As many of you know I haven't been as emotionally secure of late as normal. Just letting you know I'm getting back to normal ( for me in case one of my brothers reads this and dies laughing at the thought of me being considered normal ). ( I guess that would go for my Army Buddies, School Chums, co-workers ok no one who really knows me has ever called me normal. Even my Mom will say while your back to normal then qualify it with "for you". My Dad is different however he has his own form of being Sid. I have seen where I was with a group of friends in a Legion a bad fight broke out. People were flying as someone came at the table he would just happen to pick up his beer for a sip. Body over the table no pause in conversation. Even seen one of my brothers have to get up to throw someone out. Later ask Dad and he goes "What Fight?"
It's just that he always seems completely serene and at peace with the universe. Sort of a Buddha who doesn't give a crap.
Anyway I probably won't be doing much joking ( see how long that can last ). I do want to get to work on that survival book in Ernest. Ray has unwittingly been making me think about it. He asked some honest questions not about the coming book but about things that happened while I was getting the skills I plan to write about. Or about things that happened to those were with me when I was learning them or used some of the past on ones. ( He mainly asked about something my youngest brother was involved with that had 13 to 18 year old cadets rolling on the ground laughing at a platoon of US Marines when the two groups went on a survival course )
I will include a how this skill collection came to be ( it was 3 winters in the making and there were 5 of us playing human Guinea pig on ourselves )
I also would like all of you that can think of them to think of worst case situations for your area. For Odette I'm going to include things that relate to tropical weather related disaster. I would like to know of things for other places that should be prepared for like Mimi in California. There they are encouraged to have emergency gear in their garage for earthquakes. I would like to address things like what if your garage is one of the things the earthquake didn't give a damn about.
Point out things such as while a way of getting to know what general direction is north is it will be the side of trees with the most Moss. However that will be south for Kirst and Fi. Moss grows highest where it gets the least sun so in their case that is South. How to use a watch as a compass. ( One reason even if you prefer digital time you should have a watch with hands. Even if you only use them when lost and wear a dual display watch.
So Questions are welcome. Also I want to do at least a couple of chapters of Thought exercises. People who did not survive and what they could have done so they did. ( please leave out hit by large falling objects unless they camped in a rock slide area that's just natural selection. I do have a friend who last I had heard had been hit by lightning his fourth time and I think the record is surviving 27 hits held for years by a US forest ranger. He lost all his hair after I think his 5th and unfortunately just before due to retire the 28th hit prevented that.
I am ok retirement wise so I won't be doing this for money but posterity. So anyone who wants just ask and as I write the chapters I will email you them to look over. Not all will apply to everyone. Also I would appreciate feedback, are things to deep to simple or do I leave out things obvious to me. Or is the situation in your part of the world different enough to warrant some extra information needed.
When done I will put the book where the whole thing can be downloaded or you can pick chapters. One of my own pet peeves with survival books is size and weight. So I like the idea of print and take the chapters you need.
So I hope to get to work on a book that will have to do until the Professor on Gilligan's Island, Star Trek's Mr Spock and MacGyver get together to write the perfect book on it may just have to do.
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Great to see your continuing to write! An interesting topic. Our country is earthquake prone, many mountains are extinct volcanoes, some still active. Our last biggie Earthquake moved us 30cms closer to Aussie earlier this year.
ReplyDelete"A massive 7.8 magnitude earthquake last week moved the south of New Zealand closer to Australia, scientists have discovered.
With the countries separated by the 2,250-kilometre-wide Tasman Sea, the 30 cm closing of the gap in New Zealand's southwest won't make much difference.
But earthquake scientist Ken Gledhill of New Zealand government research body Geological and Nuclear Sciences said the shift illustrated the huge force of the tremor, the biggest in the world so far this year."
See link http://www.cosmosmagazine.com/news/2875/massive-quake-moves-new-zealand-closer-australia
We are always having civil defence Ads on t.v on what to do in every situation work,school, etc.
Also we are supposed to have emergency supplies already stored i.e food, torch, spare batteries, clothes, blankets, first aid kit, water.For people in a bad economic position who live week to week stocking up on food isnt an option for them, as he food does perish.
I plan 3 to 4 chapters on non-perishable food. There is that much to cover taking in the size of the globe, why foods go bad what can be done to prevent it etc.
ReplyDeleteI was also going to include earthquakes though I have never heard of a 7.8 before. I don't even think Krakatoa hit that high. The decimals throw some folks because the scale they use to measure them is expotential. A 2 is 10 times the size of a 1 etc. A 3 100 times as big.
I'm seeing possibilities that this book could expand into almost a world disaster handbook useful at any place on the planet. The more I think about it the more the scope grows. Aside from Mel Gibson most folks I know wouldn't be to keen on finding themselves 10 inches closer to an Aussie.
Fantastic news. Our country is always flooded. Theres terrible destruction at the moment all down the west coast. So information about that would be good. xxx
ReplyDeleteTrace:
ReplyDeleteWater will also be two chapters. People forget that when you have flooding you get your waste water mixed with your drinking water.
So water purification and storage is a major issue. I may have to write that chapter second due to it's importance. There is a 3rd class of water the military calls grey water. that is Water which can be used for bathing or dishes etc but not consumption. Also I will be including a section on doing dishes when water is short. Last stage is rinse with something that also sterilizes ie Javex then let air dry. Javex has several uses in an emergency. In emergencies where you don't have to travel by foot a couple gallons should be on hand. It is used in a second stage of water purification because it then only needs to be left uncovered as it evapoates out very fast leaving drinking water. Or if your storing it cap it till a few hours before use. Also if you have things like brita water filters take them. If traveling pack soft things around them and take the extra filters. You still do the other water purification things but they catch many things other processes miss such as metals in the water.
This is wonderful! Give me sometime to think about what to ask...
ReplyDeletexoxoxoxo