Some of my favorite photos

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End Of The World Kit

Combined with growing up with frugal self sufficient parents or being trained in my early teens by a really wacky scout master, I've developed a penchant for self survival.  Beginning at the age of 13 our scout master in the Boy Scouts of America, troop 16 in Farmerville, LA, would take several of us off into the Bayou D'Arbonne or Bayou De Loutre on weekend trips into the woods armed with little more than a sleeping bag, hatchet, knife and a cigar box full of survival essentials.  I suppose these lessons of life have carried over to my advanced age.

In the past 10 years, I've traveled most of the 50 states and have been part of natural disasters ranging from hurricanes/tropical storms in Florida, landing in blizzards in Minnesota and Michigan, dodging tornadoes in Alabama and Tennessee and feeling the earth beneath my feet turn to jelly during an earthquake on Maui.

Each of these events often have one thing in common; loss of power and essential services.  So with this in mind, I have collected a few items I always carry in the trunk of the car.  Of course seasons and geography usually change what I have but for the most part my core End Of The World Kit remains the same.  It includes:

• A backpack with extra socks, underwear and a pack of beef jerky.
• Small first aid kit 
• Aspirin, Tylenol, Ibuprofen, anti-diarrheal tablets and Zycam
• Toothbrush with dental floss
• Hydrocortisone, anti-bacterial ointment and chapstick
• Halizone water purification tablets
• A magnesium fire starter with steel wool to catch sparks. Also a magnifying glass to start fires and to read small print.
• Folding pocket scissors, razor blades, multi-tool, screwdrivers, pliers, electrical tape and a Swiss Army Knife
• Disposable plastic gloves, 2 space blankets for heat, head net protection from insects and a lightweight disposable hooded poncho
• Needle and thread
• A compass, several hundred dollars cash, extra identification and a road atlas
• Depending on the season or the area, there will good walking shoes, caps, gloves and jacket.
• In the winter (places like North Dakota, Minnesota, etc.) I usually make sure I have plenty of water in the car with a couple those large 24 hour candles. ( You don't leave your car in a blizzard )

Can I survive indefinitely with this supply? No, but I have a better chance of waiting it out until help arrives or have the tools to break in (hey, it's survival) to where food, shelter and creature comforts exist.



Slightly related to all this paranoia, is how I leave a few things in the room during the night.  Usually, I will drop my room key, car keys, wallet, pocket knife and shoes by the hotel room door.  My reasons are that if a fire started during the night or other emergencies happen, I won't have to fumble around in the dark to find things to make a hasty departure.  Also, if I carry my electronic room key with me, I do not carry it in the sleeve they give me if my room number is written on it.  If you are robbed or it is stolen, you don't want the thief knowing where you are staying and beating you back to your room for other booty. It is worth mentioning, I usually try to not let my gas level get below a half tank just in case of wide spread power loss rendering electric gas pumps useless.

Call it how you like but that's how it works for me.

Bin Laden

Today, President Obama said that photos and videos showing a dead Osama Bin Laden would not be released.  Many pundits on both sides of the fence cranked up the political posturing and set forth a barrage of what could be a firestorm of conspiracy theories.  I personally could care less whether the photos emerge or not.

However, I do find certain things curious about the controversy.  Many who do not want the photos released seem to fear a Muslim backlash were the very ones demanding or applauding the release of photos from Abu Ghraib prison.  Most likely to serve as an embarrassment to the Bush administration.  Let's face it, radical Muslims will hate us regardless of the released photos and are hell bent on killing us long before a photo of any kind emerged.

On another note, Many who want the photos released say it will counter the conspiracy theories that have already begun to rise.  If that is true, there are photos and videos of the lunar landing, the Kennedy assassination and 9-11 itself that have had no effect in dispelling theories.  Apparently, the administration did not have a concise plan on the stories told and there seems to be conflicts on the time of the raid, whether Bin Laden was armed or was hiding behind women in his compound.  Naturally, every time a story changes, it only fans the flames of the conspiracy theorists. We can look forward to the next few months of nasty debates on this matter.

Whatever the outcome, some things probably are better off just not shown. The cell phone video of the hanging of Saddam Hussein was released but for the sake of human decency's sake should have never surfaced but like the gruesome photos of interment camps at the end of World War II, they will be part of history and serve to rally the sentiments of generations to come.

Storming In Tennessee

Last night, I was at the Wal-Mart store in Decherd, TN buying some office supplies when the store manager came dashing around exclaiming that a tornado was near and we should all huddle near the center of the store.  Sure enough, all the lights went out and folks were all crowded around in the clothing section listening to the rain and hail hit the thin roof. I began to text family and friends, letting them know of my predicament.  My wife texted back, saying to get away from the hardware and things that could become airborne if the roof tore off.  I responded that I was hunkered down with two fat gals between rows of women's underwear and asked if that was soft enough. I received no other response.

After about 30 minutes, I began to think that staying in a thin metal building with a thin roof might not be such a hot idea so I made an executive decision to seek shelter in my hotel (20 miles north) and bolted for the car.  Being mutilated with 100 complete strangers in a Wal-Mart store just wasn't what I thought the end would be like.

Within the first 10 minutes, I began to question my logic when water overflowing from the ditches caused me to hydroplane a few times. When the hail began, I also wondered if I would be responsible for the dings on the rental car but my decision was now in play.  I had to re-track once because of downed trees but got there in about 40 minutes. Once back to the hotel, I congratulated myself on the choice but recounted the possibilities if I had met a tornado on Tennessee highway 127.

While I thought that was pretty bad, I found out later that nearly two hundred people had lost their lives just south of me down in Alabama.  A friend from Birmingham sent me a message that he was all right and that he had spent the early evening huddled in his bathroom playing cards with Miss Biscuit (his cocker spaniel) but had lost the game.

It was truly a destructive event and pray for those who were not as fortunate as myself.