Condition Orange Preparedness, who you’ve heard me mention before, is expanding their focus to talk about all sorts of emergencies that a person might need to defend themselves against instead of just those that affect physical personal safety. Brenda Peterson is going to lead their first new offering, and I’m really excited about it because …
“These strange men followed me around the store and then I saw them again when I was putting my groceries in my car. They walked right towards me and I just know they were going to attack me but they went away after I made eye contact with them so they knew that I saw …
When we think about self-defense, we normally think about protecting ourselves from shadowy strangers. Bogeymen have always been made of the unknown and familiarity often feels safe. In some ways, it’s easier to consider shooting, pepper spraying, or hitting or kicking someone to get them to stop hurting us when they wear a face we …
One of the most dangerous moments in a woman’s life is if and when she is leaving an abusive partner. The topic came up recently in one of the groups I’m in and it reminded me that with the holidays, this is a time of year when that happens. Spending time with loved ones can …
Last spring, the great toilet paper shortage illustrated the consequences of supply chain interruption caused by the complexities of international disasters. If that wasn’t enough of a wake-up call, various other items went up in price or down in availability: hand sanitizer and other cleaning supplies became difficult to find, yeast for everyone’s new bread-making …
Today is Winter Solstice, the shortest day and longest night of the year here in the Northern Hemisphere, and the astronomical start of winter. It’s not all bad though, because it’s also the start of longer days and in some cultures, the beginning of a new year. It’s one step closer to being able to …
Snow! While we got a respite from major snowstorms here in the Mid-Atlantic/Northeast for the last few years, 2020 apparently wasn’t going to be complete without a large region being hit with a foot or more of snow all at once. Now that most of us have made some progress in digging out, let’s talk …
Sometimes, we can’t take care of ourselves. I’m not talking about the days when we struggle to get out of bed or do the chores or pay the bills. I’m talking about when we’re actually physically or mentally disabled so far that we are incapable of making decisions. It may be the result of an …
Hey, thanks for the great discussion in various places about Friday’s post talking about how to identify and describe creeps. Several really important points were brought up, and I want to highlight them this morning. First, creepiness and boundary-pushing aren’t limited to the world of dating or other potentially romantic or intimate relationships. Creeps appear …
We’ve talked before about creeps – those people who raise the hair on the back of your neck and make you uncomfortable, but you can’t quite describe what it is about them that’s wrong. It doesn’t matter that everyone else seems to think they’re perfectly fine, even nice. You just know that you don’t like …
