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Squishy fuzzy yummy thoughts
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Saturday, October 19, 2002
I realized that one thing I've wanted to do but haven't yet is to find out if the socks and boxers I bought from REI are normally about that expensive.
posted by wtanaka at 10/19/2002 01:26:00 AM
Well, I've been back for a while now. Packed my backpack for tomorrow's Pt. Reyes trip with Vanessa. The other 2 guys that were planning to come both flaked out, and Cynthia (who was also planning on going) is really sick right now. Even the best laid plans can go very awry. I chatted with Cynthia (different one) on the phone for a while and tried to clean up my apartment.
I'm going to get Maggie to take some pictures of me with my hat hairstyle and this polyester shirt I got from REI.
posted by wtanaka at 10/19/2002 01:25:00 AM
Friday, October 18, 2002
Try taking a shower in some clothes that you were going to wash anyway some day if you haven't before. Stepping into the shower, fully clothed, my heart rushed as though I were stepping up to the brink of a drastic cliff.
As soon as the water stops, the cold hits. I towelled myself with my packtowel a few times, and have been wandering around the apartment, picking up here and there. Now, I'm almost completely dry. Dry enough to skate to the store to get food.
I need trail mix, some kind of instant meal, bread, milk for home, and maybe some kind of tasty snack. And some lemons.
I'll be back later.
posted by wtanaka at 10/18/2002 09:56:00 PM
Most of the day was spent waiting for the UPS delivery of my camping stuff. John Reese stopped by and I went downstairs to return his Lolita book and book on tape to him. We chatted for a while, and he asked me if I wanted to "at some coffee." (It's just his way of speaking). I wanted to, but I needed to continue waiting for the REI delivery. This evening I ate some noodles at Le Cheval with Joe Wasson and went shopping at REI. Bought some nylon, poly and poly fleece clothes.
Right now I'm going to put on some of the clothes and take a shower in them, to see how well they dry.
Taking a shower in clothes seems like a very fundamentally WRONG thing to do, and I actually am feeling mildly uncomfortable and apprehensive about it. But I'll just take the plunge. Break out of my comfort zone. Or something like that. I'll let you know how it goes.
I still need food for camping tomorrow. Maybe I'll go to the store wet, to see how well the clothes work wet.
posted by wtanaka at 10/18/2002 09:26:00 PM
I'm shopping for a transformer or adapter for charging my batteries while I'm in another country.
My uncle sent me these links
http://www.walkabouttravelgear.com/elect.htm
http://www.walkabouttravelgear.com/wwelect.htm
http://129.41.2.239/shopping/product/detailmain.jsp?itemID=609&itemType=PRODUCT
But I think I'm going to wait until I get to Hawaii to get one.
posted by wtanaka at 10/18/2002 01:01:00 PM
Rosita relayed some information from her sister today that the border between China and India is closed. It's a good thing I haven't gotten my Chinese and Laos visas yet, since this news may cause me to not go to those countries.
posted by wtanaka at 10/18/2002 12:03:00 PM
The intersection of Arguello and Geary in front of the Indian Consulate in San Francisco.
posted by wtanaka at 10/18/2002 11:09:00 AM
Frank Cebulski stopped by and bought my bike and tent. The apartment is starting to look much more bare now.
posted by wtanaka at 10/18/2002 10:58:00 AM
I'm thinking that Baking Powder would make an awesome addition to my packed stuff. Good for odors and cleaning, I could use it instead of buying expensive tooth powder, if i ran out of burn cream, soap, deodorant, etc. I'll take some in a peanut butter jar.
posted by wtanaka at 10/18/2002 10:20:00 AM
Wei-Hwa stopped by and bought my SCUBA gear.
posted by wtanaka at 10/18/2002 08:43:00 AM
I woke up early and started looking at water filter/purification information. I've read enough now that I worry that nothing I do will be enough. I take solace in the fact that I can almost certainly just drink a lot of hot tea or bottled water, and stick to the cities for the most part.
posted by wtanaka at 10/18/2002 08:43:00 AM
Thursday, October 17, 2002
Today had some good sides and some bad sides. First, the bad sides.
I didn't get a gravity filter, because nobody had it. I checked Wilderness Exchange and REI in berkeley and Any Mountain in San Fran. I also didn't get any batteries, glue, or most of the other things on my list.
I didn't get any clothes that I'm sure I want. I spent too long browsing in REI and not enough time buying.
However, I did make it to the public ice skating session in time to get some practice in and meet Jacques. I delivered his table and chairs to him, as well as the skates. I sent a check via express mail for my medical insurance. And I did get my Indian Visa.
I've decided that buying things online is so much easier, quicker, and better overall than buying things in a store. Unless you're in a rush. Or you're buying clothes. Unfortunately, both of those are true for me.
posted by wtanaka at 10/17/2002 10:47:00 PM
Unfortunately Frank Cebulski didn't arrive at my place, so selling the bike and tent will have to wait until tomorrow. I have sent the check in for my medical insurance though. I sent it via Express Mail so it should arrive tomorrow.
Also unfortunately, Gart Sports has changed into SportMart and no longer carries the water filter I want. Siegle's of Oakland seems to have disappeared as of july 2000. So I'm going to Any Mountain at 2598 Taylor and REI in Berkeley.
posted by wtanaka at 10/17/2002 12:28:00 PM
I looked through
http://ultralight-hiking.com/sample-gearlist.html
http://onestep4me.tripod.com/gear.htm
http://www.monmouth.com/~mconnick/chklist.htm
http://www.datasync.com/~wksmith/gearlist.html
and created the following vague list of desirable clothes:
Bottoms
* Ok-looking quick drying underwear or soccer shorts for swimming
* Shorts
* Wind Pants (nylon or taslan)
Tops
* DuoFold CoolMax Tee Shirt, Long Sleeve
* Chamois Shirt, Polartec
* Wind Jacket or shirt (nylon or taslan)
* Pullover (acrylic/polyester)
* Warm Jacket (Fireball Insulated?)
Other
* Legoland Hat (fleece)
* polartec 100 balaclava
* 2 pairs Socks (thin nylon)
* Polyester gloves (???)
* Trail Running Shoes
* Trekking Poles?
posted by wtanaka at 10/17/2002 09:54:00 AM
Fourty minutes ago, I woke up after getting about three hours of sleep for the third night in a row. I set an alarm for now and went back to bed. It literally felt like 15 seconds until the music started playing again.
posted by wtanaka at 10/17/2002 09:48:00 AM
Goals for today:
Figure out what ultralight clothes I want to purchase
Print out or write down my shopping list
Sell my bike and tent to Cebulski (assuming he's still interested)
Write and send a check for my medical insurance, such that it gets there as soon as possible.
Get a water filter (SafeWaterAnywhere In-line Hydration Resservoir Filter and possibly some prefilters), and what other things from my shopping list I can.
GART SPORTS
3839 EMERY ST. #300
EMERYVILLE, CA 94608
Phone: (510) 450-9400
SIEGLE'S OF OAKLAND
508 W. MACARTHUR BLVD.
OAKLAND, CA 94609
Phone: (510) 655-8789
Get some tubing, Li AA batteries, Alkaline AAA batteries, glue, and whatever else I can from the shopping list.
Pick up my Indian Visa from the Indian Consulate at 540 Arguello (BART to Montgomery, take 38L to Arguello and Geary).
Sell my bauer brakes to Jacques and return his card table and chairs.
posted by wtanaka at 10/17/2002 05:19:00 AM
I'm particularly pleased with the way this photo came out:
I was on my way to the post office (the building in the left background) to request that my mail be redirected to my dad's house while I'm away.
I don't know what caused the pigeons to skitter. A few moments later, they all landed again, and braved close enough to me that I almost stepped on a few.
posted by wtanaka at 10/17/2002 05:10:00 AM
An email I sent out:
Date: Tue, 15 Oct 2002 05:28:49 -0700 (PDT)
From: "Wesley Tanaka" <wtanaka@yahoo.com>
Subject: My tickets are booked
Two weeks left before leaving, and a lot of things
to do. I've booked and purchased my air tickets.
My itinerary is at http://ofb.net/~wtanaka/travel/
Took some pictures around here. To me, the Bay
Area doesn't feel too exotic, but I figured I'd
share the pictures anyway, since looking at some
of them makes me miss San Francisco already.
http://photos.yahoo.com/bc/wtanaka/lst?.dir=/Bay+Area+2002+October
I met the bald guy in that one picture at a skate
night in San Francisco. He hit on me the whole
time. It made me laugh. But it didn't make me
want to go home with him.
More updates once I'm actually gone,
Wesley
P.S. Think you might want any of my stuff? I
want to get rid of a lot of it.
http://ofb.net/~wtanaka/travel/sale.cgi
posted by wtanaka at 10/17/2002 05:07:00 AM
My Canon Powershot A40 unfortunately requires drivers in order to download pictures to a Windows machine through USB. In an Internet caf�, this might prove troublesome. However, I have located a few resources which might help.
cam4you claims to address this use case.
The Canon website also has the drivers available for download on their website.
posted by wtanaka at 10/17/2002 04:23:00 AM
Ordered from digi4me
http://order.store.yahoo.com/cgi-bin/wg-order-status?catalog=digi4me&oid=digi4me-9594
512MB CompactFlash Memory Card
12x POWEREX AA 1800mAh NiMH Rechargeable Battery
POWEREX Intelligent Charger & Conditionner for Rechargeable Batteries
USB Card Reader / Writer for CompactFlash Memory
(has not shipped yet)
posted by wtanaka at 10/17/2002 03:17:00 AM
Ordered from campmor.com:
8 ft. x 10 ft. Ultralight Backpacking Tarp
Thermo-Lite� Emergency Survival Blanket
Therm-A-Rest Z-Rest� Seat - Old Style
2.5 Liter Platypus
1 Liter Platypus ( via UPS)
Water Filter Link
Mountainsmith Travel Umbrella
Packtowl Small
Backpacking Toilet Paper
Dr. Bronners 4 oz. Peppermint Soap
Hike N' Light Alcohol Stove
(via UPS)
posted by wtanaka at 10/17/2002 03:11:00 AM
These past few days have passed in a flurry of online purchases:
Canon Powershot A40
(via Fedex)
Photon I Micro Light, red
Photon I Micro Light, yellow
(via UPS)
Guide Gear® Ultralite 600 Sleeping Bag, Black / White
6-in-1 Survival Kit
2 x Team Realtree® Boxer Shorts, Navy
106-Pc. First Aid Kit
(via UPS)
posted by wtanaka at 10/17/2002 02:47:00 AM
I just took two keys off of my key "chain." I now have two left. In eleven days, I will have zero.
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