Every Day Carry

I've never thought much about what I carry with me every day.  I just load my pockets and go.  Now I've found out there is an entire genre of websites built around "EDC", or Every Day Carry.  Apparently some people don't just load their pockets, they pack luggage:

I'm pretty sure somewhere in there this guy has a kitchen sink.

I've always subscribed to the old adage, probably military in origin, that says, "Travel light and freeze at night."  I doubt I'll ever need to drag around a case of MRE's or a dome tent, so I've pared down what I carry on me to this:

Depending on the season and what clothes I can wear (shorts and t-shirt vs jeans and a jacket) I'll often carry, where legally allowed, a small pistol, either in a waist holster (shown) or a pocket holster.  Since I was a kid I've carried a pocket knife, and now a car FOB and an apartment key, an iPhone 6, a nylon (?) wallet from REI (that has lasted 10 years with zero sign of wear), and a Casio watch.  Not shown are a Medic Alert bracelet and a wedding ring.  That's it.  My glasses are the kind that darken when outdoors, so I don't even need sunglasses anymore.

In my car I keep a small bag containing a sheath knife, a glass breaker/seatbelt cutter, a screwdriver with various tips, a Gerber multi-tool (small saw, blade, file), a couple of spare carabiners, a phone charger, a space blanket, and in a second compartment underneath, a pair of Mechanix gloves and small first aid kit.  I can usually find a spare bottle of water somewhere, a koozie, and a few towels in my car, too. 

And finally, as I usually spend an inordinate amount of time waiting for every thing *agony* I carry an iPad mini and some wireless headphones.  I'll usually read news (BBC, The Guardian, AP News, CNN, The Economist), listen to podcasts (I like Ted Talks, Planet Money, The Indicator, American History Tellers), and read Kindle books (currently Directorate S: The CIA and America's Secret Wars in Afghanistan and Pakistan by Steve Coll).  Rarely fiction, and not much music, either.

I suppose, except for an absolutely apocalyptic event, I have what I need.  So how about you?  What do you carry daily with you?

S

EDIT:  In the back of my car I have a plastic box with a small tire compressor, jumper cables, and other assorted car/road emergency equipment.

Just the facts, ma'am

There was a popular cops-and-robbers TV show back in the fifties, Dragnet, where Sgt. Joe Friday was famous for saying,  "...the facts ma'am.  Just the facts."  He wasn't interested in hearing opinions or innuendo, just the facts.

Fast forward 60 years and we seem to have forgotten Sgt. Joe's mantra.  Today President Trump has made "fake news" his mantra.  He implies that everything that comes out of the news media, especially ABC, CNN, MSNBC, the New York Times, the Washington Post...virtually everyone except his favorite, FOX News...is "fake", not true, a lie.  Dismissing the press en masse like this is dangerous.

The true problem lies between our own ears.  We hear factual news and the accompanying editorial and believe it all or not at all.  We have become such shallow thinkers we don't know how to separate the wheat from the chaff.  And to make things worse, most of us only read/listen to whatever reinforces what we want to believe.  Opposing views are not tolerated.

For example, the news might report that John Smith was caught on surveillance video robbing a convenience store and is now in custody.   The police have video and the eyewitness account of the clerk who was robbed, and the perp is indeed behind bars.  So far, this is a fact.   But then a conservative news outlet might add "...and now this vicious predator is off the streets" while a liberal outlet might say "...he looked to be homeless and hungry".  

If you've ever been on a jury panel you'll remember the judge asking if you've seen news coverage of the alleged crime and have a pre-conceived opinion of guilt or innocence.  This is how our inability to separate fact from opinion can skew justice.

The truth is, most serious investigative journalism today seems to originate from the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Wall Street Journal, CNN, and just a few others.  The facts they uncover and print or put on the air must be corroborated or else they're setting themselves up for a massive libel suit.  Unless their facts can be credibly refuted with real, conflicting evidence, they should be believed.  What they write on their editorial page is just for entertainment value.  

If we can't learn this difference, our long-term democracy is in jeopardy.  Wise up people, or get run over!

S

Wanna see my vacation pictures?

It's odd to me how politics is all the talk around the water cooler, yet here on Blogger people seem to be going out of their way to talk about the weather, the grand kids, what they had for lunch, anything BUT politics.  This seems like a very non-confrontational group.  I'm not looking for "confrontation", but just a good healthy discussion and exchange of ideas.  I guess I'll just have to have that exchange with myself.  So be it.  Y'all can relax.  I've got this.

Anyway, I thought last night's presidential debate was a good one.   Both candidates came prepared and it showed.  Neither fell on his face like Obama did 2 weeks ago.  The consensus this morning is that Obama narrowly won the night, and I guess I wouldn't argue with that.  It seems pretty obvious that these two don't like each other....it's become personal.  

I'm guessing Romney thought it a good thing that he got to go first, based on a coin flip.  Trouble was, it meant Obama got to speak last, with no time for rebuttal.  Obama in essence had a closing statement, and Romney didn't.  This is where Mitt's 47% quip was brought up again and eloquently hammered home, and was left in the audience's mind to ponder overnight.  Shrewd or just luck, I think it will show up in this coming week's polls.

Speaking of polls, have any of you ever been polled by Gallup or ABC or CNN any of the more prominent companies?  I haven't, nor do I even know of anyone who has been.  Part of that might be because I live in Texas, which means the pollsters just consider me and everyone else here a Red Stater, so why bother polling me?  Because of the fairly wide discrepancy in results, I'm thinking polls get waaaaay more attention than they deserve.  That's what I think.

S