It's Time to Get Outside

You've got about one more month left to get outside and enjoy the fall weather before you need to move into winter survival mode.  Here's some tips:

• Getting outside--to a park, the forest, the lake, et al--is usually free and its a great way to enjoy nature.
• Getting outside--as far away from civilization as possible--is a great way to hone your outdoor survival skills.
• Getting outside--with the kids--is a great way for them to burn off some energy and learn to appreciate the outdoors (make sure all electronics are switched off!).
• Entrance to national parks is free this Saturday.
• Communing with nature is a great stress reliever.
• Now is an excellent time to get out in nature.  For much of the country it is fall and the leaves are turning which is an added bonus; for us folks in the desert southwest the temps have dropped down to a reasonable 90 degrees which makes being outdoors bearable.
• Things you can do outdoors: go fishing, go hunting, take a day hike, go backpacking, go camping for the weekend, canoe or kayak around the lake, go on a picnic, go geocaching, visit your local park, etc.
• Things to take with you: day pack, cell phone, water, food, extra jacket, sunglasses, matches or lighter,  pocket knife, flashlight, whistle, first aid kit, sunscreen, compass, map, emergency blanket.
• Should you take a firearm? It's up to you. I carry mine any time I am outdoors.
• Want to go with others?  Here's some examples of clubs and organizations that you can join if you want company when you head outdoors (here, here, here, and here).  Look for similar clubs in your area.

A Few More Links While I Finish Up a Project

It's been crazy busy around here while I am finishing up on a big project so here are some links to keep you busy...

• The creativity of drug users (stuff to know if you have teens, also useful things to know for yourself)
• I don't know how many ways to say it...Afghans aren't our friends. Duh.
• Gotta love these doormats if you are the geeky type (like me)
• Some useful home security checklists from a reader
• If you're coming to Vegas here's some scams to avoid
• If you see this guy...

10 Things That Made Me Say WTF This Week

It's been an unsettling week of news these past few days:

1. The Libyan Ambassador was killed.  WTF is up with security there???
2. Apparently a big chunk of the Muslim world doesn't believe in freedom of speech.  Sticks and stones and all that...WTF?
3. It took an inmate death to remind us that, yep, there are still prisoners languishing in Guantanamo without charges and without any sort of recognizable legal process followed.  WTF?
4. A Navy SEAL goes on TV to talk about a mission.  WTF?  Apparently he missed the day in BUDs where they taught the SEAL Code.
5. And speaking of being held without charges I was reminded about Bradley Manning.  WTF is up with "right to a speedy trial" and all that?
6. You can't just go buy a bottle of Jack?  WTF is up with these workers?
7. I will be happy when the elections are over.  All of the political attack ads make me say WTF (and also make me want to toss my TV out the window).
8. This showed up on my morning news feed.  WTF??  Las Vegas has the worst drivers I've ever seen (and I've seen some of the worst places to drive in the world).
9. WTF is up with all this water?  I knew Vegas got the occasional flash flood but this is crazy.
10. And finally, you put a high-value target in a war zone and wonder why attention is diverted from the mission.  WTF were they thinking?

10 Things About Flash Floods

A suitable topic since it is now "flashflooding" around Las Vegas today.  Here's ten things to know about flash floods.

1. If you come from a place where it rains copiously (like Seattle) be aware that when it rains copiously in places that don't get much rain (like Las Vegas and other desert areas) you will probably end up in a flash flood situation.  Unless the ground is very permeable, the rain will have nowhere to go except to run along the surface of the ground where it will gather at low spots and form impromptu rivers in places there weren't rivers only a couple of hours before.
2. Pay attention to flash flood warnings on TV and on the radio (and in messages to your cell phone from  organizations that send out such warnings).  This will give you a heads up on when and where flash floods may occur.
3. Try to stay inside during flash floods.  These types of floods are usually accompanied by thunder and lightening storms.  It's just safer to be inside.
4. Be super careful when driving.  Never drive through standing water--the road could be gone beneath the water or there could be stuff there you don't want to drive over.  Also, slow down--hydroplaning is not a good thing.  And of course, watch out for people who don't follow these rules.
5. Stay away from the wash.  In places where flash flooding is common you will see empty drainage areas that will fill up with water when it floods.  These "washes" are just like rivers when they get water in them but unlike rivers, they are not places to swim or play.  The water is moving swiftly and full of junk and you can drown very easily so stay away from them.
6. Stay away from impromptu washes.  Even if you don't see an "official" wash, racing water can pool into a river, down streets and other raceways, and can literally carry you and/or your car away.  Stay away from these places!
7. If you don't know where to go during a flash flood, go to the highest ground you can find.  The water will tend to pool and run at the lowest areas (low lying intersections, running in a river down the slope of a mountain, etc.  Don't remain in these low-lying spots.
8. Go elsewhere.  During a disaster, even something as small as a flash flood mini disaster, people automatically want to get home no no matter what.  If you come upon a flooding area, no matter how close you are to home, turn around and go elsewhere.  The possibility of dying in flood water is so big that is isn't worth the risk.
9. Do not wade through flood water, no matter how shallow.  Besides the possibility that it could be running swiftly, knock you down and carry you away, there is all kinds of crap in flood water that you don't want on you: chemicals, oil from the street, sewage waste, snakes(!), etc. 
10. Prepare your home for a flood.  If you know floods are on the horizon, take precautions in your home.  If lightening is forecasted, unplug your appliances and avoid taking a shower or bath during the storm.  If appropriate, put sandbags around areas of your home or yard that tend to flood.  If flooding is common in your area put things up: put your furnace and hot water tank up on a solid platform.  Consider flood insurance.

Basically be careful, use common sense, and don't underestimate the power of rushing water.

Which Would You Be?

This was today's big news story today.  Fortunately the evacuation didn't happen in my neighborhood but it is a good lesson for all.

Do you want to be this person featured on the news?
Police knocking on door: "Ma'am you need to evacuate right this moment there's a gas leak."
Woman (featured on the news): "Oh my God! Kids! We have to leave right now!"
Family runs around frantically then somehow everyone makes it out of the house.
News person interviews woman who dramatically recounts the event: "We had no notice!  My kids are walking around without shoes!  How long is this going to take?  What if we can't get back into our home soon?  What am I going to dooooo?"
Husband then sees wife on the news at work and panics, calling her repeatedly until he can get through (he kept getting a busy signal).  Woman makes the problem seem bigger than it is.  Husband clocks out and races home but has no idea how to get through the police tape or where to find his family when he gets home.

Or this person?
Police knocking on the door:  "Ma'am you need to evacuate right this moment there's a gas leak."
Woman (not featured on the news because prepared people aren't that dramatic and therefore don't draw ratings): "Kids, you have 30 seconds to get your shoes on and get out the door and get to our meeting place"
Woman then opens closet door, grabs BOB, counts kids as they run out the door, and the entire family heads directly to the tree down the street (their second neighborhood meeting place because the first was blocked with police tape).
Husband then sees wife on the news at work and taps out a quick text message to his wife (texts go through even when cell calls won't).  Wife responds with the "no problem" family code.  Husband returns to work while wife breaks out a few snacks for the kids then breaks out the playing cards to play "Go Fish" until given the all clear or dad comes home and picks them up.  Husband arrives a couple hours later, heads to meeting spot #1 and sees it's blocked off then heads to meeting spot #2 and finds family playing cards.  Family goes out to dinner and waits for the "all clear" from the police.

There were quite a few of Example #1 featured on the news today...

(The Psychology of) Surviving Disaster

If you get a chance to catch this show on PBS, please do so.  The show, Surviving Disaster with Amanda Ripley, talks about the psychology of disaster response and how your brain reacts to trauma.  More importantly, the broadcast includes way to "train your brain" to react more efficiently and effectively to a disaster.  Here's the high points:

• It is important to prepare for high consequence, low probability events.  In other words, although these events may never happen, if they do they will be of high consequence to you so you need to be ready.
• The stages of survival include: denial/disbelief that the event just happened, deliberation while you think of how to respond, and the decisive moment when you take action (or don't).
• At the moment of the trauma and right after you will probably experience sensory distortion.  On a side note, with experience and training you can mitigate this response to some extent.
• It is important to train for a disaster--both actual rehearsal and mental rehearsal--because in stressful situations you will often revert to what you know (ie: you need to train because if you don't know what to do you may end up doing nothing and that isn't good).
• With good information and practice you are better prepared, more confident, and less afraid (an example used was the announcement on an airplane to put your oxygen mask on first before helping your child.  What flight attendants don't usually tell you is that if you don't put your oxygen mask on first you will probably black out from lack of oxygen after 10 seconds then you will be of no use to anyone.  With that extra information you will be better off in the event of a problem on an aircraft).
• With the right mindset you have more control over a situation (again the example was being in an aircraft disaster).  Be sure to count the rows to the exits (physically if possible), pay attention to the briefing, and have a "what if" plan.
• Another example used was a house fire in which two family members died.  As with many residential fires, this one happened at night (10pm-6am is the most common time for house fires) and the family was not prepared (no working smoke detectors).
• As one psychologist pointed out, most people have a "normalcy bias" which means they don't expect or plan for anything abnormal to happen.
• The brain also uses "pattern recognition" to give you information about what is happening.  If you have never experienced a certain type of disaster, your brain will have nothing to compare the pattern it is seeing to and it will take longer to react and respond.
• And more info on the fire example: more than 60% of residential fire deaths are due to lack of smoke detectors in the home; most people die from smoke inhalation, not by being burned in a fire; when there is a fire in your house there will be a "smoke curtain" that you will be unable to see through so get as low to the floor as possible; and finally, can you exit your home blindfolded because this is what it may seem like during a house fire.
• You need to physically train in order to build "muscle memory" (ask anyone who has been in the military about drills and exercises...it's critical to a fast, effective response).
• Scaring people into practicing for disaster doesn't work.  Practicing and training does.
• It is important to build resilience in order to have a favorable psychological outcome after a disaster.
• Taking action and being able to feel like you are in some sort of control helps to limit PTSD.
• Lessons from survivors include: just because an event is improbable, don't put off preparing for it; get a flashlight--it will help you with everything from an electricity outage to a terrorist attack to an earthquake; program your mind to respond; realize that anything can happen at any time.

And a few things not in the show but relevant (ie: stuff I have picked up from the best brain scientists in the world who were on-scene and responding during a range of major disasters over the past couple of decades):

• If you suffer from PTSD get professional help.  PTSD results from responses from your lower brain.  This is the most primal part of your brain that you have no control over so using logic to try to talk yourself out of PTSD doesn't really work.
• If you suffer from PTSD talk to others who have experienced similar trauma.  This works in two ways, first you have someone who understands what you are going through so you don't feel so isolated and second, talking about the trauma over and over seems to help normalize the experience in your brain and lessens symptoms of PTSD.
• People who suffer from PTSD (and depression which often results from the trauma) often try to self medicate with drugs and alcohol.  This doesn't work--immediately you may feel better (actually you will feel numb) but the long term effects are not good.
• At the moment of trauma, your body reacts automatically (heart rate increases, you take a gulp of air and hold your breath, adrenaline shoots through your body, etc).  As soon as possible after this you need to "ground" yourself.  Take deep breaths then concentrate, focus on something as simple as feeling your feet on the ground, and move around enough to burn off some of the adrenaline.
• PTSD research and treatment is still fairly new.  If you suffered from PTSD related to Vietnam, checked into treatment for it decades ago and found nothing helpful, check back now...research is moving along and new discoveries about this medical condition are being made all the time.

10 Things You Should Know About

A random list of interesting things that have come across my desk recently...

1. The Bourne Identity Burn Bag (a la Adam Savage)
2. Do you know about Goggles?
3. You should, of course, get your home ready for fall.
4. And a bit of info on shooting rampage statistics.
5. If you are bored and live near a lake you may want to do this.
6. An interesting new cell service.
7. And ya gotta love TED.
8. Some things to add to your bucket list.
9. Four Ways to Track and Recover Your Stuff
10. And did you know you can DIY your own gear?

Are You Prepared for These Five Most Common Disasters?

Following up on last week's Anderson Cooper show about preparedness, here are five disasters that are most likely to happen to you (note that TEOTWAWKI isn't on the list.  In fact, it didn't even crack the top ten so people who think that survivalists/preparedness folks are only interested in running through the woods in their Ghilkie suits with their AKs are sadly misinformed about what it means to actually be prepared for a disaster).

1. A financial crisis.  Your furnace dies in the middle of winter, your car's head gasket blows at a most inopportune moment (or any moment since any time would be inopportune), your kid needs braces yesterday unless you want him to end up looking like Mr Ed, etc.  You need to: have an emergency fund.
2. A personal crisis.  A death, a divorce, a job loss, an extended illness, Jerry Springer showing up on your doorstep...you get the idea.  You need to: have an emergency fund AND have all of your ducks in a row (have a Will, Medical Power of Attorney, an updated home inventory, a stocked food pantry, various insurance coverages, etc).
3. A winter storm.  It isn't if but when a major storm will hit your area, and it will probably include massive snowfall, a massive wind event, or massive flooding.  Generally no matter where you live a storm will come up, almost like clockwork, and leave you without power, without access to food and/or water, and/or with the contents of the first floor of your home floating away.  You need to: have an emergency fund, and all of your ducks in a row, and have an evacuation plan and/or a shelter in place plan with secondary options for heating and cooking and saving your valuable, etc.
4. A local hazard will hit your area.  Again, it isn't if but when a disaster common to your area will strike. This could mean an earthquake on the west coast of the US, a tornado in the midwestern portion of the US, or a hurricane on the south/southeastern coast of the US.  You need to: find out what type of major disaster is common to your area and plan ahead.  Besides having and emergency fund and all of your ducks in a row and having both an evacuation and a shelter in place plan, you should also do the following: if you live on the west coast tie everything down including your home's frame to the foundation and your water heater to the wall.  If you live in tornado country you need to have a basement and a weather radio.  If you live in an area that floods have a boat and a way to quickly get your belongings to higher ground, and if you live in a place where hurricanes are common, know when to evacuate and have plywood and nails on hand for boarding up your house...and sandbags too.
5. Something totally unforeseen will happen.  Although random disasters make the news and scare the bejesus out of people, they are exceedingly unlikely to occur (nevertheless they do happen on occasion).  You need to: do the general things that will have a positive impact on the likelihood of surviving a random disaster--be in good physical shape, have a daily carry bag with you at all times which is full of useful stuff, have a wide range of survival skills that you practice regularly, have useful hobbies that could help you in a disaster, continually think of worst case scenarios wherever you happen to be and consider logical ways to survive such disasters, etc.