Another weekend check-in, with thanks. And spring!

Ah, spring. Okay, not quite. But it finally stopped snowing here (after one of the coldest, snowiest PNW Februaries on record — which you Midwesterners will no doubt dismiss as a gentle dusting, barely worth a mention) and I’m making only a quick stop at the library before heading out into the sunshine.

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If I owe you an email, you’ll no doubt notice I’m getting behinder every day. That’s not a new thing for me, but with home Internet gone, I’m really, deeply, almost sinfully indulging in the privilege of not responding to email. I hate to admit it, but it’s great. I’m not even feeling the usual guilt because after all, I “can’t” answer quickly these days — and you wouldn’t want me to, would you, because my hermity silence is to be guarded and cherished.

That’s my excuse, anyhow. And I’m sticking to it.

Despite inconveniences (really big ones like not being able to rush to StartPage or DuckDuckGo to query why the producers of the Harry Potter films dropped the character of Colin Creevy after a mere one film; or how many houses Frank Lloyd Wright designed), I’m loving my new freedom from the sludge of online life. Every day is a liberation.

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But I do owe public thanks to many people, and it’s less good to be behind on that.

Several people have sent cool items I photographed and wanted to post, but I’m laboring under an image-posting ban, so for the moment, we’ll have to do without.

But. Thank you, JA, for the medicinal (and tasty!) elderberry preserves. And TF sent a big box o’ stuff that included, among other things, a hoodie bearing the logo of his favorite hangout and a bug-out-bag gadget of a sort I’d never seen or heard of before. It’s a device (looks sort of like a miniature cross wrench that you use to remove lug nuts) for opening water faucets that don’t have handles — the type you see outside some commercial buildings. Really need to post a picture of that.

More thanks to SF who sent me a second supply of invaluable supplements.

And to KK, a dear, long-time friend I’ve never met, who made a big contribution to the med fund.

To MJ, SF, and all my Patreons, past and present.

And to quiet, faithful D3, to whom I owe more than I can express.

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In my offline time, I’ve been looking through old notebooks in which I sketched out ideas for blog entries — some of the most interesting of which never came to light. I expect you’ll eventually be seeing some of those.

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Spring (almost!) means garage sales. My find of the week (and again, I really wish I could post a photo of this): a gallon Zip-lok bag filled with multiple styles and sizes of gauze pads, sterile wound dressings, large compresses, and even various sizes of Tegaderm Film — an item I’ve seen because it’s used to cover IV injection sites, but had never heard of or seen for sale.

Three dollars for the lot. One or two items were way past their expiration dates; others still within date. (And really … expired gauze?) Only one item was damaged and had to be tossed.

I love spring!

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Finally … The big box o’ stuff TF sent also contained a copy of Selco’s hot new book, The Dark Secrets of SHTF Survival.

This is not for me to keep. My mandate is to read it, then pass it along — then for that person also to pass it along, and so on.

Once I’m done reading the book, I’ll be posting the offer to the Claireslist board at the Living Freedom Forums.

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That’s it for today. Now … Into the sunshine!