Comment and Link Roundup: May 17, 2022

[brin_bellway]

I haven't had much energy to spare lately, but I eventually managed enough to put this together.

---

Comments on my own posts:

History-wikiwalk blogging, part 2

---

Comments on other people's posts:

[WordPress (Tumblr)] (OP by mortuarybees) Being your own boss often isn't freeing.

[WordPress (Tumblr)] (OP by unpretty; partly in response to bending-sickle) Water softeners: highly recommended. (If you are in a relevant area.) [one or two comments, depending on how you count]

[cw: depression, anxiety, (mild) food, (mild) illness] [WordPress (Tumblr)] (OP by fairycosmos) Grocery-store mood whiplash, now with more price-matching.

[WordPress (Tumblr)] (OP by rustingbridges) I've finally found a moisturiser good enough to keep up with food-service work that *doesn't* cost $40 a bottle! [four comments, one of which is new]

[cw: poverty] [WordPress (Tumblr)] (OP by librarychair) It's tax season! Time to take that official net-income figure and check it against your local income-tested programs! (Update: looks like we're eligible for subsidies on electricity but not bus fare. I'm still gathering up everyone's signatures, but I expect we'll be able to send in the electricity application tonight.)

[Dreamwidth; Wayback] (OP by wolffyluna) Shift-work tradeoffs.

---

Links:

[JetPens; Wayback] (h/t Dynomight) I had not seen any of the apparent dozens of people recommending these. I'm not sure I'd find them useful, but--

Conversely, the ink can reappear when temperatures reach below -10°C/14°F.

--I'm charmed by the idea of invisible-ink signage that appears in winter.

[CTV News; Wayback] (by Alexandra Pinto and Jeff Pickel) The famed Ezra Avenue party (an illegal street party "thrown"† by University of Waterloo students each year on St. Patrick's Day, known for attracting crowds of up to thirty thousand people) was *not* collectively cancelled for the third year running. Police attempted to discourage it from returning by putting up barriers on Ezra: students simply partied on adjacent Marshall Street instead, which seems worse for everybody involved (in that normally, if you're contemplating living on Ezra you at least have a chance at making an informed decision). I feel very sorry for the Marshall residents.

†via decentralised common knowledge rather than any explicit organisation, as I understand it

[arguably cw: apocalypse] [Medium; Wayback] (by Thomas Smith) How to build an off-grid solar system on a three-digit budget (home-office scale). (for comparison: two-digit off-grid solar system (phone scale), five-digit off-grid solar system (house scale))

[arguably cw: apocalypse] [Bloomberg; Wayback (Firefox reader mode will show the full article)] (by Debby Wu; h/t Matt Levine) Salvaging semiconductors from washing machines.

[cw: apocalypse, food] [Unprepared; Wayback] (by Josh Centers) Food security in a time of fertilizer shortages.

Comments

[brin_bellway]

Things I plan to do regarding food security (apart from the usual rotated stockpiles):

* Get more into dehydrating fruits and vegetables (I'm also going to buy some silica packets to help lengthen the shelf life of our jars)

* Not complain when Mom tries to get me to help garden

* Read "Backyard Foraging: 65 Familiar Plants You Didn’t Know You Could Eat" and see if anything is implementable

* Maybe try out more recipes for chickpea-based entrees, see if I can convince the rest of my family that chickpeas are Good, Actually (they're mostly willing to have hummus *occasionally*, but not every week the way they would, say, spaghetti with ground beef)

* Maybe try out some more types of canned food