El Toolboxo

In Image 1 above we see a simple toolbox made out of a whiskey bottle box that was purchased for 1 dollar at a local re-use store.

In Image 2 above we see the same box, open.

This box was first cleaned & lightly sanded, then partially taken apart & reassembled for a tighter, squared fit. Then it was painted with a layer of boiled Linseed oil & left to dry for several days. The oil finish gave the wood a warm glow, & also acts as a protectant & sealant. Lastly, hinges & a hasp lock were added. A handle will also be added, & when the weather warms up the box will be painted with another layer of boiled Linseed oil & left to dry again. Once the excess oil is wiped off, the box will be left to air out for at least a week while it off-gasses, then it will be attached to the rear rack on my bicycle, to serve as a "trunk".

Is this box perfect? No. The lid has a crack on one end, & an additional crack on one side. There are discolorations where two leather cinch belts were once attached. But she looks way, way better than she did before she was re-built. And, she's more functional.

†

Dreams

When I was 20 years old, I went through a particularly rough 6-month period. It sucked, day in and day out. I will spare you the excruciating details. But during this time, I had the most amazing dreams. In hindsight, they seemed to offset some of the pain I was experiencing.

Once, I went to sleep and dreamed that a green bird was sitting on my shoulder. We had a long, long conversation. We were good friends and we loved each other very much. When I awoke, I was happy. Another time, I dreamed that the animals of the forest assembled before me in a field and sang a beautiful song to me. Again, when I awoke, I was happy. I wish I remembered that song. Still another time, I fell asleep and dreamed that a clown was doing slight-of-hand magical tricks for me. I laughed and laughed, and woke up smiling.

Perhaps the most profound moment of this 6-month misery stint was a particularly transcendent state I found myself in one night. It is hard to describe what I experienced, because it was a non-ordinary state of consciousness. It was a bliss so extreme that it transcended any high I had ever previously experienced. Nor have I encountered it since. This feeling of profound spiritual peace was accompanied by images: I was in an alabaster city, walking its cobblestone streets with a group of bald monks who wore white robes. Everything was pure and white. That night I experienced ecstasy.

Back then, I could go out into the woods, and sit down in a Redwood grove, and actually feel the peace and beauty emanating from the trees. I walked and biked most everywhere, and lived in the foggy forest. I was still connected to nature at that time, and it was everywhere around me. Santa Cruz was the most beautiful place I ever lived.

Now, I spend my days plugged into computers and driving East Bay streets. I don't feel as much as I used to. I've lost touch. The dreams are gone, but so is much of that pain I once felt.

Happy Happy Joy Joy

What a fucked day. So angry I could scream. I arrive at work this morning not in the best of moods and the first thing I get is another sarcastic, biting comment from my coworker. One in a long line. I can only take so many before I lose my cool. But I also know that no matter what I say, what I do, it will cause some kind of commotion, and with commotion comes payback. You can't fucking win.

Trying to think of something positive to say. Hey, I left work early before I had a complete meltdown. Yay. Probably shouldn't have driven though. A car is a dangerous weapon. Uh, Japan sounds fucked six ways from Sunday. Core meltdown in progress? Probably. Me and Japan both! Hold on. Gotta take a piss. ... ... ... ... ... ... Uh, much better.

FUUUUUUUUCK!

The Ogallala Aquifer Is Running Dry

Oh Lord, just saw this article. This spells very, very bad news for the MidWest, which is the breadbasket of America. This is the beginning of the 21st Century, folks. Water scarcity that defies our collective imagination. Whole continents will run dry, as the underground aquifers that have sustained them for the last century run out, never to be replenished. Case in point: One hundred years ago, India's water table was 6 feet below the surface. Buckets could be dropped into wells and pulled up by hand. Now India's water table is ONE THOUSAND FEET BELOW THE SURFACE, due to the effect of millions of wells and electric pumps sucking the continent dry for a century.

I can only recommend that you think about the future and what it holds. If you build a new building, consider building rain water catchment and a cistern into the project. Consider retrofitting existing buildings to do the same thing. Consider ways to reduce water consumption long term, and implement them. Try to put used water back into the water table, not into the storm drain system, which runs to the sea.

And actively vote against legislation which limits the people's access to water, to rain water catchment, to gray water use, etc. It's up to us to reign in the power of the multinationals and to keep them from using water as an economic weapon.

Of Jap Tsunamis & Quakes, Nuke Meltdowns, Singers & Smaller Things

MORE IMPORTANT:

*This Jap disaster should serve as a wake-up call to all preppers that TS can HTF at any moment, leaving society utterly crippled.
*Rite now there is a serious possibility that one or more Jap nuke reactors are going to meltdown in short order. This will probably send fallout across the Pacific to our neck of the woods. N95 particle masks and potassium iodide are necessities. Potassium iodide is what you take to reduce the effects of certain types of radioactive fallout. I'm no expert, and I suspect that taking this stuff probably fucks your thyroid and body up in other ways, but it is believed to have radically reduced radiation damage after the Chernobyl incident, when it was administered to millions of people in Russia and Poland. I just ordered mine online from CVS.
*BTW: Our own San Onofre nuke plant lies at the water's edge in SoCal. This exact meltdown scenario could occur there in the event of a similar quake & wave. In fact, I betcha that one day it will happen, and the fallout will hit LA LA Land, and LA LA Land will get permanently evacuated. Millions of refugees will then flood Northern California, making real estate in the sticks worth a fortune. Just my 2 cents.
*In light of this disaster I have re-attached my survival pod to my backpack, and also double-checked my BOB. Will also throw some food & water bottles in my truck tomorrow.

Less Important:

*Gasoline cost me $4.10 a gallon for premium today.
*Daylight Savings kicks in tonight, Sunday March 13th @ 2:00 AM. Spring Forward, Fall Back. We lose an hour this time around.
*Fixing up old wooden boxes & then staining them with boiled Linseed oil makes me happy. It's virtually free, keeps me out of trouble & then I have nice storage containers.
*Heading to the desert next month. Oh Boy!
*Never forget that online coupons rock.
*The potatoes are coming along, enough that I'm mounding them.
*Harvested some home-grown green onions last week. Never bagged them, just left them out on the counter or loose in the refrigerator for a few days, and they didn't wilt or go bad. They were 100% fresh after 4 days. I'm thinking that that is the sign of quality produce. Never had a store-bought green onion do that. Don't they usually wilt in a few hours after you leave 'em out?

Weird:

*Almost bought a 1940s-era Singer sewing machine today at a garage sale, for $175. Then thought better and didn't buy it. Too big & I don't know how to sew. Decided maybe I'd buy a pre-electric treadle Singer one day on EBAY instead. 9:00 PM this evening I was walking down the Avenue 2 blocks from my house...and there was an antique Singer treadle sitting on the sidewalk with a FREE sign on it. There was no sewing machine attached, just the iron bench with working treadle...in my mind a beautiful, useful antique. I snagged it, brought it home and cleaned it. Will detail and oil it tomorrow. Would like to figure out how to connect a battery to it, for manual charging. This relic is very heavy. Minor rust w/some pitting, but completely intact. A fortuitous & wonderful score!