“Interest never sleeps nor sickens nor dies; it never goes to the hospital; it works on Sundays and holidays; it never takes a vacation; it never visits nor travels; it takes no pleasure; it is never laid off work nor discharged from employment; it never works on reduced hours; it never has short crops nor droughts; it never pays taxes; it buys no food; it wears no clothes; it is unhoused and without home and so has no repairs, no replacements, no shingling, plumbing, painting, or whitewashing; it has neither wife, children, father, mother, nor kinfolk to watch over and care for; it has no expense of living; it has neither weddings nor births nor deaths; it has no love, no sympathy; it is as hard and soulless as a granite cliff. Once in debt, interest is your companion every minute of the day and night; you cannot shun it or slip away from it; you cannot dismiss it; it yields neither to entreaties, demands, or orders; and whenever you get in its way or cross its course or fail to meet its demands, it crushes you.”  — J. Reuben Clark

Found this list online. How is your supply of these?

1. Generators
2. Water filters/purifiers
3. Portable toilets
4. Seasoned firewood
5. Lamp oil, wicks, lamps
6. Coleman fuel
7. Guns, ammunition, pepper spray, knives, clubs, bats, slingshots
8. Hand can openers, hand egg beaters, whisks
9. Honey, syrups, white/brown sugar
10. Rice, beans, wheat
11. Vegetable oil (for cooking)
12. Charcoal, lighter fluid
13. Water containers
14. Mini heater head (propane) (Without this item, propane won't heat a room.)
15. Grain grinder (Non-electric)
16. Propane cylinders
17. Survival guide book
18. Lamp mantles: Aladdin, Coleman, etc. (Without this item, longer-term lighting is difficult.)
19. Baby supplies: Diapers/formula, ointments/aspirin, etc.
20. Washboards, mop bucket w/wringer (for laundry)
21. Cookstoves (propane, Coleman, kerosene)
22. Vitamins
23. Propane cylinder handle holder (Small canister use is dangerous without this item)
24. Feminine hygiene/haircare/skin products
25. Thermal underwear (tops and bottoms)
26. Bow saws, axes and hatchets, wedges (also, honing oil)
27. Aluminum foil -- regular and heavy duty
28. Gasoline containers (plastic and metal)
29. Garbage bags
30. Toilet Paper, Kleenex, Paper Towels
31. Milk (powdered, condensed: shake every 3 to 4 months)
32. Garden seeds (non-hybrid)
33. Clothes pins/line/hangers
34. Coleman's pump repair kit
35. Tuna fish (in oil)
36. Fire extinguishers
37. First aid kits
38. Batteries
39. Garlic, spices, vinegar, baking supplies
40. Big dogs (and plenty of dog food)
41. Flour, yeast, salt
42. Matches
43. Writing paper/pads/pencils, solar calculators
44. Insulated ice chests
45. Workboots, belts, Levis, durable shirts
46. Flashlights, lightsticks, torches, "No. 76 Dietz" lanterns
47. Journals, diaries, scrapbooks
48. Garbage cans (great for storage, water, transporting - if with wheels)
49. Men's hygiene: Shampoo, Toothbrush/paste, Mouthwash/floss, nail clippers, etc
50. Cast iron cookware
51. Fishing supplies/tools
52. Mosquito coils/repellent, sprays/creams
53. Duct tape
54. Tarps/stakes/twine/nails/rope/spikes
55. Candles
56. Laundry Detergent (liquid)
57. Backpacks, duffel bags
58. Garden tools and supplies
59. Scissors, fabrics, sewing supplies
60. Canned Fruits, Veggies, Soups, stews, etc.
61. Bleach (plain, NOT scented: 4 to 6% sodium hypochlorite)
62. Canning supplies, jars/lids/wax
63. Knives, sharpening tools: files, stones, steel
64. Bicycles, tires/tubes/pumps/chains, etc
65. Sleeping bags, blankets/pillows/mats
66. Carbon monoxide alarm (battery powered)
67. Board games, cards, dice
68. D-con rat poison, MOUSE PRUFE II, roach killer
69. Mousetraps, ant traps, cockroach magnets
70. Paper plates/cups/utensils
71. Baby wipes, waterless and antibacterial soaps
72. Rain gear, rubberized boots, etc.
73. Shaving supplies (razors, creams, talc, after shave)
74. Hand pumps, siphons (for water and for fuels)
75. Soy sauce, vinegar, boullion/gravy/soup base
76. Reading glasses
77. Chocolate/Cocoa/Tang/Punch (water enhancers)
78. "Survival-in-a-Can"
79. Woolen clothing, scarves/earmuffs/mittens
80. Boy Scout Handbook, Leaders Catalog
81. Roll-on window insulation kit (MANCO)
82. Graham crackers, saltines, pretzels, trail mix,  jerky
83. Popcorn, peanut butter, nuts
84. Socks, underwear, T-shirts, etc. (extras)
85. Lumber (all types)
86. Wagons and carts (for transport to and from)
87. Cots, inflatable mattresses
88. Gloves: Work/warming/gardening, etc.
89. Lantern hangers
90. Screen patches
91. Tea
92. Coffee
93. Cigarettes
94. Wine/Liquors (for bribes, medicinal, etc,)
95. Paraffin wax
96. Glue, nails, nuts, bolts, screws, etc.
97. Chewing gum/candies
98. Atomizers (for cooling/bathing)
99. Hats, cotton neckerchiefs
100. Goats/chickens

If you have a list member with an invalid address (I ended up with one that had 2 concatenated addresses, yielding 2 @ characters which the default parser apparently does not like), the regular bin/remove_members script won’t work. You can use this trick though:


cd /path/to/mailman
bin/withlist -l listname
>>> m.removeMember('foo@example.combar@example.com')
>>> m.Save()
>>> ^D

See the Mailman wiki for more details and other things to try if even this step doesn’t work.

Just a quick vi/vim tip that I’d never had to do before now.

Scenario: a file with multiple lines, each terminated with a semicolon, that needed to be broken out into separate lines for easier reading.

Solution:

In vim, use \r in the search-and-replace command to indicate a new line:

:%s/;/;\r/g