The Big Puddle Solution

Posted on August 23, 2026 by Pamela Rentz

I like to keep some emergency drinking water in the house. I’ve never gotten carried away but usually kept about 10 gallons for two people. I just bought regular bottled water jugs from the grocery store and kept rotating them.

During the ongoing enshittification of everything, the plastic used for these bottles became crapified meaning if you looked at it for too long, it would crack and leak.

One day I walked into my laundry room and sloshed through a giant puddle. Panic ensued.

It was kind-of a relief to see the problem was just from the emergency water.

This all happened a while ago. I asked my AI expert, what to do about emergency water and it told me that the consumer plastic jugs were not reliable enough. It suggested a water storage product that is often used for camping and I found a place close by where I could pick some up.

Except that the store was across the river in a shopping area that has traffic patterns so terrible I think they should raze the whole thing and start over. So I never want to go over there and put it off for months and months.

Finally, I had a day off and made myself go over there and of course they didn’t have any in stock and suggested I could go to a store across town about 30 miles away.

“I didn’t even want to come to this store,” I told them.

When I got home I asked my new AI expert for ideas (I fired my first AI expert) and it said the other product was very popular but, actually, if you looked at the reviews they had a lot of unhappy customers. It suggested a different product.

I found myself at a prepper store site buying the 4-jugs-that-hold-5-gallons kit and I kept my cart open for another month or so before I got around to pressing the purchase button.

As an aside, I will say that I have lot more sympathy for people who don’t have their shit together because during the more intensive Dad-care times we did not have our shit together.

I goofed off for another couple weeks after they arrived and this weekend I finally got my emergency water system all set up. A full container is pretty heavy for me so they aren’t completely filled. I need to add daily water lifts to get stronger. They fit nicely in this little nook and fingers-crossed they don’t leak and we never need them for an emergency.

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Garlic Loving Family

Posted on August 19, 2026 by Pamela Rentz

In case you can’t tell, I am still learning my new photo app. I had a set workflow before and now I’m doing something different every time. I’m trying to make the files smaller but clearly this is too small so next time I’ll move the slider up.

I had this great idea that I wanted to grow garlic. I’m not sure what my thought process was because while we are a garlic loving family, we don’t go through a crazy high volume. Maybe I thought once you grew it, it would keep forever? Maybe I imagined sharing with all my friends? Maybe I just didn’t understand how much I was buying?

Territorial Seed strikes again.

I bought one quantity of hard neck and one quantity of soft neck so I could see which I liked better.

It was a very large quantity of garlic. I felt a vague sense of unease as I started planting it.

Also: a friend had told me again and again about how amazing garlic scapes are. You can make pesto or just saute. So delicious. So many ways to eat them.

I did not find them delicious. I found the scapes to be woody and like eating lawn clippings. I made pesto and it didn’t grind up and was just oily chunks of lawn clippings.

The garlic itself was high maintenance, too. You had to very gently ease it out of the garden and shake all the dirt off and then tie it into bundles and hang in a cool, dark place so it can cure.

What a bunch of babies. And of course all this was happening when I was distracted with Dad stuff so I was running out there and performing this long list of procedures in a super half-assed way.

In one of the YouTube clips I watched, they hung the garlic outside so I put it in my shop which is not outside but not in the house. Also: it is only dark at night and only cool in winter.

Eventually I remembered it was out there and decided it was time to bring it in and there were about a million heads of garlic. Some were very tiny.

I wasn’t sure what to do with all this.

I have given some away. I have set some aside to plant because we can’t possibly eat all this and why not torture myself with the same problem next year? The rest is in a brown paper bag on the kitchen counter and we’re using it. I roasted a bunch with some potatoes and it was delicious.

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Dear Diary

Posted on August 7, 2026 by Pamela Rentz

[It feels bad pushing the Dad post out of the top spot but I guess life goes on and {insert your favorite platitude} and so forth.]

Dear Diary:

This week I backslid and went to the stationery store and bought a mechanical pencil, and drawing markers, and a pen, and a planner, and some stickery doodads. I loved when I went to checkout and the person said: Did you enjoy looking around?

YEAH I DID.

I did not buy more index cards, erasers, rubber stamps, or other blank books.

Also: books read since July 1 including up to today: 1.
Books purchased: 16 🤣

(Books not pictured.)

In other news, we have been using an Adobe everything account on an educator discount for years — I guess since they started the subscription model. They, like every big company, in a race to enshittification sent us a note that we had to pay the full price now and we decided we don’t use it enough to make it worth it and it’s gone.

Meanwhile, I have to learn to use a different tool and longtime readers will recall that I am not good at learning tools. 😂

Almost certainly more whining about it to come.

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Dad!

Posted on July 24, 2026 by Pamela Rentz

July 4, 1930 – July 16, 2026

96 years old!!

I don’t know if anyone reads this who doesn’t know me in real life. Or even if anyone reads this. 😂

I’ve been thinking about writing something but waiting until I time to write something really good. But what does that even mean? I might post the obit later.

But here we go: what a life this man had.

At our last few healthcare visits I said: If a cat has 9 lives, Dad has 109 lives.

Quick list of things he survived: WWII as a child in Hamburg, Germany; colon cancer; heart attack; all kinds of mobility issues and hip surgery and then falling during the recovery; lost an eye to shingles; lost a leg to a complicated leg circulation thing; 3 bouts of pneumonia in 10 months.

He fought death hard. He wasn’t going out without a fight.

I had envisioned the end as this quiet time with all of us at his bedside. I had worried that the last stage would be drawn out because he was so tough.

But when it finally happened it was chaotic and quick and a surprise. He was surrounded by caregivers and we were trying to make him comfortable. Then he was gone.

And well done, Dad. You’d been through enough.

My dad gave me my love of soccer, particularly the World Cup. I first learned about the WC when West Germany was in the final in 1982. I don’t recall that I watched the entire match but someone had sent Dad a tape (?) of the game and we talked about it.

World Cup has been something we could bond over and enjoyed talking about.

The 2026 tournament was hit or miss for him because he was spending a lot of time in bed the last couple of months.

I went over for a match — I think it was England v Norway. He was in bed and said he didn’t feel well. I said, “I’m going to keep you company. I’m going to turn on the match.”

About 10 minutes later I heard, whump! behind me. He’d transferred to his wheelchair. He said, “Sweetie! Can you get me my hairbrush?”

I helped him get himself together and we watched the match. He wasn’t paying much attention to the teams but he enjoyed watching the play and goals. Too bad he missed that England v France match.

It’s been a long adventure. I would tell people he had a heart attack in 2010 and he’s been diminishing a grain of sand a day since then. He moved to be closer to us in 2019 and we’ve loved having him here.

Hard to believe he’s gone.

There is a Celebration of Life at his retirement home on Saturday. For the family celebration — it will be in California TBD.

But if you want to celebrate my dad — listen to some jazz, whip up cocktails, grill some steaks, and enjoy a laugh with people you love.

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The Chilly Bus Seat Solution

Posted on July 12, 2026 by Pamela Rentz

The Future Imagined in Albert Robida’s La vie électrique (1890) from thePublic Domain Review.

Have I ever complained about how cold it is on the bus in the summer? I surely have but can’t find a post about that right now.

As soon as the sun comes out and the daily high gets into the 60s, apparently the buses are mandated to crank the air conditioning.

I had this great idea to find a summer coat. I envisioned something very thin but also fleecy so it would be cozy but not a giant thing to haul around on a hot day. Numerous searches yielded nothing I was willing to buy. Anything that was close was too expensive or a weird color or too close to something I already had that I didn’t want to be my summer coat.

Then somehow I got an idea for a summer blanket and after searching around I found: travel blankets! And that cracked the search wide open. I had about 3 that would have worked but I narrowed it down and I bought 2. One for me and one for a friend or to keep in the car or whatever I decided.

I’ve been hauling it around and then the first time it was cold enough that I would want to use it – I was too embarrassed to take it out. I know. What’s wrong with me? I’d rather sit there shivering then get out my travel blanket that I bought specifically for when I’m too cold on the bus. Like all the other passengers would be looking at the weird old lady with her bus blanket.

The second time I was too cold it was morning. This particular type of bus must double as a meat locker when it’s not being used to drive people around. Just sitting in the seat I felt like I was getting freezer burn. I whipped out my blanket and cozied up under it and it was perfect. And I felt so smart and prepared. (This is what I got.)(Not sponsored — I’ve never sponsored anything but just in case you were wondering.)

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Skunky McSkunky Face

Posted on July 8, 2026 by Pamela Rentz

Look how big this skunk is! And so shiny. If you didn’t know better you’d want to pet it.

For the night of July 4 we had the house closed up to deal with the noise. The city has banned fireworks for several years now and there was an aggressive public communication campaign that said there would be zero tolerance for fireworks in the city limits.

I heard a couple pops and fizzles and you could hear fireworks in the distance but it was decently quiet night.

I woke up very early to the smell of skunk. In my half-sleep I thought that it was weird I could smell skunk. Then I heard Bob bumping around and I thought maybe I was smelling coffee.

Sure, why not?

When we got up the skunk smell was strong in the shop and out in the backyard.

The camera batteries were dying so I didn’t get any clips but I’m going to guess the jerk raccoons harassed the skunk and it cut loose on them.

The smell was gone by afternoon.

The first thing I do when I get up in the morning is go to the kitchen window and see if there are any critters out there. Generally no but if I do see something, it’s usually a bunny and bunny is my favorite.

This morning I looked out and guess who was out there? The deer! Eating my strawberries!

It looked up when I said, “Hey! Get out of my yard!” from the window and then stood there. I dashed to the backdoor but by the time I opened it the deer vanished. I’m not sure where it went but I’m guessing into the yard next door. We have a low fence between our backyards and then have a low gate out of their backyard to the street.

That is the 8th visit I’ve documented since April 8. 🙁

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Berry Berry Serious

Posted on June 29, 2026 by Pamela Rentz

The berry patch at the end of March, 2026

I remember cutting the berries way back last year and being concerned about being too aggressive but they were so healthy and bountiful that this year I decided to be even more aggressive.

Does that look aggressive to you? As I recall, I pulled out a lot of canes and cut things way back.

This isn’t a great shot but you get the idea. This was June 2nd.

One of the reasons for more pruning the last 2 years is I bought a couple of thornless blackberries and I was making room for them. I think they were overwhelmed — I’m not even sure if they are still in there. I’m going to check on them when things calm down.

I think the lesson is that berries love being pruned.

I was going to apologize for posting so many pictures of berries but then I looked at my posts and saw that I haven’t posted any pictures of berries and all my readers are missing out.

It always starts with a surprise, “Hey look! A few berries!” Then things gradually pick up speed.

The everbearing never did much until the last couple of years. I remember walking in my neighborhood and someone had everbearing raspberries in their sidewalk planter and the bush was as big as a car. I was envious wondering why mine never did anything.

No more.

I had a massage appointment last week and the massage therapist said: Are these scratches all over your arms?

Me: YES! Because I have been berry picking.

You really need to get in there. There are lots of good berries in the middle and the patch is especially dense I guess from all the pruning.

I bought one of those Ball canners where you put the water in and turn a dial and it will warm your jars for you and then after you put the filled jars in you hit a button and it tells you when you are done. I love it. I have done 3 different techniques — twice with no pectin, one with pectin where I added the sugar in the beginning because I didn’t read the directions, and then last night I canned 8 pints (!!!) doing the pectin first and adding the sugar for a 2nd boil.

I did 1 batch of just raspberry and 1 batch with rasp, black, and blue and then 2 batches with rasp and black.

Contact me if you need more details.

So far I have shared berries with at least 5 neighbors, made a pie, frozen 2 qt bags of blackberries and 2 qt bags of raspberries and I’ve made 12 ish pints of jam.

Also, berry eating is mandatory. I don’t want to see any apples or bananas. Only berries.

I want to say things are slowing down but actually I just skipped a day of picking. They are still bountiful

I remember last summer I really enjoyed coming home from work and changing clothes and getting out there and picking berries.

But this year it takes about 2 hours.

The blueberries aren’t getting much representation in this post. They are not producing a terrifying amount, only a nice regular supply. I have 3 productive bushes plus 2 baby bushes. The baby bushes were originally planted out front but I changed my mind and moved them to the back and they are still trying to get settled. Maybe next year.

As of this moment we have 1 big container (4 cups?) of washed and sugared blue, black, and raspberries ready for the week. There are 2 containers with freshly picked and unwashed berries, maybe 2 cups of black and 4 cups of rasp.

That is the latest in berry news.

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San Francisco – Internet Archive

Posted on June 22, 2026 by Pamela Rentz

Last post from the San Francisco trip. My husband wanted to do the tour at Internet Archive. This is about the 10 millionth thing that my husband wanted to do that I never heard of and wasn’t wild about and ended up loving. I don’t even know how he knew they did tours because I can’t find a link for you.

I didn’t take a photo myself but they bought the building they are in partly because it looks like their logo. More info here.

Remember these big fat computer books?

Internet Archive is an incredible organization that, as the name suggests, is creating a digital library of everything it reasonably can. There’s music and software and books. I didn’t take notes, I just listened so any info listed here will be from the website.

Alcove full of servers

A single copy of the Internet Archive library collection occupies 200+ Petabytes of server space and they store at least 2 copies of everything.

Among the many amazing features is the Wayback Machine which has the history of more than 1 trillion web pages on the Internet.

Here is the earliest capture of pamrentz.com on August 15, 2001.

Sample scanning device.

Their main thing is books. They partner with a bookstore and travel all around checking out books from estate sales or wherever.

Our tour guide told a story of being out with one of the founders and coming across a box of books left on a porch. The founder had to stop and go through it to make sure there wasn’t anything there that wasn’t in the archive. There’s an app they use for that. Maybe anyone can.

Look for Tony Vanza at Internet Archive events.

If any of this sounds even a tiny bit interesting to you — check the website. It is an overwhelming source of information.

And they are funded largely by private donations so if you appreciate what they do and have room in your charitable giving there is a link at the website.

Now you’re probably thinking, wait. What are those statues in the alcove photo?

Those are people who work at Archive.Org. The building they are in used to be a church and part of the tour is in the great room and as you walk in you see these statues everywhere. It’s a little creepy until you hear the story. After an employee has been their 3 years, they get a statue.

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The Deer Are Terrible Guests

Posted on June 17, 2026 by Pamela Rentz

I had so many deer clips I never had time to go through them.

Today I finally got all the folders and renamed the files by date created and put them all in one place.

I had 126 deer clips.

They came on April 8 and I guess made a note of it because they returned May 28, May 31, June 5, and June 8.

They have never been here that much in such a short time.

The videos are really upsetting because they just circle around eating everything.

They were in the lettuce and I asked a wildlife biologist about eating lettuce that had deer cooties on it. Obviously we would wash it but I wasn’t sure how serious deer cooties could be.

She told me deer saliva has feces in it. She said if it was clean it would probably be fine. She lives in an area with deer chronic wasting disease and she said she would not.

I said: You had me at feces.

I found a hilarious video with the skunk trotting by while the deer enjoyed the salad bar. I wanted to post it but couldn’t find it again. I might have deleted it in my purge. I cut the 126 down to 25 clips. If I find it I’ll post it later.

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San Francisco Trip Part 2

Posted on June 14, 2026 by Pamela Rentz

Remember when I was a girl and I used to take notes and lots of photos and write stories about things that happened on trips?

I don’t do that anymore. I feel like getting out my phone interrupts things.

I just spent 15 minutes trying to embed this video of the BART train coming into the station but it was giving me fits and I took a screenshot instead. I’m sure you feel a loss of life enrichment.

We stayed with friends in San Bruno and took BART to the festival.

I texted colleague from under the Bay with a screenshot showing where my phone said I was to give him anxiety. It worked.

It was really fast and didn’t bother me.

There was a small child who was unnerved by the train underground. His parents handled it really well — they didn’t tell him to stop crying they just played with him and distracted him and by the time he figured out what was going on there was daylight again.

This is from a different day. This is Fort Point historical site located under the Golden Gate Bridge. It’s a tremendous historical exhibit plus an amazing location. We had a gorgeous day — bright blue sky, deep blue water, wind surfers and sail boats out on the water.

I said if I was tourist who dreamed my whole life of visiting San Francisco and I was there that day: it would have exceeded all my expectations. It was a picture perfect day.

I have one more days worth of San Francisco trip photos. I’ll try to get those up next weekend.

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