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I make sure to tell my wife I love her every time we go our separate ways. I'm covered for whenever the world decides it's had enough of us people.
most of my headaches are fixed by a large cup of coffee. i admit to caffein addiction and to long without always brings a doozy
Recent US hurricane disruptions (past decade), that only disabled small portions of county, give a glimpse of what can happen if power grid goes out in large areas. We are so very dependent on power gird to keep people alive. Our ageing power grid is very fragile. Everything we know today, and depend on, is totally dependent on communications via internet and computer and power grid. This isn't fantasy. It has happened but, thankfully, only affected isolated areas. Major cities have only 72 hours of food in stores and local warehouses. What happens when delivery systems are disrupted for a few days or longer? How will you get electrically pumped water? How will the waste from your house get to processing systems without electricity? Where do you go to get food and water and how will you get there? These are only the basics for survival. How will you defend yourself once you realize there is no quick rescue and venture out to seek food and water. Never mind everything else including medicines. Survival amongst the masses will become priority. Survival turns ordinarily civil humans into savages in a few short days. Humans can go for 40 days without food but only about 40 hours without water. What will you do if there are empty grocery stores, no supplies coming in, no fresh, safe water, even if for only for a few days? I'm no "survivalist" as known by fanatical politics but I certainly don't want to perish if things will be better just a little way down the road, and a few days or weeks later.
It doesn't take a lot of effort or money to be prepared for a few days without necessities. Easiest way is to build a small stock of water and canned goods. You can store it under your beds. Keep a month in advance for medicines that you depend on. Talk about this with some friends and family. Develop a small network of people you can get in touch with if needed.
I was just thinking, last night.... one neighbor, out here, I know doesn't have guns. Two close by do. How would we communicate we are friendlies approaching if we went several days without contact and things were major disrupted and very needy people were fleeing the city becoming potential threats to us?
Things to think about.
Feisty Alice
alice i read this book years ago
the author is a noted scientist and actually wrote this because congress and the military would not listen to him about the very real danger of EMP and the results which are actully just what you described. a very good read but chilling to think about
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One_Second_After
the author is a noted scientist and actually wrote this because congress and the military would not listen to him about the very real danger of EMP and the results which are actully just what you described. a very good read but chilling to think about
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One_Second_After
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It hit harder further north. Parts of Lufkin were without power till today still. If you ever want you power to always come right back on move close to a hospital. We have 2 huge ones a block away.
Wow, I gotta read that. It's like Threads, but with an EMP.
A note before anyone clicks that link - Threads tells the story of a town in the UK from about 6 months before a nuclear attack thru the next 20 years or so, and it pulls no punches. I saw this as a teenager in the 80's and it kept me awake for most of a week. A cat from this movie still makes periodic appearances in my dreams to this day. It makes The Day After look like a birthday party. Stay away unless you're really into this kind of stuff.
In the Threads scenario, I believe I'd prefer to just be spared the horrors of survival.
Thanks, will get it; hopefully on Kindle which we'll power with solar panels if needed. (Have some wind, too.)
I've been working with computers, mainframes, etc., for decades, and been very aware of modern society vulnerabilities for so long. Living with all electric and having power outages, regularly, sometimes for days, helps to remind me how dependent we are on electricity, especially when temps hit 100s+ for weeks, and no rain, for months, and very little cooling at night. I was amused, years ago, when Greater Dallas had a power outage and radio broadcaster didn't know that she couldn't use her wireless home phone without electricity. (We keep one land line going but that's gone out, several times.)
We are at peak of cycle of Sun Storm activity. Last major blast to hit earth was when we only depended on telegraph. Several have blown out from sun recently but aimed away from earth. Many primitive telegraph systems fried last big hit from sun. We were only at start of dependency on electrical communications back then. I am sometimes amazed at the ignorance people maintain. Those are the people who will potentially storm all us out in the outskirts, out of desperate survival needs. Other countries have already experienced massive disruptions to city centers, most usually earthquakes hitting populated areas. We should learn from this.
All of our fears for Y2K events are eminently more likely as our power grid continues to age, city populations grow, and we become ever more dependent on mass communications to run and provide for the world. Our supply systems, down to local grocery deliveries, from warehouses to major deliveries via rail systems cannot function without mass communications and electricity.
Become dependent on electricity and experience days without. Great teaching tool. And that is with plenty fuel for travel, well stocked stores nearby, and some forms of communication available. Those are no guarantee of future occurances and much more widespread.
Back in 70's DH had a whole family in therapy. Their TV went out. Within days several family members were hospitalized or near. First wake up for him about our changing society and dependence on mass communications. Our wind up radio has been wonderful when we were without electricity for days. Kept us in touch. And, most of the time we still had outside communications and fuel for autos and passable roads. All those things are luxuries compared to how it could be if only a part of grid goes down for days/weeks.
Hurricane Sandy was only a small glimpse of potential disruption. Gov't was ready and able to respond. We can't count on that as optimistic (or clueless) as we try to be.
I realize that just surviving for many people is a struggle. For many more it is choice and unwillingness to look at reality. Most people operate on automatic and never have a thought about how things work. They have plenty of opportunity to learn; they just choose to not "know."
There is hardly any "self sufficiency" any more. Rush through life... without thought. After all, grocery and gas station is just down the road. Ask Sandy affected populations about that. And the US govt was right there within hours. We can't count on that!!!!!
Gotta run... DH, dependent on satellite communications guiding his safe flight home is arriving soon. Imagine solar peak storms hitting earth and taking out hundreds or thousands of guidance satellites. Our global air travel would quickly grind to a halt!!
This is not paranoid fantasy. FACT!!! It happens all the time on small scale. Wake up people. Just have a few things in reserve. Many people in earthquake zones and hurricane zones have some preparations, after all.
Feisty Alice
That was no guarantee during Sandy. Three major hospitals evacuated; had emergency power fail. Not sure why but it amazes me that vital facilities have emergency generators in basements; first to flood. Case in point tsunami in Japan.
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I was afflicted by recurring, almost nightmares, similar one, occurring to this day, as a result of threat of nuclear attack, when I was growing up, in 50s. "Duck and Cover." Some of our neighbors had sophisticated "bomb shelters." My father was postal worker at small town, local PO, that was shelter, supplied with much food and water. He toured me, several times, to deep secured basement, to assure me that we would be safe. It was easy walking distance from our home.
Survival of the worst case senerio will be iffy; one great thing about being old and already having a good life and having grandchildren whose parents are aware is that they will be as prepared as we are.
I'm not expecting "end of world" per se; just potential for mass chaos if life as usual is disrupted, widespread, for only a few days, weeks, months.
All I'm gonna say about, for rest of now being........... Rest easy in your complacency (or not so easy; your choice) but don't expect too much help unless you want to drop your children off so we can help to protect our future human survival. ( I have little knowledge that humans are going to be the survivors of any mass destruction of life forms on earth nor that "man" should survive above all others..... I like mankind, though, and hope we will survive.)
Feisty Alice
I was afflicted by recurring, almost nightmares, similar one, occurring to this day, as a result of threat of nuclear attack, when I was growing up, in 50s. "Duck and Cover." Some of our neighbors had sophisticated "bomb shelters." My father was postal worker at small town, local PO, that was shelter, supplied with much food and water. He toured me, several times, to deep secured basement, to assure me that we would be safe. It was easy walking distance from our home.
Survival of the worst case senerio will be iffy; one great thing about being old and already having a good life and having grandchildren whose parents are aware is that they will be as prepared as we are.
I'm not expecting "end of world" per se; just potential for mass chaos if life as usual is disrupted, widespread, for only a few days, weeks, months.
All I'm gonna say about, for rest of now being........... Rest easy in your complacency (or not so easy; your choice) but don't expect too much help unless you want to drop your children off so we can help to protect our future human survival. ( I have little knowledge that humans are going to be the survivors of any mass destruction of life forms on earth nor that "man" should survive above all others..... I like mankind, though, and hope we will survive.)
Feisty Alice
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I can't speak for others' kids - but if ours are the only hope for the future, we're in pretty big trouble 
I can't speak for others' kids - but if ours are the only hope for the future, we're in pretty big trouble
of my 2 boys the one with any hope is in california [ so he's toast ]
the one here in farm country is a waste of DNA
Good evening, everyone
Made it home safe and sound....and just in time. I'm so tired I can hardly see.
The mountains are resplendent with a lovely new cover in white. the snow was coming down in buckets and it was hard to not just stop to lose myself in the spinning myriad of flakes. Car handled great...but no deep snow to plow through. It only started snowing up there once I had arrived. Road was closed about 5 miles further than I went....apparently yesterday's storm dropped about 100 trees over the road between Glacier and Mt Baker. So the ski area is closed for a few days while they try to remove the debris from the road. bonus for me....no traffic. 
Made it home safe and sound....and just in time. I'm so tired I can hardly see.
The mountains are resplendent with a lovely new cover in white. the snow was coming down in buckets and it was hard to not just stop to lose myself in the spinning myriad of flakes. Car handled great...but no deep snow to plow through. It only started snowing up there once I had arrived. Road was closed about 5 miles further than I went....apparently yesterday's storm dropped about 100 trees over the road between Glacier and Mt Baker. So the ski area is closed for a few days while they try to remove the debris from the road. bonus for me....no traffic.
When it comes down to the nitty gritty "spawn" can offer surprising positives. Don't give up on them till their (or your) last dying breath.
Good evening everyone. That's it off work for a month now. What to do what to do ???
Hi Darrel
So if you get a big blast of weather....do you get called in?
Absutely. So send me all your snow everyone
you got hit good in '96 didn't you Lisa ? That's what I'd like to see again. How are you doing ? The new cars ok on the slickery ?
Absutely. So send me all your snow everyone
How are you doing ? The new cars ok on the slickery ?
Haha....ya, we got it good that year 95/96 winter. It all started around Thanksgiving and kept on giving
I'd like to see it too, just not when I need to be driving. I don't think it's unreasonable to expect mother nature to play by my schedule from time to time. Right? 
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