08:08 – When I opened the morning paper, I was surprised to see a full-page color spread devoted to emergency preparedness. I’d forgotten that September is officially National Emergency Preparedness Month. Of course it was the usual inadequate 3-day list that FEMA pushes, with no mention of being prepared to defend yourself, but it’s better than nothing. The sad thing is that probably 90% of the American public aren’t prepared even at this level.
Of course, that percentage varies with circumstances and region. Right now, for example, a much higher percentage of the population of South Florida is preparing to hunker down to await the arrival of a hurricane. Before long, though, it’ll be back to business as usual for them.
More science kit stuff for us this weekend.
The lessons from Andrew have faded so I doubt most South Floridians will even bother with the recommended three days of canned goods this weekend.
The real kicker is that Florida has “anti price gouging” laws to discourage enterprising individuals from heading down after the storm with truckloads of supplies and water to sell at a profit. Thank you Governor Charlie Crist!
Ironically, the hipsters on South Beach will be dependent on the contingency plans of Southern, non-PC corporations such as Wal Mart, Home Depot, and … I am not kidding — they have awesome planning … Waffle House.
As the old legal maxim has it, the value of thing is what it will bring. If someone is selling bottles of water that cost him $0.10 each for $1 or $2 each, presumably the buyers are willing to pay that price under those circumstances. What business is that of the government?
I remember Mel Tappan once saying, “Lack of preparedness on your part does not constitute an emergency on my part.” That always seemed sensible to me.
Which would be a better choice for a compact emergency stove?
http://www.amazon.com/Coleman-Bottle-Top-Propane-Stove/dp/B0009PUR5E/
or
http://www.amazon.com/Coleman-2000020951-Butane-Instastart-Stove/dp/B00FGPXVSM/
or something different?
@alan,
The bottle top stove uses widely available propane bottles, and the are even refillable with an adapter, from ordinary BBQ sized bottles. The same size bottles can also be used in colman lanterns, with plumbing torches, etc. But it is tall and can be ‘tippy’ with a big pot of water on it. [the reviews say it is stable. On a perfectly flat and level surface, ok. They say it is “strong” which is not the same thing. I wouldn’t want to put a gallon of water on top of it] Colman says it is for “outdoor use.”
The other model uses butane cartridges which are not so widely available. That style is widely used in asian communities to cook at the table or table side, so you might have better luck stocking up in a neighborhood like that. It is very stable and easy to store, and you might use it during normal times to cook for the holidays. It has a little less heat energy available for cooking (about a quarter less) It IS generally used indoors, although the ad doesn’t specifically say so.
If you are cooking in a frying pan, or skillet, or anything that needs you to manipulate the pan, you will like the lower one better. If all you are doing is heating stuff in a pot, with occasional stirring, stability is less of an issue.
Trade offs, always trade offs.
nick
ADDED:
read the questions and the user reviews on this similar stove.
http://www.amazon.com/GAS-ONE-List-Portable-Stove/dp/B001TF8UY8/ref=pd_sim_sbs_468_9?ie=UTF8&refRID=1VG02FRAY94GFZ3YF9VW
It will give you a better idea of the issues. Note that this one claims higher heat output than the similar colman, but costs a few bucks more.
ADDED: one last thought, if you can stock the butane cartridges, and you don’t think you will need it for really long lengths of time (ie longer than your stored butane will last) the lower table top burner will give you a much more “stove like” experience cooking, and is easier to use.
The first, definitely. The second requires special 8.8-ounce butane cylinders, which are expensive, have only a short run time, and are a lot harder to come by than standard one-pound propane cylinders.
Actually, neither of those would be my first choice. The ability to cook/heat water is so important that we keep several means of doing so. Other than our gas barbecue grill, our primary stove in an emergency is a Coleman Dual Fuel camp stove. Those cost more, but they’re also a lot more useful in an emergency, not least because they give you a second burner. They run (preferably) on Coleman liquid fuel or ordinary unleaded gasoline, so fuel shouldn’t be an issue. We also keep a Coleman propane stove, along with adapters to run it off a 20-pound cannister and to refill one-pound cylinders from a 20-pound cannister. In addition, we keep charcoal and a small hibachi. Finally we have a couple of Coghlan’s Folding Stoves, which nominally run on canned alcohol, but in reality do just as well burning twigs and other scrap wood.
@nick
Thanks. Yes, have read many reviews on Amazon, which is either a blessing or a curse (how did we decide ‘before the internet’?)
Actually also saw this one, also from Gas One: http://www.amazon.com/Stainless-Steel-Portable-Butane-Camping/dp/B00U0CHK56/
The butane is readily available at a large asian grocery not too far from me.
During the course of our cross-country moving adventures over the last five years, whenever someone asked what Florida was like, I would always respond, “Read Carl Hiaasen, but keep in mind that the fiction barely scratches the surface of the true strangeness of the fact.”
As near as I can figure, the last 10 years has seen a large influx of non-Cuban Latins into Florida, and their increasingly important electoral sympathies seem to lie with the interests of the Catholic Church and a sense of “social justice”. I really have no other idea as to how to explain how things like anti-gouging laws make it past a Republican legislature, even with the recent RINO Governors.
Disclaimer: I am a near native of Florida, having lived there for nearly 40 years until, for some reason I still can’t fully explain, we decided to give Northwest living a shot just as the “Great Recession” really started rolling.
The first, definitely. The second requires special 8.8-ounce butane cylinders, which are expensive, have only a short run time, and are a lot harder to come by than standard one-pound propane cylinders.
Which led me to this one which seems it would be more stable to cook on: http://www.amazon.com/Coleman-Powerpack-TM-Propane-Stove/dp/B0009PUS6M/
Ok this gave me a chuckle:
https://scontent-iad3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xap1/v/t1.0-9/11215052_10153262745983725_3607484708515265064_n.jpg?oh=633e736bac311d4743080f791741947f&oe=56358089
“calm down liberal……”
nick
[snip] Southern, non-PC corporations such as Wal Mart, Home Depot, and … I am not kidding — they have awesome planning … Waffle House. [snip]
Isn’t profit a great motivator?
[snip] Read Carl Hiaasen, … [snip]
And try to ignore the extreme political bias therein. In Hiaasen’s world, R=bad, D=good, and he’s never met a government boondoggle he didn’t want more of.
[snip] the last 10 years has seen a large influx of non-Cuban Latins into Florida, [snip]
Supposedly, the influx is largely Puerto Rican, and focused on Central Florida. Why, I don’t know.
[snip] I really have no other idea as to how to explain how things like anti-gouging laws make it past a Republican legislature [snip]
Mostly, memories of the 2004 & 2005 hurricane seasons, in which lots of Floridians were affected, and where price gouging was a real issue. People in Tampa get mad at having to pay $8 / gallon for gasoline when it’s still $3 in Macon Georgia.
[snip] even with the recent RINO Governors. [snip]
I would argue that a good portion of our Legislative Rs are RINOs, too. First, when times were good, they fell all over themselves to find ways to spend the tax dollars flowing into the treasury. Second, many of them have no problem letting government intrude into people’s lives, as long as it’s some reason *they* can make hay over. (See Schiavo, Terry)
I’ve listed my stove inventory before, suffice to say, I REALLY like to eat, so I have a bunch of stoves.
The one I USE is my 2 burner colman fuel stove. If storage space isn’t an issue, the dual fuel version of this is hard to beat for robustness, ease of use, maintenance, versatility, just about any metric, which is why it’s still in production and use after DECADES of development. About the only type of stove I DON’T have is the tabletop butane! I don’t like the idea of the cartridges. If I did get one, it would be as an additional burner for holidays, not for prepping per se.
If you want small, (and why, if you aren’t carrying it around?) then you are making compromises. Keep in mind that the size of the stove is only part of the overall package, you must include the fuel in your decision. Those 1# bottles are not small.
nick
PS DON’T let paralysis get you. BUY SOMETHING, use it, keep or sell based on that. You should be able to get 10-15$ back so you only have $5 at risk. DO IT!!!
FWIW, even I acknowledge that this is overkill:
partial list from memory
Colman 2 burner liquid fuel, many from several decades, dual and single fuel 8? 12?
Colman propane, dual burner 2?
Colman propane, single burner, several styles, 6? 10?
single burners on propane grill (2 total)
backpack style stoves (folding, small)
at least 15, all fuels, butane, propane, alcohol, even a vintage gasoline or 2.
propane gas ring, turkey fryer or clam boil style
homemade “penny stove” from soda cans, runs on methyl alcohol, or “HEET”
solid fuel, at least one, possibly 2
sterno in cans
4 block rocket stove (twigs)
patio fire pit (wood)
“dakota fire hole”
about the only thing I can think of that I haven’t got is a solar oven. I have the materials, just haven’t tried it.
““calm down liberal……”
And of course we have a plethora of phony Repubs in this country, i.e., RINOs, who illustrate their own brand of Stupid, i.e., the Stupid Half of the War Party.
“And try to ignore the extreme political bias therein. In Hiaasen’s world, R=bad, D=good, and he’s never met a government boondoggle he didn’t want more of.”
We’ve gotten a kick out of the humor in his books over the years but have also registered his political sympathies and axes to grind accordingly, being a former “journalist” down there.
I was last in Floriduh in 1994, with the first wife, visiting for a week on Sanibel Island; what struck me was the melancholy (it was October), even expressed by a couple of the retail clerks in stores, along the lines of “we don’t really ever get to know anybody here; people just come and go…”)
Previously I’d been to visit a high skool pal who lived in Orlando with his wife, also a high skool acquaintance, a year or two behind us; it was 1982, and friggin’ 85 degrees at 07:00 with oppressive humidity. A t-storm every afternoon for fifteen minutes at 16:00. I was having ‘Nam flashbacks and looking for Charlie in the wire but it was only gators and Cubans.
And that was it for me; too dang hot south of, say, Burlington, Vermont.
“Floridians were affected, and where price gouging was a real issue. People in Tampa get mad at having to pay $8 / gallon for gasoline when it’s still $3 in Macon Georgia.”
The proper response is “SO WHAT?”
Anyone who takes a risk should be rewarded for it. Look at costco or HD after the hurricane DOESN’T show, they’ve got lots of generators sitting on shelves that need to be marked down to sell. Where’s their price protection against losses on those items? And it costs a lot more to bring stuff into a disaster area, why shouldn’t you be able to recover those costs?
If I’ve gone to the effort to stock up, taken the risk of not being able to sell, and tying up capital that could be used elsewhere, AND YOU HAVEN’T, why shouldn’t I benefit? (Rhetorical ‘you’.)
Yeah paying more sucks, but that’s why we prep, so we don’t have to panic. And EVERYONE else could have too. What would happen to the price gougers if no one needed their stuff?
The hypocrisy of it kills me. Does FL have laws limiting what hotels can charge? You’ll notice that EVERY hotel has really high rates listed on the door as their ‘normal’ rate, but routinely charges less. Unless occupancy is high, or there is a superbowl in town, then they “price gouge” by using their published rates.
Any laws limiting ticket resellers? Is it price gouging when superbowl tickets are resold by season ticket holders?
“But people NEED food and water….”/whine So what? If they need it so bad, why didn’t they get some before hand? I’ve spent a significant amount of time and some money getting prepared. I encourage everyone to do so. I offer help and advice on how to do it even on an extreme budget. There is NO reason not to prepare for the primary threats in your region.
NO sympathy for the unprepared in a hurricane. It’s one of the few disasters you can see coming for DAYS. And if you live in a hurricane zone, you know that sooner or later one WILL hit.
N.B. I live in a hurricane zone. We had Katrina, Rita, and Ike. We get tropical storms too. I will help where I am able, and will offer comfort and support to the overwhelmed, but neither feel nor expect others to feel sympathy.
nick
Ok, that was dumb.
I just got in from cutting the grass. It was only 91deg when I started, and most of the yard is shaded, so I thought there was still time to ‘beat the heat of the day.”
20 minutes of work and 10 minutes under a fan and air conditioning to recover.
That heat just wipes me out.
Traditionally, work was done during the day, due to the high cost or unavailability of artificial light, but here in the heat, I think heavy exertion will have to be done at night.
And monitoring for heat injury will have to be done.
nick
We’re none of us as young as we used to be, and heat really takes a toll on older people. As Dirty Harry said, “A man’s got to know his limitations.” The often fatal mistake is tacitly assuming that your limitations 40 years ago are still valid.
“That heat just wipes me out.”
Which is why I’m up here; I managed to survive multiple deployments to Texas and SEA back in the day when I was in my late teens and early twenties, but not now. I mow the yard here when it’s 75 and I gotta drink a gallon of wotta and take a couple of breaks.
“NO sympathy for the unprepared in a hurricane.”
+1
And add: earthquake faults, wildfire canyons, Tornado Alley, north country blizzards and ice storms, flood plains, and mega-cities when TSHTF.
@OFD,
91 felt COOL compared to the 104+ we’ve been seeing in my little microclimate.
San Diego has the best weather in the US. But, it’s in California, and full of Californians. Considering how big Cali is, it’s almost as insular as NYC, which is saying a lot.
If the Texas gulf coast was as temperate as SanDiego, it’d be perfect. But then I couldn’t afford to live here, and the lefties would have driven out all the manufacturing and refining, and it wouldn’t be such a good place to make a living.
Tradeoffs again…..
nick
Tradeoffs here, too; gorgeous scenery and temperate climate with homogenous pop and very gun-friendly state. And they can understand my MA accent, to a point. That works in reverse, too; the rural folks here often talk like they have a mouthful of marbles.
But jobs? Not so much. Careers? Not so much. Big industry: WAS IBM. Now Ben & Jerry’s. Plus GE Healthcare, state gummint, tourism. That’s about it. Some colleges, the ski areas. And some interesting blizzards, floods and ice storms once in a while. Libturds running state gummint, Burlington and the college towns.
But by Jeezum, only a couple of days a year at 90 or above. If that.
And no venomous reptiles, except at the Snake House in the state capital.
If the Texas gulf coast was as temperate as SanDiego, it’d be perfect. But then I couldn’t afford to live here, and the lefties would have driven out all the manufacturing and refining, and it wouldn’t be such a good place to make a living.
Saw a prediction in the Friday Chronicle, that liberal bastion of somewhat news, that a realtor in Dallas predicts that the Houston metropolitan region will swell to 14 million in the next 15 years (2030). I cannot imagine this area with twice the population.
@RBT
Yes, a man does have to know his limitations. However, a man has to realize his limitations are not etched in stone. Francois Henri “Jack” LaLanne could have kicked my fat posterior any day of the week until the day he got pneumonia.
My physical limitations are where they are because I sit on the previously mentioned fat posterior and eat to much unhealthy food. An important part of prepping for me is sitting less, exercising more and eating healthier.
I’m not going to go the full Jack LaLanne and exercise 14 hours a week. I am also not going to sit in a recliner and watch television for the rest of my life. There is a happy medium in there somewhere and I aim to find it. With a moderate, consistent exercise program, a year from now I could be doing things that were outside my limitations ten years ago.
@nick
https://www.flickr.com/photos/jfagner/sets/72157622099018568/
“With a moderate, consistent exercise program, a year from now I could be doing things that were outside my limitations ten years ago.”
There it is. Plus One.
“I cannot imagine this area with twice the population.”
Every once in a blue moon I swing on down through a couple of small towns that my family lived in when I was a kid, in semi-rural Maffachufetts. Well, now there is at least twice the population and man, what a difference. That much more traffic, noise, crowding, and the AQ (Ass-Hat Quotient) goes up likewise. More houses have been built, more stores, more gas stations, etc., etc. Saw the same thing when I was down in NJ earlier this summer; and it’s only been twenty years since I lived there with the first wife.
Headlights on the mower, great idea! I bet the neighbors will think so, too!
Speaking of a man having to know his limitations, I have been such a couch potato that in 50 years I have had only one exercise related injury. When recovering from that injury, I figured out there was a line not to be crossed. Repeatedly flirted with, but never crossed. So yes, you have to know your limitations, particularly so that you can keep getting close to them without crossing them.
I mow the yard here when it’s 75 and I gotta drink a gallon of wotta and take a couple of breaks.
Takes me two hours to mow my yard. I use a riding mower for most of it but some has to be done with a weedeater. I also do some trimming of bushes and pulling of weeds when I see them while I am mowing. I do the mowing when it is 90+ without much difficulty. When I first moved here I had a walk behind mower and it took me 7 hours to mow the yard.
San Diego has the best weather in the US.
Have you ever been to Port Townsend WA? Really nice place on the coast with fairly moderate weather for being that far north. I really liked the place and it is cheaper than San Diego and is not full of Californians.
@alan, that would be great for those times I just don’t quite make it before the sun.
Funny thing is that is my exact mower too.
@Ray, been thru WA, Seattle, for a week, with unseasonably temperate and clear weather. Nice, if a bit gloomy.
Too many commies/socialists in the pac nw. I like my REI membership, but ‘workers of the world unite’ was never part of my heritage.
No, I think I’m gonna raise the kids as Texans. Hell, one day that may be on their passport.
nick
been thru WA, Seattle, for a week, with unseasonably temperate and clear weather. Nice, if a bit gloomy.
Port Townsend weather is much different than Seattle. Winds from ocean keep the dreary weather from Seattle in Seattle.
Some football pictures for those with idle time on their hands.
http://www.raymondthompsonphotography.com/CumberlandCo
http://www.raymondthompsonphotography.com/TCHS
Typical high school stadium with really bad lighting. It is interesting in that the lights are on single phase power. The school has three phase power but the lights are all wired to the same phase. This causes the lights to flicker, not to the naked eye, but to the camera. The level changes along with the color. Really annoying.
No, I think I’m gonna raise the kids as Texans.
As one who spent 15 years in Live Oak which is northeast of San Antonio on I-35, that is not a bad plan at all. Enjoyed the 70 mph two lane roads in the area outside of Bastrop on the way to Bryan/College Station.
I also stacked time in Texas, slaving for Uncle in the San Antonio area. And Mrs. OFD goes there all the time for work. She got stranded in Austin for the week of 9/11 and the Texans treated her and her staff like gold; we never forget.
It’s been good to us. And the future looks good too. We’ll see how the underclass discord plays out. TX has a long history of living with different cultures, but not much tolerance for messing around.
nick
Someone not mincing words about the latest b.s. at the WH:
http://freedomoutpost.com/2015/08/obama-white-house-commemorates-deviance-at-every-opportunity/
TX has a long history of living with different cultures, but not much tolerance for messing around.
Indeed. You can always tell the toilet paper was made in Texas as it won’t take crap off anyone.
slaving for Uncle in the San Antonio area
I spent my basic training in SA, then two weeks in casual before my first duty station. Skipped tech school although I did attend Shepherd AFB later for additional training. In the winter, damn cold up there.
I do like that Texas has no income tax. TN doesn’t tax income from a job but does tax dividends and earnings from stock. Annoying to say the least. And you have to file electronically or face a $25
fineconvenience fee if you use paper and send in a check.But I really don’t have much of a desire to go back as I come to like small town TN.
Obummer’s administration is truly dickless.
The question was “is white zinfandel an appropriate wine with grilled brats?”
Wife answers “Only if served with ice cubes in a Solo cup.”
on another note, she surprised me by coming home with all the stuff to make homemade laundry detergent, a prepper staple. Says she wants to try it. OK sweetheart, but I already had the ingredients in the garage. “Oh, didn’t know that.”
Funny sometimes the little things.
nick
Ok group,
Here is an article that came up while I was searching for something else. Pretty timely for me since I just decided to add some extra attention to this aspect of prepping, but that’s the way my life works. Found it to be useful and well written.
http://www.thesurvivalistblog.net/how-much-do-i-need/
From back in 2013.
nick
Bah. You don’t know them until you’ve exceeded them, and you don’t expand them without tapping at or exceeding them.
As for aging, I’ll know I’m old when I throw myself into a fight and don’t win, or when I carry something heavy and my heart explodes.
re cooking with the grid down, why hasn’t anyone mentioned solar ovens? I don’t have one — I’m most likely to need it in the winter, and we don’t get enough sun in the winter for it to overcome freezing temperatures — but people farther south use them to good effect.
@SteveF
Solar oven was last on my list above, have the stuff, haven’t the time…
Also something called a ‘straw box’ or hot box, or something like that. It’s an insulated box, you cook your food mostly, then stop the fuel, and let the residual heat cook the food, which you’ve put in the box. Like the thermos trick RBT has mentioned a couple of times. Saves fuel.
nick
“I spent my basic training in SA, then two weeks in casual before my first duty station.”
How nice for you! I got bused across the base at Lackland and then assigned for a week to alternating days of KP (pots and pans, and salads, 16-hour days) and unloading tractor-trailer trucks full of 100-pound sacks of potatoes. After that, Air Police Training!
“Obummer’s administration is truly dickless.”
That’s what everyone adores now in this country, apparently. To have a dick is to be Anathema.
““is white zinfandel an appropriate wine with grilled brats?”
Might want something stronger if the brats are screaming while you grill them.
“Found it to be useful and well written.”
Indeed it is. I get his emails and most of the stuff there is very useful to know.
“…or when I carry something heavy and my heart explodes.”
I do that test several times a week here. So fah, so good….
So it was, nick. Your list of heating apparatus was so long I guess my attention wandered before I got to the end of it.
We have a camp stove and most of a box of 1# propane bottles and one of the butane table stoves with at least a box of bottles. I don’t consider the latter to be part of my supplies, as my wife and her mother use it semi-regularly. I also have a forest in my backyard and over a ton of leftover slate tiles due to a certain someone-who-isn’t-me miscalculating how much would be needed for the patio. A roll-yer-own stove or lined fire pit burning dropwood wouldn’t keep us going indefinitely, but would carry us through a short crisis.
on another note, she surprised me by coming home with all the stuff to make homemade laundry detergent, a prepper staple. Says she wants to try it. OK sweetheart, but I already had the ingredients in the garage. “Oh, didn’t know that.”
Dude, I would be on cloud nine.
“I also have a forest in my backyard and over a ton of leftover slate tiles…”
Just outta curiosity, did those come from one of the slate operations near the NY/VT border? Lotta slate mines along there from ages ago, most of the workers were/are Welsh. Also a fair number of descendants of Scottish Highlanders there, from when they got lands granted to them by the Crown for their service in Queen Ann’s War.
We have our PK Grill, a “cowboy” grill, and the two wood stoves. Next up will be the Colemans mentioned here a few times. And the local Comcast tech showed me how he grills steaks and suchlike inside his wood stove; he piles a couple of bricks on the exterior lip and slides a griddle in over the hot coals. Really simple but dumbo me wouldn’t have thought of it, probably. It has a griddle on the top that we can heat stuff on, too. Black soapstone. Takes a good hour or two to get cooking from scratch but once it does, it heats the whole damn house.
More swell nooz…wheeeeeeee!
http://straightlinelogic.com/2015/08/28/the-shape-of-things-to-come-by-robert-gore-2/
” Your list of heating apparatus was so long I guess my attention wandered before I got to the end of it.”
–well, I REALLY REALLY like to eat. I freely admit it is overkill. Probably one of those things I need to address and re-balance. It’s hard to pass up a bargain though.
It’s almost like guns… you think you have enough until the zombies come.
nick
“San Diego has the best weather in the US.”
I have been there in summer, and the humidity is oppressive compared to the desert, where Sweat Works (TM.) Some places don’t even have AC. To each his own. I also lived a short time in Fort Lauderdale, so I know what real humidity is like. Couldn’t leave fast enough.
Point is, each of us has to find a place we like. I found mine, and have no fear that it will be inundated by growth. Many parts of CA, usually the more rural areas, have quite conservative populations. This also includes law enforcement. Property taxes aren’t too bad, and there is no inheritance tax. Just don’t have too much taxable income.
Never been to SEA, so some of my best friends are still snakes. Most of them are more afraid of people. The trick is avoiding the ones that aren’t!
How nice for you! I got bused across the base at Lackland and then assigned for a week to alternating days of KP
I had to clean fire extinguishers, the old kind that were used in the old wooden barracks, install window A/C units in some foreign officer quarters (dropped one from the second floor window thus rendering it non-functional), cleaned a couple of buildings, etc. But the oddest was the policing of the parade ground. Had to pick up cigarette butts from the parade ground, an area where you were not allowed to walk or smoke. How did the butts get there in the first place? I suspect the DI’s went out at night and scattered the butts. Common scream from the overseers was “Elbows and Assholes” as you crawled on your hands and knees.
Only pulled KP duty twice while in basic training. First time people struggled to get to the front of the line to attempt to get the best job. Mess sergeant was wise to that trick and assigned the best jobs starting at the back of the line where I was located. Next time people struggled to get to the back and the mess sergeant assigned from the front.
Job I hated most was when I got assigned as mess check at the mess hall. This was at my first permanent duty station. It was a rotating duty that got assigned to lower class flunkies such as I. Mostly I did not care who ate at the mess hall. If you showed up, you could eat. People were supposed to show their mess card and sign. Someone else with higher rank (and thus implied higher intelligence) handled the line where money was required.
@ofd,
There are websites that show local crimes on a map. I don’t have a recommendation but google will help.
The map of registered sex offenders is eye opening as well.
MOST crime is not uniformly distributed. Every cop knows the problem apartment complex, or the problem streets in the neighborhoods. I laugh at Euro-weenies who try to cite stats about how many murders and “gun crimes” we have. If you took out the gang bangers and black on black crime, we rise to the 4 th safest western nation. Someone published a map recently showing how much money Chicago spent on incarceration by neighborhood, and one street cost $5M IIRC. Houston PD has online maps by precinct and it’s very clear where the problems are, and with the time stamps, when. Anywhere near a bar a half hour after closing time is a bad place to be.
The patterns might change with the breakdown, certainly they will spill out into surrounding areas. Criminals tend to victimize areas they are familiar with, so you don’t want to be near a crime nexus. Good research for anyone looking to move too.
nick
“The map of registered sex offenders is eye opening as well.”
Yup, we got ’em here, too. And I know about the web-site crime maps; mine will be very localized and in real time and also from intel sources other than the scanners and local nooz rags.
“MOST crime is not uniformly distributed. Every cop knows the problem apartment complex, or the problem streets in the neighborhoods.”
Indeed. Same deal here, too; just a different, semi-rural, small-town environment near an interstate and rail line. With a bunch of “rich folks'” summer cottages and houses all along the lake shore, empty much of the year. I’d expect some spillover from the Megalopolis to our south; monitoring the activities now is prelude to noticing any upticks in the future and what sort of upticks and how much of a threat they are to us.
Ray wrote:
“Some football pictures for those with idle time on their hands.”
Don’t they play Women’s Beach Volleyball over there?
“But I really don’t have much of a desire to go back as I come to like small town TN.”
And the sheep there are very, ah, compliant… 🙂
And the sheep there are very, ah, compliant… 🙂
And fluffy.
Don’t they play Women’s Beach Volleyball over there?
Only in certain counties with simulated beaches. Nothing close around here.
“Only in certain counties with simulated beaches.”
Simulated. Yeah. First wife used to tell me that any “beach” on a freshwater lake or pond is not a true beach. Dunno what she’d say about Lake Champlain, as it has north and south outlets to the Atlantic and occasionally water near either end can be a bit brackish/salty.
I used to like to play volleyball, as my height and reach counted for a lot. Now it’s common to see six-footer womyn doing it who’d kick my ass, of course. In fact, I’d probably stroke out or suffer a haht attack on arrival and seeing them in their teensy-weensy bikinis anyway.