I have a stack o' fishy books requiring a good home.
This is partially due to my new geographic location but mostly because, once in a while, I feel it's totally possible to suffer from an anxiety attack when I see too much "stuff" around me. That's why I love this so-called 'ebook revolution:' I can have lots of books within reach, but not have to see them. Brilliant.
(EDIT, 21-Aug-13: I've another, newer reason to downsize - I'm giving up my apartment and buyin' a friggin' van so I can travel around, chasing fish. Proceeds from selling these books will go directly into my #VanFund.)
So it's time to downsize a little bit. Some of these books have been extremely helpful in my (ongoing) development of an angler. And most, if not all, of these books have entertained me during various fishless stretches due to work or winter.
I hope they all find a good home where they can provide knowledge and entertainment to their next readers.
Note: Prices INCLUDE shipping. If you live outside of Canada & the USA, expect shipping charges to be higher, however. Use the contact page to order or for more information; I can accept PayPal or Interac Email Transfer.
Warmwater Books
Fly Fishing for Smallmouth by Bob Clouser. Hardcover. $35. - SOLD
Bass on the Fly by A.D. Livingstone. Paperback. $15. - SOLD
Smallmouth Fly Fishing by Tim Holschlag. Paperback. $25. - SOLD
Trout (& Chrome) Books
Trout Bum by John Gierach. Paperback. $15.
Still Life With Brook Trout by John Gierach. Paperback. $15.
No Shortage of Good Days by John Gierach. Hardcover, signed by John Gierach and Bob White. $25. - SOLD
Mist on the River by Michael Checchio. Hardcover. $22.
Charlie Craven's Basic Fly Tying by Charlie Craven (duh!). Hardcover. $37.
Books for the Salt!
The Orvis Guide to Saltwater Fly Fishing by Nick Curcione. Paperback. $18.
Fly Rodding the Coast by Ed Mitchell. Paperback. $20.
Fly Fishing the Saltwater Shoreline by Ed Mitchell. Hardcover. $25.
Striper Moon by J. Kenney Abrames. Paperback. $15.
Saltwater Fly Patterns By Lefty Kreh. Paperback. $18.
Of Wind and Tides by Stu Apte. Paperback, signed by author. $25.
Redfish on the Fly by John Kumiski. Paperback. $18.
Fiction Titles
Ninety-two in the Shade by Thomas McGuane. Paperback. $12. - SOLD
Saltwater Summer by Roderick Haig-Brown. Paperback. $12. - SOLD
Saw this post in the NYT blogs. I absolutely loved this part:
My role is just to be a bad influence, the kid standing outside the classroom window making faces at you at your desk, urging you to just this once make some excuse and get out of there, come outside and play. My own resolute idleness has mostly been a luxury rather than a virtue, but I did make a conscious decision, a long time ago, to choose time over money, since I’ve always understood that the best investment of my limited time on earth was to spend it with people I love.
I feel ya, dog...
Three years ago this month, while showering off the shame of a boozy (Sunday) night, I came to a decision to step off the treadmill. I had been downsized "due to current market conditions" the previous December. From the time of the layoff until that July, I sent out CV after CV, resume after resume.
I knew very little about life outside of working. Of course, 'working' to me meant fieldwork: 12-16 hour days, seven days a week, four to six weeks at a time, seven to ten months of the year. It didn't really do anything to encourage learning anything about life outside of work. But I didn't seem to mind, and there I was actively trying to jump right back into it.
A life well wasted is a good life indeed.
It took a minor shame-spiral while showering to have the same clarity as the writer above:
Time > Money
This provided a foundation of a few basic ideas for my navigation of the 21st century:
The idea of a job for life is dead & gone. Loyalty to a corporation does not get reciprocated.
There's a big difference between what you need to live and what you want/think you need to live.
Working for yourself, with multiple sources of income, is far more secure than relying on one and only one income stream.
Being busy for the sake of being busy is ridiculous.
Cable TV: sucks donkey balls, insults my intelligence, a huge money-suck.
Catching fish (and traveling) is more enjoyable than sitting in an office.
I still don't have everything figured out, but those six concepts have guided me well over the past few years.
If only I had the same clarity before buying the Aluminum Bastard...
Mat
- July 1st, 2012
Note: since July, 2009, I have worked as a bartender, geologist, carpenter, bouncer, social media consultant, copywriter, logistician, project manager, music promoter, fly shop employee, Cuppow salesman, fly tyer, guide, t-shirt seller, and writer. I'm busy when I choose to be busy, and I have yet to starve to death...but if I relied exclusively on promoting music or selling Cuppows or T-shirts, I surely would have...
The first day & a bit were pretty rough, with his teammates having difficulty acclimatizing to the heat and all three of them having jet-lag issues.
Unfortunately, both of his teammates withdrew from the race on day 2, early in the stage, leaving the roommate to compete alone.
And compete he has. He's moved up approximately 50 positions in the race over the past few days and just completed the 89-kilometre-long fifth stage. All that remains is Stage 6, which is a relatively minor 10-kilometre hike to the ancient city of Petra.
Congrats, Capital O. You've done well, and the city of Fredericton is really proud of you...well, maybe it's just a dozen or so of us, but either way...good job!
I know your success is due to my recommendation to get a Katy Perry song stuck in your head, over & over again.
The Unofficial Blog of the Aluminum Bastard
Three trailer tires: $204.51
Having a truck awaiting parts & repairs, resulting in not being able to tow the aluminum bastard: priceless.
(*writer sticks face into crook of elbow and swears repeatedly*)
Moving
Though I often mention my desire for living simply and all that other shit, fly fishing gear provides you with a solid nut-shot of reality to counter those claims.
Sure, I can move all my clothes & books & most worldly possessions in one load of my '03 Sport Trac. And I am able to pull off day-to-day life with a pair of 'casual' Carhartts, a pair of newer/cleaner 'dress' Carhartts and my awesome Prana shortpants (don't judge me...).
But when you're looking at 11 fly rods & their reels (and spools), waders, boots, jackets, accessories & several milk crates full of tying material, a half-dozen or so fly boxes, stripping baskets...the word hypocrite comes to mind.
Then again, we're am moving to a small downtown apartment that will: a) allow my lovely girlfriend & I to walk for groceries, coffee, restaurants, etc. b) require all of one candle to heat comfortably in the wintertime. c) allow us to pay off student loans & save some money for future adventures due to lower rent. d) allow me to bike 10 minutes to go fishing. e) put me at the boat ramp in 6 minutes...if I'm ever able to put the Magnificent Basstard in the water.
At least I'm doing better than the McMansion crowd.
Fishing
Yes, this is a fly fishing blog, but you wouldn't really know it of late. That's because I was stuck within a degree of latitude of the Arctic Circle for four weeks and came back to boats & trucks requiring maintenance and an apartment that need moving into.
I'm hoping to remedy this lack-of-fishing situation tonight.
(*writer clasps hands, looks at the ceiling and mumbles something about needing to go fishing interspersed with a lot of swearing*)
More music
If you made it all the way through this dribble, you deserve some more music.
It's Friday, after all. Enjoy your long weekend, Canada!
It turns out that a few of those rods don't see much action over the course of the season, so it got me thinking about trimming down a bit.
Two years ago, I was more than content with using my 3wt on 10-12" trout 99% of the time, and I'd haul out that Cabela's Stowaway 8wt for the occasional salmon trip to the Miramichi River...but things change. Oh, how they ever change...
Last year, my 3wt didn't see water. Nor did the Stowaway (the Stowaway was what I used in Louisiana, fyi). Luckily for me, they had a good home awaiting them, in exchange for a wonderful pedal-driven steed that will see a lot of action (& hopefully not much water) this coming year.
That leaves eight rods. I know of some folks that may have double or triple that number. Possibly entirely of bamboo, too...but that's a whole other level of sickness that will not be addresses in this post.
The Redington Predator & the Cabela's CGR glass rod will be my go-to bass rods, both by choice and by regulations: when I fish the local tournaments this summer, I'm not permitted to use rods over eight feet in length.
My dad's Shakespeare glass rod is staying put, end of story.
The Loop 7wt is my practice rod for the CCI exam, and will morph into my Atlantic salmon rod when necessary. I have a little twinge of buyer's remorse over this, as I don't necessarily love the medium-fast action on this rod & sometimes wish I would have went with a TFO TiCr, TiCrX or Axiom. But it is what it is, so I'll cope (for now).
UPDATE: I've decided to pull the trigger on swapping the Loop rod for a TFO Axiom 7wt. The Loop rod has only been grass-casted a few times and, due to employee discounts, I should be able to recover the sufficient cash to cover off the cost of the Axiom. There's no sense in casting a rod you don't enjoy casting...
My Redington CPX 8wt is...well, let's pretend I was a Jedi. The 8wt CPX would be my lightsaber. I like this rod. A lot. I had someone in Idaho look at the cork & say, "Wow, you've had that a while, haven't you?" and I replied, "Ahh, about 5 months." His reply was along the lines of "Holy f**k, how much do you fish?!?!"
I like the feel, the balance, the weight, the action...I just like it. In fact, I love it as much as a person could love a mass-produced inanimate object. I caught my first smallmouth, first striped bass, first salmon and first (baby) tarpon with this rod. I would've caught that chinook salmon & bull trout with it, too, if Derek the guide hadn't arrived with his Redington rod completely rigged up already.
Needless to say, the CPX 8wt stays (and it's getting a sexy new accessory soon, too).
The Redington CPX 10wt is/will be the standby muskie/striper/tarpon/permit/cuda rod. It has seen some action, but is yet to get some fish stank on it yet. It will be seeing a lot of action this summer due to the boat arriving on the scene; there's some fish with teeth that need to be caught with a fly rod in the Saint John River.
I think the 10wt CPX is up for the challunge, both this summer as well as in Belize in September. So it stays.
See what I did there? Challunge = CHAllenge + MuskeLLUNGE. Yeah, it's kind of a pun/play on words. I'm clever. You could say I am a cunning linguist. And did you see what I did there? Say "cunning linguist" fast...but not in front of your kids. I'm friggin' hilarious.
That leaves the TFO TiCrX 12wt, with the reel I referred to as a 'heirloom' reel: the Hardy Zane Saltwater. It saw two partial days of action, and went one for one for catching Pacific sailfish. And I can't, in any foreseeable future I can imagine, see myself using this again soon.
So unfortunately, I decided it's time for that setup to go to a more well-deserving home. A home that doesn't require 26 hours of driving or a full day of flying in order to regularly use it. So it's currently listed on eBay.
(Note: it's currently April 7th, the auction ends April 12th at 1620 EST...just in case I forget to come back & update this post. The rod's eBay Item # is 170819743479; the reel's Item # is 170819730439...if you're interested in looking at them...)
With the departure of the 3wt & the 5pc 8wt, and (hopefully) the coming departure of the 12wt rod & reel, that knocks things down to a manageable & (somewhat) sensible seven rods:
5wt for trout
6wt for smallies
7wt for CCI exam & Atlantic salmon
7/8wt glass for smallies
8wt for salt
8wt glass for shits, giggles, nostalgia
10wt for salt/muskie
See? That makes sense...doesn't it?
This was a long-winded post about fly rods & my (lame-ass) attempt to live simplistic lifestyle while having a small fly shop's worth of gear in my basement, so you definitely deserve some music if you've made it this far. Here are a few tracks that have popped into my head recently, hope you enjoy them:
If you have read my twitter feed in the past week or so, this will be old news. But for those of you who aren't in the twitter loop...
I'm going back to school.
No, not the time & money-sucking post-secondary academics that I already battled through...spent over $40K on...successfully completed, but a more enjoyable and artful return to academic life.
Successful completion of this intensive self-study program & exam will permit me to put all those letters after my name.
Funny enough, I don't put those other letters after my name very often. Really not sure why that is...
I've been in touch with a casting instructor already to discuss a few things (thanks, Dean!) & get a few tips, which was pretty awesome.
After talking to Rich via email, I pretty much decided attending the exam session being offered in March was f**king insanity overly optimistic. My timeline for this is, for the most part, my own, but I want to get it done sooner rather than later.
Unfortunately he doesn't have any tips (outside of schnapps) for nutting-up to go outside to practice casting in -25°C weather...
(Quick update: it was super-ass mild here the last couple days. This keeps up & I'll be using the city's outdoor rink in Officers' Square as a casting pond)
Unfortunately going back to school won't involve this...this time at least...
One of the prime tenants of hypermiling is “do not accelerate quickly or brake heavily.”
According to the folks at cleanmpg.com, accelerating quickly or braking heavily can reduce fuel economy as much as 33 percent at highway speeds and 5 percent around town.
Here are three scenarios that you might encounter during your everyday drive and three suggestions on how you can reduce accelerating and braking.
Uphill leading to a stop light/sign: Travel as far up the hill as possible before stopping. Maintain a steady pace and attempt to crest the hill when the light is green. If there is a stop sign at the top of the hill, you have no choice. You have to stop. Unfortunately, accelerating from a dead stop facing uphill is one of the worst fuel efficiency situations that you will face. Often, there is a relatively level piece of ground at the top of a hill. Try to stop there if possible. If the hill is part of your regular commute, try a different route so that you can avoid the hill.
Downhill leading to a stop light/sign: Slow down well before the light. Coast on the downhill and try to time your descent so that you hit the intersection when the light is green. This will allow you to coast through the light without having to accelerate. Even if you do have to brake on the intersection when the light is green. This will allow you to coast through the light without having to accelerate. Even if you do have to brake on the downhill, you have gravity on your side. You can continue to coast after applying the brakes.
Level ground leading to a stop light/sign: Continue to slow your vehicle before actually coming to a stop. Think of yourself as moving half the distance to the goal line and then half again. You can accomplish this both through braking and by coasting into your buffer.
Why it is important to the fish: All vehicles produce Carbon Dioxide (CO2) when they burn gasoline.
Why it is important to you: Burn less gas, burn less cash. I'll repeat that:
BURN LESS GAS, BURN LESS CASH
The 2000 RPM Challenge
For the current tank of gas in the High Plains Drifter, I have vowed to NOT drive over 2000RPM, to see how much more mileage I can crank out of it.
Some basic stats:
I filled up yesterday, 11-Jan-12 at 2:40PM; the truck was almost empty (~80L gas tank)
It took 78.751L of mid-grade gasoline...that's 20.803 US gallons
The total price was $96.00
That's $1.219 per litre...that's $4.614 CDN per US gallon, or $4.531/gallon in US dollars
Driving normally, I drove 424.6km (263.8 miles) on the previous tank of gas
Approximate mileage calculation: 5.39km per litre, or 12.68 miles/gallon
90% of my driving on the previous tank was in the city
(Note: the Canadian economy hasn't screeched to a halt with these gas prices or public health care...something to think about)
I will update this once I fill up again. I'm hoping it's not for a while.
Here's what I've noticed following the first afternoon of my 2000 RPM Challenge: Fredericton has some steep-ass hills, and it is friggin' hard to get up them at or under 2000 RPM. Also there's a lot of old blue-hairs that accelerate slower than I do.
Think about that: I'm trying to accelerate my (automatic transmission-driven) truck from a dead stop, on an uphill grade, at under 2000 RPM, and I'm accelerating faster than granny in a Toyota Corolla.
No wonder people develop ulcers & eye twitches from commuting to work every day.
I'm glad I don't work every day.
The Tweet
I was interviewed by our regional newscast on Friday because of this:
Long story short: I was waiting in my truck (not idling, btw) for my lovely gf, saw this dude walk around his van with buckets in hand, I assumed (correctly) that he was going to dump them down the storm drain, snapped a pic, tweeted it.
The tweet got shared a bunch of times, a city councillor sent the photo to the public works department, and the mayor weighed in.
The company told the reporter it was just water.
But, if it was just water, why did he have to rinse his buckets multiple times, dumping them down the storm drain each time?
The newscast was more about "the power of Twitter" than it was the actual incident (you can watch it here; the segment is at 7 minute-mark); and the reporter didn't want to dive into what the company did/didn't do for legal matters; in fact, they enlarged the photo & cropped out the company van on the newscast.
Few things the news left out that I felt were important: while the reporter stated I was an "avid fisherman," they didn't mention anything about me being a geologist that works partly in the field of hydrogeology. That's somewhat relevant, me thinks. They also left out that I'm Vice-President of the Nashwaak Watershed Association...though I did manage to get the Association's logo pictured in the background. But still, also somewhat relevant.
Instead, come off as an unshaven, festively-plump busy-body, lurking in a parking lot with a camera phone...who is an avid fisherman...
They also didn't quote my off-camera best quote ever:
"I'm not in the marble business, so I can't tell you exactly what they were dumping. But I'm pretty much in the water business, and I can tell you it wasn't clean f**king water."
Speaking of the Nashwaak Watershed Association....
Our man in the know is cranking out the new website & we're getting our new & updated social media presence ready to rock; expect a launch in the very near-future.
If anyone is interested in learning more about the organization, or becoming a member (it's only $10/year!!), please get in touch with me!
And now some music
I've mentioned Ross Neilsen a few times before on the blog. Like here. And here.
I'm a big fan of his hard-rocking, whisky-chugging, grinding dirty blues (and his other stuff, too).
Ross and some special guests are playing at Dolan's Pub (King Street) on January 18th as a fundraiser for his upcoming trip to compete in the International Blues Challenge in Memphis, TN.
And, as promised, here is one of many Stewardship Tips that are available on their website.
THREE TIPS TO CONSERVE WATER (see the original post here)
We’d all like to install Ultra Low Flow or waterless toilets to conserve water. It’d be nice to redo our plumbing so that our gray water is recycled into our lawns. These can be expensive projects and while they’d be nice, the fact is, you can conserve water at little or no cost. Here are three simple tips to help you conserve.
1. Conserve water in your shower:
Install a low flow or ultra low flow shower head. This is one of the easiest ways to conserve water in the home. Most non-conserving shower heads will use 5 to 8 gallons of water per minute. A low flow shower head uses 2.5 gallons of water per minute, an ultra low flow shower head will use 1.5 or less.
2. Conserve water in your toilet:
Install a displacement device, a tank dam, or an early-close flapper valve. A displacement device is nothing more than something to take up space in your tank. Fill a 32 ounce plastic soda bottle with gravel, cap it, and place it in the tank. Tank dams, pieces of flexible plastic wedged into the tank on either side of the flush valve, reduce the amount of water available per flush by holding a small amount out of use. An early-close flapper valve is a valve that will shut before all the water in the tank can flow into the bowl. Early-close flappers often are adjustable, so that you can find a good balance between saving water and having the toilet bowl reliably cleared.
3. Conserve water your yard:
Eliminate all runoff. Observe your sprinkler and make sure that water does not get on the sidewalk, driveway, or street. Even the smallest overlap will send gallons of fresh water into the sewer.
Why it is important to the Fish:
By conserving the amount of water that we use, we reduce that amount of water that we discharge from our homes. Water from showers and toilets is discharged into the sanitary sewer. In some areas sanitary sewers are are combined with sewers that channel natural runoff. A series of dams in the sewers prevent sanitary sewage from entering the watershed. During heavy rains, combined sewers can overflow their dams and discharge raw sewage directly into a stream or river. Needless to say, raw sewage in a stream can spell disaster for our fish.
Time/Date: 1655, 28-Dec-10
Location: I didn't move too far since posting Part 1 an hour ago...
As some of you might have read here before, I'm not really a big fan of random, useless stuff and clutter.
I'm going through a phase in my life where I'm trying to live a little simpler & frugal, opting to focus on meaningful experiences, such as travel, fly fishing and becoming more financially secure. Did I mention fly fishing? I like to do that.
Of course, unfortunately for me, this does not coincide with what Christmas has become for an increasingly large part of society.
DJ B-Ray posted this video from Bill Maher a few days before Christmas. It is definitely worth paying attention to.
That provides a really good explanation for most of my Christmas shopping (& wish list) in 2010 (though, being as awesome as I am, I had most of my shopping done long before I watched the video).
I wanted to get useful gifts for the important people in my life. Not just 'stuff they might need' but actual, put-to-good-use types of things.
For some close friends & family, I took it a step further.
They received donations made in their name to Kiva.org. Kiva provides entrepreneurs in developing countries with micro-financing to help them get their business off the ground. It isn't 'just' a hand-out; those receiving the loans are required to pay them back. And most of them do. 98.91% of them, to be precise.
As for my 'wish list,' I didn't ask for much and was very lucky with what I received:
- my gorgeous gf picked me out a really cool book (Four Fish, by Paul Greenberg) and added gift cards for a bookstore & coffee shop.
- the folks & my brothers picked me up some very useful odds & ends (coffee, Esso gift cards, iTunes gift cards, etc).
- my roommates picked me up Fishpond's super-cool Southern Cross Fishing Journal.
- Chris & his fiance at Fredericton Outfitters gave me a classic salmon fly (pictured below), tied & mounted by Scott Doncaster.
All said & done, a pretty good haul for a quasi-minimalist :)
Thanks to my friends & family for the wonderful gifts; more importantly, thanks for being my friends & family.
Last night I wrote the following on my whiteboard:
FOA FB Ev (translation: do the Facebook event for fly-tying night at Fredericton Outfitters & Anglers)
H-wash trav tow (translation: hand-wash my new quick-dry travel towel so I don't turn blue in Senegal & freak out the villagers)
compost/garbage/vacuum (self-explanatory)
sort/shred paperwork
WRITE!!
I have an unnatural affinity for whiteboards, ask anyone who has worked with me. I also like lists (more on this in a moment).
After accomplishing 1 through 4, I browsed my RSS feed & came across Thoughtwrestling's11 for 11 posts. Simply brilliant. As I said, I like lists. I've been thinking about what's coming up for 2011. My fifth task on my whiteboard was write. So why the hell not.
Note: these aren't resolutions. I hate new years resolutions. They're 11 things I'm going to focus on in 2011. There's no binding contract with the New Year baby or anything like that. Consider this a framework.
1. Fish more.
This is a given.
2. Travel more.
It's not like I don't travel a fair bit already; for instance, in 2010:
What's frustrating is this: ~90 days were spent working out of town & I didn't bother, for whatever reason, to do anything but work. For instance: I spent 13 hours at CDG airport in Paris & didn't do anything. So that is definitely going to change (details of my 2011 travel goals will be in an upcoming post).
3. Walk more. Drive less.
This is not some hippy, carbon footprint thing. This just makes sense for physical, mental & financial well-being. Burn less gas, burn more fat, burn less money. And reduce my carbon footprint! Ha! Gotcha! (ps - add biking to that, too)
4. Train myself to eat more fruit & veggies.
I'd really like to get to the point of a banana, apple or pear is my first thought for something to eat.
5. Train Awesome to be an off-leash dog.
This is high on my priority list. I would love to take Awesome more places but...well, let's just say he's special (he's a rescue dog). I'm afraid if he was off-leash, he'd put the ears back and head back to Seattle. He dislikes winter more than I do.
6. Less bullshit.
I've been working on physical & digital clutter. Moving on: mental clutter. Examples: I don't need to read how much of an asshole Toronto's new mayor is. Or how ignorant the typical poster on CanadaEast & CBC-NB's comment section is. This means more time doing fun things. Like fishing. Or making LAVA even more awesome.
7. Read more meaningful material.
I already read a lot. Probably more than you. But I want to read more classical and/or thoughtful literature. First up: Generation A by Douglas Coupland. After that: Thoreau's Walden.
8. Fish even more...
...and practice casting, practice knot-tying, tie more flies, improve my ability to read the water, meet more anglers, so & so forth.
9. Get my financial house in order.
It's not like it's bad...I just want to make it better. My philosophy from 2010 hasn't changed: paying off debt doesn't mean having more money to spend, it means there's less pressure to make money. That equals more time...to fish more. Travel more. And train Awesome.
10. See more (local) live music.
This doesn't really need an explanation, but if you're so inclined, check my music page for how I feel about this.
11. Help more.
There are people & organizations I helped in 2010. They will continue to receive my help, though some may get more & some may get less. There are others I hope to start donating time and/or money to. I'll probably mention them here from time to time. Everybody's got something to give to help others, be it time, skill or money.
Conversely....
11. a) (Bonus) Learn to say 'no' more.
Some people don't understand "working for yourself" means I still have to work and it's not all fun times & lollipops. Whatever the reason, I won't be rude about it, and I'll probably provide alternative options & solutions, but I will have to say no. Yeah, I know, it sucks.
Any big plans or changes for 2011? Throw 'em out there in the comments section.
I've been continuing to purge clutter from my life, albeit slowly. The first bit of trimming down clothes and unnecessary papers & such was fairly rapid & simple. Sure, it took many hours to sort through papers & files, but the process went smoothly and there were no real issues.
Since then, things have been a little more difficult, so I've been getting creative:
as written previously, I purchased a new ipod. It has a camera so I gave my Sony point & shoot to my parents & the Pelican case for it went to my roommate.
a few books have been given to friends.
an old cap was replaced with a new one; the old one went into the trash right at the store.
my girlfriend received a hoodie from my collection to keep.
My old desktop PC arrived in town to do some work but turned out to be useless; I'm working on a barter for that...for espressos & coffee beans.
Loose change is in the process of being rolled up; it will be applied to my delusional goal.
Spin-cast gear & lures are going to be sold on Kijiji or given away (all fly, all the time now).
I hit one minor stumbling block, though: my rugby gear. I just didn't want to get rid of it: my jerseys had sentimental value & those cleats won tournaments & championships. I mean, I might actually play again. Some day.
Or no, I won't. Tried the comeback thing, a la Guy LaFleur, last year. Didn't work so good.
And if everything meant so much to me, why was it in a pile on the concrete floor of the basement, with mould on a few things? (Side note: Hunter, the jerseys I gave you were clean. Sort of.)
"The things you own end up owning you." - Tyler Durden
So I'm taking advice from a fictional character played by Brad Pitt. Brilliant.
Time/Date: Too late or too early, 7-Oct-10
Location: F'ton
I love my ipod(s). I'm not one of those dance by myself-types in the commercials, but there are truly deep feelings.
My first was a 20GB gen-1 purchased in Ought-Five. It got a lot of use. The second was in '08, a 16GB touch after gen-1 started freezing (note: resetting an ipod while driving: bad).
I would have kept Ipod the Second around for a long time, had it not run off with a burglar (along with a can of bear spray).
So last week Ipod the Third has entered my life; a 64GB, fourth-generation ipod touch.
"How does buying a new ipod fit into simplifying & minimalism?"
Well, after 5 days, I can tell you this:
64GB holds my entire music library. Savings: time; no need to manage the library to fit 16GB
It shoots HD video. Savings: $$ & space; won't require a video recorder for fishing exploits
It takes decent pictures. Savings: $$ & space; I sold my point & shoot camera and gave its now-surplus pelican case to my roommate
I downloaded the free Kindle app. Savings: time, $$ & space; I read e-books, thus reducing need for trips to bookstore (gas & time) and storage for books. Plus e-book titles are cheaper, and hundreds of classic titles are available free.
Plus wifi reduces how much I carry my laptop & the calculator is great. And Flick Fishing is fun, too.
I'll be test-driving some of the cool photo apps available like Plastic Bullet (see pic below) & writing reviews in future posts.
First ipod photo; edited with Plastic Bullet.
Starring Prince the Cat
Commit publicly. None of us likes to look bad in front of others. We will go the extra mile to do something we’ve said publicly. For example, when I wanted to run my first marathon, I started writing a column about it in my local daily newspaper. The entire island of Guam (pop. 160K) knew about my goal. I couldn’t back down, and even though my motivation came and went, I stuck with it and completed it. Now, you don’t have to commit to your goal in your daily newspaper, but you can do it with friends and family and co-workers, and you can do it on your blog if you have one. And hold yourself accountable — don’t just commit once, but commit to giving progress updates to everyone every week or so.
So here goes:
This is my goal: I'm paying off a huge-ass loan. Entirely. ASAP.
Preferably over the next 87 days.
There are many financial (& logical) reasons to do this). My reason?
An overflowing inbox and/or a desktop filled with files & folders can be causing unnecessary bullshit in your life, without you even realizing it.
I took the time a couple weeks ago to tackle my MacBook & rid it of digital clutter. This is what my desktop looks like now:
Any applications I use very regularly are kept in the dock, while others can be quickly brought up using the Spotlight keyboard shortcut (command + space on my MacBook).
My Finder & associated folders have been trimmed down and organized to be extremely convenient & easy-to-use as well:
I keep current projects in the root of the Documents folder; upon completion, I put them in the appropriate folders.
For email, I can proudly say there is only 4 emails in my inbox from 3 email accounts. I use the "OHIO" method (Only Handle It Once) as much as possible; if it can be responded to immediately, I do so (PS-I get frustrated when I send an email requiring a yes or no answer and end up waiting for hours or days for a response. Just sayin').
Whenever I fail on the OHIO-ing of emails, I usually take 5 minutes to go through and delete unnecessary or answered emails every couple of days or so.
I'm travelling the roads for the next few days so good road trip tunes are a must. One of my go-to bands for road trip playlists are Built To Spill. They have a newer album out called There is No Enemy that I keep forgetting to download from itunes but I'm fixing that really soon!
As I wrote last week (Going Stalin on Clutter), I had already crossed off clothing from the black list. The next item for this week was paper. Receipts. Instruction manuals. Geology journals. Books. Tax documents.
Books were easy. Any book I had no desire to read/re-read were donated to Stanley Public Library through Daisy (pseudonym), a.k.a., my roommate's gf and also conveniently the librarian at...Stanley Public Library. It works out well: books can go on the stacks or sold to raise funds for the library.
Instruction manuals were also easy: recycling bin. Everything can be found online nowadays.
High Plains Drifter, checking out the scene in Deadwood, SD
Geology journals mostly consisted of Gold Prospector and ICMJ's Prospector & Mining Journal back issues. These publications seemed important to me when I was running around with gold panning gear in the High Plains Drifter in the Western US back in Ought-Eight. But not so much at my current time & place. Gone!
Onto tax, student loan, receipts, bank statements, etc. I decided anything with my name, address or any sort of account number would get shredded. Six hours over the course of a few days later, I am finished. I almost fried the paper shredder.
Side note: Revenue Canada, please do not audit me. I will not retain my records anymore. Your tax laws coddle the balls of clutter, and I refuse to follow them. Next year I might scan them. Maybe.
After the purge on clothing and paper, my room is ~80% clutter-free. I now have approximately one laundry-load's worth of clothing to my name, which makes it really easy to decide what to wear. And my filing cabinet has the bare minimum of paper shit inside.
How about some music?
A band called Explosions in the Sky. I have 3 of their albums. All instrumental. All awesome.
I will never claim that I am a full-on minimalist. Everett Bogue proudly proclaims he has 57 possessions. I have that many trout flies and I'm not giving them up (except to fish...or snags...in a river). And I can't really see myself biking to Juniper, NB to go salmon fishing in October, so my truck (the High Plains Drifter) is staying, too.
Stalin's expertise can be applied to decluttering?
But I do have a pile of crap that I don't use and/or need. I'm going Joseph Stalin on clutter.
First on the black list is my room. More specifically, clothes.
Phase 1 was a few odds & ends that didn't need to fly back across the Atlantic Ocean. This included 2 dirty t-shirts, a $4.50 pair of flipflops and torn socks. A few books & magazines also stayed behind to entertain the next wandering soul to find themselves in Ouagadougou.
Phase 2 occurred back at home and I did it quick, like ripping off a band-aid.
Motivational music is definitely required for this process. Try this:
I made two piles; one for donating, one for tossing out:
Donated:
1 rain coat, 1 blazer, 1 fleece pullover, 1 hoodie, 3 polo shirts, 3 board shorts, 2 (barely used) synthetic workout shirts, gym shorts, cargo shorts, 2 dress pants, 1 chinos, 2 dress shirts, 3 t-shirts, 1 (unworn) cap, 2 belts, 1 pr dress shoes. And 1 John Lynch Tampa Bay Bucs football jersey :(
Maybe it's the heat. Or the unofficial apres-dinner beverage of Burkina Faso (instant coffee + powdered milk, microwaved). Or it could be the Malarone...again.
I can't sleep, so I will attempt to give some background on how 411#3 came to be. From the first post:
1. What the hell is 411#3?
411#3 will chronicle my attempts to maximize the awesome & minimize the bullshit. I'm learning a bunch of new stuff and attempting to lead a fun & a little less ordinary existence.
I got the name from where I was the moment I decided to do this: my accommodations at the project site, a converted shipping container. It's my room number. It had a nice ring to it.
2. Why should I read this crap?
A few reasons: I'm mildly entertaining and can occasionally be informative. And I'll have a picture and music track at the end of each post. At least 411#3 can be one more thing to distract you from work.
From here on in, simplicity is key. I'm going to try to keep posts short, but as my friends can tell you, I can occasionally get a little verbose on certain topics. I aim to minimize it (this time around).
