No, I am not suggesting that you should lose your luggage. However, after my mother's luggage was lost on the outbound trip, and mine on the way back, and since everyone we talked to had similar stories, and as there was a line when I went to report my missing bag, well, it's at least wise to consider the possibility. There are things I would have liked to have done differently.
First of all, I really wanted my toothbrush. I grew desperate for it. And there was no reason not to have it. You can get a toothbrush through security. When packing, it just made sense (I thought) to keep the toothbrush with the toothpaste, and face cream and hair conditioner, because those are all things that I use in about the same time and place.
Wrong! Because while toothpaste without a toothbrush has limited value, it can nonetheless be a huge relief to be able to brush your teeth in the absence of toothpaste, and it is more practical to borrow someone else's paste than their brush. Keep it in your carry on.
Secondly, if you have multiple checked bags, it is a good idea to split up clothes among them. I felt guilty having fresh clothes when my mother didn't. We could have shared that burden. Is it more work? Yes, but seriously, this is really common. The staff doesn't even feign sympathy at this point. Granted, I don't want fake sympathy nearly as much as I wanted that luggage, but this happens! Protect yourself!
Also, consider at least putting a change of underwear in your carry on. There's not a lot of room, and it's a pain, but there is worse pain, lurking around the baggage carousel, and it's coming for you.
Okay. I'm a little scarred, and possibly a little paranoid now. It doesn't mean I'm wrong.
Sunday, May 26, 2013
Saturday, May 18, 2013
Really getting serious about food storage
This post is inspired by this article, especially the headline:
"We Are Now One Year Away From Global Riots, Complex Systems Theorists Say"
http://motherboard.vice.com/blog/we-are-now-one-year-and-counting-from-global-riots-complex-systems-theorists-say--2?
The problem is that it seems so close, and so completely logical. Certainly, it is likely that it will hit other areas before it hits here. Even with the issue of how misapplication of the Farm Bill leads to the bread basket of the USA being planted with corn crops that are unfit for consumption except as converted into high fructose corn syrup, I love in the beautiful and farm-friendly Pacific Northwest. However, the changes in the weather patterns are causing problems for them too. Sometimes you don't remember how fragile everything can be.
Something I had been thinking about doing lately is making up a list of what I would want in a year's supply, and then acquiring it. We have food storage now, but it could be better organized, and more complete.
So that's the next project. I will calculate the amounts and items that we want, and start building that up. It won't be that different from what I have been doing, but this is a higher level of organization, commensurate with the higher level of urgency.
I'm going to have to look at gardening too, and clearing out spaces for storage. Some things seem impractical, but I will take that as it comes. A year is not a bad amount of time for getting a good supply in, but the clock is ticking.
"We Are Now One Year Away From Global Riots, Complex Systems Theorists Say"
http://motherboard.vice.com/blog/we-are-now-one-year-and-counting-from-global-riots-complex-systems-theorists-say--2?
The problem is that it seems so close, and so completely logical. Certainly, it is likely that it will hit other areas before it hits here. Even with the issue of how misapplication of the Farm Bill leads to the bread basket of the USA being planted with corn crops that are unfit for consumption except as converted into high fructose corn syrup, I love in the beautiful and farm-friendly Pacific Northwest. However, the changes in the weather patterns are causing problems for them too. Sometimes you don't remember how fragile everything can be.
Something I had been thinking about doing lately is making up a list of what I would want in a year's supply, and then acquiring it. We have food storage now, but it could be better organized, and more complete.
So that's the next project. I will calculate the amounts and items that we want, and start building that up. It won't be that different from what I have been doing, but this is a higher level of organization, commensurate with the higher level of urgency.
I'm going to have to look at gardening too, and clearing out spaces for storage. Some things seem impractical, but I will take that as it comes. A year is not a bad amount of time for getting a good supply in, but the clock is ticking.
Sunday, May 12, 2013
Preparing to leave the country
I just think you should always have a passport. I have written about this before, but it's been a while, and it's worth revisiting.
It started when an exchange student from Oregon turned up missing in South America, and one news item I read about was a senator helping her parents expedite their passports so they could go down there. That's right, to get out of the country, you need a passport, and it takes time to get one. That time can be shortened with the help of someone in Congress, and honestly, you don't have to know them personally, because in the case of a high profile story like that, pathways will open up. However, that's still a delay.
Think how much easier it is to just have your passports on hand! Passports are an excellent form of picture ID that are good for ten years. Not having a driver's license, I use mine for everything, but it will also let me leave the country, which your driver's license would not.
What the exchange student's case teaches us (and she turned up fine, so that was okay) is that sometimes you need to leave suddenly, for someone you care about. You could have children as exchange students, siblings in the military, parents on a mission, or good friends on vacation, and something suddenly comes up where you want to be there. That is going to be stressful no matter what, but this is one hurdle you can easily remove in advance.
And then, once you have the passport ready in case of emergency, you can also leave just for fun. Seriously, sometimes there are great travel deals, and you can go to Iceland for $400 or something ridiculous like that, and you are ready, because you have the passport. Those really good prices are often time dependent, and it can take a few months to get a passport, or you will have to expedite, which is expensive. Just get it now and be ready.
So having your passport ready is sound advice, and the key point I wanted to make. It is certainly not the only thing that is valuable for traveling overseas, but then once you open up the broader topic, there are a lot of variations. Traveling to Canada has some differences from traveling to Cambodia or Cameroon. However, you can look up all of those at http://www.state.gov/.
The State Department web site lists travel advisories, embassy locations, visa and immunization requirements, and this will give you a good starting place for wherever you want to go.
There is something to be said for being a ready-for-anything kind of traveler too, even in Canada, and so I have a few book recommendations there. And really, these books are good for non-travelers too, but I think it's fair to say that any survival abilities that are good for everyday life are doubly valuable for you when you are abroad and out of your comfort zone, so here we go.
The Gift of Fear: Survival Signals That Protect Us from Violence, by Gavin De Becker
The Unthinkable: Who Survives When Disaster Strikes - and Why, by Amanda Ripley
The Worst-Case Scenario Survival Handbook, by Joshua Piven and David Borgenicht (they do have a travel-specific version, but there are travel tips in the original)
Bon Voyage!
It started when an exchange student from Oregon turned up missing in South America, and one news item I read about was a senator helping her parents expedite their passports so they could go down there. That's right, to get out of the country, you need a passport, and it takes time to get one. That time can be shortened with the help of someone in Congress, and honestly, you don't have to know them personally, because in the case of a high profile story like that, pathways will open up. However, that's still a delay.
Think how much easier it is to just have your passports on hand! Passports are an excellent form of picture ID that are good for ten years. Not having a driver's license, I use mine for everything, but it will also let me leave the country, which your driver's license would not.
What the exchange student's case teaches us (and she turned up fine, so that was okay) is that sometimes you need to leave suddenly, for someone you care about. You could have children as exchange students, siblings in the military, parents on a mission, or good friends on vacation, and something suddenly comes up where you want to be there. That is going to be stressful no matter what, but this is one hurdle you can easily remove in advance.
And then, once you have the passport ready in case of emergency, you can also leave just for fun. Seriously, sometimes there are great travel deals, and you can go to Iceland for $400 or something ridiculous like that, and you are ready, because you have the passport. Those really good prices are often time dependent, and it can take a few months to get a passport, or you will have to expedite, which is expensive. Just get it now and be ready.
So having your passport ready is sound advice, and the key point I wanted to make. It is certainly not the only thing that is valuable for traveling overseas, but then once you open up the broader topic, there are a lot of variations. Traveling to Canada has some differences from traveling to Cambodia or Cameroon. However, you can look up all of those at http://www.state.gov/.
The State Department web site lists travel advisories, embassy locations, visa and immunization requirements, and this will give you a good starting place for wherever you want to go.
There is something to be said for being a ready-for-anything kind of traveler too, even in Canada, and so I have a few book recommendations there. And really, these books are good for non-travelers too, but I think it's fair to say that any survival abilities that are good for everyday life are doubly valuable for you when you are abroad and out of your comfort zone, so here we go.
The Gift of Fear: Survival Signals That Protect Us from Violence, by Gavin De Becker
The Unthinkable: Who Survives When Disaster Strikes - and Why, by Amanda Ripley
The Worst-Case Scenario Survival Handbook, by Joshua Piven and David Borgenicht (they do have a travel-specific version, but there are travel tips in the original)
Bon Voyage!
Sunday, May 5, 2013
Efficiently inefficient
I have not weighed myself for a few weeks now. I had said the date that I would weigh, and I wanted to get into that a little.
On May 15th my mother and I take off to see her family in Italy, and then we come back on the 22nd. I want to weigh on the 15th, and then the 23rd. I just want to see how my weight does on vacation.
The reason for this is that I usually lose a little or at least hold steady on vacation. We may be eating really good food, and we usually are, but I am moving around a lot. It turns out, I probably should have been a park ranger.
Working fast food and retail at the start of my work career, my feet and legs would be dead after standing at a cash register for hours at a time. A desk job seemed really appealing. At one point though, I noticed how well I was doing on vacations, for both weight and blood sugar, and how much getting out in fresh air cheers me up, regardless of the weather, and yeah, park ranger.
It is a little bit late for me to reinvent myself that much. Most of the things that I am good at, and a lot of the things I love, are things that are done sitting down. What I am trying to do now is to not get into these ruts where I do not move, and to move more, even at times when I don't have to.
Drinking a lot of water can be good for that, because then you remember needing to get up. Also, and this is kind of what the title is getting at, sometimes it is best to be inefficient.
Sure, I could fold all of the laundry, sort it into piles, and then stack the piles and take them to their destinations, and that is faster. Maybe there is more benefit for me in taking things as I fold them, and making many trips.
(I can't make this work for unloading groceries though. There are some weird pride things going on there, where I need to be carrying four bags or it doesn't feel right.)
Sometimes you are simply remembering that one goal (getting the work done) is not your only goal (being fit, being happy). This is why sometimes I have projects I want to work on, but I realize my family needs me, and I watch television with them. Yesterday I came home from getting things done and fell asleep for two hours. It wasn't what I planned to do, but I was exhausted, and I felt better afterwards.
I cherish my accomplishments, but they can't be all I am. I have to have my relationships, and my health, and my balance.
I'm not doing a good job of explaining this, but maybe this will help. I was reading a book about fossil fuel use, and the author's point was that efficiency gets you used up. If you efficiently harvest all the fish or all the trees or all the fossil fuels, that just gets you depleted faster. The inefficiencies that are built in are what preserve the balance. Some fish get eaten, but some escape and breed. The trees die slowly enough for new ones to grow. The difference forces balance each other, and this balance leads to sustainability.
So, I am trying to be sustainable, and that means many different things.
On May 15th my mother and I take off to see her family in Italy, and then we come back on the 22nd. I want to weigh on the 15th, and then the 23rd. I just want to see how my weight does on vacation.
The reason for this is that I usually lose a little or at least hold steady on vacation. We may be eating really good food, and we usually are, but I am moving around a lot. It turns out, I probably should have been a park ranger.
Working fast food and retail at the start of my work career, my feet and legs would be dead after standing at a cash register for hours at a time. A desk job seemed really appealing. At one point though, I noticed how well I was doing on vacations, for both weight and blood sugar, and how much getting out in fresh air cheers me up, regardless of the weather, and yeah, park ranger.
It is a little bit late for me to reinvent myself that much. Most of the things that I am good at, and a lot of the things I love, are things that are done sitting down. What I am trying to do now is to not get into these ruts where I do not move, and to move more, even at times when I don't have to.
Drinking a lot of water can be good for that, because then you remember needing to get up. Also, and this is kind of what the title is getting at, sometimes it is best to be inefficient.
Sure, I could fold all of the laundry, sort it into piles, and then stack the piles and take them to their destinations, and that is faster. Maybe there is more benefit for me in taking things as I fold them, and making many trips.
(I can't make this work for unloading groceries though. There are some weird pride things going on there, where I need to be carrying four bags or it doesn't feel right.)
Sometimes you are simply remembering that one goal (getting the work done) is not your only goal (being fit, being happy). This is why sometimes I have projects I want to work on, but I realize my family needs me, and I watch television with them. Yesterday I came home from getting things done and fell asleep for two hours. It wasn't what I planned to do, but I was exhausted, and I felt better afterwards.
I cherish my accomplishments, but they can't be all I am. I have to have my relationships, and my health, and my balance.
I'm not doing a good job of explaining this, but maybe this will help. I was reading a book about fossil fuel use, and the author's point was that efficiency gets you used up. If you efficiently harvest all the fish or all the trees or all the fossil fuels, that just gets you depleted faster. The inefficiencies that are built in are what preserve the balance. Some fish get eaten, but some escape and breed. The trees die slowly enough for new ones to grow. The difference forces balance each other, and this balance leads to sustainability.
So, I am trying to be sustainable, and that means many different things.
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