The Sound of One Hand Snapping

...ve had to do a fair amount of carpentry around the compound – part of that self-sufficiency thing – and countersinking nails with a nail set, those pen like things you use to get the nail head below the surface of the wood, is a pain in the ass. Which is why we think that this tool, the “Noxon Two Bit Snapper” by the mysterious Spring Tools Corporation may be the handiest tool in the SurviveLA compound tool box. The Snapper model we have is double...

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Seeds the Game

...our area and garden needs. Seed points redeem for real prizes like seeds and coupons for garden equipment. Grow your own food and learn practices for permaculture and self-sustaining food systems at home! If you want to support the project they’ve got an Indiegogo campaign....

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So Much Stuff

...p all those things in the garbage? If I could write a letter to my younger self I’d say two things: don’t accumulate anything, especially sentimental items and failed artistic efforts. It may sound harsh but why should any of us be defined or burdened by the things we own. Glassware at Altadena estate sale. Last weekend I went to an estate sale, not to accumulate any more crap but just to see the inside of a majestic old house next to the Silver L...

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On Sharpening Tools

...g holes in my education. I won’t bore you with an account of my philosophy self study but I would like to share what I learned about sharpening this past weekend. While one can pick up a lot about philosophy from reading books, sharpening is a skill best learned hands-on. For this reason I’m not going to give detailed sharpening instructions in this post but I will note the basic principles. It’s simple: you move from course abrasives to finer one...

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Saturday Tweets: Peach Chutney, Pagers and Floating Homes

...n “excellent condition” https://t.co/MkiDPVQpNE — Root Simple (@rootsimple) August 11, 2017 she took the midnight train going anywhere pic.twitter.com/9oxVuBZLId — ale (@oafale) August 6, 2017 “We are fighting not to have roads or electricity — this vision of self-destruction that’s called development” https://t.co/p223xqqQ3r — lowtechmagazine (@lowtechmagazine) August 5, 2017 Hope is the virtue of a heart that doesn’t lock itself into darkness, t...

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