled before NICS checks were implemented by the FBI in 1998.] [comment]

2013-02-02-0618Z

Elected officials and other public servants, as well as their departments, would do well to create and actively maintain a social media presence. The inability to easily reach them via such media as Facebook and Twitter is inexcusable in this day and age. Petaluma's Mayor David Glass has no presence that I can find, and the city of Petaluma doesn't seem to either. The Petaluma Police had a Twitter feed but they only post sporadically and never answer tweets I've directed at them. Senators Feinstein and Boxer also apparently maintain one-way lines of communication, from their august selves down to the lowly proles.

Come on people, get with the 21st century for christsakes. What you don't know will bite you in the ass sooner or later. [comment]

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