Mental Games

[Sniper-T]

Spawned by something Stormy said in another thread...

When I was a lifeguard, and since, something I play with CONSTANTLY...

What if?

Does anyone else play these mental games? if so... let's explore each others.

When I'm highway driving, I picture, in my mind, typical highway emergencies, and run through how I could help.

In the city, there are a million... driver runs red and smokes guy in front of you, causes pileup (triage)
Out for dinner with wife, car crashes through store front, armed jackass kicks in looking for quick cash

Late night knock on door... someone in ditch, or home invasion...

and go....

[Vodin]

I drive about 100 miles a day. My what ifs are how do I get off the highway and back to the home. What if the vehicle breaks down. What if my city walks take me into a bad section or situation how, what, when where. The basics of self awareness in the big picture. I look at windows of bldgs to see if I need to adjust my situation because what if.. Elevator what ifs, Stairwell what ifs, Weather situations.

The one thing I dont do are people what ifs. If I start questioning people it will effect my demeanor with my clients. Dont get me wrong I am careful in my interactions but I have awesome relations with the all of my clients. I treat everyone the same way. The way I wish to be treated. When it becomes apparent that they dont respond in a good way that is what kicks the what if into gear.

[bacpacker]

At this point, my thing is looking for alternate routes home from work. As well as points to lay up at if need be. Water sources, possible food sources.

[Sniper-T]

But what other 'what-ifs' do you think about BP?

storms? transportation? cut offs?(your wife went off to the next town to shop and an emp killed your vehicles).

...

[Vodin]

Brains moving fingers were not keeping up. I look into window to see reflections for what is behind me. When walking past alleyways you dont know what you may attract. I dont do this all the time sadly I am still in training.

[Sniper-T]

those are good Vodin... great base to build on. One issue I have with my wife, is seating in restaurants... I want to see the door... she wants to be seen... sometimes... ok... most times, she doesn't get it!

[bacpacker]

Somewhat along those lines, I am trying to impress on the wife that I need to be seated facing the main entry area. some resturants however make that tough. You get placed around a low wall area 180 degrees from where you walked in. Or in an area with dual locations to come in. Just trying to figure out how to have eyes in the back of my head.

As I have expressed in the past, I have 2 rivers, or 1 river and 1 lake to cross. So I scout for locations I might be able to pick up a boat, or at least hitch a ride. Also there is a small town I have to get thru or around, guessing population of 12,000-15,000. They have a good size Mexican population, so I try and figure out the largest density areas to avoid.

A couple things I am starting to think I need to work on is being aware of someone tailing me. Along with looking at areas near the house with an eye toward the topics Stormy mentioned. Looking for ways to block off an area, set up a funnel area, etc.

Stormwise, we have been thru several the last few years, both winter type and thunderstorms/tornado and have made adjustments to our plans based on those. We also spent 13 years in the EmComm group and realistically storms are the largest threat our area faces on a daily basis. We worked with the National Weather Service and had yearly training on weather spotting and reporting.