This is an oddball one, but was given to me by the best backyard wrench I’ve met. Always carry an unopened 2L bottle of pop in your beater car.... Because if you get a car fire, it’s way more useful than the tiny fire extinguishers that are out there. I didn’t believe it, until driving out of princeton BC on a hot…

In 1889, Jules Verne (and or Michael Verne his son) published a story with many of these themes, importantly the theme of long distance “instantaneous” and wireless communication. Here’s a link. It’s a short read, but pretty astounding considering that electricity was thought of as pretty rare stuff whipping through…

In the late eighties I was on a climbing trip outside of Los Vegas, driving a friend’s firefly at night on our way back to our campsite. All good, until suddenly both headlights and all running lights go out. Car running fine. I coast to a stop while putting on hazards (works), and fiddle with light lever. Turns out I…