Equipment And Supplies We Used Because Of Super-Storm Sandy

Here on Long Island in NY state, our second hurricane, in 14 months, has come and gone. Well, this last one was really a tropical storm but a massive one that left a wake of destruction; they called it a superstorm. In that 14 month period we also had a pretty major hail storm, at least here in Nassau County and there was an earthquake too - not all that long ago. I guess that the quake was also within the last year or so. In addition, NYC, Long Island and surrounding areas have been subjected to tornadoes. They were something unheard of in NY, about 40 or 45 years ago, but my mother predicted them for NY back then. She thought so because she saw the weather patterns were changing and tornadoes were hitting where they never had hit before then. Then there is the gasoline shortage. Of course, there is the looting that is going on - hopefully no one will have to deal with that personally. Who knows, if Obama loses the election, maybe there will be rioting in the not so distant future too when those on the dole realize they will be taken off of it or that it will be drastically cut back.

Up this way, we just all had to deal with the effects of the latest storm to one extent or another. People do likewise all over the country for hurricanes, tornadoes, winter storms, droughts, floods, earthquakes, forest fires, and power failures. For those of us who have faced such, and the bad effects they bring, either we got ready ahead of time or were caught with our pants down but we all dealt with those calamities in one way or the other.

Take the recent storm for instance or any natural disaster. Maybe you were lucky and you did not even have your power go out on you. Maybe you were very unlucky and you lost a loved one and or your home. Maybe, like us - you fell somewhere in between. In this recent storm - Tropical Storm Sandy (it had been classified as a hurricane but was downgraded to being a tropical storm - a savage one at that) we had power go out on Tuesday and not come back until late Friday night. We also lost part of our roof (shingles in pretty big swaths) and others are lose and or cracked. It seems those shingles just keep falling off after that storm. As recently as today, a shingle fell off of my roof and there was little apparent wind, seemingly loosened enough by the storm to fall off sooner or later. We also had damage to: our gutters and leaders, the front railing, our sidewalk (two blocks cracked, I am supposing as the Linden tree out front swayed), and we lost chimney caps and had other apparent minor damage to the chimneys. We also lost a small amount of food. All in all, we were lucky but then we do live in the center of Nassau County, far from the shoreline and the storm did not hit us as hard as it did others who were much less fortunate.

At our house we used: flashlights; batteries; strike anywhere matches; candles; glo-sticks; our vehicles, gasoline and car chargers to charge cell phones (we all had filled our tanks prior to the storm’s arrival); the vehicle radios for news; our BBQ and propane to cook (even though we had gas in the house I cooked some meals outside just for the taste of grilled food – we had enough propane for sure); a water filter (we made sure to drink only filtered or bottled water); bottled water (only a little since we did have the filtered water); ice packs we had made before the storm to try to keep the fridge and freezer cold; ice from a local beer distributor (I got that after the storm from the distributor who had been wise enough and civic minded enough to stock up on a walk-in freezer full of ice before the storm hit and it was still frozen solid days after the storm when he sold it at regular – not inflated – cost; yes they opened for business even though they had no power); food for emergency use (we used some canned food we otherwise would not have used but needed some of it; yet, most of what we ate had already been in our fridge); food that we cooked right after our electricity went out so as to preserve it a bit longer (like eggs that my wife hard-boiled so they would not go bad and meats that she cooked so they would last longer in the fridge with ice packs). Of course there was also the emergency supply of beer, wine and booze that I had also bought before the storm hit and used with gusto during and after the blow. I had also pre-charged the two batteries for my laptop and used it for a bit of writing after the storm.

As for food, batteries, flashlights, matches, candles and water, we always have all of them available in emergency our supplies; I see to that. I lived through the height of the Cold War and learned about being prepared back then even if preparation back then may have been pointless had the involved nations started throwing thousands of nukes at one another. So, I am not a “prepper” to be cool or to be in line with the times, or to prepare for Zombies or for The Rapture but for all of them to some extent just as I am prepared for more realistic disasters such as natural calamities, collapse of our economy, failure of our infrastructure, long term civil unrest, and maybe even an invasion by enemy troops or a homegrown revolution or an attack by aliens from another world (or even Mexico). I was never a Boy Scout but I virtually always have believed the motto of the Boy Scouts of America: “Be Prepared”. The time to get prepared is before an emergency though and not during or after one.

My level of preparedness, while not being as high as one person or another’s, is assuredly higher than many of the folks I saw at Home Depot and Costco the day before the storm hit and even on the day of the storm when I went again to Home Depot. I had to go to both stores the day before storm, not for emergency supplies (except a case of HB Oktoberfestbier and some wine of which we probably had enough anyway but being prepared is a good thing), but for other regular things. I went again, on the day of the storm, to Home Depot, for something I had forgotten, the day before, for a plastering job that I wanted to finish. 

 

While in each store, I checked out things like the battery and flashlight aisles. You could not find a D sized battery in either store. They had AAA and AA batteries as well as C batteries at Home Depot and AA at Costco. There was not a single flashlight at Costco. At Home Depot, people were looking for batteries, in a panic. Home Depot also had some flashlights for sale – some small LED jobs, a sole two-pack of LED headlamps and some rather large flashlights - those that take those big 6 volt batteries that are about the size of a brick of 22 ammo. Folks were buying them as if there would be no tomorrow. One woman was lugging 3 or 4 of those big flashlights with her and someone with her also had a few. I saw that lone two-pack of LED head lamps and grabbed it up as I was passing and watching the circus. I already had two or three of them but figured that instead of looking for and grabbing the others out of my hunting equipment boxes out in our shed, I would buy those for my wife and daughter and have them readily on hand. Total cost, with batteries: less than $7.00 out the door; a great buy. I bought them not because we needed them but because they struck my fancy as I walked by and watched all the madness of those shopping for flashlights and batteries.

 

Funny, I saw at least 50 people, n those two days, in Home Depot buying batteries and flashlights and not one of them seemingly even gave a second look to any of the LED lights that were still available. Those little lights give out a sufficient beam of white light, use triple A batteries and the batteries can power the light for from 8 to 12 hours continuously – much longer than a conventional flashlight will go before it drains the batteries. There had to be hundreds of single bulb, penlight like, LED flashlights for sale to which no one was paying attention - amazing. Those must be the same people who are now clamoring to buy gasoline and are waiting on very long lines at gas stations.

 

Back to our house. In addition, to other things at the ready, I had firearms loaded and at the ready, in my home, that I may or may not usually keep at the ready. Luckily we had no need to actually use them other than to have them prepared for the worst like armed looters. So I guess, in a sense, I used them too if only in a preparedness role.

 

We also had taken precautions and had enough dry and caned dog food on hand to feed our five live burglar alarms plus the two that were visiting. But I digress as we did not actually have to use any of the surplus on hand.

 

There were also some things I considered using but did not use: our two Coleman gas fired lanterns, and our Coleman gas fired stove. I decided to hold off on these unless absolutely needed as I was leery of the potential for carbon monoxide problems or gasoline fueled fire. inside my house. If the need had arisen, we would have used them.

 

I cannot think of any other emergency equipment or supplies that we used but know if we needed some other things like first aid kits, blankets, gas masks, duct tape, tarps, sleping bags or go bags, we had them on hand. About the only two things I think we could have used that we did not have was a portable battery operated AM/FM/Weather band radio and a generator (and fuel for it). I considered buying a generator after Hurricane Irene hit us last year, then I had my personal hurricane (cancer) hit me and I forgot all about a generator. I was reminded of one last week and will have to look into getting one. If for nothing else, it would be nice to use it to power the electronic ignition for our furnace.

 

Are we ready for another storm or other disaster. I think so and they say one may be coming again this week - a nor'easter. They can pack winds up to 50 or so miles per hour and with the storm damage to our roof already, I am guessing a storm like that could rip a lot more of the shingles off of it. Who knows, that could be a good thing if the insurance company paid for a whole new roof minus two deductibles, one for each storm! As for preparedness, I have already replenished some items in anticipation of the possible nor'eatser. I already bought more candles to replace those we used after Sandy. I will try to buy some gasoline tomorrow or Wednesday but if not have enough to last for a few days at least.everything else, including Twinkies just in case of a Zombie Apocalypse.

 

What I am curious to find out is – have you ever faced a natural disaster and if so, what emergency supplies did you actually use during and after the storm. Mind you, not what did you buy or have on hand in case you needed it but what did you actually use?

 

All the best,

Glenn B

A Whale of A Tale That Took Too Long In The Telling

A couple of whales either beached themselves and died or two dead ones washed ashore (less likely) in New Zealand in 2010. As it turns out, they were two members of the world's rarest whale species - the Spade-toothed Beaked Whales, apparently a mother and her calf. The New Zealand Department of Conservation, no doubt a government agency, took photographs of them and also took DNA samples. There is no doubt in my mind that said agency was part of the government because it took them almost all of two years, since they were discovered in December 2010, until now to be identified. Here I was thinking our government worked slow!

See: http://www.foxnews.com/science/2012/11/05/world-rarest-whale-seen-for-first-time/

Now, if you look closely, at the title of the article and then at the first sentence of it, you will see that these whales were either seen for the first time ever (as in anytime and anywhere) and it just happened to be in New Zealand OR they were seen for the first time ever in New Zealand but have been seen elsewhere before. It all depends on the a comma or commas, in the following sentences (the first one below is the first sentence from the article):

"The world's rarest whale has been spotted for the first time, in New Zealand, where two of the whales stranded themselves." (This sentence makes it seem like this was the first time that these whales were seen anytime and anywhere, AND coincidentally, the sighting took place in New Zealand.

Now read the sentence from the caption. If you look closely, you will notice that while there are also two commas in the caption, that accompanies photo in the article, they are located as to give different meaning.

The world's rarest whale, the spade-toothed beaked whale, has been spotted for the first time in New Zealand. The whale stranded and died on a beach in December 2010. (New Zealand Department of Conservation).

That sentence from the caption also informs us that the world's rarest species of whale was seen but it makes it seems as if it was the first time they were ever spotted in New Zealand and leaves open the implication that they could have been or were spotted elsewhere before.

Either way, it took way too long for the government to get around to identifying them. I wonder if they preserved the carcasses, it does not seem like they did so. It probably would have been a boon to the scientific study of these creatures, about which so little is known, had they done so. If the conservation officers, as I suspect, only took tissue samples for DNA testing, I would bet they are kicking themselves in their heads right about now (well maybe their bosses and some scientists are kicking their arses too).

All the best,
Glenn B

I Am About To Fall Back...

...onto the futon in the basement to watch some TV and eventually pass out for the night. I was happy to learn though, just a moment ago, that tonight will afford me an extra hour's snooze time in that we are to revert to standard time, from daylight saving time, at 0200 Sunday morning.  (That is mere 2 hours and about 8 minutes away.) Whoopee.

Sleep tight,
GB

Fuck That Out of Touch Scumbag Mayor Bloomberg...

...who reportedly is now saying that: 'Yes the federal government is giving out free gasoline to the public, but the New York City Government is going to take their share first'. What a pompous, arrogant, bureaucratic piece of shit is he if that is, in essence, true. He is not serving anything other than his own interests as once again he shows himself to be painfully out of touch with reality and with the needs of the people whom he is supposed to serve and not attempt to rule.

FUCK BLOOMBERG AND HIS WHOLE POLITICAL GANG OF MARAUDERS.

All the best,
Glenn B

A HURRICANE OF A DIFFERENT SORT - MIKE'S HARD LEMONADE CO. & THE GRATEFUL DEAD

Yesterday, when I went to the local beer distributor to pick up ice for my neighbor Jessica, I decided I would buy something else out of respect for the distributor being open. It was pretty obvious that customers had not been flocking there in droves to buy beer or ice. Even though they were open, they were without power and had ice only because they had filled there ice freezer (a walk in sized freezer) with ice before the storm and it stayed frozen. I figured that their being open was a sort of a public service and felt I had to buy more than just 4 bags of ice from them in two days to at least show some support. It is only a few blocks from my home and I usually do not shop there because I know I can get better prices elsewhere. maybe I should consider shopping there more often because I don't think I get better service elsewhere. Yes my other distributor, a couple of miles away, instead of a few blocks like this one, was also open and even had power, but they had no ice. Costco is also a place I buy beer, by the case when they have something  like, because I usually save at least 5 bucks on a case there from the distributor where I usually shop. In all, I would probably pay $7.00 to $10.00 more per case at the local distributor, the one that had the ice. Maybe it is not a bad trade off, at least sometimes. I think I will spread the wealth a little more in the future even though they are nowhere near as inexpensive as Costco nor can they match the price or have the wide variety of the other distributor. What the heck, they were open and had ice - plenty of it - right after the storm! Good thinking on the owner's, or manager's, or worker's part. 
 

Well there I go blabbing and digressing again. I wanted to tell you what I bought there to give them some business other than me just buying ice. It was a small purchase but one that I could not resist. Right across from the counter, they had a piled up display of things like Mike's Hard Lemonade. Atop those, there were a few 4 packs of something called Mike's On The Rocks Hurricane.  I grabbed a 4 pack; how could I not out of respect for the owners having opened their store right after the so called hurricane (that was really only a tropical storm but a hell of a one at that). I am drinking my second 16 oz. can right now and am beginning to think this stuff may be more like a tropical storm too, instead of a hurricane, but a heck of one at that! I had the other with my dinner, a NY strip steak that I grilled, a salad my wife made, and a sesame seed roll from a local supermarket. It was delicious - the meal - anyway. 

As for the Mike's On The Rocks Hurricane, well - I have had many, many, many mixed type and malt beverage type drinks that were a lot better and more than enough that also were a lot worse. On the side of the can, in the small print, it says this: "PREMIUM MALT BEVERAGE WITH NATURAL FLAVORS AND CERTIFIED COLORS". I imagine that the natural flavors are those of a fruity nature. No not gay but fruity as in like fruit punch. What the certified colors are, I have no clue. In addition to those flavors and colors is the flavor of alcohol. It is not a strong flavor but the alcohol content is listed as 8%. Quite a bit stronger than your average American beer. (Do you know why most American beers and sex in a canoe are alike? They are both fucking close to water!) I am guessing that must be how they were able to include “premium” on the label because other than a higher alcohol content I do not see any reason to pay a premium for this stuff.  

In other words, the first one did not impress me as anything other than something akin to Annie Green Springs or Yago Sangria and may in actuality have been closer to MD 20/20 or Muscatel albeit with a cheap fruit punch added to the mix. (Those of you true connoisseurs of the not so finer wines know exactly what I mean.) I have to admit, though now that I have eaten dinner, and had the first one, and am now almost done with the second one, I am looking forward to the third and fourth ones in the pack. Not because it is a premium beverage as far as my idea of premium goes but probably because the alcohol content has made the flavor acceptable, maybe even almost delicious, after almost two of them.

Before I get too sloshed, and I intend to do just that, let me say that if I want a fruity flavored alcoholic drink, I usually go for something I make myself from whole fresh fruit (like bananas, nectarines, apples, blueberries, raspberries, pineapple and oranges - not essence of gay guys) in the blender to which I add a couple to few types of rum, and/or vodka, and/or whiskey. We only got a blender, in our home, within the last 2 or 3 years at most. I have no clue how I ever survived without one. The drinks one can mix in it are extravagant as far as I am concerned - and that goes whether or not you add alcohol. I may even have to try adding bacon one of these days but have to give some serious thought as to the other ingredients. I was thinking along the lines of sour mash or Bourbon or Irish whiskey but vodka may do, especially potato vodka (one of my favorite vodkas). Of course, I could add home fries and gin.  

Yet, in the meanwhile, since I do not have a blender full of some glorious concoction of God's mashed together fruity goodness, I have settled for whatever in Hades it is that Mike or the company known as Mike's has thrown together for me and I must admit, I am enjoying the heck out of it; any reservations to the contrary, mentioned above, fading with each gulp. 

 

Mike's Hard Lemonade Co. is located in both Rochester, NY and La Crosse, WI and I have to say, I my just have to give them some more business - if not because they are made in NY or bot because of the On The Rocks Hurricane then because I find their Mike's Hard Lemonade rather palatable and intoxicating. Then again, that is sort of like I am finding this On The Rocks Hurricane drink while getting well into can number 3. (Yes dear readers, somewhere in there, I ran outside to my 48 degree patio and grabbed another one).

Just checked another website and wow, now I see why it has gotten to me so much, it is made from fruit juice, rum and the devils own brew - red grenadine! These Mike's Hurricanes, with their red granadine, just stirred up some deelpy burined memories of bygone times. Now if only I had a couple of Brown Eyed Women with whom to share them, maybe like Delilah Jones! Thems were the days, those days of Grateful Dead concerts, when a drink like Mike's On The Rocks Hurricane would have been an extravagance! I would have loved to have met and shared one of these drinks with Delilah Jones. "Delilah Jones was the mother of twins, two times over and the rest was sins, raised 8 boys only I turned bad, didn't get the rules that the other ones had...". Her old man sounded worth meeting too: "Daddy made whiskey and he made it well, cost two dollars and it burned like hell". 

 One of my favorite Dead songs has always been Brown Eyed Women, if not my favorite, not that: "I cut hickory just to fire the still, drank down a bottle and was ready to kill" but then sometimes I could just about...

All the best,
Glenn B

Oh Damn - Here Comes Another Storm

They are predicting a nor'easter on its way to the mid-Atlantic and Northeast United States.  While the gurus are saying it would not be as bad as Sandy, they seemingly are not considering all those already damaged homes and business and other structures that certainly do not need another hit to make things worse. As for me, okay, so it takes off the rest of my house's shingles, then the insurance company will have to pay for it all - no question.

All the best,
Glenn B

Newly Hatched Crested Gecko

I have had a few crested gecko eggs incubating for what seems like an eternity now. Well, a baby hatched out today, or I should say was freed from its egg today by me. I cut the egg open to see if it was ready to hatch and it was fully developed with no egg yolk attached. So, it either had been stuck in the shell and unable to cut its way out or was just biding its time. It will probably do well as it seemed to have gotten its bearings and started to move about with balance a moment or two after it came out of the shell. I have one other egg remaining inside the incubator of three that had been in there. That one will remain as is and I'll wait for that baby to hatch on its own for another couple of weeks, then if not hatched I will slice a small starter hole in the egg. The other egg was not good.

 It is mostly dark red with a light tan mottling on its tail. Its color may change as it matures; crested geckos are quite variable in color as adults and baby lizards often change color as they grow into adulthood. Heck the color may change under different light as it usually does.

Now to find some pinhead crickets as soon as possible to start feeding this little booger. It will also get a diet of fruit baby food (like Gerber's mango mix) and crested gecko diet (a powder that mixes with water).

All the best,
Glenn B

So What Did You Do During The Super-Storm And Its Immediate Aftermath

Me, I hunkered down for the most part, at least during this storm. I stopped by Home Depot on Monday for something I needed, nothing to do with getting prepared for the storm. That was an eyeful of last minute panicked preppers, so to speak. I had to go out a few times, on Monday and Tuesday, to let the dogs answer natures call, all 7 of them (we had two visiting as they often do). On Tuesday I started to call the insurance company and roofers to start the process of having my storm damaged roof replaced. While we still had power, I emailed back and forth with a couple who wanted to adopt out a red Eared Slider turtle. I was willing to take it but wanted to wait until Friday to pick it up. They were hopeful that I could get it on Wednesday as they were leaving town on Thursday. I doubted it. 

On Wednesday morning, I traveled into Harlem, in northern Manhattan after all. I wound up picking  up the turtle from a very nice couple who were giving it away because they could no longer care for it. They were leaving for a work assignment in East Africa on Thursday. I figured I would adopt it out at the then upcoming Long Island Herpetological Society 23rd Annual Reptile Show. I had also ordered a group of Blue Tailed Salamanders to exhibit at the LIHS show. I had some last year but asked a friend to care for them during my bout with the big C and most were lost probably due to contaminated food. So I figured to replace them and had placed an order right before the storm; the order has been delayed until next week by the dealer due to the storm. I just found out yesterday that the upcoming LIHS show is no longer upcoming, it has been postponed indefinitely (personally I think this an overreaction to the storm but that is just my opinion). That was a disappointment. Now I am stuck with a Red Eared Slider that I certainly did not expect to have to care for for more than 10 days but shit happens. It will get good care nonetheless. 

My trip to pick up the turtle was pretty uneventful, I just wish I had topped off my almost full tank of gas on the return home. Some gas stations were open with very short waits. Now, forget about it, the lines are long, tempers short and there is a fuel shortage. I can wait, I still have over half a tank. Should last the week. 

Later on Wednesday afternoon, we sat down with the roofing estimator. She figured $10,350 to replace my roof shingles. Another $1,250 or so for the gutters too. Ouch. I am hopeful the insurance company will cover it all except for the $500 deductible. After that I had a few drinks and proceeded to get snockered. I also put together 15 or so packets of coins wrapped in aluminum foil for any trick-or-treaters who might show up. We had been busy in the house with the roofing lady and did not even answer the door when some kids came by because we had no candy on hand. So after my wife went to work for the evening, I thought having some spare change in hand to give any more that came around would be the way to go. There was from 50 cents up to a buck in each. Then, I sat out on my front stoop, cup with the silver foil wrapped treats and a pumpkin nearby. I went and got a few knives and started to carve as the evening quickly faded o black (well, not really black as the moon was just passed full). Not one kid came by. So, after that, since all the trick-or-treaters had come by only while it was still light outside, I visited three neighbors with kids and let each of their kids have two or three packets each. The rest went back into my almost depleted change jar. I continued to get snockered and wound up doing a bit of reading by glo-stick (white light).  

On Thursday, I went to Walmart and Costco to do some shopping. I picked up some candles at Wally World. We had enough for the storm with quite a few left over but I figured you just about cannot have enough of them if the power goes out and do not have a generator. At Costco, I picked up some AAA batteries, a 48 pack of them to add to the stock, even though I had enough on hand for the then current emergency. Those I had were in small 6 packs and I figured I could throw them into my go-bags or hunting pack. I also bought a few steaks (for dinner for today, Saturday), and a roasted chicken (best deal in the land at $4.99 for a large, nicely cooked chicken) and some other things. Before heading out to Costco on Thursday, my wife told me that a local beer distributor was selling ice. Even though they had no power, they had a freezer full of bags of ice from before the storm and it has stayed frozen solid. Once we discovered that the distributor had ice, I bought some and put the ice in our fridge to keep what little we had left in there edible; some of the previously frozen stuff had already gotten questionable even though we had some ice in the fridge and freezer.  Also took a walk with the wife, daughter and 7 dogs. That was an eye opener, lots of downed trees in next village over from ours. On Thursday night, I again did some reading by glo-stick before hitting the hay by 10. 

On Friday, I dealt with the insurance company on the phone and was told that an adjuster will be assigned my case within 10 days and will come by after that. Long wait but with all the houses that were destroyed what can one expect. The guy told me to go ahead and have any needed emergency repairs done if we think the roof will leak. Roofer told me not to worry, I hope she was right. I stopped by an elderly neighbor and had a nice chat. I wanted to make sure she was okay. I also went to get some ice for her from the beer distributor and while there I bought myself a 4 pack of Mike's Hurricane drinks. I have not tried them yet; the guy at the store told me they were basically alcohol in fruit punch. Saved for this weekend, probably tomorrow after work, if I work. The library has been closed since Monday. I got a small bit of plastering done yesterday. I filled in the hole where my medicine cabinet used to be. Bought a new one that is surface mounted. 

Today has been much of nothing. I ate breakfast only about an hour ago. I have been emailing people to check to see if they are okay after the storm. I also checked my mail, mostly junk. I did find that the Browning Citori Lightning that I had up for sale, on GunBroker.com, sold. The final bid was not quite as much as I had hoped but I got more than I paid for it after all expenses and that money will go toward my gun collecting. I also read a few blogs. Then I checked on the availability of 62-64 grain 5.56x45 ammo, and saw it is still mostly unavailable except at inflated prices. Found out there is a gun show this weekend in Middletown, NY (as in today and tomorrow) that I will not be attending. Also found out there is a gun show in White Plains, NY next weekend that I hope to attend with my buddy Charlie K..

My wife is at work, my son still upstate and my daughter at her fiancé’s place.  

I just took a call from my son, interrupted my typing this post. He is okay, still visiting his girlfriend upstate. He plans to be home early next week. I noticed a basket full of laundry upstairs and threw the clothes into the washing machine. I will have a few loads to get done today, of that I am sure. Happy I saw that one to remind me. She who must be worshipped left it in a location where I was sure to trip over it if I did not see it first. Lucky for me it was light out. 

I already also did the dishes (I am very pussified domesticated). 

Now, I had best close this blog post and go upstairs to sand down the plaster work that I did yesterday, then clean it up, before she who must be adored gets home from work. If I get a coat of primer/sealer on it before she gets home, that would be a plus. After that, I'll have to wrap her birthday present; her b'day is imminent more or less. 

Such is a boring and almost uneventful 5 days and a wake-up of my life before, during and after the super-storm. 
 

So what did you do before, during and over the few days after the super-storm?

All the best,

Glenn B

After The Storm - We Have Ignition

About 5 minutes ago (as I start to write this at 2130) my wife and I were talking about how it sucks not to have electric power. My wife finished up with something like: 'I hope we get it soon'. Within about 30 seconds the lights came on and so too did the furnace. We have ignition and out spirits blasted off. Before that we had been depending on things like the jack-o-lantern, that I carved on Halloween night, for high spirits and light. I brought it in the house later that night, it made a great night light. I took the top off once inside, so as not to burn down the house when it was lit, and under the candle was lined with aluminum foil. Of course, I blew out the candle once we were about to hit the hay. No need for me to damage my house with a fire, the storm already did enough damage with wind.

 

Now, before I let my happiness about getting power back go to my head and down to my fingertips and into the keyboard in a really tasteless sort of way that shows little regard for others, let me also say: Today was the first chance I got to look at a newspaper since Monday. I listened to a few news reports about the storm and its aftermath, to date, on my car radio but did not want to kill my battery or waste gas by running the engine too much. (Portable battery operated radio going to top of prep list - heck we had everything else we needed except maybe a generator.) I had even driven into Harlem in northern Manhattan to pick up a turtle from someone on Wednesday afternoon. The Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel and Queens-Midtown Tunnel were closed because they had just finished pumping over 250 BILLION gallons of water out of them, so I took a bridge. (Next day you had to have a minimum of 3 people in your car to cross into Manhattan.). On my drive, I just did not see all that much devastation. But I did hear, on the car radio, about the woes of others. All I can say is holy blowhards Batman that sure was one hell of a nasty wind.

The people of Staten Island (one of NYC's 5 boroughs), of Breezy Point, Queens (a neighborhood in Queens which is another of the 5 boroughs, Breezy Point is essentially the end of a narrow strip of land, much resembling a barrier island except the other end is connected to the mainland) and to the folks o Long Beach just to name a few - have been devastated. I have heard that up to 100 homes burned to the ground during the height of the storm in breezy Point. Many, many homes on Staten Island were destroyed and others badly damaged, Long Beach (in Nassau County on Long Island just east of the NYC line) was hit very hard also with a multitude of homes destroyed. The story is going to be likewise for many homes and businesses in many locations along the south shore of Long Island.  I also saw that southern NJ was badly hit. In total so far, 109 lives have been lost. What a shame in today's day and age, when we had so much advance warning of the storm headed our way.

My biggest surprise was the lack of photographs in the newspapers. Yeah they had some but not as many as you would think considering all of the devastation they are writing up in the papers and talking about on the radio. I have not seen any television reports yet, I will watch the news after I finish this entry. Well, there was really one bigger surprise, that our power came back on so quickly. Last year, after Hurricane Irene, it was on in 2 1/2 or 3 1/2 days as I recall. You can check my blog posts from back then if you want to search them out, I am sure I mentioned it then. This year though, there was a major difference from last year - there was not even one local, or loaner from afar, power company truck anywhere to be seen in my village and no power company workers either. Less trees seemed to be down right around us but many were down in adjoining villages and while less than last year there were a fair amount of them down in our village. I even asked the sanitation guys, yesterday, if they had seen any power company activity. They literally had been on every street in our village, more than once to clear debris and pick up trash over the past few days, and said they had not seen any since they came out right after the storm on Tuesday up through yesterday afternoon when I spoke to them. So yes, the power coming on tonight was a major but good surprise; I had figured it would be closer to a week before we had it back. 

Another surprise was given to me by my son who brought in the chimney cap from one of our chimneys. I saw the one in front was missing and figured it was one of the two atop that chimney but he thought it was the one from the back chimney. Well he was right, it had blown off and did not land in the backyard or neighbor's yard to the west of us as you would expect with winds coming from the SE; it landed on a driveway up front. Luckily, Brendan had moved his car as close to the garage door as he could do, which is not normally what he does. Either he was making room for another car or hugging the building as close as he could. Whatever - that saved the car from getting dinged by the chimney cap. It had landed right where he usually parks. Another surprise was that a second chimney cap had also been blown off; I found that one on Wednesday as I was raking up leaves and debris in front of my neighbor's house for her (she is too old for that kind of nonsense). The one from the back sustained no apparent damage when it was blown off but the one from the front now looks more like a narrow diamond shape than its normal square shape. Thank goodness that did neither one hit anyone in the head or anywhere else for that matter. Of course, only kooks like my daughter, wife and son went out in that mess. They went to get drunk at a neighbor’s house at the height of it and came back while the storm still raged. What is that saying: God protects babies and drunks... 

Then, yet another surprise, later Monday night when I let the dogs out lest they do it on the floor in the house; that meant coaxing them to actually make. Our male Chihuahua Pepe was pretty scared but he did his thing bravely in the middle of the yard up on three legs as he raised the other and almost was bowled over by the wind. The other dogs were all scared too. In the 1/2 to 3/4 of a day that the storm raged between Monday and Tuesday we had only two small accidents by the dogs. But I digress, so allow me to get back to the surprise that greeted me one time I let the dogs out on Monday night. There were shingles laying on the ground outside our side door. I picked one up at it and sure enough it was very familiar to say the least. I grabbed my flashlight and pointed it up and saw that my roof, which has shingles on all four sides, was missing shingles on all four sides. Others were flapping wildly in the wind in big 6 to 10 foot lengths a couple of shingles deep (I am guessing because they were tarred or glued together and not just nailed in). I looked again later and a few large patches were missing from the east side, a smaller one up front, a couple of few good sized ones on the south side out back and I think some on the west side too. All the ones that had been flapping decided to lay down pretty much nice and flat again after the storm although several of them are somewhat buckled. The ones that laid down flat again could fool you into thinking they were okay. The bottom line: $10,350 just to replace the shingles (the whole roof). The gutters were also dented, probably as shingle got torn off and slammed into or flapped against the gutters. The downspouts, two or three of them, are missing the elbows at their ends. The gutters adds about another $1,200 to the job. Some of the brick lost mortar, one brick seems to have lost a piece of itself, all that on the front chimney and the flue on the back chimney was cracked. Speaking of cracks, at the height of the storm, while I was inside, I heard to very loud cracks that sound like wood breaking. I came from up above and may or may not have been something breaking in the roof. The roofer told me when the job is getting done to replace the shingles they may find out what caused the noises. She did not see any damage during a cursory examination of the roof from the attic. The surprise have kept turning up - two blocks of concrete in my front sidewalk, to either side of our pretty big Linden tree, were cracked from side to side. I guess because the tree had been swaying to and fro and the roots lifted some of the blocks and cracked them. Two blocks are raised and two cracked but the tree did not topple; it is a majestic old beauty on its  last legs but those legs are still strong! The other surprise, my roof seems to be the only one with a lot of wind damage in the whole neighborhood and our shingles turned up several blocks from our house yesterday when we took our dogs for a walk. 

Now as luck would have it, the insurance company guy who called me on late Tuesday or Wednesday to get my claim rolling (after I reported most of the damage on Tuesday) told me that the insurance company had waived the hurricane deductible and only my standard $500 deductible would apply. He said it in a way as to try to get me to think they were doing me a favor. Well, I spoke to him earlier today, finally was able to connect with him after a couple of days of telephone tag, and he told me the deductible would only be $500. I said: "That's because it was classified as a tropical storm instead of a hurricane, isn't it" and he said yes that's it exactly. There was no waiver out of the goodness of the heart of the insurance company. There was no legal way they could impose the higher deductible because the storm was not hurricane strength as is required in the policy to enact the higher deductible. I am sure that had to have been insurance company balderdash from up on high. 

Shortly after speaking to the insurance guy, who was actually pretty nice and seemed to be a decent truly wanting to help type, I visited my 83 year old neighbor Jessica. We talked for a while and she told me that her newspaper delivery guy had delivered her papers every day that week - including Tuesday morning during the storm. I asked if I could take a look at them and she gave me Monday through Friday's papers. One article mentions that the governor of NY, Andrew Cuomo, had gotten together with the insurance companies to see if they would waive the hurricane deductibles AND THAT THEY WORKED OUT A WAIVER. More absolute bullshit for most of the insurance companies because it was not a hurricane and thus they could not impose a hurricane deductible the way their policies are written. Some companies could do so, even though the storm had weakened, but mine was not one of them. So the politicians are trying to get us to believe halve truths that they worked out a waiver for all of us homeowners effected by the storm and the insurance companies, at least mine, was trying to get some folks to believe it was done out of the goodness of their hearts or so it seemed the way the agent told me about it.  

Ah whatever, I just hope they pay for a whole new roof and do not try to nickel and dime me for a shingle by shingle job. The agent told me that an adjustor will be assigned in about 10 days and will come to my house after that. Hell, I called them before the last winds had died down, I guess it is not first come first served. Of course, I cannot bitch much, we have our house, with a still mostly intact roof over our heads and we came out pretty much otherwise unscathed. About the only other downside for us was that we lost some food from the freezer and fridge and that I missed couple of days of work. As I mentioned above and as you know already, many others lost a whole lot more than did we. Luckily for all of us, the rain was nowhere nearly as much as had been predicted or so it seemed to me and my family and neighbors. It rained steadily but only hard for a short while. I was more like a driven light rain than a rainstorm with a driven downpour - at last around us. Heavier rains would have made it much worse. 

I fear for my sister-in-law. Not her safety, she is at her sister's place and okay but for her house. Her town had a 5 to 6 foot tidal / storm driven surge go through and she is less than 75 feet from the water's edge along a boat basin. The house gets flooded in a bad rain so I can only imagine it may have gotten structural damage because of that surge with this storm. 

As for how we fared, we did okay. We had full or almost full tanks of gas in each car, more than enough candles and matches, an almost full tank of propane for the grill and I grilled hotdogs yesterday (wish I had gotten another just in case), batteries of the needed sizes, flashlights, food, water, and booze.  I was brought up during the height of the Cold War and, while not the best prepared, I was prepared for something like this (as well as for SHTF, Civil Unrest, Government Tyranny, The Rapture, a Zombie Apocalypse or TEOTWAWKI). These new-fangled "preppers" (as they call themselves) think they are doing something new but hell, people, smart ones anyway, have been preparing for the worst since the first hunter-gatherer society. On Tuesday night, I even dug out our one remaining board game - Scrabble. My wife and daughter and I played a game (I won) and then were joined by my future son-in-law for another (he kicked heinie). My son took off to upstate NY to visit his girlfriend the day the storm ended. 

One thing about this storm, that I predicted well ahead of time, was right on the money. Well, not as much about the storm as about the afterwards. I predicted that Obama would show up the very next day in either NJ or NY. He showed in NJ, wearing what looked to me, in the photo I saw in the paper today, like a blue work shirt. The bum has probably never done a day's worth of even easy manual labor and he ought to be ashamed of himself dressing like that although I was very surprised not to see his sleeves rolled up but then I only saw one pic of him in Jersey. My bet would be he rolled em up, at some time in the photo ops, as if to make like he was going to rebuild NJ single handed. What a friggin joke. I am actually praying, and most of you know I did not even pray for myself when I had cancer, that the polls are open as scheduled on Tuesday so I can cast my vote for Romney. My bet is a few die hard Obama supporters, here in the devastation in NY, will do likewise - that is vote for Romney. One never knows, he may lose in NY yet. 

I have to get some other stuff done, so will finish up by saying I want to thank Mike G, and James Z (Zack), two of my readers, for checking up on me via email. Good men. Thanks also to some few of my friends who also checked up on me and mine likewise and to my relatives who checked on us too. Now that I have email back as normal, I have some checking up to do on others myself. Over the past few days, I checked on a few neighbors in person, emailed and checked in person on a good friend with whom I used to work, and checked on some others by email. One may have lost her house in Long Beach, at least it is uninhabitable right now. All my checking by email was accomplished when I could get Internet service on my cell phone which was sporadic at best. Now I should be able to check on a bunch more folks easily. I hope all are well and stayed out of harm's way. 

All the best,

Glenn B

Hurricane Sandy - What Worse Could Happen Next?

Its about 1125, as I write, and the wind outside is starting to howl and I mean that most literally. The trees are whipping frantically and I just heard what I suspect was the house creaking, only once so far but it is a brick house and isn't supposed to creak. Still, this is nothing compared to what they say is headed this way but of course, what is headed this way is nothing compared to what they get in places like Florida. I was there right after Hurricane Andrew and can attest to that. 

Yet, it is going to get worse, maybe much worse. I just read that they now expect/figure/guess that NYC and Long Island area will bear the brunt of the wrath of Hurricane Sandy. They are even talking about an 11 foot wall of water hitting us or at least areas along the shore. My sister-in-law lives in Freeport (which I believe was evacuated) and if that wall of water hits her house, well - all I can hope is that she has good insurance because she is only a few feet above sea level. We are inland but still on Long Island and only about 6 miles from the city border, if that far, so I expect it to be pretty bad here too but nowhere nearly as bad as on the coast. Still, it kind of makes me wish I had covered my windows. Oh well... 

In the not too distant future, like within an hour of two, I think I will hit the Vodka - just to keep up my courage - you understand. Right about that same time, I am going to start playing with knives in a carving kit that I have never before used. I am going to try to make something of a pumpkin for Halloween. If nothing else, I can make a Jack-o-lantern and put a candle in it that we can use if the power fails. Speaking of that, I am pretty amazed that it has not gone out already. My bet would be there are toppled trees somewhere nearby by this time. Sooner or later, one will take a fall and take out the power lines along with it. We lost power for a couple or few days last year after that Hurricane, what was it called, I think it was Hurricane Irene. I have already been unable to access my favorite firearms forum. It is local here on Long Island and I expect that the connection problems are due to the storm. Little things getting buggered up already, I imagine it will only get worse as the storm progresses.

Whoa! Rain just started pounding the east facing side of my house and I do mean pounding. Getting worse by the moment. Oh shit, now what? That was one heck of a loud thudding crashing noise and the house seemed o shake a little, the floor under me sure did anyway and the floor of which I write is the cement floor in the basement. What the heck was that, I can just see it through one of the basement windows if I crane my neck enough? It’s a , a, a – a friggin spaceship, like a flying saucer sort of, it's landed,, or crashed, in the back yard and some aliens are getting out with blasters in their hands and they are saying something. I can just make it out over the howling of the high and wild winds, it’s: “People of earth, we come in peace”.

Oh shit,  I had thought the hurricane was going to be today’s big problem…excuse while I grab my AK47 and my .45 to take care of pressing business…

Back to reality - air raid sirens are going off - I suppose they have nothing to do with an alien invasion  from outer space but they usually do mean impending imminent danger. There go the smaller sirens, sounds like fire trucks headed somewhere. This may prove to be a long day. Stay dry and out of the wind my friends and neighbors but most of all stay safe.

Later 4 U,

Glenn B.

Obama & Benghazi

Hat tip to Jim Mc for this one.

All the best,
GB

Prepping Reassurance

I went to Costco and to Home Depot, yesterday, to do some shopping. Well maybe there was also another reason because I sure did that too. I watched the morons buying or trying to buy batteries, flashlights, duct tape, sand,  and whatever else they needed for an emergency caused by the coming hurricane here in my area. Of course, they were all doing this at just about the last possible moment. It was kind of fun watching the almost panic stricken hordes look for D-cell batteries when there were none in either store to be had. 

At least the brand of bier is right even if
I am not sure it is Oktoberfest bier!

I tried to buy a case of water because my wife said we needed one, they were sold out of that too. I only realized, after I got home, that she had probably wanted it because the storm was coming. I mean, when I saw she had two cases already, it made me think she wanted t be prepared like all those other folks at Home Depot and Costco, at the last minute. Besides that water though, I have about 3 other cases of it already in stock. So instead of buying more water, that Costco did not have anyway, I bought a case of diet Iced Tea and a case of H&B Oktoberfest bier.We are set on liquids for at least three to 5 days.  

It was also fun watching folks try to pick out flashlights from the measly selection at Home Depot. In two visits to HD, one yesterday and one today (yesterday, I forgot I needed a cement mixing basin - I will use it to house some tortoises - so I went back there today), I must have seen at least 50 people walking through the store with flashlights they were buying. Now I can understand maybe needing batteries because you are low or the ones you have are old and you just forgot to buy new ones but were those folks for real - they were buying flashlights! Many had two or three in tow to the checkout. That makes me think they didn't have any to begin with. Tell me, are people really that stupid and ill prepared when it comes to potential emergencies!

Well anyway, we should be pretty good. We don't have a generator, so if the power goes out we will make due somehow. Perhaps, cook all the food in the fridge first, then whatever is in the freezer, then go for the caned stuff and finally eat the tortoises and the dogs if it comes to that. Of course, I will have to drink all the bier before it gets warm, I suppose that would only be right.

My trips to Homer's and Costco turned out to be very reassuring to me in that I am more certain than ever, after watching those idiots in a battery and flashlight buying frenzy, that my having prepared ahead of time was a good thing and thus I will continue to prep as time goes by. I am a product of The Cold War in that regard.

All the best,
Glenn B

Typical Liberal Dork Voters - And A Couple Who Exhibited Some Intelligence

Check out this video in which a Man On The Street type reporter/interviewer asks several Obama supporters what they think of several of Mitt Romney's policies. Of course, they hated them, thought they were terrible and that they were unconstitutional. The thing was though, they were actually Obama's policies - already put into action by the president. There sure are, in my opinion, a lot of assholes about to vote and some of them are seen in this video. 

Now, I am not calling them assholes because they believed the guy conducting the interviews, he deceived them and anyone can do that to someone. I think them to be assholes because not one of them was able to say outright "Hey, wait a minute, isn't that an Obama policy". Truthfully, I never heard of one of those policies, heard another three and pretty much had forgotten about them but knew right off, as soon as I heard them again, that they had been strongly pushed for by Obama. So, I guess I am calling them assholes because not one of them had even an inkling that any of the mentioned policies were those of the president when even a guy, with muddled middle aged memory, like me knew about them.  

Well, it is not just because of that. I am also only calling some of them assholes. I say only some of them because at least a couple of these Obama supporters said that they would have to think about it and reconsider their support for Obama once they had been told they were really Obama's policies and not those of Romney. (My hat goes off to them, imagine that someone going to actually think about for whom they should vote based on that candidate's record.) Yet, a few still insisted they would support Obama even though they, just moments before, had slammed the policies when they thought they were those of Romney! Watch for the responses of some of them once the truth is revealed - especially watch and listen to the blond who was standing next to the girl in the "bitch" shirt. Listen to how she reacts. It would be absolutely unbelievable except for one thing she says in there that explains it all: "I'm a liberal". She also said she could list a million reasons that she still will vote for Obama but note she only mentions one -Obamacare. I guess she is just another blood sucking leech who wants to gorge herself on the lifeblood of those who actually work for a living and who pay for their benefits and privileges but she wants it for free.  

As for those who still insisted on supporting Obama - I think they are liberals and that they are the scourge of the world. 

A hat tip to Peter Q for this one.

All the best,

Glenn B

Russian Tortoise News - Bad Or Good Depending On Your View

I attended the monthly meeting of the Long IslandHerpetological Society today. It was slated as a show n' tell for tortoises and turtles, so I brought in my Hermann's Tortoises (all 5 of them) and my lone Redfoot Tortoise. The club president, who is also a professional reptile breeder/dealer, brought in a couple of Russian Tortoises. Those available here, in the USA, are mainly wild caught in Uzbekistan although they are native to: Afghanistan, Northern Pakistan, Northern and Eastern Iran, North Western China and the former Soviet territory Kazakhstan. They make great pets, as they are pretty small but hardy tortoises and are easy to keep. I have been thinking of getting myself a few of them, probably a sexed trio 1.2 (1 male and 2 females), with a breeding project in mind. They are also relatively inexpensive and can be found at prices under $100 each, some as low as $50 each and even some up for free adoption.

Well, Vin R told us, at the meeting, that the number of legal imports have been falling each year and are way down. This due to import regulations. He believes that the price on them (and most other tortoises and turtles) will probably rise markedly in the next year or two. That could be bad news for some – like exporters and importers,. It also could be good news for others – like captive breeders. I hope to have a trio before things get out of hand with pricing.

I have been actively searching for some of them just recently. I also have been thinking of getting a trio of captive bred Chinese Box Turtles and a captive bred adult male Hermann’s Tortoise (to replace mine that went missing this past spring). All of these species are very desirable to me because they are resilient chelonia (turtles and tortoises), are on the small side, and straightforward and fairly easy to keep and do not require a fortune to maintain but could potentially provide a small return on an investment in them. Hopefully enough to help support my hobby. I have already made an inquiry on a possible sexed trio, 1.2, of Russian Tortoises. I am pretty sure they are captive bred even without the seller mentioning that because their carapaces (upper shells) are in almost pristine condition which is very rare for a wild caught Russian Tortoise. In fact, I made an offer on them. Time, and an answer from the seller, will tell if I am soon to have three new residents in my herp collection.

All the best,

Glenn B

It's Pretty Windy Out There Already...

...so I am guessing that they are right about this storm being a powerful one being that it is not supposed to be really bad until late tomorrow tonight or early Tuesday morning. Yikes!

As far as storm pep goes, I took in everything from my yard, that I think could possibly blow away, which was just about everything except my shed. As far as any other prepping goes, that already was done, and has been done for quite awhile now, not just for this storm but for any SHTF situation.

Hopefully, when I wake up Tuesday morning, we will still have power.

All the best,
Glenn B

Hey Hollywood - Get The Gun Thing Right In Those Zombie Flicks Already!

Yeah, I know, Zombie movies are works of science fiction.  Still though, you would think at least one screenwriter or on-set technical guy would try to get it right when it came to the firearms that the human wanna-be survivors use to try to fight off the always ravenous zombie hordes. They pretty much get other weapons right – it is just the guns and gun accessories on which they always seem to screw up.

The humans who are fighting for their lives usually use whatever they can lay their hands on for weaponry. So, in any really good zombies movies, you are apt to see people wielding rocks, clubs, bats, pipes, hammers, sledge hammers, hatchets, axes, knives, swords, machetes, spears, spear guns, bows and arrows, crossbows and bolts (they shoot bolts, an arrow specifically for a crossbow), power saws like chainsaws, revolvers, pistols, shotguns, rifles, machineguns, hand grenades, grenade launchers, rocket propelled grenades, mines, mortars, bombs all the way up to nuclear weapons. Heck they even use their cars and trucks as weapons. The most frequently used weapons in zombie movies seem to be firearms, bows and edged weapons. I would have to give the nod, as the most used weapon, to firearms.
 
 

In recent years (like the last 5 to 10 maybe even 15 years or so) zombies have been portrayed with attributes they never had early on in zombie stories and films. They used to move slowly and were clumsy. Now some of them move fast and are agile. They used to be mindless but now some seem to have vestigial intelligence. The used to wander aimlessly but now sometimes seem to group with purpose. They used to have very limited sensory perception but now too many of them can smell live humans and are attracted to the scent, hear gunshots and other noises, are attracted to those sounds, seemingly can live for extremely extended periods without eating, have super strength regardless of the fact that they are almost always presented as being partially rotted but never rot away to non-functionality, are often missing body parts but have super strength often have eaten in way too long to maintain an semblance of stamina yet, they seem to go on forever. I don’t have a bone to pick (no pun intended but it was funny) with any of that because I know they are works of science fiction. Yet, the screenwriters, technicians, special effects crews, costume designers, directors and all the rest of the crews go out of their way to make many of these movies look as real as they can get. They try to make the zombies themselves as real as real can be and that is some feat when dealing with what are supposed to be such a farfetched set of horrific characters as postmortem, living again, people munching, disease ridden, soulless, rotting remains of walking corpses!
 

If they can get them to be so convincingly realistic that ammunition manufacturers currently market real, shootable and lethal, anti-zombie ammunition, why is it that they cannot realistically do the same with the choice of weapons, chosen by those who are fighting these ultra-realistic sci-fi fantasyland reanimated dead sacks of pus? This applies to all weapons that the human characters choose to use, to combat these undead postmortem antagonists, but mostly to guns. Remember that gunshots supposedly attract zombies, shooting a gun is akin to ringing the dinner bell. They show up by the scores and every one of them is hungry. Now, the humans learn this quickly, at least that is so in most recently produced zombies movies and series. So they use other methods like crossbows, bows and arrows, edged weapons, clubs or whatever else does not make a loud noise to kill one of these heinous freaks of nature – that is when the script calls for using a quiet weapon to fit in with the gunshot equals dinner bell theme. Of course, there are exceptions. Whenever they, the screenwriters, story tellers, directors or whomever, want to use a gun because it looks cooler to do-in a zombie with by blasting its head, instead of using a another weapon, in any given they just go right ahead and do it and all of a sudden there must be no other zombies for miles because that gunshot dinner bell doesn’t attract them. In other words, bang, bang, bang and the zombie or three are dead and no other zombies come out of the woodwork looking as if they are in withdrawal since their last flesh fix. I guess what I am getting at is that one minute the gunshot is the dinner bell, the next minute the zombies seem to be totally deaf or not within miles; it just is not consistent.

Now, there would be a way to shoot all the zombies you wanted to shoot without ever attracting any due to the sound of gunfire and yes I do mean by shooting them with guns. Yet, I have never, not once, seen that method of shooting used in a zombie movie. Actually, it is not so much a method of shooting as it is the use of a firearms accessory. I simply do not understand, when these movies show almost every type of gun, known to mankind, being used as zombies stoppers, why are none of them ever suppressed (as in why do none of them have silencers on them)??? Are the movie making types so far removed from reality (yes I know this is science fiction) to not know about silencers. Perhaps that is it but I tend to doubt it, there are just too many spy movies, cop flicks, and other films out there portraying shooters whose guns wear silencers on their muzzles, for them not to know about them. So if they know about them, why not make use of them, in the movies. Are they just that friggin dumb or is there another reason? Maybe it would make too much sense, much more than some guy with a crossbow, who seems to have an endless supply of bolts that miraculously appear to almost always be in sufficient number every time they are needed. Bolts and larger arrows take up a lot of room and are heavier in comparison to bullets. Think you could carry a full complement of arrows in the quiver of your compound bow or crossbow and also have another 500 of them in your backpack? On the other hand, several fully loaded magazines, and a spare 500 rounds of subsonic .22LR rounds, could be carried easily on your person even if you were lugging other gear. A few more bricks (a 500 round box of 22LR ammo) could be left in your vehicle or stashed away.  A guy could even reasonably carry at least 10 to 20 fully loaded mags of 9mm ammo at all times with at least a couple hundred extra rounds of it in his pack or vehicle. Both of these calibers are easily suppressed. Silencers can be commercially manufactured, or high end homemade ones could easily be made in a do it yourselfer’s machine shop, and other less desirable but fully functional ones can be made, within an hour, from PVC pipe. Then there are the really improvised ones that you can make in only minutes from things like soda bottles or cans and duct tape.

How cool would it be to see a troop of survivors who have equipped there handguns with suppressors! Pretty cool, or so I think, but then I suppose we would miss all those arrows to the dome, swords hacking off heads, pokes into eyeballs with metal pipes or spears and all those other spectacularly gory ways to achieve zombicide that we see so often. Perhaps though, it would be pretty neat to show at least one character who is a firearms aficionado among the survivors. Not one who is a cop or correction officer or Marine or hunter but an out and out gun guru who knows his guns, how to accessorize them and how to shoot on target and tactically. What the heck is wrong with all of you Hollywood types that you have not gotten this figured out yet? Give us a character portrayed as an honest to goodness uber gun nut firearms enthusiast that actually knows something about guns, how to accessorize them to maximize their potential as a stealthy but lethal weapons, and who knows what he is doing when it comes to getting the lead downrange for the best desired effect without ringing that darned dinner bell! While you are at it, why not arm him with a suppressed Heckler &; Koch MP-5, with red-dot sight and a light and maybe a suppressed Beretta 92FS.


Oh yeah, one more thing. Once you get a real gun guy worked in, one who knows how to suppress his weapons; you may also want to think about optics. Something along the lines of a 4-12x44 variable power scope atop a bolt action rifle in .308 or maybe a big high end scope sitting atop a Barrett in .50 caliber. You know, something that can reach out and touch someone (or somezombie) from a distance - "because long distance is the next best thing"! Picture it like this, the group takes the high ground, scopes out an area they want to enter, see some flesh eating zomboids in the distance and have their sharpshooter take aim and whack a dozen of them, with his high power and scoped rifle, before they move into the area. Sure you are gonna make sure there are more zombie surprises waiting for them on which they can use swords, bats, axes, crossbows and close in guns - even silenced ones.

Accessorized and practical guns like that, in the hands of a character who portrays a firearms loving all American, NRA life member, who knows his or her guns and accessories in and out, would sure add some reality oriented zing to the shooting scenes and to zombie movies in general. Just think of  the counterbalance he would provide against the usual characters, portrayed as cops, correction officers, government agents, military types, security guards, and hunters, that are all too often portrayed as the ones who know guns and how to handle them in zombie flicks. In other words, for once, why not give us your average American gun owner and the guns and accessories he can and probably does own in a free state! 


Oh yeah, if you are in need of a firearms instructor and weapons consultant, I am available. 

All the best,
Glenn B