Hard News: Notes in My Pocket
57 Responses
First ←Older Page 1 2 3 Newer→ Last
-
Hilary Stace, in reply to
That Justin Case wouldn't get you far. Although there are a couple of useful bandages and maybe some panadol where are the anti-histamine pills, asthma inhaler, rescue remedy, lipstick, hairbrush, mirror, hand cream, tissues, nail file, New Scientist (ie magazine to read if you have to wait somewhere and there is nothing to read), notebook and pen, assorted keys, various purses of coins and bank and loyalty cards including 9-purchase-then-1-free coffee and book cards, apple, or bottle of water? Not counting cell phone or other essential technology.
-
Islander, in reply to
That Justin Case wouldn’t get you far
It's very - non-specific eh? No saline drops for eyes, spare contact lens, lip balm, paracetamol & aspirin, minature 1m tape-measure, safety-pins,small notepad & pen, nail-clippers & Swiss Army manicure knife (not to mention Swiss Army card), and all the eftpos/credit cards, cash money, keys (vehicle & home sets) tide & moon watch, cellphone, iPod nano, multitool, tissues and decent LED tiny (but very bright) torches - they're on both sets of key-rings, o ...and other things!
Point being? It is a good idea to think about what you would essentially need if you suddenly found yourself in a situation where you have just what you are carrying on your person. Your personalised JustinCase...
O yeah - my Mitsubishi Delica Spacegear Jasper is also a survival capsule...come a tsunami and I can get out of Big O, I've got the gear to survive for at least a week without any contact with civilisation before starting to kill things for food...
This all isnt any kind of paranoia: it is a realistic response to what may & can & has happened in a remote area. To quote a person/motto (I dont have much time for the person or the movement) - "Be Prepared" Addendum - "It's better than being a burden to others or dead."
-
Lilith __, in reply to
This all isnt any kind of paranoia: it is a realistic response to what may & can & has happened in a remote area.
The ODT had an item last year about how when Otago gets a big quake (as they will, sooner or later), people living in Central will likely be cut off from help for 2-3 weeks, and they will not only need to have sufficient water and food but they will also have to manage any injuries that occur.
-
The note on the note - reminds me of some of Dad's sage advice:
"Women/Men/relationships are like buses, people get on and get off, if you miss one don't get overly concerned there will always be another coming along and you can see where that takes you ".
-
Steve Barnes, in reply to
“Women/Men/relationships are like buses,
Then 2 come at the same time...
/coat... -
“Be Prepared” Addendum – “It’s better than being a burden to others or dead.”
Well, yes.
My car isn't anywhere near as well equipped as yours, but then again, I don't live in a remote area and if I got stuck up the mountain range I cross regularly, it'd be only a short run downhill to the nearest village (population density has its benefits) - still, getting the baby through Beijing's thorny bush unscratched wouldn't be easy. In addition to the minimum legal requirements (which include an accident warning triangle and fire extinguisher) I have a torch similar to what you describe, a multitool and a Beijing map book in the glovebox, all of which have been useful even in my uneventful life, and a sponge, chamoix, and at least one bottle of wiper fluid (you wouldn't believe how much of that stuff you go through up here, combination of a naturally dry, dusty environment and unnatural air pollution, and I do like having as much visibility as possible when driving). My Justin Case bag, which comes on every trip outside the city, has a larger map book - one can never have enough maps, each has their subtle differences, and therefore advantages - tummy trouble medicine, and lots of chocolate (umm, y'know, that skinny bastard fast metabolism problem).
Every time I step out my front door my pocket contains an asthma inhaler, and, in the summer, hay fever nasal spray.
And no matter what lesson I have prepared, I'm always ready to go low-tech blackboard and chalk. Too many times the power's gone out or the classroom computer wouldn't cooperate.
Maps? One time I was dropping a cousin-in-law off at his workplace on the way back to Beijing. First time I'd been to that particular corner of Beijing, and I'd studied my maps in advance then worked off memory, dead reckoning, and the occasional quick check of the maps as traffic lights allowed. "Don't you have GPS?" he asked. Well, no. Heard too many stories of people blindly trusting their GPS and finding themselves on a dirt track up in the mountains in the middle of a forest, wolves howling, hours after they were supposed to arrive at their destination. I'm not blindly opposed to GPS, but there's a hell of a lot to be said in favour of maintaining basic old-tech skills, cos technology has its limits and breakdowns.
-
BenWilson, in reply to
I'm not blindly opposed to GPS, but there's a hell of a lot to be said in favour of maintaining basic old-tech skills, cos technology has its limits and breakdowns.
Totally. I'm a fan of GPS, but only as a supplemental tool to navigation, rather than the complete abdication of all responsibility (which eventually leads to loss of basic ability) to keep in mind where I am, where I'm going, and how I could cope if the navvy system died (which it does, regularly).
I'm always amused, from a professional point of view (I used to write navigation systems...well, scheduling, which is related, navigation was a sub-problem), by the things Google navigation comes up with. It really is pretty good for city and central suburban routing, when it chooses a different route to me, it's quite instructive to fiddle around and see why. Often, it's saved either time or distance. But sometimes, the distance saved is minimal for the bizarre routes you get. Also, Google seems to pathologically avoid u-turns, and 3-point turns, which is very safe and sensible of them, but sometimes I've had to laugh - last week it took me an extra 4 kilometers to avoid a U-turn when I made a wrong turn. I could have turned around easily.
In the countryside, it can be hit and miss once you're off the main roads. I was taken down a very long road on the way to Stillwater, only to find that the last 100 meters was private property with a big sign saying "No Through Road, trespassers disturbing the ducks will have the dogs set on them". Which was actually fair enough, it was their driveway, not a road, it was unsealed, with children's toys strewn about, animals wandering, and a tractor blocking the way. When I searched to find the correct route it was only longer by about 50m, and the road was sealed the whole way. If I'd been following the huge road sign that said "Stillwater", with a big arrow, I wouldn't have had that detour. Ordinarily, I would trust the signs, but I was very curious about what Google was doing sending me down a side road.
One thing that Google is very good for, though, is when you're on the motorway, that it tells you the exits by number. This is far, far less ambiguous than by name, especially since multiple exits might have similar names on them (because they go to the same places, ultimately). Also, at complicated junctions, like spaghetti junction, you really want to get in the exactly correct lane early on, since Auckland has still not managed to get away from putting exit lanes on the right-hand side of the motorway. This can lead to horrible mistakes, particularly if your exit is the last one before the Harbour Bridge.
Post your response…
This topic is closed.