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Book Reports: I inherit my father's paranoia
The Ask and the Answer by Patrick Ness
If you read The Knife of Never Letting Go, then you know it's literally impossible to share any details of this book without giving hardcore spoilers.
I will only say: WOW! I liked this more than the first book; it hit lots of my bits. My prediction would be that not as many people would like this book as the first one.
Preparedness Now! by Aton Edwards
This book was intense. The man has prepared kits in his office, his house, and his car containing everything from collapsible bicycles to dust masks. This book explains how to dig latrines, and how to safely and odorlessly take care of business in your own home if your toilet isn't working. He recommends keeping an emergency food pantry, but also recommends not telling your neighbors about it, so they don't kill you or your children. He's a little overzealous, but I can't deny the fact that if shit went down, this dude would be alive, and I would want him on my team.
The first chapter is spent outlining all of the terrible things that could happen for which most people never prepare in advance: terrorist attacks, natural disasters, power shut-downs, etc. The author focused on 9/11 and Hurricane Katrina.
Now, my father is a pretty paranoid man. Since birth, I have almost constantly been warned of imminent death, and told to figure stuff out for myself. Despite this aspect of my upbringing, I was kind of blown away by the intensity of the author, who is also pretty arrogant. In his chapter on fitness, he tosses in a random aside, that he used to run to school, and all the kids on the bus would look at him excitedly out the window.
His chapter on physical fitness was pretty messed up as well. He feels that people who are predisposed to weight gain simply need to work harder - everyone can be the "right size" if they just work HARD ENOUGH! He also says that if anyone tells you the reader that you have an eating disorder, then that person is just being mean, and eating disorders don't exist. WAY TO BE, BUDDY.
The chapter on weaponry would probably freak most people out, but considering the arsenal amassed in our basement by my father, which contains everything from guns to crossbows to blowguns, I wasn't too perturbed.
While the author is a tool, reading the book got me thinking about how prepared I would be for the unexpected. I'll be proud for a moment and say that I'm pretty good at keeping my head in a crisis, and I know a lot of smart people within walking distance of my apartment, so I'm not too worried. Still, there is a collection of objects that could be going on.
I live in an efficiency apartment, so I'm giving myself a pass on not having gallons of water stored away just in case. Still, there are other things I could do. I don't think that I would even last very long in a power outage - all I have are scented candles. I also don't have a very well-stocked First Aid kit. All that's in it are a package of Band-Aids and some Tums.
I'd like to stock both my car and my apartment with a few things I might need, in the event of an emergency. I keep a spare tire, spare oil, spare windshield fluid, hand sanitizer, and a snow shovel in the trunk of my car. But despite the fact that I frequently travel in my car alone, I never store any extra food in it. If my car broke down in the middle of the woods on my way Up North where I get no cell phone reception, I would be totally screwed!
Stuff I gathered from around the apartment so far, to put in an easy-to-find place:
Knife
Swiss-Army knife
Hand sanitizer
mini-flashlight on a keychain
paper [in case you need to write down directions or locations, etc.]
pencil [The dude in the book recommends pens, but ink freezes in cold weather! Apparently he doesn't think of everything after all.]
Things I Could Look into Acquiring
Misc. hygiene items - toothbrush, etc. in travel size
flashlight [Does not need to be ultra!flashlight that costs more than $100, as described in the book]
energy bars/foods
Whistle [Voices fail in inclement weather/exhaustion]
A lighter, perhaps some matches in a water-proof container
Some long-burning candles
Moist towelettes
A watch that actually works
Hand-crank lamp
Hand-crank radio
Tablets for drinking water
Bandages/more substantial stuff for First Aid kit
If you read The Knife of Never Letting Go, then you know it's literally impossible to share any details of this book without giving hardcore spoilers.
I will only say: WOW! I liked this more than the first book; it hit lots of my bits. My prediction would be that not as many people would like this book as the first one.
Preparedness Now! by Aton Edwards
This book was intense. The man has prepared kits in his office, his house, and his car containing everything from collapsible bicycles to dust masks. This book explains how to dig latrines, and how to safely and odorlessly take care of business in your own home if your toilet isn't working. He recommends keeping an emergency food pantry, but also recommends not telling your neighbors about it, so they don't kill you or your children. He's a little overzealous, but I can't deny the fact that if shit went down, this dude would be alive, and I would want him on my team.
The first chapter is spent outlining all of the terrible things that could happen for which most people never prepare in advance: terrorist attacks, natural disasters, power shut-downs, etc. The author focused on 9/11 and Hurricane Katrina.
Now, my father is a pretty paranoid man. Since birth, I have almost constantly been warned of imminent death, and told to figure stuff out for myself. Despite this aspect of my upbringing, I was kind of blown away by the intensity of the author, who is also pretty arrogant. In his chapter on fitness, he tosses in a random aside, that he used to run to school, and all the kids on the bus would look at him excitedly out the window.
His chapter on physical fitness was pretty messed up as well. He feels that people who are predisposed to weight gain simply need to work harder - everyone can be the "right size" if they just work HARD ENOUGH! He also says that if anyone tells you the reader that you have an eating disorder, then that person is just being mean, and eating disorders don't exist. WAY TO BE, BUDDY.
The chapter on weaponry would probably freak most people out, but considering the arsenal amassed in our basement by my father, which contains everything from guns to crossbows to blowguns, I wasn't too perturbed.
While the author is a tool, reading the book got me thinking about how prepared I would be for the unexpected. I'll be proud for a moment and say that I'm pretty good at keeping my head in a crisis, and I know a lot of smart people within walking distance of my apartment, so I'm not too worried. Still, there is a collection of objects that could be going on.
I live in an efficiency apartment, so I'm giving myself a pass on not having gallons of water stored away just in case. Still, there are other things I could do. I don't think that I would even last very long in a power outage - all I have are scented candles. I also don't have a very well-stocked First Aid kit. All that's in it are a package of Band-Aids and some Tums.
I'd like to stock both my car and my apartment with a few things I might need, in the event of an emergency. I keep a spare tire, spare oil, spare windshield fluid, hand sanitizer, and a snow shovel in the trunk of my car. But despite the fact that I frequently travel in my car alone, I never store any extra food in it. If my car broke down in the middle of the woods on my way Up North where I get no cell phone reception, I would be totally screwed!
Stuff I gathered from around the apartment so far, to put in an easy-to-find place:
Knife
Swiss-Army knife
Hand sanitizer
mini-flashlight on a keychain
paper [in case you need to write down directions or locations, etc.]
pencil [The dude in the book recommends pens, but ink freezes in cold weather! Apparently he doesn't think of everything after all.]
Things I Could Look into Acquiring
Misc. hygiene items - toothbrush, etc. in travel size
flashlight [Does not need to be ultra!flashlight that costs more than $100, as described in the book]
energy bars/foods
Whistle [Voices fail in inclement weather/exhaustion]
A lighter, perhaps some matches in a water-proof container
Some long-burning candles
Moist towelettes
A watch that actually works
Hand-crank lamp
Hand-crank radio
Tablets for drinking water
Bandages/more substantial stuff for First Aid kit
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What inspired you to read that second book? The dude sounds like a jerk. Useful to think about, though.
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I read the second one because I shelved it when we got a couple of copies in at Room. I always scribble down random titles to check out from the library, mostly so that I can resist the urge to impulse-buy them in the store. In this case, just reading the back cover made me think, "I guess I'm not really prepared, I wonder what this book is like!"
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-sewing supplies.
-if possible, suturing supplies.
-antibacterial soap.
-bleach (can be used to purify water)
-printed directions on HOW to purify water.
-*definitely* matches, especially water-proof ones.
-batteries.
If possible, a flashlight that is rechargeable or (even better) operates by hand-crank.
-powdered milk. (Powdered milk does expire. Your best bet is to incorporate it into your daily life so that you always have some on hand and regularly consume it).
-a good backpack.
-good walking shoes. Always know where they are!
-some kind of plan as to how you will meet up with or check up on missing family members or friends. The phones may not work.
This is actually based on my experience in the last major earthquake. Our area wasn't hit too bad (the neighboring city was devastated), but the phones were out and we were without power and gas for awhile. In the next town over, houses were leveled, people were evacuated, and those that weren't had no water, power, or gas for weeks. There were landslides and the roads were very bad, so travel was difficult and food couldn't be shipped.
Information you should know:
-how to start a fire with only one match. (This isn't the sort of thing you simply read--you have to practice it).
-where the closest emergency evacuation area is. It may be a school. (In case of zombies, don't go there).
-basic first aid: how to clean various kinds of wounds, how to identify shock/ trauma.
And if you really want to get into things, there's a course at the union that will teach you how to forage for food in Wisconsin forests.