Tag: daily post

For the Craft of Life – keep a good knife

Classic Skills

Everyone needs a good knife. 

The knife is one of our oldest and most useful tools. The only tool older is the hammer, which originally became the knife when the rock being used as a hammer split into a sharp edge. With a knife and the right skills, you can rebuild society.

I’d be naked without my knife. It’s a very useful tool for daily life. However, there are some pretty strange ideas out there about knives. I’ve talked to people who seem to think I run a terrible risk of cutting myself because I have a knife. It reminds me of the mythical pistol that jumps out of the holster and shoots people on its own. However, this doesn’t happen. A  good knife in a proper sheath is no danger when used properly.

As for those who fear knives instinctively, I think they are thinking symbolically. To them, knife = weapon and weapon = danger, with no thought of how a person might be using the knife, or what they might use it for. However, a good knife is a tool, and a very useful one at that!  It’s a great feeling to be able to help someone or do something for yourself because you already have the proper tool for the job.  There are even times when having something to cut with could save your life.

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This knife could free you from a stuck seatbelt after a car wreck.

What kind of knife?

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A classic.

There are nearly as many kinds of knives as there are knife users. If you are a city dwelling person who likes to dress sharp, a bone or pearl handled penknife would be a classic choice. If you love the outdoors, a sturdy lockback or maybe a sheath knife with a staghorn grip could be good for you. If you’re of a more tactical mindset, there are many varieties of self defense knife out there, including ones that can be carried in wallets or as part of belt buckles. For people who are handy, the venerable Swiss Army knife or Leatherman l might be best. The possibilities are endless. I, myself, wear a neck knife. It hangs on a length of paracord and friction fits into a sheath. It’s unobtrusive but I can slip it inside my shirt if going to a place that doesn’t welcome knives. It’s my best friend when it comes to getting things done around the house, from opening packages to trimming an overgrown shrub.

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This knife is a good, simple companion for hikes.

When picking out a good knife, simplicity is supreme. When starting out, l look for simple designs. Don’t fall for the multi edged fantasy designs, for example – they may look cool but aren’t really good for much, and are often made with poor quality steel. Also, keep in mind that stainless steel can be a lot harder to resharpen. Carbon steel needs a bit more oiling and care, but it’s much better when you want to keep an edge on it. Keep your needs and goals in mind, and let that guide your decision on what kind of a knife to carry.

Below is a great article on choosing a pocket knife.

Every Man Should Carry a Pocket Knife

Safety

It’s easy to stay safe while using a knife, by following just a few simple rules. Because I’ve followed these rules, I’ve only cut myself once in thirty years!  When I did, it was because I broke rule number four.

1. Maintain your Grip.
Make sure your hands and the knife are not slippery. Only use knives with good, solid grips. Don’t use a broken knife or one with a loose grip.

2. Watch your direction.
Cut away from your body. Keep your strokes careful and controlled.

3. Keep it sharp.
A sharp knife is a safe knife. It cuts better and doesn’t slip as much.

4. Use the right knife.
Different knives do different jobs. If you use a flimsy knife to chop wood, you might break yourself or the knife. The time I cut myself, I was trying to use a kitchen knife to carve a name into wood. If I’d used a jackknife or penknife with a strong, sharp point, I would have been fine.

5. Know your laws.
Knife carry laws vary widely state by state and country by country. Know the laws where you are, as well as where you travel to. If you are questioned about a knife you may happen to have, whether by police or private citizen, refer to it as a “tool” or “utility blade” to emphasize the useful qualities and reduce fear.

Knife care

Once you have your knife, you want to keep it around for a long time. Like most quality things in life, a good knife needs care and maintenance. The following articles will help you keep your knife sharp and useful for many years.

How to Sharpen a Pocket Knife

How to Sharpen Edged Tools

 

via Daily Prompt: Craft

https://dailypost.wordpress.com/prompts/craft/

A Clean Sweep – low cost minimalism

Healthy Living

You already know all the benefits to minimalism.  Health, a cleaner home, less time spent reorganizing, less stress, etc.  Sometimes it seems like you have to be rich to be minimalist.  You really don’t, though.  Not if you do it right. In fact, you can even save money. Here’s how.

Right now, this very moment, is a fantastic time to live in if you are interested in minimalism. Data storage is tiny and cheap, multi-function electronic devices are common, and almost every book, magazine or song is available for download.  What once could only be stored in stacks and stacks of boxes or on shelves, can now be fit into a small pocket.  That’s a real benefit for someone who is trying to be more minimalist.

I have been able to fit nearly my entire library into one SD card, and my music collection consists of four or five CDs plus several hundred songs in an 8 GB Mp3 player that cost $5 including shipping. My eReader cost $50. My computer maybe $300 and I’ve had it for about four years so far.

What has this done for me?  Simplicity, even the basic level that I practice, allows me to support two adults in fair style on one income, even though I barely make over minimum wage. (Of course, I own my car, allowing low insurance rates, I don’t pay for cable, I found an apartment that doesn’t cost an arm and a leg, and my phones are $25 a line. That helps a lot.  Even so, the principle is sound.)

My point here is that minimalism is easier to achieve with some of this modern technology and it can save you a bundle, in time, in storage space, and in money. It can be a great feeling when you walk into a neighbor’s house and think “wow, they have something on EVERY wall, and things stacked on EVERY surface. I couldn’t live like that!” Then you think “wait, I did live like that. I love my new life.”

I see it as freedom.  Freedom from this:

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You don’t have to turn your home into a monk’s cell to embrace minimalism.

Also, I won’t advocate getting rid of certain spare items. Sometimes stuff breaks, and you will be better off if you don’t have to buy a replacement right away. That’s what poor folk often do, poor folk like me, because we don’t have a spare wad of cash lying around. When you do keep spares, though, keep them in good order and keep them out of the way, such as in a labeled box. Know what you have, why you have it, and where it is.  I have a few extra cooking knives in my drawer, and also my trusty (and old) eeePC in my desk in case the main PC has something happen to it. It doesn’t take up much space.

I took a hard look at my appliances and got rid of my food dehydrator, my juicer, and my printer. Print jobs are ten cents a page at the library on a high quality full color printer. My printer takes thirty or forty dollars to fill with ink, and then it expires before I even use it halfway. With the juices I drink, it would cost more to buy the fruit than just buy the juice. The food dehydrator was poor quality.

That brings me to another good guideline – if you buy something, buy the best quality you can afford. Ultimately, it costs less to buy better quality then to have something break. That saves money too, as well as headaches.

With these tips, and modified ideas from the innumerable other minimalism articles out there, you can save money and have a better life.  The key is not to go ultraminimalist but simply be mindful in what you buy and why you buy it.

By contrast to the clutter I left behind, each bit of minimalism I find feels like this:

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via Daily Prompt: Clean

https://dailypost.wordpress.com/2017/02/02/clean/

Life is Resistance

Thoughts About Life

No matter what, the will to fight is ingrained in each of us.

When a child is born, they are usually not a passive bundle being pushed out of the womb. Not only do they struggle and fight for life, but the struggle itself helps the baby’s circulatory system work better. My spouse, who has midwifed fourteen births, says that the baby always fights for life. We are born fighting, and the fighting helps us live.

This also happens to butterflies. If you were to cut open a chrysalis to help the butterfly get out, the creature would not be able to fly. Their body would be large, their wings poor, shriveled things. Only through the struggle of getting out on their own do they gain the ability to fly. The squeezing of the small opening pushes the blood and fluids out of their body and into their wings, which expand during emergence, and harden shortly after.

Chicks struggle to peck their way out of the shell with nothing but their own strength and an egg tooth. Everything depends on this tiny battle. From the first moment of consciousness, the fight is on. Then, it continues in the struggle for food, territory, and breeding partners.

As humans, a lack of struggle weakens us. No weight lifter in the world got strong without lifting heavy things! There are no quick, easy answers. Everything requires effort. Handouts and welfare require effort too – but this time the effort is spent by the workers who pay for the welfare. The old saying is trite but true: There is no such thing as a free lunch. This is true in society, in nature, and everywhere else.

Life, all of life, is a war to be won with deadly consequences for failure. If we don’t fight disease, it takes over. If we don’t fight depression, it kills us. If we don’t continue to learn and grow, we slowly die. Though it might seem so, I am not being morbid – instead I am celebrating the toughness we all have inside. Many of us may not realize it’s there, but it is!

Even in birth, there is no safe space. Every day our bodies are resisting pathogens, bacteria, viruses, fungi. The moment our bodies die, they stop resisting, and the pathogens win. We rot. The very fact that we are still alive means we are winning the fight for one more day.

What will we do with our victory?

via Daily Prompt: Resist

https://dailypost.wordpress.com/prompts/resist/

Automatic Yogurt

Food and Cooking

 

Tired of paying high prices for yogurt?  Interested in being more involved with your own food supply?  Sick of tiny containers and lots of artificial ingredients?  Don’t have the time for a complicated cooking project?

Try automatic yogurt!

It’s really easy.

All you need is milk of some kind, a spoonful of unsweetened yogurt to use as a culture, and a Thermos style insulated bottle.

That’s it!

How?

The process is simple and even a little fun.  Just heat up the milk to just above body temperature, then stir in a spoonful of your favorite plain yogurt.  Finally a use for those tiny containers that go on sale at the grocer’s.  If you use a microwave to heat the milk, add the culture after you already have it warm.

You can use nonfat dry milk to make yogurt, then you can just use warm tap water to make your milk.  Mix it double strength for a really awesome texture.

Then, cap the Thermos tightly and set it in a warm place overnight.  I usually use the top of my hot water heater.  In the morning, you should have a nice amount of smooth, thick yogurt.

Uses:

You can add fruit or honey to your new yogurt, mix it into recipes, use it as a substitute for sour cream, or make it into sauces like tzatziki.  It can be made into a type of cheese, too, if you drain it for several hours in cheesecloth.  Make sure to save the whey for adding to soups or bread.

Tips:

If you’re looking for a wide mouthed Thermos bottle, it’s best to choose one that’s made of stainless steel.  You can use other kinds but plastic holds odors and bacteria a little too well, while steel is easy to sanitize.  Here’s a good example for you.

Some people also use a Crock Pot style slow cooker, which is great for when you need large batches, like if you’re making yogurt cheese.  Here’s a nice, high quality, low cost example.

Common problems:

If you have an issue with mold, make sure your container is well sanitized with a weak bleach solution. Clean every nook.

If your yogurt won’t set, either your culture (the spoonful of yogurt) is weak, or you killed it with excessive heat or cold. The best temperature is about body tempoerature, maybe a little above.

If your yogurt tastes funny, clean your container.

Almost all problems with yogurt can be corrected by cleanliness, waiting a little longer, or getting the right temperature. The key is to remember that the bacteria that make yogurt are living organisms, and make an ideal environment for them to grow.

 

(Disclaimer:  If you follow the links to Amazon and decide to buy something, I get a small amount from the purchase.  There’s no additional cost to you.  I looked for the best value for the money and shared that, rather than picking the most expensive thing.)

via Daily Prompt: Automatic

https://dailypost.wordpress.com/2017/01/28/automatic/

A Star Wars Allegory – The Padawan’s Tale

Personal Growth

A long time ago in a Galaxy far, far away, there lived a young Padawan named Jo-kwan. He was Human, and though he enjoyed learning all the skills needed to be a Jedi, at times he tired of learning. He was particularly sick of something his Master told him every day.

“Jo-kwan,” his master would smile and say, “as a Padawan you must learn one thing every day.”

Jo-kwan was rather tired of that, to be sure. “Perhaps, when I’m a Knight, I’ll be able to learn a little less,” he said. “So I’ll try hard, and become a Knight, and then I’ll relax a bit.”

Jo-kwan was true to his word. He worked hard, learned something every day, practiced with his saber, and readied himself for his Trials. Finally as he stood before the Masters, newly knighted, he heard their words of wisdom.

“Knight Jo-kwan, you have done well,” said his Master, smiling. “Today you are a Knight. Now remember, as a Knight, you must learn two things every day.”

Jo-kwan bowed calmly to them, but he couldn’t smile back. Inwardly he thought “No! I’m tired of this! Two things every day? It’s not fair!”

Still, Jo-kwan was loyal and diligent, so despite his inner misgivings he workd hard as a Knight. He learned two things every day, he trained his own Padawan, he brought honor to the Jedi Order. While doing these things, be began to see the wisdom of his own Master. One day, as he was watching his own Padawan’s knighting ceremony, he was pulled aside by the Grand Master of the Council, a noble and kind Togruta.

“Knight Jo-kwan,” said the Grand Master, “The Council has observed your deeds and we have decided to elevate you to the rank of Master. You have trained a good Knight and your other accomplishments are worthy of merit.”

“I thank you, Grand Master,” said Jo-kwan, filled with the wisdom of all the things he’d learned.

“Furthermore,” said the Grand Master, his eyes twinkling, “I want you to remember a very important thing. As a Master, you must always learn at least THREE things per day.”

This time, Jo-kwan simply nodded and smiled back.

 

Epilogue:

After long years of serving loyally as a Master of the Order, Jo-kwan was finally elevated to a seat on the Council.  Then, he found that to keep up he needed to learn TEN things per day.  By that time, learning was such a joy that he minded even less.

 

via Daily Prompt: Ten

https://dailypost.wordpress.com/prompts/ten/

“Success” might be nearer than you think

Personal Growth

Some want private jets, some want huge houses, some want a six figure income, some want a spouse and kids and enough money to live on.  Some want to run everything in the world.  Some want political office.  Some want a private island.  Some want vacations in exotic lands.  Some just want a steadily paying job.

My definition of “Success” has changed a lot over the years.

Once, I would have thought that I had to be rich.  “Rich” meant a few million in the bank, a fancy car, trips to exotic places.  I thought I’d probably never see “real” success.

Now, I can see that I have met many of my own definitions of success.  I work a steady job and feed my little family on one income.  We  have a bit to put by each month.  I have a paid off car, a little old, it’s true, but paid off.  We eat good food and live in a place that suits us, and that we like.  We don’t take any kind of government assistance.  We have a few published books to our credit.  We have time for art and living.

How did we get there?

By not giving up.  By not becoming enmeshed in credit. By jumping on opportunities when they arose. By living frugally.  By saying “no” to cable bills and smart phones.  By saying “no” to the huge TV and the false need of a new car every few years.  By standing by our friends and building loyalty with them.  By not living beyond our means.

Some would still consider us poor, but it’s all in how you look at it.

What would greater success mean for us?  Our dreams are still fairly simple.  We want more exposure for our books, more books of ours on the shelf, more art of ours on the wall, one more nice computer.  Someday we want a home that costs maybe two to three hundred thousand dollars.  We want a bigger nest egg.

Those dreams are not so grandiose.  They can be achieved with hard work and ingenuity.

Why not take a few minutes to measure the places where you are successful?  Think about what real success means to you.  Think about the paths to get there.  Maybe the path is shorter than you think.

 

via Daily Prompt: Successful

https://dailypost.wordpress.com/prompts/successful/

When you want Exposure – don’t use ads!

Tips for Self Publishing

I’m going to tell you a secret.

I don’t buy anything I see in ads.

If you make something and want to share it with people, or have a business you want people to use, ads generate very little business.  These days, most folks have an ad blocker up anyway, or even if they don’t, the ad blocker in their brains is working full force.  That’s one of the reasons why my blogs and websites are ad free.

Sometimes I’ll share something in a post that I think my readers might like to know about, or I’ll let them know about a good deal, but I do not allow outside advertisers to put up ads.

If you want exposure, what does that mean for you?  

It’s really good news when you think about it.   Engagement is the key to building trust and getting sales.  Posting on forums about something OTHER than your business, whatever it may be, but including a discreet signature link can work wonders.

Guest posts, blog reviews, casually talking to people, those all work too.  If done well, it can be very successful.  Spammers are now trying to copy this technique, with little success.  Now they are trying to make their responses topical!  This shows that it does work, and you can be far more successful by being honest, engaging with people, and discussing things they are interested in.  Once they like you, they want to know more about you.

A note:  I’m not talking about saying something in a forum such as “I really liked your post.  It was interesting.  By the way, I have a book to sell…”  That’s just crass and intrusive.  What you want to do is go to forums/blogs/message boards of people who might be interested in your book.  Enjoy discussions, give advice, help people.  Then let them notice your signature.

I wanted to share this secret because I know there are still people out there who can use it.  Honest, sincere engagement helps everyone.  It improves the quality of forums and message boards, it helps those who have services to offer, and it reduces reliance on annoying ads too.  It’s more work to do it right, but it’s far, far cheaper.

Happy Communicating!

 

via Daily Prompt: Exposure

https://dailypost.wordpress.com/prompts/exposure/

The Unseen Cat

Photography

I am completely unseen, she thinks.

I am Cat, finest predator the world has ever seen.

Pound for pound I am the strongest mammal in the world.

I can run thirty miles an hour, I have ears good enough that scientists have copied their shape when making new antennae, my bite is dangerous enough you should see a doctor if I sink fang very deeply into you, and I can see  in the darkest of night conditions.

Ancient civilizations worshiped me, and even after they stopped seeing me as a Goddess, they still saw me as a member of the family.

I am not really domesticated, still mostly wild, and I choose who I will love and who I will not.

Here I am, stalking the backyard Savannah, seeking prey.

Mom calls me Baby Bobcat.

I am Cat, and I am unseen.

 

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(The cat in the picture is a semi-feral tabby named Saia.  She really does think she’s a baby bobcat.  Picture taken by Lenore Plassman, who can be found writing over at the Creative Fancy site.)

 

via Daily Prompt: Unseen

https://dailypost.wordpress.com/prompts/unseen/