Mission fatigue sets in from time to time. Let’s face it, getting ready for the zombie apocalypse (or whatever flavor of KoolAid you prefer) starts to wear you down after a while. Sometimes you’re too busy worrying about getting tickets to the ballgame, to worry about getting more freezedrieds into the bunker. And then more life occurs and you push the preps further down the priority list. The kids need shoes, so that new GLock can wait a month. The car needs tires, so the generator can wait. And, eventually, you suddenly look up and realize that three weeks have gone by without you doing anything survival-related and -surprise!- you’re just fine. So then you start to lose momentum…yeah, you meant to go to Costco for more canned beef this weekend, but you wanted to go geocaching instead. But you can always go next weekend, right? The end of the world won’t really happen tomorrow. You’ve got plenty of time. And then you wind up never getting those cans from Costco. Or the batteries from Walmart. Or the case of .223 from Cabela’s. Or the filled gas cans from Conoco.
And then, one morning, you get a phone call waking you up at 6am and it’s your family member on the other side of the country and the first words out of his mouth when you answer the phone are “Are you watching the news?”
And that, my friend, is when it alllllll catches up to you.
I wish I wasn’t speaking from experience, but I am… Look, my identity is predicated on being some sort of super-secret-squirrel survivalist. It is, literally, my only claim to fame. And with all that, even *I* let my foot way off the gas sometimes and just drop the ball on keeping up on preps and maintenance.
What fixes it? What refocuses my efforts? What makes me sit up, cancel Thrusday movie night, take the phone off the hook, and Get Real Serious Right Now? Good question. For me, its either a close call or reading something that inspires me. At the moment, I bought a new copy of “One Second After” to replace the copy I loaned out and never got back. After reading that I find it virtually impossible not to grab a clipboard and make sure things are topped off and shopping lists planned.
You need to find your impetus if you suffer from these motivational lapses like I do. For some people, it’s watching the news. For others it might be reliving a previous experience that made an impression. Or it could be as simple as watching some homeless wretch on the street eating out of a dumpster. But…find something that motivates you and gets you back on the path. When life decides to suddenly go sideways, all those “I meant to” statements will be worth less than nothing.
Now, back to reconciling my spreadsheet inventory of stored food with the actual physical inventory…………..
C zero
Gotcha on the stuff that gets in your way to prep.
On the ” One Second After ” book, I have to comment as having read it. Many tests have confirmed that many more cars will be usable after an EMP event than was realized. Also, the assault on the city that was noted in the book is totally unrealistic. Only the WW2 Japs would charge against a well defended position like described in the book. Maybe also a Waffwn SS battalion. But people who joined up with some nut bag leader? RIghttttt!! So if your group,is a detremined defensive group, I think they would easily prevail against these goofball attackers as portrayed in this book.
Read both books. I have a slightly different view. The ‘Posse’ thought they were invincible and had met little resistance. Yep many cars will be functional, depending on distance from detonation. Got fuses?
Numbers matter. If you have a thousand idiots ready to do whatever their ‘leader’ says, you have to have a plan. The story has casualties aplenty on both sides.
for me its the little shtf moments like a tree on the power line and the generator won’t start because i let the monthly checklist go for…a while. i’ve been good about buying stuff, but lousy about DOing stuff. like cleaning out the rainwater holding tanks, rotating the fuel, maintaining the battery bank etc etc etc. i get burned out couple times a year, mainly because i’ve forgotten how to have fun, real fun. i’m working on it though.
” i’ve been good about buying stuff, but lousy about DOing stuff.”
Dude, that totally sums it up. We should have some sort of mantra..”Don’t just buy, DO!”
The problem is that at this stage of life, extra money can often be easier to come by than spare time.
Plus, research and shopping is fun, and can be done in free moments at my desk.
concur on the mantra. mine should be STOP buying, START doing. peter hit it too, more money than time….strike that, more money than motivation. that is coming to an end for me as my wife’s job is winding down and at her age prospects are slim around here. that will leave me no choice but to get going on the prep projects.
ps- have you seen where the rooskies are calling their kids home from foreign schools? shit getting real bro. i’ll be filling sand bags this weekend.
I got an e-mail from an acquaintance in England asking if we were prepared for the big storm. Storm? What storm? And how come a guy in England knows more about our weather than I do? I’d been so busy with the house remodeling problems that I hadn’t even been paying attention to the weather news. On top of that, one of the contractors had turned off our water without warning us – & we weren’t as prepared as we should have been. We’ll be fine here – we’re inland – but I did give my son on the coast a head’s up – he hadn’t been paying attention to weather news either.
I recently re-read One Second After. I also read the sequel – not as good as the first. In my opinion, it’s one of the most realistic books about a huge disaster. Although I really love Earth Abides.
Alas Babylon is also worth a read. An oldy but goody.
Loved Alas Babylon.
“Earth Abides” was one of the most incredibly drawn the freak out novels of all time. I begged out loud for the characters to take their own lives… Thank You.
I agree with joe about “Earth Abides”. Seemed like elitist soap-boxing to me (since protagonist was only one college educated, everyone else was an ignorant rube).
Or maybe it’s riding out Hermine and Matthew and understanding where your gaps are. An extended power outage from Hermine made me realize battery backups only go so far and solar only works when the sun is out. There is no substitute for a generator. Luckily the wife realized it too and theat week we bought one. A month later Matthew hit and we was so much better prepared. We didn’t lose power, but a whole lot of other people did. It was a warm and fuzzy feeling knowing we had it if we needed it. Neighbors went for a few days before it was restored and there are still some without it six days and counting.
My system is to do one prep a day. By a prep I mean something that can advance skill set, well being, or physical things like extra food, gear, etc. If I don’t have money in the budget, I can do more exercise to increase my endurance, muscle mass, etc or I’d learn/teach a new skill that will give me a leg up. Even doing a few extra dry fire exercise or teach my 3 year old how to put on his gas mask count as a prep 🙂 For me it’s about keeping the momentum going and make steady progress across the board.
I’m doing calisthenics. First going to see if I can touch my toes. Then will work on sticking my head between my legs so I can kiss my ass good bye.
You must be one of my distant relatives who always tell me, “I’m coming to your place.”
lol
Live in the northwest Washingtion, big storm heading our way Saturday, prepped as best possible, maybe pick up some more fuel for the generator just in case, usually have about 100 gallons, in middle of rotating fuel and only have 25 available. Been prepping about seven, maybe eight years. I’ve slowed down with preps. Have enough guns, ammo, loading supplies, years food supply, etc. Truthfully its been hard to conceal my supply efforts from others. Many shelves in the garage are full, but I have placed tarps over the shelves for concealment, others have noticed, sometimes awkward conversation. I’ve experienced not having electricity for 15 days during the 1993 inaugural storm, it’s my first experience of being without necessities. They say the storm Saturday may be more damaging, will see. I too have read the book “one second after”, it also disappeared when someone borrowed it. The book is a good read and we all can learn from it. There is no end to prepping perhaps, how many generators, how many chain saws, how much fuel……..its endless to how many supplies and how much silver you can stockpile, just depends if you can defend your stockpile, which I often think about.
I feel your pain CZ. Time vs. family vs. future.
Live for today, put some time towards tomorrow Zombieland, or else you can lose the now. My guess is that you are in better shape than you will admit.
You had a post some years ago CZ, about “prep” over load. The constant doom and gloom outlook and endless “what if” and ” how can I” can take a toll on your sanity after a while. I agree and often take a week off from even looking at the alt-media and TRY to keep the MSM at bay, social media is easier as my only social media is texts or e-mail.
This answers the other end of that week, actually getting back “to the prep”. Yep, gotta rotate the gas, fire the gen, check the batteries, “Ok, who took a can and didn’t mark it off?!”, etc etc etc. It can be daunting but it needs to get done and if not now, when, if not you, who?
Had some relatives have “the moment” when the mandatory evacuations on FL came down, wisely they had listened to some advice years ago when I said to leave far before the sun comes up. When they arrived we checked the I-10 traffic cams to see a parking lot, they finally felt good about leaving at the early hour.
I hear ya brother!
A whole lotta “life” going on! LOL! Anyway I’ve got something for you next time we catch up… And I hope I’m not the one with your copy of One Second After. It was a good read.