Patriot Express Newsletter Edition #194
Greetings and welcome to the Patriot Express Newsletter Edition #194. Welcome to Hope for Survival. Merry Christmas to you and your family. May your holiday season be blessed and filled with family and friends. We are spread all over the nation and I'm sure we all share different traditions started by our parents and grandparents long ago. Regardless of your location and tradition, I do hope you are warm, fed, and sheltered through this Christmas season and beyond. Oh, important question, did Santa bring any of you a case of Twinkies? Be honest.
Everyone, please take a few minutes extra to reach out to neighbors, single family members, and loved ones to lend an ear, a meal, or a hug. As I have reminded before, set up a buddy care system in your neighborhood and family. The stress of the past year is bad enough and add the added stress of inflation and folks trying to survive is just a lot for many around us. Take the $10 you would spend on the Starbucks fluffy drink and go buy a hot meal and drop it off to a homeless person or a neighbor living alone. No, it may not be your responsibility, but many are left behind in a system that does not care for them any longer. Are we equally as guilty?
As I work on this edition of the newsletter our oldest granddaughter (12) is spending the week with us before joining other family for Christmas. She is wrapping a few gifts for us probably wondering where her gifts are. Ha Ha. She does quiet well with her wrapping. Ms. Lucy is prepping dinner with home canned chili (2015) and will use the waffle maker to make cornbread waffles to pour the chili over. We will then gather around the table to play a card game named grandpa this evening with Christmas cookies and hot chocolate. It's not the Waltons Christmas story but a modern-day version that's enjoyable. It's these moments that last and remain memorable for years to come. While enjoying this time together my mind drifts and wonders if the world ahead will allow us to have these times together in the future.
Because it's Christmas this edition is shorter, and I will save my Soap Box comments for next week. Below you will find some information on winter preparedness and alternative heat sources. Stay safe and warm.
Let us move along....
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Check out the HFS YouTube video posting for this week titled Merry Christmas, Upcoming Freezing Weather, Ukraine, and you.
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Hope for Survival books and HFS Thumb Drive for Emergency Documents -: You can obtain information on the two HFS books at this link: Survival, Preparedness, Disaster Management for individuals or family (hopeforsurvival.com)
Hope for Survival - How Food, Water, Shelter, and Security Could Save Your Life (Book 1)
Hope for Survival - The Mindset (Book 2)
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We must make this brief public announcement to protect the innocent.
Ding, Ding, Ding....Attention HFS readers..... Opinions shared in this newsletter are just that, opinions, and nothing more. Read at your own risk. The owner and author of this site is not responsible for hurt feelings or thin-skinned readers. I do my best to show restraint and respect to the best extent possible. I take as many precautions as possible and try to remain as nonpolitical as possible, however, there are times when I just can't help but point certain things out. Occasionally I use words only Patriots recognize and understand. It's not personal against any non-Patriot. It's just the truth. Sometimes we must pull up our spenders and suck it up. Just saying. Stay the course, read what you want, and avoid the rest. Avoid fear porn as much as possible and the day will be okay. When all else fails… Keep the faith and always have Hope.
Let’s move along and get to some thoughts...
Thoughts for the week -
Fifteen Lessons Learned from Texas Deep Freeze - With weather forecasted to reach single digit and deep freezes across many areas of the United States, no doubt many will be caught unprepared and dependent on a system that will likely not be capable of responding timely and then providing immediate repairs to get heat and water back in operation. Self-reliance is critical during these periods, and many will not be capable of doing so. It's Christmas and I don't like sounding negative, but the reality and truth is many remain unprepared.
Several months ago, during a HFS Zoom session we discussed lessons learned from the Texas grid down and power outage. In many of the lessons learned, self-preparedness and having a plan in place could have comforted many of the grid down victims. One is none, two is one, and three is better. When the first resource fails you, what is up next to replace it? If the second resource fails, what is the third resource available? A good example would be when the Twinkies run out you get out the Ding Dongs, and when you are out of Twinkies and Ding Dongs, what is next? Since both Twinkies and Ding Dong's run out fast, maybe have Dum Dum's available since they will last longer.
Here's what we put together to present based on the event:
• Survival is very physical. Expect to exert a lot of physical effort. (Spiritual, Psychological, Physical Self responsibility. Leaders responsibility to know the people and monitor efforts to the best degree possible)
• Culture matters. Don’t end up in a community without morals or ethics when it all hits the fan. (Five Mile Radius – Doing your homework to know community cultures and other intelligence information.)
• Convergence of two “black swan” disasters can wipe out your best plans, even if you have successfully prepped for anyone (standalone) disaster. (One is none, two is one, three is better in planning. Redundancy)
• Some of your preps will FAIL. It’s difficult to consider all possible scenarios, so count on failures striking without warning. (Pre-event information gathering, Five Mile Radius Course, Left of Bang, Out of the Box thinking, Risk Analysis and Mitigation)
• You need LAYERS of preparedness and “fall back” systems that are very low-tech and require nothing more than the laws of physics (gravity, chemistry, etc.). (Redundancy in all plans and equipment. Multiple route surveys, fails-safes in plans, one is none, two is one, three is better)
• No one is coming to help you. In many situations, no one can get to you even if they wanted to. (Stressed importance of documenting processes and plans. Just as backing up your processes with one is none, two is one, and three is better, you must do the same with your family/group/team members)
• Containers (buckets, barrels) are extremely important. Have lots of pre-stored water and fuel at all times. (Minimal 180-day supply and build upon it. Multiple sources of food, water sources, and methods to cook, filter, and transport if required)