Rethinking My Mobile Survival Kit

Contemplating my mobile survival kit, loath to make duplicate purchases, I realized that my first idea of using my hiking pack as the base for my car survival kit was a good idea. Only the implementation of my hiking pack needed to be altered.

Changing from a lumbar pack for warm weather to a backpack for cool weather to a larger backpack for backpacking trips is what made me think I needed a separate car kit because I don't always keep the pack in the car. However, using a waist pack as the constant component, with the addition of a lumbar pack or backpack as warranted, would satisfy the minimum basics for survival.

For example, the waist pack alone would suit warm weather day hikes. For cool weather hikes, I would use it with my hiking backpack which would contain a sleeping pad and extra clothing. For backpacking, always wearing the waist pack would help me through a rough time should I set my main pack down to rest, go fetch water and not be able to find my way back, have to jettison my main pack to prevent my drowning during a water crossing, etc. There have been stories of individuals wandering away from their base camp to explore just a little and ending up in a survival situation because they couldn't find their way back to camp. The stories get grim when they didn't have anything with them. Wearing a survival waist pack at all times except while sleeping, swimming or bathing, would be a lot better than having nothing.

The waist pack would also supplement my evacuation kit which I plan to be a backpack for greatest portability. Even if I chose a rolling suitcase, the mobile survival kit in a waist pack would integrate nicely.

Keeping the waist pack in my car or taking it along when traveling in someone else's vehicle gives it the widest variety of applications. If I didn't work at home, this mobile survival kit could be carried to and from my workplace daily.

The main purpose for having a mobile survival kit is it will supplement and contain more than my mini kit. While I may not always wear it away from the great outdoors, it will be small enough and lightweight enough to keep in reasonable proximity and should have the capability of being carried hands-free should a survival event occur. The reason I decided on a waist pack instead of a messenger bag is because I already use a cross-body bag as a purse.

Cabin Fever

It's overcast and cold which is to be expected of February.

Imagining myself outside flying a kite under a warm, blue sky, I think of things I want to do, need to do, could and should do. They range from going through mail to shopping for new clothes to (re)learning French, German, and Spanish because I want to travel, to redesigning my websites. Yesterday, I tried a couple of color schemes.

Reconnecting with a past president of my former writers group whose memoir chapbook is scheduled to be published next year, reminded me that I need to learn how to use the aids I've acquired to market my own books which I have to actually finish writing first in order to get published.

The horse goes before the cart.

Honestly, I have so much to do, I don't see how I'll ever die.

If only life worked that way for everyone.

James 4:
13. Go to now, ye that say, To day or to morrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain:
14. Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.
15. For that ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that.

Signs of the Times

Telling an acquaintance who likes to read ebooks on her iPhone about Amazon's free Kindle for iPhone app reminded me how I used to hear adults remark, "They oughta make a pill for that."

Now, people say, "There's an app for that."

As we enter the second decade of the third millennium, I wonder if there will be a new catch phrase associated with the period and, if so, what it will be. Only time can tell.

In the meantime, please enjoy the rest of the holiday season.

Happy New Year!

White Christmas

Those who prayed for a white Christmas overdid it this year. Oklahoma and Texas are not supposed to get blizzards!

It was nearly 60 degrees Fahrenheit when I went to Walmart on Monday afternoon. I was ready to go on Saturday then realized the fallacy of going there during the weekend before Christmas when I didn't absolutely have to. On Monday morning, my thoughts were confirmed by a lady who said she went on Saturday and couldn't find any place to park so returned at 1 a.m. to avoid the crowd.

It was crowded when I got there on Monday shortly after 2 p.m. even though it was a week day. I was fortunate in finding a parking space right away although it was nearly the farthest from the store. I didn't mind, figuring I can use the exercise.

Walking to the store, I was perturbed to see a shopping cart standing at the rear of an SUV with a woman's purse in the child seat begging to be stolen. I stood watching for a minute, unnoticed by the woman in the driver's seat of the SUV bent over like she was looking for something. What was she thinking, leaving her purse like that?

I walked up to her door. "Excuse me, please don't leave your purse out like that."

She got out. "I only wanted to get something," she protested.

Why didn't she take her purse with her where it would be safer?

"I could have grabbed it and ran off, if I was that type of person." And she would have never known until it was too late.

She looked annoyed. "Thank you," she said, retrieving her handbag.

"Merry Christmas," I replied as I left.

Once inside, I navigated the crowd until I was in the back corner with the flashlights. The pegs for the pocket-sized mini flashlights were empty leading me to think they are the popular stocking stuffers for this year. It's a good idea.

I searched the LED key ring flashlights for a red one for a lady I know but found only one that is too big and too heavy for a key ring for my taste. There weren't many key ring flashlights to search through because those pegs were mostly empty. Another popular stocking stuffer?

After reading a label for a grandmother looking for the right size for her baby grandson and lifting a case of soda for an elderly woman in one of the motorized shopping carts Walmart provides for the less able, I checked out and left; my good deeds done for the day.

Set for the holiday, I awoke on the morning of Christmas Eve to blowing sleet and snow. By 9 a.m., my car was sealed shut. The sleet soon abdicated in favor of the fiercely driven snow. I had planned on going back to Walmart for some chocolate candy and quickly cancelled the thought.

One doesn't usually think of needing a vehicle preparedness kit in case of being stranded in the snow in Oklahoma and Texas, but that's what's been happening according to the evening news.

So, I'm socked in, safe and warm, watching the 24-hour "A Christmas Story" marathon on TBS, waiting for daylight to check out my gifts.

Merry Christmas!

Making a Change

I've been thinking of changing the title of this blog because "Sound Off!" doesn't suit what it's become as well as I thought it would.

One option is "The Pachinko Machine" because one never knows where the ball is going to bounce.

Another option is "Falcon Works" since I write with a fountain pen and my favorite is the Namiki Falcon because of its flexible nib.

The third option is to simply use my name. Boring, huh?

Let's see, what other options are there?

Decisions, decisions...

As it turns out, it was easier to select one of my photographs and change the banner.

[The photo was taken at the 16th Annual White Sands Hot Air Balloon Invitational that is held every September at the White Sands National Monument in New Mexico.]

Black Saturday

Before Thanksgiving, I had a couple of topics I thought I'd write about. However, with the surfeit of feasting and napping, I've forgotten them completely and have only a few stray thoughts to share:

1. As we were getting ready to leave the office on the day before Thanksgiving 1999, my office mate asked me what I was planning to do on Thanksgiving.

"Write my letter of resignation," I replied.

It's hard to believe that was ten years ago. For a moment, I was despondent that I still don't have a book ready to submit for publication, but considering that I've been away from home for nearly six out of the ten years and learned a lot about the craft of writing during the rest of the time, it doesn't seem so bad.

2. I laugh at the TV commercials that say, "Black Friday starts on Saturday..."

3. If I didn't already have a good vacuum cleaner, I'd be tempted to buy the Shark Multi-Vac that's advertised during the infomercials played during the wee morning hours.

4. I don't think I'll miss the TV series, "Monk," but I will miss seeing Natalie Teeger, Captain Leland Stottlemeyer, and Lt. Randy Disher. I keep thinking of Hector Elizondo, the actor who portrays Dr. Neven Bell, Monk's psychiatrist, in the role he played in the movie, "Pretty Woman," so haven't gotten used to him in this role. I never did like Sharona.

5. Although I still have a couple of stores to check, it looks like I'll have to order my toothpaste online because three local stores no longer carry it. My guess is that because so many people want whitening toothpastes, a gentle toothpaste such as Arm & Hammer Dental Care doesn't sell as well. Why people would brush their teeth with silica, i.e. sand, a high abrasive that contributes to the wearing down of enamel much more than baking soda (sodium bicarbonate), the mildest abrasive that also happens to be an excellent cleaner, is beyond me. It must be because they don't read the ingredients and don't know that sand is silica.

While I'm at it, I may as well mention that it's so much simpler and less expensive to swish with water after eating to rinse out sugars and acids than to use a so-called "restorative" toothpaste that may also, oxymoronically, have silica or hydrated silica as an ingredient.

I've thought about brushing with plain baking soda, like people used to do back in the old days, and using a fluoride rinse to prevent cavities until I read the label on a rinse that said "sodium fluoride" which is a toxic industrial waste by-product.

Unfortunately, sodium fluoride is also the active ingredient in my toothpaste and others which is the reason for the warning to immediately contact the Poison Control Center if more than the amount used for brushing is swallowed. (All you need is the size of a pea, not the long, toothbrush-covering strip shown in TV ads to persuade you to use, and subsequently buy, more of the product.)

Of course, we're not supposed to swallow toothpaste. However, I can't help remembering that the inside of our mouths are so much more effective at absorbing that sublingual tablets for everything from vitamin B-12 for energy to nitroglycerin for angina are used instead of pills that need to be swallowed.

And, haven't we all seen a movie scene in which a drug addict rubs cocaine on his or her gums?

No, please don't try to tell me we're not getting any sodium fluoride in our bodies because we don't swallow toothpaste.

I remember when stannous fluoride, the safer, quality fluoride, was used in toothpaste. When did the toothpaste companies switch to the toxic waste by-product? Was it when the type of fluoride for fluoridating public water supplies was switched from sodium fluoride to hexafluorosilicic acid that's considered to be even worse than sodium fluoride?

Maybe I should look for a toothpaste with stannous fluoride or sodium monofluorophosphate. The problem is that I haven't found any without silica or hydrated silica. What are the chances of my finding a toothpaste with one of the good fluorides that also doesn't contain silica?

So, either I put poison into my mouth or wear down my enamel with an ADA-approved product that's supposed to be good for my teeth that really isn't or let my teeth rot by not using a product with fluoride. Some choice.

Maybe it's a good thing that I drink tea that has fluoride naturally.

That's all I have. I hope your Thanksgiving was full of thankfulness for the blessings you have and that your holiday shopping is hassle-free.

Rude Spouses

The mind works in interesting ways. Between the receptionist I mentioned in my last post and the Ft. Hood shootings this week, memories came up of two incredibly rude spouses I've met.

The first was when I was living in Killeen, just outside Ft. Hood, and working in Temple, Texas. My supervisor had invited me to a dinner party that he and his wife were having at their home in Temple.

When I arrived, I discovered that I was the only guest from his work. The others were her college friends. Nevertheless, I had a good time.

When it came time for me to leave, I went to say good-bye to the wife.

"Thank you for inviting me," I said.

She looked at me coldly and replied, "I didn't invite you," then walked away.

Wow.

Technically, though, she was right. She hadn't invited me.

The second rude spouse was encountered last year. A former co-worker had invited me to join her and her husband for a pleasant afternoon flying kites on their acreage. Since he is the kite aficionado, I was telling him something I learned from enthusiasts I met who belong to the San Diego Kite Club. His wife was behind me, about six feet away.

And he walked away, entering their house.

Yes, just like that. While I was speaking, right in front of him, without any sort of, "Excuse me," or gesture to warn me.

Amazing. I bet he didn't do that to people when he was trying to get elected to public office.

What's even more appalling is that these spouses call themselves, "Christians."

So much for their practicing the Golden Rule.

I'm glad rude spouses are few and far between.

Luke 6:31. And as ye would that men should do to you, do ye also to them likewise.

First Kite Day of 2009

Wednesday afternoon was the first time I was able to go kite-flying since the chill of last fall through the thunderstorms of nearly the last three weeks.

With the ground still muddy in spots, I carefully picked my way through the park to select where to place my stakes after launching each kite. I usually like to fly two or three kites at a time, anchoring them with light tent stakes, because they look so much better when flown in small groups, keeping each other company.

The first and third kites are favorite deltas of mine, Flip Flops #33195 and Warm Checkerboard #33123, both by Premier. They were doing well, so I launched my Parafoil 5 Rainbow Tecmo, Premier item #12035, between them for variety. The color-blocked tube tail proved to be too heavy for the existing wind, so I exchanged it after a while for the streamers that came with the kite.

There's something about kites. At the same time, they are both calming and uplifting, their bright colors cheering the soul while the fresh air and sunshine clear away the stresses of modern life.

The parafoil rode low above the horizon as sleds and parafoils usually do, and was easy to watch while the deltas surfed the vagaries of the wind. At times, they soared directly overhead and I felt like I was bending over backwards to view them from under the brim of my hat. When I was too lazy to check overhead, I searched for their shadows flitting along the grass.

After a while, I brought down the parafoil by walking it down with my hand on the line to lower the kite. Replacing it with a ladybug kite I bought last week at Walmart, I launched the ladybug only to have it crash almost immediately.

Bother!

Launching it again, I kept a suspicious eye on it until it got up to altitude having never flown that type of kite before and having had trouble with a previous kite by that company. The ladybug is a 25" wide modified diamond kite in that the top is a diamond while the lower section is rounded like the shape of a ladybug.

In addition to a center spine with cross spars to be inserted by the customer like a standard diamond kite, the top edges of the LadyBug also have fiberglass rods sewn in. The tail consists of a 3/8" wide length of nylon with nine small ladybugs stitched on at intervals.

After the relaunch, it flew nicely for a while, the loose legs wiggling realistically as if the ladybug was crawling across the sky. Oddly enough, this kite was flying west, directly into the descending sun while my other kites were flying toward the north. While I pondered why this might be, considering the wind was from the southeast, the ladybug headed downward as though it was going to do a gentle loop then accelerated to... CRASH!

Hmm.

Relaunching it made me review how other kites behaved. My deltas, diamonds, birds, and butterflies, usually make loops or simply drift downwards like sleds and parafoils when the wind goes away. I have a seagull kite, Go Fly A Kite item #15200, that consists mostly of outstretched wings that settles to the ground when the wind dies and has been known to relaunch itself when the wind picks up again, if I'm patient and leave it alone.

This ladybug?

There it goes again. CRASH! Now, I'm annoyed. How does X Kites test their kites, anyway? The other kite I had problems with was their SpinBox Spectrum, #82402, that I returned to the store I bought it from when I was in California. I tried that one out at Tecolate Shores in San Diego, and while it looked great while flying and drew compliments, it wasn't long before the fins came off of the cross spars which then popped out of the clips causing the section to collapse and the entire kite to drop out of the sky.

I relaunched the LadyBug, recalling that I haven't had problems with the delta or CloudBuster diamond kites made by X Kites that I own. Maybe it's only their kites with unique construction that have problems. Since too much wind causes kites to spin while too little wind causes kites to drift down tail first, maybe there's something about the wind conditions that this kite, rated for 5-18 MPH/8-29 KPH wind speeds, doesn't like.

I recalled the afternoon in 2007 when I was flying two kites at Mission Bay, San Diego. A family of three arrived and tried to launch a fairy princess kite unsuccessfully many times with frequent looks at mine flying successfully. The father got bored and wandered off to check the water.

Moved with pity, I went over and asked if I might help. The mother agreed, saying they bought the kite from Target, manufacturer unknown, for their daughter's eighth birthday and it was the first time they were trying to fly it.

Well, I tried and had the same crashing results. Turning it over, I found that there was a huge, heavy, sprocket in the center of the fairy's chest that I was sure was the reason the kite wouldn't fly.

Pulling down one of my butterfly kites that was made by New Tech, because the shape was similar to the fairy princess, I showed it to the mother, pointing out the differences in construction between it and their fairy, that there was no good reason for the heavy sprocket, and recommending that they return their daughter's birthday kite and go to a kite store to buy another that was sure to fly in the lighter wind conditions that prevail during the San Diego summers.

CRASH! The LadyBug, X Kites item #80472, came down again, breaking my reverie. No wonder people get discouraged about flying kites; some are really persnickety about the wind conditions in which they fly. The worst part was that I had also purchased the TurTle kite for a relative of mine, X Kites item #80476. Since it's the same as the LadyBug except for being a green turtle instead of a red ladybug, I have no reason to expect it to fly any better and plan to return it rather than subject the intended recipient to its crashing in variable conditions.

I launched a cellular kite, the eo6 Fire by Prism, in the place of the LadyBug and watched it soar, tumble, and dart up again while my deltas continued to dance until it was time for me to leave. Except for the experience with the LadyBug, it was a wonderful few hours spent flying kites on a beautiful spring afternoon.

Highly recommended.