Security in a break down situation
For starters, sorry for the lack of a blog post last weekend. My son and I were on a Cub Scout camping trip, and blog posting was very low on the priority list.
While doing a bit of research on this topic, I came upon the use of pepper spray. Now, I have to admit to a great deal of ignorance on the topic. I am comfortable with firearms, and carry a firearm whenever legal and prudent. After looking into pepper spray a little, I have determined that there is a place for this defensive prep; even in the hand gunner's arsenal.
In a self defense situation where you are perfectly justified in bringing a firearm to bear in defense of your life, you will still have to defend that use of force to a law enforcement officer, or maybe even to a jury. They will never be able to see the situation as clearly or as personally as you did. There is never a 100% fool proof method to convey the situation accurately. If you employ a self defense spray product as your last defense before using deadly force, you have just improved your case. If you employ a self defense spray, you have:
- Attempted to end the attack with less than lethal means
- If your attacker persists through the less than lethal defense, they show themselves to be motivated to carry forward their attack regardless
- You have bought yourself, at minimum, a few seconds of response time. Those seconds can be used to retreat if it makes sense to do so. They can be used to improve your tactical situation. They can be used to employ other less than lethal counter measures to render your attacker harmless.
Bottom line is, you have added another layer/option before the use of deadly force.
There is definitely room for self defense sprays in your vehicle preps. Again, I am a relative noob to these sprays. I am finding a wide variety of types and sizes. Do your due diligence in deciding what is right your your to carry, and to store in your vehicle. There seem to be 3 different chemical compounds widely available. Rather than plagiarize someone else's work, here is a link that I have found informational:
http://www.milestonesafety.com/pepper-spray-information.html
In a breakdown situation, people may offer assistance, or it may become necessary to solicit assistance. Strangers always carry with them the risk and threat to security. While at the vehicle, approaching strangers should be assessed quickly as to their threat level. When leaving the vehicle, care should be taken to lock the vehicle, and make sure any valuables are out of sight. What can be carried, should be. Pepper spray may make a good security device in the event that a firearm of knife can not be carried, or brought to bear on a self defense situation. Most people who are not a threat, would view you as a security risk, and even if rendering assistance, will work to keep their distance. Anyone too eager to help, may be an elevated risk.
Action plan -
1.Research viability of pepper spray stored in a hot vehicle.
2.Research viability of a taser stored in a hot vehicle.
3.Store a pocket knife in the vehicle.
Sunday, March 25, 2012
Sunday, March 11, 2012
A look at 'personal disasters' - Part II
IMPORTANCE OF WATER IN A VEHICLE BREAK DOWN SITUATION
Water – In a breakdown situation, it is uncertain how long the event may last. Water is very high on the priority list for humans, but is also a requirement for vehicles (unless your vehicle has an air cooled engine). Under extreme circumstances, survival from a broken down vehicle may require days. I think it is prudent to start with one day, and work from there. The general rule of thumb is one gallon of water per person per day. It is assumed that this personal disaster, is truly a personal one, and only one person is at risk. It is also assumed that cooking and hygiene will not be very high on the priority list either.
Vehicles use a water/propylene glycol mix in the coolant system. The coolant system keeps the engine from overheating when in operation, and prevents the water in the engine from freezing when not in operation. Different vehicles have different coolant capacities. In a breakdown situation where the vehicle has overheated (primarily from a stuck thermostat), the engine can not be filled with coolant directly. The driver can re-fill the radiator.
Water left in plastic for extended periods of time (especially in a closed up vehicle in the summer) will start to take up the plastic taste. This water should be rotated monthly. Some plastics seem to do a better job than others. Milk jugs, even if cleaned properly, or even if they never contained milk at all; make the water taste so bad that it is nearly undrinkable after very short periods of time.
I am currently experimenting with different forms of water storage. I am working from the no/low budget perspective. So far (and tests are still in progress), the lowly 2 liter soda bottle seems to be the most stable. Roughly 2 two liter soda bottles will give you a gallon of water storage. Be sure to clean them thoroughly, as any remaining sugar residues can and will reek havoc on your stored water.
I will be the first to admit that having a couple of soda bottles full of water rolling around in the back of the vehicle is not my idea of a good time. There are commercially available potable water containers available at most discount type department stores. I am sure they will store water just fine, but I have not tested them. Perhaps, someone else could chime in and review one?
Now, we have stored our water, which can sustain us should be become stranded, and it may even get us back on the road if the vehicle failure is overheating. Refilling the radiator of an overheated vehicle may be only a temporary measure unless the root cause for overheating is addressed.
It can happen, that the radiator simply runs dry of coolant. There could be any number of minuscule leaks in the coolant system, or the loss could be simply from neglect and evaporation. In these events, simply re-filling the radiator will get you back happily on your way (assuming you did not run the engine in an overheated condition long enough to do damage).
Most of the time, when a vehicle overheats, it is because of a stuck thermostat. The thermostat is a small valve like device that opens and closes to allow more or less coolant to be exchanged between the engine block and the radiator. Hot coolant is pumped from the engine block to the radiator, where the passage of cooler air through the vanes of the radiator cools the coolant before returning it to the block. Most thermostats are 'set' to actuate at between 180 and 190 degrees. If the coolant is below the 'set' temperature, the thermostat is closed, and does not allow coolant to pass to the radiator. Once the coolant temperature raises above the 'set' point, the thermostat opens and allows coolant to pass through to the radiator (thus cooling it before returning it to the engine block), Thermostats fail by 'sticking'. The failure that leaves you stranded on the side of the road with an overheated engine is the thermostat sticking in the closed position. As such, as the coolant temperature rises above the set point, the thermostat does not open (it is stuck closed). Since the coolant can not get to the radiator to have heat energy taken away, the engine itself overheats and eventually fails as metal parts struggle to operate in a hotter environment than they were designed to do so in (engine tolerances are quite tight!). A thermostat can also stick open, or somewhere in between open and closed, but rarely do these conditions result in a breakdown.
Thermostats are fairly inexpensive parts. The last time I bought one, I paid well under $20 for it. Many vehicles are very easy to change thermostats in. I once owned a vehicle that the thermostat was located in the upper radiator hose housing. Two 10mm bolts was all that held the part in place. Once the housing was unbolted, the thermostat would fall out into your hands. The new one could be popped in, and the housing bolted back into place. Changing that thermostat literally only took 10 minutes. Not all vehicles are that easy. Do a search on Youtube for replacing a thermostat in your make and model of vehicle. It may be that a 'breakdown' can be repaired with less than $20 of spare parts and 10 minutes of labor. The thermostat, the appropriately sized wrench, and perhaps a small tube of 'liquid' type gasket material could fit in a container the size of a 12 ounce soda can. If you are fortunate enough to have one of the 'easy' vehicles, this one is almost a no brainer prep.
Action plan -
- Buy 5 gallon potable water container – If buying a container doesn't appeal to you, shoot for keeping a gallon on hand. You never know when you may need to top off that radiator.
- Store 5 gallons of potable water in the vehicle – Again, at least a gallon.
Research how to take out the thermostat – This may be extremely easy on your vehicle.
- Store tools in the vehicle required to remove a thermostat – A basic tool kit is a good idea, and may be fodder for a future blog entry, but if changing the thermostat is easy in your vehicle, and you have purchased the spare part to carry with you, make sure that you have the right tool(s) to do the job on hand in the vehicle.
- Purchase a new thermostat to keep in the vehicle – A thermostat for your vehicle, a gasket, and/or a small tube of gasket forming material will cost you FAR less than a tank of gas for most vehicles.
Water – In a breakdown situation, it is uncertain how long the event may last. Water is very high on the priority list for humans, but is also a requirement for vehicles (unless your vehicle has an air cooled engine). Under extreme circumstances, survival from a broken down vehicle may require days. I think it is prudent to start with one day, and work from there. The general rule of thumb is one gallon of water per person per day. It is assumed that this personal disaster, is truly a personal one, and only one person is at risk. It is also assumed that cooking and hygiene will not be very high on the priority list either.
Vehicles use a water/propylene glycol mix in the coolant system. The coolant system keeps the engine from overheating when in operation, and prevents the water in the engine from freezing when not in operation. Different vehicles have different coolant capacities. In a breakdown situation where the vehicle has overheated (primarily from a stuck thermostat), the engine can not be filled with coolant directly. The driver can re-fill the radiator.
Water left in plastic for extended periods of time (especially in a closed up vehicle in the summer) will start to take up the plastic taste. This water should be rotated monthly. Some plastics seem to do a better job than others. Milk jugs, even if cleaned properly, or even if they never contained milk at all; make the water taste so bad that it is nearly undrinkable after very short periods of time.
I am currently experimenting with different forms of water storage. I am working from the no/low budget perspective. So far (and tests are still in progress), the lowly 2 liter soda bottle seems to be the most stable. Roughly 2 two liter soda bottles will give you a gallon of water storage. Be sure to clean them thoroughly, as any remaining sugar residues can and will reek havoc on your stored water.
I will be the first to admit that having a couple of soda bottles full of water rolling around in the back of the vehicle is not my idea of a good time. There are commercially available potable water containers available at most discount type department stores. I am sure they will store water just fine, but I have not tested them. Perhaps, someone else could chime in and review one?
Now, we have stored our water, which can sustain us should be become stranded, and it may even get us back on the road if the vehicle failure is overheating. Refilling the radiator of an overheated vehicle may be only a temporary measure unless the root cause for overheating is addressed.
It can happen, that the radiator simply runs dry of coolant. There could be any number of minuscule leaks in the coolant system, or the loss could be simply from neglect and evaporation. In these events, simply re-filling the radiator will get you back happily on your way (assuming you did not run the engine in an overheated condition long enough to do damage).
Most of the time, when a vehicle overheats, it is because of a stuck thermostat. The thermostat is a small valve like device that opens and closes to allow more or less coolant to be exchanged between the engine block and the radiator. Hot coolant is pumped from the engine block to the radiator, where the passage of cooler air through the vanes of the radiator cools the coolant before returning it to the block. Most thermostats are 'set' to actuate at between 180 and 190 degrees. If the coolant is below the 'set' temperature, the thermostat is closed, and does not allow coolant to pass to the radiator. Once the coolant temperature raises above the 'set' point, the thermostat opens and allows coolant to pass through to the radiator (thus cooling it before returning it to the engine block), Thermostats fail by 'sticking'. The failure that leaves you stranded on the side of the road with an overheated engine is the thermostat sticking in the closed position. As such, as the coolant temperature rises above the set point, the thermostat does not open (it is stuck closed). Since the coolant can not get to the radiator to have heat energy taken away, the engine itself overheats and eventually fails as metal parts struggle to operate in a hotter environment than they were designed to do so in (engine tolerances are quite tight!). A thermostat can also stick open, or somewhere in between open and closed, but rarely do these conditions result in a breakdown.
Thermostats are fairly inexpensive parts. The last time I bought one, I paid well under $20 for it. Many vehicles are very easy to change thermostats in. I once owned a vehicle that the thermostat was located in the upper radiator hose housing. Two 10mm bolts was all that held the part in place. Once the housing was unbolted, the thermostat would fall out into your hands. The new one could be popped in, and the housing bolted back into place. Changing that thermostat literally only took 10 minutes. Not all vehicles are that easy. Do a search on Youtube for replacing a thermostat in your make and model of vehicle. It may be that a 'breakdown' can be repaired with less than $20 of spare parts and 10 minutes of labor. The thermostat, the appropriately sized wrench, and perhaps a small tube of 'liquid' type gasket material could fit in a container the size of a 12 ounce soda can. If you are fortunate enough to have one of the 'easy' vehicles, this one is almost a no brainer prep.
Action plan -
- Buy 5 gallon potable water container – If buying a container doesn't appeal to you, shoot for keeping a gallon on hand. You never know when you may need to top off that radiator.
- Store 5 gallons of potable water in the vehicle – Again, at least a gallon.
Research how to take out the thermostat – This may be extremely easy on your vehicle.
- Store tools in the vehicle required to remove a thermostat – A basic tool kit is a good idea, and may be fodder for a future blog entry, but if changing the thermostat is easy in your vehicle, and you have purchased the spare part to carry with you, make sure that you have the right tool(s) to do the job on hand in the vehicle.
- Purchase a new thermostat to keep in the vehicle – A thermostat for your vehicle, a gasket, and/or a small tube of gasket forming material will cost you FAR less than a tank of gas for most vehicles.
Sunday, March 4, 2012
A look at 'personal disasters' - Part I
So, I went through the mental exercise, and tried to identify personal 'disasters' or events that would affect me, but not adversely affect my family. Initially, I thought this to be an exercise in futility; after all, I am the bread winner, and anything that affects me, affects my family. After pondering the thought a few minutes, I realized how self centered that was. Sure, that is true in matters directly related to my ability to earn a living, But there are times when I am out and about by myself when I am not conducting activities related to bread winning.
I would like to pause here, and look at an interesting mental/emotional quirk before we progress through the rest of the thought process. I find it interesting that I was so wrapped up in my role as the bread winner, that it was difficult to imagine a scenario that did not have any direct bearing on my ability to provide for my family. That aspect of my life is so important to me, that it was difficult to consider situations where that element did not come into play. Be on guard for this short sightedness in your own preparations.
Once I broke through that mental hang up, I started thinking what do I do, and where do I go that my family is not with me. Then, the ideas started flowing!
I spend a lot of time by myself in my vehicle. I commute back and forth to work. I travel forest service roads on hiking trips. I drive back and forth to visit my parents. You get the idea. For the most part, I stay on well traveled roads, and take the same routes every time. If something happens to the truck on the way to work, there are at least 5 or 6 people I could call that could come to my aid easily. But, here looked like a good place to start.
VEHICLE BREAK DOWN
Let's face it, if you own a vehicle, sooner or later, you are going to experience a breakdown of one sort or another. For this blog post, let's look at a vehicular breakdown as related to the shelter critical system.
In a break down situation, the vehicle itself should provide sufficient shelter in most cases. Exceptions would include those dealing with cold. If the vehicle is broken down, it is entirely possible the the engine will not run. Heat in a vehicle is a by-product of the internal combustion engine running. If in a well traveled area, leaving the vehicle (ie. Shelter) should not be necessary. Exception may include leaving the vehicle to change a flat tire, or walking to a gas station for gas, or for communications (in the event that cell service is not available. In a remote area, leaving the vehicle may be a requirement for rescue.
After thinking through shelter needs when a vehicle breaks down, I came up with some action plan items.
1.Store blankets in vehicle – Every house has spare blankets around somewhere. Maybe they have holes, are faded, or have stains. Don't throw them out. But them in a box or duffel type bag, and let them be the foundation of your emergency breakdown kit.
2.Store rain gear in vehicle – Even in moderate temperatures, no one likes to be drenched to the bone unless they are swimming. If you have a flat in a thunderstorm, waiting for the storm to pass may not be a viable option. Don't forget a 'grippy' style of glove. You understand if you have ever had to change a flat in the rain. When a hand slips off of a lug wrench, and pounds pavement; especially if it is cold, you have just found a new definition of pain. If you do have to use your rain gear, be sure to bring them all out and dry them thoroughly when you do get back to 'civilization'.
3.Store sweat shirt in vehicle – When in a vehicle, we tend not to think about exposure except in the depths of winter. A chilly spring or fall day can turn downright miserable if you have to walk to the nearest gas station not appropriately dressed. Again, throw an old sweat shirt in your box. A word of caution here. Sweat shirts are great! They are warm and comfortable. They are also made of cotton. The hard core backpacking community has a saying, “cotton kills”. When cotton gets wet, it stays wet for a long time, and sucks the heat out of you. If you have a cotton sweat shirt, don't let it get wet. This is where the rain gear comes into play as well.
4.Store gloves in vehicle – Aside from the 'grippy' gloves mentioned above, thermal gloves are a good idea in your box as well. Every gas station (especially in the winter) carries the cheap 'jersey' style gloves. They are commonly brown in color. They are not perfect, but they are cheap enough to have a pair everywhere, and they will keep the feeling in your hands on your walk to the next gas station.
5.Store knit cap in vehicle – Most body heat is lost through the head. Don't neglect insulating it in an exposure incident.
6.Store $100 emergency cash in vehicle – Let's face it; that little piece of plastic in your wallet is not 100% reliable. Cash is king. If you can't stash $100 somewhere in the car, stash the average cost of a tank of gas. Something is better than nothing. This is not exactly a 'shelter' related prep, but it came to mind here, so I included it.
7.Join AAA – I can almost hear the groans on this one! It is expensive. They are slow to respond, ect. I agree. What if you are in unfamiliar territory? You break down. Let's call it an engine failure that you can't diagnose and repair on the side of the road. You need a tow. You have no idea what facilities are in your area. That call to AAA will get a wrecker to you, and in all likelihood, the driver is going to know a bit about available facilities in the area. It may take him a while to get to you, but an hour or two waiting on a wrecker may be better than some of the alternatives, and that phone call allows you to stay in the relatively sheltered confines of your vehicle. Think of it as another layer of insurance.
As always, I would enjoy constructive feedback. I will go through the other critical systems if subsequent blog posts. Is there anything you would add to this list? Take away? Why?
I would like to pause here, and look at an interesting mental/emotional quirk before we progress through the rest of the thought process. I find it interesting that I was so wrapped up in my role as the bread winner, that it was difficult to imagine a scenario that did not have any direct bearing on my ability to provide for my family. That aspect of my life is so important to me, that it was difficult to consider situations where that element did not come into play. Be on guard for this short sightedness in your own preparations.
Once I broke through that mental hang up, I started thinking what do I do, and where do I go that my family is not with me. Then, the ideas started flowing!
I spend a lot of time by myself in my vehicle. I commute back and forth to work. I travel forest service roads on hiking trips. I drive back and forth to visit my parents. You get the idea. For the most part, I stay on well traveled roads, and take the same routes every time. If something happens to the truck on the way to work, there are at least 5 or 6 people I could call that could come to my aid easily. But, here looked like a good place to start.
VEHICLE BREAK DOWN
Let's face it, if you own a vehicle, sooner or later, you are going to experience a breakdown of one sort or another. For this blog post, let's look at a vehicular breakdown as related to the shelter critical system.
In a break down situation, the vehicle itself should provide sufficient shelter in most cases. Exceptions would include those dealing with cold. If the vehicle is broken down, it is entirely possible the the engine will not run. Heat in a vehicle is a by-product of the internal combustion engine running. If in a well traveled area, leaving the vehicle (ie. Shelter) should not be necessary. Exception may include leaving the vehicle to change a flat tire, or walking to a gas station for gas, or for communications (in the event that cell service is not available. In a remote area, leaving the vehicle may be a requirement for rescue.
After thinking through shelter needs when a vehicle breaks down, I came up with some action plan items.
1.Store blankets in vehicle – Every house has spare blankets around somewhere. Maybe they have holes, are faded, or have stains. Don't throw them out. But them in a box or duffel type bag, and let them be the foundation of your emergency breakdown kit.
2.Store rain gear in vehicle – Even in moderate temperatures, no one likes to be drenched to the bone unless they are swimming. If you have a flat in a thunderstorm, waiting for the storm to pass may not be a viable option. Don't forget a 'grippy' style of glove. You understand if you have ever had to change a flat in the rain. When a hand slips off of a lug wrench, and pounds pavement; especially if it is cold, you have just found a new definition of pain. If you do have to use your rain gear, be sure to bring them all out and dry them thoroughly when you do get back to 'civilization'.
3.Store sweat shirt in vehicle – When in a vehicle, we tend not to think about exposure except in the depths of winter. A chilly spring or fall day can turn downright miserable if you have to walk to the nearest gas station not appropriately dressed. Again, throw an old sweat shirt in your box. A word of caution here. Sweat shirts are great! They are warm and comfortable. They are also made of cotton. The hard core backpacking community has a saying, “cotton kills”. When cotton gets wet, it stays wet for a long time, and sucks the heat out of you. If you have a cotton sweat shirt, don't let it get wet. This is where the rain gear comes into play as well.
4.Store gloves in vehicle – Aside from the 'grippy' gloves mentioned above, thermal gloves are a good idea in your box as well. Every gas station (especially in the winter) carries the cheap 'jersey' style gloves. They are commonly brown in color. They are not perfect, but they are cheap enough to have a pair everywhere, and they will keep the feeling in your hands on your walk to the next gas station.
5.Store knit cap in vehicle – Most body heat is lost through the head. Don't neglect insulating it in an exposure incident.
6.Store $100 emergency cash in vehicle – Let's face it; that little piece of plastic in your wallet is not 100% reliable. Cash is king. If you can't stash $100 somewhere in the car, stash the average cost of a tank of gas. Something is better than nothing. This is not exactly a 'shelter' related prep, but it came to mind here, so I included it.
7.Join AAA – I can almost hear the groans on this one! It is expensive. They are slow to respond, ect. I agree. What if you are in unfamiliar territory? You break down. Let's call it an engine failure that you can't diagnose and repair on the side of the road. You need a tow. You have no idea what facilities are in your area. That call to AAA will get a wrecker to you, and in all likelihood, the driver is going to know a bit about available facilities in the area. It may take him a while to get to you, but an hour or two waiting on a wrecker may be better than some of the alternatives, and that phone call allows you to stay in the relatively sheltered confines of your vehicle. Think of it as another layer of insurance.
As always, I would enjoy constructive feedback. I will go through the other critical systems if subsequent blog posts. Is there anything you would add to this list? Take away? Why?
Sunday, February 26, 2012
A better oriented beginning....
Ok. So I have been thinking a lot about preparations and planning lately. The other day, I downloaded a piece of mind mapping software. I sat down, and started populating it with data – the thoughts in my head as they came up. It was an extremely interesting exercise. By looking at your thought patterns; where thoughts came up in relation to other thoughts, you begin to see the interrelatedness of your thoughts that you may not have realized before.
After I 'emptied my head', I took a long look at the raw thought map. I engaged in this exercise because I had an overwhelming feeling by most of the stuff that went on in my own head. I felt that I was in a constant state of being pulled in too many directions. What I found was that I was absolutely correct! My mind map (actually, it is probably more accurate and descriptive to refer to is as a thought map) resembled a bowl of spaghetti. No single line of thought could be followed through to its logical conclusion.
The next step is where I started to have some fun. I began to re-order my thoughts on the map in logical sequences and groups. Initially, my thoughts pulled me in 15 different directions (literally, there were 15 different major categories that my thoughts fell into). On a minute by minute basis, I was juggling 15 balls mentally (hence my overwhelmed feeling). Once I was done ordering and prioritizing my 'thought' map, every thought/activity in my life fell into one of 2 categories. Mentally, I went from juggling 15 balls, to 2 balls. Within each of those life areas, there were 6-9 sub categories. I only delve into one of the sub-categories if I am currently mentally holding the appropriate 'ball'. Even as I type this, I recognize that this may paint an odd mental picture for some. I'm sorry, it is a map of my thoughts...you'll understand a map of your thoughts much more clearly.
One of the 'sub-categories' that I wound up digging into was preparations. I was all over the map on this one. In some areas, I was on point; while in other, more fundamental areas, I was completely ignorant as to what I even needed.
As many of my friends know, I was a prepper before being a prepper was mainstream, or cool. I was a Y2K prepper. I took a lot of grief and cajoling over that event. I never bought into the whole 'TEOTWAWKI' concept. My concerns centered on one weakness....the power grid. Of all of the 'systems' our society depends on daily, none are more taken for granted that the electrical power system, 'the grid' if you will. My contention was that if the power grid failed, even locally, for more than 2-3 days; we would have been living in a dire emergency. As a mental exercise, imagine our modern world without electricity for a day. If we knew the event to be a matter of a series of repairs that needed to be made, the first day may actually be kind of fun. Most people wouldn't go to work. Neighborhoods would come together. Neighbors may even meet each other for the first time, and share a beer. Grills would be fired up to cook meat that may go bad without refrigeration.
As an aside, my Y2K preps centered on a world without electricity for up to 2 weeks. There was credible evidence that loss of the power grid was very possible at midnight, January 1, 2000.
Now, let's move back to our hypothetical power outage event. Many people, a few hours into the event, may decide it is in their best interest to go out and top off gas in the cars, and grab some food from the grocery store. These people will see the first hints of trouble. Imagine the traffic in your area...without traffic signals. They use electricity, which means they are not working. Not just one intersection, but all intersections. Imagine a large city with no traffic control. So, our venturing soul makes it to a gas station near the neighborhood. Let's assume, for a moment, that they can drive right up to the pump (unlikely in that our hypothetical venturing soul will not be the only one who decides they might need to top off the cars). What do they find when they get there? An electrically operated gas pump. Gas is stored underground, and has to be pumped up to your vehicle. Those pumps require electricity. Some gas stations may have back up generators to run the pumps and store power. How long will the gas last? Till the next tanker truck shows up? What, the one that is stuck in traffic? You start to see the cracks in societies armor. One major systems failure (power grid), would severely overload other major critical systems (logistics & transportation), while completely bringing down other systems (traffic control). Do you think police and fire vehicles are going to get through the traffic much better (Security).
Now, in your mind, extend our simple power grid failure out 3 days. Do you start to see what I saw? Fortunately, Y2K was a non event; and all of my friends pointed and laughed at me and said “See, I told you so”! I am glad it didn't' happen. I only had 2 weeks of 'preps'. My estimation was that to prep for longer, and still exist in the current reality, was cost prohibitive. Another reality was that my '2 weeks' most likely would have not lasted that long. My own after action report indicated that I had overlooked several fundamentals.
The main weakness in my plans, was that my preps, and my life were not compatible. You may ask exactly what that means. Let me paint a picture. What if I was able to accurately tell you that you had a 100% certainty that you would experience a total infrastructure failure in 48 hours, that would last for 48 hours. Now, what if I told you that you had a 25% chance of a partial infrastructure failure over a county wide area within the next month, and it could last from 2 weeks to 2 months. What if the second scenario was the same 100% chance, but the event duration was 2 months, and national is scope? What if you had 3 months notice to prepare for it? What if instead of a 100% likely hood, there was a 50% likely hood. Do you start to see the problem with prepping? There are SO many variables, and odds of likely hood. The scope and odds of any particular event affects our 'normal' life decisions. Would you pay your credit card bill in all of those scenarios? Power bill? Would you spend the same as you always do on groceries in all of these scenarios?
The 'hard core' preppers would tell us that you are not a prepper unless you have built an underground bunker that can withstand an atomic blast,and you have at least 5 years of food and water stored up. Not only that, but you need seeds and tools to 'rebuild' society after you come out of the bunker. Can you afford to do that and still live in today's society? I can't!
So, where does that leave the average Joe who believes that it is smart to be ready for some tough stuff, but recognizes that prepping for an all out nuclear war in your back yard is cost prohibitive? That is where I am starting. I have been listening to a guy named Jack Spirko, and his Survival Podcast (http://www.thesurvivalpodcast.com/ ). The first thing that I heard him say that made perfect sense, was the 'mission statement' of his podcast; “Helping you live that better life for when times get tough, or even if they don't”. There, for the first time, I came face to face with root cause failure of my preps. They failed to take into account, “what if this doesn't happen”? I can liquidate my families assets, and bug out to the hills; and effectively 'drop out' of the system next month. Does that improve my quality of life? No, it doesn't. So there's the central tenant to prepping. Sure, plan for rough times, but don't destroy your current life over what may happen. Preps and life should coincide, and compliment each other.
With this new paradigm in place, I looked at prepping in a layered arrangement. There are 4 different scopes of disaster I am looking at. Within each scope, I am looking at 9 'critical systems' that are vulnerable. My goal, is to look into each of the scope and system combinations in this blog; one per week. Scopes and systems may be added or deleted based on discussion and analysis. Your comments to this blog can point me in different directions, or drill down deeper on some of the existing concepts.
Personal disasters
What is a personal disaster? Simply put, a personal disaster is any event that significantly disrupts your life, but your household continues to function normally. This could be anything from the death of a spouse, to an injury. With a personal disaster, you are unable to function in the same manner after the event as you were the day before the event. For me, it was difficult to imagine a personal disaster, that was not also a household disaster because I am the bread winner of my family. You too, may find yourself in this situation, but it is useful to at least think through events that could be a personal disaster, where your household would still function as normal.
Since personal disasters include things like death, injury, and sicknesses; we can conclude that there is a 100% likely hood that you will experience a personal disaster in your lifetime.
Household disasters
As I said, it was hard for me to separate personal disasters and household disasters. A household disaster is and event that significantly disrupts your household, but your neighborhood continues to function normally. Depending on the event, those in your neighborhood may come to your aid in such an event.
Again, since this area would encompass death, injury, and sickness, of not only you, but of those in your household, we can conclude that there is a 100% likely hood that you will experience a household disaster in your lifetime.
Neighborhood disasters
A neighborhood disaster is any event that significantly disrupts your neighborhood, in which society outside of your neighborhood continues to function normally. Recent examples of neighborhood disasters (although, perhaps 'events' is a more appropriate term) in my neighborhood has been crime, nearly having a haz mat induced evacuation (a battery recycling business just north of us caught on fire), power outages, and internet outages. Before you laugh at the lack of internet service as a disaster, think about how tied to it we are; especially for communication and news. ATM's and gas pumps need the connections as well. Do you live near a major rail line (as I do). Have you thought about a derailment with a haz mat leak on that line? We had a derailment a few months ago just north of our neighborhood. Fortunately it was a couple of miles away, and did not involve haz mat. But, what if it did? Do you live near a major interstate, US highway, or state highway? Trucks carry haz mat too.
My neighborhood has already experienced events such as these to one degree or another. As such, we could conceivably say that there is a 100% likely hood of one of these events occurring. As a prepper, we should be focused on the events that are 'significant'. It is up to each individual to determine where that threshold is. For my assessment, I peg the likely hood of a significant neighborhood event in my lifetime at 90%
City wide 'events'
A city wide event would be any significant event that adversely affects one's ability to live in their current location, but society continues to function normally at the county level. Examples of these type of events could be storms, criminal refugee on the loose, loss of water/sewage services, etc.
My personal assessment puts the likely hood of an even of this scope at about 75%.
Larger scopes
Obviously, we can continue this exercise through, the county, area, state, regional, national, continental, and global levels; and doing so is a perfectly legitimate exercise. But, before we go off the deep end here, let's look at our 'prepper mind map'. The larger our scope becomes, the less likely we are to experience a significant event. Now, let me pause here and address on bit of concern. We are currently in a global economic 'event'. Depending on who you believe, it is either just getting started, or is getting better...you decide. A person who looses their job in the current economic environment may argue that a 'global' event is closer to 100% likely. My argument is that the true 'event' that you should be prepping for is much closer to home...in this case, at the household level.
I also contend that the larger the scope of the event, the less and less my personal decisions matter. There is a point where using our resources to prep for events reaches a point of diminishing returns. That is not to say that we should ignore larger scope events. Quite the contrary. I am finding that if you concentrated on the fundamental preps closer to home, many of those preps will serve you well in a larger scope event. I think back to the LA riots after the Rodney King verdict. We can make the argument that that was an area event (Metro LA is huge!) As rioters and looters swarmed the lawless streets, one man sat on his front porch with a .22 rifle at the entrance to his neighborhood, and no one entered that neighborhood to engage in criminal activity. This man employed a household prep (security), that benefited his neighborhood, in an area event. He could have used his limited resources in the days and weeks leading up to the event (if he had known it was coming) to organize a militia that committed themselves to protecting a 4 block area in the event that law enforcement was overwhelmed. Now, I am not poo pooing the concept of the militia (I am in the militia, and this will be a discussion for the future as well), but this man leveraged his resources to the maximum advantage. The cost of the rifle, and the ammo in it, and any training he may have taken; would have done nothing if spent trying to protect a larger area. I say all of that to say this, start small (scope), and concentrate on the fundamentals.
What are the fundamentals? Withing each scope, I have identified 9 critical systems. Discussion may lead us to add more, or take some away. Many of the systems are interdependent. Here they are:
Shelter
Water
Food
Security
Communications/media
Energy
Transportation
Financial
Health care
Once per week, my plan is to write a blog post drilling down on a specific scope, or fundamental system.
Humans are social creatures. There are some people who can exist alone, and are happier for it. I propose to you that they are in the vast minority. I am fairly non-social myself. It takes me time to warm up to someone. Even I crave social interaction. We are a community. Have you ever noticed that the people who claim that they can survive TEOTWAWKI, follow that up with a pronouncement that they will emerge to rebuild society? As humans, we thrive on social interaction. We each bring strengths and weaknesses to the table. We seek out the best in each other, to augment our weaknesses. We can not do it alone. Many, whether they admit it or not, would rather die than not be able to exist in some form of community.
To that end, let us explore this together.
After I 'emptied my head', I took a long look at the raw thought map. I engaged in this exercise because I had an overwhelming feeling by most of the stuff that went on in my own head. I felt that I was in a constant state of being pulled in too many directions. What I found was that I was absolutely correct! My mind map (actually, it is probably more accurate and descriptive to refer to is as a thought map) resembled a bowl of spaghetti. No single line of thought could be followed through to its logical conclusion.
The next step is where I started to have some fun. I began to re-order my thoughts on the map in logical sequences and groups. Initially, my thoughts pulled me in 15 different directions (literally, there were 15 different major categories that my thoughts fell into). On a minute by minute basis, I was juggling 15 balls mentally (hence my overwhelmed feeling). Once I was done ordering and prioritizing my 'thought' map, every thought/activity in my life fell into one of 2 categories. Mentally, I went from juggling 15 balls, to 2 balls. Within each of those life areas, there were 6-9 sub categories. I only delve into one of the sub-categories if I am currently mentally holding the appropriate 'ball'. Even as I type this, I recognize that this may paint an odd mental picture for some. I'm sorry, it is a map of my thoughts...you'll understand a map of your thoughts much more clearly.
One of the 'sub-categories' that I wound up digging into was preparations. I was all over the map on this one. In some areas, I was on point; while in other, more fundamental areas, I was completely ignorant as to what I even needed.
As many of my friends know, I was a prepper before being a prepper was mainstream, or cool. I was a Y2K prepper. I took a lot of grief and cajoling over that event. I never bought into the whole 'TEOTWAWKI' concept. My concerns centered on one weakness....the power grid. Of all of the 'systems' our society depends on daily, none are more taken for granted that the electrical power system, 'the grid' if you will. My contention was that if the power grid failed, even locally, for more than 2-3 days; we would have been living in a dire emergency. As a mental exercise, imagine our modern world without electricity for a day. If we knew the event to be a matter of a series of repairs that needed to be made, the first day may actually be kind of fun. Most people wouldn't go to work. Neighborhoods would come together. Neighbors may even meet each other for the first time, and share a beer. Grills would be fired up to cook meat that may go bad without refrigeration.
As an aside, my Y2K preps centered on a world without electricity for up to 2 weeks. There was credible evidence that loss of the power grid was very possible at midnight, January 1, 2000.
Now, let's move back to our hypothetical power outage event. Many people, a few hours into the event, may decide it is in their best interest to go out and top off gas in the cars, and grab some food from the grocery store. These people will see the first hints of trouble. Imagine the traffic in your area...without traffic signals. They use electricity, which means they are not working. Not just one intersection, but all intersections. Imagine a large city with no traffic control. So, our venturing soul makes it to a gas station near the neighborhood. Let's assume, for a moment, that they can drive right up to the pump (unlikely in that our hypothetical venturing soul will not be the only one who decides they might need to top off the cars). What do they find when they get there? An electrically operated gas pump. Gas is stored underground, and has to be pumped up to your vehicle. Those pumps require electricity. Some gas stations may have back up generators to run the pumps and store power. How long will the gas last? Till the next tanker truck shows up? What, the one that is stuck in traffic? You start to see the cracks in societies armor. One major systems failure (power grid), would severely overload other major critical systems (logistics & transportation), while completely bringing down other systems (traffic control). Do you think police and fire vehicles are going to get through the traffic much better (Security).
Now, in your mind, extend our simple power grid failure out 3 days. Do you start to see what I saw? Fortunately, Y2K was a non event; and all of my friends pointed and laughed at me and said “See, I told you so”! I am glad it didn't' happen. I only had 2 weeks of 'preps'. My estimation was that to prep for longer, and still exist in the current reality, was cost prohibitive. Another reality was that my '2 weeks' most likely would have not lasted that long. My own after action report indicated that I had overlooked several fundamentals.
The main weakness in my plans, was that my preps, and my life were not compatible. You may ask exactly what that means. Let me paint a picture. What if I was able to accurately tell you that you had a 100% certainty that you would experience a total infrastructure failure in 48 hours, that would last for 48 hours. Now, what if I told you that you had a 25% chance of a partial infrastructure failure over a county wide area within the next month, and it could last from 2 weeks to 2 months. What if the second scenario was the same 100% chance, but the event duration was 2 months, and national is scope? What if you had 3 months notice to prepare for it? What if instead of a 100% likely hood, there was a 50% likely hood. Do you start to see the problem with prepping? There are SO many variables, and odds of likely hood. The scope and odds of any particular event affects our 'normal' life decisions. Would you pay your credit card bill in all of those scenarios? Power bill? Would you spend the same as you always do on groceries in all of these scenarios?
The 'hard core' preppers would tell us that you are not a prepper unless you have built an underground bunker that can withstand an atomic blast,and you have at least 5 years of food and water stored up. Not only that, but you need seeds and tools to 'rebuild' society after you come out of the bunker. Can you afford to do that and still live in today's society? I can't!
So, where does that leave the average Joe who believes that it is smart to be ready for some tough stuff, but recognizes that prepping for an all out nuclear war in your back yard is cost prohibitive? That is where I am starting. I have been listening to a guy named Jack Spirko, and his Survival Podcast (http://www.thesurvivalpodcast.com/ ). The first thing that I heard him say that made perfect sense, was the 'mission statement' of his podcast; “Helping you live that better life for when times get tough, or even if they don't”. There, for the first time, I came face to face with root cause failure of my preps. They failed to take into account, “what if this doesn't happen”? I can liquidate my families assets, and bug out to the hills; and effectively 'drop out' of the system next month. Does that improve my quality of life? No, it doesn't. So there's the central tenant to prepping. Sure, plan for rough times, but don't destroy your current life over what may happen. Preps and life should coincide, and compliment each other.
With this new paradigm in place, I looked at prepping in a layered arrangement. There are 4 different scopes of disaster I am looking at. Within each scope, I am looking at 9 'critical systems' that are vulnerable. My goal, is to look into each of the scope and system combinations in this blog; one per week. Scopes and systems may be added or deleted based on discussion and analysis. Your comments to this blog can point me in different directions, or drill down deeper on some of the existing concepts.
Personal disasters
What is a personal disaster? Simply put, a personal disaster is any event that significantly disrupts your life, but your household continues to function normally. This could be anything from the death of a spouse, to an injury. With a personal disaster, you are unable to function in the same manner after the event as you were the day before the event. For me, it was difficult to imagine a personal disaster, that was not also a household disaster because I am the bread winner of my family. You too, may find yourself in this situation, but it is useful to at least think through events that could be a personal disaster, where your household would still function as normal.
Since personal disasters include things like death, injury, and sicknesses; we can conclude that there is a 100% likely hood that you will experience a personal disaster in your lifetime.
Household disasters
As I said, it was hard for me to separate personal disasters and household disasters. A household disaster is and event that significantly disrupts your household, but your neighborhood continues to function normally. Depending on the event, those in your neighborhood may come to your aid in such an event.
Again, since this area would encompass death, injury, and sickness, of not only you, but of those in your household, we can conclude that there is a 100% likely hood that you will experience a household disaster in your lifetime.
Neighborhood disasters
A neighborhood disaster is any event that significantly disrupts your neighborhood, in which society outside of your neighborhood continues to function normally. Recent examples of neighborhood disasters (although, perhaps 'events' is a more appropriate term) in my neighborhood has been crime, nearly having a haz mat induced evacuation (a battery recycling business just north of us caught on fire), power outages, and internet outages. Before you laugh at the lack of internet service as a disaster, think about how tied to it we are; especially for communication and news. ATM's and gas pumps need the connections as well. Do you live near a major rail line (as I do). Have you thought about a derailment with a haz mat leak on that line? We had a derailment a few months ago just north of our neighborhood. Fortunately it was a couple of miles away, and did not involve haz mat. But, what if it did? Do you live near a major interstate, US highway, or state highway? Trucks carry haz mat too.
My neighborhood has already experienced events such as these to one degree or another. As such, we could conceivably say that there is a 100% likely hood of one of these events occurring. As a prepper, we should be focused on the events that are 'significant'. It is up to each individual to determine where that threshold is. For my assessment, I peg the likely hood of a significant neighborhood event in my lifetime at 90%
City wide 'events'
A city wide event would be any significant event that adversely affects one's ability to live in their current location, but society continues to function normally at the county level. Examples of these type of events could be storms, criminal refugee on the loose, loss of water/sewage services, etc.
My personal assessment puts the likely hood of an even of this scope at about 75%.
Larger scopes
Obviously, we can continue this exercise through, the county, area, state, regional, national, continental, and global levels; and doing so is a perfectly legitimate exercise. But, before we go off the deep end here, let's look at our 'prepper mind map'. The larger our scope becomes, the less likely we are to experience a significant event. Now, let me pause here and address on bit of concern. We are currently in a global economic 'event'. Depending on who you believe, it is either just getting started, or is getting better...you decide. A person who looses their job in the current economic environment may argue that a 'global' event is closer to 100% likely. My argument is that the true 'event' that you should be prepping for is much closer to home...in this case, at the household level.
I also contend that the larger the scope of the event, the less and less my personal decisions matter. There is a point where using our resources to prep for events reaches a point of diminishing returns. That is not to say that we should ignore larger scope events. Quite the contrary. I am finding that if you concentrated on the fundamental preps closer to home, many of those preps will serve you well in a larger scope event. I think back to the LA riots after the Rodney King verdict. We can make the argument that that was an area event (Metro LA is huge!) As rioters and looters swarmed the lawless streets, one man sat on his front porch with a .22 rifle at the entrance to his neighborhood, and no one entered that neighborhood to engage in criminal activity. This man employed a household prep (security), that benefited his neighborhood, in an area event. He could have used his limited resources in the days and weeks leading up to the event (if he had known it was coming) to organize a militia that committed themselves to protecting a 4 block area in the event that law enforcement was overwhelmed. Now, I am not poo pooing the concept of the militia (I am in the militia, and this will be a discussion for the future as well), but this man leveraged his resources to the maximum advantage. The cost of the rifle, and the ammo in it, and any training he may have taken; would have done nothing if spent trying to protect a larger area. I say all of that to say this, start small (scope), and concentrate on the fundamentals.
What are the fundamentals? Withing each scope, I have identified 9 critical systems. Discussion may lead us to add more, or take some away. Many of the systems are interdependent. Here they are:
Shelter
Water
Food
Security
Communications/media
Energy
Transportation
Financial
Health care
Once per week, my plan is to write a blog post drilling down on a specific scope, or fundamental system.
Humans are social creatures. There are some people who can exist alone, and are happier for it. I propose to you that they are in the vast minority. I am fairly non-social myself. It takes me time to warm up to someone. Even I crave social interaction. We are a community. Have you ever noticed that the people who claim that they can survive TEOTWAWKI, follow that up with a pronouncement that they will emerge to rebuild society? As humans, we thrive on social interaction. We each bring strengths and weaknesses to the table. We seek out the best in each other, to augment our weaknesses. We can not do it alone. Many, whether they admit it or not, would rather die than not be able to exist in some form of community.
To that end, let us explore this together.
Sunday, December 11, 2011
My conversation with God this morning
OK. I have several friends that either don't believe in God, or have a very different concept of who God is than I do, and I'm OK with that. I will not try to change you, or your opinion. Those friends will probably think something is 'wrong' with me after reading this, and I'm OK with that too.
I talk to God every morning. I pick a time and a place that is quiet, and no one will interrupt me, and that is God's time to shine in my life. Most of the time, our 'conversation' is nothing more that me saying, "Helloooo, God? Are you there?" Sometimes, I can't get a word in edgewise. Sometimes (read VERY rarely), we actually have a deep two way conversation. Those rare conversations are deeply profound, and I cherish them like life itself. This morning was one of those rare moments, and I felt compelled to share it this morning. The feeling I got was that there is someone who probably needed this more than me this morning.
I am not going into the details or the mechanics of how I 'hear' God. I do not 'hear' an audible voice...it is more like 'hearing' with my gut, if that makes sense.
So, in this morning's time, God brought be back to a post I made around Thanksgiving on Facebook about my trials were blessings. This is something I know and believe to be true, but God wanted me to dig a bit deeper into it.
His question to me was, "Why do you count your trials as blessings?"
Me: Ummmm, because even my trials are from you, and you produce nothing bad?
God: True, but what is the blessing? What do you derive from your trials?
Me: Ummmm, experience?
God: Yes! And, why is experience good?
Me: Ummmmm....
God: When you have a task before you that you have no experience with, what do you do?
Me: Try to learn something about it.
God: How?
Me: Research. Read, look for a video, ask someone.
God: You seek out someone else with experience, right?
Me: Yes! Exactly!
God: Why?
Me: Because they have already done it, and can point me in the right direction. (now feeling like I have put a feather in my cap)
At this point, God starting rolling out some of my life's experiences (some of which I would just assume forget) that I count as trials. Almost all of them were somewhat painful, or embarrassing at the time.
God: Now, if you were to experience these today, how would you react?
Me: ALL AT THE SAME TIME????!!!!
God: No. Pick one. Remember it. Recall how you felt in the middle of it. If THAT one happened now, how would you feel?
Me: Well, I still wouldn't like it, but now it would not be such a big deal.
God: Why would it not be such a big deal now?
Me: Well, I'm more mature now, for one.
God: Good! Where does maturity come from?
Me: Age....no, that's not quite right. I know people years older than me that have never quite grown up...sorry, I didn't mean to be judgmental.
God: Well, let's see if we can learn something from that. What is another characteristic that you see in people that you would describe as immature; regardless of age?
Me: Ummmmm.....
God: What do you always tell people about mistakes?
Me: Ohhh!!! 1) Own up to it. 2)Fix it as best you can. 3)Learn from it. 4)Move on! (Again feeling like I have a feather in my cap)
God: What else do you always tell people about problems/mistakes.
Me: Uhhhhhh.... What?
God: "What doesn't kill us...
Me: MAKES US STRONGER!!!! Oh yeah!!!
God: Now, let's look back at maturity. Where does it come from?
Me: Experience!
God: Not just any experience...
Me: Experience gained through troubles?
God: Exactly! Well done! I love you!
So, I hope someone out there finds my conversation this morning as profound as I did. Now I'm headed up to enjoy some of God's scenery in the Cohutta Wilderness :-)
I talk to God every morning. I pick a time and a place that is quiet, and no one will interrupt me, and that is God's time to shine in my life. Most of the time, our 'conversation' is nothing more that me saying, "Helloooo, God? Are you there?" Sometimes, I can't get a word in edgewise. Sometimes (read VERY rarely), we actually have a deep two way conversation. Those rare conversations are deeply profound, and I cherish them like life itself. This morning was one of those rare moments, and I felt compelled to share it this morning. The feeling I got was that there is someone who probably needed this more than me this morning.
I am not going into the details or the mechanics of how I 'hear' God. I do not 'hear' an audible voice...it is more like 'hearing' with my gut, if that makes sense.
So, in this morning's time, God brought be back to a post I made around Thanksgiving on Facebook about my trials were blessings. This is something I know and believe to be true, but God wanted me to dig a bit deeper into it.
His question to me was, "Why do you count your trials as blessings?"
Me: Ummmm, because even my trials are from you, and you produce nothing bad?
God: True, but what is the blessing? What do you derive from your trials?
Me: Ummmm, experience?
God: Yes! And, why is experience good?
Me: Ummmmm....
God: When you have a task before you that you have no experience with, what do you do?
Me: Try to learn something about it.
God: How?
Me: Research. Read, look for a video, ask someone.
God: You seek out someone else with experience, right?
Me: Yes! Exactly!
God: Why?
Me: Because they have already done it, and can point me in the right direction. (now feeling like I have put a feather in my cap)
At this point, God starting rolling out some of my life's experiences (some of which I would just assume forget) that I count as trials. Almost all of them were somewhat painful, or embarrassing at the time.
God: Now, if you were to experience these today, how would you react?
Me: ALL AT THE SAME TIME????!!!!
God: No. Pick one. Remember it. Recall how you felt in the middle of it. If THAT one happened now, how would you feel?
Me: Well, I still wouldn't like it, but now it would not be such a big deal.
God: Why would it not be such a big deal now?
Me: Well, I'm more mature now, for one.
God: Good! Where does maturity come from?
Me: Age....no, that's not quite right. I know people years older than me that have never quite grown up...sorry, I didn't mean to be judgmental.
God: Well, let's see if we can learn something from that. What is another characteristic that you see in people that you would describe as immature; regardless of age?
Me: Ummmmm.....
God: What do you always tell people about mistakes?
Me: Ohhh!!! 1) Own up to it. 2)Fix it as best you can. 3)Learn from it. 4)Move on! (Again feeling like I have a feather in my cap)
God: What else do you always tell people about problems/mistakes.
Me: Uhhhhhh.... What?
God: "What doesn't kill us...
Me: MAKES US STRONGER!!!! Oh yeah!!!
God: Now, let's look back at maturity. Where does it come from?
Me: Experience!
God: Not just any experience...
Me: Experience gained through troubles?
God: Exactly! Well done! I love you!
So, I hope someone out there finds my conversation this morning as profound as I did. Now I'm headed up to enjoy some of God's scenery in the Cohutta Wilderness :-)
Sunday, August 28, 2011
Close encounter of the Ursus kind.
So, today I take off to the Cohutta Wilderness to do some exploring. I was introduced to the Cohutta last year, and have a strong desire to explore more of it. Today's route was a route I had never taken, and it was the first long hike for me of the season.
I have never seen a black bear in the wild. Since starting to explore the Cohutta last year, I have seem lots of bear spoor, but not the bear that left it.
Today, I parked at Three Forks Mountain. My planned trek was to hike along East Cowpen trail to Panther Creek trail. I was going to stop at Panther Creek Falls, eat lunch, and return along the same route.
Off I went. I had just gotten my pack comfortable, and found a good stride; when less than 1/4 mile in, I saw the first pile of bear spoor...and it was fresh!!! I have seen spoor before, and not seen the bear, so I was trying to not get my hopes up too bad, but I was optimistic. I know you are not supposed to sneak up on bears...they can be quite dangerous, but if I was going to see one, it was time to shift into stealth mode. Bear hearing and eyesight are no better than ours really. It is their sense of smell that gives them the edge. As luck would have it, their was a nice breeze, and it was in my face...my scent was being blown behind me :-)Off I went creeping up the trail as quite as I could be.
No more than a couple of hundred yards or so along the trail, I came to the point where Rough Ridge/Jacks River trails intersect. I stopped to mark the point in my GPS. I was facing the new trail, and had my back to East Cowpen. I was typing the name in for the waypoint, when I heard a critter behind me. I have spent a LOT of time in the woods. I know what small critters, and big critters sound like. What I heard, I thought to be a rabbit, or perhaps a chipmunk. I finished saving the waypoint, and turned to enjoy the critter's company. When I turned, no more than 20' away was a black bear. It was an adolescent...not as small as a cub, but certainly not full grown. It saw me about the same time I saw it. It turned and ran away with great rapidity! What amazed me was just how quiet it was! It was in a running stride, and barely made a sound!
I was geeking out! I could have turned around and come home right then, and it would have been a worthwhile trip, but I carried on up the trail.
I was not in stealth mode anymore. I was looking to make some time, because there were some other nooks and crannies I wanted to explore if I had daylight enough left. I went on about another 200-300 yards, and started hearing a squirrel up in an oak tree about 40' away from me. I have seen so many grey squirrels that I pay them no attention any more, but I was intrigued by the possibility of seeing a fox squirrel. I stopped, and started looking up in the tree. At once I noticed that the tree top was shaking more than it should have been in the light breeze. I moved up the trail a bit further, then I saw it! Another bear, this one was a full grown adult, in the top of an oak tree eating acorns! It would reach out and bend an entire limb toward itself, and strip the acorns (and leaves, and branches) off of it then let it go. I fumbled for my phone to get video. I captured video, but I was shooting into the sun, and there is no manual focus. Basically, the shot sucks...kinda like someone showing a big foot video.
The bear looked right at me 2 or 3 times, but kept happily munching away. I grew frustrated with the phone and put it away. I stood watching a bit longer...then, it happened! It looked at me, and stopped what it was doing! One foot came down the tree, and that was my signal to get up and go!
The remainder of my hike was relatively uneventful. I know bears to be fairly territorial, so I knew there was a chance I may see one or both of them again on the way out.
As I approached the area, I started making noise on purpose. I now had the wind to my back, so my scent was blowing dead ahead of me as a warning. I was almost back to the intersection with Jack's River/Rough Ridge trail, when I heard commotion down the hill to my left. I looked over, and there were two bears, one large, and one smaller, running more or less away from me. I do believe them to be the same two, but could never swear to it. They were running away, so they were no threat, and I marched along my merry little way. As I went, I could still hear them (they were not nearly as quiet as they had been earlier), and it sounded like they were circling back around me! Now THAT got my attention. I turned around, and about 300 yards or so up the trail, they had popped out onto the trail, and were watching me! I turned my whole body around and walked backwards (never turn your back on a bear). They stayed put, and when I lost sight of them beyond a hill, I turned back around and double timed it to the truck!
It was a good day!
I have never seen a black bear in the wild. Since starting to explore the Cohutta last year, I have seem lots of bear spoor, but not the bear that left it.
Today, I parked at Three Forks Mountain. My planned trek was to hike along East Cowpen trail to Panther Creek trail. I was going to stop at Panther Creek Falls, eat lunch, and return along the same route.
Off I went. I had just gotten my pack comfortable, and found a good stride; when less than 1/4 mile in, I saw the first pile of bear spoor...and it was fresh!!! I have seen spoor before, and not seen the bear, so I was trying to not get my hopes up too bad, but I was optimistic. I know you are not supposed to sneak up on bears...they can be quite dangerous, but if I was going to see one, it was time to shift into stealth mode. Bear hearing and eyesight are no better than ours really. It is their sense of smell that gives them the edge. As luck would have it, their was a nice breeze, and it was in my face...my scent was being blown behind me :-)Off I went creeping up the trail as quite as I could be.
No more than a couple of hundred yards or so along the trail, I came to the point where Rough Ridge/Jacks River trails intersect. I stopped to mark the point in my GPS. I was facing the new trail, and had my back to East Cowpen. I was typing the name in for the waypoint, when I heard a critter behind me. I have spent a LOT of time in the woods. I know what small critters, and big critters sound like. What I heard, I thought to be a rabbit, or perhaps a chipmunk. I finished saving the waypoint, and turned to enjoy the critter's company. When I turned, no more than 20' away was a black bear. It was an adolescent...not as small as a cub, but certainly not full grown. It saw me about the same time I saw it. It turned and ran away with great rapidity! What amazed me was just how quiet it was! It was in a running stride, and barely made a sound!
I was geeking out! I could have turned around and come home right then, and it would have been a worthwhile trip, but I carried on up the trail.
I was not in stealth mode anymore. I was looking to make some time, because there were some other nooks and crannies I wanted to explore if I had daylight enough left. I went on about another 200-300 yards, and started hearing a squirrel up in an oak tree about 40' away from me. I have seen so many grey squirrels that I pay them no attention any more, but I was intrigued by the possibility of seeing a fox squirrel. I stopped, and started looking up in the tree. At once I noticed that the tree top was shaking more than it should have been in the light breeze. I moved up the trail a bit further, then I saw it! Another bear, this one was a full grown adult, in the top of an oak tree eating acorns! It would reach out and bend an entire limb toward itself, and strip the acorns (and leaves, and branches) off of it then let it go. I fumbled for my phone to get video. I captured video, but I was shooting into the sun, and there is no manual focus. Basically, the shot sucks...kinda like someone showing a big foot video.
The bear looked right at me 2 or 3 times, but kept happily munching away. I grew frustrated with the phone and put it away. I stood watching a bit longer...then, it happened! It looked at me, and stopped what it was doing! One foot came down the tree, and that was my signal to get up and go!
The remainder of my hike was relatively uneventful. I know bears to be fairly territorial, so I knew there was a chance I may see one or both of them again on the way out.
As I approached the area, I started making noise on purpose. I now had the wind to my back, so my scent was blowing dead ahead of me as a warning. I was almost back to the intersection with Jack's River/Rough Ridge trail, when I heard commotion down the hill to my left. I looked over, and there were two bears, one large, and one smaller, running more or less away from me. I do believe them to be the same two, but could never swear to it. They were running away, so they were no threat, and I marched along my merry little way. As I went, I could still hear them (they were not nearly as quiet as they had been earlier), and it sounded like they were circling back around me! Now THAT got my attention. I turned around, and about 300 yards or so up the trail, they had popped out onto the trail, and were watching me! I turned my whole body around and walked backwards (never turn your back on a bear). They stayed put, and when I lost sight of them beyond a hill, I turned back around and double timed it to the truck!
It was a good day!
Wednesday, July 13, 2011
The convergent epiphany
So, here of late, I have been dealing with some minor issues dealing with time management. Once I started researching time management, I discovered that TM is only one leg of a more complex stool....we could call the stool 'life management'. Now, when I came across that term, I immediately thought in spiritual terms, but let me come back to that.
So, this concept of life management deals with managing time, money, relationships....the whole ball of wax. Initially, that seemed a bit overwhelming, but then I realized that those issues existed whether I had a plan to deal with them or not; and not having a plan seemed more overwhelming....so I threw myself into some research.
Very quickly, I came upon this guy named David Allen (how could you go wrong with anyone named David, right :-) His approach to life management intrigued me because he didn't start with a 'system'. He started with the user; the user's mind to be more precise. His argument was that you are not going to use any system for very long that doesn't work for you. The human mind does not deal very well with the things that it does not trust. To force the mind to deal with a reality, or a system that it does not trust, fosters worry and anxiety. Think about your past, and something that has worried you, or you have been anxious over. Odds are, the source of your worry was the reality of an unknown outcome. Your mind did not trust the system you had in place for dealing with the unknown (or not have in place for that matter).
Now it's time to go spiritual on you :-)
God tells us that his plan for us is perfect. We can know that in our hearts, and we can know that in our souls, but our minds need some convincing. Our minds deal with the physical reality we are in in the moment. Worry and anxiety enter into our lives when we fail to trust the perfection of God's plan. Think about anxiety for a moment. When do most of us feel most anxious? When we feel like we have no control over our physical surroundings. Our minds do not trust the perfection of God's plan, so they try to take control over the physical reality to substitute 'our plan' for God's. Control is an illusion. Sometimes, it makes us feel a bit better to feel like we are in control, but there is that nagging knowledge that the little bubble we have built for ourselves is still surrounded by a reality that is beyond our comprehension.
So, the human mind deals best with systems that it can trust.
It is easy to know God's perfection with our hearts ("Love the Lord, your God, with all your heart...)
It is easy to know God's perfection with our souls (...all your soul...)
Our mind needs a system in place to trust in the perfection of God's plan (...and all your mind".)
So here is the challenge really. How do we accept and trust a plan that we see evidence daily to the affect that it is anything but perfect? Let's ask Job. OK, go ahead and moan and groan...nobody likes talking about Job, right? I mean, who can make it through that story in one sitting? It is down right depressing. Sure, God blessed him beyond measure in the end, but look at the crap he had to go through to get there. What about his friends and his wife that came to talk to him while he was in the middle of misery? Basically, they were all asking him the same question, "Do you still think God's plan is perfect? Now, we read about Job, and we hear sermons about Job, and we see/learn that he never lost faith. Does that mean that he was able to ignore his physical reality? Not by a long shot. At times, he was angry with God. He was disappointed, he was in pain, he felt like God had abandoned him. That is what his physical reality was. Through Job, God tells us that it is OK to be angry with him. It is OK to be disappointed. It is OK to hurt. It is OK to feel alone. Because, through all of that mess, God's plan will be revealed to be perfect. If we could have asked Job in the middle of his story if God's plan was perfect, what would he have said? What would we say in the middle of our stories?
So, Job probably never fully understood the true perfection behind God's plan for him. He found God's abundant blessing on the other side of the misery, true; but do you think that Job knew how many trillions of people would read his story? In Job, God gave us a worst case scenario, so that we could have hope and faith in the middle of our physical realities....to put it another way, God gave us a system by which our minds could trust the perfection of his plan....and THAT, my friends, is Life Management.
So, here is food for thought...if our story were written down for generations after us to read, what would they learn from our story?
So, this concept of life management deals with managing time, money, relationships....the whole ball of wax. Initially, that seemed a bit overwhelming, but then I realized that those issues existed whether I had a plan to deal with them or not; and not having a plan seemed more overwhelming....so I threw myself into some research.
Very quickly, I came upon this guy named David Allen (how could you go wrong with anyone named David, right :-) His approach to life management intrigued me because he didn't start with a 'system'. He started with the user; the user's mind to be more precise. His argument was that you are not going to use any system for very long that doesn't work for you. The human mind does not deal very well with the things that it does not trust. To force the mind to deal with a reality, or a system that it does not trust, fosters worry and anxiety. Think about your past, and something that has worried you, or you have been anxious over. Odds are, the source of your worry was the reality of an unknown outcome. Your mind did not trust the system you had in place for dealing with the unknown (or not have in place for that matter).
Now it's time to go spiritual on you :-)
God tells us that his plan for us is perfect. We can know that in our hearts, and we can know that in our souls, but our minds need some convincing. Our minds deal with the physical reality we are in in the moment. Worry and anxiety enter into our lives when we fail to trust the perfection of God's plan. Think about anxiety for a moment. When do most of us feel most anxious? When we feel like we have no control over our physical surroundings. Our minds do not trust the perfection of God's plan, so they try to take control over the physical reality to substitute 'our plan' for God's. Control is an illusion. Sometimes, it makes us feel a bit better to feel like we are in control, but there is that nagging knowledge that the little bubble we have built for ourselves is still surrounded by a reality that is beyond our comprehension.
So, the human mind deals best with systems that it can trust.
It is easy to know God's perfection with our hearts ("Love the Lord, your God, with all your heart...)
It is easy to know God's perfection with our souls (...all your soul...)
Our mind needs a system in place to trust in the perfection of God's plan (...and all your mind".)
So here is the challenge really. How do we accept and trust a plan that we see evidence daily to the affect that it is anything but perfect? Let's ask Job. OK, go ahead and moan and groan...nobody likes talking about Job, right? I mean, who can make it through that story in one sitting? It is down right depressing. Sure, God blessed him beyond measure in the end, but look at the crap he had to go through to get there. What about his friends and his wife that came to talk to him while he was in the middle of misery? Basically, they were all asking him the same question, "Do you still think God's plan is perfect? Now, we read about Job, and we hear sermons about Job, and we see/learn that he never lost faith. Does that mean that he was able to ignore his physical reality? Not by a long shot. At times, he was angry with God. He was disappointed, he was in pain, he felt like God had abandoned him. That is what his physical reality was. Through Job, God tells us that it is OK to be angry with him. It is OK to be disappointed. It is OK to hurt. It is OK to feel alone. Because, through all of that mess, God's plan will be revealed to be perfect. If we could have asked Job in the middle of his story if God's plan was perfect, what would he have said? What would we say in the middle of our stories?
So, Job probably never fully understood the true perfection behind God's plan for him. He found God's abundant blessing on the other side of the misery, true; but do you think that Job knew how many trillions of people would read his story? In Job, God gave us a worst case scenario, so that we could have hope and faith in the middle of our physical realities....to put it another way, God gave us a system by which our minds could trust the perfection of his plan....and THAT, my friends, is Life Management.
So, here is food for thought...if our story were written down for generations after us to read, what would they learn from our story?
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