Rain, and Other Hazards

Since I haven't touched base since Springfield, IL, I'm sure that my other two loyal readers (besides the ones that I live with and/or constantly text) may suspect that I am dead. To assure you that I am not, I give you the following photo of one very awesome car:

I have made it extra large so that you can read the sign that says, "Continental Divide."
If you know your geography, which of course you do, you're aware that Alex actually took this photo well before I last posted. You can also tell that from the scrub on the side of the road, if you know your biomes. Nonetheless. That is the sexy back of my Subaru.

For your further amusement, here's a fun video link sent to us by Miss Gokey. It's a trailer for World War Z (which I haven't seen, and I will probably have to wait for Netflix), revisioned as a Ken Burns documentary.

"I'd like to see Miss Gokey fix a blower motor," said Dad, in his quest for a shout-out. To his credit, it is thanks to him that the above-mentioned Subaru will have AC and heat for wherever the road happens to take it next.

This post is really too short, I realize, but I'm coming to you from the McDonald's on the corner of Columbia and 165th. It is amusing to watch the other people in the restaurant, especially the little old ones. One man was in here when I got here, and I'm sure he'll be here until well after I leave. I suspect he comes here every day for coffee. A woman came in, they greeted each other and chatted a bit, then instead of joining him, she sat in the next booth. Not too long after that, another older man who is very animated came in and joined the first man, who informed the 2nd man that, "My father always used to say, 'Don't do what I do. Do what I say to do!'" Haha. Indeed.

I'll likely be back Friday, and then return you to your regularly scheduled blog, next week.

A Little Help From My Friends

A few weeks back, Ms. Tye sent Miss Gokey a text message informing me about a series called Doomsday Preppers that she thought I would be interested in watching. Here's something you either know, because you live with and/or in close proximity (within 30 miles) of me, or you never would have guessed because my posts are of the couch-potato variety:

***I don't have TV.***

I have Netflix and the internet, and that is all that I will ever need for the remainder of my life. Gosh, I hope both of these things survive the destruction of the Grid. (Hahaha.) The Doomsday Preppers website is a goldmine of fascinating stories about people who are succeeding far more handily than I am at preparing for  various disaster scenarios. You can find out which disasters are trending on the website, as well.  At the time of writing, pandemic is the favorite, although personally I hold with the 15%. You can watch video clips from various episodes, etc. What a wonderful feast for our eyeballs! Many thanks to Tye and Gokey.

In other (but similar) news, I was happy yesterday when Jodi announced that Anderson Cooper was doing a show on how to survive the end of the world.

Seeing as ***I don't have TV,*** I had to do some digging in the webospheres to find any information about the show, but my mad googling skills eventually landed me here. Oddly enough, he interviews cast members for...Doomsday Preppers! It's a small world after all.

As you can see, Anderson starts out in a mobile earthquake shack. Sadly, you can only buy a mobile earthquake shack if you are a government agency or part of some other special organization. However, it seems to me like you can hire people to fasten all your stuff down so that it can survive intact in an 8.0.

To sum up the remainder of what I was able to gather from the website, you should just go here, to the American Red Cross website, which will give you information that you already know from your real (if you're Miss Gokey) or vicarious REI classes: Prepare an emergency kit. Have food and medications on hand so that you can get by for a while (Red Cross suggests two weeks, others including James Wesley Rawles prefer much longer) without outside help. Know what disasters are likely to occur where you live.
Make and practice a disaster plan, and my personal favorite: take a class!

I resolve to count my blessings. I thought, "How splendid would it be to get my 8th grade Explorations class trained at CPR?" My own CPR certification was *FREE* from the School of Which We Shall Not Speak. The school nurse just threw a dummy down onto the floor and the next thing you know, I had a little card. (I want to challenge my current school nurse to do the same.) Once a quarter, I was able to leave my co-taught class to practice my CPR skills on a dummy in a drill! Yeah, the class costs $90 IRL. Boo!
But there are plenty of PDFs to laminate and other free resources through the Red Cross website.

As I leave you to enjoy the best night of the week as I watch Ken Burns and knit, I recommend that you take a minute to watch Anderson don his chemical and biological weapon suit, a less potato-chip-baggy version of which was featured in Phase 7, which I mentioned earlier this week.

Here's the link: http://backstage.andersoncooper.com/post/18094282206/chemical-biological-warfare-training-suit

Oooh! I almost forgot! There's also a GIVEAWAY! Good luck!

And many thanks to my friends (including Na'he for the flintknapping...coming soooon!) for the tips and recommendations! Keep 'em coming. >:+D