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.