Finally A Post After Two Months!

Have you ever got to the point where you don't want to do something you like because you can't do it the way you want to? Doing things "half-assed" just doesn't sit right with me, so I often put things aside, hoping for a better day. Is it a trademark of a perfectionist? I don't know. I don't consider myself as being one though I'm given that label at work all the time. But when it comes to blogging, I think I'll have to accept the label. My blog looks like a piece of crap, and performs crappy due to all the junk I've added to it that calls out to other websites and slows down the loading. When I try to type something offline and transfer it later to the blog, the print comes out all messed up. It's a little discouraging. I've even got a couple domain names that I've had registered for over 10 years now, yet no website up for them. I know how to build websites, but I just can't concentrate on anything anymore. Every idea, inspiration, every valuable piece of information that I could use to be a better preschool and daycare teacher, a better blogger, or to help me start my own business, it's all in boxes scattered around the house. I don't know how to organize or file anything for future use.

It's all very frustrating.

Then too, pertaining to this blog and my quest to become better prepared for whatever disaster this country is in for, it's all becoming too real and too fast. Last year's temporary gasoline shortage was a wakeup call. I panicked just like many others did. But I could later laugh at myself when the fuel supplies returned to normal, and later, dropped in price. But the laughing was short-lived when I stopped in a Sportsman's Warehouse to buy some .22 ammunition just a week or two ago. They were sold out of everything save for some odd calibers and duck shot for hunting. I scooped up 2 boxes of 12 guage, number 4 steel shot shotgun shells as they were going fast. And I don't even own a shotgun! Will sales return to normal someday? Is this just a temporary run on ammunition just like last year's temporary run on fuel?

There's talk of taxing our gasoline up to $4.00 a gallon to help pay for the ongoing enconomic rescue. There's constant news about world-wide droughts or floods that will drastically cut into our food supply. We're living on the last of our surplus here in America, and by 2010 I have a feeling prices are going to go way up due to shortages. And it's not just natural disasters cutting into the food supply. American farmers are being told to scale back by the government if not already due to lack of funds to raise their crops. And if there's war in the Middle East, the consequences will be felt world-wide, even if we're not directly involved.
Ok, I can handle that. "A wise man hopes for the best and prepares for the worst". I can just keep on with my food storage, buying tangibles for future trade or use should the stores be empty. But what's frustrating is that it takes time and money. Oh I'm doing a little here and a little there, but the perfectionist in me wants a handgun, a couple rifles, a shotgun, and a thousand rounds of ammunition for each. I want land and a defensible home. I want a garden that produces all of my vegetable needs, and a nearby forest for hunting.
You see, the survival fantasy was fun as a child. Catching my first fish on a hook made from twigs was a Robinson Crusoe dream come true. But now it's for real and it's not so fun any more. There's that panic like what I felt when waiting in line for my fuel last year. Will I get my share in time?

And then you read of some things our government is doing. I've often laughed when the term "Big Brother" or "Police State" is used to describe the government, but after reading this, I'm not laughing any more.

Missouri State Police Label Honest Americans TerroristsPolice Told Which Political Beliefs to Consider "Dangerous." A secret police report targets millions of Americans as potential "domestic terrorists" if they support the Constitution, oppose unlawful taxation, supported 2008 presidential candidates Republican Ron Paul, Libertarian Bob Barr or Constitution Party candidate Chuck Baldwin, if they are opposed to abortion, are against unconstitutional gun control, if they display pro- Constitution bumper stickers or own copies of certain books and documentaries.......http://www.newswithviews.com/Mary/starrett197.htm
by Mary Starrett

It's not fantasy any more. It's not paronoia, it's not some doomsday hype. And a couple cans of Mountain House freeze dried food and a solar battery charger just doesn't make a person feel more prepared anymore. It's all becoming too real.

I think the bottom line is, I'm spending way too much time reading about what other people are doing to prepare for civil unrest or natural disasters. Granted, all these website, blogs, and free resources out there are great. In the last few months I've copied off a couple survival websites and saved all the information in .pdf files. I've downloaded every free ebook or text file on canning, trapping, first aide, and the like. I'm studying food preservation techniques on Youtube, and my food pantry recipes are accumulating into a book. But now it's time to do it. My favorite motto is" "I will do today what others will not do, so I can do tomorrow what others cannot do". It's now time to live it. I have much going against me - my truck is over-heating, my intense work with the children at daycare, and now a weekend job to occupy more of my free time. I even found a crowbar behind my back door a week ago. What's going on with that? That's one of my greatest fears - to do all this work and then come home one day to find it all stolen from you. But that's all part of being being survival minded I guess. I'll tell you one thing, it's going to take more than a crowbar to get through my back door now.

It's hard though when you're doing it all yourself. I'm single, and I pay the rent, utilities, for the food, gas, etc, all by myself. I leave for work at 7am and don't get back until 6pm. Oh I'm not complaining. I've always been single and know no other way, and I wouldn't give up my work with the children for anything. But it's just harder when you don't have someone to share the load. I'm a big believer in "doubling up" these days, families uniting under one roof to ride out the storm. I have a room waiting for me with my parents out by Bedford, but my job is in Roanoke. I've been urging my parents to sell and to go with me on a home in Roanoke so we can help each other out. No dice. And my truck won't make the long drive back forth each day.
Like I said, it's all frustrating. And that's why I've not touched this blog for two months now. And now I've got an intense summer daycare program coming up which will take up all my time and effort, not to mention my weekend park job which I'm very thankful to get back for the summer. But blogging isn't just a priority right now. I'd still like to meet up with other survival minded people in our area though. And as for my blog, to maybe turn it solely into a resource center with news and files pertaining to emergency preparedness and such. But as for my ramblings or "ruminating", I'm just finding it too hard to think positively much less show it in my writing. But check back later and...., well, we'll see.

Rod McGough

Thanks For The Comment

"Good stuff. I agree, in fact you may want to look at book recently published looking at the teaching lessons of other toys. It is called Toy Box Leadership - Leadership Lessons from the Toys You Loved as a Child. My coauthor and I worked hard to make write a simple book about leadership with lessons that stick. It also covers the history of the toys."

http://toyboxleadership.com

Posted by Ron Hunter Jr. to Star City Survival at January 11, 2009 3:56 PM


I just wanted to publicly thank Mr. Hunter for his comment and kind words. It's an honor to have the Executive Director & CEO of Randall House Publications read my little blog. You can be sure that I bookmarked your blog: http://www.writeideaonleadership.com and your website that advertises your new book: "Toy Box Leadership" at: http://toyboxleadership.com

Your book does look very interesting and I'll be ordering a copy soon. Apparently there's more to learning from our toys than I ever imagined.

Again, thank you.

Rod McGough

Sometimes I think that maybe it’s a good thing that I only have a couple readers of my blog. My entries are made sporadically – sometimes it’s weeks before I post something. I don’t know how the professional webmasters or bloggers do it with something new up every day. I know that readers sometimes provide most of the content such as at Survivalblog.Com, but still, it takes a lot of time at the computer to put it all together and present it. TheSurvivalPodcast.Com has reader input, but it’s mostly in the way of posts on the message board. The owner spends a half hour each day recording his message for his .mp3 podcasts, but that’s after hours and hours of research for each post. All I can say is wow!

Me, I’m just rambling on. I’m a man of passion, but it’s not my interests in emergency preparedness and survivalism. My passion is for working with children, and right now I’m giving all my free time towards that. And when I come home after a day of working with 3 year olds, I’m brain dead and tired.

By the way, I’m returning my 3 year old class back to the former teacher and am going to be “floating around” the daycare for a while helping out where needed or not. With a possible 25% unemployment rate in store for this country in 2009, this doesn’t provide me with a very secure standing with the company. If anyone in the Roanoke Valley (Roanoke City, Roanoke County, or Salem) hears of a need for a lead teacher position in a preschool or daycare, or for an Assistant Director, please let me know. I specialize in Pre-K Kindergarten readiness, and the care of and entertainment of children ages 4 – 10. This is year 29 for me and I’m going on as strong as ever. I really enjoy my present childcare center, but my heart lies with a class that I gave away a few months ago when the economy took a nose dive and I panicked. It’s a great class, but the teacher that I gave the class to is about as passionate about her work as I am. I can’t justify sitting around waiting to get my class back in a couple years from now. I’m not getting any younger.

Anyway, back to the topic of emergency preparedness and survivalism,

What I’m going to attempt to do here is to list every book, cartoon, movie and toy that I feel has shaped my thoughts and have helped made me to be more survival-minded. It’s not been an easy task as just when I feel that my list is complete, I’ll wake up in the middle of the night to add another title. I’m doing this as because of my 29 years of working with children, I really believe that the books and movies you show to your children can have a positive impact on their lives. They can of course have a negative impact as well, and your choices depend on your set of values of course. I’m working on another website for this purpose exclusively, but that’s for later.

And I just want to point out before I begin, that this is just my view. I hold no college degree whatsoever. I’ve attended the school of LIFE and HARD KNOCKS, and have tons of LIFE EXPERIENCE credits on my transcript. I do look at things from a Christian standpoint, but even that sometimes could be debatable and I’ll change my mind later on. I remember reading a Christian book back in the 80’s called: “Turmoil In The Toybox” by Phil Phillips and came away completely convinced that movie and toys such as “My Little Pony” and “The Smurfs” were Satanic and evil. I laugh now and wonder what the author would say about my SpongeBob movie collection and toys. So take my collection as you wish, but I firmly believe that they’ve done me a world of good. This will be a 3 part blog series.

*** Clicking on any of these titles will bring you to my Amazon.Com page where you can purchase these items. All money earned gives me survival related products from my Amazon.Com wish list.

Part 1 Toys That Shaped My Life

Fisher Price People

I of course grew up with the wooden and plastic ones which are no longer produced due to choking hazards. They’re collectables now by the way. If you have some, you can sell them on Ebay.

Now I’ll have to go with the surmise from that book I mentioned: “Turmoil In The Toybox”, that children “project” themselves into their toys. These little people are amoral. They do not come with a gun glued to their hands. They are essentially the child themselves in miniature form. Now I grew up very low income. Toys were hard to come by and usually only at Christmas time, and were few. So accessories for these toys had to be hand made. Usually, it was either the Sears or JC Penneys catalog that was cut up and mounted on cardboard for accessories. I can still remember the pleasure and magic of creating things for my people. And as of that time I was watching Gilligan’s Island on TV on a daily basis, so my favorite fantasy was of course “survival”. I’d cut out guns, fishing rods, tents, etc, and set up my little survivalist community. Cutting out curtains, televisions, and fireplaces were of course just extras. I’m sure Gilligan wouldn’t have minded having a TV set in his hut anyway. Just a note, I find now that Lego figurines or people would be a better substitute.

Lincoln Logs

The next step upwards from shoe box houses was a genuine Lincoln Log cabin. Nowadays most children sword fight with the longer pieces so it’s rare to see a complete cabin with roof. I don’t think I watched Little House On The Prairie until my teen years, so it must have been shows like “Daniel Boone” that gave me an interest in log cabins. I sure wish I lived in one now. I have a ton of stuff I’d like to hang from the wall. Ever try hanging shelves from plaster or drywall?

Tinker Toys

I asked the boys and girls at daycare this week if anyone had any Tinker Toys. Only those In the ages 8 – 12 classroom knew what they were. Aside from the choking hazard, they were wonderful toys to play with. Nothing was made that you didn’t have to see it in your mind first. Back then they were made out of wood and I could make anything with them. Add a rubber band and you could make motorized paddle boats or helicopters. Add string and it’s a fishing pull. So the professor made a radio from coconuts? I made mine from Tinker Toys! What was really fun is when you add a rubber band, they made a nifty little dart gun to shoot your brother and sister with. Of course my mother had alternative uses for the belt around my pants, so I didn’t do that too often.

Little Green Army Men

Some parents object to war toys. Mine never did, but then the only “war” I played was with my little green plastic army men. Again, in reference to “Turmoil In The Toybox”, children project themselves into the toy. But…., unlike the modern super fighter toys where you only own a couple of them, army men were a large handful per bag. When one soldier was “killed” he was gone to the big army camp in the sky. There was no need to rejuvenate him and bring him back to the game. Dead was dead. Your larger army man figurines are special. They are usually immune from death in child's play which make the art of war play seem more innocent and exciting. You never die. There is no pain or sorrow. And as they are usually connected with a cartoon, they take on the personality of that cartoon character which unfortunately sometimes isn’t a suitable role model for our children. I do believe that. But harm from the little green army men…, no.

I think that’s what the book was trying to get across, and yes, I do believe some toys are inappropriate based on my values. But it’s been 20 some years since I’ve read the book so I can't really say just which toys exactly were supposedly bad to buy. Someday when I clean house I’ll find it and re-read it. But that’s my view anyway for the most part. I just won’t ever go overboard with it when I put toys out for the children. Sometimes a toy is just a toy.

GI Joes

Oh but I did have GI Joes. That was my all time favorite toy. They were almost a foot in length, moveable plastic body parts, and clothes. I never played war though. Come to think of it, in the 60’s and early 70’s, I can’t recall ever watching a war cartoon. Again, they had to survive in the great outdoors and in taking them outside; I’d build them stick houses. From there I’d build them ponds and gardens. They were far too precious to play rough with, so they lasted quite a few years. I had a couple Joes with “Kungfu Grips”, a Geronimo doll, some weird looking doll that looked German, Captain Maddox which I believe came with Geronimo as part of a western set, and then I had some Star Trek figures which being smaller in size, became children. Oh, and I had Steve Scout too. He had a crush on Lieutenant Uhura from my Star Trek collection. They never did anything inappropriate though as I didn’t learn about the Birds and the Bees until Junior High. Even then it wasn’t until 8^th. Grade, as what was depicted on the bathroom wall in 7^th. Grade was a little off course if you know what I mean. When I finally outgrew my GI Joes, I couldn’t stand the thought of throwing or giving them away, so they went out in a blaze of glory along with my sister’s Barbie dolls. That was in my pyrotechnic days which I don’t wish to discuss. I’m not certain if I could be still be charged for the explosion in my neighbor’s back yard even though it was some 28 years ago. A word of warning: don’t let your children ever download an ebook called “The Poor Man’s James Bond” or “The Anarchist’s Cookbook”.

Well that’s it for toys. Stuffed animals, toys cars & trucks, or craft kits didn’t hold my interest very long. My Easy Bake Oven was fun, but after you cook desert for the entire family, your cooking supplies are exhausted. But again, these toys played hand-in-hand with my early interests in camping or “survivalism” fantasies such I had after watching TV shows like Gilligan’s Island or reading books like “Robinson Crusoe” and “The Swiss Family Robinson”. Along with other books and television shows, I firmly believe that it imprinted in my brain a desire to get back to nature, to survive whatever comes your way, or to prepare for the future. I wasn’t into sports, I rarely got to go fishing and camping though I loved it immensely, and I had no video games. What I had was pretty much “make something from nothing” type toys and play. Discarded batteries, little motors from broken tape recorders, etc, provided me with science and electronic play. Sticks, rocks and dirt, collecting insects, and what little fishing I could do, gave me a love for nature. Dramatic play in my friend’s attic above their garage helped me work on social skills I guess. I always played the professor, my friends: Gilligan and the Skipper. We didn’t play with girls so we never had a Ginger or Maryann. They were “The good old days” from what I can still remember.

Now I’m not advocating taking away your child’s playstation, nor do I think a parent should mold their children into a younger version of themselves – living out their youth through their children. But in the variety of toys and learning experiences that you provide for your children, I really believe that some thought should be given to purchasing toys that encourages a little brain growth in areas that video games or toys that do it all doesn’t seem to support. Maybe a child should be encouraged to get a little dirty outside, or to bring in a bug bottled up in a jar into your spotless and sterile environment that you call home. And instead of paying out $40 -$50 at the movie theater, take the family out in the forest for a little nature walk. Climb some trees and catch tadpoles. There’s plenty of homeschool websites on the Internet that can help you and your children grow closer together as a family, and develop self-help and resourceful living skills that will do your child a world of good – now, and in their future.

I can’t remember my first movie at the theaters, nor my first video game. I do remember my little world I made for myself with my simple toys. We didn’t have much, but the toys that I was presented with gave me hours of satisfaction – entertainment, and the knowledge that by using my mind with my toys, I could probably do anything if someday the toys became tools for living. I guess in some ways, they already were.

Stay tuned for my next installment on: Books That Shaped My Life.

As always, just a little conversation between me, myself, and I.....,
And anyone who happens to drop by.

Rod McGough
Email Me

Anyone Want To Stroll Down Memory Lane?

I'm making sort of a journal/scrapbook of my life in 2008, you know, something that takes you hours to compile but then you find that you can't afford the ink to print out 200 - 300 pages all at once. Anyway, here's two websites that I finally found, that you may be interested in reading through yourself for your own stroll down memory lane. Either that or wait till Time Magazine prints one out in color for you in a week or two:


2008 Current Events — Infoplease.com
http://www.infoplease.com/world/events/2008/


2008 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2008


There's a lot of debate over whether it's good to look back at the past, but I think that as long as you're not adding the poison of "regret" into your life by doing so, you can make it a positive experience. And isn't that what we tell our children when they question the reasoning of learning about history when it's all over and done with. I believe the quote is: "Those who refuse to learn from history are condemned to repeat it". When I teach children, I like to use the "FDR" approach: Focus, Discover, and Respond. You focus on an issue - a certain truth, discover what the impact it has on your life - the applications or consequences even, and then you respond to it in a positive way. Many times for children they respond with "I'm not going to do that anymore", and that's usually something we hope will happen if it pertains to behavior and the negative consequence that it received. But for us adults, response is the key as well. We need to ask ourselves what we should have done differently, how we can do it a better way in the future, or..., how we can lessen the consequence if it's bound to happen again the same way. I believe that's part of being survival-minded. Yes we're Americans, and we didn't get to be Americans by letting people kick sand in our faces. But sometimes things are just going to happen despite lessons learned from the past, and we need to be prepared with anything we can do to lessen the impact on ourselves, friends, family, and loved ones. And we call that "emergency preparedness", not paranoia.

“Let us not look back to the past with anger, nor towards the future with fear, but look around with awareness” James Thurber

Here's hoping for a better year, or at least for a year where we can sleep easy in our beds at night knowing that come-what-may, we've done our best to maintain a lifestyle that we enjoy and can provide for our family, loved ones, and friends with the skills and resources that God has made available to each one of us.

"I will do today what others will not do,
so I can do tomorrow what others cannot do"

As always, just a little talk between me, myself, and I,
And anyone stopping in to listen.

Rod McGough
MisterDaycare@Gmail.Com

O Come All Ye Faithful

It's just the first verse, but beautiful just the same.

Merry Christmas From Mister Daycare & Star City Survival!