Prepology

CNN "Right Wing Blame Game"

2013-04-15T15:25:00.000-07:00

Here we go people, the blame game has started, really. Pardon my french and my apologies ahead of time but PETER BERGEN OF CNN you are a piece of shit, asshole and the most insensitive piece of garbage on the planet right now. The blood is not even dried on the streets and you come up with the blame game of who it could be??? You don't know shit and will not know shit for days to come but all you can do is make a sound bite to enhance your own agenda, Piss on YOU, no wait, having been a firefighter I would not even do that for you if you were on fire, get some facts first and may I remind you asshole that most of the shootings and or bombings have been committed by Liberal Democrats, Report that asshole.

Rant complete and sorry if I offended anyone, actually strike that, anyone that would be offended by that is part of the problem and in that case piss off as well!!

Fiscal Cliff

2013-01-07T15:30:00.000-07:00

I have seen lesson #1 floating around the internet for a while but someone has added a part or Lesson #2 that I have not seen before and I like it.

What part I really hate is in that it will for the most part fall on deaf ears because far too many just don't care anymore. The team feels broken, the I's have it.....

Secession?

2012-11-12T15:57:00.000-07:00

Secession:
(derived from the latin term secessio) is the act of withdrawing from an organization, union, or especially a political entity. Threats of secession also can be a strategy for achieving more limited goals. (Stolen from Wiki)

As I know many of you out there are well informed and quasi news junkies I am sure that it has not passed your attention as of late the 20 or so petitions that have been filed with the White House web site seeking to secede from the union. I find it not surprising at all especially after this years election, had it gone the other way I am sure we would still be in the midst of a national riots over "voter fraud and racism" all said and done the election is over and now the consequences will come into play and reality is going hit us in the wallet worse than it already has been. I see the divide here in the country between makers and takers and the takers just won hence the secession talk. The theoretical ball is now rolling and In my humble opinion think it deserves an honest debate and looked at on the merits.

This country was built on a diversity between states, yes we held some things as a basic common but you knew that if one state didn't suit you specific taste you were free to move to another. We still have that to a certain extent but to a far lesser degree. We now have a federal government and partial populace that wants to dictate to you what your life will be or what you can and can't do, what you have to buy as a result of being a citizen of this country or pay fines and go to jail ( Think healthcare ) or how about this, a law on what size of a soda pop you can buy ( Think New York ) Small things add up, and more laws come down the pike every day.

Parallels can be drawn here from when we wanted our independence from an English King, that King is now Washington DC and the central government, I cant say if secession is the answer but I do know that the federal government holds too big of a stick and they are not afraid to use it against any one or many states as they have already shown. I would like to see us get back to a more local state government as it was in the past, elected local officials tend to be somewhat more grounded in you issues and problems when they are in the same stew pot with you in the same city or state verses someone who is elected and sent to the closed off city of a Washington DC where they loose touch the instant they get there but as I have said maybe the idea of secession will spur some attention, maybe, maybe not. For myself I do believe it will end up being fought tooth and nail by the federal government and they will do everything in their power to squash it because they know if even one state leaves more will follow and the loss of revenue and control from a producing state such at Texas for instance would have far reaching consequences, I for one wouldn't be able to pack my bags fast enough to get there if they decided to pull out.

In closing I would love to hear you opinions, thoughts, concerns or any other tidbit you may have.

America Just committed suicide

2012-11-06T21:41:00.001-07:00

I am somewhat shocked here tonight, Actually not really, tonight we have just shown that we the people know how to vote the treasury and life of dependence. I believe this country has been riding the coattails of the last hundred years and now our time is up. Good job America I hope you choke on it, every single rotten piece of it.

God Speed Command Sergeant Major Plumley

2012-10-10T12:41:00.000-07:00

Add caption

Combat Infantryman Badge (three awards)

Master Combat Parachutist Badge with gold star (indicating 5 combat jumps)

Vietnam Army Basic Parachutist Badge

	Silver Star with one Oak Leaf Cluster
	Legion of Merit
	Bronze Star with Oak Leaf Cluster and Valor Device
	Purple Heart with three Oak Leaf Clusters
	Air Medal with one silver and three bronze Oak Leaf Clusters
	Army Commendation Medal
	Army Presidential Unit Citation with two Oak Leaf Clusters
	Army Good Conduct Medal (6 or 11 awards)
	American Defense Service Medal
	American Campaign Medal
	European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal with Arrowhead device and 1 silver and 3 bronze campaign stars (to signify 8 campaigns and 4 combat jumps)
	World War II Victory Medal
	Army of Occupation Medal
	National Defense Service Medal with oak leaf cluster
	Korean Service Medal with Arrowhead device and three campaign stars
	Vietnam Service Medal with one silver and three bronze campaign stars
	Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal
	French Croix de Guerre (for World War II service) (attachments unknown, but at least 1 bronze star)
	Belgian Croix de Guerre (for World War II service) (attachments unknown, but at least 1 bronze lion)
	Vietnam Cross of Gallantry with Bronze Star
	Republic of Korea Presidential Unit Citation
	Vietnam Gallantry Cross Unit Citation with Palm
	United Nations Service Medal for Korea
	Vietnam Campaign Medal
	Republic of Korea War Service Medal

Order of Saint Maurice

Garry Owen Distinctive unit insignia

10 Service Stripes, indicating 30 - 32 years of service.

Ambassador murdered, Who is guilty?

2012-09-12T14:18:00.001-07:00

US Ambassador Christopher Stevens has been killed last night September the 11th, Smothered to death as some reports are stating, He was murdered inside the walls of a US embassy. This statement should speak volumes on how completely incompetent this administration handles it's foreign affairs, the blood of this Ambassador is directly on it's and the state department's hands, of this I have no Doubt.

How in the world could you have an embassy in a hostile country that is still a form or revolution both politically and militarily not brimming to the teeth with security, Marines. How the hell does an Ambassador get killed without there being a bunch of dead marines surrounding him, how the hell are there not hundreds of of dead, fence jumping, murdering protesters littering the grounds of the embassy, I'll tell you why, it's because there were no Marines there, that can be the only answer, How the HELL, WHY the HELL, My only clear answer to this is that they were ordered to not be there, ther is just no other answer to that, clearly they should have been there, the situation dictates they should have been there, the location Dictates they should have been there, being September the 11th means they should have been there, Having been bombed earlier in the year dictates they should have been there, there are any number of reasons for there to have been a strong contingent of Marine security on station to prevent this. As I said earlier these murdering
bastards should be stacked up like cord wood outside the embassy walls right now, shot down from the walls they scaled, there should have been no way for this mob to be able to get to an ambassador, NONE. Clearly there must have been no US security present, the word is that Security was provided by local Libyan security personnel, and reports also have been coming in that they informed the protesters/ murderers as to what building the Ambassador was in. I smell a Rat of the highest order, Here in the US if you are a getaway driver of an armed robbery and someone is killed and even if you were not the one who pulled the trigger you are just as guilty for that murder, well I hold two people guilty for this murder and for the other three people who lost their lives in this embassy attack. DISGUSTING.

Your president Left and your secretary of state below. Who is really guilty?

And Who ordered the Marines to not be there?

Economy Communications

2012-09-10T16:48:00.000-07:00

Communications, we take them for granted that we will always have them when we want or need them.

This can be a true statement a good part of the time especially during normal times of peace and tranquility, unfortunately those good times tend to be interrupted from time to time and there is almost not a thing we can do about it, or is there.

Many of us in this day and age can not go more than 20 minutes without looking at the piece of electronic equipment in our front pocket, yes our cell phones. These devices have become an inseparably part of out every day carry and we have become almost a slave to them and I know when mine does not work it turns into a minor inconvenience in normal times, now imagine if you really needed it for say an emergency?

I have touched on various forms of communications in previous posts and I believe that many people under rate how important they can be in that emergency situation where normal forms of infrastructural communications are not available. Infrastructural forms of communications fall into the category of your cell phone and your land line, we all know that storms can take out cell towers or power lines that connect the system and make some form of hard line connection at some point, yes even cell phones at some point go all Alexander Graham Bell on us and turn into either copper of fiber optic lines during there journey to their destination so therefore a failure can happen. Another disruption that we have all experienced at some point in our lives it the "ALL CIRCUITS ARE BUSY AT THIS TIME"

The bottom line here is to have some sort of an emergency backup in place to be able to communicate, knowledge is power to borrow the phrase from Mr.Sir Francis Bacon.

Knowledge of what is going on in an emergency situation is of vital importance, it will allow you to make the best possible decision in an event, it can also in a way give a calming effect because you know what is happening and where, it removes the unknown or doubt, again knowledge is power and it is an advantage that you should take at every opportunity.

The product that I would like to introduce today Is one that I have and use and I am very glad that I have come across it and I will be adding more of them to my inventory here shortly. The above and below product that you see it the BAOFENG UV_5R 2 way radio, this radio is a dual band that covers UHF 400-480MHz VHF 136-174MHz or as some of you might recognize this as part of the HAM radio band as well as the FRS, GMRS and the MURS band, this one radio will cover them all.

To take full advantage to this radio one should obtain their Ham radio license as they have become far easier to obtain in the past few years especially since they have dropped the code requirement (Morse Code) from the technician class. Tests are of multiple choice and with a small amount of study ( online options ) for free it makes this a very attractive form of communications. I will note that you can still obtain this radio without having a license and use it for a passive scanner which will still give you a wealth of information and the ability to legally use it ( transmit ) on non ham channels that fall into the above mentioned FRS, GMRS and MURS channels, You can listen in on the ham and emergency weather alert channels but you are again forbidden to legally transmit on these ham channels without your license but in a life or death situation no one will throw you in jail.

My only wish with this radio is that it were made in the US but like so many other thing it is not but that is for another post both past and future. What attracted me to this radio it the coverage it can provide as well as it's front keyboard that allows you to program it yourself although there is a computer cable you can buy that will allow you to program it through your computer if you wish. The best feature though has to be the cost of the radio, an almost unheard cost of around $50

I would put this piece of gear into any collection, it is light enough to carry anywhere and versatile enough to cover many of the bands you may need so check it out and give it some consideration, there are many accessories that go along with this radio as well, I rate it a top buy for sure.

Friday Funnies

2012-08-24T14:07:00.000-07:00

You want to see something better than Burma Shave?

These are Northbound on I-5 (88 miles south of Seattle )...

The federal government is now petitioning to have these signs removed or

Washington state will be denied additional monies for interstate highways.

The State of Washington replied, they will secede from the Union rather than

be intimidated. These are a matter of free speech paid for by a private citizen.

It seems the Obama government uses intimidation and ignores the first

amendment when they want to silence someone.

These signs are priceless.

Bravo for the state of Washington

Northbound on I-5 near Chehalis , WA (88 miles S. of Seattle

Hmm a State that would secede from the union over this would have my vote, Hell I would beat feet out there to join them in a heart beat.

Did you build that business?

2012-07-17T15:31:00.000-07:00

Video: NRCC hits Obama over small-business comments

I am quite sure many of you may have see this and or have heard about it by now, as a former business owner myself I know how hard it is and the sacrifice it takes and no one sure as hell helped me. It really ticks me off where the president can work up the gall and call people out like that especially when his private sector experience is less that a 10 year old selling kool aid on the street corner. Government produces nothing period, they consume what others make only, hell they cant run the mail, trains and soon to be healthcare, government is only funded by private business and the people by taxes, those taxes do not magically appear out of thin are they are created by hard work and it sure isn't government hard work.

2012-07-08T18:08:00.002-07:00

Ernest Borgnine has past at age 95, many will remember him from one of his most famous roles as captain of a PT boat set in world war two, McHale's Navy. His career spanned several decades and he will be missed. A mad who could make the complex simple and the simple complex. RIP

Sheeple at it's best

2012-07-08T16:27:00.001-07:00

If while watching this video it does not make you sick to your stomach then I hate to say it but you may be part of the problem. This while having been done by a Democrat would be just as bad having been instituted by a Republican. The point I take away from this is that how far we have degraded ourselves as a society and how far we have slipped into a blind darkness, there is no one to blame but ourselves. I am so reminded of the following quote:

"Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety".
Thank you Mr Franklin

Happy 4th everyone

2012-07-04T09:01:00.000-07:00

An outstandingly patriotic version of the SPB

Reflections

2012-06-28T15:02:00.001-07:00

So much to say about the day but the red keeps getting in the way so the photo and the quote will have to do for now.

Today's Joke

2012-06-28T13:46:00.001-07:00

What do the USPS, Amtrak and the ACA all have in common?

They are all money pits, they are all failures and they are all GOVT.

Supreme Court Ruling

2012-06-27T17:30:00.001-07:00

The Supreme Court is set to release it's decision on what has become known as Obama care this Thursday at around 10am EST, what ever the ruling is there is sure to be enormous amounts of emotion, pain and contempt. This has been seen as a landmark legislation for the president by some and an absolute invasion of personal freedom by others with respect to the individual mandate requiring everyone purchase health insurance. For my 2 cents I believe that SCOTUS will strike down the individual mandate section of the law as it should if for no other reason that if you can be forced to purchase the product of health insurance today the what will be next? This amounts to Government acting as your parent and you being a minor and you are not. You and you alone should be able to make such a decision and not a government body as to what you buy, A very clear line needs to be drawn here and I hope that it is but as a society that seems to more and more crave the hand of big government to take care of them I fear we are on a very slippery slope, Time will tell.

In closing I have a question, What do you think the ruling will be come 10AM tomorrow, Constitutional or not Constitutional?

2012-03-25T14:21:00.002-07:00

Sorry everyone for being away from the keyboard for such a long time but work has been killing be here the last few months, I do feel fortunate that my industry is as resilient as it is compared to many others that are still in the tank and IMHO will remain so for quite a while. A fault of mine is in seeing a lot of the negatives on any number of things and the economy is one that I really pay attention to. Reports seem to be coming out in many places that things are looking up and good times are just over the horizon well I hope so but for my two cents I am not buying it, I think we are just seeing a small bubble brought on in some part to appease the masses so they will be happy little voters come election time. In the grand scheme of things I am not convinced that we have even seen rock bottom yet, Why? because we have not fixed the problems that have dragged us down yet. This country has a huge spending problem that will bite us in the rear and that is not an if but a when.

15 Trillion dollars + is one hell of a lot of money and we are adding to it every single day, we borrow 40 cents of every dollar to prop ourselves up every day and no amount of taxing the rich will even make a dent in our problems, we could take everything they have and it would still not matter. 100 billion is what apple has to play with and that's a lot of money but do you think it would make a dent in our problems? Not even close.

Whats the solution? I wish I knew but I do know that almost everyone will not like it even though it is our own fault, I do not blame the politicians or the big companies I blame we the people because we ultimately put them in power or we continued to support them with our money. We have failed ourselves and it was done over a long time and it will take an even longer time to repair, but it will happen. All countries and all governments fail at some point and we are not any different, this country has already been rocked by a civil war and weather you want to attribute it to the slavery issue or the states rights issue or a combination of both the fact remains that the event shows it can happen here. There are any number of issues that could spark a return the utter chaos that would ensue and completely change this country in ways that are almost unfathomable.

I know that I am preaching to the choir here in many respects but I feel that a rosy outcome is not in the countries future as there are too many things working against us and please do not think any one election will change anything this is beyond that, The numbers have already dictated the outcome.

Prep hard everyone, for so many reasons.

RIP

2012-03-01T16:14:00.001-07:00

We lost a good man today, a father, husband and a man blessed with great talent, His shoes will be very hard to fill.

Rest in piece Mr. Breitbart

Official words

2012-02-28T15:53:00.000-07:00

Recently released words that the .Gov look for when they spy on your communications and hence get you on the list.

List me you pricks.

Domestic Security
Assassination Attack Domestic security Drill Exercise Cops Law enforcement Authorities Disaster assistance Disaster management DNDO (Domestic Nuclear Detection Office) National preparedness Mitigation Prevention Response Recovery Dirty bomb Domestic nuclear detection	Emergency management Emergency response First responder Homeland security Maritime domain awareness (MDA) National preparedness initiative Militia Shooting Shots fired Evacuation Deaths Hostage Explosion (explosive) Police Disaster medical assistance team (DMAT) Organized crime	Gangs National security State of emergency Security Breach Threat Standoff SWAT Screening Lockdown Bomb (squad or threat) Crash Looting Riot Emergency Landing Pipe bomb Incident Facility
HAZMAT & Nuclear
Hazmat Nuclear Chemical spill Suspicious package/device Toxic National laboratory Nuclear facility Nuclear threat Cloud Plume Radiation Radioactive	Leak Biological infection (or event) Chemical Chemical burn Biological Epidemic Hazardous Hazardous material incident Industrial spill Infection Powder (white)	Gas Spillover Anthrax Blister agent Chemical agent Exposure Burn Nerve agent Ricin Sarin North Korea
Health Concern + H1N1
Outbreak Contamination Exposure Virus Evacuation Bacteria Recall Ebola Food Poisoning Foot and Mouth (FMD) H5N1 Avian Flu Strain Quarantine H1N1 Vaccine	Salmonella Small Pox Plague Human to human Human to Animal Influenza Center for Disease Control (CDC) Drug Administration (FDA) Public Health Toxic Agro Terror Tuberculosis (TB) Tamiflu Norvo Virus Epidemic	Agriculture Listeria Symptoms Mutation Resistant Antiviral Wave Pandemic Infection Water/air borne Sick Swine Pork World Health Organization (WHO) (and components) Viral Hemorrhagic Fever E. Coli
Infrastructure Security
Infrastructure security Airport CIKR (Critical Infrastructure & Key Resources) AMTRAK Collapse Computer infrastructure Communications infrastructure Telecommunications Critical infrastructure National infrastructure Metro WMATA	Airplane (and derivatives) Chemical fire Subway BART MARTA Port Authority NBIC (National Biosurveillance Integration Center) Transportation security Grid Power Smart Body scanner	Electric Failure or outage Black out Brown out Port Dock Bridge Cancelled Delays Service disruption Power lines
Southwest Border Violence
Drug cartel Violence Gang Drug Narcotics Cocaine Marijuana Heroin Border Mexico Cartel Southwest Juarez Sinaloa Tijuana Torreon Yuma Tucson Decapitated U.S. Consulate Consular El Paso	Fort Hancock San Diego Ciudad Juarez Nogales Sonora Colombia Mara salvatrucha MS13 or MS-13 Drug war Mexican army Methamphetamine Cartel de Golfo Gulf Cartel La Familia Reynosa Nuevo Leon Narcos Narco banners (Spanish equivalents) Los Zetas Shootout Execution	Gunfight Trafficking Kidnap Calderon Reyosa Bust Tamaulipas Meth Lab Drug trade Illegal immigrants Smuggling (smugglers) Matamoros Michoacana Guzman Arellano-Felix Beltran-Leyva Barrio Azteca Artistic Assassins Mexicles New Federation
Terrorism
Terrorism Al Qaeda (all spellings) Terror Attack Iraq Afghanistan Iran Pakistan Agro Environmental terrorist Eco terrorism Conventional weapon Target Weapons grade Dirty bomb Enriched Nuclear Chemical weapon Biological weapon Ammonium nitrate Improvised explosive device	IED (Improvised Explosive Device) Abu Sayyaf Hamas FARC (Armed Revolutionary Forces Colombia) IRA (Irish Republican Army) ETA (Euskadi ta Askatasuna) Basque Separatists Hezbollah Tamil Tigers PLF (Palestine Liberation Front) PLO (Palestine Liberation Organization Car bomb Jihad Taliban Weapons cache Suicide bomber Suicide attack	Suspicious substance AQAP (AL Qaeda Arabian Peninsula) AQIM (Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb) TTP (Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan) Yemen Pirates Extremism Somalia Nigeria Radicals Al-Shabaab Home grown Plot Nationalist Recruitment Fundamentalism Islamist
Weather/Disaster/Emergency
Emergency Hurricane Tornado Twister Tsunami Earthquake Tremor Flood Storm Crest Temblor Extreme weather Forest fire Brush fire	Ice Stranded/Stuck Help Hail Wildfire Tsunami Warning Center Magnitude Avalanche Typhoon Shelter-in-place Disaster Snow Blizzard Sleet	Mud slide or Mudslide Erosion Power outage Brown out Warning Watch Lightening Aid Relief Closure Interstate Burst Emergency Broadcast System
Cyber Security
Cyber security Botnet DDOS (dedicated denial of service) Denial of service Malware Virus Trojan Keylogger Cyber Command	2600 Spammer Phishing Rootkit Phreaking Cain and abel Brute forcing Mysql injection Cyber attack Cyber terror	Hacker China Conficker Worm Scammers Social media

A good article on the above on Blacklisted news

Morning Quote

2012-01-30T05:04:00.001-07:00

"History affords us many instances of the ruin of states, by the prosecution of measures ill suited to the temper and genius of their people. The ordaining of laws in favor of one part of the nation, to the prejudice and oppression of another, is certainly the most erroneous and mistaken policy. An equal dispensation of protection, rights, privileges, and advantages, is what every part is entitled to, and ought to enjoy... These measures never fail to create great and violent jealousies and animosities between the people favored and the people oppressed; whence a total separation of affections, interests, political obligations, and all manner of connections, by which the whole state is weakened." --Benjamin Franklin, Emblematical Representations

Is this not a snapshot of the times? I do believe that our founders had a sort of vision into the future because the above quote is as relevant today as it could ever be.

What I heard tonight in the SOTU.

2012-01-24T20:51:00.000-07:00

LIE
LIE, LIE
LIE, LIE, LIE
LIE, LIE, LIE LIE
And the LIE goes on.

Prepping Frustration

2012-01-08T12:50:00.000-07:00

I have noticed from several blogs and forums the frustrations of new preppers to the art of preparedness, it happens. Prepping to many people can be a bug that bites many people pretty hard and fast and therefore it can be discouraging when they try and compare themselves to others who have been in it longer. For myself I would rather use the analogy of a marathon because it can be a very long race to getting prepared with the difference of there really never being a finish line so you need to work it in a steady pace and try to not overwhelm yourself, it takes time for some things to come to fruition especially if it is skills that you are working on. Speaking of skills versus gear I have my own process on those, Gear is sometimes the easiest to procure because it is mostly a mouse click away and it is a pretty good way to get your foot into the door. Skills though can sometimes take years to master but unlike gear they are always with you and you generally never loose them. Now one wonders why a person would not just stock up on some gear and call it good? That requires another explanation.

In the grand scheme of things I generally put a person with gear as able to survive smaller, shorter less intense scenarios, typically these would be events lasting from a few days to no more than a week or two, Think of how long your BOB would last you here. Now lets look at an event lasting several weeks to maybe several years, is your gear going to last and provide for you for that time frame? most likely some items will but not all and that's where good skills will come in such as medical training, gardening or even basic hunting skills, do you see the differences?

Keep in mind that I believe a person or group that has a mix of both gear and skills will be better off in the long run but it is a balancing act for sure and again it can be very overwhelming so If you find yourself getting frustrated than one thing I found that has helped me is to temporarily move to another thing on the list such as a different skill or the research of another item or even take a break altogether, bear in mind that this can be very consuming but try to no let it consume you completely. Another thing to try is to divide and conquer ( You should be anyway ) This really is something that is very hard to do by yourself, is your spouse on board? Are your closest friends involved?

Misc thoughts

2012-01-03T12:07:00.002-07:00

A few things I came across:

Education does not equal intelligence
Intelligence does not come from Education

In my travels throughout this country I can attest to both of the above statements, as for myself I have no idea where I fall either. Maybe somewhere in the middle? I do know one thing though and that is there will always be someone smarter and always someone the lesser, I would like to be the former though.

From my semi-educated side I am one to believe that while history may not in fact exactly repeat itself it sure does a pretty good job of paralleling itself. Having an interest in history on my side has allowed me to see some things in a certain light and that has given me a new appreciation for the old saying or "Ignorance is bliss"
Having said that there are any number of things going on in our country that I wish were not, or at least I wish I did not know about them but me being a searcher of news and info it is unavoidable that these things come to my attention.

Damned if you do and damned if you don't. You would think that with all of our higher education learning facilities we would refrain from the continuation of policies and mistakes that seem to plague us, but in reality all we seem to do is to make up new excuses as to why we need to continue repeating them with the expectation of a different result. Maybe were too smart for our own good, I have no doubt that far too many things are over thought, Scotty was in my opinion right "The more complicated the plumbing, the easier it is to stop up the drain" This can crossover to many facets of our lives, some of us realize it but many do not and for those of us that do we are often ridiculed out of ignorance and denial.

Solutions? I believe they are out there for me and you but what may be good for the goose may not be good for the gander, many of are highly individualistic and independent and our own solutions may fall out of the norms of society but that does not make it wrong, just different. I try to put decisions not into legal terms but I do keep in mind two things, 1 an I going to pick someones pocket? and 2 Am I going to break someones leg? Thank you Mr. Jefferson. I think that both of these as applied to life will keep your conscience clean and hold you in good standing with your fellow man but we all know that life is now far more complicated and maybe that is the problem in the first place. We seem to be that victim of our own successes.

2012 Is Upon Us

2011-12-31T22:07:00.005-07:00

I would like to wish everyone a Happy New Year. Please keep it safe.

Weekend east coast storm warning

2011-10-28T10:41:00.001-07:00

Well it looks as though we have our first winter storm warning issued for the east coast.
6" to 12" in a few spots, got shovels?
Accuweather link

Countdown to Winter

2011-10-27T10:05:00.000-07:00

Winter will be upon us in the blink of an eye, many of the trees here in my area have already changed their color and some have also completely lost all their leaves, time to get ready.

I would like to focus today on being prepared with respect to your vehicle, we spend a great deal of time in our modes of transport and we should be prudent with some basic supplies that we should keep in them. It should go with out mention that first and foremost your vehicle should be in proper working order to start with, regular maintenance should always be in your mind because nothing can be more disheartening than being broken down due to something that could have been taken care of at an earlier date, common sense really helps here.

Two things that I really like to keep track of are proper radiator mixture and your battery condition.

An improper radiator mixture has the potential to ruin you whole day, you do not want to walk out in the morning only to find that your radiator has been split due to freezing, or worse yet you blow out your freeze plugs in your motor. Don't laugh people it happens every year but it is one of the easiest things to prevent with a little forethought so please get your antifreeze checked.

Another area to pay close attention to is your battery condition, this really comes into play during cold weather as a battery looses some of it's performance as the temp drops. It really sucks to jump into your car and turn the ignition only to hear CLICK CLICK CLICK. Fortunately this is another issue that can be headed off pretty easily, most reputable auto parts stores will provide a free battery load test that can measure the quality of your battery performance according to the manufacturers specs. Free maintenance here so please take advantage of it. Also while your battery is being tested they will usually look at the cables and more specifically they will look at the connections as this is where corrosion usually develops.

Now luck being what luck is, both good and bad that little guy Murphy will make an appearance and screw things up one way or another. Having a few basic supplies in your vehicle can make the difference between having a minor inconvenience or a major life threatening situation. Face it we all have a few nooks and crannies available to us that we can store a few thing to get us by in the case of a breakdown, why would we not. Below is a rough list that can be tailored to your needs and location.

Spare tire, yeah it happens. You have a jack as well right? Lug nut wrench? While you at it are you sure you can change the tire by yourself? Try doing it in your driveway and see, it would be much better to fail their where you can get help in doing it right than finding out the hard way on the side of the road.
Jumper cables? That's like AMEX, you should never leave home without them. As with this item there is a proper way to do it and the internet is riddled with instruction on there proper use, your local auto parts store will help as well. Some jumper cable manufacturers also have written and pictorial instructions that come with their product.
Communications, I generally like to have at least two forms and the first being my cell phone and 9 time out of 10 this will work for you. My backup for me is a CB radio due to the fact that it is a stand alone system and it works when cell phone may not, the limiting factor though is that you need to have someone with in range of you for it to work. Another good option if you do have to travel in bad weather is to let someone know where you are going and what time you are supposed to be there and check in when you do get there because if no one knows you missing than they can't report it, simple common sense.

The next group of items I would recommend are the ones you can really tailor to your own needs.

Blankets, If your car stops running it will get really cold real quick.
Snack foods, what can I say, comfort foods come to mind.
Water, this can be a tough one due to freezing so you may need to add it daily before you go out or go without.
A small first aid kit because you just never know, I would also include a 1 to 3 day supply of any special medications you may be on.
Flashlight, maybe a combination flashlight, radio, signal device, more here is better.
Spare jacket, socks, gloves.

As you can see the above list is very basic and it can be expanded upon greatly but everyone has different needs and circumstances to consider.

Do you have a list of items that you like? please feel free to chime in.