We got the twins home, needless to say, it isn’t easier. These little humans control every aspect of our life. They dictate when we sleep (spoiler, it isn’t at night), when we can venture down the mountain, when my wife or I get to eat our food. Everything is different.
More kids meant bigger vehicle. We were lucky enough to come across some friends of ours selling a 2003 Chevy Tahoe. What a treat. This thing had 149,000 miles on it, new transmission, decent tires, the whole shebang. And to top it all off, it was extremely well taken care of. We paid cash for it, so to me, the possibilities are almost endless.
Let’s move forward one more sleep deprived week. Let’s give the ground a little shake. Nah, let’s give it a good shake. Yup! Those earthquakes in nearby Trona, Ridgecrest and China Lake Naval base were felt here at home. I’m talking Tahoe bouncing felt.
I’m from Wyoming, earthquakes are new to me. Earthquakes are definitely something I haven’t always thought about. Well, that day was a very rude and unsettling wake up call.
At first, I’m not too bothered by it. I simply grab my handheld radio and start monitoring emergency frequencies in my area. Then I hear the county Emergency Communication Center broadcasting that all emergency equipment needs to be moved out of the area and prepare for a bigger earthquake.
Now the panic kinda sinks in. I live about 1.5 miles from the most dangerous dam in the country. It is a man made dam that sits on a fault line. If the lake were at capacity, and the dam had a full failure, my house would be 20-30’ underwater. Can you see the problem with that?
I start loading things. Have the wife packing the diaper bags with anything we may need. Grab my bug out bag. Pack the extra cases of water and the multitude of items we may need to bug out. An issue I run into, I don’t have a radio hooked up in the Tahoe.
Now, I have only a few minutes to put a radio in, power it, and run the antenna cable. I grab the radio, throw a mag mount on top and run that wire through the door and wrap it around the visor and rear view mirror (tacky, but efficient) and use a power source that plugs into the cigarette lighter. Radio is receiving great. Problem solved. Or so I thought.
Upon further testing, I learn that the radio doesn’t transmit. Don’t know if it’s the microphone or what.
This is a lesson in life. You need to be ready at all times. You need to ensure that all of your gear or equipment works properly. Take it out every couple of weeks and test it. Make sure it’s all good. If it’s electronic, make sure it operates properly, make sure you have multiple power sources for it. If it’s in an airtight container, make sure that container is airtight.
Stay alert, stay alive.
Tim
