FL-Jeeper
10-07-2012, 03:37 PM
Hey there folks, while I've posted up in the welcome thread, I figured a proper introduction was in order.
I come from a simple family, grew up in central Florida, served over a decade in the Army and walked away with two honorable discharges. My experience in the military revolved around Combat Arms (Infantry) & Signal Corps (Tactical Wire & Cable Installation). I did a lot of cross training so my experiences cover a pretty broad range. I've successfully served as Training NCO, NBC NCO, ComSec Custodian, Fire Team leader, Master Driver, Section Sgt. And surely a few others. While I consider myself fortunate to have never been deployed to a combat theater, the units I served with were all tactical organizations and maintained a high state of readiness. I've been around the world and have been fortunate to receive training on small arms, crew served weapons and even a little demo. I still like to shoot & hunt and have a small collection of various things that go bang & for whatever reason have always maintained a fairly robust inventory of ammo...
Anywho, my current gig is in IT, 10+ yrs in SMB PC support & while I have historically been a "worker bee" I've been self employed for well over a year & I love the change. The circumstances surrounding the aforementioned change are actually what started me on the road to preparedness and is what ultimately led me here. :) Last year I lost my job of nearly 9 yrs and the job market in my specific arena was/is in the toilet and I was caught with my pants down financially. I had worked in the area long enough that I had several business connections and took the leap into independent consulting/contracting and fortunately the meager income was enough to get me over the hump. Business is good now, enough to make a living and put a little back for a rainy day. Now, ya gotta realize that that any rainy day stash was non-existent up until the point I lost my one & only means of income~ and had next to nothing in the bank. I figured I was just like everyone else, living paycheck to paycheck, making more $ & finding new and interesting ways to blow it as soon as it the bank. It was eye opening. The bank account was laughable but the contents of my kitchen pantry was not. I figure that back then, I was again like most folk, with barely more than a few days of provisions, but I found myself (and family) in a tight spot and I had others depending on me.
Now, recall I mentioned coming from a simple family. I vividly recall g'ma & g'pa with a little garden out back (g'pas family were farmers) fruit trees, rabbit shacks, wood sheds, canning in the kitchen, big pantry... you get the idea. Anyhow, so I have two other souls in my home, the SO & DM. DM is on SSDI and is not self sufficient, the SO was/is gainfully employed and helped us get through the roughest patches tremendously. So anyhow, there I was, looking at an almost laughable pantry and very little funds. I panicked & immediately ran out & grabbed several pounds of dry rice & beans, a few flats of H2O, some canned goodness & misc other shit & threw it on a shelf. I figured worst case, if what little cash we had ran low, at least we wouldn't go hungry. At the beginning of 2012 business picked up, I secured a few new clients & sealed a big deal in February that brought in a nice chunk of change. That influx allowed us to gather a fairly respectable cache of necessities and I now feel confident that we are GTG, for at least a few months. I know that there are LOTS of areas that need improvement and we are constantly adding items as we go. It's amazing how easy and inexpensive it can be to collect the necessities when you do it slowly over time...
At the young age of 41, my experiences are broad & I consider myself a jack-of-all-trades, master-of-none :) and my thirst for more prep related knowledge has led me to this forum. I see a good group of folks here that appear to approach preparedness with a practical frame of mind. Not at all the EOTWAWKI The Sky Is Falling Tomorrow Mumbo-Jumbo crowd I've found elsewhere on the net. I hope to contribute greatly to the community here. Thanks for having me!
I come from a simple family, grew up in central Florida, served over a decade in the Army and walked away with two honorable discharges. My experience in the military revolved around Combat Arms (Infantry) & Signal Corps (Tactical Wire & Cable Installation). I did a lot of cross training so my experiences cover a pretty broad range. I've successfully served as Training NCO, NBC NCO, ComSec Custodian, Fire Team leader, Master Driver, Section Sgt. And surely a few others. While I consider myself fortunate to have never been deployed to a combat theater, the units I served with were all tactical organizations and maintained a high state of readiness. I've been around the world and have been fortunate to receive training on small arms, crew served weapons and even a little demo. I still like to shoot & hunt and have a small collection of various things that go bang & for whatever reason have always maintained a fairly robust inventory of ammo...
Anywho, my current gig is in IT, 10+ yrs in SMB PC support & while I have historically been a "worker bee" I've been self employed for well over a year & I love the change. The circumstances surrounding the aforementioned change are actually what started me on the road to preparedness and is what ultimately led me here. :) Last year I lost my job of nearly 9 yrs and the job market in my specific arena was/is in the toilet and I was caught with my pants down financially. I had worked in the area long enough that I had several business connections and took the leap into independent consulting/contracting and fortunately the meager income was enough to get me over the hump. Business is good now, enough to make a living and put a little back for a rainy day. Now, ya gotta realize that that any rainy day stash was non-existent up until the point I lost my one & only means of income~ and had next to nothing in the bank. I figured I was just like everyone else, living paycheck to paycheck, making more $ & finding new and interesting ways to blow it as soon as it the bank. It was eye opening. The bank account was laughable but the contents of my kitchen pantry was not. I figure that back then, I was again like most folk, with barely more than a few days of provisions, but I found myself (and family) in a tight spot and I had others depending on me.
Now, recall I mentioned coming from a simple family. I vividly recall g'ma & g'pa with a little garden out back (g'pas family were farmers) fruit trees, rabbit shacks, wood sheds, canning in the kitchen, big pantry... you get the idea. Anyhow, so I have two other souls in my home, the SO & DM. DM is on SSDI and is not self sufficient, the SO was/is gainfully employed and helped us get through the roughest patches tremendously. So anyhow, there I was, looking at an almost laughable pantry and very little funds. I panicked & immediately ran out & grabbed several pounds of dry rice & beans, a few flats of H2O, some canned goodness & misc other shit & threw it on a shelf. I figured worst case, if what little cash we had ran low, at least we wouldn't go hungry. At the beginning of 2012 business picked up, I secured a few new clients & sealed a big deal in February that brought in a nice chunk of change. That influx allowed us to gather a fairly respectable cache of necessities and I now feel confident that we are GTG, for at least a few months. I know that there are LOTS of areas that need improvement and we are constantly adding items as we go. It's amazing how easy and inexpensive it can be to collect the necessities when you do it slowly over time...
At the young age of 41, my experiences are broad & I consider myself a jack-of-all-trades, master-of-none :) and my thirst for more prep related knowledge has led me to this forum. I see a good group of folks here that appear to approach preparedness with a practical frame of mind. Not at all the EOTWAWKI The Sky Is Falling Tomorrow Mumbo-Jumbo crowd I've found elsewhere on the net. I hope to contribute greatly to the community here. Thanks for having me!