2012 in Review (132/365)

2012 has definitely been one heck of a year.  

I made some new acquaintances at Uni and I found out who my true friends were.

  

The Joes have had a great year in terms of fulfilling our mission of helping all those that we can.

Hurricane Sandy hit and I witnessed the coming together of friends, family, and strangers to make things right again.

My decision to join EDCF on January 23, 2012 brought me much more than lifelong hints/tips, but also  new found friendships and a second family to come to whenever I need a shoulder to lean on.

I was able to become even closer to the members of ABCCDDD.

Transferring to Uni was a huge accomplishment for me.

The generosity that the members of EDCF showed me will never be forgotten.

I'm finally feeling as though I'm truly learning about who I am.

Being conscious of the RAOKs that happen each day gives me hope for the world we live in and excitement for what's to come.

There are many more great memories that 2012 has created for me, but these are the most striking of all.

Gifts: The Finale (131/365)

A continuation of Finally Home, More Gifts, Even More Gifts, Christmas, and The Story of my Sitka.

Because of my recent hiatus due to finals week and the holidays, I wasn't able to finish my posts about the surprise gifts that were coming in through the mail.

So here's a quick little round up:

From Belush, I received some purple 550 cord with reflector strips.  Pretty awesome.  :)  There's a good amount of Type 1 cord (black), which I've been wanting to get for quite some time now, GITD cord ends, purple dice from a Vegas casino, and purple magnet chips from Vegas as well.  :D  Thank you very much!  From what I recall, KAMMster got the same package as well.  :D  Whooo!  Tiny Squad Purple Ninja Duo Fun Team... UNITE!

The above photo was a compilation of gifts from 4 different members.  :)  Together, we have:

1. Chik-Fil-A cow (I love cows!)
2. ceramic chopsticks - can you believe these are the only ones I own with a rest?
3. a prototype Skinth (they're awesome - check out skinthsolutions.com and perhaps even customise your own!)
4. Vic "Mechanic," custom made by TattooSteve
5. two bottles of Marie Sharps hot sauce (yum!)
6. a paracord bracelet
7. jute/twine for firemaking
8. a little clippy light
9. (OMG!) Le Petit Prince agenda/diary pocket size Moleskine!
10. a few packets of effervescent tablets
11. a Zombie Hunting "license" patch
12. a Victorinox (lime green alox) 4gb flash drive
13. a Timex Classic watch, in purple

And lastly, but definitely not least, I got this in the mail yesterday:

A Kaijin Fishhook!  It's so flippin' awesome... I'll have to load it up and take a picture of it all decked out in gear.  :D

Thank you, everyone!  :)  My sincerest thanks.  :D

Goal Zero Guide 10+ : 1 Month Later (130/365)

So I've had this Guide 10+ battery pack from Goal Zero for nearly a month now.  It's served me well so far and I'm really happy with it.

I know that there are other gadgets out there at the same price point that can do the job better, but here are some reasons why I chose this one in particular:

1. I really like the ability to connect and charge it via solar power to the Goal Zero Nomad 7 panel.
2. Unlike lithium battery packs (such as NewTrent and Anker), I can replace the AA/AAA batteries should they ever get shot.  Should the lithium ones get shot, I'd have to buy a whole new unit.
3. In a pinch, I have backup AA/AAA cells for my other gadgets (namely flashlights) if I ever need them.
4. It's about the size of a deck of cards, so it really doesn't take up that much space.  While I wouldn't EDC this in my pocket (okay, maybe jacket pocket), it easily rides in any of my bags/purses.

The Guide 10+ unit will charge my Motorola Atrix (whose battery is 1800mAh) 1 - 2 times.  Not necessarily twice fully, but good enough to get me through the day until I can get home to the wall charger.  If I cannot, there's always the solar option...

There seems to be the tendency that once I whip out this little thing and charge up my phone, while out with friends, those around me will also need/want to use it.  The "downside" in comparison to a NewTrent is that it just doesn't hold that much power.  I can hardly charge up my phone let alone my friends.  Which is why (in the picture above) I carry an extra set of cells with me.  For about the same price, I could get a NewTrent 7000mAh power pack, which should be able to do the same job as my current GZ setup.  However, this setup was bought purely for my own personal use, so it's fine as is.  And the above points still apply.  :)

I had thought about getting a spare battery for my phone, specifically, but why spend the extra $$$ when I have this?  Sure it's a little bulkier to carry (especially with having to make sure I have the charging cable), but whatever.  :)  The bit of hassle is well worth putting my hard earned money elsewhere, I think.  :D

Care Bags: Part 2 (129/365)

A continuation of Care Bags: Part 1.

My bestie and I were supposed to go to Disneyland a few days ago.  But we opted to spend the day shopping for items for our Care Bags project instead.  :)

For our first "mini haul," we decided to grab enough items to make 10 bags determine three things:

1. how much each bag would roughly cost us
2. how well we could cover the basics
3. how well everything would fit in our bags

Whoo!  All of our bags are finished!  :)  The ones with the blue ribbon are for females.

All of our bags follow the same foundation, which includes:

1. granola bars, 1
2. mints, 4
3. Werther's hard caramels (my Bestie insisted ), 1
4. Dum-Dum pops, 2
5. Slim Jim, 1
6. Chiclets, 1 (these were the fruity ones... I meant to grab the mint ones but got these by accident)
7. raisins, 1
8. tea bag, 2
9. apple sauce, 1
10. crackers (cheese), 1
11. toothbrush w/ cover, 1
12. toothpaste, (full sized, 6 ounce), 1
13. bar soap, 1
14. wash cloth, 1
15. comb, 1
16. tissues, 1
17. lip balm, 1
18. disposable razor, 1
19. [feminine hygiene products, 2 tampons + 2 liners]
20. the baggies themselves

After coming home and looking over everything, I realized that we had forgotten to add water to the mix.  In the future, when funds allow, we plan on adding to each baggie, a full sized bottle of shampoo and a stick of deodorant.

After calculating our costs, the total came out to be just shy of $5.00 per bag.

Story of my Sitka (128/365)

I had written this a couple of days ago on EDCF, but I really wanted to re-write it for the blog.  This is the story of my Sitka...

It all started back on December 7, 2012.  Whilst browsing the EDCF BST threads, I had found a Sitka put up for sale by member Mag718.  It was going for $65.00 shipped CONUS and had all the straps intact with very, VERY minor blemishes on the fabric (most of the time they go for $80.00 and usually are missing the Y-compression strap).  I wanted it.  And when I saw it for that price, I had to have it, especially taking into consideration that the only ~1:1 clone I'd ever been able to locate costs $50.00 (Red Rock Outdoor, Model: Rambler, for those interested).  But the problem was that I didn't have any spending money.  By this time, I had been eyeing the Sitka for a few months now.  I started to put up items for sale to get the funds for it, in hopes that I could get enough money for it before it was sold.

A few days later, I find that amazingly, the Sitka was still available.  I ask about it... which bumped the thread up to the top and then somebody else questioned having it shipped to internationally.  I thought it was a goner, but I didn't see that it was sold yet.  Fast forward nearly 2 weeks after the original posting, it's again, STILL AVAILABLE!  And still at the same [relatively] low price of $65.00 shipped CONUS.  By this date, it was my birthday, December 20, 2012.  It had been a rough day for me, getting a ton of not-so-great news and studying for my final exam at school.  During that moment of weakness, I asked my EDCF brethren and sistren whether I should continue funding for it and wait for the next deal to roll around or go ahead and buy it while I still can.  Most told me to be a good girl and wait.  And so I did.

Less than a day later, I started to get offers on the items I had up for sale.  I thought sure sure that that Sitka would be mine.  I happily closed the deals and went on my merry way.  Until I realized that member catfishdan had already bought it shortly after I asked the members to help me make my to buy or not to buy decision.  I was bummed.  So bummed in fact, that I texted my buddy KAMM to tell her what happened.  catfishdan had bought "my" Sitka.  But I figured that just gives me more time to sell stuff and save up for the next deal.  I was still bummed though.

About a day later I got a trade offer on my BST items that involved a Sitka.  It happened to be an S-Type, and so I spent a good 10 - 15 minutes standing in my room, swapping bags from shoulder to shoulder to see if I could make due with wearing a bag over my right shoulder instead of my left.  It also happened to be the Sitka that KAMM used to own.  I texted her to tell her how how ironic it would have been if I ended up with her Sitka, since I had missed out on it on her original thread (and because at the time I wasn't sure if I would spring for ran S-Type).  She tried to talk me out of it but I didn't understand why.  I thought it was weird because I was pretty sure there were no flaws with said item since she takes good care of her stuff.

Fast forward again to December 24, 2012...

This package arrived from catfishdan and Mag718 with a little Happy Birthday message.  :)

My new Sitka in foliage.

Complete with a surprise message, a Sipik Sk-68, and a lanyard from Mag, himself.

What a wonderful holiday season it has been.  It totally took me by surprise.  My sincerest thanks to all those who have made this year wonderful for me.  :D

Christmas RAOK (127/365)

Every day is a great day to do a random act of kindness (RAOK).  Today, my friend and I drove around town and it eventually took us to the empty lot of our local shopping mall.  We drove around the entire mall and saw that scattered all around the 3 square-block vicinity were Target shopping carts. We talked and agreed that it must suck for the cart retrievers to have to come back to work after Christmas and deal with it.  So what did we do?  :)  We spent the next hour or so corralling them all for the workers!  Just for pure fun.  :)

Before... (multiply that by a few more parking lots)

After!

All corralled.  :D

Christmas (126/365)

:)  I wanted to wish everybody a merry Christmas.  :D  Hope y'all have a wonderful time with your families.

I just woke up and opened my gifts from Brother.  They're great!  And I love the way our family wraps gifts.  :P

This is what I woke up to.  The wonderful gift wrapping skills of Brother.  :)  Of course, we had no Christmas tree, so these were sitting outside of my room.

Cracker Jack surprise!  :D

There was a Spyderco Squeak in there.  :D

Inside the Tuna Lunch?

A Spyderco Ladybug in Foliage!  :)

I totally thought I was getting a gaming headset...

But they were Hangyodon jammie pants!  Whoo!

Cannibal Monsters game?  NOPE!  Hangyodon sweater.  :D

Once again, happy holidays, y'all!  :)

Finals Week + Another Hiatus (119/365)

It's finals week at school... which means this blog is going on another hiatus.  :(  It'll be back on at week's end once everything settles down and I have time to actually write again.  For now, it's study, study, study!

New Haircut! (118/365)

A few days ago, my bestie took me out to get a haircut.  On a whim, I chopped it all off and I couldn't be happier.  :)  haha Because I don't like having my face floating around on the Interwebz, y'all will have to deal with this.

The newest addition to my EDC is Gatsby moving rubber.  This one's Brother's but I think I'll go grab the purple one soon.  Gatsby is by far the best hair putty/clay/stuff I've used.  It's a bajillion times better than the Garnier stuff that I've noticed a lot of people use.  With the Garnier stuff, I had to reapply every couple hours, with Gatsby, it lasts the whole day.  However, the green one I have above doesn't hold as strongly as I would like it to.  Purple one it is.  :)

Burt's Bees Lip Balm Tin (117/365)

After all of these years, I've FINALLY found the Burt's Bees tin.  I think it was a recent pull, as when I checked their website, many customer comments noted that they were getting harder to find locally.  Many of them ended up (just like me) coming to the website to check to see if they were discontinued and then bought them off their website.

I hope that these become more readily available.  J gave me the stick version and for whatever reason, I'm just not into it.  Another thing is that I always lose lip balm sticks, but never these types of containers.  I specifically wanted the Burt's Bees one because 1) everyone's always raving about Burt's Bees, 2) I like peppermint-y lip balms, and 3) it's in a flippin' tin.  :)

It'll definitely be part of my new EDC.  :D  And guess what?  They're thin enough to fit into girl pockets.  ;)  I'll be keeping the stick one that J gave me (thanks!) in my bag as a backup in the case that I forget the tin (which happens fairly often, actually).  :)

Pac-Man Bandages (116/365)

I found these at Target!  I always go through their dollar section and I always find something interesting.  When I saw them, I just HAD to pick them up.  I'll be using them as giveaway items in an EDCF giveaway soon.

Even More Gifts (115/365)

Lo and behold, the gifts keep coming.  These weren't from the original set of EDCF conspirator gifts, but they're gifts nonetheless.  Upon hearing that I really worked my Gerber Mini Clutch while in Jersey and that it started to buckle, this member sent me a Leatherman Wingman to replace it.  :)  I'm absolutely in love with it and how smoothly it opens.  I've NEVER owned a full sized multi-tool before, so it is a little awkward holding it.  hahaha I feel like a child.  :P

The headlamp is really cool too.  It would have been nice to have it during the Jersey mission considering my generic one conked out.  We worked until dark and so many of us used flashlights as lanterns.  A headlamp would have proved quite useful.

More Gifts (114/365)

Got some more gifts today, just as KAMMster mentioned:

A purple Opinel No. 7!  :D  This is so cool!  

Flippin' sweet Pelican 1010 Micro Case filled with 12 CR123 batts.  Can you believe it?!  I actually don't have anything that uses CR123s (as far as I know) but I'll figure something out.  :D

Thanks, everyone!  It truly is a blessing to have y'all in my life.  :)

Finally Home (113/365)

After a week of helping out the Joes with Mission: Superstorm Sandy, this is what I came home to.  There are 10 packages in this photo, but I've been told that there's more to come by my buddy KAMMster.  The guys and gals over at EDCF sure know how to surprise a girl!

In these packages, we have:

Baldeo Terroir.  This was funny because the person who got it for me found me on Pinterest and followed my "Stuff I Want" board.  :P  That sneaky member!  :)

Holy cow!  Who knew people followed my posts on EDCF that closely.  :P  A few months back, WillyDigger had made a copper medallion of his infamous skulls.  I then replied with, "I'd want a ninja coin in that style!"  This was in late August.  Fast forward to mid December, and this precious thing arrives in my mail.  Blurple's totally rockin' it!

A single bladed Vic!  Something I've been looking forward to owning in quite some time.  And it's purple, to boot!  :D

This definitely feeds my "pocketables" hunger.  I was completely amazed by how much stuff was in there.  I'm EDCing this in my backpack at the moment.  :)

This is really cool.  It's a holster for a Bic lighter and a couple batteries.  One member made this by hand all by himself for me.  :)  Freaken awesome!  :D

I've never thrown knives, but I sure do find it interesting.  :)  I will definitely be reading up on this come winter intersession.

My Mr. Sharkie and EDCF challenge coin came!  :D  I'm wondering if I could either drill a hole or find a nice pouch for it to live in.  I would really like to carry it on a chain leash, pocket watch style.  :)  Fancy.  :D

A plethora of goodies from Mr. Gnarly.  :)  There's a Klean Kanteen with a cigar in it (which *ahem* I shall not be smoking, good Sir), a pouch from 1971 that was on his rigger's belt, a couple of glow sticks/chem lights, a few tubes, some awesome 200 lb test line, a keychain light, and a couple trinkets.  :D

By buddy KAMMster got me a purple TEC glow fob!  :D  I'm still debating as to whether or not to carry it on my backpack or replace the SS one I have on my keychain.  :)

A flippin' sweet purple shemagh.  haha I'm so bad at accessorizing though - I've got to look up how to wear one of these.  :)  I wanted one ever since I saw one of our Joes wear it.  At the moment, I only occasionally carry a scarf (I find that they get in the way) or the super cool EDCF Buff.  :)

These were from when I was in Jersey.  On one of the days I was able to visit the footprints of the WTC.  The other two lights were given to me by a fellow EDCF member that I was able to meet up with while I was there.  :D  Thanks!

Goal Zero + Awesome Customer Service (108/365)

Thanks to the wonderful members over at EDCF, I was finally able to get an item that's been sitting on my wishlist for so long - the Goal Zero Guide 10 Plus battery pack w/ Nomad 7 solar panel.  I sold some of my gear that had been gathering dust and was finally able to afford it.  :)  And just in the nick of time to treat myself to my annual birthday/Christmas gift.  :P

I was actually planning on getting this from REI since they were having the promotional deal going on where you get a $20.00 on every transaction over $100.00.  I really, REALLY did want the Adventure Kit there that came with the Nomad 7, Goal Zero Guide 10+, and the free crank/solar flashlight.  But alas, all of my local REIs ran out of that set and wouldn't be getting any in before 1) I leave for Mission: Superstorm Sandy with the Joes and 2) before the $20.00 promo ended.  Most importantly was that I got it before the mission, though.

Anyway, it just so happened that this week, Goal Zero was having their road show at Costco too.  The closest I could get to what I wanted was the "special" pack they have that features a Nomad 7, Guide 10+, and Rockout speakers for $130.00.  I got that and I was feeling a little remorseful.  Especially since I didn't even want the Rockout.  But I figured I could either sell it or find a use for it and it'd be no biggie.

Upon opening it, I found out that it was the older model that was near impossible to store because of its design.  I was sad to find out that it wasn't the newer design that had the zippered pocket to hold everything that I saw on YouTube reviews.  This older model just had the tiny hook 'n loop pocket, and even when empty was hard to hold.

At the time, I didn't know it was the "older" model - I just thought that it was a horrible design and I'd have to live with it because it was probably just a "special edition" made for Costco.  Boy, was I wrong.  :)  They resolved my issue in a mere 2 minutes!  Here's how it went:

(after introductions were made)

Me:  I was wondering if the Nomad 7's went under a redesign?
CS:  (she went through some technical specs then ended with...) and the zipper pocket to hold your accessories.
Me:  Oh?  That's odd.  I just bought mine from Costco just about an hour ago.  I was expecting the zippered pocket as I had seen online, but mine didn't come with that feature.
CS:  Let me see if there's one we can send you.  (hold)  We do have one in the warehouse we can ship right out to you and you'll have it within a few days.

:)  That there, is great customer service.  I had actually offered to go to Costco again and see if they had any of the newer ones, but she insisted that she take care of it herself.

Great job, Goal Zero.  I applaud you!

Today's the Day! (107/365)

Today's the day that the Joes head out on Mission: Superstorm Sandy.  Best wishes to them all.  :)  And another huge thanks to the people at Southwest Airlines for donating the 10 tickets that allowed them to fly over there, the generous donations of the local community and throughout the world, and to all of our supporters all around.  Thank you!

Junky Knife Turned Good (106/365)

Whoa.  So I'm no pro sharpener and I don't claim to be.  But dang, these DMT sharpeners sure to make sharpening quick and easy.  :)  Since getting these (the DMT Mini-Sharp and the Dia-Sharp), I've been going around sharpening anything that I could find.

I was SUPER happy to finally be able to get an edge on this cheap Kissing Crane toothpick knife.  I've always wanted a Case Toothpick but I just couldn't afford it.  I really love the size and shape of these toothpick knives (I wonder if Case has a CF one that will match my future CF Case Sodbuster Jr...).  I got this Kissing Crane one in a surprise bag from BudK a while back.  I carried it a few times in the summer as a food knife but I wasn't able to get a good edge on it, even on the Sharpmaker (I know... even with that I'm horrible at sharpening!).

But these DMTs... DANG!  :)  I'm definitely going to get more than my money's worth with these DMTs.  I wonder what other wonders it can do... :P  Perhaps I can finally get a nice edge on my kitchen knives.

New Sharpeners (105/365)

I got these DMT brand sharpeners recently.  The red one is the Mini-Sharp in Fine (600 grit) and the green one is the Dia-Sharp in Extra-Fine (1200 grit).  I'll be keeping the red on in my mission bag and the green in my wallet for use when I need a quick touch up and it can't wait for the Sharpmaker.

This will definitely come in handy for Jersey since I didn't want to lug a whole system (like my Sharpmaker) with me.

I got these at Woodcraft, which I found was only a few miles from home.  With their coupon, I was able to get both at about 30-some% off after CA tax.  :D  Joy!

GI Joe SAR's Gala + Hiatus (104/365)

The Joes had their gala a few nights ago (30 November 2012).  It took place at Wine Artist in Lake Forest, CA.  It was a wonderful event and we even got to bottle our own wines (I shared mine with Joe as you can see in the picture above).  It was a nice dessert wine and it's got a custom GI Joe SAR label on it, made just for the event!  I'll get a close up of the wine bottle one of these days... if I remember.  :P

I miss Joe.  :)  I'm proud to be able to honor him in such a wonderful way.  These are bittersweet moments...

As for the hiatus, because the volunteers of GI Joe Search and Rescue will be heading out to New Jersey in a few days (myself included), there will be no posts between now and when we return (11 December 2012), unless I schedule some pre-written posts.  :)

Notebooks and Journals (103/365)

I love notebooks.  I've had my share of notebooks over the years - Moleskine, Markings, Picadilly, EcoSystem, Composition, mini Compositions... I've yet to find one that I really, really like though; even the ones that I bind myself!  I think that it's because I have a very specific format that I like to write in.

Lately, I've settled on the mini composition notebooks that I found at Dollar Tree (here); I like these ones because for one, you get 3 of them for $1.00, but more importantly, the paper is good AND it's got sewn binding.  I hope that they never stop carrying these and if they do, I hope I get a heads up somehow so that I can stock up.  They're just about the perfect size for EDC purposes, to always be able to jot down random thoughts and lists at any time.  My current mini composition notebook is set up in such a way that the first half takes care of two months' worth of agenda stuff (with a page for future appointments) and the second half made for notes and lists.  I like this format the best so far for every day notebook use.

For journal use, I've used plenty, as listed above.  At one point I used only fountain pens in the Moleskines and was disappointed at the hit and miss of their paper quality.  But I've since switched to using fountain pens for notetaking in school and a Zebra F-701/F-301 for everything else (I got tired of people borrowing and misusing my FPs).

I'm fairly picky with my stationery and I think that the aesthetics of the Moleskine (and the no name purple one shown above) is what makes me willing to spend the extra bucks on them over that of Markings an Picadilly.  I really like that the pages are flush with the cover.  I've yet to find a Markings or other readily availble brands that is made that way.  I don't know... the cover overhang just bothers me.  I'd really like to EDC a pocket sized Moleskine, but the size is a little too big for that.  That's where Field Notes, the "Fauxlants" that I make, and the mini compositions come in, I guess.  Maybe if I start carrying a purse more often, that would happen.  o_O

I've still got quite a few unused notebooks sitting on my bookshelf.  I'll get around to using them eventually.  I was talking to J the other day and geez, opening up and taking that first step to writing in a brand new notebook is NERVE-WRECKING   Gosh.  (That purple one above is about to be deflowered.  Nerve-wrecking, I say!)

Anonymous Donor (102/365)

A kind, anonymous member of EDCF contributed an Amazon gift card so that the Joes of G.I. Joe Search and Rescue may have 3 for their upcoming mission; Mission - Superstorm Sandy.  Best wishes to the Joes!  To help the Joes with their mission expenses, please visit www.gij411.org and locate the "Donate" button.  :)  They will be deployed to the east coast December 6-11, 2012.

As said in the short review (here) previously, these hand warmers are wonderful!