Burning Man. Mercury and Venus

Alison has really good host qualities.  I won't say Mercury and Venus were terrible hosts or hosts of any kind, but I don't recall either of them offering me a glass of water or much else very often on previous visits.   I had barely met Alison four days ago, and here she was offering me a glass of water and a bowl of Turkey chili.

I find that interesting because Mercury came back recently from the Burning Man in the Black Desert, whose culture he said is one of giving.  Interesting--I have hosted at least 25 groups of cyclists this year through Warmshowers--I didn't go to Burning Man.  Yes, I experienced the generosity of trail angels while hiking the Pacific Crest Trail in 2015, but even before that, I was hosting Warmshowers cyclists.

On September 17 2016, Mercury asked me in a text if he could come to my house and see my hammocks, as he was shopping.  Mercury had gone camping on the coast and coming back through my town to get home, dropping by my house to view hammocks would be extremely convenient.  It's all about Mercury.  I set up about four or five hammocks--after lying in each for a few minutes, Mercury chose a favorite.  He didn't take it home.  He said he wanted a hammock in a bright color because of his declining vision.  I said that an under quilt would hide much of the hammock and that a brightly colored tarp would help him find camp.  Instead of going home, he appealed to me to field check his backpack to see where he could reduce weight.  Almost every item I suggested tossing, Mercury made a passioned defense for it.  Example:  he had two epi pens in his first aid kit, not for his own use, but for use on others.  Total weight savings: one pound.  Mercury confirmed that Venus was travelling, (with her around, I knew he'd wouldn't have stopped by so late--"hey, Mercury, she has you on a short chain, eh").  The glaring omission: no personal locator beacon--glaring because if you're far from the trailhead and you need and evacuation, a hefty first aid kit won't summon that chopper.  While Mercury visited for those 5 hours, I served him glasses of Aberdeen's delicious tasting tap water and my brown rice and lentils.  Finally, about 11 p.m. he left.

I sent Mercury a note several days later to determine if he still wanted to buy a hammock.  He accepted the price at $70.00, (the equivalent Warbonnet Outdoors hammock) & picked the color;  I made the hammock and brought it to his house on somewhat short notice (I had to go to Urgent Care in their city).  Their friends Allison and Sally were present for a sleepover.   I showed Mercury how to use the suspension.  I almost left, but I wanted to see....

...The ukuleles.  I don't get it.  Some woman who owns a violin shop in Las Vegas gave Mercury a $400 Eastman concert size ukulele--solid mahogany throughout.  Is she angling for Mercury's hand?  He doesn't play the uke--things that come to us without our putting forth any effort to acquire them have no value to us.  He can't travel with it because leaving it in his van on a hot day could damage it.  Instead, he bought a $30.00 soprano ukulele at a flea market--it sounds OK, but Mercury's fingers are too big for it.  Mercury taped chord charts to the soprano.  I showed him the three chords for Woody Guthrie's " this land is your land."   He didn't look too enthused--it wasn't rock and roll.

A day or two later, I texted him from home suggesting that he gift the little ukulele to someone with small fingers.  No response.  Maybe that wasn't consistent with the giving economy of Burning Man.
Today I dropped by to gift Mercury a couple of closed loops, for those short hammock hangs.  I could have given him the hammock for free, but I pointed out: easy come=no value.

I'd forgotten Allison had moved in with Mercury and Venus.  What a nice person I saw in Allison.  I inquired not what happened to Allison's living situation, but I was impressed that Mercury and Venus took her in.
That's Burning Man.

Low use area

Posting the following language warning on my Warmshowers profile seemed to work.

This is a low use area for these words:

"Awesome, obviously, actually, basically, literally,

honestly, seriously, you know, um, like, uh,

I wonder if, apparently, to be honest, I mean,

at this point in time, I was like"

One allowed every 15 minutes. Not one of each. One.

Embrace the pause. Silence is well tolerated.

It is a NO-USE area for the word:

"So" to begin a new topic

Last night's guests didn't suffer for having to mindfully eschew these distracting filler words.  They just communicated.

Sourdough today and my new fermentation chamber

11 p.m. last night mix
Sourdough
250 g of starter
200 ml of water
310 g white flour
40 g whole wheat flour
Fermented at 105°in my top oven
with the temperature control set to
" click" just above room temperature.
Dough looks like a thick liquid
& might have stuck to the pans if
I'd not sprinkled cornmeal
12 today into oven @450°

 Loaves not very tall.
105°is likely too hot.
Need to control temp better.

My new fermentation chamber
Bought from Home Depot:

1. Line voltage thermostat $17
2. outlet boxes and outlet $3

Outlet boxes mounted to cedar board,
Thermostat and outlet wired.
Other materials:
Ice chest, a seedling heat mat, wire, wire nuts.

Awaiting a first trial!

I baked another loaf of bread after proofing for 14 hours at 85 deg using the same proportions as above, yielding another low profile loaf.

Issues?
Too much starter?  The next loaf will use 1/3 the starter.  The starter just provides the yeast.  The less starter I use, the more gluten structure can develop in the dough with the remaining flour.

Stop using this word, too.

"Awesome" 
Listen, you under-30 people, please stop using the word "awesome"  Let's look up the definition of the word the next time you use and decide together if the situation merits "awesome."  Deal?

While you're at it, stop using the word "seriously" and "honestly"  Meaning, everything you've said before was a pack of lies?  And, you'll start telling the truth now? 

What do these words add to the meaning at your communications?  They just fill the quiet periods of your speech. Quiet is good, and especially if you don't throw your credibility out by using these gap fillers. 

"Awesome" comes up at a time when a cyclist who wanted a place to stay the night had texted that in response to me accepting him/her as a guest.  That person did not show up.  That is extremely inconsiderate. 

Brooks B17 again.

I have two Brooks B17 leather saddles for four bikes.  I won't buy a $135 Brooks for each bike. I got impatient with breaking in the second one which I'd bought before even the first one was broken in.  I found a method of hastening the process at http://www.randorichard.com/saddle-break-in.  It worked.  Today I used the same method to break in the first one.  It now has dimples customized to my bumps.  Yay.  Yay  Yay for the internet.  Yay for Google.

It's gonna be great.

I want to go on a road trip, but

I want to go on a road trip, but my traveling partner has a tendency to talk too much and use too many filler words and phrases when thoughts don't materialize into speech fast enough..  

I give you:  A partial list of overused words that serve as nothing but filler or a substitute for UHHHHH.  Or for holding the floor before an audience that the speaker consciously/subconsciously believes will interrupt if a speaker pauses to let the words catch up in their flow from brain to vocal cords.

"Obviously"  If it is, then why are you telling me? 

like           
apparently, 
basically,
actually,
literally

"I think that”,
“you know”,
“what I’m trying to say is"
ya know what I mean?

This page discusses the causes and cures: http://sixminutes.dlugan.com/stop-um-uh-filler-words/

The hints are:

Step 1 — Assess how often you are using filler words.  Have some count them or record yourself!

How often are you inserting filler words?
Are they distracting?
Are they undermining your credibility?

Step 2 — Understand why you are doing it, and why it is unnecessary.

As stated above, the brain just  can't keep up with the mouth, so some part of the brain says to use a filler.

 Step 3 — Raise your level of preparation.
Know what you're going to say before you say it.  Get enough rest so that your brain can work properly.

Step 4B — Embrace the pause

And if someone does start talking, call them out on it.  Then continue where you left off.