CHAOS

This post comes from a discussion that I was having on an Amateur Radio Yahoo Group that I moderate. I thought there might be some insights contained herein that might be relevant to this Blog. Enjoy.

I am going thru a bit of a "change" here in the world of KD8LZB. This change
has a much larger sphere than just Amateur Radio, but Amateur Radio holds a very
significant place in the bigger picture. I have of course been following with
great interest the various discussions. There is a lot of GREAT going stuff
going on here. But the more I follow the discussions here, the more I am
convinced that I need to get my Shack in order.

When the proverbial crap hits the fan, and I'm convinced that here in SE MI it
is just a matter of time, all of our fancy dancy opinions about modes and
training and promotion won't mean a thing! I need to be completely ready to
receive traffic from my neighbors and figure out a way to get those messages out
of my community and to their destination. My thoughts on this matter are in
part being driven by what is happening… or perhaps better said… what is not
happening in NY. I have to be ready to serve my neighborhood when the Cavalry
doesn't show up. When all of our plans fail… when all of our favorite modes
fail… when the back-up for the back-up fails… I need to be ready.

I wish like everything that there was some way to organize the chaos of what
will certainly be chaos… and we can train and prepare and strategize… but when
it happens… and it most certain is going to… all of our plans won't even begin
to handle the chaos. I am going to have to be ready think… and improvise… and
make do with less resources than what I have. I am going to have to be smart
and innovative. I am going to have to figure out a way to keep my station safe.
I am going to have to improve my people skills. I have to figure out a way to
do what I do when I'm the only guy doing it.

Has anyone ever figured out how to set up a Traffic Net with little more than a
mobile / portable radio in the middle of an Interstate Highway that is nothing
more than a parking lot cluttered with out of fuel cars and trucks that were
trying to evacuate a city that has collapsed into rioting and looting? Has
anyone ever figured out how to set up a Traffic Net that is prepared to handle
medical emergencies when Hospitals are burned to the ground? Has anyone even
begun to consider what it would be like to try to move a message from one point
to another when politicians have declared that only "approved" radio messages
can be sent?

What is my point in bring up these ridiculously absurd questions? It seems to
me that many of our discussions only tend to prove that we can't agree on how to
handle predictable disaster scenarios. How in the world can we then expect to
deal with the ridiculously unpredictable scenarios that may very well be a part
of our future?

Thanks for letting me vent… This is what happens when I'm tired. I'll try to
be more happy and positive, and much less crazy with my next post.

KC
KD8LZB