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.
Showing posts with label larder. Show all posts
Showing posts with label larder. Show all posts
Monday, August 22, 2016
Saturday, May 28, 2016
Normalcy Bias & Distractions, General Rambling
I'm as guilty as you are of allowing distractions to steer my goals and to delay my investments. The current weather and summer planning has pretty much dominated my existence for several weeks. The times it's rained we spent working on the house and the times when the weather was good was spent cleaning up outside the house. I know these are important things when you consider organizational strategy and remaining as grey as possible in your neighborhood.
One thing that was very surprising was that several of my neighbors have come to me asking for gun advice. I've done some repairs on their guns in the past, and have helped them with decisions on new purchases. Not very grey of me. I guess it's more important to me to have those people be prepared than it is to keep them in the dark. Then, just a few weeks ago, a news truck pulls in my driveway. A local reporter was given my name as the neighborhood watch captain. I'm not, but even people that don't even know my name, and live a block away know of me. They gave the gal a description of my truck and where I live to locate me. I ended up doing an interview and inviting her to a training class.
I've evidently been very remiss in my dealings with neighbors. I've allowed them a glimpse into my security abilities, and I've trained a few of them through the security consulting company I work for part time. I'm now seen as a leader (target) for armed incursions should there be any in a WROL situation; This was not my intention.
It's normal to want to keep your neighbors safe. It's in your best interest. They have no idea of my food stores or plans, but they do know I have the ability to defend myself. If that a good or bad thing is a 50/50 split. Good as a deterrent, bad because it makes me a target for thieves. We've had a recent dirtbag influx when a couple of the elderly people in my neighborhood passed away and the family took over the property. 4am fireworks, trash blowing around, their guests tossing food wrappers and drinks out of their cars, code violations, poor lawncare, etc. Nothing serious, yet, but still annoying. The new occupants have been hauled off to jail a couple times for minor court violations, but not for felonies. I've contacted my people on the local PD to have them investigate them, but I haven't taken a stand, yet.
This brings me to the point. I'm guilty of letting myself be lulled into normalcy bias by my domesticated home life and my comfy surroundings. My wife travels a bunch for work so I'm always dealing with my boys and keeping things together on the home front. It's a necessary distraction from the big picture and it's eating my days away.
I've upped my physical training regimen and got back into shooting more than just the carbine and glock, but the long range guns do eat up the pocketbook pretty fast when you consider you're buying 200+ grain bullets and using 4x the powder charge of a 223 round. Adds up quickly.
I do get to practice my fieldcraft quite a bit more with the shopping trips and errands I must run. That's the up side. My 14yo son is also starting to get some of the training I've wanted him to get involved in. He's grown 6 inches this year and is now taller than me, so it's time for him to get involved in his own self defense. He seems to be catching on. I rarely see him holding his phone while walking or in a public area.
One thing that was very surprising was that several of my neighbors have come to me asking for gun advice. I've done some repairs on their guns in the past, and have helped them with decisions on new purchases. Not very grey of me. I guess it's more important to me to have those people be prepared than it is to keep them in the dark. Then, just a few weeks ago, a news truck pulls in my driveway. A local reporter was given my name as the neighborhood watch captain. I'm not, but even people that don't even know my name, and live a block away know of me. They gave the gal a description of my truck and where I live to locate me. I ended up doing an interview and inviting her to a training class.
I've evidently been very remiss in my dealings with neighbors. I've allowed them a glimpse into my security abilities, and I've trained a few of them through the security consulting company I work for part time. I'm now seen as a leader (target) for armed incursions should there be any in a WROL situation; This was not my intention.
It's normal to want to keep your neighbors safe. It's in your best interest. They have no idea of my food stores or plans, but they do know I have the ability to defend myself. If that a good or bad thing is a 50/50 split. Good as a deterrent, bad because it makes me a target for thieves. We've had a recent dirtbag influx when a couple of the elderly people in my neighborhood passed away and the family took over the property. 4am fireworks, trash blowing around, their guests tossing food wrappers and drinks out of their cars, code violations, poor lawncare, etc. Nothing serious, yet, but still annoying. The new occupants have been hauled off to jail a couple times for minor court violations, but not for felonies. I've contacted my people on the local PD to have them investigate them, but I haven't taken a stand, yet.
This brings me to the point. I'm guilty of letting myself be lulled into normalcy bias by my domesticated home life and my comfy surroundings. My wife travels a bunch for work so I'm always dealing with my boys and keeping things together on the home front. It's a necessary distraction from the big picture and it's eating my days away.
I've upped my physical training regimen and got back into shooting more than just the carbine and glock, but the long range guns do eat up the pocketbook pretty fast when you consider you're buying 200+ grain bullets and using 4x the powder charge of a 223 round. Adds up quickly.
I do get to practice my fieldcraft quite a bit more with the shopping trips and errands I must run. That's the up side. My 14yo son is also starting to get some of the training I've wanted him to get involved in. He's grown 6 inches this year and is now taller than me, so it's time for him to get involved in his own self defense. He seems to be catching on. I rarely see him holding his phone while walking or in a public area.
Monday, February 8, 2016
Organization Is Part Of Your "A" Game
Time not utilized for the betterment of your situation is time wasted. I'm not saying you must lose sleep and not take time off, as those two items directly influence your abilities and mental health.
What I'm discussing is how much time you spend chasing down missing or misplaced items, buying new items when you know that you've already purchased it, but can't find it. These situations have a negative impact on you and your family. This also goes for grocery trips, meal planning, your job, your future and most importantly, the legacy you instill in your children.
I'll be honest, my storage sections in my home are a wreck. I generally only keep a few things flawlessly organized. Those are my critical items that directly control my life. My toolboxes, safe, ammo storage, reloading gear, and my computer files are kept immaculate. I know where and how everything is in those places. If I need an item, I know exactly where it should be. If it's something I *might* need, all bets are off. It may take me hours of digging in the spare room to find a spare charging cord, computer cable or spare notepad.
My work truck is pretty much always dirty, I might have some trash in the back seat and there is pretty much always a few cardboard boxes and a roll of wire in the bed, but if you open up the tool box, you will see a perfectly organized tetris style stack of power tool boxes and trays full of ancillary parts. Everything has a place, and it all fits perfectly without extra room for it to bang back and forth in the box. It's all fitted so that nothing can move. When I'm working, I don't have time to waste digging through a pile to find what I need. The profitability of the job depends on my organizational skills. I find that people that don't deal with the same constraints deal with the issue differently. A friend of mine keeps his truck immaculate. It's neat as a pin inside and he never allows trash in the truck. He washes it constantly, the appearance being as important as the functionality. At times I will help him out and his shiny stainless steel mirrored finish tool box looks like a Home Depot threw up in it. He knows it's in there, but where is anyone's guess. The tools are like strata that must be dug up in order to find the buried treasure. The going joke between us is that when I die, he gets my truck tool box.
Another item that requires scrutiny above most is your larder and survival gear. Let's face it, when you need it, you NEED it. If your food buckets are in disarray, you will need to waste time you could be using to make your situation better on the organization of items that should already be stored properly. In a situation where a blizzard has dropped power, is your spare heater and/or generator gassed up and ready to go? Do you know where the funnel to fill the tank is? When was the last time you tested your emergency items?
Your situational awareness is also directly affected by your organizational skills. If your EDC items are in order, you don't need to go patting yourself to find your keys. You know where everything is, and you have developed a habit of keeping them in the same spot, regardless of your attire choice. This allows you to keep your awareness directed outward, not inward on your lost items.
Breaking it down (much like your preparedness) is a fundamental skill that must be learned in your own manner. Everyone organizes things differently in their minds, so everyone will organize their items differently. That's fine, but I do recommend organizing things in tiers. Firstly, organize the things you touch and use every day. Next, organize your critically important items, finally you will start organizing your long term sustainment items. This will allow you to make progress without it becoming overwhelmed in the process. Your personal efficiency will increase exponentially, as will your ability to determine your needs.
I've always found that the most successful people I know are the ones that utilize their time well, or use lots of it. Either you can kill yourself working countless hours, or you can make those hours count for more. I choose the latter. My family and my community are better served by my presence as a youth leader and head of household.
What I'm discussing is how much time you spend chasing down missing or misplaced items, buying new items when you know that you've already purchased it, but can't find it. These situations have a negative impact on you and your family. This also goes for grocery trips, meal planning, your job, your future and most importantly, the legacy you instill in your children.
I'll be honest, my storage sections in my home are a wreck. I generally only keep a few things flawlessly organized. Those are my critical items that directly control my life. My toolboxes, safe, ammo storage, reloading gear, and my computer files are kept immaculate. I know where and how everything is in those places. If I need an item, I know exactly where it should be. If it's something I *might* need, all bets are off. It may take me hours of digging in the spare room to find a spare charging cord, computer cable or spare notepad.
My work truck is pretty much always dirty, I might have some trash in the back seat and there is pretty much always a few cardboard boxes and a roll of wire in the bed, but if you open up the tool box, you will see a perfectly organized tetris style stack of power tool boxes and trays full of ancillary parts. Everything has a place, and it all fits perfectly without extra room for it to bang back and forth in the box. It's all fitted so that nothing can move. When I'm working, I don't have time to waste digging through a pile to find what I need. The profitability of the job depends on my organizational skills. I find that people that don't deal with the same constraints deal with the issue differently. A friend of mine keeps his truck immaculate. It's neat as a pin inside and he never allows trash in the truck. He washes it constantly, the appearance being as important as the functionality. At times I will help him out and his shiny stainless steel mirrored finish tool box looks like a Home Depot threw up in it. He knows it's in there, but where is anyone's guess. The tools are like strata that must be dug up in order to find the buried treasure. The going joke between us is that when I die, he gets my truck tool box.
Another item that requires scrutiny above most is your larder and survival gear. Let's face it, when you need it, you NEED it. If your food buckets are in disarray, you will need to waste time you could be using to make your situation better on the organization of items that should already be stored properly. In a situation where a blizzard has dropped power, is your spare heater and/or generator gassed up and ready to go? Do you know where the funnel to fill the tank is? When was the last time you tested your emergency items?
Your situational awareness is also directly affected by your organizational skills. If your EDC items are in order, you don't need to go patting yourself to find your keys. You know where everything is, and you have developed a habit of keeping them in the same spot, regardless of your attire choice. This allows you to keep your awareness directed outward, not inward on your lost items.
Breaking it down (much like your preparedness) is a fundamental skill that must be learned in your own manner. Everyone organizes things differently in their minds, so everyone will organize their items differently. That's fine, but I do recommend organizing things in tiers. Firstly, organize the things you touch and use every day. Next, organize your critically important items, finally you will start organizing your long term sustainment items. This will allow you to make progress without it becoming overwhelmed in the process. Your personal efficiency will increase exponentially, as will your ability to determine your needs.
I've always found that the most successful people I know are the ones that utilize their time well, or use lots of it. Either you can kill yourself working countless hours, or you can make those hours count for more. I choose the latter. My family and my community are better served by my presence as a youth leader and head of household.
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