I was a Boy Scout once...

It has been quite an interesting weekend for me and I felt that I had a few things happen that might do some good to someone to share.

I happened upon a pretty nasty accident last night a minute or two after it occurred; a hotel shuttle bus with a few passengers flipped over after broad-siding a car full of teenage girls on an isolated road quite a ways from anything but a few hotels and restaurants. Sparing all the gritty details; after everything was all over and everyone was taken away to the hospital I was driving home and the entire episode started re-running through my mind and I realized that I need to be much more consciously prepared for the unexpected. I narrowed my list down to five things to either do or always have with me.

1. Medical training, get it. It has been quite a while since I’ve had any sort of emergency training, not just CPR, but actual dynamic lifesaving techniques. I was extremely grateful for the experience and training that I do have though. If you haven’t had any, get it. You don’t want to be the person sitting by the side of the road bawling your eyes out because you don’t know what to do or the person who does the wrong thing and injures somebody further.
2. A good LED flashlight, never leave home without it. Amazon sells nice little 9 LED ones for $2.95. There will be times where you would pay $200 for it if you could get it.
3. Always have blankets in the trunk of your car, always. They could mean the difference between you freezing to death if your car breaks down, or it could make the difference to somebody who is going into shock lying on the side of a frozen road.
4. Always have a gallon jug of potable water in your trunk. You’ll need it someday.
5. Get out of your comfort zone and put yourself in a few situations where you’ll be really stressed, this is practice for the real thing. In an emergency, you cannot afford to freeze up when your mind shuts down, and it will shut down. You have to have the experience to be able to function even when the situation is chaotic and crazy all around you.

Thankfully I had in my trunk or head everything that I needed; it would’ve sucked even worse without it all. The Boy Scouts really are onto something with their motto “Be Prepared”.

The other interesting part of my weekend was playing host to a good friend of mine from another state who unfortunately has a much more difficult life than mine. I don’t normally climb too high on the puritanical soapbox but if you’re a girl, do not even fool with the chance of getting pregnant unless you’re happily married. Kids are so incredibly amazing but the responsibility that comes with having one can destroy someone if they’re not ready.

It is so heartbreaking to me to have to watch my friend struggle every single day with the depressing odds that threaten to overwhelm her and the young life entrusted to her. For five years she has been alone in a ways that I cannot even begin to understand. Some things are worth waiting for if for no other reason than it makes sense on so many different levels. My own personal perspective is that I am dependent on and indebted enough already to my Creator that I want to do things in a way that will ease both his workload on my behalf as well as my own….haha I guess that’s the logistics guy in me talking.

I’ve been on vacation for a bit here and I really didn’t feel like writing anything but now that the novelty of being home has started wearing off I find myself looking for ways to entertain myself. Some funny stuff has actually happened so far on this vacation…I saw a grown man wear a bra and panties….haha ah well. I’m ready to get back to the grind next week! I just wish the flight to get back to work wasn’t so long!

Tomorrow promises to be a good day; my dad and I are going to my all time favorite store in the whole world HOME-DEPOT!! The bathroom in the basement needs to be redone so we’re gonna try to knock that out.