Thank you for your response! That’s really good advice. I can hold off for a bit, Joplin is my main service that I’ll need to be able to reach, but can keep using Dropbox to sync for now.

One thing that I haven’t quite sorted is our todos. We use Todoist right now, and it’s really great, but would like something self hosted. I haven’t found anything that has both an iOS and android app though, except Nextcloud. Any suggestions? I was contemplating just using Nextcloud to start to keep things simple, and then adding different services later, but Yunohost seems like a better solution.

Building my home server. I have all the parts but the sheer amount of different ways to set it up and all the things I need to learn to keep it safe. Especially now that all that (waves hand around) is happening, it’s so important I get on it. It kinda makes me want to cry. My brain isn’t as sharp now that menopause has hit, remembering things is really hard. Though my dr got me on a different regime of my adhd meds so hopefully that will help. Anyways, sorry for the ramble.

*I have looked at the self hosted and privacy communities, I think I’m going to go with Yunohost. It’s the internet part I’m worried about more.

That’s because they use open street map (and other providers).

Sure, ask away

It’s much appreciated! No rush at all!

Oh yes please! Your absolute favourite soup would be a wonderful start.

Edit: Here is my favourite fish chowder. Let me know if you can’t open the link, can send a pdf too. I use bento flakes instead of clam juice, a half a packet is perfect.

https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1023366-miso-fish-chowder

That soup looks delicious! And it’s one I can eat as I’m allergic to tomatoes. I’m going to try it this weekend :)

I love that yall have such an appreciation for kale, it doesn’t get as much love in North America. Yet another reason I’d like to visit!

Its real name is Lacinato kale, it’s my favourite!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lacinato_kale

Edit: I like to use this in place of spinach, in lasagnas, soups, salads. Nettles are another favourite. I forage in the spring, steam them to get rid of the sting, and then freeze them in balls. Then I just add a ball to soups or whatever when I need. Also can save the steaming water for stocks.

Thank you! It reminds me of the dinosaur kale I have in my garden now. Also able to pick leaves as you need them, and overwinters here well (BC, Canada). I’ll do some more looking into it!

What variety of cabbage is this? What zone does it grow in? Thanks!

I use trunks and like it quite a bit!

Hey, I’m sorry you’re feeling this way. I’ve been down this road and it’s terrible. Have you considered a trade? I never graduated high school, or got my GED, but I’ve had 30 years of a super interesting trade, where I got to do all kinds of things. I work on boats, but maybe you’d like woodwork, or welding? With a trade you generally learn while you’re working so you’re not racking up huge debt, which is a plus. The nice thing about working on boats specifically is every day is different, every boat is different, and each job is like a puzzle. Plus there can be a lot of movement in the trades and if you want to move somewhere else you can. One thing that people say is bad about the trades is that it wrecks your body, which they aren’t totally wrong about. Except that things have changed a lot over the years and safety, proper body posture and movement, and conditions have improved dramatically. I teach at a trade school now and that’s a HUGE part of what I teach. You can have a long and rewarding career in the trades if you make safety a priority from the get go.

I can’t say much about dealing with your family, my solution was a whole lot of distance and some very firm boundaries.

Sorry if this wasn’t super helpful, but sometimes you don’t know what other options are out there. Good luck.

Eh, true enough. But I love singing it anyways!

Well, kinda. Imagine there’s a tear in the sail, you’d put a patch on it. And on a laminate, or plastic, sail it would be like a big sticker. Or if there is a place where you know something is going to rub constantly, you’d put a chafe patch. And as laminates aren’t very strong when they’re punctured, like with a sewing needle, you’d put reinforcing patches under whatever you want to sew down.

Tbh, I haven’t worked with laminate sails in a long time. I did service and repair work in my shop mostly, for regular sailors. Honestly I used to get a fair bit of work from the bigger lofts where small repair work wasn’t worth it for them to do. And really, these sails aren’t just for big fancy race boats, any sailing club with racers (which is pretty much all of them) will have people with laminate sails. The general public only sees the big races, like the americas cup or vendee globe, but every Wednesday night around the world, there’s regular people out racing.

Haha, my brain does the same thing all the time.

Kevlar is a funny one for me as I’m now allergic to it. Yay occupational disease! If I have to use it for a quick job it’s fine, but anything longer than an hour I get what feels like a sunburn. Usually on my arms and cheeks, basically where I touch when I push up my sleeves or whatnot. Doesn’t get red, just feels like a bad sunburn. One of the ways it’s used is in big rolls with an adhesive backing, for patches. So we’re not really sure if it’s the Kevlar or the adhesive, but I can use any other product with an adhesive back and it doesn’t happen.

Anyhoo, Kevlar is really tough, so it can be a pain to cut. That toughness makes it great for backing patches or chafe patches. On Genoas we’d use it to make spreader patches. It’s really only used like that on laminate sails. Though I’ve seen Kevlar leech line used on Dacron sails. Another common use is in kayak hulls along the keel for abrasion resistance. It also has a very high melting point and will char more than melt, which also helps with chafe. Its UV resistance isn’t the best so it will deteriorate over time. But racing sails don’t last as long as cruising sails so it evens out. You can recognize it on a sail as it’s a golden yellow.

Edit: I think it’s fallen out of favour over fibers like dyneema and carbon. I haven’t been in that part of the industry in a long time.

The fibers and technology in racing sails are pretty crazy. There’s some neat videos online if you want to dive a bit deeper into it.

Great questions!

I kinda fell into it tbh. My buddy worked at the local sailmakers and got me the job when I was 16. Never looked back. A lot of people will start because they race or sail but there’s an equal amount that just do it as a job and don’t sail at all. I did grow up sailing but it wasn’t on my radar for a career. I still talk with my buddy every now and then, I credit him with a long a varied career!

Quick edit: They are made on sewing machines, but you still need humans to do the work.

The biggest sail I’ve ever worked on was the spinnaker for the HMCS Oriole. It was 6000 sq/ft if I remember correctly. Freaking massive. We never saw it fully open until it got raised on the boat as we were in a very small shop! My coworker sewed all the panels together and I did all the rest, my boss painted the oriole on it and did a fantastic job. We were very proud of ourselves. I was so worried there was going to be a tub of pins somewhere in it and they would rain death down on the deck when they raised it!!

Hmmm, that really depends on what you like to do best. My specialty was racing sails, so I guess I’d have to say laminates were my favourites. Though if you were a traditional sailmaker than you’d like the heavier and softer fabrics and ropes. My coworker likes the spinnakers best as all she did was sew so getting those under the machines is much nicer. Being a shop with big sewing machines you end up sewing things other than sails and the job I hated was the boat house curtains. So big and heavy. The material wasn’t terrible it was just a crap job lol. And they were usually filthy.

You do need some specialized equipment, but it’s all the different parts on the sails that really make it niche. So there’s the obvious sewing machines, and you’ll need at least 3 different ones to cover what you might come across. The main one being a long arm walking foot. Then a straight stitch for canvas, a lighter zigzag for dinghy sails and sail bags, and a triple stitch for seams and resewing. But you can resew with the zigzag so that one is optional for a small repair loft. Hand tools like a hot knife, grommet punches and dies, palm for hand sewing, big hand sewing needles. Big rulers, carpenter squares, and lofting battens. I know I’m forgetting stuff but that’s what’s jumping out at me. The stuff that adds up though is all the things you need to repair or make sails. Different sizes and types of webbing, slugs, slides, rings, batten hardware, batten material! Oof, you end up collecting a lot of random stuff. I had a small repair loft and I couldn’t keep every little bit in stock so would save what was still good for that random sail that would come in.

Another edit: Pins and awls!! That’s how you flatten the sail on the floor to work. And I forgot the most specialized piece of equipment of all! The shop. That one can be hard. You need a space that’s big and open that you can pin into the floor and lay out as much of the sail as possible. Also the ideal is to have the machines in pits that are flush with the floor so you don’t have to lift the sails up to the table, and instead just slid them along. But that’s a hard one. My shop didn’t have that and the pinched nerve in my shoulder can attest to that.

I’m not sure about the knife you mention? Did I say that? We would use a hot knife for melting and sealing all the time.

Let me know if you have any other questions! That was fun.

Of course! That’s during the offering to the wind gods.

Hi! I didn’t at all tbh, but your question just made me go on a deep dive looking at the boats. So crazy! I’d seen pics of them but hadn’t looked real close. I have to say, it makes sense for the racing they are doing to have that boomless shape. You’re getting every bit of wind with no waste. Those boats are engineered to the hilt, I can’t wait to see what they do next year. I’m going to watch some videos later, thanks for the rabbit hole!

The race I have been following is the Vendee Globe. The website is so good. I highly recommend!

For sure! Though I apologize if I don’t answer right away! I will answer though.

Yup. I hired an apprentice once, and the first few days every time I’d come into the shop my pouch would be either missing or emptied and I’d have to run around finding my tools. Did that twice and was like your first job is to make your own pouch and then got him his own tools. My fault really, I should have done that right off the bat.