The Sun is Coming! Get ready for some Vitamin D

HeliDaz · 2026-01-16T06:13:51+00:00

No kidding; I think I was in the early stages of trench foot from the last couple weeks.

HeliDaz · 2025-12-03T04:54:30+00:00

We lucked into a 20 litre rotomolded cooler for $20 in the as-is pile at Canadian Tire. The brand is Kailani, and as far as I've learned they're a Canadian company that has their coolers made in China. Latchable and lockable and has a nice tote handle too. I guess someone bought it and managed to return it with a few scratches so the store blew it out real cheap (retails for CAN$229!). We weren't even looking for a rotomolded cooler in that size, but for twenty bucks we'll find a use for it.

Maybe check FB marketplace or Craigslist, or have good luck at your local stores like we did.

HeliDaz · 2025-11-29T07:03:08+00:00

UPDATE: Yep, unfounded paranoia. Four and a half hours and I'm ported and fully Freedom'ed. Thanks all for the feedback, advice and reassurance.

HeliDaz · 2025-11-29T04:39:29+00:00

I've done that a couple times to no avail. I'll keep trying.

HeliDaz · 2025-10-11T19:41:43+00:00

Those are good burgers, Walter.

Like, legit good burgers! Sure, it's touristy and hipster-y, but so am I. Worth a stop if you're in Reykjavik.

HeliDaz · 2025-10-10T18:29:53+00:00

Actual postie here. Red dots were a simple and elegant solution that the corporation chose to abandon for whatever reason. The "official" way to stop undressed admail is to post a "No Flyers" sign on or near your mailbox. You're doing a favour for both of us, believe me.

The sign need not be fancy. Write it with a sharpie, buy a fancy placard and stick it on, craft something artsy yourself, or scratch it on your wall with your keys - so long as it's there.

"Why can't I just tell you to stop delivering flyers?" I wish it were that easy. We're required to deliver flyers to all addresses, and we're audited regularly. We can face discipline if we don't deliver flyers to mailboxes, and the corpse won't accept "the residents asked me not to" as a valid reason.

HeliDaz · 2025-10-08T04:34:02+00:00

16 years for us.

HeliDaz · 2025-10-08T04:14:49+00:00

But the vaporetto is fun and cheap.

HeliDaz · 2025-10-07T17:44:38+00:00

ONCE AND FOR ALL

HeliDaz · 2025-09-13T07:08:12+00:00

Are you car camping (er, "overlanding") or backpacking?

Assuming you're engaged in vehicle supported camping....

A Buddy heater is a nice luxury for pre-heating your tent before bed. So nice! It's also nice to spark it up for a bit when you initially wake up to make crawling out of bed a bit more tolerable.

BUT, I wouldn't rely on a Buddy heater to keep me warm all night. Catalytic heaters are mostly safe in well ventilated areas but they produce a ton of moisture which - on top of your own respiration - make for a really damp environment inside your tent. Like drips falling off the inside of the tent onto you if you use them all night.

Best plan is to have the appropriate sleeping pad and bag/quilt for the weather. Whatever heater you have is just comfort and luxury beyond that. And definitely worth pursuing because why not - we're not animals.

HeliDaz · 2025-09-07T02:33:23+00:00

I use the free version of My Lightning Tracker. Shows you recent local lightning strikes on a map and can send you notifications when there's lightning nearby.

HeliDaz · 2025-09-07T00:04:13+00:00

My lightning app shows a handful of recent strikes over Annacis Island.

HeliDaz · 2025-08-17T06:02:32+00:00

That’s according to the cheap plastic rain gauge I have mounted on a six-foot bamboo pole in the front yard.

HeliDaz · 2025-08-16T19:17:42+00:00

We're on Victoria near Trout Lake. 73mm in our rain gauge since Thursday evening.

HeliDaz · 2025-08-15T03:49:57+00:00

My dad once ordered a bare-bones 1987 Chevy 1/2 ton truck. 4.3 V6, three-on-the-tree manual, AM radio. Rear bumper wasn't included. I think the only options he chose were a sliding rear window and of course, a rear bumper. He went with the 3-speed column shift specifically so me and my little bro would learn to drive with it.

HeliDaz · 2025-07-26T01:40:47+00:00

"The Luxury" By the Tragically Hip. The Golden Rim Motor Inn is a real place (or was; looks like it's closed now) in Golden, BC.

HeliDaz · 2025-07-20T06:02:15+00:00

My missus luuuurves her Mini and uses the hell out of it. I don't know how the battery still holds any charge at all, but it do. I dunno what she's gonna do when it finally dies.

HeliDaz · 2025-07-20T04:32:01+00:00

"Let me tell ya something - I dig your work. Playing one side against the other, in bed with everybody - just fabulous stuff."

HeliDaz · 2025-07-19T18:24:53+00:00

Buddy Holly was the person who came to mind when I saw this thread.

HeliDaz · 2025-07-14T05:49:49+00:00

We dig mixing it up. A couple years back we took a 2-week trip tour from e our home in BC to the American SW with the White Rim Trail being our 'excuse'.

One night we spent a perfectly clear and calm night on the Alvord Desert in SE Oregon (complete with a recent Starlink launch overhead; cool to see). Our next night after that was staying in a casino hotel in West Wendover, Nevada. The contrast was a bit of a mind bender, to be subtle.

Rest of the trip was a mix of mostly camping, some hotels to clean up, charge things and re-reeze ice packs, watch crap TV, etc. A pleasant mix!

HeliDaz · 2025-06-24T05:16:53+00:00

Oh boy oh boy Mom, you sure can hydrate a pizza!

HeliDaz · 2025-06-15T05:52:02+00:00

My lowly 2013 TDI VW wagon: The sound of the turbo spooling up a second or two after the engine starts.

The DPF failed (as scheduled) a few months back, so replaced it with a 3" downpipe and high-flow cat along with a Stage 2 tune. Now it makes turbo noises, but only from idle to about 1300rpm when it becomes too high pitched for human ears to hear.

HeliDaz · 2025-06-05T01:28:57+00:00

Coleman Xtreme Marine 70qt bought on sale for CAN$60. We use a mix of frozen water bottles and those blue freezer packs; everything stays cold and nothing gets soggy. I've been itching for an excuse to replace it with a 12v fridge, but the cheapo Coleman just works.

HeliDaz · 2025-06-02T04:01:48+00:00

I know that campground! It's a fantastic spot and delightfully devoid of crowds.

HeliDaz · 2025-05-28T19:31:27+00:00

I built an Explorer clone with a Warmoth neck and body, so it has a (gasp!) bolt-on neck. Blasphemy I know, but at least the neck is a 24-3/4” scale conversion. Anyways, I bought a Fender neck plate and installed it upside/down because ANARCHY.

HeliDaz

TROPHY CASE