Archive for: February, 2009

Fat, Fit, and otherwise

So I’m standing around the other day chatting with the nice ladies in our Occupational Health department when I, quite absentmindedly, I rubbed my hands over my belly (which seems to have come from nowhere) and exclaimed, “I’m getting fat!”  Always one for a little self-deprecation I was taken aback when the nurse I was speaking with looked me right in the face and said, “yup!, I was just noticing”…sigh…

I’ve been out of shape and overweight for far too long, and well, it’s just laziness on my part.  What else can I say?

Now, I’m not going to give advice on how to get fit or drop weight, I am far from an expert on such things.  If I did, you’d surely laugh this blog post of the internet and right into my trashcan.  I will comment on how important it is to keep at least a minimum level of fitness and health for our own survival if it came down to it.  being fit and healthly will make dealing with stresses that much easier.  Dealing with almost everything c an be easier when fit and healthy.

As a husband and father, my family relies on me for many things.  Would it be a let down because I didn’t have the physical strength for something?  What about the stamina to get home on foot within a reasonable time?  What if I lacked the ability to defend myself or my family if it came down to just my hands?  I can go into what if’s all day, what I want is for you to think about what are some of the things you may fail at because you were too fat and too out of shape?

I now view fitness as any other prep and the need to pay attention and maintain it is just important and all my other preps.

-Mike

Mindset, focus, and tunnel vision

One of the things that commonly happens to people is they become inundated with news, viewpoints and other media. They become inundated to the extent that either A: They “overprep”
or
B: They give up.

Folks, when you’re prepping, have a plan. Don’t take too big of a bite, even though you see how much you have to do. Don’t become overwhelmed by everything. Take your time, and do it right.

Mindset for preppers is critical, and it’s part of the prep lifestyle. We need to realize how the body and mind react to stress, and how those reactions figure in our daily lives and interactions with family, friends, and colleagues. It’s all too easy, as many of us that have been doing this awhile see, to let preps take over your life. Unfortunately, that usually leads to issues within family or job. So approach prepping with an eye to the long haul, don’t just jump into the deep end. Take a look at the Capability Checklist – note how it takes you through basics first, and then builds on those basics. Focus on the basic goals, or, if you’ve already gotten those done, then start working on the others. Note that it’s ok to take a break too – if it’s too overwhelming, take some time off. Do this with the knowledge that you’re already better off than most of the folks around you!

Matter of fact, sometimes it’s prudent to just turn the TV off, don’t listen to the radio, ignore the newspaper, and go smell the roses. Take a walk in a nice area. Go see a movie. Plan a vacation. You get the idea…take a danged break sometimes!

Another issue that we see quite a bit is tunnel vision. Everyone, and it might be more critical for preppers, needs to have some kind of backup and a sympathetic ear or three around when times are stressful. For many of us, this will be on one of the many survival forums out there, and for some of us, we’ve actually got networks of like minded folks we can actually talk to. We need to have someone that’s in the same long term prep mindset, to back us up. Someone to bring us back to a realistic viewpoint when we start getting tangled up in ideas or projects that dominate our time a bit too much.

It’s yet another argument for developing that network of friends.

-Greg

Fun financial stuff (yah, that’s gallows humor)

Even though it’s not mentioned much in the news any more, bank failures are still happening. As we mentioned in the podcast, the FDIC maintains a bank watch list, to help identify banks that are in danger of failing. Unfortunately, that’s not for public distribution – reason being of course, if you find out that your bank is on a failure watch list, you’ll immediately pull your funds out, and we can’t have that now, can we? (Do you ever get the feeling that the FDIC isn’t really into helping out the customers of the banks, but the banks themselves?)

So, the FDIC list isn’t going to be found here. I mis-spoke. Mea Culpa.

Greg is a Beeg Dummy.

However, there is hope in figuring out what bank, thrift and loan, and credit union is doing what.

The answer, of course, springs from the private sector. There are plenty of companies out there that will be more than happy to give you an assessment of a financial institution. For a fee, of course (hey, it’s private sector! Capitalism, baby!) But with enough digging, we’ve found a few sources that are free assessments, and the sites they’re on are worth bookmarking in whatever browser you’re using. (more…)

Starting Your Preparedness Plan, Part II

Hopefully, everyone has a good start on their preparedness plans, and are now ready to expand on it.  Expanding on it in the areas that we’re going to be talking about will provide more capability to your preparations, which gives you a better chance of surviving.

Remember, these are only some of the highlights of what you should have.  See the Preparedness Capability Checklist for more.

Alternate energy

  • Have extra batteries for all of the battery operated survival gear.
  • But alkaline batteries eventually die, so you can expand your capability by using rechargeable batteries, like NiMH, and a way to recharge them.
  • Solar or a generator would be the easiest way to achieve this.  Solar is silent and requires no fuel, so it’s nearly perpetual and makes a good choice.  You can get small, foldable panels to power the battery charger.
  • Standardizing on AA and use adapters for C and D sizes.
  • Make sure your battery charger runs on 12VDC.  
  • Think about a generator, one large enough to power your fridge and freezer.

Sample chargers

http://www.thomas-distributing.com/nimh-aa-aaa-battery-chargers.php

Folding solar panels:

http://www.radiolabs.com/products/electronics/power/solar-panel.php

Battery adapters:

http://www.thomas-distributing.com/batteryadapter-index.htm

DIY Lawn Mower Genset:

http://thepreparednesspodcast.com/viewtopic.php?f=33&t=42

(more…)

Date Your Consumables

When making your preparedness plan, if you don’t know how long something will last, it’s difficult to know how much to store.

What I’ve found that works well for me is to take a marker and write the date on the package when I open it. Then, when that item is used up, I can look at the date and know how long it lasted me.  I write these durations in a log and refer to it when I’m trying to plan on how much to store for a certain period of time.

Recheck these dates periodically to keep on top of any changes in the rate of consumption.

You should also get into the habit of writing the date on anything consumable that doesn’t have an expiration date on it. This way you’ll be able to keep track of how old it is.

- Rob

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