Monthly Archives: June 2014

Home Safety

home safety

I ran into a friend today at church. He related about an incident earlier this week that is rather concerning to me and most likely to many people once you hear the story. V is a good kid. He is kind caring and tries to see the best in people. He is a Lt in the US army and has 3 tours to the sand box.

Early one evening while he was bathing on of the kids there was a knock at the front door. He went to answer the door. Looking out the window, seeing a mid teenager he opened the door. The teen appeared alone and looked nervous. The teen’s next move startled V [and me too when he told me about it]. The teen shot him square in the face, blinding him, with a squirt gun filled with alcohol and peppers. The teen then ran off. V could only see a blur of the teen but did make note of direction of flight and other details which he promptly called into the police. The police did respond rather rapidly and during the interview commented that it appeared to be a ‘gang’ initiation stunt and that at least one other person had been attacked in a similar manner that same night.

Some of the things that come to mind is that this easily could have been the start of a home invasion. Some people that I know would have been tempted to shoot the kid – COM [crazy old man] or Raven both are older and disabled & are in no condition to take a butt kicking and so would have defended themselves – rightly so. V may have been tempted, however he keeps a cool head and said that he could not see good enough to be sure where a bullet would end up and so ruled that out…. On the other hand if he could have gotten to a baseball bat he may have used it.

V was lucky in that it was only peppers and alcohol instead of oven cleaner ect. His eyes are still bothering him but the eye doctor says that will clear up with time.

Things are not getting better with the economy and society in general. I would expect that things will continue to go down hill at least for a while yet.

Some of the ideas to deal with this sort of thing that have been discussed today were to beef up the neighborhood watch programs. Setting up gated communities also comes to mind. What are your thoughts on this?

The bottom line is that we have to Prepare to Survive and Thrive.

Area Deer

Area deer sighting

This A.M. while on the way to the office we saw 2 young deer grazing along the road. In any situation it would have been fun to watch them going about their business. We live in a small town of about 60,000.
Did I mention that these 2 deer were inside the city limits?

We have a lot of ‘wild’ game living in town here, as do most folks. Most of us are familiar with squirrels, rabbits and pigeons, Right? All of those taste good baked, stewed, fried or as BBQ. I have heard of people who have domesticated such animals for use later. Pigeons lay eggs just like chickens do – only smaller of course- of the 3 animals listed already pigeons are the only ones that I would consider semi-domesticating. This is because of the work and logistics involved of keeping animals captive, it is a lot of work. – Disclaimer, always check your local game laws and other ordinances before doing any of this. – With pigeons once they have been caged for a while will tend to return to their cages at night as long as you provide a ‘safe’ place to roost and a source of water. A little bit of food that they can count on will help too. For the most part they will take care of themselves and all you really have to do day to day is harvest what you need from them without scaring them. For the others listed already and many more all you have to do is make your yard or area attractive to the various animals and then harvest the needed animals from time to time without scaring them.

There are many birds from doves to geese who live in our area inside the city limits. Even small birds can be harvested and eaten. Other animals that I and others in our group have seen in town that could be added to the larder include prairie dogs, antelope, turtles, raccoons, moose, elk, bear and mountain lions. The easiest way to harvest most animals is by trapping them. Skunks are available in town too, BUT they are not very desirable and if seen outside during the broad daylight they should be killed and buried as they are most likely sick.

In a major SHTF situation which extends for any real length of time I would expect the available game to be knocked down by over 75% after regular food supplies run low or out. In the best of times most hunters do not harvest enough food to live on. This is the case during a time when ‘things are normal’ and there is gas to be able to drive to ‘good’ hunting areas. I am often amused by the people who fancy themselves as the ‘great white hunter’ and plans on living off the land. This is not to say that the available ‘game’ cannot augment your current and future food supplies while times are kinda OK still.

Several years ago, I was driving very early in the day to a pre-church meeting at about 0600. It was a good thing that there was little to no traffic on that foggy morning. We came upon a herd of deer, 5 or 6 deer, the buck had a huge rack of horns on him. I slowed to a stop and had my 4 way flashers on to worn other – if any- drivers while we waited for the herd of deer to clear off the bridge over the tracks in the center of town.

What are the stranger or unexpected animals you have seen in your town?

Remember that we all have to Prepare to Survive and Thrive.

See some of our books at www.preparesurvivethrive.us

running men

running men


Off the Grid – Million Dollar Manhunt – Documentary

I found this show by happenstance. I am glad that I did. We watched it and then had a discussion on the issues. The Running men made several mistakes. With luck they could of gotten to win the game. Only on the 3 stage of their quest did the mess up big time. The other slip ups would have been easier to circumvent.
Stage one after release they should have hit an ATM for maximum cash withdrawal, it would have made the other steps easier. Then they could have gotten paper and pens for cash. They could then have gotten a taxi and gone anywhere and used the cell phone to retrieve the info that they had saved to the phone. Here they could have either left the phone in the cab or connected to someone to mislead the trackers or they could have paid the cabby to make a phone call at some short time in the future to mislead the trackers.

We won’t discuss step 2 as it should be obvious on what they could have done better.
Stage 3 would have been easy if they had cash. As would have stage 4.
What do you think of the story line and what it means to us in the here and now?

Ready? For a trip?

Regardless of where you plan to go or how long you expect to be gone, you make plans of some king. The trip could be a once of a life time where you would make vary detailed WRITEN plans .or It may be a spur of the minute thing where you get a phone call and need to depart quickly, you still run down a mental list of – turning off the stove, turn off the TV and lights, lock the door on your way out.
It could be somewhere in between.
Getting ready for a trip for the weekend and got a lot of stuff to get ready to leave in a few hours on a short notice trip. So I am doing last minute stuff like making a post.

Fresh Wild Greens

We have known Kate for many years now. Please check her out along with her blog and if you are near Denver CO or will be traveling to her area, her classes are well worth the time to attend. By the way, I found some milkweed plants growing today and they may be ready to harvest the pods if you live at a lower altitude. See our write up last year.
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It’s Spring! Fresh Wild Greens are Back!
It’s that lovely season when the early Spring greens are up in abundance and are at their peak of nutritiousness. It is also the time when I start my wild edible walks and talks as the Urban Forager! This coming Saturday, April 12th, I will be opening the season with a foraging event at Denver Sustainability Park. We will focus on the Spring greens that our Grandmother’s knew were the best help in clearing the Winter ‘funk’ out of our bodies, gently and surely. These little greens will also nourish you with a super load of vitamins and minerals. So come join me for a two hour experience of learning, foraging, and asking any questions about wild edibles that you have. You can sign up for my walk or contact me for a tour of your own backyard and neighborhood! Remember, if you know your wild local edibles, you’ll never lack for food!
www.WhatGrandmotherKnew.com
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Remember we have to Prepare to Survive and Thrive. Learning wild plants is a part of it.

Also check out the books listed on our main page. http://www.preparesurvivethrive.us or just click on “home”.

Life imitates art

Life imitates art

One of the shows that I like to watch is “Criminal Minds”. In season 9 episode 24, “Demons” there is a scene where Spencer, one of the FBI agents, is in the hospital after being shot. The un-sub wants Spencer bumped off and sends a nurse in to administer a medication to Spencer that he is highly allergic to with the intention of killing Spencer. This was prevented largely because it was in the script… ;] OK, it was thwarted by both Spencer and Garcia having kept track of all the medications that had been given to Spencer along with the times and reasons.

While this is just a story, medication errors can and do happen AND can have fatal results.

Most of the time being in the hospital ends with good and expected results. However it is wisest to have a friend or family stay with your loved one 24/7 while they are in the hospital [and at medical appointments too]. As the patient and sitter, it is prudent to know what medication and treatments are ordered and why it is being ordered. Keep a record of all medications you [the patient] are given along with the time and who gave it. Yes the staff will be doing that too, the reason for keeping your own records is so that you can keep track in your own head and can ask questions if it seems appropriate. Another thing is that you should always get to know your care providers on a first name basis and about their background. This serves the purpose of general getting to know each other like most humans. It also makes you more human to your care providers. So instead of the gallbladder in room 5003, you are Sam Jones in room 5003 who had his gallbladder removed.

Most medication errors are the result of understaffing and over work. Another major contributing factor is when regular staff get ‘floated’ into another specialty area from their own. This floating is generally not something the staff likes to do because they know that they are less proficient in the area they go to. Part of the dislike of floating is that they could have already worked a few hours someplace else.

Sometimes the cause of medications errors is that the patient is complicated by many health issues. As an example let us say that the patient is pregnant with twins and develops a DVT [deep vein thrombosis] aka a blood clot, in this case of the leg. Being pregnant and high risk [twins and the DVT] she was placed on the OB floor. OB does not deal often with DVTs and Heparin. DVTs and heparin is mostly dealt with on medical floors or heart floors. So in a case like this the staff was not familiar with this medication and procedure.

A common treatment for this condition –DVT- is bed rest and blood thinners [Coumadin or in this case Heparin IV] even if the heparin is administered via an IV pump which is intended to very precisely give the ordered amount of medication over a specified time period. Sometimes the pump glitches and runs the medication in too fast which is not good. This happens often enough that as a safety tool we calculate how much fluid should be infused. The route is the bag of IV fluid with the ordered concentration of Heparin is hung on the IV pole, next is the Buretrol and then the pump into the patient. This calculated amount is placed in a Buretrol from the main bag, the feed from the main bag is clamped off to prevent more medication from going in. In this hypothetical case the clamp between the main bag and the Buretrol was not engaged which let the medication overload and could have harmed or killed the patient. By the way, the active agent in Rat Poison is – you got it, Coumadin.

While you are talking with the staff find out how many other patients your care provider has, what floor they normally work, how many hours they have already worked along with how many shifts they have worked in the last week. While you are at it ask them how often they have dealt with the medication and conditions in your case.

Survival concerns are common EVERY day we live.

Remember, we have to prepare to survive and thrive, every day.

Track Your Time

Keep a Track of Your Time

I know this is always a difficult thing to accomplish; however, not everything that you do is straight forward. It’s forward some and then back some then forward again. So, we need to know where we are right now, before we can go on. The best way to do that is to keep a time log of what you are spending your time on. Once you know where you are then you can make plans on were to go from here. Fill out the Time Log for the week, the best way to do this is to have it on your desk if you work in an office. If you work at home, put it in the kitchen, that is where most of your time is probably spent. If you work outside put it in your front pocket along with a pencil. Be as accurate as possible, it will guide you better in the long run. This seems like a waste of time, but when you see the results you probably will find out that you spend more time doing things that don’t matter much in the end. Don’t make this harder than it needs to be, every half an hour just jot down what you have done in that time. You can just do this with a sheet of paper, you don’t need a set up page.

When you go to bed, take the list with you. Are you waking up in the middle of the night and having a difficult time going back to sleep? Add up the hours that you sleep. Are you getting enough sleep? Or is it interrupted?

How is your morning routine with eating breakfast and getting dressed and out the door?
Are you running around the house looking for your keys and the report that you need today? Do you get your shirt or dress out of the closed just to find out that it needs ironed? Do you pour a bowl of cereal and then look in the refrigerator to find out that there is no milk?

Just looking at your time log is usually enough to know what you need to change in your routine. Are you going from one activity to another without finishing the first activity? Are people disturbing you in the middle of projects? Do you look at your cell phone a million times a day?

What do you do when you get home in the evening? Do you sit in front of the TV for 4 to 5 hours every night? Do you spend your evening in front of the computer checking your face book or playing games for hours on end? Is it 11:00pm before you know it and past time to go to bed? Then you ask where did the time go.

On the weekends, do you sleep till noon and then drag around for another couple of hours before you are ready to mow the lawn, or fix your car? When it is Sunday night do you find out that you have not completed anything on the weekend you wanted to do?

Get your Time Log done and then we will work on making better use of your time so that you can get your preps done.

Sledgehammering Of Science

Global climate IS for real and it goes in cycles. However MAN caused global climate change AKA climate warming or whatever you want to call it is fuzzy science. The case is well made by Bradley as follows.

We all need to be able to tell the difference between real stuff and BS.

Remember that we need to Prepare to Survive and Thrive.

RBO

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May 28, 2014

The Sledgehammering Of Science

By Bradley Harrington

“When all else fails, lower your standards.” – Bumper Sticker –

“Climate change” is now, and has been for decades, the rage amongst our so-called “intellectuals.” Too bad it’s all a bunch of hooey – and even worse that the junk “science” that lies at its root now serves as the basis for federal public policy:

“President Barack Obama is about to unveil the centerpiece of his agenda to fight climate change, a much-anticipated rule to slash the emission of planet-warming gases from power plants.” (“Feds push states to cut emissions,” WTE, May 28.)

And the implications for Wyoming, which produced 39 percent of the coal for the entire United States and had 89 percent of its own energy generated through coal in 2012? Staggering – and all in the name of a hypothesis that is bankrupt to its core.

Science, in the minds of most Americans, still has an aura of dignity and respect that transcends any particular faith or educational background. Indeed, devoted as it is to the analysis of the facts of reality, we can thank science – along with its sister creator, technology – for the fact that most of us aren’t dead before we turn 30.

But science and the scientific method are very much the products of a rational epistemology – of a theory of human knowledge – that really didn’t take hold until Galileo, for it was his detailed methods of observation and experimentation that paved the way for all the incredible advances that followed.

Today, that method of acquiring knowledge is under concerted attack – and nowhere is that attack more blatant than in the field of “climate change.”

For instance:

► If it is truly power-plant carbon dioxide emissions that are driving “climate change” – then why hasn’t the Earth’s average temperature changed in the last 15 years?

► As an example of the manner in which the “climate change” crowd conducts “research,” consider this:

“‘The two MMs have been after the CRU station data for years. If they ever hear there is a Freedom of Information Act now in the U.K., I think I’ll delete the file rather than send it to anyone…We also have a data protection act, which I will hide behind.’” (“Global warming with the lid off,” Wall Street Journal, Nov. 24, 2009.)

That particular nugget came from Phil Jones, Director of England’s East Anglia Climate Research Unit, as one of thousands of emails hacked off the CRU’s email servers back in 2009.

The two “MMs” are almost certainly Stephen McIntyre and Ross McKitrick, the Canadian scientists who blew global warming’s so-called “hockey-stick” hypothesis off the map when all the relevant data – not merely the data provided by Michael Mann, American climatologist and originator of that hypothesis (and the man Jones’ email was sent to) – were considered.

► And what few of the public realize, even today, is that the data from the CRU serves as the basis for nearly all of the “climate change” climatology projections and scenarios for the last 25 years.

And that’s just the tip of the allegedly melting iceberg, folks; space limitations preclude a more detailed analysis of this “global warming” garbage. But isn’t that enough? So much for the idea that data should be repeatable, verifiable, and shared amongst all parties.

Welcome to the new age of “science,” where information is only as safe as the small-minded, agenda-driven, control-mongering, fear-pandering and truth-violating little data diddler who happens to hold it. Objectivity and the integrity of truth? Long gone – washed away by a tidal wave of subjective supposition.

Back in Galileo’s era, and for most of the centuries afterward, hypotheses were adjusted to fit the facts. Now, in a more pliable time, we reverse that process: we alter the facts to fit the desired hypothesis.

This is what happens when science is handed over to political hacks and made to serve State interests of collectivization and control. The scientific method? That’s all ancient, dogmatic stuff; we now have federal bureaucrats to ensure our interests for us instead. I feel safer and cooler already, how about you?

And more: that this state-sponsored takeover of science, originally claimed as necessary to separate research funding from economic interests, has actually had the opposite effect, is nothing short of tragic. Or does anyone seriously believe that competition among scientists for government grants has nothing to do with the overall political aims of the bureaucrats in charge of funding allocations?

And, of course, the fact that Wyoming’s economy and energy production are about to be sledgehammered into pieces is pretty tragic as well.

Bradley Harrington is a computer technician and a writer who lives in Cheyenne, Wyoming; he can be reached at brad@bradandbarbie.com.

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