— Spherical Thinking

Always thinking around.

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Seasons

Have you ever found yourself in a situation where you think, “If only I had _blank_.” While in most cases I find myself with the tool I need, there are times every now and again that I think the same thing. I was recently lent a book by my friend @jeremyhoover that addresses that very issue. The book in question, Build the Perfect Survival Kit, goes over many different ways to prepare ahead of time so that when the need arises, you have everything needed to provide for your situations complications. Discussing kits from “mini” to large, the author goes into very deep detail on not only what to place in the kits, but also the reasoning behind why those things are being placed in the kit. Explaining that you need not only something to hold water in, but also something to purify the water in case the water you are able to get is not of the best quality.

I finished the book in only a few days, but plan on going back through it and rereading specific parts of it in order to create a plan for the following kits:

  • Mini kit
  • Medium kit
  • 2 x Vehicle kits

It is possible that I will also create a small kit, to take on small hikes and trips. I plan on attempting to blog through the process as I put the kits together (alongside putting my EDC together, as they are somewhat related) for your reading pleasure. I invite you to follow along and hope that it will encourage you to find yourself in need of a kit. Or, at the very least give you a reason to think about how you would survive in a situation where all you have is what you have on you. As the author of book says, “It can’t save you if you don’t have it with you.”

Sometimes it feels like there is too few hours in a day. Or in a week. Or even in a month. Being busy is something that most people either have no trouble with because they like it. But other people can’t seem to find anything to do, or simply dislike the prospect of having to do anything. For the first group, they enjoy the hustle and bustle of life, and flourish with the routine and pace of the game. Yet for the second group, maybe they want to be able to do something but are either unable to because of lack of work, or possibly because of inability to keep busy because of an ailment or other hinderance.

I seem to fall somewhere in the grey area between the two groups. I sometimes enjoy being busy, but also rather like a laid-back atmosphere. For the past month or so, longer if you count the entire time that I have been taking classes and the weather has been decent enough out so that chores have to be done, I have been busy almost non-stop. It is the main reason that there have not been new posts here on the blog. I simply have been too busy to do anything other than what has to be done. (more…)

As I mentioned in a previous post, I have been working on refurbishing an old bicycle that was given to me. The bike in question is a old english 3-speed that was made by Hercules. Here in America this brand is not very well known, but over on that side of the pond it was as common as Huffy. When I got the bike it was in pretty decent shape for having been left out in the elements for a good number of years. The old seat was absolute trash and was promptly discarded. I rode it for a few days as it was (after I put a new seat on it) and it rode fairly nice. Since it turned out to be a decent ride I decided to make sure it was all prettied up. First time I went to put air in the back tire she blew up on me. The tire had been hit with dry rot and the inner tube erupted. Funny thing was that whomever had put the tube in had folded it inside the tire and rim. I don’t know how that works but they did it. So the first purchase was new tubes and tires. Also the shifter line was broken and so it was stuck in one of the 3 speeds. I made the mistake of unhooking that and the little chain pulled back into the hub. It is now a freewheeling single speed. Anyways, I rode it for the rest of the summer as it was and enjoyed the heck out of it. Sometime during the winter I decided that I wanted to fix it up nice and get it ready for the next riding season.

If you care to read on how I did that, please come and read some more.

As the weather starts to t nicer outside one can only wait for a perfect day when they are able to get out and enjoy it. this is very true for me. As a person who grew up playing outside, growing up on and around farms, and going on many campouts, I am always jumping to get back out after a long winter. Some of the things that excite me about being able to spend time outside are things from growing up. Things like camping out and having campfire/holy moly bonfires are all great memories that I hope to continue to have year after year. As I grow older however, some of those things seem silly and some of them I now wish to share with my family. Let’s go over just a few of the things that I hope to be able to accomplish this summer season.

Since its so nice outside, why don’t you come and read more?

Tis the season… for snowmobiling! For all of this winter there has been a minimal amount of snow, and for Michigan, that is quite rare. For an area that averages about 40 inches a year, we have only gotten a few inches, much less than 10, maybe even less than 5. But the snowmobile ancestors have been appeased. What does that mean?
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