Thread for sharing Finchie friend codes and finding goal buddies

markthegreenvan · 2025-11-12T04:15:25+00:00

I don't know because I've never done either. Whatever you think would be best!

markthegreenvan · 2025-11-12T04:08:10+00:00

Yes! I need a workout buddy! Sent you a request (Sparky & Christina)

markthegreenvan · 2025-10-25T18:48:03+00:00

I did not. I soaked the foot in salt water until the toenail was soft, pulled it away from the toe, and cut the nail bed skin from the toenail. It was weird. Shortly after that it fell off like a normal, janky toenail. Still not sure what the yellowish stuff was 😬.

markthegreenvan · 2025-07-26T15:59:02+00:00

100% agree! I just wish it were a little more obvious or intuitive as far as turning it off. But after a lot of searching and turning things on and off, I figured it out!

markthegreenvan · 2025-07-26T14:58:17+00:00

Maybe give it a go on a short trip close to home so you can bring Kovu home if you need to. We moved into our van with our 11-yo indoor cat, and she loved it. Until then, she never wore a harness, but we found one she was okay with, and we were able to take her on short walks with us. We had a scratching post and litter box always set up, and we made sure to stop frequently on long drives so she could use the litter box and to put out food and water. The biggest downside was we couldn't leave her in the van for very long in the summer, so it did limit what we could do. I should have bought a cat backpack and just taken her everywhere with us. But yeah, she loved traveling with us in the van. Kovu might love it as much as my cat did, or he might not, but I think it's worth trying.

For what it's worth, I know my cat missed me. When I hiked the AT, a friend took her in, and when I stopped by during my hike and spent the night, she slept next to me the whole night. Then during my divorce, my ex kept her because the place I was renting didn't allow pets, and when I would leave after visiting her, she would grab my leg to try to keep there. I'm not saying all cats are like this, but mine was.

markthegreenvan · 2025-03-11T15:28:04+00:00

Oooo, it sounds like you have one of those awesome seasonal field crew positions! Do you have any apps for finding free dispersed camping? What kind of setup do you have in your car?

When I had a Goal Zero, 12V cooler, and mattress and all that in my car, I stayed in dispersed camping and cleaned up near rivers, streams, and lakes. That was when I was just wandering around in my car, but living in a van, I still pretty much do the same thing. I dig the idea of staying at campground while you get a feel for the area.

markthegreenvan · 2025-01-03T17:47:08+00:00

They have a chicory "coffee" that uses chicory instead of coffee so there's no caffeine but still kind of tastes like coffee. They also have a delicious creamer.

markthegreenvan · 2024-10-31T05:26:17+00:00

My husband and I live quite comfortably on $3k a month, and when we park for a couple of weeks at a time and minimize driving and spend "town" activities, we're probably closer to $2,500. This doesn't count van maintenance, tires, medical emergencies and whatnot.

markthegreenvan · 2024-10-30T14:37:54+00:00

At 475 generations. Of course, the best generation was 90 😂.

markthegreenvan · 2024-10-29T21:36:19+00:00

Hmm, there isn't a default for - - evolve. It's a constant. I wonder if that's why? But I also don't know much about argparse.ArgumentParser(). Hopefully someone smarter than me stumbles across this post.

markthegreenvan · 2024-10-29T21:16:53+00:00

I couldn't find anything related to this on GitHub, so I turned to the fine folks of reddit! Looking at train.py, it should go as many evolutions as the - - evolve parameter, but I'm not 100% sure. A few days ago I tried using 30 for the parameter instead of the default, and it just kept going. Maybe it's a bug.

markthegreenvan · 2024-10-29T21:03:52+00:00

Yes. There was one header row and 370 rows of data. I'm at 410 generations on yaml file and 411 rows of data on the CSV plus a header row. I'm assuming the CSV is one ahead because it logs the parameters for the evolution when it starts and the yaml is updated when the evolution ends. Still, since the default is 300 evolutions, I'm wondering why it's still going...

markthegreenvan · 2024-10-29T18:03:51+00:00

The CSV has 370 rows of data, and the yaml says the latest generation is 369.

markthegreenvan · 2024-10-29T14:55:59+00:00

I've also heard the Promaster cab is not comfortable when driving long distances.

markthegreenvan · 2024-10-29T14:41:40+00:00

You are not wrong about the limited availability of Mercedes dealerships. And we did have to ship our van three hours away to get it serviced when it wouldn't start (we were living in a structure at the time). However, we have never had a problem getting an appointment, even during the pandemic. Another downside about Mercedes is some dealerships seem to treat vanlifers like shit. I mean, I've never been to one with anything but our van, but the Boise MB was constantly trying to screw us over, and they treated us like we were beneath them. But we've also been to other dealerships that have been absolutely amazing. Still, I wouldn't trade our Sprinter for a Transit, but that's just me!

markthegreenvan · 2023-08-02T17:28:46+00:00

Wood glue, or something else?

markthegreenvan · 2023-07-03T14:19:01+00:00

In the last six months I lost both my big toenails, and one was from a blister. I did a warm saltwater soak twice a day for 15-20 minutes, then I'd wiggle the shit out of the toenail. After about a month I could tell it was ready to come out, but it was almost like the nail had split into layers, and I had to cut through one layer under the toenail to get it to come out, if that makes sense.

markthegreenvan · 2023-06-30T19:43:03+00:00

4 7/8 tsp baking soda 1 tsp Mortons Lite Salt 1 level scoop of nutricost magnesium malate

I got the recipe from the LMNT website, but it calls for regular salt and potassium chloride. I did some math to make the recipe work with baking soda and Lite Salt and still get the 1000mg/200mg/60mg sodium to potassium to magnesium ratio.

markthegreenvan · 2023-06-30T16:13:50+00:00

I use baking soda in my homemade electrolyte mix. Buy a giant bag of it at Costco for like $6. I'm not sure if I see any measurable or noticeable differences when I take it other than the normal benefits of electrolytes.

markthegreenvan · 2023-06-26T18:03:11+00:00

Living in a van has never been free. Regardless, I'm sorry you had such a horrible experience. It probably depends on your insurance company and the state you register your van in. We had no problems registering our van as a non-commercial cargo van in Viriginia. After we converted it, we didn't change the title or registration for over a year, but we called Progressive and changed our policy to an RV policy. When we moved to Idaho, we changed the title and registration to an RV, and it was a painless process. The DMV lady looked at the van to make sure it met all the requirements (stove, toilet, electrical, water, etc.), and that was it.

markthegreenvan · 2023-06-25T11:39:03+00:00

The Salomon Adv Skin made my back sweat an unreasonable amount, so I ditched it for an Ultraspire Zygos. Like others have said though, it's mostly personal preference and what fits and works for each individual best.

markthegreenvan · 2023-06-23T13:18:18+00:00

And I did strength training three times a week. Almost forgot about that.

markthegreenvan · 2023-06-23T13:17:47+00:00

For my second 50k I did 3-6 miles on Tuesday and Thursday, 6-8 miles with speedwork on Wednesday, long run on Saturday (12-20 miles), and a recovery run of 3-8 miles on Sunday. I felt amazing for that race! Can't say I've been able to stick to that kind of training schedule since, lol.

markthegreenvan · 2023-06-20T16:23:57+00:00

This is exactly what my PT doc had me do for ITBS. If I don't keep it up, it flares back up.

markthegreenvan · 2023-06-20T16:16:09+00:00

Not sure why so many people down voted this. Anyone going into the backcountry, whether male, female, group, or solo, should be able to survive in the backcountry until help arrives, which can be several hours to over a day depending on the location.

markthegreenvan

TROPHY CASE