Prep Monday—Prepping and Moving and Losing My Mind


Oh, my. This has been an exercise in patience, which I sorely lack.

A brief recap:

Almost exactly a year ago, we closed on a piece of property in southern Missouri. Thirty-five acres. We spent countless hours/days/weeks doing various projects around the farm, including a complete remodel of the 900-square-foot house. We also emptied a 2400-square-foot barn (and have since filled it up again).

We’ve cleaned up and cleaned out and re-done nearly everything, and for the past several months have been moving in—which means, of course, that we’re essentially living in two houses, roughly half our time in each.

And they’re about 2-3 hours apart, driving time.

 So. That’s where I’ve been. We did, however, manage to get satellite Internet hooked up last week, so hopefully this whole moving-the-office thing will no longer be such a giant PITA.

Admittedly, our prepping has fallen a bit by the wayside—while simultaneously expanding in other areas.

Security is coming along nicely, as are communications. Stocking and saving are doing well. Now that I think about it a bit more, the problem seems to just be in my head . . .

Let’s not go there.

It’s still crucial, in spite of the slowdown of Internet rumors lately, to be ready for whatever may happen. Or may not. I still believe this, I’m still preparing for it:

We have kits in our vehicles, we have alternate routes, we keep our ears to the ground. IF we had to take off for the farm in a hurry, we could easily do so.

But I’ll still rest a lot easier when we make the final push in the next few weeks.

 

Fan Friday—Social Media and Other No-nos


Admittedly, these are some of MY pet peeves; doing these things doesn’t mean you’ll lose all your “friends,” not even me. But they sure are annoying:

“Talking,” or typing, on the page of a deceased person. Especially when your comments are directed to them. Seriously, peeps, they aren’t watching or reading, let alone going to answer to you. I get that you want to remember them and feel close to them, but surely there are better ways to do this besides social media.

Speaking of, few things are creepier than having a dead person’s birthday show up in your newsfeed. Take the page down or make it private. Please.

Sharing old news. This gets old fast. Some people are going to comment, but probably half of those will be along the lines of “hey dude, this happened TWO YEARS AGO!”

Exhorting people to share something if they think that ________sucks. Good grief. We all know cancer sucks, among other things. We don’t need a sharefest for this.

Likewise, sharing or commenting or liking to “support” something. This does nothing.

“Reply all” has to be one of the most annoying inventions ever. If you get an email asking if you’ll be at XYZ meeting, you don’t need to hit “reply all.” Really, no one but the sender cares if you’re coming or not; if there are one or two people to whom this might matter, email them separately. I certainly don’t need to get 17 emails that say “I’ll be there” or “can’t make it.”

This particularly applies to group emails of jokes, funny stories, lists, and other assorted things that I’ve probably already seen. And especially when some of the recipients take a day or so to respond, because they MUST RESPOND, and I keep seeing it all week long.

Also, don’t send the same damn email to more than one of a person’s email addresses. I don’t need duplicates, I get enough email as it is. Before you reply, or “reply all” ONLY when it’s absolutely necessary, as during an actual discussion of some sort, check the email addresses. Please. PLEASE!

Stop “liking” bad stuff, things like an obit or a horrible news story. Comment if you will, but for heaven’s sake don’t “like” it. Sheesh. “My dog got hit by a car today” received 25 “likes.” What’s wrong with you people?

Old post comments are near the top of the annoying list. Yesterday, I got a FB notification that someone commented on one of my comments. Naturally, I went to look and guess what—I kid you not—my post was from FOUR YEARS ago! Good grief.

And finally, just because virtual communication is effectively 24/7, don’t message someone outside of regular business hours and expect any kind of prompt response. Or even one at all, because we’ll undoubtedly forget all about it by the next day. I understand wanting to do it while you’re thinking about it, but instant messaging is like a conversation; it’s in the moment. Logging on in the morning, or turning on your phone and having six or so messages, is like walking into your office and having a line outside the door at 6:00 a.m.

Nothing is that urgent, unless it’s a family emergency, a life or death kind of thing.