Long Time No See

It's surprising how quickly time has passed. Busy with other things, I've had thoughts about a variety of posts, but no time to see them through by writing them up.

A few of the posts I haven't done are about:

1. An air travel survival kit. Substituting TSA-compliancy for a knife turns this into a small kit ideal for day-hiking.

2. A few states still legalizing marital rape. I thought the U.S. was a leader in women's rights but it turns out wives in those states are not much better off under the law than wives in certain Muslim countries.

3. The direction of my writing. I always thought to write novels in the thriller genre, but I've been reading Hemingway and find my desire turning to more literary prose.

If it's true that one doesn't die until one's life work is done, at the rate I'm going, I'll live forever.

Fortunately as a Christian, it's already guaranteed in writing.

Until next time.

Does H.R. 3 Redefine Rape?

There's a lot of noise going around about how H.R. 3 "No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act," sponsored by House Reps. Christopher H. Smith (R) of New Jersey and Daniel Lipinski (D) of Illinois and 175 mostly Republican cosponsors, redefines rape.

The noise-makers are trying to rouse opposition to the bill by saying things like federally-funded abortions will no longer be available to rape victims unless the victim is battered and suffers broken bones. They say rapes occurring to women who are incapacitated by alcohol or drugs will no longer be considered rape if the bill becomes law because force will no longer be a factor. They say statutory rape will no longer be rape, either. They say a lot of things.

The actual text at the heart of the controversy is:

''SEC. 309. TREATMENT OF ABORTIONS RELATED TO RAPE, INCEST, OR PRESERVING THE LIFE OF THE MOTHER.

The limitations established in sections 301, 302, 303, and 304 shall not apply to an abortion-

(1) if the pregnancy occurred because the pregnant female was the subject of an act of forcible rape or, if a minor, an act of incest; or

(2) in the case where the pregnant female suffers from a physical disorder, physical injury, or physical illness that would, as certified by a physician, place the pregnant female in danger of death unless an abortion is performed, including a life-endangering physical condition caused by or arising from the pregnancy itself."

The FBI's Uniform Crime Reporting Handbook (2004), which is used by local, state, colleges for crimes on campus, and other federal agencies when submitting data to the National Incident Based Reporting System states:

"Forcible Rape-Rape by Force

Definition: The carnal knowledge of a female forcibly and against her will.

'Against her will' includes instances in which the victim is incapable of giving consent because of her temporary or permanent mental or physical incapacity (or because of her youth)."

In United States v. Bright, the decision includes that "the force involved in penetration will suffice." United States v. Torres and United States v. Sargent say that force can be subtle and psychological, and need not be overt or physically brutal.

Therefore, H.R. 3 is merely closing loopholes left open by other federal rules, many temporary, prohibiting our tax dollars from being used for the abortions chosen by women wanting to limit the size of their families who eschew the options of contraceptives, abstinence, or adoption.

Please encourage your Members of Congress to support this bill and encourage your Representative to cosponsor it if s/he hasn't already.

For Veterans on Veterans Day

To all veterans of the armed forces of the United States of America -

Thank you so very much for your service to our country! I treasure the freedom that you fought and bled for, for each one of us Americans. I am often appalled at how women are treated in too many other countries and thank God for letting me be born here with people like you who believe in protecting us and preserving our freedom.

My prayers are with you.

Some Thoughts About Hiking

Several weeks ago, a friend went on a six-mile hike that turned into a nine-mile hike. When I asked if she went alone, she replied no, she had gone with a guy. She never hikes alone because if you fall, you might not be found soon enough.

True. However, there are easy to moderate trails where I can't imagine anyone falling that are popular enough that someone in distress would soon receive help.

Setting aside the different degrees of hiking difficulty, here are additional considerations:

1. Do you have a hiking staff or trekking poles that can support your weight to help you rescue yourself? Can your companion(s) carry you out or make a travois to drag you out?

2. Does anyone in your party have a cell phone and the number to call for a rescue team, usually the sheriff's department?

3. Can your or your companion's smart phone provide a GPS fix so the rescue team can be told your location? If not, do you hike with a GPS receiver? If your electronic devices fail or if you don't carry any, is your companion skilled enough with a map and compass to give coordinates for a search unit to begin looking for you?

4. If your companion goes for help, does s/he know the way there and back? Is anyone carrying a pen or pencil and paper, preferably waterproof, to give your coordinates to the rescue unit?

5. How will you protect yourself from dying of hypothermia/hyperthermia while waiting for help that might be many hours away? Do you have insulation from the cold and protection from the sun among your personal attire and emergency sheltering gear? Do you have a fire-making kit?

6. How will you prevent yourself from dying of dehydration while waiting for help that might be days away? Did you take more water than you expected you'd need or do you have the means to collect and purify water your companion might find in the area for you before s/he goes for help?

7. If your hiking companion is the one who gets injured, are you able to do the same things that you're counting on if you were injured?

It's this last point that bothers me. Too many times, I've found that women depend on men to bail them out of trouble to the extent they're virtually helpless. What if it's the man who gets injured?

After all, I once skied with a man who hit a tree. Another man got bucked off a horse and was knocked out for about an hour.

What if a companion hiker doesn't know where they are or how to get help back to the injured party? If it's a less popular trail, it won't be like in town where you can stop at a gas station to ask for directions.

This isn't a matter of one person being more able than another solely because of sex as if it's a matter of physical strength. It's a matter of knowledge and there's no good reason for anyone of either sex not to know or be able to figure out where they are and how to get back.

This isn't about my friend hiking with a guy, either, since I know she's gone hiking with women. The same thing goes for two women hiking together, two men, or a larger group, mixed sex or not. It isn't about her at all. This post contains some thoughts about hiking that arose after my exchange with her.

My point is that more than one person needs to know how to use a map and compass. Leaving the responsibility to a single person just isn't the smart thing to do.

If you hike or want to start, please take a navigation class or teach yourself how to use a map and compass from resources online or books from the public library and PRACTICE.

If you're not interested in hiking but know someone who hikes, please challenge her or him to ensure they know how to use a map and compass and encourage them to learn if they don't.

It's a basic skill for hiking and someone's life may depend on it.

Friend or Foe?

While working on my new journal pages for my website, something strange happened to my Facebook news feed. Whenever one of my Friends liked or commented on a status of one of their Friends, a stranger to me, the stranger's status and all the associated comments were displayed on my news feed. This happened one day, disappeared the next, and returned the day after. It was odd.

That's not what this post is about.

One stranger's status was about her ex-husband remarrying and her hope that someone warned his new wife about his alcoholism and abusiveness because none of her friends who knew him had the decency to warn her. She ended her status with, "SHAME ON YOU!"

I know exactly what she means because when I was 18, I got engaged to an abusive man before knowing he was abusive. A couple of my friends from high school knew what he was like but didn't warn me because I was so happy they didn't want to spoil my happiness. They said they didn't want to hurt my feelings. As a result, I ended up in the emergency room.

Fortunately, my friends owned up to their mistake and apologized although that didn't happen until several weeks after I got him out of my life with the help of the police, my apartment building's security guard, and my dad.

Years later, I discovered a true friend in Roxie whom I've mentioned in previous posts. Not only does she support me with my writing, when I got close to a friend with the expectation of more, she warned me about an undesirable aspect of his that had great potential for causing problems if we had married. Unbeknownst to her, I already knew about it and because he was in counseling for it, I thought it would work out somehow.

My affinity for the man ended when he abandoned me, not saying a word nor giving me a hug or anything but keeping his distance when my mother died unexpectedly. That's not what good friends do and there's no way anyone should entertain any thoughts of marriage whatsoever to someone who won't stand by you during a hard time like the death of a parent.

But, because of my supposed friendship with him, I learned that Roxie is a good friend because she has my back. She has proved that she wants only good for me.

Unfortunately, none of the comments for the Facebook stranger's status acknowledged her pain at the betrayal of her friends who should have warned her about her ex. The best comment reassured her that she will find a good man. The others told her to put it behind her and move on.

I was appalled. Although they probably had good intentions, what they did was like telling a victim of a traffic accident to get up and walk away after being hit by a drunk driver instead of helping her get to a hospital. As a result, I sent her a message telling her to ignore them and go get counseling because that's the best way to get over the kind of injury she sustained and be able to move on with her life. She thanked me for taking the time to give good advice to a total stranger.

Another type of friend was revealed when I posted "Understanding Rape." A woman with a rape recovery blog had linked to my post and when I went to check out her blog, I read that some of her friends blamed her for being raped. Yes, her own friends blamed her for being the victim of a violent crime! There are also supposed friends who are stupid enough to have the nerve to ask the rape victim if she enjoyed it. Who enjoys being violated?! Talk about revictimization.

Yet another type of friend was exposed when a woman was going through recovery and healing for being raped and abused by her husband whom she eventually divorced. The friend didn't simply say, "It's over. Move on," as another callously insensitive friend did, this one spent hours and hours over several days badgering the victim to abandon her recovery and healing process.

With friends like that, who needs enemies?

What kind of friend are you, a true friend like Roxie, or a foe in disguise like the others I described?

Eye for Eye

Since the 1982 movie, Gandhi, a version of a quote attributed but never actually sourced to Mahatma Gandhi has been floating around:

"'An eye for an eye, tooth for tooth' leaves the whole world blind and toothless."

I pretty well ignored it, feeling that it was mocking God, until I saw an episode of a TV series recently that had a Jewish man say that scripture is about money.

"It is?" My attention was caught.

I looked it up and to my surprise, of the four references in the Bible, only one is about justice in general.

The first reference, Exodus 21:22-25, is about being careful around women, specifically a pregnant woman. It's saying that men can't cause harm to an expectant mother either on purpose or inadvertently.

It says that an unborn child is precious and the father will determine the amount of the fine as punishment for causing the miscarriage and judges shall determine how it shall be paid.

It also says that should the mother be injured, the person who injured her will receive the same injury. He will have to endure the result of the same injury he caused her to bear.

How good God is to have a law ensuring an expectant mother and her unborn child won't be harmed by instituting consequences if they are.

How sad it is that men were so disrespectful of women and children that such a law had to be written.

How sad it is that after all this time, there are still people today who don't value women, motherhood, or unborn children.

The second reference, Leviticus 24:17-20, says that someone cannot kill or physically harm someone else without being put to death or receiving the same bodily harm as punishment. I believe this is the scripture used for general retribution. However, I see it not as leaving the whole world blind and toothless, but as a deterrent. How many people would purposely kill or injure another person knowing that they will be put to death or receive the same injury? That's like putting out your own eye. It simply isn't believable that people would do that to themselves.

The third reference, Deuteronomy 19:16-21, is about a false witness who lies with the intention of causing harm to someone else. The harmful judgment the victim was meant to get is to be the liar's punishment. This scripture is to discourage people from framing others and to discourage lying.

The fourth reference, Matthew 5:14-16, 38-48; is the most interesting because Jesus tells His followers that we are no longer like everybody else, but that we are the light of the world. In our new position, we are to treat everyone as God does, with love.

Do we do that?

If we do, with the wisdom that the Lord gives us, don't some non-believers, and so-called Christians, too, misinterpret our obedience and trust in Him as weakness and try to take advantage of us? After all, they don't know God or understand that our turning the other cheek or going the extra mile is done out of strength.

Because we already know how the story ends.

Her First Solo Road Trip

This week, there was a three-day visit with a friend from high school I haven't seen in eight years because of the distance between us.

As a former flight attendant who married a pilot, my friend is, undoubtedly, an experienced traveler by air. She enjoys getting lodging through Priceline saying that's how she gambles.

Isn't she smart? She never loses money that way plus saves money by getting nicer rooms for less.

What makes this trip especially exciting is that it's her first solo road trip because her husband didn't want to drive from Texas to Nebraska and back with all the stops she planned along the way.

Among our sharing, reminiscing, and verbal battling caused by her pushing me to live my life as she sees fit (Yes, she lost points for that!), we discussed her preparations and the rest of her itinerary only changing her whistle for an extra Fox 40 Micro I happened to have because it's much louder and her keychain flashlight for one that's brighter that was leftover from a bunch I got to give out for Christmas.

(Isn't it interesting that I just happened to have them? Isn't God good?)

I also gave her a next generation 2-AA Mini Maglite LED flashlight because it has the SOS feature along with an accessory pack with a red lens so her night vision won't be impaired should she have to check a map at night.

Since I know many women who want to travel but won't go by themselves, I applaud her for not allowing her husband to deter her from pursuing her dreams.

Contemplating Boobquake

Over the past month, I've been contemplating the concept that women's immodest attire contributes to earthquakes and wondering how Muslim women got such power. Evidently, Western women don't have it as shown by the results of Boobquake.

The Iranian senior cleric, Kazem Sedighi, who first preached, "Many women who do not dress modestly ... lead young men astray, corrupt their chastity and spread adultery in society, which (consequently) increases earthquakes," later explained in a lame attempt to wipe out any notion of observable cause and effect for this first Boobquake that earthquakes didn't hit the immorality-filled Western world because God may be waiting for us to sin more so He can send us "to the bottom of Hell."

I'm laughing because Sedighi leaped from immodest attire to promiscuity to earthquakes, but is blind to how the promiscuity of the Western culture is the same as his Shia Islam religion's allowing polygamous marriage with up to four permanent wives PLUS multiple temporary wives.

The only differences between our version of promiscuity and Iran's Shia version, called Nikah al-Mut'ah in Arabic or sigheh in Persian, are the contract and that the concubines are paid an agreed-upon price, mahr, without which payment, the contract for a temporary marriage is void (Civil Code of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Articles 1075, 1076, and 1095).

At best, their promiscuity is legalized which doesn't make it less ungodly.

At worst, the temporary wives are legal prostitutes albeit for longer periods of time than the illegal prostitutes.

Talk about the pot calling the kettle black! At least, Western culture isn't so hypocritical as to go through the sham of instituting a legal code to support fornication.

The sad part is that the immodest attire to which Sedighi was referring is about the women who are letting some of their hair show by wearing a scarf instead of a hijab.

Yes, he calls them immodest because of their HAIR, that millions of women around the world for thousands of years have, without recrimination much less earthquakes, worn uncovered or partially covered as some Iranian women have started to do. How do extremists get so perverted?!

Ignoring Sedighi's later explanation of the reason Boobquake didn't have the expected result because I don't want to thump the Bible over his statement's gross inaccuracies, my question is, "Does the Qur'an say Muslim women must cover themselves completely when in public or is that something the extremist Islamic religious leaders made up?"

I'm asking because I read somewhere that the burqa and hijab are cultural, not religious, and that the veil applied only to Muhammad's wives because they were in close view of many strangers who visited the mosque next to their home; it was to provide privacy from prying eyes as they held a degree of celebrity status being wives of Muhammad like celebrities today wear hats, scarves, and sunglasses.

Also, I don't recall Hebrew women ever having to cover their faces nor completely hide their hair in the books I've read.

While I don't know the Qur'an, it's logical that if their god is the same God of the Jews and Christians as some people believe, the Qur'an would teach the same things as the Old and New Testaments: that we are imperfect, unable to follow each and every point in God's Law, sinners who need a Savior, and that Savior comes from the house of David.

What's scary is that the U.N. has given Iran a four-year (2011-2015) seat on the Commission on the Status of Women, which is "dedicated exclusively to gender equality and advancement of women."

HAH! Yes, Iran. The country that set a nearly impossible standard for proof of rape and severely punishes women for not being able to meet it with the result that most rapes are not reported.

Iran, the country which legal standards include "the testimony of two women is equal to that of one man" and "a woman has the right to divorce only if her husband signs a contract granting that right" even though a husband is "not required to cite a reason for divorcing his wife" and mandates that a man inherits twice that of a woman's share (Civil Code of the IRI, Articles 1133, 892-1, 899-1, 900-2, 906, 911, 913, 920, 923-925, 931-932, 935, and 938-948).

[NOTE: For the U.N. document at the following link, see page 27, section G, paragraph 82, and section H, paragraph 83. If the link doesn't work, verify that a cookie for un.org is allowed.]

Iran, the country that has a law allowing a father or paternal grandfather to make his 9-year-old girl marry any man he chooses upon payment of a sum of money (Civil Code of the IRI, Article 1041).

Iran, the country that prohibits executing a condemned female virgin but gets around it by having the condemned virgin, too often between the ages of only 9 to 17 years old, "married" to a prison guard on the eve of her execution for the purpose of legally raping her in the outrageous belief started by the Ayatollah Khomeini that rape prevents such a virgin from entering heaven and consigns her to hell.

Execution isn't punishment enough? They have to go to hell, too, as if anyone on earth has the power to designate who goes to hell? Doesn't the Qur'an say that only Allah knows who will go to heaven and who will go to hell?

(Spousal rape is not illegal in Iran because a wife is required by law to service her husband as he desires as long as she is able, i.e. if she's not menstruating, or he may deprive her of her bed, food, clothing, and shelter. It's how a husband can coerce his wife into submitting to rape - Civil Code of the IRI, Article 1108).

The U.N. is letting a hungry wolf guard the lambs.

What I learned from Sedighi is that he believes Islamic men are so weak, so unable to control their impulses and passions, that Islamic women have to cover themselves completely. I know it isn't true because there are many Muslim women in other countries who have adopted Western attire, the men around them are quite stable, and the earth beneath them isn't threatening to rumble with earthquakes like what is threatening Tehran.

Therefore, behind Sedighi's insult to Muslim men about their inability to control themselves is his goal to continue the subjugation, repression, and oppression of Irani women.

Think about it, if women's indecent attire causes earthquakes, it would be a simple matter for Iranian women to go outside, remove their hijabs, roll up their sleeves, raise their skirts to show their calves if they're comfortable going that far, stay clear of the falling walls, and take control after the earthquakes having proved irrefutably that they've got the power Sedighi says they have.

The problem with that idea is if earthquakes don't happen right away as I doubt they would, the participants are likely to be arrested.

Maybe what they could say is, "If you don't treat us right, we'll bring the walls down around your ears and then, you'll answer to us!"

God may do it for them, anyway, if the fault lines threatening Tehran somehow manage to kill the extremist Mullahs since the Bible has an example of an earthquake swallowing up the wicked (Numbers 16:28-33). And it didn't happen because of immodest attire, either!

(I need to report that Muslim men also have a dress code. Not as restricted as women as might be expected for that culture, men are supposed to be covered from their waists to below their knees.)

Indeed, after doing a word search, I can't say that women or men showing skin has any scriptural bearing on earthquakes.

Does that mean God doesn't disapprove of immodest attire?

Were Adam and Eve naked in the Garden of Eden?

Did Isaiah wear a thong?

To be fair to Mr. Sedighi, we need to acknowledge that Boobquake is an incomplete experiment because he said immodest attire leads to the corruption of men's chastity and adultery that then result in increased earthquakes.

Therefore, without a way to evaluate the effect of immodest attire on sexual misconduct and the effect of sexual misconduct on earthquakes, we'll never know which stance is correct, Sedighi's or the participants of Boobquake, if either.

Unfortunately for Mr. Sedighi, his perception of sexual misconduct is idiotic because it means only that the couples didn't bother with the sham of a temporary marriage that is so shallow it need consist merely of the couple agreeing on the length of time they will be together which may be extended or shortened as circumstances or desire dictates, their saying to each other "I marry you," and the payment of the mahr.

In conclusion, please pray for the people of Iran. The women, especially, need our support. Perhaps you'll feel led to additional means of support such as contacting the U.N. to protest Iran having a seat on the Commission on the Status of Women and demand that Iran be removed.

Isaiah 20:

1. In the year that Tartan came unto Ashdod, (when Sargon the king of Assyria sent him,) and fought against Ashdod, and took it;
2. At the same time spake the Lord by Isaiah the son of Amoz, saying, Go and loose the sackcloth from off thy loins, and put off thy shoe from thy foot. And he did so, walking naked and barefoot.
3. And the Lord said, Like as my servant Isaiah hath walked naked and barefoot three years for a sign and wonder upon Egypt and upon Ethiopia;
4. So shall the king of Assyria lead away the Egyptians prisoners, and the Ethiopians captives, young and old, naked and barefoot, even with their buttocks uncovered, to the shame of Egypt.

Score! (Pattern)

I'm on a roll.

I've had issues with my travel wardrobe because I have one of those magical waistlines that expands more and contracts less than clothing with elastic waistbands can handle. The last time I went home to Hawai`i, I had to have the zippered skirt I took altered because it got too loose. Another skirt, a wrap skirt, allowed me to move the button myself, but in breezy conditions, a wrap skirt offers spontaneous free shows unless I keep a hand on it.

On my last road trip, I tried skirts, pants, and cropped pants with drawstring waists that were great. Unfortunately, the material is a blend of polyester and rayon and that much polyester in warm weather makes me want to break out of my clothes - definitely not the urge to follow unless I'm going to bathe.

As a result, I started thinking that I'm going to have to make my own. Sure, it would be easier to pack a couple of pareos to wear as skirts, but then I wouldn't have pockets in any of my skirts and what about when I need to wear pants?

At Walmart, I went to the sewing department that's being closed out and looked through the narrow selection of fabrics before perusing a couple of pattern books. Considering the cost of a pattern running in the neighborhood of US$16 plus the cost of the material, it almost doesn't seem worth making your own clothing anymore, unless you need something specific or enjoy creating your own fashions, because I've been able to get things on sale at Dillard's for $9-25.

Then, I saw it. On a rack above the pattern books, there was an envelope containing patterns for a short-sleeved shirt, top, skirt, and pants. McCall's "Easy stitch 'n save" M5352, comes in two sizes: A for 8, 10, 12, and 14; B for 14, 16, 18, and 20. This makes it ideal for women who need "fat" clothes and "skinny" clothes due to weight fluctuation. Plus, the skirt pattern is for an A-line skirt which is flattering on any body type. Plus, it's priced at only $2.99. Whoo-hoo!

I could hardly believe my good luck! With this, I can make an entire travel wardrobe and the only changes I have to make is to insert a drawstring into the waistbands instead of elastic and shorten the length of the pants to make crop pants, Capris, or shorts.

At the checkout register, the cashier asked if I found everything okay and I shared my good fortune.

"I'm so glad your sewing department isn't entirely gone, yet," I said.

"The price is better, too, because everything's on closeout," she replied.

"Yes, it's only $2.99 while most others were around $16."

"Is that the sale price?" she asked.

"Uh..." I examined the envelope. "No, that's the price printed on it."

She took the envelope and scanned it. "How about $2.50?"

"Yes, that's better," I said.

She checked some papers. "How about $1.50?"

Half off of only a $3 item? "That's great!" I said.

Score!

The Effect of an Educated Parent

Back in my college speech class, there was a young woman who told me she was in college to be a better mother. She surprised me because I had never before encountered someone who didn't aspire to a career although I was aware of those who attended college to become a Mrs.

My classmate explained that an educated woman is a better mother because she's been exposed to more subjects at deeper levels with a wider world view than offered by high schools. She figured that by having a college degree, she'll give her children a better foundation than other mothers who didn't go to college and those women who do go to college but who aren't full-time mothers.

The wonderful biopic, "Temple Grandin" on HBO, brought this home to me this past week. There's a brief scene in which a doctor dispenses the typical advice for autistic children of that time - to place Temple in an institution which time has proved would have robbed us of a valuable member of society had Eustacia, Temple's mother, acquiesced.

What the movie doesn't show is the fierce battle Eustacia had to keep Temple out of an institution as Temple's father insisted on following the doctor's recommendation, a battle that led to the break-up of their marriage.

Was it Eustacia's Ivy League college education that made her recognize that Temple could be taught to make her own way in the world or was it a mother's deep-seated instinct and belief in her child? I wish the movie had enough to give me a lead.

I thought about friends and acquaintances who attended and didn't attend college and have only one conclusion: whether a person is self-taught or formally educated, an education is never wasted.

DIY Pareo

The large piece of fabric known as a "pareo" (pronounced "pah ray' oh") in Hawai`i and Tahiti, "sarong" in parts of SE Asia such as Thailand and Sri Lanka, and by other names in other countries, is an essential item for the traveling woman because it may be used as a beach cover-up, towel, skirt, dress, blouse, bandeau, jacket, shawl, headband, head-covering, turban, belt, sheet, blanket, table cloth, curtain, sun shade, bag, or pillow. After a trip, continue wearing it because pareos are so comfortable or use it to decorate your home by putting it up as a wall-hanging. The uses are limited only by your imagination.

However, until you're able to travel to a destination that offers a wide selection, it may not be easy to find one that you like. To help you out, here are directions for a no-sew, make-it-yourself pareo:

Go to a store that sells fabric and buy 2 yards (or 2 meters) of a color or print that you like if you're in the One-Size-Fits-Most crowd. If you're thin, you may get away with buying less while a super-sized woman will likely need more.

A pareo should go around you at least one and a half times, so to be sure of ample coverage, a thin or super-sized woman should measure herself around her largest point and multiply that number by 1.75. Then, divide by 36 to convert the inches to yards. (If you're on the metric system, I apologize for making you do the conversion. My math isn't good enough for me to risk messing you up.) Deal with any awkward fraction of the result by rounding up to the nearest quarter-yard. If you find your pareo is too long after using it for a while, you can always cut the excess and re-fringe the end.

Short women may need only 36-inch wide material. Women of average height or taller should stick to material that's 44-45 inches wide. The goal is to have material wide enough to cover you from the armpits to below the calf or ankle-length. Full sized pareos are folded to get dresses or skirts of shorter lengths. The pareos I've bought measure 60-65 inches long (plus the fringe) x 44-45 inches wide.

As for the type of material, I recommend rayon, washable silk, or lightweight woven cotton because they feel good against the skin and air-dry quickly. Be wary of employee recommendations because in one fabric store, a too-stiff brocade was suggested to me. What you need is washable, drip-dry material that's soft and fluid enough to drape like a shawl, scarf, or bandanna.

Inspect the inside of the folded material, the wrong side, to ensure that the dye goes through because you don't want the wrong side to be obvious when it shows as it will in some cases depending on how the pareo is tied. If the dye goes through, it won't be easy to tell the wrong side from the right.

Once you have the material home, make a fringe on one of the short, cut ends, a 44-45 inch wide side (for the short woman, it will be the 36-inch wide side), by picking out the cross threads until there's 3 to 3.5 inches of fringe. A pin, needle, or seam ripper will make the task easier.

Use an overhand knot to tie the hanging threads together in small groups approximately 1 inch apart from each other and up against the unfrayed material to stop it from unraveling further.

Repeat on the opposite end. Then, wash to remove any excess dye and dry.

That's it!

You don't have to do anything to the long, uncut, edges because the selvages keep them from unraveling.

All that's left is for you to use your favorite search engine to get ideas on how to tie and wear your new pareo and practice while imagining yourself on your next trip.

Strike One!

After the luncheon and fashion show last Saturday, my friend and I went to a park to sit and relax and visit while watching a couple of my kites fly.

At the end of our visit, when we were discussing eliminating unsuitable prospective mates, I said, "Three strikes, he's out."

She said she's proud of me because other women she's known say, "One strike, he's out."

We agreed that isn't fair because nobody's perfect and a good man might be cut because of a single mistake. In the days since, however, I've decided that "One strike, he's out," is a valid and necessary rule:

1. If he hits, kicks, chokes, or compels her to have sex against her will. This would be a no-brainer except for the fact that there are women who make excuses for or accept excuses from men who physically or sexually abuse them.

2. If he does drugs or engages in other illegal activities or tries to persuade her to do the same. This is another supposed no-brainer that some women somehow manage to miss.

3. If he doesn't respect her personal boundaries. The lack of respect shows how little he cares for her and may indicate a controlling and abusive personality.

4. If he steals or borrows money or items and doesn't repay or return as promised or in the same or better condition than they were loaned. Not only is he a thief or a mooch, he is unlikely to stand by bigger promises. Appropriating or damaging her material possessions without reparation may be a sign he's a financial abuser especially if he denies her access to her own property or refuses to return the favor of the loan.

5. If he exhibits cruelty to animals. Not only is it harmful for the poor animal, it is an indication that he's likely to treat her and her children badly when she doesn't do as he wants.

6. If he doesn't like her friends and refuses to spend as much time with them as he expects her to spend with his friends. Such isolation is an aspect of control and abuse.

7. If he uses emotional blackmail or other methods of coercion or intimidation to induce fear, or attempts to "pull rank" in order to get his way. That is, as a self-proclaimed superior male, he presumes to know what's best for a female. These are some of the controlling tactics of an abuser.

8. If he acts badly and denies it or blames her for it. Was she holding a gun to his head or a knife to his throat? No, this type of lack of respect is verbal, psychological, or physical abuse. If he demeans her to others or humiliates her, it is a symptom of his own low self-esteem. Since verbal abuse is often a precursor to physical abuse and since abusers are notoriously low on self-esteem, "One strike, he's out," helps women avoid wasting any more time on abusive men.

9. If he's unduly competitive with her. When a man loves a woman, he helps her be the best she can. Striving to beat her instead of helping her to improve is a sign of his low self-esteem and is only a precursor of the many future power struggles between them. Watch this one, too, because there are critics who claim they're only trying to help when, in fact, they're bruising souls and crushing spirits. Adept criticism will mention positive qualities as much or more than any negative points and will convey how to make something better without putting her or her effort down.

10. For a Christian, if he won't go to church with her and discourages her from attending. This marks a self-centered man who wants a woman in his life but doesn't want to be in hers. If he belittles her belief in God, she may be looking at a power and control freak and an abuser. In any case, a man who isn't yielded to the Lord makes married life harder on the Christian woman, and vice versa, which is one of the reasons why the Bible exhorts us to marry only another believer.

11. When the still, small "voice" of the Holy Spirit of God disturbs her spirit and soul. Since God knows everything, He may warn her away from a bad relationship so she doesn't have to experience any of the above.

So, for behavior like the examples above, it's "Strike one! He's out...Next!" because abuse is never an accident nor is it a one-time occurrence. It is a set of reprehensible methods chosen by abusers to get what they want.

And, yes, there are women who abuse men.

Understanding Rape

Everyone knows that rape is wrong. Not everyone understands that rape occurs every time a person's "no" isn't respected and one's personal boundary is violated.

For example, a male friend once asked for my advice because his girlfriend was suddenly distant and wouldn't talk to him about what was going on with her.

When he told me the details of the last time they were fine together, I was horrified.

"I didn't rape her!" the pig protested in response to my facial expression. "She wanted it. I know she did. I could tell!"

"She said, 'no,' yet you continued to undress her and had your way with her," I pointed out to the idiot.

He became despondent. "What do I do, now?"

"Hang it up because it's over and there's no way you can fix it. My guess is that she hasn't told you yet because you've been together for awhile and you saved her from her ex-husband. But, really, if a woman can't trust a man with her body, she can't trust him. Period."

A week later, he reported that she had broken up with him and a few months after that, he left the state.

What some people don't understand is that rape isn't limited to violent sexual assault. Any time a person's "no" isn't respected and the person is coerced into something only because someone else wants it, it is rape:

Rape of the soul and spirit.

I'm not talking about discussions and arguments that persuade you to do things that you eventually may or may not come to agree were good to do.

I mean verbal battering that forces you into doing or giving up what another person wants, the way that s/he wants, without consideration or compromise. The issue isn't what's best for you. The issue is the rapist having control and power over you.

The psychological rapist uses verbal assaults that may include such tactics as belittlement, emotional blackmail such as "you'd do it if you love me" or threats of ending the relationship, persistent phone calls, ignoring your need for sleep, and disrupting other typical activities in order to coerce submission that may include submitting to sex.

The rapist doesn't allow the option of not doing what the rapist insists upon.

The victim feels beat-up mentally and emotionally and, as with sexual rape, can never come to agree that it was good.

For a personal example, my fourth grade teacher once took it upon herself to make me eat salad. She never made any other child eat whatever portion of their lunch they left behind, but for some reason, I and the salad left untouched on my lunch tray whenever it was served stuck in her craw.

She seated herself on the other side of my desk and insisted that I eat my salad.

"Salad makes me sick," I objected.

"It's good for you," she said.

"My parents don't make me eat salad. It makes me sick," I tried again.

"I'll feed it to you like a baby if you won't eat it yourself."

I didn't and she did, forkful by forkful, humiliating me in front of my classmates until the salad was gone and my stomach was churning.

"There, that wasn't so bad, was it?" she gloated in triumph.

As if on cue, I vomited onto the lunch tray and the teacher left me in disgust. Cleaning up alone and shaking, I reassured myself that it wasn't my fault because I had warned her. Why didn't she believe me?

It doesn't matter. What matters is that she violated my personal boundary, humiliated me, caused me to be physically ill, destroyed my sense of well-being in the classroom, and shattered my trust in teachers as safe people by abusing her position of authority in the classroom.

If you're trying to make excuses for a psychological rapist, if you're wanting to salvage the relationship and thinking that s/he is basically a decent human being who simply doesn't understand what rape is and how it affects someone, explain it. If you're right, s/he will apologize for causing you anguish and will take care to never do it again.

If no apology is forthcoming, or if you get an apology but it happens again, walk away and stay away.

Nobody deserves to be treated as badly as that.

The Strength of a Woman

The flux of 007 movies on the USA network that started over the Independence Day weekend led me to think about, not my favorite James Bond actors (Pierce Brosnan and Daniel Craig), but my favorite Bond women (portrayed by Carole Bouquet, Judi Dench, Halle Berry, and Michelle Yeoh) and why. It's because they are determined and have their own missions in the war of good versus evil.

This led me to think about the roles of men and women in society, how some cultures recognize women's voices in councils while others relegate women solely to domestic duties to the aboriginal tribe that reversed the traditional stereotypical roles to the point that the men breast-fed the babies.

Here in the United States of America, great progress has been made toward recognizing women's abilities in fields as diverse as politics, business, and the military; capable in all fields as proven by history and supported by the Bible.

In fact, it is a shame for those who call themselves "Christians" to relegate women strictly to the traditional role of homemaker when the Bible tells us by example that women can do anything.

In Deborah, a prophetess and judge over all Israel, we see a spiritual and national leader (Judges 4:4). In Jael, we see an assassin (Judges 4:21). Huldah was a prophetess who men, even a priest, consulted for God's advice (2 Kings 22:14) and the Proverbs 31 woman is a land owner who also has a cottage industry.

Jumping into the New Testament, we find Lydia the merchant (Acts 16:14), Phebe the deaconess (Romans 16:1), Junia the apostle (Romans 16:7), and may read Paul's instructions about women preaching (1 Corinthians 11:5-6, 15).

There are more, but having enough examples to level that particular playing field, we're free to take another look at the question: What is the role of a woman?

Shedding light on this question was the discovery by a former team leader of mine who, expecting her first child and reading child development books, was dismayed upon learning that a child's personality is basically set by age five.

"I have only five years to mold this child!" she exclaimed. "I thought I'd get at least 10 years. I was hoping for more time, not less!"

Therein is the strength of a woman. As far as biological, survival-of-the-species purposes go, while a man's upper body strength makes it easier for him to provide for and protect his family by sheer physical strength, it is for the present and short-term future. For women, the division of labor is much more significant than the immediate care demanded by diapers, snotty noses, and drudgery that is too often held in low esteem by men and even by many women themselves.

If we look beyond that, we'd see that God also entrusted women with the long-term future by enabling them to teach a child from birth and breast, to instill foundational values while the child still clings to the mother's knee, values that may be passed on to future generations and effect changes for the better just as we've experienced through the history of the U.S.

My hope is that women around the world draw upon their strength and advantage to make the war of good versus evil their personal mission for the adage is true: "The hand that rocks the cradle, rules the world."

What I Wish I Said

It's been 100 degrees hot for several days and when the temperature was in the low 90s on Tuesday afternoon, it felt cool enough for me to drive with the windows down.

So, there I was starting to back out of a parking space when a 30-ish man approached from I-don't-know-where and bent down to talk to me through the passenger window.

"Could you give me a ride to the store on the corner? It sure is hot," he said.

"Sorry," I said, "I'm not going that way." Then, I backed out and drove off in the opposite direction.

What I wish I said is, "What makes you think I'm dumb enough to give a ride to a complete stranger, a hitchhiker who wants to go only two blocks when it's cool enough that I'm not running the a/c?"

What School Failed to Teach Me

My friend, Rox, forwarded an email yesterday that horrified me:

"WHY WOMEN SHOULD VOTE. This is the story of our Grandmothers and Great-grandmothers; they lived only 90 years ago. Remember, it was not until 1920 that women were granted the right to go to the polls and vote. The women were innocent and defenseless, but they were jailed nonetheless for picketing the White House, carrying signs asking for the vote. And by the end of the night, they were barely alive. Forty prison guards wielding clubs and their warden's blessing went on a rampage against the 33 women wrongly convicted of 'obstructing sidewalk traffic.'

They beat Lucy Burns, chained her hands to the cell bars above her head and left her hanging for the night, bleeding and gasping for air.

They hurled Dora Lewis into a dark cell, smashed her head against an iron bed and knocked her out cold. Her cellmate, Alice Cosu, thought Lewis was dead and suffered a heart attack.

Additional affidavits describe the guards grabbing, dragging, beating, choking, slamming, pinching, twisting and kicking the women. Thus unfolded the 'Night of Terror' on Nov. 15, 1917, when the warden at the Occoquan Workhouse in Virginia ordered his guards to teach a lesson to the suffragists imprisoned there because they dared to picket Woodrow Wilson's White House for the right to vote. For weeks, the women's only water came from an open pail. Their food--all of it colorless slop--was infested with worms.

When one of the leaders, Alice Paul, embarked on a hunger strike, they tied her to a chair, forced a tube down her throat and poured liquid into her until she vomited. She was tortured like this for weeks until word was smuggled out to the press...

So, refresh my memory. Some women won't vote this year because -- why, exactly? We have carpool duties? We have to get to work? Our vote doesn't matter? It's raining?"

Snopes rates the email's status as "True" and gives further details.

Do you see why I'm horrified? The only thing I learned in school about the suffragists is that they marched and picketed for women to have the right to vote, an undertaking that's seemingly mild enough. At no time was the huge battle for reform turning ugly even suggested although we learned about wars and riots and civil rights demonstrations and assassinations. It's okay for us to learn that men are violent toward other men, but it's not okay for us to learn that men are also violent toward women who are typically physically weaker. What a rude awakening it is when we discover the truth!

I had to spend a little more time at Wikipedia looking into it.

"Clift recounts that the force feeding of Lucy Burns required 'five people to hold her down, and when she refused to open her mouth, they shoved the feeding tube up her nostril.'"

"In protest of the conditions in Occoquan, [Alice] Paul commenced a hunger strike. This led to her being moved to the prison's psychiatric ward and force-fed raw eggs through a plastic tube. Other women joined the strike, which combined with the continuing demonstrations and attendant press coverage, kept the pressure on the Wilson administration."

Djuna Barnes, a journalist, voluntarily submitted to force-feeding to be able to write about what the suffragists were experiencing. From her article, "How It Feels To Be Forcibly Fed," that was first published in "The World Magazine" on September 6, 1914:

"If I, playacting, felt my being burning with revolt at this brutal usurpation of my own functions, how they who actually suffered the ordeal in its acutest horror must have flamed at the violation of the sanctuaries of their spirits."

Force-feeding is described as feeling like being raped and while hospitals use small tubes, prisons use large tubes that are painful for the prisoner and are more difficult to swallow or push down. In the UK, suffragist Sylvia Pankhurst was held down so a steel gag could be used to force her mouth open which made her gums bleed. Eventually, in 1975, the World Medical Association prohibited the procedure being performed on prisoners "capable of forming an unimpaired and rational judgment."

Indeed, the third definition of "rape" at Merriam Webster says it's "an outrageous violation."

What an abuse of power the warden displayed by ordering the guards to "teach a lesson to the suffragists." How could the guards so viciously attack defenseless women for doing nothing worse than carrying signs?

What a slimeball President Woodrow Wilson was, evidently operating under the principle of "If you can't beat them, join them."

This is really disturbing, that American men would do these things to their own countrywomen. That they did it only a little over 90 years ago and that it isn't taught as part of American history shows how chauvinistic men in this country have been and still are, serving to prove that all women need to have and exercise the power of the vote.

What's even more disturbing is that so many American women today take the right to vote too lightly to exercise their right once every two years or, for Presidential elections, once every four years. That isn't so often that the time it takes to cast a ballot can possibly be an intolerable burden and two years is surely enough lead time to plan to go to the polls.

Please don't let the beatings and other abuse that our foremothers endured be in vain. Select your candidates and on Election Day, GO VOTE!

Are You Prepared?

This is the fifth annual National Preparedness Month.

With summer behind us, and before we get caught up with the holiday season, it's a good time for us to check and see if we're prepared for the effects of inclement weather. Are you prepared to spend a week or two without gas, electricity, or potable running water?

Hopefully, most people will never have to cope with events such as 9/11, Katrina or Gustav, flooding, tornadoes, or wildfires that require evacuation, but winter storms and other hurricanes have negatively impacted many people each year. Plus, there are other situations, such as traffic mishaps, for which you should be prepared. For example, if you were in Minnesota driving on I-35 West when a portion fell into the Mississippi River as occurred on August 1, 2007, would you have been able to free yourself and help free others trapped in their vehicles?

I know that at least one friend keeps water on hand at home in case of another boil notice so she doesn't have to rush to the store like everybody else and risk the store selling out, but what about the rest of the supplies we might need?

Back when fear of the Y2K bug was running rampant and the talk at work was about how badly we thought it would impact us, if anything happened at all, one co-worker said he wasn't concerned because he already had a closet dedicated to five days worth of goods for his family of seven just because we live in Tornado Alley. He said that every other month, they buy new cans of food for the closet and the older cans are moved to the kitchen pantry to be used for daily meals. That way, their emergency stash of food is always fresh and the money spent to set it up is never lost from their never having to use it. It motivated me to keep a supply of water on hand, but that was the extent.

In late 2006, when the Pineapple Express hit the Pacific Northwest, those who are campers and backpackers felt pretty smug because all they had to do was set up camp in their homes. The effect of the bad weather was more of an adventure than an emergency situation or inconvenience because they already had sleeping bags for warmth, camp stoves and fuel for hot meals, water purification methods for clean water, and flashlights, headlamps, and/or lanterns for light as well as enough food and water.

Those who had a day pack with the Ten Essential Systems in their vehicles ready for spur-of-the-moment hiking trips were prepared to survive in their vehicles when they were caught out on the road by flooding, snow, or ice storms shutting down traffic.

More and more people are setting themselves up with the recommended Grab & Go bags, seeing the wisdom for having them. Have you thought about what you'd need in your bag? To help you with your list, here are some links with my comments.

Preparedness for home:

FEMA - Basic Preparedness

American Red Cross - Build a Disaster Supplies Kit.

[Update 1/21/09 - Disappointingly, this and other links within the Red Cross site that guide you to preparing your own disaster kit are now dead. Since this general guide is the only one I've found, which contains another dead link for preparing your own disaster kit, I can't help but wonder if they're more interested in your buying a kit from them than in helping you make up a kit for your specific needs. After all, emergency kits have become a niche industry. The problems with a ready-made kit is that they don't suit everyone or all circumstances and when you set up your own kit, not only do you control the quality and the quantity of the contents, you'll know each item, why they're there, and how to use them quite unlike a commercially-prepared kit assembled by strangers who did it to make money from you.]

Operation HOPE - Emergency Financial First Aid Kit (EFFAK) and Personal Disaster Preparedness Guide (PDPG)

The FEMA and American Red Cross sites recommend supplies for at least three days up to two weeks. While that may seem adequate, I can't help remembering that one friend was without electricity for 17 days. After what we saw happen in New Orleans because of Katrina, it'll be safer to plan for the longer term, even a month or more, rather than the shortest duration. I suggest that your priority is to get what you need for the three days now, and add to it gradually until the full term is covered.

Not mentioned as a method of water purification, probably because of the cost, is the SteriPEN which uses UV-C light to kill protozoa, viruses, and bacteria in less than two minutes for 32 ounces. The Adventurer model that uses solar power or electricity to recharge the included Lithium CR123 button cells would be better than the original model that uses regular or rechargeable batteries because water is vital and batteries have to be replaced.

However, there have been issues with the Adventurer making it best for us to wait until after the issues are resolved before buying one.

The original SteriPEN is still highly regarded and is the simplest purification method next to solar water disinfection which takes at least six hours compared to the few minutes of a SteriPEN, but, depending on the number of people for whom you're purifying water, you might need several sets of batteries because it goes through them rather quickly. Lithium batteries are recommended for the original model because they last longer, enabling more water to be purified. Rechargeable batteries are recommended for this reason, also, but in an emergency situation, you can't rely on having electricity available to recharge your batteries and it isn't possible to know for sure that you'll have enough batteries on hand or that you'll be able to get new ones when you need them.

I remember seeing solar rechargers several years ago, but I didn't want whatever type of batteries they recharged for some reason back then. Maybe it's different now which would be great because the batteries could be used in other things as well.

Anyway, if you get a SteriPEN, either the original blue and white model or the Adventurer later on, have another method of water purification as backup just to be on the safe side. Travelers nearly always have the options of buying bottled water and AA batteries, but those options may not be available after the city's lights have gone out.

In regards to tea, regular tea does not last indefinitely as the lists erroneously indicate. If you stock tea bags from the supermarket for your emergency supplies, plan on replenishing them every six months. If you buy loose leaf tea fresh and store it well, it may last a year before going stale. If you cycle tea out every six months, consuming the old tea and replacing your emergency supply with fresh, you'll get decent flavor without wasting any tea by having to throw it away. If you drink instant tea, you're on your own. Maybe instant tea lasts indefinitely; sorry, I wouldn't know.

Preparedness for the great outdoors - the Ten Essential Systems. The ten essential systems increased to eleven when Oregon started imposing a $500 fine for those who require a Search & Rescue effort and don't have a cell phone with them. Since systems 2 and 3 both consist of items worn for protection from the elements, I don't see why they can't be combined into one system. Then, we can bump up those that follow to make communications the tenth system without losing anything, as follows:

1. Navigation - map, compass, and GPSr

2. Personal Attire - sun glasses, sun block, hat, and clothing for protection from the sun, rain, and insulating layers to protect from the cold

3. Illumination - flashlight, headlamp

4. First aid kit

5. Fire - many hikers and backpackers carry tinder and three different ways to ignite a fire to ensure they can start a fire in adverse conditions because most people die from hypothermia or dehydration and fire can be used as a signal as well as illumination

6. Repair kit and tools

7. Nutrition

8. Hydration

9. Emergency shelter

10. Communication - cell phone, whistle, signal mirror.

Preparedness for your vehicle:

An article at Backwoods Home magazine recommends a 10-day survival pack for your vehicle under $25 that was motivated by the Kim family survival tragedy in 2006.

[Update 1/21/09 - Although Yago's intention is good and you should have a survival kit for your vehicle especially if you drive out of town, I realized with much embarrassment that Yago's kit doesn't have 10 days worth of food, the meals that "require only a cup of very hot water" or "require only one or two cups of hot water" aren't meals but side dishes that require, not one, but two cups of boiling water, and all that protein, bouillon, and caffeinated beverages aren't nutritious enough, and in the case of caffeine, is actually detrimental for someone trying to stave off hypothermia as we should expect to be doing if we got lost in the mountains, snowbound or rainstorm-bound in our cars, or if the heat fails in our homes during the winter. Another vitally important point is that chlorine dioxide water purification tablets, "which will kill off all the bacteria and harmful organisms in about 30 minutes," actually take at least 4 hours to kill cryptosporidium, longer if the water's cold as we should expect it to be during a typical North American winter; iodine has poorer results than chlorine dioxide. I'm embarrassed because I should have recognized the erroneous information by simply looking at the list. Where did I park my brain? As a result, I've decided to do a series that will yield a better survival kit. For your convenience, a link to the first article of the series is at the bottom of this post.]

Among other things, the article recommends saving the free packets of salt you get at fast food restaurants. Before you do, however, I advise that you check the ingredients as many I've found contain sugar (sucrose, dextrose, etc.) that may be a health concern for you or other members of your family.

For car emergencies, I've seen recommendations to have a hammer or center punch for knocking out closed side windows and a sharp knife to cut seat belts to free occupants from a car sinking in water or in danger of fire. There are also tools specifically for car rescues: the LifeHammer, the pocket-sized ResQMe, and the Victorinox (Swiss Army Knife) RescueTool. A crowbar might also be of some help after an accident.

Don't forget to ICE your cell phone, if you have one, so that emergency personnel can find your "In Case of Emergency" medical and contact information when they search for "ICE" in your phone book. Just make a contact named "ICE," enter your data, and save it. If you need additional space to enter more data, name the first one "ICE 1 of n" where "n" is the number of the last ICE entry so that it's easy for others to tell there's more they need to see. Then, make more contacts naming them "ICE 2 of n" and "ICE 3 of n" and so on.

From the lists I've seen thus far for Grab & Go bags, there's redundancy that seems unnecessary to me. How many decks of playing cards or games does one person need to carry? It's occurred to me that if we had each one of the recommended bags, we'd be hauling way too much stuff to carry around with the easy mobility necessary for an emergency evacuation.

It makes more sense if one bag is a subset of the next larger bag progressing as follows:

1. The E-kit (E = "Exposure" for the kit described here, not "Emergency" or "Evacuation" or "Earthquake") is very small and will fit into a briefcase, backpack, large purse or tote. It contains items to protect your airway, eyes, ears, and skin against dust, noise, and hazardous materials such as a mask that's rated as N95 or better, earplugs, goggles, nitrile gloves (to avoid allergic reactions to latex), and non-breathable rain gear like the cheapest plastic rain wear you can find such as those that are sold in pouches small enough to carry in a pocket. You don't want nylon or Gore-Tex because breathable fabrics are not suitable for this type of protection. This kit should be with you at all times especially if you live in a location likely to have dust storms or earthquakes (lots of dust) or receive falling ash or poisonous gases from a volcanic eruption.

The E-kit might be useful to protect yourself from exposure to nuclear, biological, or chemical hazards caused or transmitted by people, but that depends on your knowing when to use the contents. Since the NBC (or BCR for biological, chemical, and radioactive for you Brits) hazards aren't readily detectable by ordinary citizens, it's more probable that by the time you're alerted, it'll be too late for protection and you'll need to seek medical treatment for having been exposed. If you weren't in the affected area, stay away unless you're First Response personnel or don protective gear as may be appropriate.

2. The E-kit can be placed in your Go bag for the office or workplace. The bag for the workplace contains bottled water and other items you'll need to survive at work for a while or the contents may be used to make your way home or to a designated rendezvous point to join the rest of your family. Some people call this their EDC (Every Day Carry) bag.

One thing to keep in mind if you have a disposable water bottle is to be sure to hang onto it after you consume the contents. Many people impacted on 9/11 were given bottles of water and could have refilled them from accommodating businesses that turned on their taps for the thirsty as they trudged home. However, they had nothing to drink from except their hands and no way to take water with them as they continued their journeys home because they discarded their empty bottles.

3. The bag for your office or workplace can be a subset of, and combined with the bag for your vehicle. Frankly, I don't think a Grab & Go bag should include most of the car items because they're standard emergency items that we're supposed to keep in our vehicles all the time, anyway, such as a spare tire, jack, flares, first aid kit (FAK), etc. If I had to leave my car, I wouldn't want to lug around car-specific items. I'd want to carry food, water, clothing, health and comfort items for my survival. As a result, I'm going to ensure that I have the articles recommended for a vehicle, but I'm not planning to get a bag for carrying them because, except for water, food, and the FAK, I have no intention of hauling them away from my car.

4. The bags above can supplement the Grab & Go bag for home. This is also called a BOB (Bug Out Bag) or 72-hour bag because the contents are supposed to sustain you for a minimum of 72 hours or three days and three nights. If you have to evacuate your home, I'm confident you'd want to have the items of the other bags without the expense and weight of redundancy with the exception of food, water, and medication. My two cents.

Whatever you do, please don't forget to make a Grab & Go bag for your beloved pets or arrange for their care.

Here are some lists that may help:

Chaffey College - Grab 'n Go Bags

City of San Juan Capistrano - Grab & Go Bags

City of Vancouver - Grab'n Go Bags

Jeff Skrysak's Grab 'n Go Bag. Jeff is an EMT who now lives in a developing country where he's learned valuable lessons. I include his list here because he explains the reason behind many of the items that people may be inclined to leave off their lists.

For washing needs, I use the biodegradable Campsuds for camping and traveling because it can be used with either fresh or salt water for hands, body, hair, clothing, and dishes. Having it eliminates the need, weight, and space for several other bottles.

The Beneficiary Book - Disaster Preparedness Guide and Checklist.

Aton Edwards, the author of the PDF file about Grab-and-Go bags that follows lists items that I'd never consider otherwise, but gives excellent guidance for issues not addressed by other sites I read such as calculating how much cash to have on hand in case of an emergency evacuation and how to deal with the issue of having to use the bathroom while stuck in traffic for hours during a mass evacuation:

"Preparedness Now!" by Aton Edwards - Grab-and-Go Bag.

I can't imagine urinating into a regular funnel as Edwards suggests because of the shape of the funnel and location and stiffness of the drain spout. I'm thinking it's a sure way to get me and my car wet. Better than that, especially for the many girls and women who live in pants with front zippers and who would never consider switching to a skirt that provides better coverage while squatting, there are several urine directors designed specifically for the female anatomy that enable one to urinate without having to squat with pants down and derrière exposed:

The SheWee, Whiz Easy/Whiz Freedom, and the Portable and Medical models of the Freshette are designed specifically for use while seated as well as while standing.

The TravelMate website says that tubing is easily attached if desired and has a testimonial from a woman who attached tubing and used a collection bag to "go" while in a kayak, but I didn't see where tubing and collection bags are on the website leading me to believe that they're no longer offered and the customer now has to obtain them elsewhere.

Other urinary devices, such as Lady J, My SweetPee, Pee-Zee, and pStyle, are designed to be used only while standing and are nearly as useful as those that enable one to urinate while seated in a car or standing elsewhere because they allow women to "go" outdoors discreetly and eliminate having to sit on or awkwardly hover over dirty toilet seats and Port-A-Potties while urinating.

Getting one of these things is actually a good idea, now that I'm thinking about it, not only for a disaster kit for use in stalled traffic or for when restroom maintenance at shelters doesn't keep up with usage, but for other places such as fairs and festivals where restroom facilities aren't as clean as we'd like them to be.

If you have to buy the recommended radio, flashlights, and other battery-powered devices, I agree with Edwards about getting solar or hand-cranked-powered ones. That way, not only will you not have to be concerned about availability of new batteries when yours go weak, you'll save the cost, space, and weight of carrying spares.

Since the majority of water filters don't meet the EPA standards for killing bacteria, protozoa, and viruses, please be sure to do your homework and research the devices before buying one and stick to those that purify water of all three categories of contaminants.

Edwards doesn't say why he specifically lists, "Stainless steel mess kit or outdoor cooking gear." Stainless steel is heavier than aluminum and titanium, and more expensive than aluminum. During an emergency evacuation, you're already under stress and any additional weight adds to that stress needlessly. Not knowing his rationale, I think you'd be better off keeping the weight down, shaving off any and all ounces possible, to avoid additional stress.

Firestarters such as Spark-Lite, BlastMatch, Strike Force, and the Light My Fire Firesteel Scout or Army Model are better than regular magnesium firestarters because they're easy to use and are more reliable, and because magnesium shavings aren't easy to gather together especially if there's any whisper of a breeze that'll blow them away.

Cotton balls covered with petroleum jelly or dryer lint are really good for home-made tinder and those trick birthday candles that can't be blown out are exactly what you want for getting a fire going in breezy conditions. Of course, you'll want to have storm matches (waterproof and windproof) or NATO matches as well especially if you don't have one of the firestarters listed above. Be sure to include pliers or a multitool with pliers in your repair kit to hold the storm matches so you don't burn your fingers while lighting one because many of the sticks are awfully short, the exception being those sold by REI. Having some of those ubiquitous disposable butane lighters and wooden Strike Anywhere or regular kitchen matches will conserve your storm matches until they're really needed.

Miscellaneous Notes:

A pencil is better than most pens because not all pens will write under all conditions. However, none of the lists mention that the pencil needs to be a mechanical pencil unless you pack a pencil sharpener or know how to sharpen a pencil safely with a knife. This is an important consideration because many Americans don't carry pen knives or pocket knives, anymore, certainly not the majority of women. I recommend a Fisher Space pen because it writes under adverse conditions, on various types of paper, lasts longer than a pencil, and there's no lead to break or be sharpened. Along with that, I recommend getting "Rite in the Rain" all-weather writing paper so any notes you make for yourself or leave for others won't be damaged by rain, wet hands, or being washed if forgotten and left in a pocket.

In regards to feminine products, sanitary napkins are excellent for first aid kits to use for bleeding injuries. However, for feminine needs, I recommend that women change over to a menstrual cup because it weighs little, takes up much less space than does a month's supply of typical products, is highly cost-effective, and using one ensures that not having feminine hygiene products readily available after what you packed is gone won't be an additional issue during an already overly stressful situation. Just be sure to practice using one for as many as three or more monthly cycles because the learning curve is fairly steep and may not be as short as when learning how to use a tampon.

A safety whistle is essential to summon others to help because your voice can't carry as far as the whistle's trill and you can blow much longer than you can yell. Think, for example, if your car slid off the road out of sight of other motorists such as down an embankment and you were trapped inside. How would you alert others of your predicament if your car horn doesn't work and your cell phone gets tossed out of reach during the accident? Having a loud, lightweight, whistle on your key ring is ideal. A pealess whistle is best because most peas stick when wet and the best pealess whistles work even under water.

Here are some of the better whistles for your consideration. Please don't test blow them unless outside with other people a good distance away as permanent ear damage results from sound exceeding 85 decibels (db). They are not toys to blow near people's ears just to annoy them and pain isn't funny; the loudest ones can be heard up to a mile and a half away:

Fox 40 Sonik (125 db)

Ultimate Survival Technologies JetScream (122 db)

All-Weather Safety Whistle Co. Storm (118 - 120 db)

Orion ORI-624 (116 db)

Fox 40 Micro/Adventure Medical Kits Rescue Howler (110 - 122 db depending on how forcefully it's blown. The Fox 40 website rates it at 115 db.). The AMK Rescue Howler is the exact same whistle as the yellow Fox 40 Micro. Previously, there was a difference in the way the lanyard was threaded through at the point of attachment, but now, there is no difference except for the packaging. Because this whistle requires more effort to blow than a Fox 40 Mini or Classic to get more than a pitiful, useless whiff of a sound, children or people who have breathing problems will do better with a Classic or Mini whistle than with a Micro.

Fox 40 Classic and Mini (115 db)

S.O.S. (113 db)

Acme Tornado 636 (107 db)

ACR Electronics WW-3 (102 db) - this can be heard a half mile away on a calm day.

There are other good safety whistles as well. If you want to get one not listed here, just remember that metal + cold weather = tongue-stuck-to-the-flagpole.

The Sawyer Extractor bite kit is the only snake bite kit acknowledged by wilderness medical professionals as being effective although some controversy has arisen because the effectiveness depends on whether it is utilized immediately after the bite and on what type of snake it was. Those who swear by it say its ability to extract up to 35% of the snake's venom is better than nothing. Especially since it works extremely well for bug bites and stings, it's worth adding to your FAK. Please don't bother thinking that getting one of the other snake bite kits will be just as good. At the least, they're ineffective and you'll only be wasting your money. At the worst, using one of the others may be worse than doing nothing at all.

I like the idea of storing important papers and treasured photos digitally to save space and reduce the load, but I'll have to figure out a way to ensure I don't stick any magnetic media in with my shake flashlight because it will zap the media if I put them close enough in my Grab & Go bag. Uploading the files to a cloud storage site is a better idea as long as it's not the sole off-site backup.

The lists include maps and a compass. This means that you have to learn how to use them if you don't already know. Waiting until you're in a situation requiring you to use a map and compass is not the time to learn. Remember, we're doing this to be proactive, not reactive.

I think what I already have will suffice and all I have to do is buy food and get it all into a single bag in keeping with the concept of being able to Grab & Go, but it certainly won't hurt for me to make a list and check it twice.

How about it? Are you prepared for the effects of inclement weather and whatever natural disaster is most likely to occur in your region of the country? Or, are you in denial thinking that it will never happen to you? Maybe you're right and it won't, but will you risk being caught off-guard like too many others have in the past?

You may be overwhelmed at the number of things that need to be done, but if you start now and focus on completing your preparations in reasonable chunks rather than trying to get everything done all at once, it'll be easier. Think of what type of emergency situation is most likely for your area and go from there. I know, of course, that a bad situation will never happen to me, but I can't predict the same future for you ;).

If you have other tips and suggestions that have helped you in the past, please post them in "Comments" so everyone may learn from your experience.

Luke 4:
[The devil said:]
10. For it is written, He shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee:
11. And in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone.
12. And Jesus answering said unto him, It is said, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.

Matthew 25:
1. Then shall the kingdom of heaven be likened unto ten virgins, which took their lamps, and went forth to meet the bridegroom.
2. And five of them were wise, and five were foolish.
3. They that were foolish took their lamps, and took no oil with them:
4. But the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps.
5. While the bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered and slept.
6. And at midnight there was a cry made, Behold, the bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him.
7. Then all those virgins arose, and trimmed their lamps.
8. And the foolish said unto the wise, Give us of your oil; for our lamps are gone out.
9. But the wise answered, saying, Not so; lest there be not enough for us and you....

[The next article in this series is, "Preparedness: Introducing the Fifteen Essential Systems."]