SWOT Analysis Per Total Survivalist Blog.

It's nice to see a quantifiable chart that really simplifies a rather complex subject. The SWOT chart that Ryan over at http://www.totalsurvivalist.com/2018/05/evaluating-and-managing-risk-2-swot-and.html has offered up us very easy to use for simple tasks and complex lifestyles.

I'm going to go ahead and insert my 50k foot view of my personal risk assessment into it. I'm not going to do it in the practical chart version due to my normally long winded answers.

Strengths:
1. Well placed, sought after career that is recession proof in the near term.
2. Stable 17year relationship with a sugar momma.
3. One lightly trained fighting age son in the house.
4. Well stocked and diversified physical holdings.
5. Well balanced and diversified skill set for backup income.
6. Tribe that can be relied upon.
7. Legitimately needed by my tribe.
8. Zero debt.

Weaknesses:
1. WAY too close to a population center
2. Indefensible garden home on a freaking golf course.
3. Dealing with a foot and an arm injury.
4. Cardio training is non existent.
5. Carrying way too much weight.
6. Sugar momma has zero interest in defensive training.
7. Youngest son can't keep his mouth shut.

Opportunities:
-Booming Economy plays into strengths 1,2,5,8. Weaknesses 3,4,5 will hamper my ability to capitalize on more income. I'm just too beat up at the end of the day to deal with more work. Motrin is my friend.
-Low priced Precious Metals gives me buying power with 1,2 and 8. Weakness 7 and maybe 2 are at issue with large physical holdings.
- Low priced training benefit/cost ratio. Strengths 1,2,3,4,8 play into this, Weaknesses 3,4,5 make things very difficult.

Threats:
-Economic downturn is mitigated with 1,2,4,5,6,8 and only weakness 3 hurts me here.
-Loss of income has same weakness/strength issues
-Health issue Same as the two above
-Pandemic has Strengths 4,5,6,7,8 for helpers and weakness 1 as a detractor
-Social unrest really depends on how intense it becomes. I work near the town, but geographically separated by a large river and many sprawling industrial campus sites. Only middle class homes between my house and work. Wife works from home with limited travel. There will be inpact, just not sure how severe. DOD will ensure site safety, but getting there could get dicey if we start seeing roving road blocks and highway sit ins. Weakness 1,3,4,5 come into play if I'm forced to walk home, strength 5 is my helper. I'm well trained in navigation and E&E concepts. My get home kit would be considered as strength 4. I've also switched to a grey man vehicle. The big diesel sits now most of the time and I have a very capable small 4x4 utility vehicle for daily travel. It's about as grey as you can get. No chrome, gray in color, tinted windows, quiet V6, matte black wheels....

A little more on my injuries. I was hiking with the scouts on an urban hike in February and my foot fell through some ice and bruised the bottom of my heel. It's never healed right and hurts pretty much all the time. Need to get it looked at because favoring it has caused other issues with the foot. As far as the arm, well, I broke it. We rehabbed our in ground pool and I had to re-bond and rewire the entire thing. I was pulling wire for the automatic cover when one of the wire spools jammed and pulled the ladder over onto me. It was going to hit my kneecap so I blocked it with my ulna. It got a pretty good fracture, but no real movement of the bone structure. I decided to finish the job and see how it felt. The wife was away the next 2 days and I didn't feel like dealing with a cast so I just took it easy. The fracture was small enough that it solidified the next day and I had no bone movement so I just went about my business with a rather large, odd looking knot on my right arm about 5 inches from the wrist. It's almost healed. The main issue I have with that arm is carpal tunnel. I have a lot of very technical large and ultra small work to do on aerospace parts machining equipment. My productivity is hampered at times. Luckily I'm in a supervisory role and only perform on hot projects and troubleshooting. That will change when or if this project completes in 2020. My left arm was already fixed a few years ago. It needed far more work done so I did it first.

Monday Morning Rambling

With the inevitable summer rush, I've been a bit remiss with my focusing skills. I've all but forgotten my carbine drills for some odd reason. My efforts with long range and pistol are still on point, but the poor carbine needs some work.

My last 2 classes have been a bust so I've kinda put it on the back burner. No reason to get all sharp unless I need to right? Wrong. I need to stay sharp all the time. It would only take me 60 rounds of drills to get the muscle memory back, but it's an issue that needs to be addressed. Losing any muscle memory from the tool box is a major loss.

It's hunting season where I live so I'm working on getting out during the week while the wifester is in the Lone Star State on business. Makes for a more easily dealt with planning stage. Work has gotten really slow the past month. I have some work scheduled but people are cancelling due to financial stability issues.

Ryan over at http://www.totalsurvivalist.com/ had a very good point that I always like to reiterate any time I see it. Plan for the most foreseeable danger, then work out from there. His entire life has been shuffled by a recent breakup and being as familiar as I am with bad breakups, I understand why he's focusing on the more important things in life until he can get his mind right. That's really important to remember as modern survivalists. There's no reason to stock 30 years of food if you're going to die of hypertension after 5 years working too hard to pay for it. It's the age old tortoise and hare story. Sustainable growth, sustainable life, and sustainable attention to detail is far more important than a flash in the pan.

Germany is telling it's citizens to stock at least 10 days worth of food in case of unrest. I believe that's a complete understatement of the severity of the issues currently facing the country. Our own is also in jeopardy with the current socio-political landscape. We are a single police action shooting away from full scale country wide riots.

Stay sharp, my friends.

Extremely Relevent Post by JWR at Survivalblog.

I don't get over to survivalblog very often anymore. They were the first to post any of my writing and for that I will forever be grateful. It kick started this blog and my writing at other avenues and some more "seditionist" pages I've penned for. I try to keep it on an even keel here, but it's a very well known fact that I believe, and have believed for the past 20+ years that Her Highness Killary is the devil incarnate. If you believe the way I do and expect to see a civil war if she becomes president, read this article in its entirety.

https://survivalblog.com/madame-clintons-coming-war-on-the-blogosphere-and-your-countermeasures/

I have a plan. I've done the research. Many of the things on this have already been done my me, including buying prepaid phones 700+ miles from my AO with cash. Clean operations equipment, clean infomatics, clean pseudonyms with street cred are helpful.

I've been blessed to have made the acquaintance of many who have worked within the government leviathan. It's truly amazing what they will talk about when you shut up and listen. Equipment capabilities, standard procedures, contract personnel requirements, maintenance intervals, team tactics, observation capabilities and most importantly, who they look for. The above post at survivalblog will help you realize your exposure to action. Be aware and ever vigilant.  

Clothing for the Apocalypse!

I know it's silly to post sensationalism like this, but with people posting all these stupid things about pokemon and politics, I just can't help myself! Seriously though, this is an important part of your life and times.

Everyone has a favorite pair of shorts, pants, shirt, shoes and (especially important) underwear. Sometimes it's purely emotional, like that lucky pair of drawers you were wearing that time you met that double jointed Swedish stewardess! Or not. My favorites all come due to comfort and/or usefulness. It's really important to have functional clothing at your disposal when the chips are down or you have to switch gears quickly. Case in point

Desperate Times Call For Desperate Measures

The Title is often spoken by those that make a decision based in perceived desperation. A person at the end of their rope, so to say, will be tempted to use faulty logic in an attempt to justify their actions. Unless you've lives in a 3rd world country under abusive conditions, you cannot imagine the deplorable environment humanity can survive in. A person living in the USA has a much different outlook on what deplorable signifies to them.

When the title statement is uttered, and the person isn't danger of losing life or limb, I have a very indifferent attitude towards their logic. There are times when it's both logical and decisive, but for the most part it's overused. The "Desperate Measures" you speak of will more than likely be based in revenge than in defense of yourself or loved ones. Let's be cognizant of our situation prior to utilizing a non beneficial tactic or plan. The results of such actions may be less than optimal.

We must also be aware that in the instance where you put someone into a situation of pure desperation, they may act out in an illogical or suicidal manner. When a person perceives that they have nothing to live for, they are a prime candidate for a mental breakdown or violent outburst. We are, after all, only human. When a person or organization decides to destroy someone's life or livelihood, you should be aware that those actions can have far reaching consequences beyond the intent of the protagonist. We call that "the rule of unintended consequences".

Considering the depths at which the human condition is capable of sliding to, add in a little mob rule into the equation and things can go off the rails fairly quickly. There is no greater threat to logic than an angry mob. Anonymity within that nameless pool of humanity allows normally pliant individuals to reveal deeply veiled hate and violence to flow without repercussions. Their idea of desperate measures is rather vague and has more to do with the will of the mob than the actual affront. Ferguson should be a shining example of those actions.

When we look at current events, we see people making choices based on a receding standard of desperate. What we, as informed citizens, don't want to do, is to push people into desperate action. That goes for the government, taxpayers, racial divisions, religions or even your neighbors. Instead of firing the lazy guy at work, let him know that he needs to find another job. Tell him you have enough evidence to fire him, but felt it would be in the best interest of everyone involved if he or she just left on their own. Today's faceless corporate mindset leads to acts of desperation for those of our society that have never dealt with adversity.

The sliding scale of desperation slips sharply as generations continue to relish in the false narrative that everyone is special. Participation trophy generations will soon be a large portion of the work force. When that happens I can see a significant slide of our moral obligations and seeing the corporate world continue to decline the talent level to the point that the more able and motivated will become the minority. Sometimes tough love is necessary. A little desperation can be motivating, but if the person doesn't have the fortitude to endure, they may turn to illogical actions.

In a defensive situation, you never want to encounter a person with nothing to lose. They act erratically and will not respond logically. The best situation is to allow that person an exit from your vicinity. My rule is never to get close enough to a perpetrator to allow them to touch me. You can also use your situational awareness to keep desperate people away from you. This can be as simple as not going places where people go when they are depressed or down on their luck. Casinos, Bars, Liquor stores, Payday advance, Title loan co's and red light district areas are all prone to have people with nothing to lose utilizing their services. Steer clear. You are tempting fate by frequenting businesses in those areas. Even a justified shooting can lead to arrest, loss of your firearm and permit, loss of time from work and much more. A threat avoided if far superior to a threat overcome. YOU have something, everything really, to lose in that situation. Don't allow a person with nothing to lose to put you in their situation by not using your head.