Preparation for the End of the World Part 2. Essential Items for basic preparation

Now, you may be the type to not prepare for anything. A simple doctor’s appointment or a holiday dinner you were supposed to provide the stuffing for. You now seemingly are finding yourself thinking about what you would do in certain situations. What would you do in those situations? Do you have ANY sort of plan? Can you at least care for minor injuries? This is what we will talk about today; the absolute basics of preparing for disaster.



First and foremost, before you buy or prepare anything, you MUST have a first-aid kit. Without one, you can find yourself in plenty of trouble even with minor scrapes. Infection is a nasty word, and a nasty thing to have in any injury. A minor scrape untreated in an unclean environment can turn deadly in a matter of days. Sepsis, a bacterial infection which has spread to the blood, will kill you if left untreated. It spreads from organ to organ shutting them down along the way. A minor scrap you may get that becomes infected will only get worse if your white blood cells cannot fight it off. It will cause you severe pain, nasty discharges, and eventually lowering your blood pressure enough to bring you into a state of shock.

What if this was you in that situation? If only you would have had a first-aid kit with a few essential items, right? Exactly.

Basic Items you should have in your First-Aid Kit:

-Bandages (of all different shapes and sizes)
-Ace Wraps or Sticky Wraps
-Sterile Dressings (Packaged Gauze)
-NSAIDS (Tylenol, Aspirin, Ibuprofen, etc..)
-Hydrogen Peroxide
-Rubbing Alcohol
-Sharp Clothing Scissors
-Sterile Tweezers
-Triple anti-biotic ointment (Neosporin, Bacitracin, etc…)
-Antiseptic cleansing wipes
-Burn cream packs
-Butterfly Bandages
-VINYL Gloves (Vinyl due to possible Latex reactions)
-Sterile Cotton tip applicators

Even if you have no idea what any of this stuff is when it is needed, it’s not very hard to figure out. Just remember to CLEAN the wound (to get all those nasties out), and bandage the wound (to prevent the nasties from getting in). If you remember those 2 things, then you should be ok. At least for a while anyway.

First-aid kits can be pieced together and designed from scratch, or bought as an entire kit. The latter is by far the easiest if you have no first-aid experience. Some great places to buy first-aid kits online are:

www.firstaidkitbags.com
www.FirstAid-Supply.com
www.1staidsupplies.com

It’s also not hard to research basic first-aid on Google, and print a few pages to throw into your kit as well.



The next item you will want to have is a flashlight. This is absolutely dire in a no-power situation. Having multiple flashlights throughout your house and car like I do, is a huge plus but if you can only afford one, then at least get the one. A flashlight helps you navigate not only your own house, but outside as well. If you have to leave on foot (more on that in a different segment) then you will need this fine tool to guide you through wherever you need to be guided through in the dark.

In the house, candles are a great way for continuous light illumination but a bright beam from a flashlight can help you with any type of work you need to do where bright light is required. Actually, candles are a great preparation for no-power situations, simply for the fact that you can save tons of battery energy when you burn candles. If you keep candles, which you should, always remember to pack waterproof matches in a safe location.

Flashlights can also be used as a self-defense weapon. Regardless of the shape or size, a flashlight will always be hard and rigid. That characteristic alone is great to have when defending yourself. There are also flashlights on the market that have such a bright beam that they have a stunning affect on a human attacker. A bright enough flashing strobe will debilitate an attacker for a few seconds turning a defensive situation into an offensive situation. A great manufacturer of self-defense flashlights is Surefire (http://www.surefire.com). They not only make bright debilitating strobes, but they also make lights with sharpened beveled edges. Now, surefire is one of the best manufacturers on the market so expect to pay a pretty penny for these outstanding lights.

Another item that is essential is an all-weather emergency radio. There are tons of these in the disaster preparation market. Simply put, any emergency radio will do. All radios built for emergencies have a weather report option and a lot of them have a crank option. A crank lets you turn a crank to charge the internal battery leaving you with more batteries for that flashlight you’re going to buy. In any emergency situation, reports and updates will always be given over the radio (Unless zombies or invaders have killed everyone but you, then your screwed). Being in the know will help you plan more efficiently and effectively.

The last item on our basic essentials list is BATTERIES. STOCK STOCK STOCK AND STOCK. Always have batteries readily available. If your radio needs 9 volts, then stock a bunch of 9 volts. If your flashlight takes D’s, stock a bunch of D’s. You don’t want to be caught in Zombieland at 3am when it’s so dark you can’t see your hand in front of your face now do you?

In my next blog, we will discuss specific situations and how to prepare for them.

Preparation for the End of the World Part 1. The Intro

Now, the world is going to end at some POINT. Whether that point is tomorrow, 2012, or 4590, NO ONE REALLY KNOWS.

However, a lot of these thoughts of End of Days come from our own imaginative processes. Thoughts we automatically have in our brain from other people's creative works. I.e Movies, Tabloids, Worldwide paranoia, and religion. Yes, I said it... religion. In particular, I'll bring up Christianity. No other chapter has more pursuading force on worldwide society than that of the Bible's "Revelation". It is THE HOLY GRAIL (Excuse my pun) of End of days literature. It has by far, at least in this country, created more paranoia and end of world speculation than any other piece ofwork. It has led society to create thousands of books and articles, handfuls of movies, and worldwide news coverage about when our world as we know it will end. If you aren't familiar, think of world wide battles of good. vs. evil, judgement day, pits of fire, demons walking the streets, 666, mark of the beast, etc... Yea, it's an entertaining story.

So all of our thought on this comes from other thought that was created through life-suckling fictional works of other people's thoughts. Make sense? Not really.

Regardless, we are merely a micron of an atom in the face of time and we will vanish and this world will cease to exist.... eventually. We have no way, at least currently, of peering behind the curtain of the future and actually predicting a viable date of when this all will happen. SO... all we can do is prepare ourselves. You may think that end of world preparation is a little over the top and irrelevant, but I am here to tell you that it is 100% completely relevant.

Because at any moment of any day, any number of events could happen that could displace you, shut down your government, or leave you completely and utterly alone (Think I am legend). Zombies, Natural disasters, major asteroids, worldwide disease, WAR, Alien Invasion, Solar Flares, Climate shift, blah blah blah blah blah I could go on all day, can happen at any moment. Some of these may seem a little far fetched but I assure you they are not. Any one of these things could happen whether you think so or not. As you well know, the earth was believed to be flat at one point in time and you couldn't convince anyone otherwise. SO with that said... In my posts to follow I will begin to teach you how to prepare yourselves for ANYTHING. From skeleton preparation for common occurences, to being prepared for a full out alien invasion. These articles and blogs will be very interesting to say the least, but in the end you will at least know how to kill zombies....

So, it's been a while

So, I see that I haven't posted in well over a year. Reading Seguin's self plugging antics on twitter made me see if my blog was even still here. Well, it is. So I mine as well keep it going. A lot has happened in my life in the last year. A marriage, and now a baby on the way. We found out Melanie was pregnant about 3 weeks before our wedding. That was a big BIG surprise. We have a due date of May 13th so that puts her at about 11 weeks and 6 days. Lot's and lot's of planning. This totally has rearranged my 2010. We did have plans to go to uruguay with the Sibils' but now we have to postpone until 2012. Which just happens to be.... wait for it....... THE END OF THE WORLD AS WE KNOW IT. So what better place to spend the end of the world, than in beautiful Playa Verde, Uruguay.

Mackinac Island 2008

Well here we are. Back at last. We had a fun weekend this weekend visiting Mackinac island here in Michigan.

For those of you who have no idea what Mackinac island is, let me give you the run down.

It's one of the Top 10 Islands in the WORLD to visit. Right here in michigan. It's located between our Upper Peninsula and Lower. Right next to the Mackinac Bridge. It was originally inhabited by Native Americans in 900 AD where they lived in peace for 700 years. It was then found by the French discoverer Jean Nicolet who created a fur trading post on the island. It was the most strategic position in the Great Lakes Fur Trade. It was also used to build 2 forts to fight the Natives. It then was taken over by the Bridge for the revolutionary war. 2 major Battles were fought here.

Now, it's a resort island which has Banned Motor vehicles since 1898. (There is 1 ambulance and a road commision truck). There is Horse carriages everywhere and a million bike rental places. It has a very scenic Road around the whole island (8 miles in length) right on the waters of Lake Huron to bike around. With many stops along the way.

Anyone heard of Mackinac Island Fudge? The World famous fudge is made in the MANY shops on the island.

All in all, it's an awesome place to visit. People from all over the world come here to see it. I hope you all get to see it someday.



Here are just a FEW of the photos I took. I hope you enjoy and trust you all not to duplicate or save my photos.

Thank you



This is Mackinac Bridge. It bridges the gap between the upper and lower peninsulas of Michigan:










This is me and My Fiance in front of the bridge. (Yea, I brought My tripod)





This is the view from our hotel balcony. We were right on the water behind the Ferry docks.






A nighttime shot from our hotel balcony:



And here are some of the photos from the island itself. I didn't get much of the town but mostly from Biking around the island





Arch Rock:



The bike trail which is actually considered a Michigan Highway that doesn't allow motorized vehicles:



Leaving the island







Well I hope you all enjoyed those and COMMENTS are always appreciated.



All are for sale as always. High res digital, printed or printed framed.



Thanks for looking

-J

This makes me sick...

This is an article I found:


Teen from Faith-Healing Family Dies at Home

Police Do Not Expect Criminal Charges to Be Filed in the Death

June 18, 2008

A 16-year-old boy whose family relies on faith rather than medical treatment has died after suffering from stomach pain and shortness of breath, police said.

Gladstone, Ore., police said the boy's relatives, members of the Followers of Christ Church, told police that he had refused medical treatment after becoming ill a week ago. Under state law, anyone over 14 has the right to refuse treatment.

The 16-year-old, Neil Beagley, suffered from an inflammation in his urethra, a tube leading from his bladder, which made him unable to urinate, Deputy State Medical Examiner Dr. Clifford Nelson told ABC News affiliate KATU-TV in Portland.

Beagley filled up with urine, and that eventually ruined his bladder, kidneys and heart, said Nelson. He called it "an absolutely horrible way to die."

The teen's condition could have been treated with the use of a catheter, however, Nelson said.

Sgt. Lynne Benton said the case was referred to the district attorney's office but did not expect charges to be filed.

"They said he declined medical attention," she said. "That's the story that the family told us during the investigation. I don't think we're going to be able to disprove that statement."

The Clackamas County district attorney's office declined to comment.

Benton said officers and a medical examiner were called to the Beagley home about an hour after his death late Tuesday afternoon, after church members called the medical examiner. Family members told police that the boy had become ill about a week earlier, Benton said.

A phone message left at the Beagley residence was not returned.

The boy is the uncle of Ava Worthington, a 15-month-old girl who died after her parents did not seek medical treatment for her. Her parents, Carl and Raylene Worthington, also members of the Followers of Christ Church, were indicted in March on criminal mistreatment and manslaughter charges and are awaiting trial.


**END**



Now, wait a minute. Rely on faith for healing? Has that ever even worked? I mean come on, 2 people are mentioned from this religion that have died in just this one article!! I found this on wikipedia:

"The Followers of Christ is an unorthodox fundamentalist Christian denomination based in the U.S. state of Oregon. The church has attracted controversy for its practices of faith healing and of shunning members who violate church doctrine, including those who seek medical care. According to authorities in Oregon and other places where church members are found, numerous children have suffered premature deaths from treatable causes due to their parents' refusal to seek medical care. "

Shunning members who seek medical care? Are you kidding me? What is this world coming to? This world is so full of close minded ignorant people that it's destroying us day by day. How far will the idea of religion take us? It's going to take us to extinction, that's where. Forever War, and Forever death from this disgusting idea of hope.


-J

Planning for an AT Thru-Hike

So recently I've been very interested in the idea of long distance hiking. I've done plenty of half days and full day hikes in different areas of Michigan and In the army we hiked (or marched rather) deep into the Ozark mountains with uncomfortable combat boots. So I have some what an interest in hiking in itself. But backpacking over a long distance seems so free to me.

I think since I saw the movie Into the Wild I have been pretty inspired to "Get out into the wild" so to speak. Now, I will definately not be parading into unknown Alaskan backcountry without any experience like the Supertramp, but taking a trip down the ole Appalachian seems like a fair enough bout.

My plan is to do it in ten years. That should give me adequate time to prepare, gain experience, and save the amount of money needed for the trip and to support my family over the 7 months I am gone. Craig (My Stepdad) and I will be taking our first overnighter down the Manistee river trail here in Michigan. It's about a 21 mile loop in the Manistee national Forest.

http://www-personal.umich.edu/~jensenl/visuals/album/2005/north/)

It's a beautiful scenic view of Michigan's natural forest and I really cannot wait to do it. I've been reading so much lately about backpacking in general and I'm just trying to gain the knowledge needed to take a long trip. A thru-hike of the Appalachian trail is very grueling and can mess with the mind a little. You must be physically and mentally prepared for a long trek like that one. Only about 20% of people actually finish the whole 2,000 mile trail.

Melanie (my fiance) tells me I bounce from interest to interest so fast that she never knows what I'm into, but this is totally different. I've always been interested in backpacking. I just never have had the chance to actually get out there and do it.

Well, now's my chance.

-J

New Blog?

So, yea, I've decided to start a blog in a new and foreign place. I've had the traditional xanga and then MySpace blogs but having everyone you know on the face of the planet read about your everyday life is a little strange. So I decided to just not tell anyone and let the world find me on their own. I'm sure whatever I blog about will show up in google search engines and if not, who cares?


I plan to blog about everything. That is the plan as of now and it could change as we go, who knows? I plan to make this a visual blog as I am a hobbying photographer as well.

I am from Grand Rapids, Mi and was born and raised here. I love this city and hope to always be a part of it wherever my life path takes me. I love taking pictures and I love being outside.

That's all for now.


-J