12/21/2012 Don't Expect the World to End

A lot has been said the past couple of years about the Mayan Calendar coming to an end on December 21, 2012 and other coinciding events such as the alignment of the earth with the center of the galaxy. It reminds me of the last time that predictions were made about the collapse of civilization:
The event on December 31st, 1999 when the century changed from 1900 to  2000--commonly known as Y2K.

The prediction was that computers worldwide had not been programmed to recognize the date change, and therefore dates on computerized documents would show "January 1st, 1900" instead of  "January 1st, 2000." Imagine what that would do to computerized calculations, for example in banks, calculating interest on accounts, or in government facilities with scientific calculations involving date and distance. As a computer programmer at the time, I (like most programmers worldwide) spent quite a lot of my time leading up to Y2K ensuring that computer programs were updated to allow for the new century.

Even so, like many people worldwide, I doubted that every line of code in the world would be changed correctly and in time, and so I made some preparations for outages in the national electric grid and other utilities caused by computer failures, that could affect the supply of electrical power, water, electronic communication, and therefore may result in rioting, delays in food deliveries, lack of emergency services, etc.

Fortunately, on 12/31/1999 nothing much happened. But it did cause me to think about how to survive potentially dangerous incidents that are not as exotic as a worldwide collapse of technology, but are more likely: House fires, terrorist attacks, flu pandemics, hurricanes, earthquakes ... the world has experienced all of these on a fairly frequent basis.

One good thing about the whole Mayan calendar brouhaha is that it causes many people to ask themselves for the first time, "What if?"

What if I was without power, communications, food and water for 48 hours or longer? What if the police knocked at my door and told me I had five minutes to evacuate my home? Do I know what my options are to Shelter in Place (SIP) and ride out an emergency, or to evacuate to avoid one?

Let's use this Mayan calendar discussion as an opportunity to evaluate where we are, what the most likely threats to our well-being are, and what and who we have around us to be able to shelter in place or evacuate if we are ever faced with a more mundane, but more likely event that threatens our well-being.
See you on December 22nd!

My Interview on Armed american Radio

I recently did an interview on Armed American Radio with host Mark Walters, talking about my book, "Dealing with Danger -- Be Prepared, Aware, and Decisive." 

Mark and I discussed a lot of the principles a person can adopt to be more safe in their everyday life, and  to be better able end each day in the same or better condition than when the day began.

Click here to listen to the interview:
http://armedamericanradio.org/2012/10/10-21-2012-hour-2/#comments

What Would You do if a Natural Disaster Forced You to Leave Your Home?

The Hill Park forest fire in Northern Colorado is in its third day and has already burned more than 43,000 acres, destroyed more than one hundred structures, and killed one person. People have evacuated their homes, taking whatever belongings they can carry.
What would you do in a similar situation? Do you have a plan to evacuate? A place to go? What would you take with you? Better to think about these things before a disaster occurs, rather than when you're running out the door. If you live in an area prone to seasonal disasters (flooding in the Spring or forest fires in the Summer, for example), it makes sense to pack a bugout bag before the season begins. The bag could hold such items as a change of clothes, emergency cash, prescription medication, a written plan that includes a list of local hotels, Red Cross shelters, local boarding facilities for pets; a meetup place outside the danger zone to find family members, neighbors and friends. When it comes to surviving a disaster, a little planning and preparation can go a long way.

Helping Young Women to Take Care of Themselves

I recently gave presentations at three Boulder County high schools:  Monarch, Fairview, and Centaurus. The topic was situational awareness and having very simple plans to deal with challenging situations. There was a high level of interest from the young ladies who gave up their spare time to meet with me. One thing I've noticed (and that has been confirmed to me by other instructors and presenters) is that most women in their teens are very good at absorbing knowledge and applying those lessons learned if it's presented to them in a straightforward manner.

  That was fun. I hope I'll get invited back. Thanks to Red Tent Club (LIKE them on Facebook) for arranging the visits.

Lessons We Can All Learn from a Forest Fire Evacuation

A recent forest fire in the mountains south west of Denver, Colorado has prompted some families to rethink their plans for bugging out when the Sheriff's Dept. ordered residents to evacuate. Some people lost their homes to the fire, some were unable to return home for a week.

The Lower North Fork fire started in very dry, windy conditions in a heavily forested residential area around Conifer, Colorado. Some residents called the authorities to ask what was happening, but at that time, the fire wasn't considered a serious problem, so some people wasted time before finally evacuating.

The first lesson to be learned from this is, when you have concerns about your safety, don't wait to be told to leave. If you think it is safer to leave rather than stay, then leave!

Second, some simple preparations at the beginning of fire season, hurricane season, tornado season, or any other time of the year when certain natural disasters are more likely to occur, is to keep a bag packed with the important items such as personal papers, emergency cash, change of clothes, etc. Have a plan for where to go; Keep the car with at least a half tank of gasoline at all times; Be able to notify friends, relatives, neighbors, and emergency personnel such as local law enforcement about who you are, how many people in your family or group, and where you can be reached.

Practice leaving home inside of five minutes and plan accordingly. These are just a few of the things that should be included in a bugout plan.

Junkyard Dog likes Big Cats

The Wild Animal Sanctuary in Keenesburg, Colorado, USA is home to many exotic animals that have been rescued from neglect and cruelty in private collections, roadside attractions, and traveling shows. Most of the people who work at the sanctuary are volunteers, and they have done an incredible job of building a home for bears, tigers, african lions and other wild cats--even a camel. Their latest project is to build an elevated platform one mile long, that visitors can walk along to get a better view of the animals without disturbing them. Please take a look at their website and pass it on to your friends:

http://www.wildanimalsanctuary.org/aboutus/mileintothewild.html

UK Man Attacks a Bar with a Chainsaw, Customers React

What would you do if you were sitting in a bar or restaurant and a man walked in with a chainsaw that was running, and began to attack the customers and the furniture? This is what happened
in the UK recently. Here is the link to watch the surveillance video.

Some of the customers fought back by throwing furniture and other objects at him, and some customers got away before they were injured. If you watch the video, notice one woman who stands outside, casually watching the situation.

It's a good thing to be a witness who can later describe to police what took place, but keep in mind that our first priority is to not put ourselves in harm's way without a very good reason. Some customers made the decision to fight back, others decided to get away. These are both valid choices, but just being a casual onlooker and risking being attacked for no good reason is not a smart course of action.

Suspicious packages

This is an excerpt from a police report of an explosion that officers responded to:

" ... Officers located both injured victims, a 44 year old female and her 59 year old husband. Ambulances transported the victims to a local hospital. Both victims sustained serious burn type injuries. The male victim advised the responding officers that upon walking out of their residence they saw a paper bag with their names on it next to their car. The female picked up the package and placed it in the car and they left their residence. They had driven approximately 1 block from the residence when the wife began to open the package, she set off some type of explosive device that severely burned both of them. the Regional Communications Center initiated a reverse 911 call to the neighborhood residents advising them of the incident. Approximately 20 homes in the immediate vicinity of the vehicle were evacuated as the threat or possibility of additional explosives was unknown. Approximately 8 hours later investigators were able to secure the area and vehicle ...."

There is an important lesson to be learned from this: We cannot assume that packages that we do not expect to receive are safe to open. We need to look at the bigger picture: Where is it located? what does it look like? Why is it here? Who could have put it there? What is a safe course of action? What does this mean for me? If there is any doubt at all about a package, it's better to leave it alone and dial 911 for help.