Thursday thoughts

In the interest of increased resilience, and grateful for my math error that had the thick letter from the IRS telling me that they were sending me money back*, I decided to go ahead and purchase a few things that have been on my list for several years...

I ordered two pairs of glasses from Zenni Optical, to try out the "ordering glasses online" thing. Chose 80% grey prescription sunglasses, and single-vision clear polycarbonate, in the same style frame. The polycarbonate lenses will be ideal for target shooting, since with side shields I will no longer need to wear safety glasses OVER my regular glasses when we go to the range. If these pairs of single vision glasses work well, I shall order a pair of backup bifocals as well. At less than $30 a pair, this seems a worthwhile experiment, 'specially since my current pair cost over $300 ten years ago.

Have been really wanting a little pocket flashlight to add to my EDC. I have several larger ones at home, a big multi-C-cell maglite, a "shake" flashlight, and the windup emergency radio has an LED light function as well, but none of those will be of any use if I am away from Acorn Cottage without them. After some research, I decided to order the Maratac AAA light. It looks to be truly tiny and very powerful (link to YouTube video), and since I recently acquired a passel of eneloop batteries from Costco, keeping it happy should not be too difficult. (Am hoping to find a good option for solar battery charger/cell phone charger, still doing research on that...)

The third thing that I ordered is a Trangia cookset. I have been eyeing these online for a number of years now; they use a very simple alcohol burner (rather than the pressurised, non-refillable butane cartridge of my current camping stove). Suitable fuel is available in any hardware store (denatured alcohol), drugstore (rubbing alcohol) or liquor store (high proof drinking alcohol). Since the design has been in use for decades all around the world, it would seem ideal for a simple backup cooking alternative. Since I waited years to make this purchase, the company no longer makes the Duossal (stainless steel inside/aluminum outside) cookset, so the Ultralight Hardanodized is my choice for the best option. Once it arrives, shall need to practice outdoor cooking... perhaps as one of the summertime Crafternoon activities? This option, combined with my Kelly Kettle, should give me useful and portable ways to deal with creating hot food and boiling water...

*most of the several hundred dollars is being stashed away in my nest egg for when I have hand surgery, but it seemed a good idea to acquire these various useful tools now...