IBEX is Fantastic

This past January I purchased an Optimus Guide Sweater from Ibex.com.  It is one of the most comfortable things I have ever worn, coming in second only to a $2000 suite I tried on at Nordstroms once.

Alas, the hem is coming undone, so I called them for an exchange.  They would happily refund my money and send me a pre-paid return label, but they don't carry the Optimus in the summer so they could not exchange mine for another now.

Then, they moved into the category of excellent customer service by suggesting that if I wanted, I could keep the one I have until their new stock arrives this coming August.  They would then happily exchange it then.

Well done, Ibex!  That's worth a couple of years of customer loyalty to me.

Always in mind, always on hand

I have been thinking about packing for backpacking recently and had a minor epiphany. I don't want the emergency first aid kit or the emergency food kit to be sacrosanct; never to be used except in dire need. Instead, I want them to be the first thought of, commonly used items so that I always know where to find them quickly, what is in there, and how to use it all.

They are always on hand, because they are indispensable. Sure, you don't want to eat the emergency food, but having the bug repellant and other common items in the first aid kit and using the emergency stove for tea means they are always in mind; always in use. Packing can be improved with experience.

Here's where I'm coming from; I haven't thought about this in years.

As a boy, I was in Cub Scouts and went to the Boys and Girls Club in Bellevue, WA., a lot. So, my parents sent me on club trips regularly. One summer, 1978 if I recall, I had finished reading my brothers old Boy Scout manual (the thick, cool one from the late 60's or early 70's) and had made my own nifty emergency kit. I took it with me on the weekend trip.

But, when we actually got into the canoes, well, I didn't want to loose my precious emergency kit I had spent so much time creating, so 12 year old me left it in the tent. Guess what? Actual emergency: a tree had fallen across the river and every single one of our 8 canoes capsized. We all got stuck on an island in the middle of the river. Oddly, while underwater, my fear wasn't drowning, but that a barracuda would eat me.

We were cold and wet. I had lost a shoe. In my memory, it seems like every time the leaders asked if someone had something (waterproof matches, fire starter, whistle) I did. Safe against the wet in a tin wrapped in paraffin cloth back in my tent. Where it could not help. So we stayed cold and wet until the Sheriffs came and evacuated us hours later (fishermen on the river went to a nearby farm to call).

I carried that kit with me everywhere I went the rest of the summer. And the next, when my parents sent me on another canoeing trip (I did not want to go, let me tell you! That one was awesome).

So, that's what I'm going to try this summer on day hikes and weekend trips.

New iPad

First Post!

It is a lot heavier than I anticipated, but beautiful.

The Engraving on my Pre-Ordered New iPad

Tricorder Model 3

Assigned to N6NUL

Apple Event Prediction

I predict that no matter what Apple announces on Wednesday, the pundit class will be sorely disappointed and within a few weeks, they will be outselling everything else by 2 orders of magnitude.  This is because normal people will look at it, hold one at the Apple Store nearest them, and decide it's just what they wanted.

There are only 50 or 100 thousand "fanboi's".  Not 10's of millions.  They are not driving Apples sales.