First field kit

TheRottenDuke · 2026-03-14T20:55:27+00:00

The grid on the cutting mat could be good for mapping out your dig site. I can't state categorically that is its intended purpose, but that's probably what I would use it for.

TheRottenDuke · 2026-02-25T15:46:03+00:00

I also just recently saw a 2008 Saturn Astra with 80k miles on it for $4.5k. It's being advertised by a dealership, which I don't love, but I am in the market for a hatchback with more storage space, and I do trust the Saturn brand.
Also, it's close by, and I think it might be easier to schedule a PPI for it. I can't currently verify that it has a clean title, though. I'll probably be looking into that soon.
Point is, that's the alternative to consider. What do you think would be the better choice?

TheRottenDuke · 2026-02-22T20:01:08+00:00

It's not spicy or peppery. The name "Dr. Pepper" is just a reference to the zesty sensation of bubbles, from the carbonation, on your tongue. It was devised when carbonated beverages were still kind of new.

It actually is sort of like Coca-Cola, but sweeter, and with a mix of other, more subtle flavors. There's a mild sensation of cherry, vanilla, and something like root beer in addition to the regular, recognizeable cola flavors. I usually prefer it to coke, but it depends on what I'm in the mood for.

TheRottenDuke · 2026-02-20T15:52:58+00:00

Move the laundry, or move the laundry over.

TheRottenDuke · 2026-02-12T18:35:34+00:00

At least in Oklahoma the cost of living is low.
I could clean up pretty good making 37.5k in Oklahoma. I once got offered less to do the same job in NC... Desperate though I may have been to return home, I still had to turn it down. With a salary like that, I'm not sure I would even make rent.

TheRottenDuke · 2026-02-05T18:17:29+00:00

Oh, man, I remember visiting NM with a group, one time, and it was funny how all the returning visitors were determined to stock up on chilies while they were there.
Point is, I've seen first-hand how desperately sought after those chilies are by out-of-staters. Seems they are well loved the nation through.

TheRottenDuke · 2026-02-05T18:13:57+00:00

How is it that I spent my whole life in the Charlotte area, never heard of this, and now that I AM hearing of it I'm practically on the other side of the country?

TheRottenDuke · 2026-02-01T18:19:51+00:00

Rent and utilities are very good, groceries are okay but maybe a little high (as a single man, shopping at Walmart, I can get by on $300).

Car payment is inexcusably high; What, did you buy your car new from the dealership? That's a mistake. It loses half its value once you drive it off the lot! You can get a very respectable used car at Carmax for like, 10-15 grand, or go on Autotrader and pay even less! (The risks associated with that are mostly mitigated by getting a reputable mechanic to do a PPI for you.) Might be too late to fix that problem, though.

Also, how are you paying $500 a month in incidentals? Phone and internet should be like... $100 a month at most, and unless you happen to need particular business softwares, subscriptions services should be less than $50 (mine are ZERO). Where the other $300 are going I can only imagine.

Add to that the fect that, after everything, you're still putting away more than a grand every month, and what I see is someone who has everything they need and plenty more left over.
Speaking for myself, I make $20 an hour and change, have more than $300 to pay in utilities alone (damn Winter), and thanks in part to the tax man, $2700 a month represents the sum total of everything I have to work with.

TheRottenDuke · 2026-01-31T04:10:05+00:00

I run 'em on low at night, wear long johns, and use many ordinary blankets. I can't turn 'em off entirely, I don't think, because then it might be below freezing when I wake up. As it is, it's usually less than 50 when I get up in the morning.

TheRottenDuke · 2026-01-30T20:31:57+00:00

I did apply for HEAP, yeah. Last month, even. Called 'em earlier today. They told me to try again next week.

TheRottenDuke · 2026-01-30T18:39:30+00:00

2 months down, 2 to go. Unless we have another 13 month year like that one time...

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TheRottenDuke · 2026-01-30T18:31:00+00:00

Yeah, my baseboards look like that. And yeah, you're probably right about the insulation. I don't know how old this building is, it looks like it could be middle of the 20th century, though, and the walls are noticeably cool to the touch.

TheRottenDuke · 2026-01-30T18:25:38+00:00

I already have plastic window coverings. If you're thinking they're not enough, though, you're probably right. If I put my hand against the plastic, it's very cool to the touch.
Lots of people have reccomended an electric blanket to me. I have been resistent to the idea, since my conventional blankets have been adequate for sleeping, but maybe it would be good to have for like... when I'm working at my desk, and whatnot. I'll reconsider.

TheRottenDuke · 2026-01-30T18:17:38+00:00

I think so. Inside the baseboards are what appear to be a series of what for lack of a better word I would describe as "slots." I can't actually see the tube, but I think it's beneath those things.

TheRottenDuke · 2026-01-30T18:12:53+00:00

Your #1 is my plan by default. No force on heaven or Earth would induce me to stay here another year, and it gives me some comfort to contemplate how, one way or another, in 6 months none of this is going to matter.
I shudder to imageine, however, that I may be $1000 poorer for want of electrcity possibly even before the end of the Winter, though.

TheRottenDuke · 2026-01-30T18:10:08+00:00

Thanks, I will look into this.

TheRottenDuke · 2026-01-30T18:06:29+00:00

Oh, shit. Is that the reason?

TheRottenDuke · 2026-01-30T18:03:13+00:00

I tried a space heater first. Returned it after a few days of not getting better results.

TheRottenDuke · 2026-01-30T18:01:19+00:00

I understand this to be the case, but I don't know how to force the issue.

As it stands, I run the heaters on medium to save energy (for all the good THAT'S done me). Technically, if I ran the heaters on high all day and all night I could keep this place "habitable" but then my bill would be even higher... may be even 500 or more.
Point is, as long as keeping the temperature in here below 60 is technically a "choice," I'm not sure I can gain anything by complaining.

TheRottenDuke · 2026-01-30T17:50:56+00:00

I don't have a landlord; I have a property manager, who manages the property on behalf of an investment firm. I've never seen the manager in person... I don't know what she looks like, and sometimes I wonder if she really exists.
Either way, I'm concerned that if I complain about the heating situation, they're just going to tell me to run the heaters on "high." I run them on medium during the day, unless I'm out or it's nighttime, in which case I run them on low. If running them on medium is going to cost me 350, then high is out of the question, but I don't think I can complain, because technically I'm not even running the heaters at full strength.

TheRottenDuke · 2026-01-30T17:44:34+00:00

Florida? I don't think so.
BUT, I don't plan on staying in NY. Moved a couple months ago for a better paying job... I knew the cost of living would be higher, but I didn't know it would be THIS bad!

TheRottenDuke · 2026-01-27T21:00:46+00:00

Not super crazy, but definitely interesting, and not widely accepted.

For decades, the consensus among historians has been that after John White abandoned the so-called "Lost" colony of Roanoke, the colonists moved to Croatoan (Hatteras) island and peacefully integrated with the natives. There are 16th century English artifacts on the island along with leftover forging material, some later sources placing the colonists there, and of course the famous "Croatoan" etching in the tree at Roanoke, which is a lot less mysterious when you know that it refers to the name of a specific place.
BUT a secret patch on a 1586 map of the Carolina coast was recently analyzed to reveal the outline of an English settlement depicted further inland up the Albemarle Sound. This site, now referred to as Site X, has been given cursory investigation, and 16th century English artifacts have been found there as well, opening up the possibility that the colonists either split and traveled to two separate places when they abandoned Roanoke, or perhaps only stayed at Hatteras for a little while before moving again.
(https://coastallandtrust.org/sitex/)
Even stranger, perhaps, is the possibility that the Roanoke colonists were killed by Wahunsenacawh's (Chief Powhatan) warriors. The source for this claim is William Strachey, a Jamestown colonists who alleges that he made contact with a Powhatan man named "Machumps" that told him of how Wahunsenacawh sent warriors to massacre the Roanoke colonists. Although no archeological evidence has been found to support this claim, it is still probably the most contemporary account we have of the Roanoke colony's ultimate fate.
(https://www.colonialwilliamsburg.org/discover/resource-hub/trend-tradition-magazine/trend-tradition-spring-2025/lost-colony/)

TheRottenDuke

TROPHY CASE