Category Archives: SKILLS, EDUCATION & LIBRARY

General catch all for listing skills that do not exactly fit in the major headings. Example would be sewing– this could go under shelter, clothing, medical or here.

Medical Assistant

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Medical Assistant — earning a living series

You may want to review the earlier post at http://www.preparesurvivethrive.us/emt-v-cna/

We have already discussed CNA v EMT for entry level healthcare providers. There is another ‘entry level’ provider that is relatively new on the scene – new as in the last 20 years. That 3rd person is known as a ‘Medical Assistant”. A medical assistant typically has about a years worth of training in such things as office management, coding and billing, some lab and x-ray experience, phlebotomy and injections and medical records creation and maintenance. One school that I know of which trains Medical Assistants charges $30,000.00 USD per student for the year. That does not include living expenses.

Typical jobs are in doctor’s offices which would include doc in a box situations and in hospitals as a unit secretary, medical records tech, billing office and maybe the lab. There are jobs as a free standing coder / biller or as a medical transcription person.

Overall the training is good and well rounded for the intended purpose. MA is also a good job as far as it goes and it does help in your understanding of things so that you can progress up the food chain ladder if you want to.

The down side of MA school / jobs is that it takes a long time to be able to earn money going this route, a whole year [or more depending on if you go to school full time or part time] v CNA where you can start earning in as little as 3 weeks. Once again $30,000.00 is a rather high price to pay for the school.

Several friends have gone though the school and then found out that the area was over saturated with MAs and that they could not find a job in the field – one is working at a local big box store.

MA’s do not end up with a professional license in most states – they work under the MD’s license. With that situation there is no ‘governing board’ or union to ‘protect’ the public as far as their practice goes.

IF you want to go into this area that is great! I would not want to start off with it as my first exposure. I would recommend starting with CNA and then going into this, EMS or maybe nursing.

 

Cross ref    http://www.preparesurvivethrive.us/emt-v-cna/

 

EMT v CNA

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“Helping You Live The Life You Want, If Times Get Tough, Or Even If They Don’t”. Jack from TSP [ www.TheSurvivalPodcast.com ] does a good job of articulating it.

Another and older way of saying this is that “Provident living is a way of life.” Which is how many of us were raised. I have lived by this for MANY years. It is too bad that some forget to pass it on to their kids and grandkids.

Anyway the point that I would like to make as far as skills go from a medical standpoint is that EMT training is great and “sexy” and all of that and it does come in handy at times. For entry level though and to be able to earn money as you go or to have something that you could ‘fallback on” in this wonderful economy, it is hard to beat CNA training.

Certified Nursing Assistants typically have around 120 hours of classroom and clinical training [about 3 weeks] before they take the board test and get a license from the State Board of Nursing. Every hospital and/or nursing home is always short of good staff to care for patients. Pay rates can start as low as $8.00 an hour to as high as $15 -17 an hour depending on experience. In my 40+ years of nursing practice in everything from EMS, OR, OB to ICU/NICU, along with teaching nursing and medical students and CNAs & EMTs – the people who start out as a CNA and then go on to EMT or other training, consistently do better than the ones who do EMT first and then CNA.

Another issue to ponder; there are 24 hours in the day. EMT [and Paramedic] focuses on the “golden hour” which is the first hour after an injury in a day to day situation; CNA teaches you how to care for a person for the 23.5 + hours that it takes someone to recover after the injury.

Which is going to be used more?

YMMV but that is my 2 cents worth [not adjusted for inflation]

 

Medical Assistant

Czaplewski, Janice

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I wish that this first book from Janice would have been available 30 years ago when I was running a counseling agency. It would have been very useful. ——– OH well, at least it is here now. ;]

And Then There Was One: A funny guide to surviving divorce by Czaplewski, Janice (Feb 5, 2014)

If you are wondering, “What in the world do I do now?” “How do I find time for myself” “Do the tears ever stop?” “What do you mean tomorrow? I can’t even hold onto today!” this book will help you. If your self-esteem, credit, morale, and sanity have taken a hit and your head is reeling, it helps to know there are other people out there that have been through what you are going through and they have survived. Let them light the candle that holds the darkness at bay. Let them lead you by the hand and pull you out of the black waters of despair. When you want to cry, let them help you find the humor in the absurdity that your life has become so you can’t help but laugh. Join me as I introduce you to some wonderful people who will all help you to understand what is happening and figure out ways to turn your life into what you want it to be.

A Time For Travel ~ The Christmas Project by Czaplewski, Janice (Oct 25, 2013)

A Time for Travel ~ The Christmas Project is about four cousins who invent a time travel machine over Christmas vacation. They set the time for 200 years in the past and set the location for the Marble Arch Caves in Northern Ireland. That is not where they end up!

Follow Brooklyn, Caleb, Genevieve, and Kennedy as they explore the castles and caves of ancient Ireland on their grand adventures. What will they do once they get there and their time travel machine doesn’t work? Will they find the leprechauns, dragons, fairies and unicorns they are looking for? Will they get home?

Watch for the second book in the series, A Time For Travel ~ The Summer Project coming soon.

A Time For Travel ~ The Summer Project is the second book in the series. Go along with Kennedy, Brooklyn, Genevieve, and Caleb on another grand time travel adventure into the past.
They travel to Northern Ireland to the year 1570. They discover smugglers stealing gold that the leprechauns have hidden in a cave. They need help to capture them but are pirates really the best choice to go to for help?
The chase leads them from Northern Ireland to the Republic of Ireland to England to Scotland and back again.
Will they catch the smugglers? Will they be able to return the gold? What happens after the time machine crashes?

Cost Containment Workbook: Complete Guide to Material Cost Reduction and Containment by Czaplewski, Janice (Feb 4, 2014)

As any business owner or CEO knows, manufacturing costs are constantly rising and you have to fight the battle every day to guard your profit margin.

If you are using a Catapult to fight rising costs and your competition is using a Howitzer, you need to read this book.

In this economy, if ever there was a time to use a howitzer to attack the castle where the profits are stored, this is it. Well, maybe it’s not quite that serious, but you certainly can’t sit back and just hope it gets better. The only way it will get better is if you are proactive, and the sooner you start the more impact you can have.

This book will help you evaluate your situation to see if you need to do a cost reduction project, help you choose the project, walk you through the steps of a project, and even take it to the next level with cost containment. After you have done the work to reduce the costs, you want to make sure they don’t creep up on you after the project is complete.

There are some really good tips to make the process easier and at the end of the book there are even “Excel Hints” to help you with the spreadsheets.

Just remember that if you always do what you always did, you will always get what you always got. Are you ready to do something different? If so, try these proven methods – today!

There are two books in this set. One is for the managers and one is a full color workbook for the people who will be doing the cost reduction projects.

Manager’s Guide to Cost Reduction by Czaplewski, Janice (Feb 5, 2014)

This book is for managers to get the overview and understand the process. Order the full sized, full color companion workbook for the people that will be doing the projects.
If you have an questions or comments, feel free to contact Janice Czaplewski at Janice@entire360.com.

spring storms

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spring storms

Here it is Mother’s Day [2014-05-11]  and we have a spring storm. The storm started the day bad enough that all church services and meetings were cancel today for safety reasons. The ‘winter’ storm warning will last at least until 0900 Monday [so less than 9 hours from right now].

At 1700 hours Sunday we were getting reports from around town about the depth of the snow. A few of the reports were poultry 10 inches of snow – NOT drifted. Other reports were for 18 inches of snow on the flats.

Looking at the webcams on the interstate show very poor driving conditions. Portions of the interstate both east – west AND north south are closed. Hopefully the truckers and other drivers got hunkered down before the storm hit. I have not heard any reports of accidents of any size nor of any injuries.

One conversation that I had this afternoon we discussed how “Spring storms typically kill more people than winter storms because they are unexpected.” This is great truth in this. All the more reason that we should all stay prepared for the storms of life.

Some of the ‘normal’ preps that most of us carry in our vehicles ALL the time include;

Sleeping bags and or blankets enough for everyone normally in the vehicle

CB radios to get road reports and to call for help should you need it

Weather alert radio [which is sometimes also on the CB] for current weather reports and road closures.

Car charger for your cell phone and other electronic gadgets.

A power inverter can come in handy too. These typically plug into the lighter socket of the car. Regardless of what the unit is rated at it can only handle about 150 watts safely, unless they are hard wired to the vehicle battery.

A strobe light would be of use should you slide off the road.

Candles in a can are of use to keep you warmer.

Jumper cables of at least 20 feet length.

Kitty liter often helps provide traction for your tires.

Toilet paper, #10 can and properly sized garbage bags to use a toilet. This is safer than going outside during a blizzard.

50 feet of light rope such as 550 parachute line. IF you HAVE to get out of the vehicle, tie one end of the rope to the steering wheel of the vehicle and the other end to you so that you can find your way back into the car. Do this even if you are only heading to the trunk  to get stuff. Yes, you can get lost in that short of trip. If you get lost from your vehicle in a storm you most likely WILL die.

Winter [spring] storms can be true life or death survival situations, but you prepare such storms can be just a small inconvenience.

What other ‘stuff’ do you carry in your vehicle for survival?

The apple trees had already blossomed – hopefully they will not be too damaged

Education reboot P3

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Geography (Time, one hour)
1 What is climate? Upon what does climate depend?
2. How do you account for the extremes of climate in Kansas ?
3. Of what use are rivers? Of what use is the ocean?
4. Describe the mountains of North America .
5. Name and describe the following: Monrovia , Odessa , Denver ,
Manitoba , Hecla , Yukon , St. Helena, Juan Fernandez, Aspinwall and
Orinoco .
6. Name and locate the principal trade centers of the U.S. Name all the
republics of Europe   and give the capital of each.
8. Why is the Atlantic Coast colder than the Pacific in the same
latitude?
9. Describe the process by which the water of the ocean returns to the
sources of rivers.
10. Describe the movements of the earth. Give the inclination of the
earth.

Notice that the exam took FIVE HOURS to complete.
Gives the saying ‘he only had an 8th grade education’ a whole new
meaning, doesn’t it? No wonder they dropped out after 8th grade.  They already knew more than
they needed to know!
No, I don’t have the answers!  And I don’t think I ever did!

Have fun with this…pass it on so we’re not the only ones who feel
stupid!

The more that I learn, the more that I know that I DON’T know!

I think that if we were to either primarily use this for OUR common Core of education when we home school OR use it to supplement public education along with whatever we have to do to DE-program our kids and our selves.

I would of course add computer stuff to be able to research topics more.

What are YOUR thoughts on this? Please and thank you.

http://www.preparesurvivethrive.us/education-reboot-p1/

 

Education reboot P2

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U.S. History (Time, 45
minutes)

1. Give the epochs into which U.S. History is divided.

2. Give an account of the discovery of America
by Columbus
.

3. Relate the causes and results of the Revolutionary War.

4. Show the territorial growth of the United States .

5. Tell what you can of the history of Kansas
.

6. Describe three of the most prominent battles of the Rebellion.

7. Who were the following: Morse, Whitney, Fulton
, Bell , Lincoln , Penn, and Howe?

8. Name events connected with the following dates: 1607, 1620, 1800,

1849, 1865.

Orthography (Time, one hour)

[Do we even know what this is?]

1. What is meant by the following: alphabet, phonetic, orthography,

etymology, syllabication.

2. What are elementary sounds? How classified?

3. What are the following, and give examples of each: trigraph,

subvocals, diphthong, cognate letters, linguals.

4. Give four substitutes for caret ‘u.’ (HUH?)

5. Give two rules for spelling words with final ‘e.’ Name two exceptions

under each rule.

6. Give two uses of silent letters in spelling. Illustrate each.

7. Define the following prefixes and use in connection with a word: bi,

dis-mis, pre, semi, post, non, inter, mono, sup.

8. Mark diacritically and divide into syllables the following, and name

the sign that indicates the sound: card, ball, mercy, sir, odd, cell,

rise, blood, fare, last.

9. Use the following correctly in sentences: cite, site, sight, fane,

fain, feign, vane, vain, vein, raze, raise, rays.

10. Write 10 words frequently mispronounced and indicate pronunciation

by use of diacritical marks and by syllabication.

http://www.preparesurvivethrive.us/education-reboot-p1/

Education reboot P1

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Could this be an incentive to homeschool?

Education 1895

 

1895 8th grade final exam]

“Only an 8th grade education?”

This is why we grew to be the greatest Nation in the World.

1895 8th grade final exam

Take this test and pass it on to your more literate friends..  THERE ARE
NO GIVEN ANSWERS!
What it took to get an 8th grade education in 1895…

Remember when grandparents and great-grandparents stated that they only
had an 8th grade education? Well, check this out. Could any of us have
passed the 8th grade in 1895?

This is the eighth-grade final exam from 1895 in Salina, Kansas, USA.

It was taken from the original document on file at the Smokey Valley
Genealogical Society and Library in Salina , and reprinted by the Salina
Journal.

8th Grade Final Exam: Salina, Kansas   – 1895

Grammar (Time, one hour)
1. Give nine rules for the use of capital letters.
2. Name the parts of speech and define those that have no modifications.
3. Define verse, stanza and paragraph
4. What are the principal parts of a verb? Give principal parts of
‘lie,”play,’ and ‘run.’
5. Define case; illustrate each case.
6 What is punctuation? Give rules for principal marks of punctuation.
7 – 10. Write a composition of about 150 words and show therein that you
understand the practical use of the rules of grammar.

Arithmetic (Time, 1 hour 15 minutes)
1. Name and define the Fundamental Rules of Arithmetic.
2. A wagon box is 2 ft. Deep, 10 feet long, and 3 ft. Wide. How many
bushels of wheat will it hold?
3. If a load of wheat weighs 3,942 lbs., what is it worth at
50cts/bushel, deducting 1,050 lbs. For tare?
4. District No 33 has a valuation of $35,000.. What is the necessary
levy to carry on a school seven months at $50 per month, and have $104
for incidentals?
5. Find the cost of 6,720 lbs. Coal at $6.00 per ton.
6. Find the interest of $512.60 for 8 months and 18 days at 7 percent.
7. What is the cost of 40 boards 12 inches wide and 16 ft. Long at $20
per metre?
8. Find bank discount on $300 for 90 days (no grace) at 10 percent.
9. What is the cost of a square farm at $15 per acre, the distance of
which is 640 rods?
10. Write a Bank Check, a Promissory Note, and a Receipt.

 

Ready? or not

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a bit taken from the book

Ready-Not-Things-WILL-Happen Quick start survival guide.

http://www.amazon.com/Ready-Not-Things-WILL-Happen/dp/1496022947/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1395604161&sr=1-1&keywords=Richard+Calton

FIRST AID KIT TO INCLUDE:

  • Olive Oil,
  • First Aid Manual, or NOLS First Aid Handbook,
  • Aromatic Spirits of Ammonia,
  • Water Purification Tablets,
  • Table Salt,
  • Baking Soda,
  • K+ (Potassium),
  • Aspirin or ibuprofen (for both children and adults),
  • Petroleum Jelly (Vaseline),
  • Diarrhea medication,
  • Laxative (mom or colace),
  • 30 days of Prescriptions,
  • Safety Pins,
  • Adhesive and/or paper tape,
  • betadine,
  • Bandages,
  • Gauze Roll,
  • Coban elastic bandage (or Ace Bandage),
  • Heavy String,
  • And you may need Tetanus immunization every five years.

see also www.preparesurvivethrive.us

http://www.preparesurvivethrive.us/a-time-for-travel-the-christmas-project/

get others into survival

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How My Husband Got Me Interested in Prepping

Before I met my husband I was not a prepper.  Growing up we did have a garden each year and Dad hunted and we fished and put that up in a freezer, but that was to save on groceries.

I remember my Mother being afraid of canning because a pressure canner once blew up in her home as a child –in the1930s. We also went camping but that was just a hobby not preparing for anything that was ever said. My Dad had grown up very poor and this was what he could do to save money.  The evenings that we sat outside in the front yard and shelled peas and lima beans and snapped green beans to put in the freezer are now fond memories.

On the other hand maybe that was a part of prepping that was just normally done back in the 60’s when I was growing up. However, after my husband and I got married, and it did take years, but he finally convinced me that prepping was a way of life, and oh how that way of life has blessed our family time and time again. There have been many times that one or the other of us got sick or hurt or as a family we moved and because we had food storage, we did not have to worry about being hungry.

Our daughter moved away from home and got married we would take her food from the storage at least every month.  When she moved back into town she said she really missed the food storage because there were times when she went hungry because they did not have enough money.

I’ve talked to many people that said they did not have enough room for food storage and I told them if it was important enough to you, you would find the room.  Just from a money standpoint food storage makes sense.  You buy food when it is on sale for the times it is not on sale.  It is not that you have wheat, honey, salt and powdered milk in bulk in the basement and you say I have my food storage. Food storage is all of the food you have in your home, even what you are eating on at the time. It is going to Farmer’s Markets and buying in quantity when food is in season and in bulk and putting it up for a rainy day.  I say the squirrel is “coming out” in me, it’s a natural thing to do.

When most people used to live on a farm they put food up when it was time for harvest.  During the fall the stores will put baking supplies on sale, you just purchase enough to last you till the next fall when it goes on sale again.

The final straw was when my husband asked me what I would do if I had to take the mark of the beast or whatever the government would hold over you, or not be able to feed our children. How could I look our children in the eyes and tell them we do not have any food.  We provide for our children in every way we can, if we hear of food shortages all over the world and not have food storage already put aside, what are we telling our children?

The way I look at it is we have food storage FOR our children more so than for ourselves. And that goes for the rest of prepping; their safety, heat, lights, health, clothes, hygiene, education, spiritual health and anything else that they would need.

Prepping is not a quick fix, but a way of life that we are thinking about what to do next, to provide for our children.  And with us it has not only provided for our children but now for our grandchildren and are they not worth everything we can do?

What to Store for Sewing?

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Do you sew? Even if you don’t there are a few things you need to store to keep the  clothing that you have in good order.  Hand sewing needles, a threader, thread, straight pins in a container, thimble, a tape measurer and a pair of scissors are the basic supplies.  Some patches, various buttons, Velcro, replacement zippers, elastic and material would be helpful to have on hand, too.  There are sewing kits that you can get at the Dollar Tree that are in a plastic container for $1. The items are all pretty good except the scissors.  But you can purchase a decent pair of scissors for just a dollar. You can also get these items from garage sales and second hand stores. As far as thread goes if you keep your colors down to just a few then you won’t have to make sure that you match each and every color of clothing that you own, or you can purchase clear thread which you can use for any color. Do get more thread than is just in one of the sewing kits. That is a beginning but you will not know how long it may be before you can get to a store and purchase more.  Also you can use thread, hand sewing needles and any other sewing items as trade goods.  So, since needles and thread are cheap get a good number of these items.

 

As far as material is concerned denim and other heavy weight material will be at a premium. If you can obtain 100% cotton, that would be the best, or as close to that as possible. It wicks the sweat off of you and will not shrink as bad as other fabric types. Also if you are not allergic to wool, it is a good material in colder weather to have. Wool blankets from garage sales or GI supply houses are a good bet, cheaper than wool by the yard. If you can not be in physical contact to wool you can put a cotton fabric on both sides and should be able to use it then. Also for other fabrics sheets are better priced than material by the yard and you can get used sheets at garage sales or second hand stores for really cheap.  Even if you get fitted sheets and cut the elastic part off it is still cheaper than purchasing by the yard material.  As far as storing material or clothing I find it best to put into a plastic bag, squeeze out the air and close, and then put it in a Rubbermaid container. Mice love to get into material, they will make their nest there and chew up the material.

 

If you have a chance to obtain some patterns, do so. Simple ones are the best, because you probably will be sewing clothes by hand. If you can go ahead and cut them out and trace them to heaver paper like freezer paper. The pattern paper tears extremely easily. If you will be making numerous amount of clothes out of the same pattern you can also place the pattern in between 2 sheets of clear contact paper, which will keep it usable for much longer. In the Middle Ages when the people conquered other groups they would grab any clothing and if it did not fit they would either take it up or add other material to it to make it larger. You can store patterns the same way that you store material, in a plastic sack and then in a Rubbermaid container. I have never seen a mouse chew through a Rubbermaid Container as of yet.

 

Last thing to talk about is you need to learn how to sew if you don’t already know how. This, along with mending will be skills that you can earn money [or save yourself money] doing if there is an evacuation that lasts for a considerable length of time.