Stay Safe While Camping - 7 Essential Safety Tips

There is so much to enjoy when you take the family camping. The number one concern should always be family safety. There are many things to consider when it comes to safety issues. Let's discuss a few here.

Careful Planning For Your Trip: You should always research the area to be certain this campground is a safe one. Get online and look up things like weather forecasts, fire hazards, local infestations of bugs, viruses or water contamination. You may also want to check to see if there have been animal attacks in the local area

Try to arrive early on the first day so you can inspect the site where you'll be putting up your tent. It should be daylight so you can see well enough to spot danger. Always check for sharp objects (glass & rocks), low hanging branches or large tree roots sticking up (trust me they are NOT comfortable), ant hills, bees, dangerous terrain & poison ivy. Any of these things can & will make your stay unpleasant.

Build your tent on a safe spot. Your tent should be flame resistant & a safe distance away from any campfire. If you checked on the weather & there was a possibility of rain, try to pitch the tent on high ground so it won't flood if it does rain. When going into or out of the tent, make sure the entryway is always closed. That will assist with keeping the bugs out of the tent.

Do not forget the emergency kit. Be prepared for bee stings, allergic reactions & cuts. Have bandages & gauze & tape to secure the gauze in place. Take insect repellent & bug spray, some kind of pain relief/fever reducer. Don't forget the sunscreen & a snake-bite kit if you have one. You should also carry a flashlight with extra batteries, a pocket knife, magnifying glass, sterilized water & peroxide for cleaning wounds, tweezers (for pulling out stingers or slivers). Take a mirror as well as this can be used to signal for help in an emergency

Stay alert of wild animals. If this is not a place your are very familiar with, be very cautious of wild animals. Inform everyone in the family about safety concerning wild animals. Wild animals have an amazing sense of smell so be sure not to leave any food out anywhere. It should be secured tightly in sealed containers &/or coolers inside of your vehicle so as not to attract animals. Bears can also be attracted to soaps, lotions, shampoos & toothpaste so keep them in sealed containers in the vehicle too. Set up your eating area approximately 100 yards away from your tent & don't sleep in the clothing you wore when you cooked a meal. The can smell the cooking odors as well & so do other wild animals.

Discuss Safety Issues With The Entire Family. Each family member should be made aware of any plants that are poisonous in the area. Although the water/lake at the campground may appear clean & clear, be sure to tell the children not to drink it as bacteria is usually too small to see with the naked eye. Every person in the family should have a whistle to use in case of emergency.

Fire Safety Issues. Ask upon arrival if there are any fire restrictions in the area or strong wind advisories. When building a fire be sure to keep it within a circle with a ring of sand or dirt around the outside of it. Don't have any flammable items close to the fire pit either Never leave the fire unattended & keep leaves & twigs away from the fire pit. When you go to bed for the night, ALWAYS put the fire out properly with water until there are no embers left lit. Also, never use candles or heating devices inside your tent. When you fall asleep suddenly (which camping seems to help you do) you may kick them over & catch the tent on fire.

Follow these main safety rules & your camping trip should be a blast.

End of an era

Well, here's to hoping the season lasts at least another month, but so long Chipper.  Sad I'm missing the retirement ceremony but thanks for the memories.  I bought a few playoff tickets so let's home the Braves make a nice run so I can see Chipper "swing for the downs" a few more times.

And today ... I'm in Wichita!

Normally, not much to say about Wichita, but today, I have lots to say.  And I'm actually not going to say too much because I don't have time but ... as we were setting up for a work event tomorrow, the US Air Force Thunderbirds flew over.  I was gutted that I didn't snap any photos but my disappointment didn't last as I was shocked to see that they came back ... and then continued to fly overhead for the next two hours.

Nothing beats working while an F-16 flies about 50 feet off the deck at around 300 MPH. At one point, one hit Mach 1 as we heard the sound barrier boom.  Really cool and can't believe I"m going to say it ... excited that I'm working on a weekend in Wichita.

The good news, I'll get to see a lot more of it tomorrow. The Wichita Air Show at McConnell Air Force Base is tomorrow so all day I'll get to see all types of military air craft scream by over head. Almost worth missing Chipper Jones retirement night and the UGA / UT game ... ok, actually not even close to missing that. Still crushed I'm missing Chipper's last home stand.  Yickety! 

Grover's Thursday Video

This is fantastic!

Best bumper sticker of the year!

Yeah, that was Balky

So, after further investigation (see earlier post), the President of Iran is in the Waldorf Astoria. How do I know, b/c I saw the sneaky, brown jacket wearing, Axis of Evil representing President getting into a black limo in the motor pool area.  Talk about a lot of secret service ...

So here's what I learned: 

• Evil leaders stay at the Waldorf Astoria 
• I once stayed at the Waldorf Astoria but didn't encounter anyone evil. In fact, I stayed there the day before I moved to England and pretty sure there's a blog post about it ... ahh, the memories. Now I miss England ... Damn you Balky! This is all your fault.  

No matter where I go ...

... POTUS follows me. For instance, I was in Milwaukee this weekend for work and of course, he was there messing up traffic and putting on some rally.  Speaking of which, there were literally 100K people in line to see him.  It was crazy ...

I fly to New York for a meeting and guess who's here, POTUS filming a spot for the View (yeah, I'm judging) and then speaking at the UN tomorrow (which is right down the street for me).  Oh and even better, Balky (president of Iran) is here as well. He's right across the street from my hotel at the Waldorf Astoria filming a reunion of Perfect Strangers ... or getting ready for another fiery speech at the UN tomorrow.  I thought the bell guy was lying but then I noticed a number of snipers on the roof tops and was pretty sure Balky had to be there.

Finally, yay, flying back to Atlanta tonight.  While it hasn't been a long trip, its been very busy and hectic. Here's to hoping for three quiet nights at home with out the POTUS, secret service, leaders of the Axis of evil or ridiculous traffic. I'm off to Wichita this weekend (I know for a fact that POTUS won't be there) and then Chicago. Yeah, I bet I seem him there again ... UGH.

You know, I'm starting to think he's following me on purpose.  Some of my readers want me to get into politics so maybe this is the chance? Then again, I'm not sure I want to be part of his cabinet. I'd have to sit in meetings with Reggie Love and I can't do that.  Just Google Reggie Love, Duke Basketball, Sharpie, Penis and UNC Fraternity Party.  And on that note, I'm off to another day of planes, trains and automobiles.

Air Force One in Milwaukee and a few C-17 and AC-130s

Wanna a Banksy in your living room?

You can now get Banksy drawings as vinyl prints in your living room.  Awesome ... I'm sure retired sorority girl will love the Panda print right above the wall of TVs. 

Can we put this to bed now?

Call Me Maybe has a few parodies and now that there is an orchestral version, can we call it a day with the Call Me Maybe covers? Course, I guess we should all be happy that YouTube wasn't around for the Nelson Twins or Hanson.  Wouldn't it be great if people did this to other songs like, Thunderstruck by AC/DC? Now that would be amazeballs.

Call Me Maybe and some UGA Game intro since I'm going to miss this weekend's game for work. Ugh ... worst part about work in the Fall -- you miss all the UGA games. Fry -- I'm taking the WAY over against your sad sailors.

And because of that ramble, I'm adding some AC/DC / UGA as well.

Travel and Leisure just called Atlanta a Dump ... seriously

Welcome to Atlanta, where the players play err, where the players are dirty and have not culture?  Read this article (AJC) and now look at the numbers (all out of 35). Atlanta ranked:

• 30 out of 35 for dirtiest (we beat New Orleans, Baltimore, LA and New York) ... ouch
• 29 out of 35 in nightlife - ouch ... I bet the hip hop community is pissed
• 30 out of 35 for cultural getaway -- shocked we didn't get 35 but then again, the High Museum had a Monet not to long ago so that's gotta get us in the top 30.
• 31 out of 35 for dining -- I'll actually argue this one b/c we do have some fantastic restaurants.  I travel a lot and would certainly put us above some of the other cities mentioned. Then again, there is an Applebee's and Ruby Tuesdays every mile or so which could have contributed to the poor ranking.
• 32 out of 35 for shopping -- Ever since they turned Lenox into a club, I can't argue. Perimeter and Mall of Ga are good but who goes to malls when you have Amazon, Eastbay and North Face.com? 

Back to the article - I feel bad for the spokesperson for the Mayor's office. She's great and I can only imagine the difficulty to come up with some of those responses.

The sad part, Travel and Leisure has a point. Kinda curious about the nightlife but if you aren't to sitting on a porch or going to a "hip hop" type club, then maybe they have a point.

I work Downtown and the street are either under construction or gross / covered in lots of disgusting garbage. I regularly walk to another building across Downtown and frequently pass by homeless sleeping in the streets, people doing meth next to abandoned building across the street from the court house (ACROSS THE STREET FROM THE COURTHOUSE), lots of abandoned buildings, dead rats, restaurants with health ratings in the 70s ... none of these things really dispute what T and L said and don't really inspire me to spend anytime in Downtown Atlanta unless I'm at work -- and most of us are lobbying that we move to midtown.

Atlanta does have some great restaurants, shopping and what not, but none of it is in Downtown Atlanta.  I've said it before and will say it again, Downtown Atlanta would be greatly improved by gutting everything, bulldozing what's left and starting over.

So ... who's coming to visit?

It's a Terrible Tuesday!

I will clearly play Tuesday's Gone in the car on the way home tonight. Not a horrible day, but I'm pretty sure that you couldn't cram any more admin or logistic work into the day. Conference call, expense report, book travel, finance review ... repeat over and over again. Good times! Lucky for me, I'm at a work event all day tomorrow.  

Some other fun things from the day:

• Bought me some Wild Card and Divisional Series tickets for the Braves.  The good news, I'm not charged for them until the game is played. The bad news, this year's Braves team is either really good, or absolutely horrible. When they are bad, they are Shiloh High School bad.  In really more miserable news, just realized as I type this I bought tickets for a game where I'm flying back from Chicago. Sure hope its a night game. 
• In some political news that most don't care about, Romney was recorded saying something stupid in a video that was release by Jimmy Carter's grandson. Personally, I thought the end for Romney was before the race event started but this pretty much seals the deal. And if any of you (and this means you Dad) thought Romney was going to win, you were delusional. And for you Obamaites (my sister and Captain Fry), don't get too happy - the lowest common denominator is going to win. Woo Hoo for voting for the best of the worst!!! Good thing I don't look to politicians for inspiration. 
• Back to Jimmy Carter's grandson -- this kid clearly hit his head often as a kid / or adult. I've included the video below and this guy is all over the place. Based on my knowledge of FBI interrogation tactics, looking up to the left and to the right tends to mean you are lying. Watch this guy -- not sure he was telling the truth when he said his name.

Picture of the Day -- From the Daily What

Sacre bleu!

So some French magazine (MSNBC story here but its all over the major media) just posted images of the profit Muhammad in a satire about the film and recent riots. Congrats, France and random magazine! You win the Darwin Award for the year.

I completely understand that the actions of one magazine doesn't represent the whole country ... kinda like the actions of one wise ass film maker in California doesn't represent the voice of 300 million other Americans.  But guess what, the fanatical world doesn't see it that way so I hope France is sending troops to protect their embassies and all the Au Bon Pan stores across the Muslim world.  I see riots, cars burning and lots of rocks being thrown in your future.

I figured since common sense has left the planet and all going to hell, why not enjoy some Rolling Stones from Apocalypse Now.

It's not Axel, but ...

It's not bad either ... makes me long for the first time I watched the Paradise City video on MTV. Yeah, that was like in 1993 when MTV showed videos. Pretty sure none a couple of my interns were infants in 1993. Scary thought ...

What do San Francisco and Huntsville have in common?

Amazing week last week and some quick updates / things that I saw: 

• Ever been to Menlo Park in Cali?  yeah, it's a pretty cool place if you like sitting in traffic for two hours to go 20 miles. 
• I had the pleasure of going to the Facebook HQ on Friday - quite possibly the coolest place / office I've seen. Unfortunately, I signed an NDA and can't discuss anything that I saw but it was absolutely amazing and I wish I worked in a compound / complex.
• Ate dinner at In &  Out Burger -- why is there not an one on the East Coast? I'll trade them a Chick Fila franchise.
• Took a red eye flight back to Atlanta so I could catch a wedding and all I can say is I hate the red eye.  Awful ... and the woman sitting next to me stole my blanket off my lap when I was sleeping. 
• Went to a wedding in Huntsville, Alabama -- great wedding, good food, good people, good times.  Now let's talk about Huntsville ... it's kinda in the middle of no where and every non-highway road to get there is kinda awful.  Highly recommend flying to Huntsville if you need to go.  Better yet, fly your friends / family from Huntsville to come see you.

This weekend, my travels take me to Milwaukee and then Wichita the following week.  Looking forward to the skymiles and some more good eats. Thinking about changing this blog to fun eats when traveling.  

Coleman Sleeping Bags

Coleman manufactures high quality Camping products such as tents, coolers, heaters and sleeping bags. Of all these products Sleeping Bags are the most popular among campers of all ages.

There has been a vast improvement in their design and manufacture of products. The modern models are much easier to pack and lighter to carry yet they keep you warm.

It is advisable that you spend some time in choosing a sleeping bag that is most suitable for you.

The main features of Coleman bags are durability, comfort, convenience, versatility and affordability. This makes the Coleman bags stand out from the rest of the competition.

Coleman bags are durable as they are made from materials such as polyester, ripstop polyester, nylon, ripstop nylon, cotton and heavy duty cotton canvas for the outer shell. These can withstand continuous movement.

The bags have Hollofill fibre filling which makes for cosy and comfortable sleep. The Thermlock fitting prevents heat loss and ensures warmth throughout the night.

Coleman bags are designed for easy use. It has a Roll Control that locks the bag into place, a Zipper Glide for smooth zipping and a Wrap N Roll carrier for easy packing.

The bags come in a variety of colours and sizes and are designed for a wide range of temperatures. Mild Temperature varieties are specifically designed for 30 degree and above. Moderate Temperature ones will keep you warm in temperatures between 20-30 degrees. The Extreme Temperature ones are designed for 15 degrees and below.

Coleman makes sleeping bags of different shapes. The "mummy" bag fits tightly around the body. You can zip this bag up and not feel a thing when inside. The bags meant for cold weather are marked with temperature ranges. The numbers will indicate up to what temperatures you will stay warm.

A semi-rectangular bag suits people who are immune to cold. Some people prefer wearing a t-shirt outdoors even though it may be freezing. Some are claustrophobic and are more comfortable with the semi-rectangular shape since this type has more room and the possibility to easily unzip it if one feels too hot or too enclosed.

The rectangular bag is a good choice when you travel with your partner. During cold nights the two bags can be attached together but you still have the option to separate them when you want to sleep separately.

These high quality and feature sleeping bags are available at surprisingly reasonable prices. The typical price for Coleman Bags is between $17.95 to $126.95 depending on its features and they come with a 5 year warranty.

It's Wednesday!

Lots of haps going on in the World today.  From the looks of the news this morning, its going to get ugly in a hurry so I thought I'd throw in some other random updates:  

• FACEBOOK! - yeah, so pending any insurgencies at the airport, I'm heading to Facebook on Friday for a meeting. Aside from the sky miles that you get for a day trip across the country, I'm excited to actually get to go to a really cool office space -- or so I have it built up in my head.  I'm expecting a really amazing atmosphere and hopefully won't be disappointed. Our office flooded with water the other day so you could show me an empty room with the Facebook logo, a fax machine and some chairs and I'd find it entertaining.  
• Looks like our Allies are up to their old tricks in the mid-east again.  Very tragic that 4 people, including our ambassador, were killed last night in Libya during a protest over a movie.  Don't forget, another "spontaneous" riot occurred at our embassy in Cairo, Egypt.  If I were a politician, I'd ask myself, where were the local security forces and why weren't they protecting our embassy? Actually, I'd ask myself why the hell are we in this debacle? Course, no one knows that answer so my next question is when are the Marines going in and how do we put drones on a 24/7 rotation across that part of the world (pretty sure that's already happening). To say this situation is going to get worse is an understatement.  
• Break in -- we either did or didn't have someone try and break into our place the other night but what I can tell you is that the alarm going off at 430 AM is not a good feeling.  
• Presidential Election -- I quit watching it. In fact, I watched the movie Election last night with Reese Witherspoon and Matthew Broderick. Yeah, way more entertaining than listening to old people ramble about irrelevant policy and blame everyone else. 
• Snow White and the Huntsman -- anyone seen this? I watched it and was waiting for Edward to appear and kill the witch. He didn't and so I was disappointed and curious why I wasted the $5 U-Verse On Demand fee.  If I have to put up with some horrible acting (Kristen Stewart), then I need vampires. 
• Swimming with Dolphins -- no, I'm not going to hang out with Luca Brazi and sleep with the fishes, instead  I'm going to the Bahamas in a month and going to swim with some Dolphins. Rumor has it, I've worked for a while without a vacation so I'm headed off to an area where my blackberry won't work for a week.  Pretty sure it will be paradise. 

Yeah, so that's all I got. Not much to share ... let's hope the trip ends up meeting all of my expectations. 

Another year, another birthday ... oh I'm getting old

This past weekend, I celebrated another birthday but in a very relaxed, yet amazing time.  Retired Sorority Girl took me to quite possibly the best meal Jed's ever had at Bones.  Not only was the food amazing, but the service was amazing ... outstanding.

Aside from my quick shout out to Bones, here are some other takeaways / experiences from the birthday:

• Friday is the best day for a birthday -- we had a great happy hour(s) enjoying some entertaining conversation, football, Braves and English pints 
• Maker's Mark 46 is liquid gold 
• The Zaxby's birthday cake shake is a phenomenal meal for your birthday lunch - everyone should have one.
• Go to Bones -- not only is the food amazing but they put confetti all over your table. LOVED IT! 
• I"m lucky that my birthday falls right when College Football starts. I'm also lucky to have three flat screens to set up in the living room to watch endless hours of football entertainment.  

While this year didn't have the extravaganza / flair of last year's trip to Boston, the day / weekend still was one of my favorites because I was able to spend it with friends and family ... and football.  Now if we could only figure out a way to get those Brits over here, then it would have been a perfect day.  

We Shall Never Forget! We Will Never Surrender!

I write this 11 years and almost to the minute of one of the most impactful days of my, and millions of people's lives.  September 11, 2001 is one of the few days of my life where I can sit down and tell you every detail that occurred in a 24 - 48 hour space.  I still feel the same grief, agony and anger on that day as I do this morning.

September 11, 2001 brought us all together and somehow through the years, we have found a way to divide. You can blame it on a myriad of things but in the end, we have found a way to forget how we all came together. We've forgotten the sports events where everyone cried, the fly overs, and the pride that burst across the country -- flags hung from every car, every window and flag pole from Savannah to Seattle.

Now I'm not saying that patriotism is the solution to the fanaticism on the far left and fart right, the financial issues and unemployment, but in memory of those that died that tragic day (and every day since) we should make an effort to come together, to become a strong country again. There will always be societal issues that will cause division and I'm certainly not stating that we all share some socialist hug it out session, but rather that our leaders realize that the country can come together and take the opportunity to lead ... become leaders instead of individuals pushing personal agendas or taking praise for actions they did not physically accomplish.  

Once upon a time, this country was run by leaders who removed personal self for the greater glory of the United States of America.  We should find similar people and lift them up because its time that we all come back together.

A reflection on the DNC

Last night, and mainly because the Braves got murdered, On Demand was crap and there's nothing on TV, I watched the speeches at the DNC.  I have to admit, their speech writers did a much better job of coordinating their speeches so each speaker sounded like they were speaking the same thing -- and less about their own personal agenda (saving that speech for Thursday).

I also think its cute that the NFL moved its game up to Wednesday so everyone can watch the president speak on Thursday in a Hollywood like Fan Fare that would make Michael Bay proud.  Unfortunately, there is a college football game on so there is a very good chance I will see none of the speech.

But hats off to the Dems for throwing together a well synced day. I will certainly be glued to the TV tomorrow night to see my favorite politician, Smiling Joe Biden, speak away. To say they are going to have that guy on a short leash would be the understatement of the year. Course, Bill is speaking tonight and I have to admit, I love listening to Bill and watching all the women swoon over him. It's actually pretty amazing and that thing he does with this hand when he speaks, captivates everyone and pretty much ensures me that he's a wizard or warlock.  I think Rasputin was the last person to have that much control over others.  

But what I really love about the political season, all the comments people make on Facebook about "their" political views. There's no need to watch any political pundits, just go read your Facebook feed where you can learn political theory from your friend whom most recently you watched do an inverted keg stand while doing a bong hit.

There are only a few people who I pay attention to on Facebook because they are either 1. well education, 2. have a degree in political science, law, history, 3. are a politician, lawyer, campaign manager, etc.  I do not pay attention to all the morons (yes, many of you are my close friends but in this case you are acting like a moron) who state things like: "If Romney wins, there will be a civil war" ... or ... "We survived Bush, You'll survive Obama" ... or ... "Romney should release his taxes  - he's a fascist!" ... or ... "Michelle Obama for president!" - yeah, these are all very minor examples of the posts that people should refrain from posting.  Unless you are qualified to talk policy, then you should stick to posting pictures of your kid and wedding.  Honestly, I'd rather read that someone just banged a hooker against a garbage can than their own political beliefs.

And lastly ... believe it or not, I'm over all this political crap. Yes, I studied it so I will pay attention to it but as I shared with my father over the weekend, all of this must come to an end soon. And I'm not going on some horrible "let's all be friends" / "hug it out" approach, just end the far right / far left crap. It's awful.  Learn to compromise. And most importantly, as soon as we realize all of these "leaders" are awful, selfish and don't really care about our well being, then things will be better. The way I see it, none of the candidates are true team leaders and most politicians lack inspiration.

So there it is ... what's the take away? College Football is here ... and my birthday is coming up. Plus, the new Red Dawn will be out in a couple of months! Woo Hoo!

The RNC

Normally, I"d go all political, and I still might, but over the last couple of days, I've had to watch the Republican National Convention from Tampa. I'm not allowed to disclose why, but for work, I've been glued to the TV to watch all of the craziness and fun that took place at the RNC.  Here are few things I took away:

• Need to serve more alcohol -- just didn't look like these kids were drunk enough 
• If your going to have 3 Doors Down perform, then Nickleback is an absolute must 
• And what's up with entertainment at the conventions? Both parties usually roll out a series of bands that might have been (big might there) relevant 20 years ago. Otherwise, you get a Nickelback cover band playing the Four Seasons.  
• The speeches ... were speeches. I know my dad loved them (pretty sure my sister hated them) which means they hit home to the Republican target audience.  You can go ahead and say the opposite is true next week. 
• And staying totally out of politics, but the media coverage was abhorrent.  I watched NBC, ABC, CNN, FOX, CNBC and Comedy Central and aside from the later, the nicest thing I can say about the former is that they are all a steaming pile of dog shit. Aside from a couple of clever pundits (Carville, Stewart and Gergen), the remarks by most were so far to the left (or the right) that it was hard to watch. I found it difficult to get anything out of the post coverage because it was more like watching some drunk teenagers fight over a cell phone -- nagging, arguing, trying to determine what the word "we" meant creating a number of racial and gender remarks. Sad to say but David Gergen and James Carville made the most sense out of everyone that  I watched.   
• They should really consider sports figures to do some of the speeches. Nothing that I saw last night motivated me to get all fired up and I know none of the speeches next week will do the same. All are hot air and empty ramblings about how each other sucks.  I long for the day when we have some real leaders, who will give real speeches and offer solutions to issues rather than point fingers or act holier than though.  And ... I long for the day when we the media removes its heads from its ass and realizes that their ratings are plummeting b/c they commentary is complete crap.  

So ... enough of that soapbox and be on the lookout from the Democratic convention.  I promise to keep it less political and more focused on the terrible news reporting.  

Thought / Picture of the Day