Tuesday, April 6, 2010

Preparedness

Alright, two days in a row. Not bad. Now I don't have to write for another eight months. YES! I thought that I would write today on preparedness. I have an burning feeling of being unprepared. I don't know what for, but I feel quite unprepared. I tried over the last three months to join every branch of the military, but no takers due to my asthma. I thought that it would be the best place to get the best training and skills that I am feeling that I need. During this same time period of trying to enlist, I had two experiences that re-confirm that I am having these feelings for a reason, that is not known to me. First, my friend from the mission field that I keep in touch will called to small talk, and then out of the blue told me that he was selling his house, and was going to join the army with the intent of going SF. He told me that he has know for a long time that he needed to join the military, but did not feel that the timing was right until now. The second story is that my father-in-law came to me about a month and a half ago, and told me that he felt strong impressions that he needed to prepare for not only himself, but for those of his kids that are not as prepared as they should be. Now why would all three of us have the same impressions within a month of each other?
So on to preparedness. What to start with. That is the hard part for most people. In a wilderness survival situation, you first should be concerned with First Aid,Shelter, Fire, Water, and Food. So I think of home preparedness, and why not follow the same principles? First get training in first aid and get some supplies, second prepare your home for the worst, third make sure that you have fuel, a way to cook, and keep warm, fourth, have water for drinking, cooking, toilets, and showering, lastly, to get the food that you need for a year. Just that easy. Right? I wish. I just finished a book called "How to Survive the End of the World as We Know It". AWSOME book. I placed it on my favorite books section on the main page. So many of the survival books put an emphisis on what I would classify as wilderness survival. Kits, supplies, and skills that would help you stay alive untill you get "rescued". Things like a "Go Bag", or a 72 hour kit. This book that I just finished by James Rawles, is a preparedness book on how to survive for months, and or years with out planning on having a rescue. Lets face it, in a disaster, the police, firefighters, and emergency persons are not going to come to our rescue. I know that Scott Lashmett is the last man on the totem pole for the city of Salem emergency crews, and my family may be even lower. So what does that mean?
That means that I am responsible for me! I have to make sure that I have the kits, supplies, trainings, and skills to survive for extended periods of time. This could be anything from a job loss, to a deadly robbery attack, to a power outage for extended amount of time, to a terrist attack. As the patriarch of my home, I also have become responsible for the rest of my family. Could you imagine not being prepared for a potential long term disaster, and you have to watch your children starve, because the new SUV was more important than the year supply of food. I will say that there are some of us that just seem to have a greater desire for prepardness than others. Most men watch sports, play golf, build a car, ect., ect. I have no interest in doing much of any of that. I do however have a deep interest in emergency first aid, becoming proficient with a pistol, carbine, and long range rifle, food storage and garndening, and financial security. Some people would call me a crazy radical, but it is what I like to do for a hobby. I have no plans on building a fortress or castle (although it would be awsome to have), but I do believe that you should have a safe home (even better would be a safe room), and a plan to get you and your family to have security. Hopefully I will be able to host some classes to teach others some of the things that I have found to be of value. It is hard to get started, but once you are, it is almost contagious, and impossible to stop.

Monday, April 5, 2010

English Technicalities

I thought that I would put a little disclaimer for those that surf blogs like my wife. I am a college drop out, and not verry good at english, grammar, and/or spelling. I think that you will get the point of what I am trying to write without having to be all professional and stuff. So correct me, laugh at me, ignore me, its all alright. I can handle it.

Sacrifice

Alright, almost a year since the last post. I guess that I was not as dedicated to this whole blogging thing as I thought. I read a quote by Thomas Jefferson today "The worst day in a man's life is when he sits down and begins thinking about how he can get something for nothing." As I look at the world today, and see how there are so many people, agencies, and governments that get votes, customers, and friends by offering something for nothing I cannot feel the importace of that quote by Mr. Jefferson. The problem with the world today, is that individuals and societies are not willing to sacrifice and require others to do what is required in order to be prosperous. There is no way that a few will be able to support the many. The plan of our Heavenly Father and the founding fathers was not to have some do all, while the rest sit around and reap the rewards.
We can read in the bible the parable of the talents. While some used their talents to get more, others burried their talents in fear of loosing them altogether. What is the Saviors response. He rewarded those that used them and rebuked those that did not. We are to work, use our talents to support ourselves and our families. If we burry all that we have and let others tell us what our talents are, we are no better than those that were rebuked by Jesus. The founding fathers set up a government that required work. It has evolved into a government of fat pigs that sit up on a hill, and tell the rest of us what we need, how we should work, and getting to the point that what we shall do for work. I heard a sound bite on a liberal talk radio show last week that had a congressman say "there is nothing wrong offering healthcare substites to a family of four that earns $85,000.00 a year" Holy crap! A family of four that earn 85K a year is not in bad shape. According to our public officials, that is almost the poverty level. There is no way someone whith that small of an income could budget, sacrifice, and afford their own health care?
I am going to go back to the bible for a moment, and quote our Savior again. We are told that he rebuked the Pharisees for their false traditions and ceremonies by saying "This people honoureth me with their lips, but their heart is far from me." To many times I talk to people, those that do not like what is going on in the word today, and ask what they are willing to sacrifice to change it. Would you stop paying taxes as a revolt? Would you be willing to go to jail? Loose your home? Stop using credit cards? There are so many things that we can sacrifice to make a difference, but are we willing to do it? We fight the fight with our lips, but we do not put our hearts into the cause. I personally know people whom say that the country is being destroyed, but they are get food stamps, government insurance, unemployement, and other hand-outs. Free things that the government has for people who are willing to take it. Sometimes we take things from Big Brother, and not even know that we are doing it. What happend to a days work for a days wages? Reap what you sow?
Lets close with the quote from Thomas Jefferson again "The worst day in a man's life is when he sits down and begings thinking about how he can get something for nothing." We all have fallen on hard times. This economy will affect everyone in some capacity, but how we react to it will show the true measure of a person. Will we roll over and take what the government says that we "need"? Or will we roll up our sleaves, sacrifices a little, work hard, and get what we earn? I know where I stand, I know where I am going to take my life, and I know at the end, I will be able to look back and know that I never had a worst day because I tried to come up with the best way to get something for nothing.
-Scott