Doomsday - back to the stone age

skjl47

Goliath Tigerfish
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May 16, 2011
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Hello; If you what some extra things to worry about look thru some medical journals with photos of symptoms for the many and varied diseases. Page after page and page of gross images. The world has always been a tough place for life. Even other life forms compete and cab do damage, it is not just storms, asteroids, earthquakes and such.
Thing is all thru historical time life has found a way. Many of the fish we keep have a species survival strategy which involves producing thousands or hundreds of thousands or perhaps even millions of offspring. Out of the multitudes of offspring often only one or two from a particular spawn survive to maturity. We humans have a slightly different strategy.
Say you are a soldier in a conventional war. You eventually have to embrace the chance of death or injury and just get on with it. That embrace allows you to function. I write this not from personal experience but taken from the words of my father. He was a Marine during WWII. He saw action on Sipan, Tinian and Iwo Jima. He told me of being terrified and frozen with fear at some points. Then at a point he accepted he was going to die and was able to function well. As he put it "I could walk among um (them)." Meaning he became a top-notch soldier able to function at a high level. The grandson of a younger marine who came into my dad's unit sent a message to me a few years ago. That young marine was an inexperienced replacement on Iwo Jima and apparently somehow my father saved his life in some way. His grandson who was also a marine at the time of the message passed this on to me. That my father was a "real marine".

What is my point? My father got a medal for leading tanks thru a minefield under enemy fire. He slowly walked in front of the tanks out in the open. Walked slowly because the tanks could only go so fast in the volcanic sand. Out in the open because the tank driver of the lead tank had to be able to see him. He survived that episode when three other Marines who had tried before did not. And yes, he did survive the war or i would not be here.
My father did not spend the time in combat walking about in the open all the time. He dug foxholes and found other cover. He protected himself when he could and took the needed chances when things needed to be done. I get that I am more likely to die in a car crash than some big catastrophic event. I do use a seat belt and do practice defensive driving. Whether we stand up and do what needs done or hide in a room we all will die. My father made it to 83 by the way. I have his stories recorded on tape. I have transcribed his stories and had the tapes transferred to CD's. This is how i know what he said as i can listen any time i wish.

We each will have bad days. Some will wind up with horrible diseases and suffer mightily. Most will suffer many times. Only a few will have good health throughout life and die quietly in our sleep.
 

spotfin

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Jan 2, 2006
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Not too many bad things happen here in Maine.
 

pacu mom

Goliath Tigerfish
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Jun 8, 2006
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northern CA
I am well aware that we can die at any time...cancer, wrecks... Here are two wrecks that my family members survived:
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The class our neighborhood took suggested that pertinent information be sent to someone you trust who is at least several hundred miles away. It may not be an area wide cataclysmic event where this might come in handy. Say, you are gone, and as you come home, you see smoke billowing up. You discover a plane crashed and burned and your entire house has burned to the ground. Everything is gone including the boat and truck in the garage. Would you have the information you need to deal with the insurance companies? Do you know your policy numbers? (I barely can remember what company I use for auto, home owners, musical instruments, boat insurance) It seems that it would be prudent to know policy numbers. What I have done is scan the documents and save them in pdf form on a flash drive that I keep in my purse. They are also saved in jpeg form in Google Photos. I also have policy numbers and phone numbers on a small folded slip of paper in my wallet (along with other important info). There are copies of the documents in a fire safe and copies in my survival back pack, although in a cataclysmic event, insurance policies will probably be useless. I read that some of the insurers might go under from the devastation of Hurricane Ian.

Keeping a survival pack in your car with food, water and emergency supplies is recommended (I haven't done that yet) It seems that there are steps we can take that are not as far out as self-contained underground survival bunkers. Because we are in an earthquake prone area, one of the recommendations was to have shoes under the bed for protection from all the glass and debris. Part of our training was to have a sign "OK" or "HELP" we can put where neighbors can see. Another suggestion was to check propane/gas tanks and have a tool readily available to turn off gas lines. Actually, our drive is mapped out with location of propane tanks marked. Fortunately, there are only nine houses on our road. We were invited to attend a search and rescue class. Am I running scared? No. The Level 2 evacuation status in 2020 was a powerful reminder that I could quickly lose everything. I was forced to prioritize things of most importance, and what I could walk away from. Family pictures were very important to me, and I moved boxes of photos to my mother's house. I have since scanned most of the pictures so will have digital copies if I lose the originals.

I guess I started this thread because I realize I need to work on my survival supplies. I'm not doing it out of fear, but consider it a prudent thing to do.
 

pacu mom

Goliath Tigerfish
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Jun 8, 2006
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northern CA
Car accidents - US roads and highways were ranked by deadliest road (deaths/mile)--I live just off the currently ranked #20. We are doing better, however. In 2017 our road was ranked #13th most deadliest road in the country. To go anywhere, I have to drive on this road. Every time I drive, I am aware that I could get in a wreck, or a big tree could fall on my car. I drive on this road to get to town.
1665431214167.png

 

esoxlucius

Alligator Gar
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Dec 30, 2015
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Car accidents - US roads and highways were ranked by deadliest road (deaths/mile)--I live just off the currently ranked #20. We are doing better, however. In 2017 our road was ranked #13th most deadliest road in the country. To go anywhere, I have to drive on this road. Every time I drive, I am aware that I could get in a wreck, or a big tree could fall on my car. I drive on this road to get to town.
View attachment 1504709

Just out of interest pacu mom pacu mom . Those trees are huge. What happens to them? Are they dragged away and taken to local saw mills, or can anybody just turn up with a suitably massive chainsaw and just chop them up for their log burners? There is some serious firewood there. What do your local by laws say?
 

Jexnell

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Jul 17, 2017
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Just out of interest pacu mom pacu mom . Those trees are huge. What happens to them? Are they dragged away and taken to local saw mills, or can anybody just turn up with a suitably massive chainsaw and just chop them up for their log burners? There is some serious firewood there. What do your local by laws say?
To claim any wood out of the forest you have to buy Firewood permits. This allows you to take/cut down certine species of trees for the purpose of firewood. But protected species can't be touched, even if already on the ground due to wind or whatever.
 
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pacu mom

Goliath Tigerfish
MFK Member
Jun 8, 2006
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northern CA
Just out of interest pacu mom pacu mom . Those trees are huge. What happens to them? Are they dragged away and taken to local saw mills, or can anybody just turn up with a suitably massive chainsaw and just chop them up for their log burners? There is some serious firewood there. What do your local by laws say?
Unfortunately, they are in state and national parks. All they do is cut the part that is on the road and push it to the side. They are not harvested. So yes, every time I drive by that spot, I see the fallen tree that killed the two people. Redwoods are giants with shallow root systems, so they can fall down unexpectedly. Years ago, my husband told me to drive on a longer round about road on days when it was windy.

1665433511926.png


One morning I was on my way to work and had to stop here.
1665433578840.png

Fortunately, every third vehicle is a pickup truck with a chainsaw (exaggerating) I don't think I was even late to work.


Redwoods are hazardous. My husband took down several trees between our house and the neighbor's house. The neighbor hired a logger (who sold the logs), but my husband fell the trees.



before pic of the "bad boy" trees. After the trees came down, I was shocked to see how close the next house was.
1665434438802.png
 
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esoxlucius

Alligator Gar
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Dec 30, 2015
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Unfortunately, they are in state and national parks. All they do is cut the part that is on the road and push it to the side. They are not harvested. So yes, every time I drive by that spot, I see the fallen tree that killed the two people. Redwoods are giants with shallow root systems, so they can fall down unexpectedly. Years ago, my husband told me to drive on a longer round about road on days when it was windy.

View attachment 1504730


One morning I was on my way to work and had to stop here.
View attachment 1504731

Fortunately, every third vehicle is a pickup truck with a chainsaw (exaggerating) I don't think I was even late to work.


Redwoods are hazardous. My husband took down several trees between our house and the neighbor's house. The neighbor hired a logger (who sold the logs), but my husband fell the trees.



before pic of the "bad boy" trees. After the trees came down, I was shocked to see how close the next house was.
View attachment 1504733
Hmmm, huge tall trees, with shallow root systems and occasional strong winds doesn't bode well. I'm not surprised your husband prefers you to take an alternative route during choppy conditions. Sounds a bit like a lottery driving through the redwood forests. Impressive trees though.
 
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Backfromthedead

Potamotrygon
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Jul 12, 2017
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I live in Fredericksburg, Virginia. The Lake Anna nuclear power plant is about 25 miles southwest of me. Its got 3 reactors and powers most of the state. Our prevailing wind is predominantly from the southwest, and our drinking water reservoir shares the same drainage as the lake.

About 10-15 years ago there was a magnitude 5.5 earthquake epicentered within a couple miles of the plant. By some miracle they did not lose containment. Turns out they built the power plant in an increasingly active fault zone....

When, not if.
 
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