Way back when I was in high school people brought guns to school. It was encouraged since many schools had shooting teams. It wasn't an odd sight or anything that would bring about panic. Not today. Now the laws, at least in California, are that you can not bring a gun on campus. I wonder how many of the bad guys are going to follow that rule? I bet most gang bangers who are always armed don't lock their guns up when they go to watch their kid in a school program. Even those convicted felons who are allowed to have weapons are probably carrying their guns.
What is the law abiding citizen supposed to do? I have a concealed weapon permit. Our county sheriff happily passes them out. She said that she encourages carrying weapons because our sheriff's department is unable to quickly respond at times. But when I go to the school I'm supposed to keep the weapon at home. I suppose I could keep it locked in the truck and not park on campus. Then if someone starts shooting I could merrily dash back to my truck, all the while shouting to stop shooting until I get my weapon to shoot back. I don't think that would work. I know many people who break the law (and I'm certainly not going to admit to that...) and carry on campus. As long as there aren't metal detectors at the entrance to the school they just come on in and keep their concealed weapon concealed.
If a shooter started taking out the kids, I wonder what the penalty would be for the concealed carrier who took out the shooter? They'd probably get nailed with a felony for having the weapon on campus, never mind that dozens of lives could have possibly been saved.
I was thinking about the campus shootings throughout the country since those days that kids were allowed to carry weapons to school. This week Girl had a performance at school and the auditorium was packed with about 250 people. What would have happened if there was a shooter? I know it's not the normal for nice country schools to have a shooter, but what if? I bet there were several dozen people watching the kids that were armed. None were gang bangers, just concerned citizens. There are a few teachers who read this blog. What would you prefer? A weapon free zone or weapons allowed?
Army daughter called today to ask if I could watch granddaughter. She is sick and the little one is running her ragged. She needs to keep her head over the pot and then sleep. Husband can't get off work. Please can I come get the kid? Sure, I'm about done with today's office packing. I can leave a little early to pick her up. The only problem is now that it's evening, whatever Army daughter has, I think I'm getting it too. Just what I need. A two year old here when I'm sick. No matter how she's doing, tomorrow morning she gets to pick the little one up.
Thursday, November 29, 2012
Wednesday, November 28, 2012
When packing a 72 hour kit - think!
I was reading a newsletter from Sun Oven that was to teach how to pack the food for a 72 hour kit. http://www.sunoven.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/Aug2011EveryNeedfulThing.pdf They showed a great picture with all the food you'd need. It even had the three days worth of meals all planned out for you. It made packing for the small emergency really easy. The problem was when you analyze the food that they told you to gather, it's really one day of food at minimum. Not three. Day one: One granola bar and a package of instant hot chocolate. While the TV commercials may tell you that a granola bar is a great substitute for your morning meal, how long will that hold you over? An hour? No food until lunch. And for lunch? A cup of instant tomato soup, a piece of beef jerky, a fruit rollup and a peppermint candy. That's it. No food again until dinner. And for dinner? 1/2 a package of Top Ramen and another granola bar. That's all for the entire day. And it's repeated for the two other days of your three-day kit. Now they substitute the fruit rollup for a single serving can of fruit and one package of instant oatmeal for the breakfast granola bar.
While something is better than nothing it's easy to pack a 72 hour kit. It doesn't take a lot of money to do this. Make it count. Don't purposefully short yourself on your food. If nothing else figure out the calories that you are putting into the bucket. It should be at least 2000 calories per day, not 2000 for three days as Sun Oven is showing.
Monday, November 26, 2012
No wonder the state is broke
I'm cleaning out my office. I have 16 file drawers, four bookcases with six shelves on each, and four boxes stacked in the corner. If I looked at every file it would probably take the entire three weeks. I'm not doing that. Right now I'm going through the books. Mine, state, mine, mine, state and so on. After 16 years in one office it's not surprising that so many of my own things have migrated here. I went into the warehouse and asked if I could have some old boxes. No. Go use your state credit card and buy some new ones. What? There's a whole stack of used file boxes that nobody wants. If I use those, then the people still here can buy the new ones. No. Then it would come out of their budget rather than mine. But why do I want new boxes? And you know they are going to charge on my budget all the way until the end of the fiscal year in June anyway.
The decision was made that I would go buy the boxes and use the state charge card. I drove the 5 miles in the state truck on state time to buy the boxes. I got there, picked out my boxes, and went to pay with the state charge. The charge card didn't go through for $75. It seems the state didn't pay their bill on time this month due to Thanksgiving. So now, the stupid citizens of this state (because they just voted in more taxes since the state is broke) have to pay the interest on the late charge accounts for our entire statewide department. I left the boxes there and drove back to the office.
If I get a good system of packing the boxes, bringing them home and unpacking, then bringing those back to the office I'll be able to get by without buying any boxes. It's just really inconvenient for me to do it that way. I can unload several boxes of copier paper and get some boxes that way too.
We are supposed to get rain later this week. I haven't had the kids rake the leaves out front because once they do the front will turn into a muddy mess. Since I have to walk out there each day to water the chickens and ducks I'm going to have to figure something out. Maybe if I dump a couple of bags of shavings it will pack down enough to keep the mud away. It's worth a try.
The strawberry plants are making a comeback after the ducks decided their favorite food was strawberry plants. Big dog loves sleeping in the strawberry bed as well. If I didn't do something the strawberry bed would be an empty bed. That would be a waste of two years of trying to get the strawberry bed going. I started out with about 2 dozen plants. I'm letting them send out runners and figure by this next summer the bed should be pretty well covered. If I don't blow it by letting the animals destroy it all. I covered the 75 foot by 2 foot bed with chicken wire. I used a 4 foot wide wire so it's arched into a tube. I'm keeping it up by tying a thin wire from the top of the arch to the wire supports for the grapevines. It's working - no dogs or ducks.
Did you spend any money on Black Friday or Cyber Monday? I didn't. Not a penny. The gifts for friends and relatives are all home made and food related. Even the grand kids have their lists: home made, not too expensive, and way too much money. Most items on my list are home made. Of course I'm dreaming of the new tires for the truck to magically appear as a gift. They won't.
The decision was made that I would go buy the boxes and use the state charge card. I drove the 5 miles in the state truck on state time to buy the boxes. I got there, picked out my boxes, and went to pay with the state charge. The charge card didn't go through for $75. It seems the state didn't pay their bill on time this month due to Thanksgiving. So now, the stupid citizens of this state (because they just voted in more taxes since the state is broke) have to pay the interest on the late charge accounts for our entire statewide department. I left the boxes there and drove back to the office.
If I get a good system of packing the boxes, bringing them home and unpacking, then bringing those back to the office I'll be able to get by without buying any boxes. It's just really inconvenient for me to do it that way. I can unload several boxes of copier paper and get some boxes that way too.
We are supposed to get rain later this week. I haven't had the kids rake the leaves out front because once they do the front will turn into a muddy mess. Since I have to walk out there each day to water the chickens and ducks I'm going to have to figure something out. Maybe if I dump a couple of bags of shavings it will pack down enough to keep the mud away. It's worth a try.
The strawberry plants are making a comeback after the ducks decided their favorite food was strawberry plants. Big dog loves sleeping in the strawberry bed as well. If I didn't do something the strawberry bed would be an empty bed. That would be a waste of two years of trying to get the strawberry bed going. I started out with about 2 dozen plants. I'm letting them send out runners and figure by this next summer the bed should be pretty well covered. If I don't blow it by letting the animals destroy it all. I covered the 75 foot by 2 foot bed with chicken wire. I used a 4 foot wide wire so it's arched into a tube. I'm keeping it up by tying a thin wire from the top of the arch to the wire supports for the grapevines. It's working - no dogs or ducks.
Did you spend any money on Black Friday or Cyber Monday? I didn't. Not a penny. The gifts for friends and relatives are all home made and food related. Even the grand kids have their lists: home made, not too expensive, and way too much money. Most items on my list are home made. Of course I'm dreaming of the new tires for the truck to magically appear as a gift. They won't.
Saturday, November 24, 2012
Note to self: shopping list and chore list
It's easy to remember what big items we need to replace. If the toilet stops working we figure out the problem and run to the hardware store to purchase what we need. If the backyard hose needed a new washer you wouldn't stop what you are doing and run to the store, would you? I wouldn't. Then, when I'd go to the store I'd forget most of the little things that are needed. I've started writing down lists of items needing to be purchased.
While reattaching the hoses last spring I had to change out four or five rubber washers. Those washers either got hard or disintegrated. I didn't have any on hand so I took washers off other things. Note to self: spend a couple bucks and get a couple packs.
Army daughter busted a light bulb. The heat lamps for the baby chicks need regular light bulbs, not florescent. Note to self: Go through house and inventory the types of light bulbs. Standardize where possible. Buy light bulbs.
I never bought the vent covers for the trailer. I just keep covering the vents with plastic. Someday I'll remember. Not if I don't write it down. When great grandparent asks what I want for my birthday I always come up with something stupid because I can't ever think of anything. Note to self: Look at the list when someone asks what you want. I'll take two vent covers please. Here's all the information for buying them on line or at the local camper world.
What about in the kitchen? San Diego sister likes to make a trip to Winco when she comes up here once or twice a year. She went shopping yesterday afternoon. On her way out the door she asked me if there was anything I needed from the store. I pride myself in never needing anything from the store. That doesn't mean I don't shop, it means that I have a complete home store that I don't run out. I don't ever need to pick something up right away. But since I recently decided to keep a list of things that went flying through my brain I actually said yes. There is something I need. I ran out of almond extract. I couldn't remember what I used it for when I ran out (I made macaroon cookies) but I had written it down on a paper taped onto the refrigerator. If I didn't have it written down I wouldn't have remembered. After all, I couldn't even remember what I used it up on!
This note to self also works for chores that need to be done. While I do a few things each day, on the weekend the grand kids and I usually spend several hours cleaning, fixing, and just doing general chores around the place. If I had to sit down on Saturday morning and think about what needed to get done we'd probably miss out on some things that should be high on the list. Instead, at my breakfast place at the counter (the kids usually eat breakfast at the kitchen table and I at the counter stool) I keep a chore list. I write things down on it each day, either at breakfast or whenever something comes to mind. Then on Saturday morning I go through the list and write down about twice as many chores as I expect we will accomplish. I put a B or G or M (boy, girl, me) in front of each chore. Some chores may have BG or GM, etc if I expect more than one person to do the chore. The rest of the chores we try to get through during the week. It all starts again the next week.
Now, if I know I'm stopping at a hardware store or a grocery store I can pick up those things I need but would forget about. Note to self really works. It can save you time and money. Then you will have more time and more money for more note to self items.
While reattaching the hoses last spring I had to change out four or five rubber washers. Those washers either got hard or disintegrated. I didn't have any on hand so I took washers off other things. Note to self: spend a couple bucks and get a couple packs.
Army daughter busted a light bulb. The heat lamps for the baby chicks need regular light bulbs, not florescent. Note to self: Go through house and inventory the types of light bulbs. Standardize where possible. Buy light bulbs.
I never bought the vent covers for the trailer. I just keep covering the vents with plastic. Someday I'll remember. Not if I don't write it down. When great grandparent asks what I want for my birthday I always come up with something stupid because I can't ever think of anything. Note to self: Look at the list when someone asks what you want. I'll take two vent covers please. Here's all the information for buying them on line or at the local camper world.
What about in the kitchen? San Diego sister likes to make a trip to Winco when she comes up here once or twice a year. She went shopping yesterday afternoon. On her way out the door she asked me if there was anything I needed from the store. I pride myself in never needing anything from the store. That doesn't mean I don't shop, it means that I have a complete home store that I don't run out. I don't ever need to pick something up right away. But since I recently decided to keep a list of things that went flying through my brain I actually said yes. There is something I need. I ran out of almond extract. I couldn't remember what I used it for when I ran out (I made macaroon cookies) but I had written it down on a paper taped onto the refrigerator. If I didn't have it written down I wouldn't have remembered. After all, I couldn't even remember what I used it up on!
This note to self also works for chores that need to be done. While I do a few things each day, on the weekend the grand kids and I usually spend several hours cleaning, fixing, and just doing general chores around the place. If I had to sit down on Saturday morning and think about what needed to get done we'd probably miss out on some things that should be high on the list. Instead, at my breakfast place at the counter (the kids usually eat breakfast at the kitchen table and I at the counter stool) I keep a chore list. I write things down on it each day, either at breakfast or whenever something comes to mind. Then on Saturday morning I go through the list and write down about twice as many chores as I expect we will accomplish. I put a B or G or M (boy, girl, me) in front of each chore. Some chores may have BG or GM, etc if I expect more than one person to do the chore. The rest of the chores we try to get through during the week. It all starts again the next week.
Now, if I know I'm stopping at a hardware store or a grocery store I can pick up those things I need but would forget about. Note to self really works. It can save you time and money. Then you will have more time and more money for more note to self items.
Thursday, November 22, 2012
Thanksgiving and how many of these people do I want in my group?
Happy Thanksgiving to all. I'm sure nobody will be reading this until the day after Thanksgiving, so happy leftover day. I hope you aren't standing in some stupid line to buy things you don't really need. Spend your money wisely!
We had 18 people over. It was supposed to be 19 but one called up and said she wasn't feeling well. No problem, I'm not upset. Sort of relieved actually. I don't mind having friends who are needy but when I've got a crowd around I don't want to have to be distracted by someone sitting around like a worthless lump feeling sorry for themselves. That person wasn't too sick to come, instead she just wanted us to make such a fuss and say she should come anyway. No, my response was I'm sorry to hear that. When I'm in town on Sunday I'll stop by and drop off a plate of food. That was it, end of conversation.
We had a great time with the group that came over. Even oldest daughter was nice and polite and didn't have a gutter mouth. She and her husband spoke kindly to each other and not one yell or scream at any of their kids...four of my darling grand kids. OK, not always darling. I was looking around trying to figure out who in this group would I want in "the group". I think about this every time we have any kind of family gathering.
Number 1 in the group. Younger sister and her husband and son. Positives: level headed, mechanical, hard working, enjoyable to be around. They hunt. Sister has listened and learned about food storage and gardening. She grows a good sized garden now and buys groceries in bulk. They now have two shelving units in the garage for food storage. Negatives: Son has some mental issues that are able to be dealt with now as a young child. When he grows up he may get out of control and cause major problems for the group. He needs a tremendous amount of supervision. Still, they are worth having in the group and having more adults in their immediate circle would ease the burden of the child.
Number 2 in the group. Mom. She's getting older and can't really do a whole lot except she can clean the kitchen! She will also keep the kids entertained for an hour or two each day.
Number 3 in group. Son, daughter-in-law, and two adorable grandsons. Son is really maturing now that they moved into the bug-out place. He's actually doing repairs to the place and taking pride in "ownership". Wait a minute. I own the place. OK he's taking pride in it because it's not an apartment and he knows they can live their forever if they choose at a really cheap rate. He still spends way too much time on video games and TV but if TSHTF and those things weren't available he'd do just fine. He was also an army grunt for 3 years so he can shoot among other things he was taught.
Number 4 in group. Oldest daughter and family. I still am wrestling with this one. Today they were well behaved. Tomorrow they may be screaming at each other and posting lousy remarks about each other over facebook. While son-in-law is a mechanic, the tension and stress levels they possess are most often OK to be around for a few hours but day after day, week after week, in an already stressful situation is not going to cut it.
Number 5. Army daughter? Here's another one that would do well in the group as being hard workers. Son-in-law is changing his mind about being a gun free home. He was a medic in the Navy and a trained firefighter. But there's usually some conflict between Son, Oldest daughter, and Army daughter. If they can't get along when times are good will that miraculously change when TSHTF? Adding stress to the mix isn't going to make them get along. It will only make things worse. So how do I choose which of my kids I'd want in the group and which I'd exclude? Include them all with a strict understanding that they'll be out if the conflicts continue?
Number 6 in group. The next door neighbors. The hunt, garden, can, and are just overall nice kind people. And they own Yip-yip, so since we share the dog we may as well keep them in our group.
Number 7-12 The people I've met by writing this blog. They are all good people and I'd love to have them as part of our group if things ever went south.
Only one more month until "the end of the world" according to some. You know, it's odd that it was all the news could talk about a year ago. I was expecting shortages of food and such with people starting to panic. Now you hear nothing about it at all. Sort of like the Debt ceiling was all over the news and the country was going to fall apart because it needed to be raised. Nothing has changed yet debt ceiling was never mentioned in the latest presidential election. Thanksgiving is over. Is there something simmering between now and the end of the year that will boil over? Spend a few dollars less on junk from China when buying your Christmas presents. Spend a few dollars more on your preps.
We had 18 people over. It was supposed to be 19 but one called up and said she wasn't feeling well. No problem, I'm not upset. Sort of relieved actually. I don't mind having friends who are needy but when I've got a crowd around I don't want to have to be distracted by someone sitting around like a worthless lump feeling sorry for themselves. That person wasn't too sick to come, instead she just wanted us to make such a fuss and say she should come anyway. No, my response was I'm sorry to hear that. When I'm in town on Sunday I'll stop by and drop off a plate of food. That was it, end of conversation.
We had a great time with the group that came over. Even oldest daughter was nice and polite and didn't have a gutter mouth. She and her husband spoke kindly to each other and not one yell or scream at any of their kids...four of my darling grand kids. OK, not always darling. I was looking around trying to figure out who in this group would I want in "the group". I think about this every time we have any kind of family gathering.
Number 1 in the group. Younger sister and her husband and son. Positives: level headed, mechanical, hard working, enjoyable to be around. They hunt. Sister has listened and learned about food storage and gardening. She grows a good sized garden now and buys groceries in bulk. They now have two shelving units in the garage for food storage. Negatives: Son has some mental issues that are able to be dealt with now as a young child. When he grows up he may get out of control and cause major problems for the group. He needs a tremendous amount of supervision. Still, they are worth having in the group and having more adults in their immediate circle would ease the burden of the child.
Number 2 in the group. Mom. She's getting older and can't really do a whole lot except she can clean the kitchen! She will also keep the kids entertained for an hour or two each day.
Number 3 in group. Son, daughter-in-law, and two adorable grandsons. Son is really maturing now that they moved into the bug-out place. He's actually doing repairs to the place and taking pride in "ownership". Wait a minute. I own the place. OK he's taking pride in it because it's not an apartment and he knows they can live their forever if they choose at a really cheap rate. He still spends way too much time on video games and TV but if TSHTF and those things weren't available he'd do just fine. He was also an army grunt for 3 years so he can shoot among other things he was taught.
Number 4 in group. Oldest daughter and family. I still am wrestling with this one. Today they were well behaved. Tomorrow they may be screaming at each other and posting lousy remarks about each other over facebook. While son-in-law is a mechanic, the tension and stress levels they possess are most often OK to be around for a few hours but day after day, week after week, in an already stressful situation is not going to cut it.
Number 5. Army daughter? Here's another one that would do well in the group as being hard workers. Son-in-law is changing his mind about being a gun free home. He was a medic in the Navy and a trained firefighter. But there's usually some conflict between Son, Oldest daughter, and Army daughter. If they can't get along when times are good will that miraculously change when TSHTF? Adding stress to the mix isn't going to make them get along. It will only make things worse. So how do I choose which of my kids I'd want in the group and which I'd exclude? Include them all with a strict understanding that they'll be out if the conflicts continue?
Number 6 in group. The next door neighbors. The hunt, garden, can, and are just overall nice kind people. And they own Yip-yip, so since we share the dog we may as well keep them in our group.
Number 7-12 The people I've met by writing this blog. They are all good people and I'd love to have them as part of our group if things ever went south.
Only one more month until "the end of the world" according to some. You know, it's odd that it was all the news could talk about a year ago. I was expecting shortages of food and such with people starting to panic. Now you hear nothing about it at all. Sort of like the Debt ceiling was all over the news and the country was going to fall apart because it needed to be raised. Nothing has changed yet debt ceiling was never mentioned in the latest presidential election. Thanksgiving is over. Is there something simmering between now and the end of the year that will boil over? Spend a few dollars less on junk from China when buying your Christmas presents. Spend a few dollars more on your preps.
Tuesday, November 20, 2012
Keeping equipment in good condition
San Diego sister and her family are coming for Thanksgiving. Brother-in-law is allergic to cats so when he's in our house he is miserable. He's a good sport about it but you can see his eyes get puffy. They always sleep in the trailer so at least he can get a decent night sleep. Since they are coming tomorrow morning the grand kids and I got the trailer ready for them today.
I'm sure glad the fan hasn't been hit! We haven't used the trailer since April and sitting for half a year has had consequences. The food storage was just fine. I have a couple cases of MREs plus real food. When we used the trailer last time I put together an ice chest filled with leftovers but we were able to eat well for that week. I restocked the trailer and as far as food and drink goes all is well.
The bedding was still in good condition. I have four heavy duty 5 degree sleeping bags plus four fleece liners that can be used as sleeping bags during the summer. They smelled fresh and didn't have any damage from bugs. I moved the table down and set up that bed and folded down the back couch for the second bed. There's also an overhead bed but it normally stays closed up and used as a storage area for the sleeping bags, pillows, and extra blankets. When Boy, Girl, and I use the trailer I take the couch, Girl sleeps at the table bed, and Boy likes to sleep on the floor by me. So we don't need that upper bed. It's good because it's got a 150 pound weight limit. I can imagine someday when both kids grow up that I'd be the one sleeping up there as I'm the only one that will probably be under that weight. That's not going to happen. Boy can stay on the floor!
I ran the water in the toilet and dumped it into the holding tank. Then I took the sewage pipe and hooked it up and attached the pipe to the septic system pipe. About 15 years ago we dug a line to the septic tank from where the trailer is on the side of the house. It's perfect, sewage hookup right on the side of the trailer. I got it hooked up, pulled the black and gray water pulls and you could hear the water draining out of the two holding tanks. But then, water started dripping out of the hose and onto the ground. Gross! There are two little leaks in the hose. I told the kids not to go on that side of the trailer. The solids aren't going to leak out but it's still something that will need to be replaced. I just never thought about it that the hose may leak. The trailer is almost 30 years old, I should be thinking that some things are going to wear out.
The heater works, there's propane in the tanks. The two tanks on the trailer are so old that they can't be refilled. I'll have to replace the tanks. I do have another tank that we use for the bbq and we have the 500 gallon tank for the house. If I had to take the trailer somewhere else we'd have about 30 gallons. Not enough. I need to get a new propane tank and get it filled. We should use those old tanks for the bbq, not the trailer.
Two of the three roof vents blew off a couple years ago. Each winter I cover them up with plastic. I've never bought the two cover replacements. Now that winter is coming again I need to either cover them back with plastic or buy the cover replacements. Again, it's money I don't have at the moment.
We have an electric outlet by the trailer that's set up for the trailer's power cord. Got that plugged in and we had power in the trailer. The lights worked, the water pump worked. Thinking about it now, I forgot to check the refrigerator. I'm sure it's fine but I'm going to have to make sure the door is closed!
Monday, November 19, 2012
Unloading the truck
Yesterday I spent four hours unloading my pickup. It didn't really take that long to just take everything out. As I took everything out I had to sort through mine or states. I'm not quite done sorting but I'm getting there. Because I probably won't have a vehicle assigned to me in my new job I won't be carrying a full load of equipment in that vehicle. I will, instead, be adding more to my everyday carry in my own truck.
What do I now have extra of? My work truck had a sleeping bag, two weeks of MREs, a couple cases of water and Gatorade, two pairs of boots, rain gear, two weeks of clothes, a backpack, hardhat, gloves, two medical bags, GPS, Kestrel (weather machine), camera, snow chains, shovel, rake, fencing tool, water purifier, and a bunch more stuff. Other than the two medical bags (one is mine and one is the states but the stuff is all mixed up between the two) everything got put away.
I have one pair of heavy boots in my family truck, one pair in the trailer, and now four pairs in my closet. What do I need with another two weeks of pants/t-shirts/underclothes, etc? Wait until Boy or Girl grow into them? The tools will just go out to the barn or into the tool chest depending on size. The GPS and Kestrel will be put away until the others break. Snow chains? That's easy, they go into the family truck, which didn't have a set. I can always use good leather gloves. Not that I'll ever go through the six pairs of long gloves plus the dozen pairs of regular gardening variety leather gloves...
The best of the extras are the medical supplies and the MREs. I forgot that I had two stethoscopes in the bags. I also have two additional cervical collars and a large splint. That's always good to have. And the endless supply of gauze, which I stocked up on after I was first on scene (and only one on scene for 20 minutes) at a double fatal rollover accident. No, I didn't need the gauze for the dead people only the alive people! One accident can use up lots and lots of gauze. I also had a birthing kit. Hope I never have to use that!
Having the two cases of MREs will really help stock up on the MRE supply. I'll put more into the family truck because I only have a few days worth of food in that truck.
The problem I have now that my family truck will be my main vehicle is it doesn't have a camper shell or toneau cover. It's easy enough to throw a few tools in the back, but I can't really keep all my supplies in the back. I keep them under the seat now but since I'm adding additional supplies I'll need more supply space. I am going to have to inconvenience myself a bit by putting supplies in a bin and while I'm driving keep the bin in the bed of the truck and while I'm parked put the bin inside the truck. Inconvenient but necessary. I may end up investing in a shell, which would not only hold my stuff more conveniently but also will hold me safer and drier if I need to sleep in the truck.
For now, I'll continue to sort through the medical gear.
What do I now have extra of? My work truck had a sleeping bag, two weeks of MREs, a couple cases of water and Gatorade, two pairs of boots, rain gear, two weeks of clothes, a backpack, hardhat, gloves, two medical bags, GPS, Kestrel (weather machine), camera, snow chains, shovel, rake, fencing tool, water purifier, and a bunch more stuff. Other than the two medical bags (one is mine and one is the states but the stuff is all mixed up between the two) everything got put away.
I have one pair of heavy boots in my family truck, one pair in the trailer, and now four pairs in my closet. What do I need with another two weeks of pants/t-shirts/underclothes, etc? Wait until Boy or Girl grow into them? The tools will just go out to the barn or into the tool chest depending on size. The GPS and Kestrel will be put away until the others break. Snow chains? That's easy, they go into the family truck, which didn't have a set. I can always use good leather gloves. Not that I'll ever go through the six pairs of long gloves plus the dozen pairs of regular gardening variety leather gloves...
The best of the extras are the medical supplies and the MREs. I forgot that I had two stethoscopes in the bags. I also have two additional cervical collars and a large splint. That's always good to have. And the endless supply of gauze, which I stocked up on after I was first on scene (and only one on scene for 20 minutes) at a double fatal rollover accident. No, I didn't need the gauze for the dead people only the alive people! One accident can use up lots and lots of gauze. I also had a birthing kit. Hope I never have to use that!
Having the two cases of MREs will really help stock up on the MRE supply. I'll put more into the family truck because I only have a few days worth of food in that truck.
The problem I have now that my family truck will be my main vehicle is it doesn't have a camper shell or toneau cover. It's easy enough to throw a few tools in the back, but I can't really keep all my supplies in the back. I keep them under the seat now but since I'm adding additional supplies I'll need more supply space. I am going to have to inconvenience myself a bit by putting supplies in a bin and while I'm driving keep the bin in the bed of the truck and while I'm parked put the bin inside the truck. Inconvenient but necessary. I may end up investing in a shell, which would not only hold my stuff more conveniently but also will hold me safer and drier if I need to sleep in the truck.
For now, I'll continue to sort through the medical gear.
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