September 13th 2009

Good morning, got back from Paso Canoas, did my border cross... also
bought corn, peas etc. Got medicine for the pooch, and spent a
few dollars in the junk shops on mostly kitchen stuff for my daughter
in law, and spent a bit on myself too...

got myself a mixing glass, stainless, like for milkshake machines,
its the tropics, and normal glasses/cups took alot of refillings...
and I wanted something durable, non plastic, that I could use day
after day etc. like I do my eating bowl and spoon.... in other words
after my coffee mug, will go on my bugout/refugee pile as personal
daily use eating gear, I shopped all over, and saw this glass miss
marked at $2 months ago, while the other stores had same glass marked
at $6...... I didnt have the $2 due to other priorities, problems
etc., and went back this trip and was surprised to find the same
glass still there, a bit dusty inside, but waiting for me to finally
snag it.... which happily I did... why make such a big deal about a
$2 glass? well its an example of my thinking, and as a wiser friend
told me many years ago, anything you will use every day is often worth
getting, even if you dont really need it.......

And so how much more so for something that you would have fairly high
in your refugee gear?

its like my point at the beginning of this blog about knives, that the
knife is man's most used tool... if you come at survival and
subsistence from the bottom up, you start with a good knife...

well if you follow the progression, food, clothing shelter, and tools
& weapons, survival like any home centers around the hearth.....

and one thing I have been doing long term that works really well for
me is prioritizing how I do & get things from the bottom up... I
operate on a micro budget.... so its a habit learned via necessity...

but its important to focus on the basics first and not get too
sidetracked into the glitter...

its like a religion to keep me anchored and on course in the disturbed
seas of life....

it also means, no matter what happens, I have the basics well
set..... success, failure, "no importa" as the Latins say, got my
bases covered....

I also found some nice quality french knives, with good thick
blades, for $2...... I like buying knives, with good stainless, and
altering them into other styles... these are extrememly good steel,
440c equivilent..... so I am happily drawing other shapes onto the
blades in preparation for making them into other styles... its a
hobby I've done for years, due to being unable to buy new knife
steels,

and have cut up many blades, rehandled them and produced very nice
custom knives using the hunk of metal and factory rivit holes, and
changing all else.. My tarzan knife is an example.....

my next knife is going to be a working blade, based on the Puma
White hunter design, now called something else for politicaly correct
bullshit reasons.. anyway, this will be a 7&1/2 inch blade, used
mostly as a camp knife, hunting knife...

kind of a downsized version of the tarzan knife.....

I also had a nice visit w/my lady dentist, we are becomming good
friends... had her fill a problem molar, trying to get the biters in
shape for the collapse of civilization and all that... she shot me up
this time, I usually have her do fillings etc. W/no pain killer, I
find its less painfull than getting stuck with a hypodermic half a
dozen times...

she does very nice work.... and is a fun person to be around... and
wants me to bring more jungle plants for her waiting room......

which I enjoy doing....

also met a woman on the bus home who is a secretary at a local
university, very nice person, who started right off telling me they
need me to teach... yeah, I know that, you cant learn a language well
unless you learn it from native speakers.. so we exchanged emails,
and I sent her a follow up yesterday, and will likely go talk w/the
director, which I think is her husband...

so I will be looking forward to that.... I like teaching, do it
naturally, and could help alot of people, mostly younger types.....

Also discovered a new music store in Canoas, just opened last week,
run by a young chinese kid... whom I got a good impression from... I
want a full sized amplifier for my electric guitar, and he has some
really nice ones.....

also thinking to experiment using amplification to help teach
pronounciation to students, kind of a power hammer approach to
teaching, its hard to hear inflections at normal voice levels, and I
suspect high fidelity amplification could help the girl in the back
row get it.....

I also found a high impact plastic wine/brandy glass...
unbreakable.... and added it to my junk collection.... i'm in
process of building up a little bar in a box, like for picnics,
more nomadic thinking....

Also found some more smaller duffle bags, but out of money, will have
to see if yhey are still there next trip..... I am trying to get
everything I own into organizers like canoe portage gear... the
ability to easily load up and move creates some serious real security
and tranquility in todays insane world...

Imagine in some crisis, like say hurricane Katrina....
If I have everything set to go, and had a transport device that would
carry it all, one could easily say; this sounds potentially ugly,
lets get it all to high ground..... and by owning much less than
normal, and having it all ready, and being wise enough to leave
early, one could not lose as much in a crisis....

makes sense to me, a form of preparedness.....

Stopped and saw my little niece on the way home, we had fun playing,
she was happy to see me and wanted me to pick her up almost
instantly... good kid, she motors around with alot of energy....
loves to be social..... eats the bananas I send her... asks for
more..... I buy some sweet bread for her and her mother when I go to
town... this time got some cinnamon rolls, not up to US standards,
but they were recognizeable.... first ones my niece and her mother
ever tried.. they liked them....