Maps - real paper maps!

Recently a friend asked if I would share some of what I have learned since I came back to riding a motorcycle. This may not be what she had in mind but my first thought was maps. Real made of paper able to be crumpled up and folded maps.

In today's world of GPS and Map Apps helping us find our way, paper maps may seem outdated. Perhaps, but all these gizmos have many times resulted in riders (and drivers)  blindly following that little electronic voice telling them where to turn/go/stop.  The operative word being "blindly".

In my opinion it's incredibly easy to depend on those devices because many of us actually have no idea where we are on the planet relative to where we want to end up.  Hell, some have no idea where they are on any part of the planet period.  Sometimes it's even genetic:  my granddaughter and I share a "no sense of direction" gene - no matter how hard I try (even if I can see the sun) I can't reliably figure out which direction is which.  But I can read a map and follow directions!

It's one thing if you are out for a day ride and don't really care where you are but shouldn't you at least have a general sense of your location?

Once upon a time (all good stories start that way) it wasn't a dark and stormy night - it was in fact a bright and sunny day.  There I was among hundreds of riders gathered in a parking lot in Massachusetts setting up to go on a charity ride.  I was a new returning rider then and a little leery (yeah, a lot leery) of how this might turn out but I'd been assured that the event was extremely well organized.  I would be able to stay with my group of riders and eventually end up at the BBQ surrounded by familiar faces.

Turned out not so much.

Instead of releasing us from the parking lot in the rows as we had parked, the organizers let everyone go at once - funneling through one gate.  Predicable result was that everyone got intermingled and except for one glimpse at the BBQ that was the last I saw that day of anyone I knew.  The ride was a trip in terror:  flying down a partially blocked highway on a semi-escorted ride surrounded by strangers who didn't seem to know any more about where they were going than I did. Most  seemed to think that if they went faster it would start to make sense!

Eventually the group I was in did end up at the BBQ location. That's when I caught my one and only glimpse of a person I knew.  Never even got close enough to cling to them and cry for mercy!

Now to the map part;

I had not a clue in the world where I was.  Yes, I knew I was in Massachusetts and I knew that meant I was west of the Atlantic Ocean and south of my home state of New Hampshire.  Other than that it was anyone's guess as far as I was concerned.  I wasn't even sure what town I was in.  I knew where they had said we'd end up but they'd also said we'd stay together so I had a fairly high level of distrust going on!

And I had no maps.

When I left I rolled the dice and started taking any road that seemed to go north or east figuring that I would sooner or later find either the ocean or New Hampshire.  That eventually worked and I found Rt 495 and headed north  (I still have no idea how I got there).

Side note: one thing that sticks in my mind was stopping at an open fire station to ask directions and finding no one there.  I've always wondered if I could actually have upgraded to a fire truck with no opposition!

So my lesson for today is get maps.  When I drove back and forth to Arizona I had what might be considered a plethora of maps, maybe even an overabundance! I had an atlas, I had state maps and I had that wonderful book that shows you what services are available at each exit of all the interstates in the country.



 I had a smart phone with a Map App and there was a GPS but I had maps!  I also knew in a general way where I was and where I wanted to be.

Try to remember that in most of life we first and foremost should be depending upon ourselves - not some electronic non-person who sometimes seems to have a really evil sense of humor!

Get maps!

A nudge or a reminder - whichever

Below are pictures from a grocery store in the D.C. area one day ahead of the current big snow storm. A few posts ago I pondered how long it would take to empty out the stores during an emergency.  I believe this is the answer.  No time at all!

I have a good friend who always starts important comments with "I have to say" - and looking at these pictures?  I have to say it didn't even take one day to clear things out!

Now add to this situation a disruption of deliveries.  If you do not already have supplies for a couple of weeks (I know the government says three days - I'm the belts and braces sort, remember?) you could be in a real trick bag.

One thing I also notice are the items scattered on the floor in one of those pictures.  That speaks to me of people in an awful hurry if not actually a panic.  Normally if you knock something off a shelf I imagine you stop and pick it up, right?  This time, not so much apparently.

The Northeast was fortunate this time and got a miss. Hopefully we will continue to do so.  But I certainly am not counting on it.  Am I totally ready?  Of course not - there are always things you wish you had when you can't get them.  But would I be okay for a couple weeks?  I would and I hope you would also!

When is a gift not only a gift?

When it's a reminder that someone is thinking of you. It has nothing to do with what the gift actually is - it's quite literally the thought that counts.  The gift can be the silliest thing under the sun but it means that someone picked it up (or picked it out) and was  thinking of you and the fun you would have with it.  Or was even considering how you would laugh when you opened it and wondered why in the world they had sent it to you!

Perhaps it's a color they know you love - or a shape that reminds them of the last day you were together laughing at the shapes you both saw in the clouds.

Maybe it's even a nudge from them that you need to start in a different more exciting direction.

On the other hand, maybe it's a gift to tell you how much you mean to them.  Whatever the impetus behind the gift, rest assured it will warm the heart.

This is a short post.  If you have someone who means something to you and it's not even a gifty time of year, don't let that stop you.  It's not about the money, it's not about the classy-ness, it's not even about being appropriate - it's about letting someone know that for one moment in time, you thought "Man, I bet he/she would love this!".  So go for it!

A visual followup -

Considering that not everyone is necessarily familiar with what an ammunition box (ammo dry storage box) actually looks like, here's a visual.

The boxes come in a variety of styles and sizes with or without company logos etc.  But this is the basic design:



Some  are large enough to have a separate storage tray under the cover while others do not.  But they all are very sturdy, snap solidly shut and have nifty handles.

In my car the box fits securely on the floor behind the driver's seat - which keeps it from moving around and additionally helps hold that fire extinguisher in place.  I'd be pretty sure that there is an area in your vehicle that could accommodate one - put some "stuff" in it and forget it until you need it.

As I have said in the past, you do not have to be prepared to ride out Armageddon - a few comfort items will go a long way towards making unexpected time spent in your car a lot more tolerable and even perhaps safer.  No punch line here - just the facts!

Back in the day...

Back in the olden days cars weren't as dependable as they are now - or, more to the point, the ones I could afford definitely weren't dependable. I formed the habit of carrying "what if I break down" stuff in the car.  Some things were carried year round but in the winter I wanted to be sure I could keep warm and unstuck with what I had. There were no cell phones then so help was where you found or didn't find it.

Today I thought it would be a good idea to see what I have in the car.  It's like the cupboard deal - if you don't know what you have you don't know what you have!

I'm a little overboard perhaps considering I'm not traveling cross country any more - but here's what I found this morning.

Way in the back are a couple of cardboard boxes with blankets and some food in them. Mostly the boxes are to keep things from rolling around, making noise and driving me nuts! The food is snack stuff - you know, it's not the sort of thing you are supposed to eat but it's there if you need it.  Also there is a short handled shovel and a bag of deicing salt.  The plan is to find someone else to do the work but I have the shovel.  

Behind the driver's seat is a fire extinguisher wrapped in a towel to keep it from rolling around -  I don't like things moving until I want them to move.  Also there is an ammunition case. No ammo in it - at least not the kind it was designed to carry.  But these boxes are sturdy, water tight, easy to transport and actually pretty cheap.  They make a very good place to store things you want to keep contained and dry!  It's cold out today so I brought the box inside to see what was really in it and found:

1 medium sized first aid kit 
1 bunch of long zip ties
1 bandanna
1 full face wind proof head covering 
1 package of hand warmers - the kind that heat themselves up when opened
1 ice scraper (an extra)
1 comb (who knows)
1 ziplock bag with lip balm, a pen, an after bite stick and a couple Advil
2 lighters and 3 candles
2 foil blankets - the kind that reflect your body heat back at you and pack up really small
1 roll of toilet paper squished w/the cardboard removed
1 bivy kit consisting of: One metal canteen cup inside a small stuff sack with one of the blankets.  A long piece of shock cord,long leather boot laces, whistle, mirror (plastic), small first aid kit,. Also one candle, one lighter and one package of regular jello (full of sugar).  

The bivy kit (short for bivouac) is left over from backpacking days when a savvy hiker took it even on day hikes just in case they were forced to stay out overnight.   With what's in that little package you can, if necessary, make a shelter, heat water in the canteen bottom with a candle and have warm sugary jello for energy as well as use the mirror and/or whistle to signal for help.  I threw it in the ammo box cause I could.  Old habits die hard.

What else did I find?  A bigger stuff sack that lives between the dog crate and the back seat. It contains a wind proof anorak, a really ugly but very warm fleece hat, set of long underwear, mittens, heavy socks and some other misc warm items.  

There is a waterproof liner over the entire back seat (dog protection) and it has a heavy bath towel over it and in it's little pocket is a bottle of water, a dog bowl and a roll of paper towels.

Up nearer the driver is a jumble of things: long handled ice scraper with brush,  a couple flashlights (ok, three), tissues, couple pair of winter gloves, more of those auto hand warmers, pens, reading glasses and probably more things I should find and identify (assuming they can still be identified).

I'm not advocating that everyone be ready to live in their car at a moment's notice - or with no notice.  But, in fact, no notice is probably what you're going to get if something goes wrong.  I'd a damn sight rather be relatively comfortable while I'm waiting for Mr. AAA to grace me with his presence when the alternative would be shivering in my inside coat with my sneakers on wondering why I didn't make a few simple preparations for problems.  

Weather happens and stuff happens - put the two together and it can be life changing. Take a minute and look at what's in your car/truck/SUV/whatever.  See if you can squeeze in a few comfort items in case you need them. Think how smug you'll feel when you tell me you are already all ready!

Sigh....did you ever?

Did you ever have a killer idea but when you tried to get it off the ground it just wouldn't fly?

I had the awesomely original idea of stealing the credit card ad that asks "What's in your wallet?" and adapting it to the concept of "What's in your kitchen cupboards?".  Ok, so stealing isn't the original part - that happens all the time.  But I figured everyone would be absolutely riveted to my post wondering just what wonderful thing I'd come up with this time.

Writing it with a serious historical introduction it bombed - I just couldn't make it work.  So I'm just writing it as myself which, after all, is who I am.

It's only  marginally interesting to most of us to learn that the term cupboard originated back in the old country (England) when it really was a board.  They stacked plates and cups and other items on it - probably to keep them off the rush covered floors and away from the dogs.  As time went by it morphed into several shelves and then got nailed up on the wall and had doors added.  No more rushes on the floor but still probably kept the dogs out!

It's probably even more yawn inducing to hear that no one says cup board anymore than they say rasp berry or back ground for the simple reason that the middle letters are what is called bilabials - it takes both lips to pronounce them so we end up effectively only saying one of them.  (I know you all just tried saying them out loud to test that out!)

The whole thing I was trying to smoothly segue into was that most of us probably have only a passing acquaintance with most of the stuff in the hidden corners and obscure shelves of our kitchen.  And it's long been my contention that if I don't know what I have then I won't know what to use in an emergency - whether the emergency is real or imagined. Somewhere between "I'm actually starving" and "I wish I had some chocolate" is that grey area where most emergencies live.

Sure, I know that the top shelf is the wine glasses - all turned bottom side up so disgusting things don't show up in my wine.  But once up on the kitchen step stool I could find anything from old custard cups to that food chopper I got with green stamps.  Who knew!

Second shelf - darn - I had two more containers of nutmeg that got pushed to the back and I just bought two more.  This business of making sure I have extra of the things I use is getting a little off balance - I mean, come on:  how much nutmeg does a person actually use in a year?  And perhaps if I'd looked a little sooner I would have realized the almond extract was leaking all into the cornstarch box!

Back of bottom shelf - I don't even know what that lump is!  It must have been useful at some point but it's ugly and scary now and I don't want to touch it!

I could continue on regarding my struggle to retrieve the top of a blender I'd forgotten I ever had from the floor off the back side of my circular corner cabinet or mention the fact that there is still a fancy bottle of vinegar back there that I haven't figured out how to lasso yet but you see the issue?

My so far somewhat obscure point is that if we are going to be ready to take care of ourselves in the event of any type of emergency we need to know what we have to work with.  There!  I finally got it out!

Do you have the spices and materials you need to make a tasty meal out of just what you can scramble together if you can't get to the store?  Do you know if you have a manual egg beater in case there's no power and you NEED whipped cream for that desert you so cleverly put together?

None of the above rises to the same level of emergency as getting locked out of your house in a blizzard.  However, since it's coming on winter perhaps this would be a good time to take stock of what we have before we run out to stock up on things to deal with the "what ifs" of winter!

I'm not saying you have to alphabetize your spices or actually touch that "thing" on the bottom shelf but why not take a look around and see if there are some glaring omissions in your stock of basic supplies.

I mean - lets be realistic - how many re-runs of Criminal Minds can you actually stand to watch?  So you might as well be doing something useful and/or productive.

Looking this post over I think it more slithered along than flew but I hope it provided at least some food for thought (unlike that lump on my bottom shelf which is not food for anything/anyone)!

Keys, keys - all the keys all the time

Anyone who's watched me slap all my pockets looking for my bike key knows that I don't always keep the best track of it.  I know it is close by but not always exactly where close by is.

We all have a ton of keys:  car keys, truck keys, bike keys, saddle bag keys, spare keys to our friend's place, safety deposit box keys, camp keys and that mysterious bunch of keys that we have no idea where they go but fear throwing away because five minutes after they hit the dumpster we'll remember what they open.

There is one particular key that can perform a number of functions other than simply opening a door - it can prevent a broken window,  in some cases may actually keep you from freezing to death (hey, it's only 6 degrees here this morning) and it most certainly can salvage your pride so you're not stuck outside in your PJ's at 6 am.  The dog is all ready to go back in, the neighbor is leaving for work and to top it all off the paper guy comes early. The number of unexpected arrivals will be in direct proportion to the length of time you have owned your PJs - you know what I mean.   My former neighbor and I used to joke that we needed a new sleep wardrobe since several chimney fires meant that the local fire department had already seen all our bathrobes!

Indeed the key of which I speak is your spare house key.

Now let's talk placement of said key - actually not a conversation cause I'm the only one talking but you catch my drift.  Several years ago I put my spare key in a great place outside my house.  It was under cover, it was inconspicuous and there were probably only about 35 people who knew where it was!  Story follows:

One February night about 6 o'clock I took my dog Jack outside and the second I closed the door to the house I realized I'd locked myself out.  No worries - cut to smug look on my face - I have a spare key right nearby.  Except it wasn't there.  It's dark - I have no flashlight (shame, shame) and I have to tiptoe on the ice over to my neighbor's house to borrow a flashlight so I can search for the key.  I left Jack tied to the fence while I was gone and don't think I didn't get the stink eye when I came back!   I finally did find the key (did I mention the dog was already annoyed before I dragged him out?) before we both froze to death.  It had blown off it's hook and was down between the two walls of the kennel.

I found it about the time I was trying to decide which of my windows would be the cheapest to replace and after I had pawed barehanded through all the dirt and debris and leaves that had accumulated inside the kennel.  Why put on gloves, I was only going out for a couple minutes.  We can revisit that subject at a later time.

That's once:  now this past winter having secured my key on it's hook I knew I was good to go.  However, being a belt and braces kind of person (if you don't know what braces are, as my mother used to say, look it up!  She had a number of other annoying habits too.) I also made it a routine - okay, a compulsion - to always have another spare key in my back pocket.  It quickly became part of the daily routine.  Brush teeth, have coffee, put key in back pocket, etc, etc.

And believe me when I tell you that by the time March rolled around I could no more have gotten over that pile of snow between myself and that original spare key than I could have shoveled off my own roof!  The shoveling roof detail by the way fell to my younger son and a fine job he did of it!  Tastefully dressed in full SWAT gear but that's another story.

My point - in case I haven't hammered on it hard enough - is perhaps take a look at where you keep your spare house key.  Think of finding it in the middle of that aforementioned howling blizzard or even just in the cold and dark and perhaps start to carry a spare spare?  Or put it some place where it would be easier to retrieve - at least for the winter.

If you are thinking that your neighbor has your other spare key?  What are the statistical chances that the neighbor will be home when you need it?  Remember Murphy?  He lives nearby, trust me on that one, and he does NOT have your key!

That thing about the light at the end of the tunnel....

Just about the time you think that you're out of the woods it starts to look as if the light at the end of the tunnel could be a train!

But it doesn't have to be that way -

Have you thought about lighting if the power is out?  I don't mean a blip that makes your clocks go back to blink mode (as annoying as that is) I mean power out....for several hours at least.

Over the last few years my older son and I have developed somewhat of an obsession with flashlights or things that might be used for flashlights or even things that used to BE flashlights!  Every Christmas means another search for a type of light that we haven't already given each other.

There is the one that fits into my (former) cigarette lighter in the car.  It has a little blue light on top that reflects on the window and has the side effect of keeping me from speeding cause I always think it's the police.  It's extra cool because you can also make it flash (not the blue part - they frown on that stuff) if you push the right button.  Currently I'm at about a 30% success rate on my button choice.

There is the expensive one I bought myself that comes with both a car and house charger and puts out a beam that is advertised as being able to blind an attacker - sort of a dual purpose item!

At the house I have the obligatory plug into an outlet one that I always forget to use cause it's over there plugged into an outlet -  I'm a slave to following directions!  I bought one of these for a friend when I discovered she was using a match to see how much oil she had left (WTF?).   I sincerely hope she is still using it and/or has at least run out of matches!

And then there are the solar/battery versions.  One is on the steps into the greenhouse sucking up whatever sunlight comes it's way.  Another is up at camp on a window sill and is probably frozen solid at this point.  Two at least are lurking around my house in sometimes sunny spots and one is in my "everything I'll need when I can't get to where I buy everything I need" box.  All of these have in common a battery backup and a cutsie little light that tells you what is fueling the light source - battery or solar function.  I admit I can never remember which light means which so I just leave them in the sun and hope for the best.

I have a two bulb battery lantern from Coleman and I have a killer multi-battery one from LLB that I got on sale.

This past Christmas I couldn't find a flashlight gift that wasn't a total rerun so I tried to get creative:

LuminAID LUM-PL16 PackLite 16 Inflatable Solar Light

• Updated version of the original LuminAID Solar Light
• Provides up to 16 hours of light on a single charge
• 32+ hour emergency flash setting
• Packs flat for easy storage and charging, weighing 2.9oz
• Waterproof up to 1 meter deep (FL 1 STANDARD IPX-7) and can float

I couldn't figure out how to put a decent picture of it in here but it's supposed to do what that list says and I expect that if it doesn't my son or my granddaughter will let me know!  I see no reason why it wouldn't work hanging around the house as well as out camping.

There is also a tasteful assortment of flashlights that just sort of hang around the house - one of my favorites just cause I'm a tool junkie is this one:

• One high power LED bulb
• Anodized aircraft grade aluminum water-resistant compact body design
• Magnetic base for hands-free lighting
• Aggressive self-defense face
• Rear glow-in-the-dark button uses hard/soft touch technology

Admittedly I'm not sure what an aggressive self-defense face looks like other than the fact that it has some pretty rugged looking edges around the bulb. But it makes me feel really defended!  (Frankly it took me back to Little League days of yelling "Look mean at the pitcher" but I don't think that's what it meant) It also does cool stuff like flash that red ring if you touch the on/off base just right (I'm at about 50% success on my touch ranking) and it has an adjustable beam.  Useful for pinpointing the source of the reflections when walking the dog at night - helps me decide if I need to reconsider my route or just walk past my car trying to pretend I knew the reflection was the bumper all along!

I also have a couple small Streamlight flashlights.  Nice thing about that company is that they will provide spare parts if you need to rebuild one of their products.

Something I do not have for light is candles or gas lanterns.   Candles are a great thing for ambiance at a dinner party but they really suck as a light source and an open flame is never a friendly thing to have just hanging around.  And gas lanterns - either liquid gas or even propane fueled - frankly scare the crap out of me.  The idea of sitting around next to what amounts to a controlled explosion just doesn't do it for me!

Needless to say (but I'm going to anyway) in order for a lot of these flashlights/lanterns to function you have to have batteries - you have to keep an assortment of batteries - you have to KNOW where your assorted batteries are.  And you actually have to know what assortment you need to have!

I know perfectly well that the above bit of deathless prose isn't going to make everyone who reads it race to Amazon or Walmart and stock up on light sources.  I might be lucky if I didn't lose half my audience at the light at the end of the tunnel comment.  However, when it's dark inside your house at night it is really really really dark - I'm talking "what the hell did I just trip over" dark! And heaven forbid you have a reason to get out of Dodge in a hurry it's a lot easier if you can see where Matt Dillon parked the horse for you!  

P.S.  This blog is set up to prevent comments - my nephew Peter said that would protect my delicate feelings should a stranger stumble upon it.  But if anyone who has my e mail has comments I'd be interested in hearing them - as I keep saying, this isn't meant to push War and Peace off the best seller list - it hopefully will provide some cheap amusement and perhaps start some new thought processes.

Scaring ourselves into immobility?

Shoveling off the ice on the driveway yesterday I got to thinking (face it, that's pretty mindless work). Somewhere between scaring the crap out of ourselves about what might happen and figuring that there was no way you could cope no matter how hard you tried has to be a happy medium.

If you read much prepper fiction the thought of even a small Armageddon - if there even is such a thing as a small one- can be paralyzing.

Is it possible that an EMP (electromagnetic pulse) can happen - either man made or natural - and dump us back into the non-electric age?  Yeah, it could - although I suspect statistically it's a lot more likely that we'll get a howling nor' easter in the next three months that will  just interrupt our electricity for a while.

Trying to get ready for any and all potential disasters at once will sometimes cause an overwhelming desire to just stick your head in the sand and figure that since you'll never be ready why even try.

So with an eye to the sky what do we really need to do to prepare for problems.  Take it in small bites!  Incidentals - the things you never think of until you need them.  Like cold pills or cough medicine that you "always have" until you don't....and you're sick.   Yesterday was a strong reminder for me because my lower back was letting me know it was angry because I shoveled - heavy wet snow and a layer of ice.  Do I have ibuprofen enough?  Actually, yes I do because last time I noticed I was running low, I bought another bottle.

How about during  one of those lulls between episodes of your show on TV when the mind-numbing commercials are on why not jot down the OTC items that you use on a regular basis and make a vow to keep them on hand.

And it doesn't necessarily have to be just pain meds:  there are seemingly silly little comfort items to consider.  I'm one of those people who can't stand a rough fingernail and if I don't have a nail file handy I'll just bite the nail off!  Ugly, I admit!  How about baby powder (or powder of your choice), or hand lotion, or, for that matter, deodorant?   So check out what you have in house and next trip to the store get a little extra of the types of things that make you feel better even if you're not sick!

It's  really easy to just pick up a couple extra of those items that you use all the time when you're out and about. You don't have to make a huge push to stock up all at once but if you had a list that you could work down through over time it's surprising how fast you'll be all set!  As a side effect you will find yourself forming the habit of replacing things before you run out.

A couple years ago there was a storm coming and the Weather Channel was chanting the "OMG get ready" mantra for days ahead of time.  I found myself with a sense of urgency that I should be DOING SOMETHING TO GET READY!  Then I realized I already had - I had stocked up on the things I'd need, I had gas for the things that needed gas (do you remember to keep your car at least half full?), I had food for the things that needed food (don't forget the pets) and I was all set as far as I could tell.

Yup, I was ready to rock and roll - I'd planned to cook on a camping stove out in the greenhouse if I lost power - I didn't plan on the tree that crushed the greenhouse so that plan didn't pan out.  But at least I had a plan.  Even if you have to deviate from it, a plan gives you a place to start!

And a place to start leaves you feeling a lot less like that thing in front of you is the eight ball!