I got tired of Microsoft. I had seen that Linux was now good enough for what I wanted to so, so I decided to jump ship.

It wasn’t a quick decision. I only transitioned from Windows because I finally got around upgrading the PC.

So far? I mean, there was the kerfuffle with the AUR recently. And I still haven’t figured out a few issues here and there. But damn it just works and there is no worrying about updating or not updating or anything like it.

It has to do with the stroke you make as you write. In all three ways that I know how to write by hand (full cursive, my actual current style, and print), crossing the ts and dotting the is is just the last stroke(s) of writing the word. The word is not complete until those are done, just like an A (if you write it as a ball with a tail) is not complete without its tail, and sword is not complete without a d at the end.

You keep track on your head the same way you keep track in your head that a word is not finished up until you have written all the letters in it. My first language uses accents, and it is the same process. And yes, you can forget, not just for longer words. Teachers would certainly mark it on homework and tests. I struggled with accents, in general, but just like learning how to spell a word, you just practice it when you get it wrong until you get it right and it becomes muscle memory for how you write that word.

My signature doesn’t, however, since I have not built enough muscle memory to reproduce it. Yes, it is technically cursive, so that part is easy to get right; but the flourishes that make it a signature instead of just me writing a word like every other kid who learned the same cursive style would aren’t muscle memory due to lack of practice.

It really depends. Either a permanent ink pen + something to write with, praying that I can make a record that will outlive me…

A waterproof kindle (or similar ereader) loaded with an offline copy of wikipedia and a solar charger + usb cable might be right up there.

Probably a good knife. A really good backpack, perhaps? A first aid kit instead?

It is challenging to decide, because here is the thing: if I am put in the middle of nowhere, I am going to be a stranger at the mercy of whoever I happen to meet first, or whoever in power happens to hear of me first. So, chances are I, foreigner who does not speak the local language, would not fare rather well. In this one, self-defense tools, such as the knife, and other camping-useable gear (covers, first aid kits, water filtration systems, etc) would be immensely more useful than other options.

If, instead, I was dropped somewhere near somebody sympathetic, or at least not bound to kill me immediately, I might manage (assuming I survive the environmental shock) to become useful enough to not kill. Here, wikipedia would certainly be useful, and at that point I might make enough to resolve the record-keeping aspect by virtue of getting compensated.

In this later case, besides the kindle + solar charger combo, I would bring my DSLR (and it would be a DSLR and not a Mirrorless, or other such cameras). I have a really neat variable travel lens that should be very damn useful for the military (either for a general or for scouts), and it should work with no batteries for seeing.