15 Items to Send Back to School With Your Kids

It's back to school time around these parts. Although I don't encourage loading up your kid's school backpack to the point where they get a hernia, here's some important items you may want to stash in their packs for emergency use:

1. A granola bar. It can be left in the bottom of their pack and get mashed to pieces but when they don't have time to catch a meal in the cafeteria or have to go straight to practice from school, they will eat it if they are hungry enough.
2. A small, flat flashlight that can hang on the key fob in their backpack (can be used if they get locked in a closet, the power goes out, they need to signal for help, etc).
3. A cell phone. I'm not sure how earlier generations survived without being able to contact others 24/7 but we lived. These days, giving your kid a cell phone is one extra safety tether you can provide them. Obviously, you want to program all important numbers on it including the numbers for you and the spouse, a trusted neighbor, grandma and grandpa, etc.
4. A copy of their updated immunization record (this is actually given to the school and not kept in their backpack).
5. A USB drive with all of their important information on it (family photos, a scanned copy of their passport, medical information, contact info, etc).
6. Emergency meds (check with the school about their policy on this). If your kid has a sever allergy, to the point where waiting for help could result in death like from a food allergy, they should probably carry an Epi Pen with them at all times.
7. Some skills (these don't weight anything!). All kids should know CPR, the Heimlich Maneuver, what to do if a stranger confronts them, how to resist peer pressure, how to call 911, etc.
8. Freezer packs if they take their lunch to school (prevents nasty stuff like food poisoning).
9. $20 hidden in their backpack. This way if they call you because they forgot their lunch money or need money for photos, you can direct them where to find the stashed cash and not have to leave work and drive over to the school to give it to them.
10. A tiny plastic poncho if there is the possibility that they could be walking home during an unexpected downpour (also serves other emergency functions).
11. On their smart phone or iTouch: apps that could come in handy during an emergency (there are literally hundreds of apps; look through the options with your kids and decide what would be useful in your area such as hurricane warnings, bus schedules, etc). They may never use these apps but at least they will have them available in an emergency.
12. An info card, especially for young children. Include information such as their name, address, parent's contact info, classroom number, bus number, any allergies, medications, or medical problems, etc.
13. A copy of the family emergency plan including who your emergency contacts are, prearranged meeting spots, etc.
14. Appropriate safety gear such as a helmet if they will ride their bike to school, a bright jacket if they will be walking to school, etc.
15. Some self defense skills. These could range from knowing who and where the neighborhood registered sex offenders are to taking karate class to knowing how to escape from a stranger.

Obviously you don't want to scare your kids with all of the "what if" disaster possibilities, but having a few items and skills with them at all times could prove useful in the event of a disaster.

It's The (New) Economy, Stupid

I was surprised to find out that the quote in the title was from President Clinton. I had thought it came from much further back. Now it is time for a new quote...thus the title. 'It' is all about the new economy.
I am always surprised when people say that they are waiting for the economy to "get back to normal". As if the booming economy of the 1990s and early 2000s was normal. It was actually abnormal because it was built on a house of (credit) cards and other debt that, when it came time to pay the piper, people didn't have the money to actually pay thus the crashing housing market, crashing job market, and crashing other financial-related markets.
Welcome to the new economy. The new economy is:

• based on cash, not credit. If you don't have the money to buy _____ (fill in the blank. This includes everything from a pair of designer shoes to new equipment for your business), then you can't have it. Lesson: learn how to save real cash for the things you want to buy instead of using credit.
• based on survival of the fittest (or otherwise most useful and most talented). Forget about the union providing you a lifetime job or a degree being your entree into the world of work. These days, if you aren't the best at what you do, someone else will get the work and you won't. It's as simple as that. On a side note, not only are you competing with people just like you (middle income college graduate from a state/private university in the US) but you are competing with EVERYONE in the WORLD. Most often they are "hungrier" than you are. Lesson: no more coasting, you need to be AMAZING so act accordingly.
• much more suited to minimalism. Do you really need six cars in the driveway? About a decade ago, I thought I did. I had earned them and I enjoyed driving them but these days, the cost of owning and maintaining them is simply not worth it. I would rather spend my money on other things that are more important to me. Lesson: scale back. You will save money/need to earn less money to support your lifestyle.
• open to interpretation. While "normal" life may look like it was just spun around in the blender, the new economy is also offering unprecedented opportunities. Simply Google "lifestyle design" or go to AllTop and check out their lifehacks page and see what kinds of new and inventive things people are deciding to do. Sell everything and backpack around the world? People are doing it. Start a home-based business because there is so much technology that makes this possible? They are doing this too.
• smaller and more portable. I remember the days of traveling around the world decades ago with a wallet full of traveler's checks. Now I just use my credit card at an ATM anywhere in the world and out comes my money. Ditto secretarial work. I (almost) fondly recall pecking away on a typewriter and using an entire bottle of White Out to create school and business-related reports. These days you are saved an amazing amount of time because of the computer and then, you can send your work of art via email instead of messenger to its appointed place. Everything is faster, easier, and more connected than it was just a few decades ago. Your entire life (financial and personal records, home inventory, contact list, etc) can fit on a tiny flash drive these days. Lesson: learn how to use technology to your benefit.
• based on reality. Was it reality that middle class families in the 1990s had a 3000 square foot house, a boat, two jet skis, four cars, and that each child went to school with designer duds from head to toe? No. Because all of these items were bought with credit. The way the new economy is now is real. You will earn a real wage, based on real work, that imparts real value, and you will use your earning to buy what you really need and can afford. The economy hasn't really 'downsized' itself as much as it has 'rightsized' itself. Lesson: don't delude yourself, if you need money, you better beat the bushes for a job, if you need dinner, you better learn how to cook because you can't afford the fancy restaurant. Self sufficiency is a good thing.
• a reminder of what's important. When you are out of work, losing your house, dropped from your health insurance, and your life is otherwise falling apart, the things that are important are made crystal clear. Family support, good friends, basic food, a roof over your head, good health...these are the things that make life good. Not a Mercedes in the drive way, keeping up with the Joneses, or showing off to your friends. Lesson: look for the important things in your life and enjoy them instead of pining away for material goods.
• a reminder of what the government is and can do. In a few words, overreaching, and not much. That's not a good combination. According to the Constitution, the government is supposed to protect its citizens and their civil rights. Nowhere in the Constitution did I read that the government is supposed to provide food to the poor, set medical insurance policy, monitor your pension plans, and set up Fusion Centers to gather data on you. As a result, the government is very overreaching, it tries to do everything for everyone, and as a result doesn't do anything well. Lesson: again, self sufficiency is good. Holding politicians accountable is also not a bad idea.

The new economy isn't a bad thing. It is a "rightsizing" thing that is bringing us back to basics--the things that my Depression-era grandparents lived and breathed by. It is a new series of challenges that can be enjoyed if looked at in the right light. It is a new game with new rules that you need to learn and adjust to if you want to be successful and not be trampled up the stampede of change. Enjoy it.

Become a HAM Radio Operator in 10 Easy Steps

I wish we could get more young people interested in HAM (amateur) radios. When I was a kid, HAM radios, shortwave radios, and CBs were THE cool communications tools that kids were interested in. With text messaging and computers, the hobby radio industry has become almost obsolete which is unfortunate because it only takes one good disaster to reinforce how important being able to communicate via radio is. Here's ten easy steps that will both introduce you to an interesting potential hobby and make you extremely useful during a disaster:

1. Study the exam materials and take your Amateur Radio Technician Level license exam. You can study alone or take a class in order to prepare for this test which will give you an entry level license so that you can officially use a HAM radio. Check this link for more info.
2. Once you have your license (and call sign) you will want to connect with local HAM radio operators to get more information on radios, HAMNets, local amateur radio clubs and organizations in your area, etc. Find a club here.
3. After you have connected with local HAM radio operators and picked their brains about what kind of radio you may want to buy, buy a radio. Hamcity is one place to buy online, you may have local radio stores in your city, and of course you can Google for additional places to buy your first radio.
4. Learn how to properly use your HAM radio. Taking the Technician's licensing course gives you an overview of HAM radio use, laws, etc. What it doesn't do it teach you how to use your new radio. Local HAM clubs (see #2) are usually full of radio aficionados who would be more than happy to teach you the basics about using your radio.
5. Get more involved with the HAM radio community. "Hamfests" are very popular events which draw all kinds of HAM radio enthusiasts; they also feature sales of radios and HAM related items, HAM radio competitions, etc. Click here to find local events.
6. Use your skills to help the community. ARES and RACES are two services that use volunteer HAM radio operators to help with communications during a disaster. These local groups meet on a regular basis and participate in drills and exercises by offering radio communications at places such as fire departments, hospitals, and other critical services that will need radio operators during a disaster.
7. Experiment with your radio. Subsets of the HAM radio community do all kinds of fun and interesting things with their radios--from integrating their radios with computers to "contesting", to seeing how far away they can contact people, to building antennas that could signal Mars--there's all sorts of challenging (and educational) things you can do with your radio. Check here for ideas.
8. Advance your capabilities and privileges. You do this by seeking higher level general class and amateur extra class licensure.
9. Mentor others. Once you have the knowledge and skills to become proficient at using your amateur radio, share your knowledge. You can do this by becoming a volunteer examiner, teaching courses through your local club, helping your local Boy Scout troop earn their radio badge, etc.
10. Do other things to support amateur radio. You can donate to organizations that support amateur radio (like ARRL), donate radios to organizations that could really use them but can't afford them (rural volunteer fire departments), become a leader in your local HAM organization, etc.

Learning how to use an amateur radio is still a viable, and valuable, skill. When the power goes out and all other communications systems go down--as we've seen in the Haiti earthquake, and during Hurricane Katrina--HAM radio is going to be the ONLY way to communicate. Why not learn this valuable skill now before you need it?

Link Roundup: Random Info Edition

Here's some stuff you may find insightful/useful:

• Interesting party treats: Edible Guns...Made of Ice
• All your gun news on one page: AllTop Gun News Aggregator
• Cool app for your iPhone: TNF Trailhead app
• From the "it just goes to show that if you f*^% with the US government they will f$%^ with you" file: Rape warrant issued for WikiLeaks founder
• More goodness from AllTop: HAM radio news aggregator
• My kind of traveler: Around the world with no luggage

12 Things That Made Me Say WTF Today

It was an unusual but informative day today..

1. There were not one but two sonic booms today over our area. I felt/heard the first boom and thought it was a small earthquake. I felt/heard the second and thought it could have been an explosion. I then saw fighter jets flying low over my house, way out of their normal flight path and said "WTF?" Definitely not something that happens around here. Ever.
2. The news immediately reported that the 911 system in a city south of here was so overwhelmed with calls that it shut down. Seeing as how there was no immediate identifiable threat, it made me wonder what would have happened if this had been an actual emergency and people would have really needed to call for help. Obviously they wouldn't have been able to get through. Gives you an idea of what our infrastructure can handle...not much. Note that the center could receive cell calls but not landline calls...something to remember in the event of a disaster.
3. My first response was to check and see what I could figure out on my own...people in house OK, check, house looks like it is still intact, check, look outside for signs of smoke or explosion, none. Good. If this had been a major chemical or nuclear disaster, we would have been toast. WTF. In a disaster, your immediate information is going to come from what you can figure out on your own.
4. My second thought was to run through what the possibilities could be. Technically it could have been anything--an explosion, Obama was in town, we have natural gas pipelines which can an do explode on occasion, a crash (it would have had to be something bigger than a car to shake the ground like that), we do have nuclear subs in the area which is always a concern. It pays to know what your local community threat assessment is...if you don't have one you may want to conduct one yourself.
5. My next choice to get a grip on the situation was to go online. I checked the local newspapers/news stations online and looked for what was trending in our area on Twitter. That immediately got me an answer. Then I sent a tweet (see box on the right).
6. The news response had a slight lag as is to be expected but it was fairly responsive. If this had been a major disaster, the ability to find out what happened would have probably taken longer if it wasn't confined to a very small area.
7. I thought about the things we would need to grab if we needed to evacuate. I thought about my BOB and realized I haven't looked at it/cleaned it out/restocked it in a while (another WTF moment). Did I have winter clothes or summer clothes in my BOB? It was nearly 90 degrees today and I could have had a BOB filled with cold weather clothing. Not good, need to correct this.
8. I thought about evacuating as quickly as possible then (another WTF moment) figured it would have been nearly impossible judging by the massive traffic and backups on our freeways on Friday and Sunday evenings around here in the summer. Last Friday it took me over an hour to travel down a freeway that usually takes 20 minutes simply because of weekend/vacation/tourist traffic. The I imagined EVERYONE in the city trying to evacuate at the same time and it would have been a total cluster f%&*. Now I think I need my own personal helicopter if I seriously want to be able to evacuate quickly in a disaster because our roads simply aren't built for such a thing.
9. I then thought about what could be the worst case scenario. Being a ways from the city, a bomb wouldn't be our biggest threat but living by the water in an area crawling with nuclear subs and a number of military bases which support such activity...now that would be a WCS. There is also the possibility of a train derailment/semi crash; these could be carrying poisonous chemicals...you get the idea.
10. I found out that the fighter jets were scrambled from a base near Portland. They made it to Seattle in under 20 minutes. Wow.
11. I was a bit concerned about a few people who were with/near Obama who was in town. Initial reports said the jets were scrambled in response to a threat to Obama although the threat was unspecified. It turned out to be a non-threat but when people are with the person with the biggest target on their back, they are automatically put into a more dangerous situation than usual.
12. This was a test. This was only a test. I hope this situation made people think about preparedness. Nothing like fighter jets roaring over your head to make you think about how you would respond to a difficult/emergent/disaster-type situation.

A Rant About Entitlement

I'm feeling a bit ranty today and my topic is about entitlement, or, rather, what people think they are entitled to. Maybe it is the near 100 degree temps, or maybe it came from a comment I heard at a gathering a couple of days ago. Anyway, here we go...

• Just because you have a college degree, it doesn't mean you are entitled to a job. This was actually the comment that set me off on this topic. I was at a social gathering and I happened to overhear someone say he couldn't believe that he couldn't get a job, even with a PhD. Note to people with a degree who think they are then entitled to a job: employers look for people who can actually DO something. Generally the employees they are looking for are people with skills to make their business more money, a track record for doing so with other jobs, and the ability to sell themselves to the potential employer AND live up to their own hype. A piece of paper with your name on it doesn't amount to much if you can't help the business you are employed by to actually make more than enough money to pay for your employment AND make the owner/stockholders some cash as well.
• People are not entitled to government/social service programs. It's nice that they are there to help people on the rare occasion that they are down on their luck but unfortunately, the more and varied programs that are offered, the more people think that they are "entitled" to such largess. They aren't. The funds for these programs come from OUR taxes and while I don't mind helping out people in need, I seriously don't want my tax money to go to programs that soon morph into bloated government entitlement programs that pay more in employee compensation than to the people the program was originally developed to help.
• People shouldn't be entitled to seemingly never ending unemployment programs. Did you notice the pressure that was brought to bear on federal legislators when extending the unemployment program to 99 weeks was up for a vote? Many unemployed people felt they were entitled to this money when all they were really doing was postponing the inevitable, namely, that if they didn't reinvent themselves and develop/sharpen up their skills, they wouldn't be employable now or in the future.
• Most federal entitlement programs such as Medicare, Social Security, agricultural price support programs, and federal retiree pension programs are so out of whack with reality, I don't know where to being. Basically these programs are convoluted pyramid schemes which, as we can see, are slowly crumbling due to the shape of the pyramid shifting. Decades ago when these programs were started, the few at the top who were receiving these benefits were being supported by the baby boomers who made up the wide bottom base of the pyramid. Boomers put copious amounts of money into these programs with the "promise" that they would in turn benefit when they got older and needed the programs. Fast forward to today when the largest generation in history is now moving towards the top of the pyramid and need to rely on a base of people who are a) smaller in number than the boomers, and b) consist of fewer young people (read: wage earning folks) than previous generations, and c) are putting less money into the system due to high rates of unemployment and declining tax revenue. Ayayay.

The bottom line is that people--you or I or anyone else--should never think they are entitled to anything. Maybe it was the way I was raised, but back then, there were no entitlements. If you wanted something, you earned it. Of course, back then, there were fewer material goods and many fewer entitlement programs than many have come to expect in recent decades. I think that the current economic crisis has opened people's eyes to the fact that although in previous years they were able to basically have the things they wanted--mostly because of easy credit and lots of tax revenue--there is no guarantee that the ability to have those things will continue into the future.

The easiest way to deal with this: minimize your needs, buy what you want with cash, don't spoil your kids so that they think that is is normal to have each and every thing they desire, continue to be valuable in the marketplace, and take care of yourself as much as possible. Think of government programs as something that would be nice to have in the future, but by no means think that those programs will even be there when you need them.

'Nuff said, end of rant.

43 Reasons to be Self Employed

I love being self employed. Even during difficult times, even when I don't know where my next contract is coming from, the freedom of setting my own hours and having a wide margin of control over my work just can't be beat. Here's why you too should consider starting your own business:

1. Your OTJ meltdowns should be less often (and less drastic) than this.
2. The internet allows you to to take care of most of your business yourself; you don't need an advertising division, a secretarial division, and an accounting division, like you did in decades gone by.
3. Start up costs can be minimal--websites are cheap, Skype is cheap, mailing costs are free (via email), etc.
4. You can write off a whole bunch of expenses on your taxes which you can't do as an employee.
5. You can charge less than big firms yet still make more than if you actually worked for a big firm.
6. Staying small allows you to stay flexible. One part of your business isn't doing so great? Change it or dump it. No biggie.
7. You can often work from anywhere (although why people choose to work in noisy, distracting coffee shops is beyond me!).
8. You can pick your clients and your co-workers. Don't like a client? Don't work for them.
9. You can be way more creative than in a run of the mill job.
10. You can work as much or as little as your want.
11. You can work without limits. In "regular" jobs you have to be careful of "showing off" by working more/better/faster than your co workers. You have to work certain hours. You have to follow policies and procedures. Ick.
12. You can develop multiple businesses until you find something that really clicks.
13. You get to build your own brand...which can be kind of fun.
14. You can make decisions that make sense. Many businesses operate the same way "because that's the way it's always been done" whether it makes sense or not.
15. You don't have to work with power hungry middle managers, hostile underlings, and disconnected bosses. In fact, most social wrangling falls away when you don't have a water cooler to gather round.
16. You can relocate much easier by taking your business with you instead of having to quit your job and find a new job after you move.
17. You can change your job to meet your needs. Don't like having to be in a shop doing dog grooming? Just develop a mobile dog grooming business. Simple.
18. You can set your own hours (ie: you can start working right after your morning poker game).
19. You will have a cool title. Instead of being a cog in the wheel, you can be COO, XO, or CEO of You, Inc.
20. You may be able to cut your commute (and commuting costs) to nil.
21. The sky's the limit with how successful you can become.
22. The sky's the limit with how much money you can earn.
23. You can retire when you want...or just take really long vacations.
24. You can leverage the power of the net for just about everything--advertising to millions instead of just the people in your community, selling to million instead of just the people who see your ad in the local paper, doing something amazing that "goes viral" and makes you an overnight sensation.
25. Overhead can be minimal--these days you don't need a huge office, secretary, and an expense account. Now you can have a laptop, an outsourced secretary in India, and you can make your own coffee at home.
26. You won't be alone. Now more than ever you will find people through blogs, forums, and other online source who are self employed just like you.
27. There's almost nothing you can't learn online. Henry Ford used to have a staff to answer his questions and do research, now you can use Google.
28. Your business and life will flow seamlessly together (usually). No more "thank God it's Friday" since your business will become an extension of your life and vice versa.
29. You can literally start with nothing and grow your business through to an IPO and beyond.
30. You can focus on work that you enjoy. Hate certain parts of your new business? Outsource or contract out those parts so you will have more time to focus on what you do really well.
31. Your stress level will decrease...probably dramatically.
32. Your value system will feel renewed. Working for less than ethical and/or less than honest people can wear on you.
33. Your new business can take you as far as you want to go. As a cog in the wheel you are rather limited in your time and connections, but as a business owner you may end up hob nobbing with the Rotary, successfully running for office, or impacting policy at state and federal levels. Cool.
34. You will learn new stuff. Most jobs you can do on auto-pilot, but with a business, you learn new stuff daily in many business and non-business-associated areas. Continual learning is a good thing.
35. You are free to make changes. Whether you are changing your business model, service model, or product model, you never know...your business might create massive change in your industry.
36. You will quickly learn about the most important aspects of business--making money and having happy customers. From there you continue to refine your process so you will keep increasing both of the aforementioned items.
37. You will gain confidence and skills. Your basic job may entail sitting at a desk and typing on a computer. As a business owner, you may end up making speeches, advising others, and maybe even extending your reach by writing a book or giving workshops.
38. You won't have to worry about your lack of credentials. If people only move up in your company based on how many degrees they have listed after their name, take heart in the fact that in the real world, action and outcome matter more than a person's title.
39. You can make a business out of just about anything...carving pumpkins, building websites, taking people fishing, etc.
40. You can create your own job category. If no particular jobs catches your fancy, you can meld together a handful of things you love to do and create an entirely new job.
41. You don't have to worry about being riffed, downsized, or laid off.
42. Self improvement will be your new mantra. At a corporate job, people usually keep their head down and do the work they are assigned, however in the competitive arena of self bossers, you need to continually evolve and be better than others or you will be left behind.
43. You will be in charge of your own destiny. 'Nuff said.

11 Ways the Government "Helps" You (and Why You Should Decline Its Help)

Here's 11 ways the government purports to "help" you:

1. It gives you 99 weeks of unemployment "benefits". This ensures that you will have been out of the workforce so long as to be obsolete.
2. It gives you a 'food pyramid' that if followed, will nearly guarantee that you will end up fat and with a handful of chronic illnesses.
3. It gives you welfare programs that encourage generational welfare dependence and thus whole generations of families that can't take care of themselves and can't teach their children to take care of themselves either.
4. It gives you "mandatory education" that teaches you how to follow the rules and be a subservient citizen.
5. It gives you low priced (subsidized) wheat, corn, and dairy. How about some subsidized fruit and vegetables?
6. It gave you the TSA ('thousands standing around', as one writer put it) which gives you a false sense of security and an even worse than before airline experience (if that's even possible).
7. It gave you war after war that it won't allow us to win. The last war we won was World War II. Korea, Vietnam, Iraq, Afghanistan, the 'war on drugs, the 'war on terrorism'...all wars that led to plenty of money to fill the coffers of the government-industrial complex. And plenty of deaths to the young men and women of our country.
8. It gave us THE largest prison population in the WORLD.
9. It gave us "stimulus plans" and "bailouts" which have done nothing to improve the economy but rather made it limp along on life support for an extended period of time. If it would have let failing businesses, um, fail, then the economy would have been able to rebuild itself. Quickly.
10. It's given more support to a myriad of foreign countries (and their infrastructures) than to our power grid, highway system, and bridges are teetering on the brink of failure. Did I mention they did this with YOUR tax money? Did you know that roads in our country are being de-paved because they can't be maintained?
11. It gave you a Social Security system which you are mandated to pay into...with no guarantee that there will be there when you retire. (hint: it probably won't if you are 40 or younger).

The bottom line. If you see the government coming at you with a "we are here to help you" opportunity, decline. And take care of yourself. You will be much better off in the long run.

Review: Invisible Money

The 'Invisible Money' ebook from JJ Luna has been sitting in my documents file, staring at me everyday, wondering when I will get around to writing a review about it. Since it has been waiting--for about two months due to my recently very hectic schedule--I figured I better get to it. Actually, I have read the book twice, once when it first arrived in my inbox (I love ebooks for just that reason...so convenient), then again a month later when I had a four hour airport layover. Since I am already a fan of JJ Luna's, I kind of knew what to expect and wasn't disappointed as his books tend to include equal parts old time wisdom, clever tips, and interesting facts.

While I don't want to give away all of the great information in the book, here's my favorite parts:

• A section on how to transport large sums of money without getting caught. How his wife smuggled money in her hair was something I had never thought of.
• A section on sending money to yourself. Why drug dealers and the like (I'm not encouraging such behavior, just making an observation) would risk carrying tens of thousands of dollars in their car when they are cruising up I 95 is beyond me. But then again, like me, I bet they never though of using a variety of services that are listed in the book to literally bring the money to them instead of taking the risk of carrying the money themselves. Duh.
• He asks the question "if your home is searched right now, what would law enforcement/burglars find?" Excellent question and a good way to look at the situation when you are considering safeguarding your valuables and other things.
• Another interesting modification that I will be adding to my home this summer is his plan for hiding a storage area between the studs of an interior wall--of course disguised when you look at it--which, best of all, can be opened from either room.
• He explains the benefits of using small state banks instead of the monolithic national chain banks.
• The section on invisible investments would require you to determine the feasibility of the suggestions on your own. Since I don't trust anyone, especially with my money, many of the options listed would not work for me. They may work for you.
• The appendix sections all touch on different issues that are more or less related to money such as Canadian and European banking, how to deal with the police under a variety of scenarios, and other safety and security topics that are often overlooked in our day to day lives. Good info!

Overall, another good read. There are definitely some things I learned that I will be putting into affect for my own security and privacy.