Last night I scored big on my prowl up and down Columbus Ave. First a couple of stale bread crusts, then an apple in the road, which required several peelings to get the road crud off, but otherwise perfectly edible; then a 5-pound bag of tortilla chips! It was left on the sidewalk, or more accurately in the square area around a tree. I saw it the first time I passed by but didn't trust it. The second time I passed, someone had made a hole in the side. At that point I decided if I didn't grab it, the rats and pigeons would soon be taking over. So I took it with me, and started munching. 6 weeks past the expiry date, and the taste reflects that, but they're still crunchy and apparently there are no added toxins beyond the aflatoxins in all corn products. At least, I don't feel sick after 12 hours of eating them. And corn for some reason doesn't give me the GI problems that most starchy foods do. So I'm set for the next few days at least regarding hunger; nutrition is of course another issue.
The caffeine-withdrawal headaches only lasted for about 3 days, and they were acute for a very small fraction of that time. So I won't worry about it any more; drink coffee when I can, no biggie when I can't. And I know I can survive in a city without money and without begging, as long as I attune my hunter-gatherer skills to the particular circumstances. And I have to be willing to take a lot more risks; I've seen caches of food like this before and passed them up, thinking someone may be deliberately trying to poison the homeless. That is of course still a possibility, but I think the risk factor there is pretty low.
last updated 2013-01-10 20:29:50. served from tektonic.jcomeau.com