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.

Your Smallest and Greatest Security Risk

I'm an avid Smartphone user. Due to my vocation, it's a necessary evil that I must use to schedule, Email, text and invoice customers and students. Without it, my day would be longer and I would have less fluidity with my customers. They like immediate responses to Email and phone calls. Technology today has brought communication on any medium to a seamless procession of information. This (when used properly) can make you more productive and more popular than the competition.

Unfortunately, it can also make you a target. There are mass reports of stolen passwords and Email accounts, deceptive hotspots, government spying, malware, spyware and many other issues that can make the smartphone your greatest enemy. The greatest threat to is to your personal security.

How many times do you see someone walking while using their phone? Zero situational awareness, danger avoidance or situational control. You might as well close your eyes and walk into traffic! Even the simplest things can be dangerous. Light poles, bollards, curbs, shrubs, and uneven surfaces can bring you great pain. These wouldn't be a bother if you would get your head out of your phone!

A few tricks to keeping your phone safe. Turn off the bluetooth transponder and never use an open WiFi hotspot. Many are fakes that are there to steal your login info and send inappropriate Emails to your contacts. Never leave the phone out in public. Some phones have known faults that can allow hackers to access it. If they see what type of phone you have, they might be able to access one of those faults.

Password protect your phone. Change the password every month. Secure your phone with a protection application that takes a picture of anyone who enters a wrong password. This will help identify a possible security threat.

Another threat is to have yourself filmed saying something inappropriate. In today's society, we have a large chance of being filmed when we least expect it. I've used this tactic myself when I was entering into a gentleman's agreement with another party that I felt wasn't going to be honored. Upon first learning of the breach of contract, I simply sent the person an Email with a youtube link of the conversation. Problem solved. Check your local laws on this, they aren't the same everywhere.

Text messages and Emails are forever. They can be accessed by civil and private entities at any time. Never text or Email something you don't want people to know about at a later date. This includes medical or psychological information about family members. Any communication is fair game these days.

I've long bemoaned the use of a phone over polite conversation, especially at an eating establishment or family outing. I can't tell you how many times I've seen 4 people sitting down to eat and all 4 are on their phones instead of talking. Small talk will be a lost art in 20 years.

A smartphone is an invaluable tool for today's economic and social environment due to it's ability to multitask and help the user keep on schedule and in contact. As long as you are careful and always vigilant, you should be safe. My emergency kit doesn't have a traceable smart phone, it has an untraceable dumb phone.