poda ojt

PODA OJT
Thanks Lloyd. I got your snail mail donation. Now then. On the job training after our civilization is a smoldering ruins. See, I'm being optimistic. I'm assuming you'll survive long enough to need to retrain. And I would like to add this, should you ever be thinking about choosing the path of pessimism. If you assume the glass is half full and take it out in the desert, you'll die of thirst. If you looked at it as half empty you would have gotten some more. That's all I got to say about that. On the job training is, sometimes, less than ideal. Like when you can only learn about combat by going through the real thing. You can be trained to a high degree, but nothing compares to the real thing. No matter how many professional shooting classes you take or how much practice you get, you still must get that crucial bit of OJT. So no matter how much money you have, no matter how well positioned you are for social collapse, you must still be lacking that last ingredient. I'm not saying you can ignore preparations, nor that they don't increase your odds of survival. Just that it will only take you so far.
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The reason I bring this up is there have been a lot of questions lately on my preparations and the advisability of my location. I assume this is from the new guys, confused at my reasoning. So here goes, again. I am preparing for one disaster at a time. The most crucial thing I did was to get out from under the yoke of a landlord. The fact that the area I'm now in has a better financial footing is also a plus. And the small population will mean less crime. I'm preparing for economic troubles. This took a lot of effort and time. I can now look forward to the next challenge, which is surviving the actual collapse. My plan is to become a nomad/herder. This is not the perfect plan, I am fully aware. It assumes my ability to quickly learn about animals, mounted infantry combat, permanent camping, etc. This area is not suited for farming. Not every area is. You need to work with that, not against it. A lot of you are living on or near fertile ground with a good water source. That is not northern Nevada. The grazing lands here are the only non-mineral resource. You can practice being a farmer. Not as easily a nomad with livestock.
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As I said, far from the perfect plan. It will require a lot of on the job training. Eventually, when I can afford fences and feed I can start learning ( at least the animal care part ). If things fall apart quickly I have no choice but to wing it. But don't get too smug with your shallow water well and huge garden. You will also be forced to undergo on the job training. Your stationary wealth will be a target and you will need to fight to protect it. Seen much combat lately? It is an unknown you can't foresee with 100% clarity. Until it happens, you simply don't know how you are going to react. Some of us are going to suck at it. Let me give an example. It is not at all the same thing, but it gives you an idea anyway. I join the army twenty five years ago, while we still had an Evil Empire to battle. My father is a cop, and I've always wanted to do him proud. So it was natural to want to also go into law enforcement. I became an MP. I'd either make the service my career or get out and go into civilian law enforcement. Well, a funny thing happened along the way to my perfectly planned career. I found I sucked at it. I won't relate the sorry details, but I freeze under pressure. I'm far too analytical. I over think everything. Which is why I'm good at this ( shut up, trolls ) and bad at thinking on my feet.
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All those dreams, all those plans, all that training. I still tried over the years. But I finely realized the sad truth and accepted I can't be something I'm not. Do you see what I'm getting at? Some things can't be known. And even if they are, you sometimes have few options. I won't do any better as a militant horseman than I did as a cop. My plan sucks because I've already got a taste of what it takes. But at least I've got the option of retreating as a nomad. As a farmer I would lose everything of value if I ran away. All the tools that kept me alive. I'm picking the least bad plan. In an ideal post collapse world, I could earn a living as a logistics officer. That is an interest of mine, primitive logistics. I'm slowly but surely working on that. It plays on my strengths instead of my weaknesses. Only time will tell.
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I hope all this is food for thought. I hope you learn from all my stupid stunts. I play around at this survival teacher nonsense, have fun with the 'loyal minion' shtick. I'm only passing down the lessons I've learned. Plus hopefully compiling lesser known information. Perhaps connecting the dots most of you haven't thought about yet. That's me, always thinking about others. Don't bother, I'll pat myself on the back.
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