Helaman 3:3

  And it came to pass in the forty and sixth, yea, there was much contention and many dissensions; in the which there were an exceedingly great many who departed out of the land of Zarahemla, and went forth unto the land northward to inherit the land.

Helaman 3:3

Contention and dissension make a restless people flee

to other lands in hopes of finding more serenity.

But whether to the mountains or the bronze and pebbled shore,

their travels cannot take them to a place of sweet rapport.

That only can occur on journeys of the heart and soul;

where God, invited in, can make a refugee feel whole. 

  

Hikingware Emergency Preparedness Blog #1

FINDING POWER DURING AN EMERGENCY

An EMP blast from the right location has the ability to do serious damage to the power grid.  The American government created a report that is hundreds of pages long to address this potential disaster. Not only is an EMP a serious concern for our nation, the majority of us are woefully unprepared to find power after such an event.

How about you? Hikingware.com offers this list of alternative power sources if you happen to get in the way of an electromagnetic pulse that shuts down the power grid:

Car Batteries – The robotic cars of this age will surely have most of their useful parts scrambled but the power you can yield from a car battery is substantial. In fact with a simple converter you are able to power homes with your car!

1. Household Batteries – If you are already prepping you should have this power source en mass. If not seek them out. I am sure Americans have tons of batteries in use they could pull power from. Dump toy boxes, search pantries, video game controllers and other appliances that hidden and rarely used.
2. Household Batteries – If you are already prepared you should have this power source en mass. If not, seek them out.  Americans have tons of batteries in use that they could pull power from. Dump toy boxes, search pantries, video game controllers and other appliances that hidden and rarely used.
3. Alarm Systems – Criminals evolve just like the rest of us. Since they realized cutting the lines that run to your alarm system is a good way to negate its efficacy, alarm companies have moved to wireless. That means your system is powered by some alternative source of power. Your cameras as well, if wireless, are pulling power from an independent source.
4. Cable Boxes – The cable companies install these boxes on the side of our homes and even sometimes inside the house. These are wired to the power but are also backed up with a some type of battery.
5. Marine Batteries – In a situation like this it’s very unlikely that you will be trolling around the local bass waters in your jon boat, especially if you have no way to tow it. Utilize the power of your marine batteries as an emergency source for your home.
6. Laptops – Most of these shutdown with 10 or so % of power left to assure you don’t find it completely dead. Either way, with the right tools you can easily harvest power from your laptops. However, be aware that you can receive a powerful shock from your laptop if you fiddle around the inside without knowing what you're doing. This is one power source you'd better study up on before trying it out! 
7. Portable Electronic Power Sources – These wonderful power bars or power boxes can be fueled by anything with a USB port and left on standby for the day the lights go off.

Love More, Worry Less

Love is so important that Jesus called it “the first and great commandment” and said that every other particle of the law and words of the prophets hang upon it.

President Dieter F. Uchtdorf

The Savior and the Father have a constant love for me;

but I in turn can only love them faint and fitfully.

For I am filled with gravel and the lusts of flesh, alas;

my fickle passion for my God still withers like the grass.

Oh help my love a river be, as strong as rooted Nile!

Give to me a solidness that nothing can beguile!

These clouds and vapors that I spout cannot contain the love

I yearn to have for Thee and all Thy blessings up above.

Power breeds contention

  And it came to pass in the forty and second year of the reign of the judges, after Moronihah had established again peace between the Nephites and the Lamanites, behold there was no one to fill the judgment-seat; therefore there began to be a contention again among the people concerning who should fill the judgment-seat.

(Helaman 2:1)

Power breeds contention like a pile of dung breeds flies;

those who seek it stoop to bribes and rioting with lies.

There's farce and melodrama, and a bit of  nonsense, too,

when schemers or mad dreamers put their ideas up for view.

When the people's voice at last has spoken in reply,

it may have been bamboozled and have chosen the wrong guy.

Will God stay at the helm of any ship of state so sunk

in corruption that its moral compass acts quite drunk? 

Kishkumen

  Now when those people who were desirous that he should be their governor saw that he was condemned unto death, therefore they were angry, and behold, they sent forth one Kishkumen, even to the judgment-seat of Pahoran, and murdered Pahoran as he sat upon the judgment-seat.

Helamen 1:9

There's always one more Kishkumen available to slay

the leaders of the people as they make their busy way.

The turbulence of office and the envy of great power

plants the seeds of murder that becomes a deadly flower.

Assassins worm their way into the fabric of each nation,

who never lack a patron for their horrid aberration. 

God save us all from bloodshed and the undiscovered knife

in this year of rumor and electioneering strife! 

The Freeloader

Part of their strategy is to let shoppers try out thousands of shading, sparkling, contouring and highlighting products—including Urban Decay eye shadow, Chanel perfumes and Smashbox lipsticks. There are no pushy salespeople. Just bright lights, open containers and plenty of mirrors.

Their self-service stations invite people to test the limits of what’s free—and many do, treating the places as extensions of their own bathrooms.

Biology professor Elizabeth Brooks and her team of researchers at Rowan University examined beauty testers at retailers a decade ago, ranging from high-end department stores to drugstores. The results from the oft-cited study showed that testers from more than 50% of products were contaminated with bacteria.

(from the Wall Street Journal)

When mooching cosmetics, be wary
of catching some nice dysentery.
Bacteria teem
in all the cold cream,
and on the lip gloss microbes tarry.

Sticky Rice

I made myself some sticky rice tonight.

It was a mistake.

The smell and the texture and the taste, it all reminded me of Joom.

And I began to miss her, badly.

I remember her dipping her brown hand into the bamboo basket to roll up a ball for me. Then she hands it to me with a mischievous smile, as if it were booby-trapped. She still can't believe a farang likes the stuff.

There's always a bowl of fermented fish paste on the table, along with raw cucumbers, those long green beans, and Thai eggplant.

That's a complete meal for Joom. She laughs at me when I complain about not having any meat or curry. She eats Isaan; and she means for me to eat that way too.

We bicker good-naturedly, while her dog Nipoo curls herself around Joom's legs, panting and snapping at the mosquitoes.

We always end the night with a walk on the beach, with embraces, with awkward words from me and indistinct murmurs from her.

Then I have to leave the country. I know she needs money but I haven't any to give to her. It embarrasses me, and makes me unreasonably mad at her, so we part as distant friends, not as lovers.

And I go away, and tell myself I'll forget her after a while, and she'll forget me.

And so it happens. Very slowly for me.

Until tonight, when that cursed sticky rice stirs up memories and passions I don't want to live with anymore.

But like a stomach ache or Charley horse, it will soon pass.

All things must pass . . .

That's in the scriptures somewhere, isn't it?

Falling food prices

The U.S. is on track this year to post the longest stretch of falling food prices in more than 50 years, a streak that is cheering U.S. shoppers at the checkout line but putting a financial strain on farmers, grocery stores and restaurants.

(from the Wall Street Journal)

Food is so cheap nowadays

that I can eat hearty always.

The cafes may scream

and farmers vent steam;

at home I eat steak lyonnaise. 

Air Ambulances

While ground ambulances can be regulated, Guy Dansie, emergency medical services program manager for the Utah Department of Health, points out that air ambulances fly right over state jurisdictions — and therefore are subject to little if any oversight, even if the company that operates them is based in Utah. The companies also don't have to share cost information with the public or state regulators, he says.

(from the Salt Lake Tribune)

If down a steep canyon I dive,

don't worry if I will survive.

I'd rather not live

with debt like a shiv 

that's stuck in my back, tho I thrive. 

The Earlobe

An earlobe no purpose does serve;
to life it contributes no verve.
It might be cheering
for hanging an earring;
to me it's a facial hors d'oeuvre.