schof.org A journal of learning and doing

First of all, let me disclaim that I'm not a lawyer and this is not legal advice. I've included sources for where I get the information, but it's entirely possible that I've misinterpreted the sources, or the sources themselves were wrong. Use this information at your own risk. I welcome …

I feel like someone's been standing behind me and punching my back and shoulders for a few hours. This is, I think, a pretty common outcome after taking International Tactical Training Seminar's two-day "Handgun 2" course. Day 1, Saturday, is 9 AM to 5 PM. The 2nd day is 2 …

We're all familiar with the survivalist stereotype -- a bearded guy with an underground bunker, with a stockpile of guns and thousands of rounds of ammunition, and enough canned and dehydrated food to last through the apocalypse. This does not appeal to me.

I'm interested in a different kind of survivalism …

I own two handguns, and am planning to buy one more handgun and a shotgun. Previously I had been using trigger locks on my handguns, but my girlfriend and her daughter recently moved into my house, and I decided I was no longer comfortable with trigger locks as my sole …

I've long been interested in the local food movement, slow food, and sustainable agriculture. I was probably started down this road by Michael Pollan's "In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto" and "The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals" (both highly, highly recommended). I've just finished "Everything I …

If I tell people at all that I used to carry a gun for self-defense, I say that I stopped because I realized carrying a gun makes it much more likely I would have to shoot someone. I almost never say more than that.

I lived in several different lofts …

I just feel the need to whine for a moment -- please indulge me. (Or skip to the next post.)

My house flooded on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. I've already cleaned up twice; there's mud on my floor right now, on Monday morning. In addition, we're late on a big project …

My mountain cabin / hippie shack is built into the side of Topanga Canyon. It's TOTALLY not-up-to-code. Tonight, in the middle of the biggest rainstorm of the year, water started pouring from the WALL on the bottom floor that's built into the hill. It washed about a pound of silt onto …

Lots of info from the Malibu Times:

11 a.m. update

Saturday, November 24, 2007
Los Angeles County Fire Chief P. Michael Freeman said a just-completed press conference at least 2,200 acres have burned and 35 homes (15 on Seabreeze Road, 15 in Malibu Bowl area and 5 in …

Custom Google Map

I've put together another Google Map on fire status. At this point, it should be taken with a whole shaker of salt. I'm using the City Of Malibu sources, but note that the mandatory evacuations area is larger than the road closures, which doesn't make sense.