While we made it through the weekend just fine, we lost power three separate times on Monday. Our solar system carried us through, but something happened—a power surge, I assume—that knocked out the Wi-Fi card in my desktop computer. My phone, Firestick, the cameras, and every other device connected to the router just fine, but not the desktop.
I spent a good three hours changing settings and trying different fixes with no luck, so I restored the system using a restore point from the day before the storm. I had high hopes, but that didn’t help. In the end, I had to pull the Wi-Fi card from my wife’s old Windows 10 computer, which we replaced last fall, and install it in mine. I had purchased the card in 2020 because this house was not wired for Ethernet, but six years later, it still worked. I had to figure out a way to get the drivers onto the PC, but I am back up and running.
The photos of ice and downed trees from Tennessee and Mississippi are terrible. I know how those folks feel, especially the ones with damage to their houses. We survived better than many, but now a new storm may or may not hit us this weekend. My wife doesn’t have anywhere she needs to be until next Wednesday, so we will just keep hunkering down inside and enjoying our version of “dry January.”
It’s Not the Cold that Gets You, it’s the Windchill
How cold has it been? Well, on Tuesday morning, the dog turned around and wanted to head home before we had gone even half as far as we do on her normal walk. I think it was the wind that bothered her. I couldn’t blame her. It was 6°F, and the wind was whipping. That night, it was even windier, but our night-time walks are shorter to start with.
I wore a ski bib from who knows how many years ago when I used to ski, my insulated hunting boots, and a wool balaclava. Combined with my wool thermals and socks, I was plenty warm. In fact, I had to unzip a bit to keep from sweating.
Sweating in bitter cold temperatures can be dangerous as it can cause you to get chilled. This is why you should not wear cotton thermals but something like wool, which still retains heat when wet, or a synthetic that wicks moisture away. Between polypropylene and polyester, I prefer polypropylene, but I have to admit that some of the grid fleece thermals are very nice. They tend to be heavier than the polypro models.
Concealed Carry in the Cold Changes Things
As you can imagine, it’s impossible to draw a gun from your waist when you are wearing bibs. (If you wear overalls, leave me a comment on how/where you carry.) Whenever I dress like this—which happens a couple of times each winter—I switch to my bear-defense gun, a large-bore revolver, worn in a shoulder holster. I can draw it with a quick unzipping of my coat.
My first gun was a .357 revolver, so whenever I carry a full-size revolver, it’s kind of a throwback to those days.
Some people carry either a larger caliber gun or switch to a heavier bullet in the winter to help penetrate the extra clothing people wear. I don’t worry about that. I figure the Critical Defense bullets are designed so heavy clothing will not clog the tip and prevent expansion.
Of course, when wearing ski bibs, reloads become a problem. I usually carry them in my cargo pants, but I can’t reach my pocket while wearing the bibs. That means I have to stash the speed loaders or moon clips in my jacket pocket. That works, as long as I don’t pull my gloves out in a hurry and yank the bullets out with them.
I don’t expect to shoot anyone or anything on a cold, windy day, but it would suck to carry 364 days a year and need your gun on the only day you don’t have it.
Where to Carry and Where Not to Carry
I am going to try not to get political or take sides, but the shooting of a nurse in Minnesota a few days ago should serve as a lesson to anyone who carries. There are places you should not go and things you should not do when you carry.
I’m not saying he didn’t have a constitutional right to carry; I’m saying he used bad judgment regarding where he chose to go while carrying and what he chose to do while he was there. He may have been in the right, but now he is dead. Being right didn’t help him.
I’ve said before that one of the best ways to maximize your chances of living a long and happy life is not to do stupid things in stupid places with stupid people. You may be able to get away with breaking one of those rules, but often not all of them.
Why You Should Never Resist Arrest
Even if nobody gets shot, you should not resist arrest. Why? Because it makes you instantly guilty of something. Maybe they pinched you for a crime someone else committed. Just go with it. There will be time enough to get it all straightened out, maybe rather quickly. Don’t fight it. Don’t struggle. It not only makes you look guilty, it’s an easy conviction for the prosecutor, an extra charge your lawyer has to try to get dismissed, and nobody will care if you weren’t guilty of the original charge.
You can learn a great deal about how to act with the police by watching badge cam footage on YouTube. Yeah, the high-speed chases are exciting (talk about doing stupid things with stupid people), but you can learn more watching the police deal with a mouthy shoplifter, someone on drugs, a mentally ill person, or a belligerent drunk.
Police interactions do not have to be confrontations. You can be polite without answering questions. If pulled over, you can be cooperative without letting them search your car. You should shut up and ask for a lawyer if threatened with arrest, but you should not run or fight back.
If you, your kid, or someone you know is young and dumb, sit them down and watch six hours of badge cam videos and two to four hours of lawyers telling you how to behave and what to say and not say in everything from a traffic stop to a murder investigation. It might save a life or prevent a conviction.
