Open an exercise room, with shovels. It is good exercise.

Yep, most of these people would die in a heart beat, and
that includes the pilots who go x-c without basic survival
supplies, summer or winter; you need clothes, boots, water
and maybe food.
But they are expecting the government to save them from the
mountain, the river or the blizzard.

They are shocked that diseases kill people, AIDS ruined the
sexual revolution for them.


"BT" wrote in message
...
| need to keep some checker boards, decks of cards,
backgammon, and other
| games handy
| BT
|
| "Jay Honeck" wrote in message
|
oups.com...
| As we lived through our ice storm these last couple of
days, it's been
| interesting to note the reaction of people deprived of
amenities that
| didn't even exist when I was a boy.
|
| - Guests at the hotel, deprived of cable TV, have been
grudgingly
| understanding -- but only because we offer DVD movies,
free for the
| borrowing. Without that, we'd be facing demands of
refunds, I'm
| certain.
|
| - My kids, deprived of both internet and TV (danged
cable modem), were
| befuddled, and took refuge in reading and DVDs (once the
power came
| back on)...
|
| - I found myself frustrated, knowing full-well that my
60 to 70 emails
| per day were still coming in, even though I was unable
to clear them
| from home. (Luckily, our DSL lines at the hotel never
faltered...)
| And, of course, I couldn't get my daily dose of
rec.aviation.
|
| As we sat in the dark, by the light of dynamo-crank-LED
lights
| (something else that was science-fiction when I was a
kid), I tried to
| explain to my kids that this was life as my grandparents
knew it
| growing up -- EVERY DAY. No electricity, no phones, no
TV, no radio.
| This was NORMAL.
|
| What's really amazing is how unprepared people are for
these kinds of
| disruptions. Mary and I have all sorts of survival and
camping gear,
| a good supply of drinking water and food, and enough
fire wood to heat
| the house for several days. Both of our primary
vehicles are 4-wheel
| drive, and kept in good working order.
|
| In short, we're ready for the crap that Mother Nature
throws at us
| here in the Midwest.
|
| We saw people driving sports cars into the hotel parking
lots, wearing
| SHORTS and sweatshirts. They had no winter gear, no
warm clothing,
| and were absolutely astounded to hear that Interstate 80
was closed.
| They were abadoning their homes, because the power was
out, and
| heading to any available hotel room.
|
| These people would literally DIE if their cars broke
down, or at the
| very least would have to be rescued by the State Patrol.
What the
| hell are they *thinking*? The Governor declares a
state of
| emergency, and these folks are out driving in shorts and
a
| sweatshirt?
|
| And it's not just dumb people, not to that extreme. What
our kids
| regard as "basic living" -- computers, cell phones,
internet, instant
| messaging, FaceBook, XM satellite radio, Nexrad radar,
500-channels of
| crap on TV -- only existed in Isaac Asimov novels when I
was growing
| up. To watch as they come face-to-face with the reality
of life
| *without* these creature comforts -- even for just a
couple of days --
| was enlightening, and more than a little scary.
|
| Sure, my kids go camping, and we "rough it" for a week
or so each year
| -- but their daily societal expectations are so high,
and the distance
| those expectations fall when the power grid fails is so
great -- that
| I really wonder what we're doing to our kids.
|
| This is a generation that has never seen hardship, never
seen high
| unemployment, never seen high interest rates, never seen
wide-spread
| poverty, never (despite Iraq) seen war. And their
electronic
| "information age" creature comforts are so entirely
energy dependent,
| and so ingrained in their lifestyle, that they are
rendered helpless
| when the power fails. Between "global warming" and
soaring energy
| prices, can this type of lifestyle be long sustained?
|
| Worse, my kids have grown accustomed to being whisked
across the
| country in an airplane, at a moment's notice, and simply
*expect*
| everything to work, every day, dammit. Mary and I are
trying to
| instill a self-sufficient work ethic in them that will
allow them to
| survive in "the real world" -- but their "real world"
has changed so
| much in the last 20 years that it would not even be
recognizable to my
| grand-parents, dead only since the 1970s...
| --
| Jay Honeck
| Iowa City, IA
| Pathfinder N56993
| www.AlexisParkInn.com
| "Your Aviation Destination"
|
|
|