#best cheap geiger counter

[bestpickme]

5 Best Geiger Counters of 2023

[em0sket]

big long horror post incoming

i worte a short horror story punctuation isnt great but whatever

insipered by tma

tw death body horror

Mr meechum:Well you got me here now what you want the full story from the top or just the incident?

documenter:Well we do what we can to try and provide a documented account of all sides of history and it gets recorded and filed in the records always best to hear everything first hand plus i'd hate for anything to slip through the cracks be twisted by the media that sort of thing of course i know its not completely 100% possible but i like to do what i can to preserve people's story from their perspective give me a second to make the official notation so tell me mr meechum what happened in the intendium labs in  september 1969

Mr meechum: firstly i know people think “scientist” is an impressive title but we didnt have breakthroughs every day not in my department anyway i was an overseer in the categorising department that meant anything and everything that was handed over by the public to the labs was sorted through by us anything seemingly dangerous usually some cheap old crap glow in the dark vases and plates suspected to be radioactive which we would test and store appropriately had a couple of suspected evidence of communist invasion which was mainly scraps of paper in code or unusual bullets one time a copy of the communist manifesto never led to anything but it had to be processed just in case said the higher ups and i wasnt going to argue  we used to get alot of weird looking stones people told us were moonrocks usually just hagstones or naturally occurring geodes but of course with the moon landing a couple months before, the paranoia of bored housewives and a couple of doped up drifters made for a drastic influx of “moonrocks” or apparent proof of alien life in my lab over the last couple of months. pretty much all of them were hoaxes or deluded fantasies but there was one that made me move to my desk job .

one of the guys brought it in scott was his name scott hawthorne but we all called him sniffer because on his first week he found three different radioactive objects without the geiger counter apparently to him they all had a distinct smell to them whatever that meant but he was right about 8/10 times so when he brought in this unassuming rock and made a big fuss over it we all joked that sniffer had gone nose blind, but he was captivated by this thing absolutely entranced he wouldn't let go of it and could tell when someone had touched it which he was right about but we could never figure out how he knew he had made it his personal project using his breaks to study it he weighed and measured and examined it was about the size of a football with a light sandy grey exterior but perfectly spherical like it had been specifically carved to look that way we all thought it was just a chisled rock he was obsessing over  for some reason ,thought he would get bored of it myself included. Ive never regretted my ignorance more because after the first week everyone in the lab been… feeling itchy ,i guess, sort of uncomfortable. There was an underlying feeling of unrest people couldnt focus it was always something, the room was too quiet, too hot, too prickly something in the air just made the guys skin crawl a sort of squirming unease began to creep under my coworkers very flesh like something was undulating under their tissue poking around burrowing. This of course whilst mildly unnerving, was more of a health concern than anything if something in the lab was making people sick it was my duty as their manager to write to head office. Which sent me to the medical team so they came around and did their checks and everyone was fine ,physically the lab was monitored and swabbed everything was normal apart from scott, he was the worst out of everyone.

He had what seemed to be a rash on the back of his neck,they checked it and it seemed to be just that they passed it off as bad laundry detergent and went on with their day and i didnt want to be causing ruckus and being pedantic so i went about my work. scott however became more and more irritated kept scratching himself adjusting his tie and began to get agitated when any coworkers tried to chat with him instinctively reaching for this rock every time they did .i got sick of his attitude one day so i suggested he take the day off and honest to god he nearly swung at me  before stopping himself and then he refused to leave eventually i had to get security in who then had to physically drag him out of the workspace along with the usual cursing he started literally spitting and hissing basically frothing at the mouth other than the paperwork this was going to require i clearly needed to have a look at that rock he was studying, test it for anything addictive or harmful something we missed. the guys in the lab obviously knew that now scott was gone someone was going to have to investigate the stone and if i didnt do it someone else would, probably with less caution, care and sense

so at lunch break i made it an event since everyone was so keen to know what was up with it. so i looked over scotts notes;his examinations of the mineral i- it didnt make any sense it was quite literally impossible it measured about 60cm across in all directions give or take a few mm and get this completely weightless completely! i checked myself first i covered it in a fire blanket with my coworkers watching  because if this thing had powered meth that sniffer had been well sniffing on it or god knows what else i didnt want to risk touching it.  Then i put it on a scale but it was right it was  hardly a fraction of a gram but the weight of it felt like a bowling ball i checked on different scales multiple times it all came out the same it wasnt physically possible so i swabbed it and ran the tests with 20 eyes watching my every movement it came out to nothing. regular old granite. Im normally pretty level headed but for some reason this enraged me this stupid all encompassing pebble had for some reason turned a good drinking buddy into a neurotic mess and was eating away at his life and sanity slowly consuming his mind and the weeks of irritation and frustration at the unrest of my skin after this inane piece of granite entered my life and workspace I dont know what came over me exactly but i had to get rid of it. it just had to go. I struck it on the tiled floor and it cracked. one crack. down the centre. about a fingers width apart and everyone was waiting for my next move  so i ducttaped my lab coat and two pairs of vinyl gloves closed around the wrist completely sealed just in case.

i looked over at the spot it fell when a keen and sure  sense of dread awoke within me id never been so deeply instinctualy fearful like that before some primal part of my brain screaming bloody murder that i needed to get out now the same as  how i imagine a fish feels when it sinks its jaw into the hook. But i mean what else was i going to do let it continue ruining lives? So i swallowed my fear and strode over all eyes on me the impossible hunk of earth at my fee.t i wedged one finger in between the ridges of its crack held the base of the infernal sphere and pried it open. the rock was spongy and sulphur yellow with a smell of utter decay a groan came from my audience of staff and my hands sank through the geode at first contact it had the look of  a rotted mattress and the feel of raw sausages my hand shot back  as i processed the texture in my mind and gazed at the honey combed innards that looked like something had buried through it like the remains of a parasite that had dug its way through the structure of the rock infinite amounts making little homes for itself repeatedly squirming and writhing its way through something stronger than itself im glad i moved my hand when i did because it started to pulse looking like it was ejecting something from itself sort of like a cat hacking up a furball

all those tiny divots and passage ways convusled and shuddered out  long thin flailing tendrils it looked like it had coated itself with a blue mucus possibly a toxin im not sure but they didnt stop i never saw the end of them it just kept reeling out of its honeycomb shell endless worming tubes of muscle they flopped onto the white tiled floor leaving trails of foul smelling hot ooze behind it and started hunting for something to attatch itself to. moving at an alarming pace  each tentacle flattening itself onto the ground as wide as it could possibly to feel what was in the area .what it could devour. i dont think it had any eyes just meteres and meteres of viscous curling feelers everyone took a step back apart from one of the lab guys poor harry poor dear sweet stupid harry had his shoelaces untied we used to laugh at him for it you know said it wouldnt hurt him to give it a go and tie the damn things once in a while but as he lurched backwards the vile things clamped onto them and wouldnt let go by the time he realised they had gotten over his socks and onto his bare legs. digging.

There was a moment of pure panic and stillness when we all watched. until he started screaming, then we burst into action ,we started looking for something to help maybe a fire extinguisher or another gas that would subdue it  better yet kill it but the fool tried to crush it harry fell to his knees onto his shins in an effort to beat the thing into a pulp which in turn let the creature find his knees and climb its way up his torso onto his face where it promptly found the eye and started to burrow. chewing through the poor sod boring a new home in his skull and ill never forget the god awful sound , like meat ripping wet and visceral and it  left a trail of purple on his face as the blood from his retinas mixed with the things mucus then when his screaming stopped we all watched the tentacles crawl out of his mouth having  bored through most of the face hitting the ground with a meaty slap but no one moved  most were just as far away as they could get from the carnivorous eels mostly climbing on cabinets in an effort to not touch the ground i when the things again started flattening themselves to search once again this time with a larger diameter than before presumably because of it last meal 

god knows what i did was cowardly i was a person of interest for 10 years for christs sake i had to get out of it by to claiming “mental unrest” but i saw the broom cupboard and hid i had the key so i hid i didnt know what else to do i mean they dont train you for this it was just sheer panic fight or flight  but i dont forget those screams i dont forget the ripping of flesh i dont forget the people i once knew and their hollowed out skull i dont forget the smell of blood and sulfur that plays back on my senses even now thats what people dont get ive been stuck on that day for the last 53 yearsit got on the sunday times front page after that i  got spat at in the street and jeered at on the way to court then thats it shows over everyone goes home and i have to live with it  i cant go to support groups because people have heard of me the broken families i caused the psych evals every year did you know henrys daughter at the age of three asked me at the funeral why i killed her daddy? it’s taken me years to be able to shift myself into a semi normal life but yeah i suppose thats it the whole bloody story  

documenter: thank you that was... fufilling -exits

[eldritchteaparty]

Chapters: 19/22 Fandom: The Magnus Archives (Podcast) Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Martin Blackwood/Jonathan "Jon" Sims | The Archivist Characters: Martin Blackwood, Jonathan "Jon" Sims | The Archivist, Tim Stoker (The Magnus Archives), Sasha James, Rosie Zampano, Oliver Banks, Original Elias Bouchard, Peter Lukas, Annabelle Cane, Melanie King, Georgie Barker, Alice "Daisy" Tonner, Basira Hussain, Allan Schrieber Additional Tags: Post-Canon, Fix-It, Post-Canon Fix-It, Scars, Eventual Happy Ending, Fluff and Angst, I'll add characters and tags as they come up, Reference to injuries and blood, Character Death In Dream, Nudity (not sexual or graphic), Nightmares, Fighting, Spiders Summary: Following the events of MAG 200, Jon and Martin find themselves in a dimension very much like the one they came from--with second chances and more time.

Chapter summary: The group settles on a course of action much faster than Martin imagined they would.

Chapter 19 of my post-canon fix-it fic is up! Read at AO3 above or read here below.

Tumblr master post with links to previous chapters is here.

***

Martin was still tired as they drew close to Hill Top Road the next morning. It wasn’t surprising; the best sleep he’d gotten, other than the first few hours he’d slept before the spiders, had been in Allan’s car on the way out. He’d slept completely through their stop in Canterbury, where Allan had picked up his lab equipment. He woke up with his head on Jon’s shoulder in the back seat of the car, just a few miles from their destination.

“Ow,” he said as he straightened up, his neck cracking.

“I told you you could stay home,” Jon said. “You barely slept.”

“Don’t.” Martin was cross as he rolled his neck, trying to work out the cramp, and Jon put a hand on his arm.

“Sorry,” he mumbled.

“It’s all right.”

That about doubled the number of words they’d said to each other that morning—and now they were here, back at Hill Top Road. From the street, the house appeared less foreboding than it had the last time; it seemed brighter, somehow, despite the cloudiness of the day. Maybe the owner had been back—or maybe the most recent occupant had left.

Martin waited for Tim to get out of the seat in front of him, then got out of the car himself. He hadn’t really spoken to Tim directly since he’d shown up yesterday, and wasn’t at all sure how Tim was feeling toward him. He was therefore both reassured and taken back when Tim put a hand on his shoulder on his way to the boot of the car.

I must be looking pretty good, he thought. They’re not even asking if I’m ok anymore.

It was just the four of them; Elias and the others had opted to stay together at the house. Jon had of course wanted to go, and that meant Martin went too; Tim had also made up his mind to go once he knew Jon was going. Martin watched as Allan opened the boot and began to pull out a number of padded carrying cases of different sizes, handing a few to Tim as he did.

“I know I fell asleep, sorry—what exactly are you—”

“We’re going to attempt to measure this—gap between the dimensions.” He handed Martin one final bag, and closed the boot as he did. “All of these instruments are designed to measure different types of energy.”

“They’re all from your lab?”

“Most of them,” Allan said, a small grin on his face; Tim shook his head.

“If I get in trouble for any of that—”

“I told you, no one will even know they’re missing. We’ll get it all back this afternoon.”

“So wait—this will show what, that the gap—exists?” Martin asked.

Allan shrugged. “Well—in all honesty, not really. If we get no unusual readings, that doesn’t mean it isn’t there. It could just mean we don’t know how to measure it. And if we do—it doesn’t really tell us why. It would just be—well, consistent with some combination of my ideas about the entities and dimensional travel, really.”

“Um—oh. Ok.”

Jon sighed, and Martin recognized it specifically as Jon’s impatient sigh. It was one he had heard a lot in the past, although not so much recently. He supposed from Jon’s perspective, it was kind of a waste of time to not really prove the existence of something he already knew was there. As far as Martin was concerned, though, they could take all the time they wanted.

As they approached the porch, Martin found his impression from the street had been correct. There were many fewer cobwebs on the porch than there had been the last time. The lock, however, was still broken when Jon tried the door, which suggested the owner had not been back.

“You think she’s gone?” he asked Jon.

“Yes.”

“Who?” Tim looked at them suspiciously.

“Annabelle,” Jon replied casually.

“Annabelle.” Tim halted at the top of the steps on the front porch. “She’s here? Was here?”

“Was. I would have said something if—" He trailed off as he saw the look on Tim’s face. “Yes, well, the point is she’s not here.”

“Sure,” Tim said, in a way that made it clear he was not at all sure, but he did follow the rest of them into the house.

“This way.” Jon led them back to the spot in the center of the house where the scarred floorboards resided.

He’s so confident. Martin remembered how different it had been the last time they were here. Jon had been so sick; he had been grasping at straws for any way to regain his connection to the Eye. Martin certainly hadn’t wanted that to happen, but he also hadn’t wanted him to be miserable. Now, though, Jon was pushing ahead, jumping in—he was eager, excited even. Given the circumstances, Martin didn’t like it much more than he had liked things the last time they were here.

“That’s it?” Allan said, staring down at the floor. “Not really what I was expecting.”

“Well—obviously it’s not the gap itself,” Jon explained with slight irritation, as if he were offended at Allan’s disappointment. “It’s a representation of it. Certainly someone would have reported it if it were a cavernous maw extending into the infinite reaches of—”

“Yes, all right,” Allan, unbothered, set down the equipment he was carrying and seated himself on the floor next to it. “Let’s see—Tim, bring those over here, please.”

“Yes, sir.” Tim set his bags down on the floor next to Allan and stepped back near Martin to observe.

“So I’m thinking—hmm—let’s just start with this.” He unpacked a small handheld meter and held it up for them to see. “This is a Geiger counter.”

Tim raised his eyebrows. “That’s for radiation, right?”

“Yes,” Allan replied, as he pressed a button and the instrument’s screen flickered to life. He looked up in their direction just long enough to catch the anxious look on Martin’s face.

“No need to worry,” Allan said cheerfully as he stood up. “I’ll be looking at this from several angles, and this is just somewhere to start. Don’t let the idea of radiation bother you. There’s some level of radiation around us all the time—background radiation, it’s completely—well, not harmless, exactly, but well within the bounds of what the human body can withstand. This particular instrument is sensitive enough that we should be able to see relatively minor deviations from what we’d expect.”

“Oh,” Martin said, not knowing what else to say.

“All right, here we go.” Allan held the instrument up in the air and pressed a button and waited while it emitted an uneven series of a few clicks, and then checked the screen. He repeated this several more times, then nodded.

“Well?” Tim asked.

“Oh, sorry. I haven’t really done anything yet, just measuring background levels. Nothing out of the ordinary, pretty much what you’d expect for this part of England. But now I’ll know what I’m comparing to when I measure—that.” He gave another unimpressed look at the jagged mark running over the floor before bending over it with the instrument in hand. He moved it close to the mark and repeated the same process of measurements—pressing a button and then waiting for the clicks, then repositioning it to another spot, pressing the button and waiting again. “Huh.”

“What?” Martin couldn’t read Allan’s expression at all.

“Nothing,” Allan said, shrugging as he stood straight again. “I was averaging in my head, of course, so I might not be quite right, but—it would be like taking your temperature and reading 37 degrees exactly.”

Martin was relieved, but Jon, standing apart from the rest of the group, did not seem to be feeling the same way.

“Well, let’s move on,” Allan said, returning to his equipment pile and choosing a new device. “Let��s try this one. It’s for—oh—electromagnetic fields, radio frequencies—it’s sort of a cheap piece of equipment, actually, not very precise—but it should give us a good general picture.” He squatted down next to the mark on the floor again, adjusted a dial on the instrument, and began to move it closer and further away. He adjusted the dial several times as he continued to move it around the floor.

“Still nothing,” he said after a few minutes, sitting back on his haunches.

“Then that’s not the right way to measure it,” Jon said.

“I said when we came in that was a strong possibility,” Allan said, but it was clear Jon didn’t like this turn of events. “I’ve got a few more things we can—"

“It’s here,” Jon said.

“Can’t you just know the right way to measure it, then?” Tim’s tone was sarcastic, but Jon paused.

“Well…” He concentrated for a moment, then shook his head. “No. Apparently I can’t.” His growing frustration was obvious.

“Hey.” Now that Martin was starting to feel a bit easier about everything, he felt a little bit bad for Jon. “That’s—that’s all right. That just means we’ll need more time to—”

Martin’s attempt at soothing him didn’t work. “But it’s right there. Damn it, I know it’s there. I can feel it, it’s like it’s just on the other side of—”

“Oh,” Allan said. Martin’s eyes jumped back to the instrument in his hand, still hovering just over the mark in the floor, and there was some kind of movement on the digital screen. A moment later, it had gone quiet again.

“What was that?” Tim asked.

“I don’t know.” Allan frowned. “It’s like there was a sudden—pulse of electrical activity. A lot of it.”

“Jon,” Tim said, looking over at him, “did you do something? While you were talking?”

“That couldn’t possibly—” Allan started to say, but Jon cut him off.

“Yes,” Jon said. “I—I don’t know, I was looking for the—well, really, the tape—it’s—”

“Oh,” Allan said again, as the numbers on the screen resumed their movement. He walked it intently over different parts of the floor, then moved it further away and then closer again. Martin couldn’t really follow the whole thing from where he was standing, but Allan’s body language was enough to concern him. “This—this doesn’t make sense. Even if—Jon, stop. Whatever you’re doing, stop.”

“All right.”

“Incredible,” Allan said after a moment had passed. “That really shouldn’t be possible. There’s no—” He stood and walked toward Jon, and extended the meter toward him. “Do it one more time.”

“Don’t—” Martin started.

“I’m all right,” Jon snapped, but then softened as Martin felt the slight sting of his tone. “I’m—I’ll be careful. I’m fine right now.”

Allan was concentrating hard as he looked at the screen. “What was—have you done it yet?”

“No, I was—”

“It’s just that—never mind. Do it again. If—if you’re ok.”

Jon nodded, and glanced briefly in Martin’s direction. “I’m ok.”

Martin watched as Allan moved the instrument around Jon for the next thirty seconds or so, again switching the dial several times.

“Well?” Tim asked, as Allan stepped away.

“I don’t know,” he said hoarsely. “Tim, can you—can you fetch the Geiger counter for me again?”

Tim did, and Allan stood back from Jon as he held it up into the air again. They heard the occasional irregular click as he did.

“So for now, don’t, um—just don’t,” he said as he stepped toward Jon. The frequency of the clicks began to increase as he moved the meter closer to his head, and Allan made a small sound in his throat as he flipped a switch on the instrument. “Let’s just—keep the sound off for right now.”

Martin could feel some of the blood drain from his face.

“Ok, now—know something,” Allan asked.

“What?” Jon said. “Sorry, it’s always difficult to think of—”

“Anything. Just not the—the gap. I want to see if—”

“Did I have coffee or tea this morning?” Tim asked.

Jon thought. “Coffee.”

“Stop,” Allan said. “Stop.” He took a step back, white faced, and looked at Jon as if he had just appeared there.

“What?”

“Can I ask—how long did you say you’ve been doing this?”

“Knowing things? Uh—a few years? I mean—not always like this, at first it was much harder, and—"

“A few years.” Allan turned the thought over. “Ok. I’m going to say this once—because I think you should know. I don’t see—I don’t see how you’re—well, alive.”

There were long seconds of silence before Jon answered.

“I’m fine.”

Martin exploded. “You are not fine.”

“I just meant in the sense that—”

“I know, and—”

“I am alive. That is the point.”

More long seconds ticked by.

“You heal though, right?” Tim said quietly. “Like—after you—like when I found you in front of the Institute.”

“Yes.” A look of sudden understanding passed across Jon’s face. “Yes, that’s right. That—that would make sense.”

“Would it?” Allan looked at Martin. “You, um—sorry to—you’re—well, you’re sharing a room, so—I imagine you’re—close?”

Martin wasn’t sure what Allan was getting at. “Um—”

“Yes. He heals too. Or, he has, in the past.” Oh, Martin thought, after he heard Jon’s answer.

Oh.

“Wait. Are you saying that being near Jon is—”

“I don’t know,” Allan said. “I really don’t know. This is entirely unprecedented. It really shouldn’t—” He started to say something else, but hesitated.

“What?” Jon asked.

“I—” he hesitated again. “I want to do more tests, but I’m not sure if it’s—well, entirely ethical.”

“To ask me to keep going, you mean.”

“Yes.”

“It’s fine.”

“You’re sure?”

“Yes.”

Allan looked at Martin.

“It’s not up to me,” Martin said.

Allan looked between Martin and Jon. “I’m, uh—I’m going to run out to the car for some extra equipment. Tim, come with me? I could use your help.”

“Sure,” Tim answered, and followed him out.

Martin waited a moment after they were gone, then said quietly, “I’m not sleeping away from you.”

“Martin.” Jon walked over to where he was standing and reached out to touch Martin’s hand. “Of course not. That’s ridiculous.”

“Good.” He had more to say, but he didn’t.

“Come on. That’s not what this is about. You don’t want me to do this.”

Martin sighed. “Fine. No, I don’t. I don’t want you to do any of this. Not just the tests, or whatever. Like—any of this.”

“I have to,” Jon said. “You know that.”

“Why do you think I didn’t say it? I can’t stop you. And I’d rather you not shut me out.”

“Martin, that—” He stopped himself, and squeezed Martin’s hand instead. “I’m sorry.”

“Yeah.”

Martin let his hand fall away as Allan and Tim returned; Allan had put on a long-sleeved lab coat, and was holding a pair of gloves and a mask. “Just a precaution,” he said. “If you want to go ahead.”

“Yes,” Jon said. “I do.”

Martin watched as Allan pulled out yet another meter from a different bag. “Martin—can you hand me that?” he asked, indicating the case Martin was still carrying. He’d forgotten about it.

“Oh. Sure.” Martin handed it to him and he began to unpack that as well.

“So—this is so I can record the readings,” he said, as he pulled some wires out and began to connect them to the new meter. “And this is—it uses a more powerful method of detection than the Geiger counter. It’s not as sensitive, but that’s, uh—well, that’s not going to be an issue.”

Martin suddenly realized how much he didn’t want to be there anymore.

“I’m going outside. I’ll just be out front.” Without waiting for anyone’s reaction, he made his way back to the front of the house. He stood on the porch, his arms folded and resting on the railing. He looked out over the lawn. The rest of the neighborhood, apart from this house, really was a suburb. It seemed nice enough; maybe not a great neighborhood, but not a bad one, certainly. It hadn’t really done anything to deserve this awful place.

He sat and watched the clouds roll overhead and wondered it if would rain. He tried not to think too much about what was going on inside the house, what they were doing and where it would lead. He had no idea how long he had been standing there when he became aware that he wasn’t alone.

“Hey,” Tim said, as Martin looked over at him.

“Hey,” Martin answered, then went back to looking up at the sky. “So—what’s going on in there?”

“I don’t know,” Tim said. “It’s like some sort of weird playdate? It’s over my head. Allan keeps turning dials and saying things like incredible and amazing and then Jon—”

“Never mind,” Martin said. “Just—is he keeping himself together? Jon, I mean?”

“He seems to be.”

They looked out at the sky and lawn together.

“Martin,” Tim said eventually, “I know I said this before, but I want you to know I meant it. Jon is lucky to have you.”

“Hm.”

“Listen, I know—I know this has to be hard for you. Before we—before we make any decisions, I want you to know that—”

“Don’t,” Martin said coldly.

“All right.” Tim nodded and returned to looking back over the railing. “Do you want to be alone?”

No, Martin thought. I don’t ever want to be alone again. He wanted to scream it.

Instead, he just said, “Not particularly.”

“Good,” Tim said. “I don’t particularly want to go back in there.”

***

“So—wait,” Melanie said, looking at Allan over her half-empty dinner plate. “You’re saying you don’t really know anything at all, then?”

“Well, yes and no.” He was struggling to find words as they sat together in the great room again. “What I’m saying is—from a scientific perspective, which of course is why I’m here—there’s no way to know what any of this means. I’ve never heard of anything like this before. It’s completely unique, as far as I know.”

“So we can’t prove there’s a gap between dimensions, and we can’t prove the entities exist,” Sasha clarified.

“Correct,” Allan said. “I can’t even begin to suggest a mechanism for anything I saw today.”

“But you did see something today,” Melanie prodded.

“Well—yes,” Allan said. “That’s an understatement. We saw massive fluctuations of energy just—across almost the entire spectrum. And—again, I have no way to explain it or understand it, but—Jon does appear to be able to manipulate it, to some extent.”

“Well, that’s definitely something,” Melanie said. “You said you recorded your readings. Do you think you’ll learn anything else from going back through them?”

“Not—not in a way that could help us. It will take years to even begin to make any real sense of this. As—as a scientist. To be perfectly clear, I—I can’t vouch for any particular course of action. I have no way of verifying that there has ever been any travel across dimensions, or that—starting an apocalypse would provide the energy required to do it again, or—or that anything we discussed yesterday is even a possibility.”

“As a scientist,” Georgie repeated. “What about—as a person? What do you think?”

“I’m—I’m not sure that’s really what’s important here.”

“Yes, it is.” It was one of the few things Elias had said at all since they’d come home.

“I agree,” Sasha said. “I’d like to know what you think.”

“Well—personally”—he looked around at the group— “after what I’ve heard from all of you, and after talking with Elias last night—I believe Jon.”

It was quiet for a moment as the group absorbed this. Martin’s stomach, which had already rejected even the concept of any food he’d thought about putting in it that night, tightened painfully.

“Ok,” Georgie said slowly. “Well—for the sake of argument—Jon, do you really think you could do it? Could you—could you really move us to another dimension? In a way that—well, will actually help things?”

“I can do it,” Jon said, without hesitation.

“No,” Martin said.

The discomfort was tangible; Martin could tell nobody wanted to speak.

“Martin,” Sasha finally said, “why—why are you so against this?”

“I’ve already said. It’s too dangerous.”

“So you think he can’t do it? That it won’t work?”

Martin drew his hand down firmly over his mouth.

“Say what you have to say,” Jon urged him. Martin didn’t care for how calm he was. “They should hear it.”

Martin stared at him. “Ok, fine. Fine, I’ll say it. If you think you can do it—I’m sure you can. I’m just not sure you will. What if—what if this time—what if the Eye finally just takes you?”

“It won’t. It didn’t last time.”

“Didn’t it?”

“No. Not—not like that. I still—I still got to choose.”

“And we still don’t know what Annabelle’s been trying to get you to do.”

“She doesn’t matter.”

“Oh, really?”

“Do you believe me that I’ll never let them out of here? The entities? That’s what she wants.”

Martin paused; he knew his panic was coming across to everyone. “Yes. But that’s not—even if you don’t—look, if it fails, that’s it for us. We’re stuck in an apocalypse. This world is stuck in an apocalypse. You said that yourself.”

“And it’s still true. It is a risk. But I don’t think I’ll fail.”

“But what happens to you? What if—what if we lose you?”

Jon looked away.

“Jon?” Georgie prompted.

“It’s—it’s a possibility.”

“How much of a possibility?” Georgie asked.

“It’s—um—” Jon cleared his throat. “It’s not unlikely.”

“I see,” Sasha said.

“That matters, right?” Martin somehow managed to get the words out. “Tell me that matters to the rest of you.”

“Of course it matters,” Sasha said. “I didn’t—"

“No, it doesn’t,” Jon said.

“Jon—”

Several people began to talk at the same time, but it was Tim who won out.

“Listen,” he said. “Listen. I know—I know this is going to sound awful, but—I agree with Jon.”

“It does sound awful,” Sasha reprimanded him. “It sounds completely awful.”

“Just hear me out.” Tim spoke his words slowly and deliberately. “If I were Jon—if I could stop this—if I had this chance to—to save the people they haven’t hurt yet—I would. I wouldn’t hesitate. And I wouldn’t want anyone to stop me.”

“Yes, you would,” Jon said. “You did.”

“And—I know I’ve been angry—but this isn’t about that. It’s not because I blame him. It’s because he’s the only one who can. I think—I think this should be Jon’s choice. That’s all.”

“Thank you, Tim.” Jon was still calm, controlled. Martin hated it.

Tim briefly met Martin’s eyes before looking down to the floor in front of him. “And I wouldn’t wait. I’d—I’d want to just do it. If we really can’t learn anything else, I say we do it soon. Tomorrow, if we can. Prevent as much further damage as possible.”

“I agree,” Jon said.

“No,” Martin said. “That’s insane. Are you insane?” He looked around at the group; none of them would look back at him. “Have you all lost your minds? Are you considering this?”

“I—I don’t know,” Sasha said, finally raising her face. “Are we?”

“Jesus Christ.” Martin got to his feet, not really sure where he was going; he was halfway there before he realized he was headed for the door to the back of the house. Behind him, he heard several people speaking, although he had no idea if they were talking to him; he couldn’t process it anymore. He couldn’t think at all until he felt the cool night air on his face. He stopped, heart pounding, and crumpled onto the porch against the back of the house. For the first time in his recent memory, he wanted to cry; of course, now he couldn’t make the tears come.

Behind him, he heard the door open and close.

“Go away.” He didn’t really care who it was.

“I’d rather not.” Beside him, Jon lowered himself onto the porch; for some reason, Martin had assumed it would be one of the others. He was surprised to find he felt slightly mollified. “We don’t have to talk. It’s just—I don’t have anywhere else I want to be right now.”

“Come off it. Go back in and keep explaining why you need to martyr yourself.”

“I’ve said what I need to say. It’s better if they talk without us.”

Martin sighed heavily. “They’re going to go for it, aren’t they?”

Jon didn’t answer him. Instead, he moved closer to Martin, leaning into him and resting his head on his shoulder. Hollow as he felt, Martin didn’t even think; his automatic response was to put his arm around Jon, pulling him in even closer. He pressed his lips to the top of Jon’s ear.

“We never had a chance, did we,” he said. “The two of us.”

“We still might.”

“You don’t really believe that.”

“I never believed we’d be here, either.” Jon said.

“That’s not very reassuring.”

Jon turned so that his back was against Martin’s chest, and Martin did what he always did; he slipped his hand up under the edge of Jon’s shirt, bringing it up to the scar on Jon’s ribcage. Instead of protesting or merely tolerating it, though, this time Jon brought his own hand to rest over Martin’s on the outside of his shirt.

“I loved you here too, you know,” Jon said quietly. “Before this, I mean. In this world.”

“Oh, I know,” Martin said.

“Well. Here I thought I was making a grand romantic confession, but—never mind, I guess.”

“No, it’s—I’m sorry.” He kissed Jon’s temple softly by way of apology. “Thank you. I just meant now that—now that we’ve been together, now that I know what you’re like when you—it’s sort of obvious, looking back. Plus, there was your pin.”

“My pin?”

“You know—when we had forgotten everything when we first—and you couldn’t remember your pin number on your laptop.”

“Oh,” Jon said, and even in the dark Martin saw a smile play across his lips. It had been too long since he had seen Jon smile. “Right. I used your birthday. That’s—is it odd that I feel embarrassed?”

“Frankly, yes.”

“Sasha just—she insisted I set it in front of her, and then she kept guessing them—”

“Because you kept typing 1234.”

“Well—yes, but—anyway, it just came into my head, and I knew no one would ever guess, because—because I was never going to tell anyone how I felt. Especially not you.”

“Yeah, well—I wasn’t going to either.” He held Jon tighter. “We’re a couple of idiots. You know that, right?”

“Yes.” Jon turned his face up and back, and Martin couldn’t help but kiss him.

“Martin,” Jon said, “I know—I know I’ll never change your mind.”

“If it were me, you would never go along with it. You would never let me—you didn’t, actually.”

“I—” Jon paused. “No. You’re right. I’m asking you to do something I couldn’t do.”

“Thank you.”

“I just—I want you to understand. I want you to hear me.” He paused.

“I’m listening.”

“Nothing will ever fix what I’ve done.”

“You didn’t do this. Jonah Magnus did this. The Web did this. The—never mind. Go on.”

“Nothing will ever undo it. Every day I think about—about Sasha. And Tim. And Daisy. The other ones, the ones who—and an entire world of human beings who suffered because of things I did. And then there’s everyone here in this world who—none of them should ever have—” Jon’s voice cracked. “But I can stop it. I can make it so it doesn’t get worse. Or at least—at least give it a real chance. And I have to try.”

“And you have to try tomorrow.”

“Tim was right, Martin. Every day that passes like this is—”

“Tim is just worried about Danny.”

“Is that wrong of him?”

“I—no. No, I guess not. My point is just that it’s not like he’s—it’s still completely selfish.”

“He’s not being any more selfish than you.”

“I know that.” His chest ached as he breathed in, and he sighed reflexively. Jon turned just enough to tuck his head against Martin’s collarbone, and he felt his chest loosen just a little. “Ok, but really—what about Annabelle? That’s not being selfish. We both know what she wants—but we have no idea how she’s trying to get it. And we’re probably walking into it.”

“Probably.”

“Well then, why—”

“Because I don’t intend to give it to her.”

“But that’s exactly the point, we don’t know how—”

“Do you really think that waiting will solve that? Even if she is trying to push me—do you really think that she won’t just—change tactics? Adapt?”

“I—I don’t know.”

“If we wait to—I don’t know, learn something, let something happen that she doesn’t want—do you really believe she won’t have some other plan?”

He hadn’t ever thought that far ahead, to what would happen after they waited, whatever that meant. He realized with a sinking heart that no, he didn’t really believe it.

“But then—why are we doing anything at all? Why are we even bothering? If we can’t ever do the right thing—”

“Because we have to try. I have to try. I just do. Doing nothing would be—and maybe—maybe we’ll get lucky.”

“Yeah. That—that’s our thing, for sure. Luck.”

Jon reached for Martin’s free hand, the one that wasn’t against his heart, and pulled it to his mouth; he kissed each knuckle in turn. “We haven’t been entirely unlucky.”

Martin was out of things to say. Once more, Jon had already won. Everyone in the room behind them was deciding to go ahead with this stupid plan. There was nothing he could do that was going to stop it.

Well—as he thought about it, he did have one more thing to say.

“Jon—I don’t—I don’t want to go into this like—like last time. So—just so you know—nothing’s changed. I’m going with you. Wherever that is.”

Jon held his breath for a moment before answering. “And if I can save you—"

“Then you’d better save both of us.”

“Martin—”

“No. You know what’s out there for me without you, and—I don’t want it. You can’t—" Jon turned suddenly in his arms, so that Martin’s hand slid from his ribs to his shoulder.

He kissed him.

“Jon—”

“Please.”

They were still kissing several minutes later when Jon abruptly sat up; he opened his mouth to say something, but then learned back in toward Martin.

“No,” Martin said, putting a hand up to Jon’s face. “You know something, don’t you? They decided and you know.”

Jon nodded, sliding his hand over Martin’s as he did. “Yes.”

“Ok.”

“They want to do it. Tomorrow.”

***

It was hours later; Martin didn’t know how long he had lain awake. He’d come back to the bedroom on his own at first; he’d stayed for some of the planning, listened to their excitement, their nerves, their arguing—but it had quickly gotten to the point where he couldn’t do it anymore. He knew where he would be anyway, and that was with Jon; he had nothing else to contribute. The looks he’d gotten when he’d stood up had been seared into his consciousness, a mixture of worry and pity.

“Martin,” Sasha called to him as he was leaving, “are you—”

“Yes,” he’d said.

He’d gone to brush his teeth before getting in bed. He didn’t know what possessed him, particularly, but when he saw his reflection in the mirror, he did something he hadn’t done in a long while. He removed his shirt to look at his own scars. They were still there; they were exactly the same as they had been on the day he’d first seen them, dark red to pale white, torn and jagged and alternately smooth.

He was tired, he’d realized. He wanted to sleep, of course, he was still exhausted from the night before—but it was more than that. This was all just enough. Maybe it was all right. Maybe he and Jon had already had more time than they were meant to. Maybe it was time to let it go. Just—just so long as he didn’t end up alone.

He’d gotten in bed. He’d almost fallen asleep before Jon had come in, but after Jon had undressed and slipped under the sheets next to him, the restlessness had begun. Each time Jon moved, or sighed, or breathed even a little bit out of rhythm, Martin’s brain nudged him awake again. And now, here he was, sleepless and empty.

He breathed out, trying to reset his mind.

“Martin.”

“Sorry.” He’d thought Jon had been asleep.

“What—no, don’t apologize, just—go to sleep. You need rest for tomorrow.”

“I can’t.”

There was silence, and for a moment, he thought Jon had drifted off again.

“Martin, I’m—I’m not leaving you. I won’t go without you. You need to sleep.”

“I—I know.” He was lying, and Jon knew he was lying.

“Martin, this isn’t—this isn’t like last time. For one thing, I’d—I’d have to steal a car to get back to London on my own. All right? Can you trust me?”

Martin swallowed; that was exactly the problem, he realized. “I want to. I just—”

“Ok. All right. You’re right, of course you—that’s not fair for me to ask. I—hang on.” He saw the light from Jon’s cell phone; he heard him stand up and rummage through the suitcase on his side of the bed before sitting down on the mattress again.

“Jon—”

“Here. Give me your hand.” He held up his arm; Jon grabbed his hand, and Martin realized Jon was trying something around their wrists in the light from the phone.

“What—”

“It’s an old drawstring that pulled out from a pair of shorts. I never took it out of my suitcase.” He grabbed one end of the string in his mouth and pulled with his other hand. “There. I can’t possibly untie that without waking you up.”

“Are you going to be able to sleep?”

“I think so.” Jon turned off the light on his phone, and Martin felt the tug on his arm as Jon leaned over to put it back on the table next to the bed. “Anyway, I’m—I’m all right. You’re—not.”

“This—” Martin started to laugh. “This is ridiculous.”

“Yes. It is. Does it matter?” Jon interlaced his fingers with Martin’s and carefully folded up their bound arms between them; he brought his head to rest on the pillow next to Martin’s shoulder.

“I—I guess not.” He didn’t even realize he was finally crying until Jon reached up with his other hand to touch his cheek. He felt better for it, somehow; feeling something was good. It was better than the emptiness.

“Sleep.”

He did.

[krishnaakhavan-blog]

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[nowitsdarkfic]

chapter thirty (mood for trouble)

“I did not wanna fight, I did not wanna kill. I wanted to be real. I wanted to believe that I was not the only one alive.” -”Mood for Trouble”, Soundgarden

I'm only focused on the cobblestones right before us. The glare from the morning sun over our heads is only providing me with the fact that I have a light guiding me away from there. It's not as bad as it has been, but it is in fact still there. The fact it's waning tells me there's something coming into Boston for the first moments of the New Year. The aroma of potatoes is still hanging over us.

But that's not the thing that's of my concern at the moment.

I'm about ready to reach over and bring Lars closer to me. He keeps lagging behind me.

But we round a corner, around yet another roundabout. The stones all look exactly the same. It's all identical.

“Joey! Stop! Stop!” Lars bellows out at one point.

I skid to a halt right there on a patch of half collapsed brick sidewalk, on the corner of another intersection and right next to a heavy black iron streetlamp. Panting, a part of me wants to take off my shades and rub my eyes. But the glare is pretty bad right here in particular, so I'm not gonna risk it, not until we can find some snow or a place for us to hide out and figure out where to go from here. Lars groans as he clutches his side.

“You okay?” I ask him, feeling my voice break. I run my fingers through my black curls.

“Stitch—I have a stitch in my side—oh, ouch, God dammit—”

“Amazed you can still run like hell after such a horrific injury to your knee,” I point out to him, keeping my hand upon my head.

“It stopped hurting about a day before I went to New York,” he replies. “I just didn't want to take my cane with me, either.”

“I can see that being a royal pain in the ass, too.”

“Oh, definitely. You know, I actually nearly poked myself in the eye with that stupid thing about a week ago.”

“Really?” I drop my hand down to my side and put my other hand upon my hip.

“Yeah. Don't ask me how I did it, though, because I'm still trying to figure out how the hell I did it.”

He fetches up a sigh and brushes some of his hair back from his shoulder.

“So what do we do now?” he asks me, clearing his throat.

“I have no idea,” I confess to him, sighing myself and trying to calm down my heart. “I can't get that image out of my head, either.”

“Which one, the generator or Michael taking his face off or Maya acting weird?”

“All of it, actually. Especially old man Morlente taking off his face. It was exactly like he had taken off a mask from his face.”

“I really hope Maya doesn't come after us,” he admits in a grim tone.

“I don't think she will. At least I hope she won't. I mean, why would she, anyways?”

“If she was behaving like that, that can't be a good sign, especially after everything Candace has told us…” His voice trails off. And it takes me a second to realize he's peering up at the wall behind me. “Wait, wait, what's this?”

“What's what?” I turn around to behold the sight of the little shop with wooden walls painted solid black and a dark window. Right in the middle of the window, inscribed in big blocks of black and golden letters, it reads: “RECORDS AND TAPES.” I gasp at the sight of it, and so does he.

“We found a record store!” I exclaim, my voice echoing over the sidewalk.

“We found a record store!” he repeats after me.

“We found a record store!” I clutch onto his shoulders.

“We—found—a—focking record store!” his voice breaks a great deal.

“Come on, let's get our asses in here—!” I coax him into the shop. There's no glare in here so we take off our shades.

Turns out, this is far more than just a music store: there's a sign hanging from the ceiling pointing towards the back and it reads that there's all manner of gadgets and and gear and stuff there, much to Lars' sense of adventure. While he goes back there, I'm tending to the rows of vinyl records near the front desk. So many of these are without a doubt a wet dream of mine: Abbey Road on bright yellow vinyl, Lovin' Spoonful and Screamin' Jay Hawkins both on lush blood red vinyl, Deep Purple on the a propos deep violet vinyl. A whole entire section dedicated to Frank Zappa! Another whole entire section dedicated to the Who! Everything from “Radar Love” and early Creedence to old Delta blues to Sinatra and Perry Cuomo to The Cure and the Sex Pistols to Linda Ronstadt and Cyndi Lauper to…

State of Euphoria.

That bright yellow sleeve with the scarlet target right on the front with those fading excited faces along the side. I hold it by the sides right there in the midst of the other heavy metal records and stroke the front of it with the pad of my thumb. I can't help but feel wistful for those days when I was baby faced and didn't have a single care in the world just so long as I got to sing with my band. It wasn't even that long ago I was in a state of euphoria myself.

Maybe it was the reviews. And maybe I wasn't the right fit for them. But it still hurts now that I give it some thought…

“Hey, Joey, check this out!”

I lift my gaze towards Lars and what looks like a black label maker in hand with a disk near the back and a trigger near his index finger.

“What's that?” I ask him.

“A radar detector. Apparently, the back of this store here is a tech store. The woman back there told me Boston is trying to resist the incoming rise in high tech, but they couldn't. So they're preparing the city the best they can with stores like that. Kept in cognito, too.”

“Probably because they don't want whoever's leading the rise to suspect what's going on here,” I follow along. He nods his head at me and then knits his eyebrows together.

“What you got there?”

I nod down to the record in my hands and the look on his face softens.

“Oh, man,” he sympathizes with me.

“Yeah. Yeah, I was just—having a moment, if you will.” He shows me a sad smile and pats my shoulder.

“So you found that radar detector,” I start again, leaning the records back and nodding at the gun in his hand.

“There is in fact this radar detector—apparently the drones are becoming… quite the problem here in Boston. Not so much New York City, probably because it's bigger and there's more background noise going on, but here. I also found a book on how to do code so you and I can perhaps get into hacking and shit like that. The lady in the back said it's all cheap-o so anyone can get this stuff and figure the way around it.”

“Okay. So I'm assuming you wanna get some things.”

“Well, yeah. If we're gonna be figuring out what's up with Maya and her family, surely we need some help that isn't a bunch of humans who are as clueless as we are when it comes to this sort of thing.” He then leads me into the back of the shop, past all the records in their respective alphabetical order, and past a big black velvet curtain, where we're met with all manner of radar detectors, metal detectors, a couple of Geiger counters, all kinds of stuff for our tech exploring needs. Some of these are beyond my comprehension, the country boy hick I am who can barely figure out how to work the thermostat in his apartment much less some of these tiny tools for, what I'm suspecting, very delicate surgery.

Lars is eager to get himself and myself that radar detector, as well as the aforementioned book, and a thing with what a touch screen, and I flash back on the touch screen menus back in the cafe in Ballard. Once he has a burlap sack full of stuff, he returns to me and the little Geiger counter on the shelf that keeps grabbing my attention. I'm definitely in a mood for trouble now, for snooping around and figuring shit out. Neither me nor Lars have much to lose, but everything to gain.

“I don't think we'll be near any radiation, Joey,” he assures me, slinging the sack over his shoulder.

“I hope not.”

We both thank the lady and head on out of there, and back through the shop to the front door. I feel my stomach rumbling and I remember the bakery but I don't remember where it is now after all those roundabouts. I take my mirrors out of my coat pocket and put them back on for the venture back outside.

“I am—so—hungry,” I tell him as I push open the door.

“That makes two of us,” he says, putting his shades back on.

We're standing outside, but I notice the glare is starting to fade. I glance up to the pure white sky and the sight of thick heavy rain clouds forming overhead.

“We should probably go back in,” I tell him.

“Or find some place to get something to eat—oh, wait, there's Marcia!”

I lower my gaze to find Marcia and Sonia, walking the other way, both of them carrying paper bags in their arms.

“Marcia!” Lars shouts, his voice echoing over the cobblestones. They turn around to see us, and Sonia mouths, “hey!” at us.

He darts over the cobblestones to meet up with them, and I follow him. I don't know what they're doing here but I'm sure they can help the two of us get something to eat.

[stacylaughs]

September 3-15, 2019

A one-way Ryanair flight ($204.71) from Athens to Kiev, Ukraine, a ₴394.35 (Ukrainian Hryvnia) Uber from airport, and I was at DREAM House Hostel ($14.45/night). I loved this country for its affordability, beauty, and ease of getting around. Majority of the locals’ English level is low, but it’s safe, and with the help of the internet, it’s a blast. I hope I have the opportunity to return soon. 

If you’re curious, here’s an excellent article on how to pronounce the capital of Ukraine.

Here are some things to do:

I went to the dentist. I highly recommend Dr. Yarema Miklosh (068-479-97-77 or email yarema_miklosh@yahoo.com). His business hours are Monday to Friday, 9am to 9pm, and Saturday 10am to 3pm. A cleaning was ₴1400 ($60). 

Traveling around Kiev is so easy. You can use Apple Pay on the metro, or take a Uber, each trip ranging from ₴56-94 one-way.

Get a glass of cherry wine at Drunk Cherry (П‘яна вишня).

No surprised but I had the best chicken kiev in downtown at a place aptly named Chicken Kyiv. I love the pop-up menu with photos.

Get beers and groceries at Silpo, and have an impromptu “picnic” at the square/park across the way, Сквер Сагайдачного.

Puzata Hata (Пузата Хата) is a chain restaurant all over Ukraine. It means “Hut of the Pot Belly.” It’s a cheap place to sample traditional Ukrainian cuisine in a cafeteria setting.

Kiev has a beautiful downtown with dramatically colored cathedrals. And, yes, Sofiyska Bell Tower is worth paying to walk up to the top for the view.

Cross the bridge (which you can also bungee jump off of!) to Trukhaniv Island (Труханів острів). Gorgeous, especially at sunset, and you can drink beers while sitting on the sand.

Chernobyl tours are quite popular, starting at €79. The tour routes in the Chernobyl Zone and Prypiat town are designer to grant absolute radiation safety. To control radiation safety, each group has a Geiger counter on the route. You can also order a personal dosimeter for yourself. It makes the radiation level “visible” and shows your exact radiation dose at the end of the trip. I was told that a one-day tour radiation dose is equal to the dose of a 1-hour airplane flight. 

I took an overnight sleeper train from Kiev to Odessa (₴656.15) and then flew back (Odessa to Kiev) one-way (₴967).

It was ₴810/night for a private room at the nearly empty DREAM mini Hostel Odessa. This location will likely be closing soon. 

Zheto (Жето) is a quaintly decorated cafe to have coffee and cake. 

Take an Uber to Arcadia Beach, pay for exclusivity at a club, or just dip your toes in the Black Sea -- up to you!

Lots to see in the town centre, such as the Odessa City garden or Potemkin Stairs.

I was eating late night fast food wraps called VLavashe at the 24/7 chain, ВЛаваше. Don’t knock it ‘til you try them; they’re addicting.

[christoperwal-blog]

Namely, Proudly owning A Gilbert No

Gone are the times when folks have been completely oblivious of the dangerous results of radiation exposure when it was one thing thrilling. To them, radiation had the power to make things glow and could even improve one’s health. We’ve realized the arduous approach that not all the pieces that glitters is gold and that radiation publicity and nuclear energy pose a menace to people’s well being. Nonetheless, few would agree with this declare again within the 1950s when nuclear optimism began flourishing around the globe and penetrated each sphere of people’s lives. Advances in the sector of nuclear physics massively modified the best way individuals lived. If you have any concerns concerning where and how to use zentai spandex for sale, you can call us at our web page. While some individuals considered nuclear power as a terrifying menace, many others shared an amazing nuclear optimism, celebrating the fact that everything will probably be "nuclear" in the future. From cheap electricity to water for the thirsty and food for the hungry, nuclear optimism of the Atomic Age appeared to don't have any limits.

As it turned out, not all the pieces about nuclear vitality was positive. The nuclear energy trade grew rapidly within the 1950s, inflicting numerous environmental issues and tensions in international relations and diplomacy. Large Atomic Bomb toy on the Children’s Museum of Indianapolis. In the course of the 1950s, there was a pattern in nuclear-impressed designs and ideas. Many corporations envisioned issues like nuclear-powered clocks, autos, dwelling appliances, and even some radioactive consumer products corresponding to toothpaste, lipstick, and cigars. Apparently, the toy business had a couple of concepts of its own. 1940s Gilbert chemistry set. Photographed at Shoreline Historic Museum, Shoreline, Washington. Exposing children to radiation seemed not only harmless but even desirable. Quite a lot of the toys made in the 1950s had been named "atomic" just to sound cool, however a few of the manufacturers went further and included radioactive parts in their products. One such product was the Gilbert No. U-238 Atomic Power Lab. Launched for the primary time in 1951, this nuclear physics academic set is best remembered for being arguably probably the most dangerous children’s toy ever produced. Mister Atomic, again facet.

Amongst other issues, the set included a Geiger counter, electroscope, spinthariscope, a Wilson Cloud Chamber, instruction book, and, most importantly, radioisotopes. Enjoying with uranium ore back in the 1950s was not one thing that everybody may afford because it was quite dear. 500 in today’s money). 10,000 to anybody who discovers deposits of uranium ore. A really neat and "slightly" radioactive toy. Replica Atomic Robotic Man. Parents who fear that a toy they purchase in the present day would possibly comprise toxic chemicals, brace yourselves. Such chemicals existing in children’s toys are nothing in comparison with the radioactive 1947 Lone Ranger Atomic Bomb Ring, a Kix cereal promotion. Replica Atomic Robot Man. "You’ll see brilliant flashes of gentle in the inky darkness of the atom chamber. These frenzied vivid flashes are brought on by the launched vitality of atoms." The producer also promised that the radioactive isotope contained in the toy was harmless to kids, however nonetheless, the idea of exposing your kid to it provides one pause. Again in the time when uranium was considered to be the brand new gold and uranium prospectors have been everywhere in the United States, Gardner Games created the "Uranium Rush" board recreation. This recreation allowed players to put themselves within the position of uranium prospectors and collect some huge cash from the deposits they discover on the map. The game was battery operated and of an analogous design to electric quiz games from the mid 20-century. There was additionally a cardboard Geiger counter included in the kit with which you might find uranium on the map. Another creepy toy of the Atomic Age was the Atomic Robot Man, one of the earliest toy robots ever manufactured. Initially produced in put up-warfare occupied Japan within the late 1940s, the Atomic Robot Man these days has a very particular enchantment to collectors, and originals are actually hard to search out.

Scientists blast radiation at teams seeds and plant cuttings to scramble their genetic code and produce random mutations. These seeds are then cultivated and inspected for the most fascinating mutations. It’s a roll of the dice, however it’s a process that’s fast, easy and low-cost. And in contrast to CRISPR or other methods, there’s no man-made genetic modification. Moderately, the radiation put stresses on the plant forcing it to adapt with its own genetic materials. It’s broadly utilized in growing nations and has yielded greater than 3,200 useful mutants that seem in grocery stores the world over. In the present day we've mutant wheat, rice, pears, peas, peppermint, grapefruit and extra. In Bangladesh, for instance, styles of rice produced through mutation breeding have elevated crop yields threefold over the previous few decades, according to the World Nuclear Affiliation. Radiation may additionally save the ubiquitous Cavendish banana. "There’s a banana blight, and a part of the reason is we use a single selection.

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Hey - Pat from StarterStory.com here with another interview.Today's interview is with Doug Geiger of CanYouHandlebar, a brand that sells men's grooming products.Some stats:Product: Men's Grooming ProductsRevenue/mo: $100,000Started: November 2012Location: Mount ClemensFounders: 1Employees: 10Hello! Who are you and what business did you start?I’m Doug Geiger, founder of Can You Handlebar, a men’s grooming product company. We’re one of those low-key-high-quality brands.We are best known for beard oils and balms, moustache wax and inventing the first application brush for beard products, the Can You Handlebar Beard Oil Brush®. We are carefully and consistently extending our product line and distribution.In our first three years our production grew from a kitchen countertop with a crockpot I stole from my wife to “making a million bucks” and a 10,000 square foot building with a whole fleet of crockpots. Meanwhile, our retail presence -- which began on the counter of a gracious proprietor of the corner gas station -- has grown to our own network of barbers and salons across the US, international distribution and most visibly, the shelves of every Art of Shaving.What's your backstory and how did you come up with the idea?Back in the halcyon days of 2010, on a whim, I decided to grow a handlebar moustache. It is hard to imagine now, but there once was a time where there were not too many people selling moustache wax or beard products.There were no products available locally and most of those available online weren’t transparent about ingredients and felt kind of “homemade” (and not in the good way). My hunch was that well made and well-packaged beard products could do really well as a business. I sat on the idea for at least a year because I was tied up with my day job and a newborn in the home.In 2011, I turned in my fancy plastic lanyard and left the high rise for the last time. I joined Saddleback Leather and this proved to be the perfect incubator for a fledgling moustache wax startup. First, it provided a consistent paycheck while I ironed out my recipes and business plan. Second, my time at Saddleback provided me with good reflexes when it comes to quality and customer service. Most importantly though, I had the encouragement and mentorship of the owner, Dave Munson and the help of my Saddleback coworkers.Even though my time had freed up a little working from home, I was still quite broke. My wife and I were married (and each managed to stay sorta employed) during the Great Recession. But even as of 2012, when we launched the website we were still paying off our wedding debt from years prior. Nevertheless, I had a hunch and at this point in my life, frankly I was tired of ignoring all of my hunches.So, I loaded up a credit card with $400 in supplies and stole my wife’s crockpot. The day before launch, we took our toddler trick or treating, then made our way to the kitchen. I followed the handwritten recipe from my fourteenth experiment and the yield was a couple dozen cans of wax and half that again in spillage. The next morning I logged in and set the site to “public.”Here’s a shot of our first large order going out in our first “commercial” space.And here’s a shot of me at The Art of Shaving. The first time I was able to walk into a mall and see my products on the shelf in a retail capacity. It felt really good.Take us through the process of designing, prototyping, and manufacturing your first product.Our first product was a moustache wax. My research amounted to buying just about every competitor product I could get my hands on to get an idea of what was possible, doing lots of research and tinkering with all manner of ingredients.The research process involves a lot of research online on the properties of each ingredient and to determine if there are known allergies we can avoid. We also have discussions with our chemist if we are having a hard time achieving some property we want as well as to look over the final formula.After we believe we have a winner, we have a lot of people try it and give their feedback. Meanwhile, we are working on labels and UPC barcodes and product photography. It gets easier over time to lainch a product but it never gets easy.After several versions, we landed on a really simple recipe that, with just a couple tweaks, is now sold all over the world.The first batch was made in a crock pot and was ladled by hand into metal tins with a one ounce scoop I purchased for the occasion. It was a real mess. Learning how to make a can of really good moustache wax takes one sort of research and development. Learning how to make ten thousand of these at a time, takes another sort. One thing we got right was putting as much R&D into our processes as we put into developing new products.I don’t have any photos of the crockpots in action, but here are our first two beard oil prototypes. We ended up going with the name “Initiative” since the word “Industry” isn’t used to mean “hard work” much these days.Our first two beard oil prototypesDescribe the process of launching the business.We’d had some success in smaller circles with direct sales and were building a reputation based on the quality of our moustache wax among the beard and moustache community. Setting up a webstore seemed like the next logical step, along with getting our product on Amazon.Credit cards were our friends at first and this was definitely more of a “side gig” for the first year or so. Then we found that our Amazon sales picked up, often on the strength of our reviews and finding an aficionado niche with our moustache wax formula. We brought on our Director of Sales Brian Furby and he developed a plan that allowed us to reach out to barbershops and salons to offer wholesale pricing, creating a global network of retail partners. These things became the underpinnings of our success.Brian’s strategy was two-fold. He started with cold-calling and emailing owners of salons and barbershops, introducing them to our products and offering to send them a package that included full-size products for free, just so they could see the quality of the goods in person. This led to a postcard mailer program to expand our reach.Finally, we expanded to include visits to industry trade shows, where we were able to meet and interact with retailers face-to-face. They could see the products first-hand and by simply signing up for a Retailer Sample Kit they could get started making money with Can You Handlebar right away, at no cost to them.These programs were a success in building out our retail program of independent shops and salons. As our product line grew, we altered our offering to include more goods and special incentives (like a branded barber cape), available at a significantly reduced cost. This gives potential retailers a taste of our wholesale pricing and gives them enough product to stock their shelves with our Retailer Starter Kit, all with a very small investment on their end.We kept an eye toward thoughtful design in our packaging and on continuing to deliver quality goods. That eventually led to our being noticed by The Art of Shaving, who have become our most significant retailer, a relationship that has brought our products into hundreds of retail locations where we continue to be a best-seller.In terms of lessons learned, one of the things that we might have done differently and something we still struggle with is overthinking things. Aspects of that can be beneficial, and it’s certainly helped us to be careful and a bit cautious. But we have a tendency to get obsessive about the details. Sometimes we’ll talk ourselves into a corner until finally one of us will say “What the hell are we waiting for?” and we’ll get the idea moving again.Since launch, what has worked to attract and retain customers?Our efforts have always been rooted in quality products and customer service, building relationships with our customers based on delivering exactly what they are looking for. It’s how we got started, and it’s where we distinguish ourselves. That can feel a bit old school, and sure, we’d love to have some viral success that explodes business exponentially, but we have been very happy with a steady and consistent build over time.We’re just not a flashy brand. We don’t consider beards to be a trend, and we don’t approach our business as though it were. It’s resulted in a lean and focused product line and innovation driven by our core values and extensive R&D. We’re not rushing products to market for a quick buck.This also means that when a customer has a question or a concern, they’re getting a response from an actual human being. It means a satisfaction guarantee that accounts for the customer’s actual experience with the ultimate goal of finding them a product that works for them. Our social media is organic and conversational. We share what we care about, whether fishing or baking bread, high-end knives or low-end junk food--It’s all just an extension of who we are. No cheap memes or alpha attitudes, no trash-talking competitors.Social mediaOur strategy for social media has always been rooted in genuine interaction. We feature our own content in terms of photos and writing as well as sharing photos from customers and retailers. We decided early on to avoid cheap memes and viral posts. We’d seen other brands do it, and it always felt like it played to the negative, reinforcing stereotypes about bearded guys or beard culture. It’s always been important to us that our customers choose our products because they are right for them, not because some alpha dog told them to, or because it’s the hipster thing to do.Our earliest notable success on social media was with a program we dubbed The Big Thank You, which we ran for two consecutive years. It was a giveaway contest designed to thank our customers and followers for their interest in our product, and also a way to introduce them to several other small businesses whose work we appreciate. In turn, these small businesses helped us promote on their end, creating a nice ring of cross-promotion across social media. We accepted donations or bought outright products from our partners as part of the giveaway, and it was important to us to choose makers who we knew shared our belief in quality, and who it just made sense to brand with.Entrants into the contest were asked to upload a picture of themselves showing off their facial hair and all of our followers were asked to vote for their favorite. Engagement was through the roof, as were click-throughs and newsletter sign-ups.Here’s some stats on the second year:The contest ran for a week, from November 19th-27thWe had 25 sponsors$8000 worth of prizes13,525 visitors to site during contestSocial Growth/Engagement (CanYouHandlebar only; doesn’t include any data from sponsors)Gained 220 followers on InstagramGained 62 followers/likes on FacebookFB reach was ~39K from contest postsInstagram reach: 10,776; impressions: 35KTwitter: ~45K impressionsAnecdotally, it was a success for our sponsor partners as well, as all reported positive growth. In most cases, all it cost them was their cost of goods and a small amount of time spent promoting on social media.AdsWe’ve utilized Facebook, Instagram, and Google ads and experimented with other forms of online advertising and we’ve found that overextending ourselves and our budget doesn’t necessarily result in higher sales.Online advertising is a nut we still haven’t completely cracked. A lot of that feels like it’s connected to what a niche market we are, and within that niche we’ve found our greatest sales success in simply delivering the best products and packaging we can, and letting word of mouth spread.AmazonTo that end, Amazon is an important part of our success, with customer experience driving strong reviews. There is a true aficionado’s appreciation for what we do. We thrive on returning business.Though there are a multitude of other options for our customers to consider when purchasing a beard product, we feel that the quality of our goods shines through.How are you doing today and what does the future look like?We are steady and growing moderately on all fronts. We are looking to expand into other retail locations and further international distribution. We are expanding our product line as well. A recent example is the Tattoo Balm we just released. It’s our first unisex grooming product and also one of the first that isn’t directly beard or moustache-related. It’s a whole new market for us and we’re looking forward to finding some inroads there.Our day-to-day operations have expanded dramatically from where we started. We now operate out of a 10,000 square foot warehouse in the greater Detroit area, we employ anywhere from 10-15 full and part-time positions and have scaled our production abilities up to be able to fill thousands of units a week as needed.Our sales are currently tiered with retail partners in the lead, Amazon second and website sales third. A massive goal for us over the past few months has been to increase traffic and sales on the website. We’ve undergone a complete design facelift and have focused on targeted social media ads. It took a ton of time, money and effort whipping our site into shape. Thankfully, we are now converting well once people get to the site. We’re now working on strategies to get these initial site views and increasing conversions.Through starting the business, have you learned anything particularly helpful or advantageous?Right after I started to see some success, I hired “experts” who weren’t as serious about our success as we needed them to be. I paid one guy over $40,000 over the course of six months because he was “really connected” and could help my business take off. The only thing that really took off was him--with my money. This taught me a little thing about business and a big thing about me as a person. On the business side, I am now a lot better at defining expectations in contracts. On the personal side, I realized that I was starving to hear that I was “on the right track” and was consequently way more vulnerable to flattery than I thought.When you’ve toiled for years on a business as random as beard oil without a ton to show for it, it feels really good to finally hear some “real business person” compliment you and tell you that you are about to hit it big, if only you had someone like them who sees the potential and can make a couple calls…I needed validation so much as any brand new entrepreneur, and I spent the cost of a brand new fully loaded family sedan to hear it. Fortunately, I was able to extricate myself having only lost money and pride. It could have been much worse.You can’t avoid all mistakes. But you can inoculate yourself against a bunch of strains of entrepreneurship diseases by reading content like these on Starter Story and by keeping an eye out for business owners you can chat with every so often to give you this validation. You should not rely exclusively on your SO, personal friends or employees. It isn’t fair for them to be your sole support. Once you are committed to your own business, you immediately need a new category of friend: business owner peers with whom you can freely discuss financials, fears and hopes. If you provide for this support network early on, you will have picked up through conversations a resistance to some of the nonsense that’s out there without having to go through it firsthand.I can’t go on too much longer without screaming that luck is such a huge part of our success. I was fortunate to be in the vanguard of the “beard trend” by accident and I am certain that getting into the market so early helped. Back then, we were one of only a dozen or so brands doing beard oil, beard balm and moustache wax. Now there are thousands. Had things not gone exactly right, I could very easily be one of the thousands of guys out there now whose company didn’t pan out and who only have a couple dozen bottles of beard oil and a $40 piece of bearded clipart they never got around to using to show for it.That said, luck is never enough, not long term. You have to work really hard on a lot of chores that the customer will never see or know about. Had we not made the most of our position as one of the early leading brands, we would not be here. I think some of our best decisions over the years include focusing on a quality product in a clean professional manufacturing facility. Our manufacturing crew is presently led by my first employee Andy Pokorski, who has been with me from the crockpot to the factory. He has had a hand (and beard) in nearly everything at Can You Handlebar. Accordingly, he gets unlimited days off for fishing. Each day Andy, Annette, Dylan, Mike and a handful of regular part-time employees operate a production facility they helped build, that makes and distributes some of the best men’s care products in the world.We also prioritize packaging. This is critical for personal care products. They are applied after the shower or may be carried around in a pocket. A well packaged beard oil for instance, ought to have a water-proof label, ought not shatter when dropped on a tile floor and should never get your clothing oily in a suitcase. We think this way and customers seem to appreciate that. We design for actual everyday and our customers can tell.As soon as I could afford it, I brought on Brian Griffith as a full-time graphic designer, and Adam Barraclough as our copywriter and the results are staggering. For the first time we could start with a marketing idea and have all of the talent we needed in-house to make our idea a reality. Tim Kramer, a colleague from my Saddleback days, joined us as our social media manager but his role, like everyone else’s, has expanded to include whatever needs to be done. We do most of our photography and videography in-house now. The skills needed to run a modern online business are numerous and are not easy to learn, but having control over our creative has allowed us to get the look and feel we want.I believe it is the combination of luck, hard work and our lack of pretense that helps us stand out in a crowded field. It’s easy to play up any number of “hipster” or “alpha male” tropes, and those things are rampant in beard culture, but that just isn’t us.What platform/tools do you use for your business?Our online store is powered by Shopify, and we’ve had excellent support and consulting from Kurt Elster over at Ethercycle. We’re not web devs by nature so having a team we can reach out to for assistance with specific requests has been invaluable to us.Shipping is through ShipStation, YotPo for reviews and WholesaleHero to integrate our retailer pricing directly into the webstore. We keep things fairly simple on this end and these apps meet our needs without overcomplicating things. We really like Klaviyo for email and use a customized template to plug in fresh copy and creative assets, which makes sending out a newsletter a snap.We use Buffer for social scheduling and rely on Google Analytics and Shopify reporting for stats. As a team, we work remotely and utilize Google Drive and Skype daily in order to keep in touch and share information.I wish I had a true “killer app” recommendation here, but a lot of what we do comes down to being able to rely on a few basics that can be easily trained, shared and utilized amongst our whole team.What have been the most influential books, podcasts, or other resources?I’m a huge fan of Kurt Elster’s The Unofficial Shopify Podcast, he often focuses on people in unique industries who are finding success and sharing some of the strategies that led them there. It’s inspiring but also unpretentious and ground-level enough to be relatable.I loved reading Jim Koch’s Quench Your Own Thirst: Business Lessons Learned Over a Beer or Two about the rise of Boston Brewing and the Sam Adams brand. It was amazing to me how he embraced his failures as readily as his successes and was unafraid to discuss them plainly. This is one of dozens of audiobooks I have listened to on my phone with Audible. I love that site.I try to run everything by my wife. She’s one of the smartest people I’ve ever met, and if she doesn’t “get” something it’s usually a sure sign that I’ve missed the mark. She’s a great supporter, and that means the world to me, but she’s also not afraid to call bullshit. Having someone like that in your professional life, who’s not afraid to tell you “this sucks” or “I’m not sure this works” is invaluable.Advice for other entrepreneurs who want to get started or are just starting out?Use your pride against your fear to get out of first gear.If I have done one brilliant thing in the past six years it was to recognize that I was afraid and needed to kick my own ass. So, I bought a bag of lanolin I could not return with money I did not have knowing I would be mortified to have to explain to my wife why I decided to quit just after investing in a big bag of sheep’s wax.As I mentioned earlier, I’d had ideas for businesses for a very long time and had never followed through. I was afraid I would fail. Somewhere in there, I was probably afraid I might succeed. Either way I had by this point established a habit of daydreams without action that I needed to break. I had an intuition that I needed to drop myself into a mess and fight my way out. That’s when the idea to buy obscure ingredients hit me. I placed the order and kept plugging away. When it arrived, I placed it prominently next to my computer monitor. I knew that the only way to turn that lanolin back into the money I desperately needed was to make a bunch of moustache wax and sell it. Which I did. If you use this idea, just be careful and don’t overdo it!Are you looking to hire for certain positions right now?We’re not actively hiring for any specific positions, but we love to hear from contributors and collaborators who may be interested in sharing creative content. Whether that’s photos or videos, artwork, reviews of our products or other insights, we welcome anyone who is willing to help us spread the word.We have built a great community of contributors over the years who help us do everything from test drive new products to give us feedback on concepts for campaigns.Where can we go to learn more?Find us Online:Website: https://www.canyouhandlebar.com/Talk to us directly :doug@canyouhandlebar.comIf you have any questions or comments, drop a comment below!Liked this text interview? Check out the full interview with photos, tools, books, and other data.Interested in sharing your own story? Send me a PM

[thecoroutfitters]

Written by Guest Contributor on The Prepper Journal.

Editors Note: Another article from Konrad Vinson to The Prepper Journal. As always, if you have information for Preppers that you would like to share then enter into the Prepper Writing Contest with a chance to win one of three Amazon Gift Cards with the top prize being a $300 card to purchase your own prepping supplies!

Preppers are problem solvers, disaster planners before the fact. Potential situations are things we know may come to pass. Most preppers are ready for the curve balls Mother Nature can throw. Most natural events only cause a brief hiccup in our lives and infrastructure. (Notable exceptions: Hurricane Katrina, Hurricane Maria) However, for preppers, identifying risks, is an intellectual pursuit, a thought exercise to solve for our family and community well being. What is the likelihood a natural event will occur? How likely am I to be dealing with a dirty bomb fallout at the end of the day? Except for earthquakes, most natural events are predicted and tracked with reasonably quick communication from the government, usually with time enough to prepare, flee, or shelter.

But anticipating basic human needs as a priority is the most versatile preparation. Most preparations for less exotic scenarios such as after a hurricane, long-term loss of electricity, loss of tap water are just as needed for those big sexy scenarios we build to challenge our minds and planning. Before we purchase exotic preps for complex super-sexy scenes, let’s review the essentials for clean air, clean water, nutrition, clothing, hygiene, first aid, and basic security.

The Big Scenarios We Love To Solve

We all have an existential curiosity about these possible events, they are reasonable, and nobody doubts they could occur. The prepping/survival communities discuss, share ideas, share theories, and otherwise consider what might happen in these situations. These have different problems to solve beyond the essentials. They also have on-ramps into politics and conspiracy—definitely the sexy end of prepping.

Will the event be nuclear attack by a foreign government?

Dirty Bomb (radioactivity) introduced by a hostile entity?

A Biological agent introduced by some hostile entity?

A Chemical agent introduced by some hostile entity?

Toxicity, some under-regulated producer, spills or intentionally dumps substance into water supplies or residential areas?

Electromagnetic Pulse (EMP) or Air-Burst Nuclear detonation from some unknown government?

A natural pandemic arising from degraded sanitation across the region or nation?

Mr. Robot Cyber hack which creates global financial and social chaos

Any other scenario I haven’t mentioned which could reasonably happen. (I do not prep for zombies or supernatural events, but if this figures for you—I’m pulling for you.)

All of these events are viable in theories, but none have come to pass in any substantial way. YET. In my state, every so often, toxicity is an issue. Hog producers are caught dumping slurry in streams or rivers. Other times, swine sewage lagoons fail and rupture without any malice. The resulting fish kill in the waterways is not a big “Who Dun It” for the State Department of Natural Resources. Follow dead fish till you find the source toxin. Fines made, fines paid.

But preppers are trying to solve for problems ahead of time. We seek to solve these problems. We talk about, review, share and discuss our ideas every day. We love to talk about the BIG scenarios. The Big Scenarios are fun and intellectually tantalizing. However, reviewing one’s essential preps should account for most of the critical problems for nearly all events, big and small. Maybe we will find room for improvement in our foundational preparations. But before I go purchasing Geiger counters, expensive hazmat suits, or build a pressurized airlock to my porch, the essentials remain the priority. I prep for the basics in an ongoing process of testing, getting the optimal working gear and supplies for sustained events in my situation. There may come a day when I build that airlock, but I have a ways to go.

We cannot escape the basics we need as humans.

What We All Need:

Clean air: Respirators with various levels of filtration available at the outset of an event. One needs to remove the old filters and put on fresh ones from an unopened package. Generally, manufacturers of respirator filters rate them at six months of use. Then the disposable filters are changed out, the old ones discarded.

My shop respirators are NIOSH-approved P-95 types and used strictly for particulate matter and paint or lacquer fumes. P-95 masks can protect from a lot of bad stuff. The cartridges are available in paint stores, home improvement stores, and over the internet. I prefer a full face for prepping so I can wear prescription glasses inside the mask, my eyes protected. Half face masks are available too.

Sheet rock dust, because it is so fine-grained, can be challenging to filter using a cheap emergency respirator. Don’t underestimate it. There are 9/11 victims still suffering due to sheet rock dust from collapsed the buildings. Respirators for everyone in a party stowed in a Pelican Box, ammo can, large freezer bags in a plastic tub or anything with a gasket seal is a great prep. And is essential protection for any scenario, garden variety or exotic.

Acquire compatible respirators and filters with a variety of filtration capabilities for everyone in your family or group. Understand, once deployed filter media on most makes of respirator is rated at six months. A three-year-old mask with the original filter may leave you exposed. Purchase extra filter-media for different pollutants. Keep them in their original plastic wrapper. You may want to prep for a worst of the worst scenario and lay in gas masks which have different filtration abilities by all means. If purchasing for family or a group, try to acquire compatible respirators. Also, buy “in date” non-expired filter canisters.

Whichever the product you choose; respirators or gas masks, throw a generous amount of Vaseline Petroleum Jelly in the kit. Vaseline can make up for gaps in a device’s fit on a child, person with facial hair, or otherwise ill fit. Vaseline and Duct Tape can help out in a pinch! (Any petroleum jelly will work.)

Consider the utility of an Arab style shemagh scarf. Some military personnel use these simple scarves in adapting to the various Arabian climates. Conveniently it’s around your neck, in your rucksack, or a pocket. A shemagh is versatile in how it is worn and could pre-filter your respirator, or in a pinch, filter out fine sand-like particulate matter until you reach your cache of more robust filtration.

In bunker scenarios, one prep is to have an air intake and exhaust. DC or solar power supplies often power these. Consider taking an old squirrel cage blower, sans motor, and weld a hand crank on it. Size a flexible rubber connector for emergency connection. If your vent has a standard “China Hat” consider an old air cleaner and automotive filter media to reduce pollution in the bunker or shelter.

Water about 1-2 gallons a day: In shelters larger storage containers can be supplied. Or pallets and cartons of water bottles can be stored. Maybe some combination.

Locate a water test kit and learn how to use it. Also learn what common contaminants are in your area. The water supply can filter organic matter, for taste, and otherwise prepared for storage by inline filters before storing water. Purification methods like tablets or large boiling pots may be needed while pump filters and life straws are useful for mobile survivalists, or preppers in transit to a shelter, or get home plans.

Some of the water quotas in various disaster planning guidelines will be for drinking and cooking. Some of each water quota is for equally important sanitation and hygiene. 1-2 gallons is not a lot of water. It’s a lot to drink. But add cooking, bathing, and health and there is little to spare. At home don’t forget your hot water tank. You can access from 40 gallons to 80 gallons of clean water using the drain cock and a garden hose.

Nutrition of around 2000-4000 calories: These calorie values need to factor in activity and any disease or dietary requirements by team members. When you are physically moving toward your destination: use the upper end of the scale. When riding out the wake of an event: use the middle or lower end of the scale. Save back some food, so when you are actively moving toward your destination again, you have enough calories to support this movement.

If you are trapped, or otherwise confined: You may need to ration below the low end of the scale. Of course fresh food is best. Convenience foods have plenty of calories so if you pass a grocery store or convenience store with any product left to grab the longest-keeping items. MREs have a long shelf life, can be warmed with their heating system, are relatively light, and require no pots, pans or clean up.

You want to bury or securely dispose of the wrappers and trash. Food, especially MREs, will be highly prized. Nobody need know your special magic, lest they want it for themselves, or at the least beg for rations, you hadn’t counted on giving away. Unless, of course, you anticipated the value of an MRE in an event or scenario and had extra meals on hand for barter purposes. Also look for pre-packaged meals. There are a lot of good options out there.

Appropriate Clothing, and shelter the elements.

Outerwear:

Winter coat with a hood and which covers the wearers posterior. (Rothco N-3B Snorkel Parka)

Snow pants or cotton duck coveralls

Desert jacket- lightweight but protective from the sun and modest protection when desert suddenly cools off at night. Nicely matched for use with a shemagh. (Rothco Shemagh Tactical Desert Scarf – 8537)

Layers:

A tee shirt

Long sleeve shirt or Pendleton

A vest or light sweatshirt is a versatile layer

Headgear:

Winter stocking hat with a face mask

Ball hat

Boonie hat, or wide-brimmed hat for sun protection

Sunglasses

In winter conditions, consider tinted ski goggles

A shemagh scarf.

Footwear:

Footwear is a matter of taste: some folks like tennis or oxford style shoes. I like work or hiking boots without steel toes. I test out a pair, when satisfied, I buy another. Two pairs of boots last about three times as long

I have been well-served for 50 years with boots priced under $100.00

Leather Uppers

A good tread pattern

Replace the original shoestrings for heavy duty ones. Save the old ones in the ruck for a quick fix

You can waterproof after purchase

You should waterproof about ever 3-4 months depending on use

2 or 3 pairs of socks if marching all day. Toss a new plastic bag of twenty socks from your discount retailer.

Rucksack:

Think carefully through the bag itself.

Can you carry it for a day of strenuous marching toward your objective?

Can you even carry what you need to get home?

Is it worth investigating a cache of supplies or gear along the path I am traveling?

Are the straps comfortable and adjustable?

Is there a hip or chest strap? Does it help or feel weird?

Tent:

Can you carry it on your rucksack? Is it the minimally sized bag you need?

Ground cloth or tarp to go beneath it?

Or no tent and use a tarp for shelter?

Sleeping Pad/Air mattress. Sounds like a luxury, but without sleep, you will make poor time, or worse, poor judgments. Look, Tough Guy, even Marines use these sleeping pads

A sleeping bag rated for the worst weather you expect to encounter. Maybe simple blankets if you expect fair weather.

Hygiene:

Hand washing is king. Any nurse will tell you, “Wash your hands more and keep your fingers away from your face!” Keeping your hands clean during an emergency helps prevent the spread of germs.

If your tap water is not safe to use, wash your hands with boiled or disinfected water and soap

Wet your hands with clean, running water (warm or cold) and apply soap

Rub your hands together to make a lather and scrub them well; be sure to get the backs of your hands, in between your fingers, and under your nails

Continue rubbing your hands for at least 20 seconds. Need a timer? Wash your hands long enough to sing or hum along to “Happy Birthday” from start to completion twice.

Rinse your hands thoroughly under running water

Dry your hands using a clean towel or air dry them

A temporary hand washing station can be made using a large water jug containing clean water. Recapture this grey water with a bucket and use it for making flush toilets flush. How to Put a Garden Hose Spigot on a Five-gallon Pail | 

Washing hands with soap and water are the best way to reduce the number of germs on them

If soap and water are not available, use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer which contains at least 60% alcohol

Alcohol-based hand sanitizers can quickly reduce the number of germs on hands in some situations, but sanitizers do not eliminate all types of microbes or bacteria.

Hand sanitizers are not effective when hands are visibly dirty

Avoid contact with flood waters whenever possible. Avoiding flood water seems obvious, yet every flood produces victims–further clogging the medical systems. Not only are flood waters often contaminated with raw sewage, but they regularly contain industrial waste or agricultural chemicals at levels which may exceed your ability to treat with your first aid supplies. A trip to the hospital may not be an option depending during an event. If you must enter flood waters, try to clean yourself off, and ESPECIALLY any open wounds as soon as possible. Monitor exposed areas for rashes, redness, lesions.

Educate children as to why flood waters are dangerous

Keep pets leashed and away from flood waters.

Bathing:

Check the safety of shower or bathing water when bathing or showering after a water-related emergency one should use safe water.

Sometimes water which is not safe to drink can be used for bathing or showering–but do not swallow any of this sort of water or get it in your eyes.

If you have a drinking water well, listen to your local health authorities for advice on using your well water for showering and bathing.

If extensive flooding has occurred or you suspect your well may be contaminated, contact your local health department for well testing and disinfection information.

Brushing your teeth after a water-related emergency should only be done with clean, safe water

Keeping wounds clean and covered is crucial during an emergency

Open wounds, sores, or rashes exposed to flood waters can become infected. To protect yourself and your family

Avoid contact with flood waters if you have an open wound

Cover clean, open wounds with a waterproof bandage to reduce the chance of infection

Keep open wounds as clean as possible by washing well with soap and clean water

If a wound develops redness, swelling, or oozing, seek immediate medical care

Vibrios are naturally occurring bacteria which live in certain coastal waters. They can cause a skin infection if an open wound exposed to salt water or a mix of salt and fresh water, which can occur during floods

Tetanus, other bacterial infections, and fungal infections are potential health threats for persons who have open wounds.

Health:

Take into account everyone’s medications, even the pets?

What alternative pharmacies can I use if my usual one is knocked out and I need medicine?

What needs will any elderly or special-needs members of the family or team require? (Ramps, wheelchairs, particular vehicle, pets for comfort, items of comfort) If you make a list now, it may save distress in the future

What are my options for healthcare if my primary physician’s facilities are knocked out?

Do I have digital copies of family health records? If not how might I get them? If so, how best to archive them?

First aid:

The Duquesne University School of Nursing has excellent resources here for First Aid Kits in Disaster Preparedness. Think about stretchers. You may need one for a neighbor or team member. Stretchers, like seat belts, are not something you want to think about but darn glad you thought it through.

Security:

Having a plan of where to meet up is good advice. Cell phones and landlines may either be instantly jammed or nonfunctional in an event

Having some code word, code phrase, or shared memory only your family would know isn’t a bad idea

If on foot, you might consider not wearing apparel which looks military or makes you look “like a prepper.” You want to blend in, go unnoticed.

I think you will agree, for all the big sexy scenarios we imagine, there is always room for improvement in our preps for essential human needs. We have constant work to do improving or maintaining gear, or if not, then widening available supplies, or adding depth and longevity to them. I work to “bug-in” at home. We want to get home to great neighbors and tend to think there is safety in numbers, especially when it comes to our elderly and special needs neighbors.

In my case prepping is more of stewardship to my family and neighbors. I buy extra food; when it gets close to the use by date, it goes to the food pantry. If the event happens and we are all in the soup together, I have some food to spare. If the electricity goes out for a few days, we pull all the grills together in the street and have a BBQ party cooking meat and frozen goods before they go bad.

One civilian experience which informs my thinking is that where I live has a long-honored rural tradition of neighbors helping each other. In the aftermath of the 2008 Parkersburg, Iowa tornado, I witnessed, less than an hour after the natural event, neighbors helping neighbors, the sounds of chainsaws clearing roadways before first responders or FEMA was on the scene. SHTF. For many in Parkersburg, it was TEOTWAWKI.  There was no societal breakdown. No shootouts. No looting. People were more in need of a charger for their cellphone than .357 ammo, so I generally do not focus much on weapons.

I don’t don’t want you to misunderstand me—I have weapons—but I feel no need to advertise what I have or where I have it. One further security consideration: If you have Second Amendment or NRA membership stickers on your vehicle, get a scraper. Proud as you may be of the political or cultural statement on your back window or the bumper, you might have placed a target on your car or truck. It tells people exactly where they can acquire a weapon.

During an event, a once harmless sticker might come to read “follow me home and wait for a chance.” Don Corleone in the Godfather is a great model for individual preppers, “Never tell anyone outside the Family what you are thinking again.” You could educate children not to discuss this aspect of family life. Not out of shame, rather just good security. The less even your beloved neighbors know about your prepper-life, the better. You want to help others on your terms. You do not want to create a situation like “The Shelter” on the old show The Twilight Zone.

As I write this on a Monday, over this last weekend, six hunters got shot in Iowa. One young man died at the hands of a person in his hunting party. Good preppers should practice the most stringent gun safety. Take a refresher hunter safety or gun safety course. A competent firearms owner needs to practice putting rounds downrange and exercising gun safety regularly. Tenderfoot civilians with guns are pure chaos. I am more likely to get shot in a public hunting reserve during deer season than in the roughest neighborhood in the nearby metro area. Maybe you, too, have seen people in sporting goods stores sweeping the muzzle of a weapon across the backs of other customer’s heads or even faces of sales staff nearby when handling a firearm.

We all have to start somewhere, but let preppers be good, vocal examples of safety. Be part of the solution and not a part of the problem for your neighbors, your community, local LEO and First Responders.

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from The Prepper Journal Don't forget to visit the store and pick up some gear at The COR Outfitters. How prepared are you for emergencies? #SurvivalFirestarter #SurvivalBugOutBackpack #PrepperSurvivalPack #SHTFGear #SHTFBag

[audiopedia2016]

What is GEIGER COUNTER? What does GEIGER COUNTER mean? GEIGER COUNTER meaning - GEIGER COUNTER definition - GEIGER COUNTER explanation. Source: Wikipedia.org article, adapted under http://ift.tt/yjiNZw license. The Geiger counter is an instrument used for measuring ionizing radiation used widely in such applications as radiation dosimetry, radiological protection, experimental physics and the nuclear industry. It detects ionizing radiation such as alpha particles, beta particles and gamma rays using the ionization effect produced in a Geiger–Müller tube; which gives its name to the instrument. In wide and prominent use as a hand-held radiation survey instrument, it is perhaps one of the world's best-known radiation detection instruments. The original detection principle was discovered in 1908 at the Cavendish laboratory, but it was not until the development of the Geiger-Müller tube in 1928 that the Geiger-Müller counter became a practical instrument. Since then it has been very popular due to its robust sensing element and relatively low cost. However, there are limitations in measuring high radiation rates and the energy of incident radiation. A Geiger counter consists of a Geiger-Müller tube, the sensing element which detects the radiation, and the processing electronics, which displays the result. The Geiger-Müller tube is filled with an inert gas such as helium, neon, or argon at low pressure, to which a high voltage is applied. The tube briefly conducts electrical charge when a particle or photon of incident radiation makes the gas conductive by ionization. The ionization is considerably amplified within the tube by the Townsend discharge effect to produce an easily measured detection pulse, which is fed to the processing and display electronics. This large pulse from the tube makes the G-M counter relatively cheap to manufacture, as the subsequent electronics is greatly simplified. The electronics also generates the high voltage, typically 400–600 volts, that has to be applied to the Geiger-Müller tube to enable its operation. There are two types of radiation readout; counts or radiation dose. The counts display is the simplest and is the number of ionizing events displayed either as a count rate, commonly "counts per second", or as a total over a set time period (an integrated total). The counts readout is normally used when alpha or beta particles are being detected. More complex to achieve is a display of radiation dose rate, displayed in a unit such as the sievert which is normally used for measuring gamma or X-ray dose rates. A G-M tube can detect the presence of radiation, but not its energy which influences the radiation's ionising effect. Consequently, instruments measuring dose rate require the use of an energy compensated G-M tube, so that the dose displayed relates to the counts detected. The electronics will apply known factors to make this conversion, which is specific to each instrument and is determined by design and calibration. The readout can be analog or digital, and increasingly, modern instruments are offering serial communications with a host computer or network. There is usually an option to produce audible clicks representing the number of ionization events detected. This is the distinctive sound normally associated with hand held or portable Geiger counters. The purpose of this is to allow the user to concentrate on manipulation of the instrument whilst retaining auditory feedback on the radiation rate. There are two main limitations of the Geiger counter. Because the output pulse from a Geiger-Müller tube is always the same magnitude regardless of the energy of the incident radiation, the tube cannot differentiate between radiation types. A further limitation is the inability to measure high radiation rates due to the "dead time" of the tube. This is an insensitive period after each ionization of the gas during which any further incident radiation will not result in a count, and the indicated rate is therefore lower than actual. Typically the dead time will reduce indicated count rates above about 104 to 105 counts per second depending on the characteristic of the tube being used. Whilst some counters have circuitry which can compensate for this, for accurate measurements ion chamber instruments are preferred for high radiation rates.

[christoperwal-blog]

Namely, Proudly owning A Gilbert No

Gone are the days when people had been totally oblivious of the dangerous results of radiation publicity when it was one thing exciting. To them, radiation had the facility to make things glow and will even enhance one’s well being. We’ve discovered the laborious means that not all the things that glitters is gold and that radiation publicity and nuclear energy pose a threat to people’s health. However, few would agree with this claim back within the 1950s when nuclear optimism started flourishing around the globe and penetrated each sphere of people’s lives. Advances in the field of nuclear physics massively changed the way people lived. While some people thought of nuclear energy as a terrifying threat, many others shared an incredible nuclear optimism, celebrating the truth that everything will probably be "nuclear" sooner or later. From low cost electricity to water for the thirsty and meals for the hungry, nuclear optimism of the Atomic Age seemed to have no limits.

As it turned out, not every part about nuclear vitality was constructive. The nuclear energy business grew quickly in the 1950s, inflicting numerous environmental problems and tensions in international relations and diplomacy. Large Atomic Bomb toy on the Children’s Museum of Indianapolis. During the 1950s, there was a trend in nuclear-impressed designs and ideas. Many firms envisioned things like nuclear-powered clocks, automobiles, home appliances, and even some radioactive shopper products similar to toothpaste, lipstick, and cigars. Apparently, the toy trade had just a few ideas of its own. 1940s Gilbert chemistry set. Photographed at Shoreline Historical Museum, Shoreline, Washington. Exposing children to radiation seemed not solely harmless but even desirable. A lot of the toys made within the 1950s were named "atomic" simply to sound cool, but a number of the manufacturers went further and included radioactive elements in their merchandise. One such product was the Gilbert No. U-238 Atomic Power Lab. Released for the first time in 1951, this nuclear physics academic set is best remembered for being arguably the most dangerous children’s toy ever produced. Mister Atomic, again facet.

Amongst different things, the set included a Geiger counter, electroscope, spinthariscope, a Wilson Cloud Chamber, instruction guide, and, most significantly, radioisotopes. Enjoying with uranium ore back in the 1950s was not one thing that everybody could afford as it was quite dear. 500 in today’s money). 10,000 to anyone who discovers deposits of uranium ore. A very neat and "slightly" radioactive toy. Replica Atomic Robotic Man. Mother and father who worry that a toy they purchase right now may include toxic chemicals, brace yourselves. Such chemicals present in children’s toys are nothing compared to the radioactive 1947 Lone Ranger Atomic Bomb Ring, a Kix cereal promotion. Replica Atomic Robotic Man. "You’ll see brilliant flashes of gentle in the inky darkness of the atom chamber. These frenzied vivid flashes are caused by the released energy of atoms." The producer additionally promised that the radioactive isotope contained in the toy was harmless to youngsters, but still, the thought of exposing your kid to it gives one pause. Back within the time when uranium was considered to be the brand new gold and uranium prospectors had been all over the United States, Gardner Video games created the "Uranium Rush" board recreation. This recreation allowed gamers to put themselves in the function of uranium prospectors and gather some huge cash from the deposits they uncover on the map. The game was battery operated and of an identical design to electric quiz video games from the mid 20-century. There was also a cardboard Geiger counter included in the kit with which you may discover uranium on the map. Another creepy toy of the Atomic Age was the Atomic Robot Man, one of the earliest toy robots ever manufactured. If you loved this post and you would like to receive extra data pertaining to anchor2 (Www.zentai-spandex.com) kindly stop by the web site. Originally produced in post-conflict occupied Japan within the late 1940s, the Atomic Robotic Man nowadays has a very special appeal to collectors, and originals are really exhausting to seek out.

Scientists blast radiation at groups seeds and plant cuttings to scramble their genetic code and produce random mutations. These seeds are then cultivated and inspected for the most fascinating mutations. It’s a roll of the dice, but it’s a course of that’s quick, simple and cheap. And in contrast to CRISPR or different methods, there’s no man-made genetic modification. Relatively, the radiation put stresses on the plant forcing it to adapt with its personal genetic material. It’s widely used in growing nations and has yielded more than 3,200 useful mutants that appear in grocery shops the world over. At this time now we have mutant wheat, rice, pears, peas, peppermint, grapefruit and more. In Bangladesh, for instance, styles of rice produced by way of mutation breeding have increased crop yields threefold over the past few many years, in line with the World Nuclear Association. Radiation could additionally save the ubiquitous Cavendish banana. "There’s a banana blight, and part of the reason is we use a single variety.

[thecoroutfitters]

North Korea doesn’t have the power to wipe down the United States. They can take a lot of lives and make us uncomfortable, but they won’t be able to destroy us.

Our nation still faces a nuclear crisis; and it may come right from our own nuclear power plants.

No matter what nation you look at these days, there are hackers that can turn our power plants against us. This is an imminent threat that can disburse lethal radiation to just about every corner of our nation.

If you have been putting off nuclear prepping because it seems useless or expensive, then you may be wondering if there is something you can do right away. Keep reading to find out!

Here are 10 things you can do in just a few minutes to 48 hours to secure your survival in the outer bands of a nuclear crisis zone from the time the event occurs to 5 days past the main event.

Know Where the Nuclear Shelters are in Your Area

One of the first things you should do is find out where the local blast shelters and fallout shelters are located. You can try doing a web search for this information in relation to your local area, and also ask at your town or city clerk’s office.

Since the United States has become remarkably lax in this area, you may not get any viable answers.

  3 Second SEAL Test Will Tell You If You’ll Survive A SHTF Situation

  If you find that you cannot get the address and information on a viable nuclear shelter, then start looking around for places that might make a viable shelter in time of need. Old brick churches, schools, or other sturdy buildings with solid basements might be of some use.

Do not overlook underground parking garages or other places where you can put a lot of heavy material between you and the radiation. If you find a viable place, but no plans have been made to store water, food, and other supplies, now might be a good time to approach the owner and get some volunteer efforts going in that direction.

Given the current state of the news, you may find people are more amenable to these ideas than they would have been even a year ago.

Have a Plan for Getting Underground and Test It

It is often said that most people living in a city will be doomed if a nuclear bomb is detonated. On the other hand, if the city buildings survive, there is every chance the lower and underground levels of the buildings may be suitable for a fallout shelter.

Therefore, if you live in a city, locate at least five buildings with basements that you can get into quickly in a time of need. Try to space out the buildings so that you can get to them in under five minutes on foot.

If you have to approach a building owner or superintendent to make these arrangements, do not forget to add extra supplies. Unfortunately, people can become very untrustworthy in a time of need, however you may still find others that will honor their agreements.

No matter whether you live in a rural area or a location in the city where you can dig into the ground, build a small fallout shelter that you can reach in a matter of minutes. There are several resources online that you can use for starter plans to build everything from a foxhole design to larger ones.

When building your shelter, you must make sure you have at least 3 feet (6 – 7 feet is better if you can manage it) of well packed soil around you and above you. Just remember to make sure there is also enough room in the shelter to store at least 5 days of water, food, and anything you may decide to take along to another area.

If you are looking to build the shelter in less than 24 hours, you can also add a vent shaft, however the air will need to be pulled in through a MERV 16 filter or better in order to remove as much radioactive dust as possible.

Be Able to Calculate When and Where to Go

As soon as you find out there is a nuclear blast and that you are in the radiation zone, get underground or put as much material between you and the blast site as possible. When you find the safest possible shelter, you’ll need to stay there for about 5 days.

When it comes to short term, fast prepping for a nuclear disaster, you will find the time after this much more challenging. Even though the most immediate threats from heavy doses of radiation will be over, you must still contend with all the contaminated things in your area. This includes food, water, tools, and anything else that would normally be of use in time of need.

Insofar as where to go after emerging from your blast/fallout shelter, it will depend largely on where the blast occurred and what else is going on in surrounding areas.

If you are dealing with a single nuclear power plant, you must know where the radioactive fallout is most likely to be carried by wind and water currents. Heading away from the projected fallout zone will be your best bet.

Make sure you know where all the nuclear power plants are within a 500 mile radius of locality. Some college campuses also have nuclear reactors for research purposes, so make sure that you know where those are in case they also get hacked.

Listen to the radio and find out what other areas are contaminated so that you have a better chance of picking a safe area. Take geographic features such as mountains and fresh water resources into consideration when deciding where you will go.

At the current time, relatively few analysts think that North Korea has a vehicle capable of reaching the eastern areas of the United States. Most also think North Korea has not yet developed a MERV device, so it is likely you will be dealing with a single detonation as opposed to a localized pattern.

On the other hand, a strike far enough into the west coast can still bring a lot of radiation to the eastern areas in a matter of a day or two. It is important to know how to get to the mountains or other areas where air and water currents from the west will be mainly blocked out.

Prepare for Radiation Sickness

You can start preparing for radiation sickness by having potassium iodide tablets on hand. Even though you will not need them until a nuclear event happens, it is still important to have them on hand. If you live close enough to a nuclear power plant, they may give them out for free if you ask for them.

There are also some vitamins (E and C) that can help reduce the effects of nuclear radiation, however they are best taken beforehand. Do not take more than the recommended amounts of these vitamins as some can be poisonous if you take too much.

See our articles on foods and vitamins for prepping to see what you need to be consuming right now, as well as which foods are best to store. Fortunately, the most useful vitamins for nuclear prepping can be found in a good quality multi-vitamin.

Just make sure that you include a new bottle in your food cache so that you have an uncontaminated supply at your shelter location.

Overall, treatment for radiation sickness will entail managing symptoms such as nausea, vomit, cough, and bleeding. To keep things as simple as possible, buy extra of any OTC medications you use for the most common symptoms and keep them in your shelter area. This includes any herbal remedies that you may already have experience with.

There are also some medications you can use to remove radiation from your body if you become exposed to it. The cheapest and easiest to obtain will be activated carbon capsules and zeolite capsules. When using zeolites, bear in mind, however, that it can be carcinogenic. Try not to use zeolites for a prolonged period of time.

Build a Radiation Detector

The fastest and cheapest way to build a radiation detector is to follow the designs for a Kearny Fallout Meter.

Try to build at least three or four of them, and place them in different areas. Once you know how to read the meters, it will be easier to determine when radiation levels are elevated in your area.

If you have some extra money, you can also buy a device that will attach to your cell phone that will act like a Geiger counter.

Secure a 5 Day Food Supply

One of the most important things you can do is store away at least five days worth of food. Stick to canned, dried, or powdered foods that do not require heating.

At least half of your food choices should be items that will shield your body from radiation or remove it from your body. It may also help to store away a few MREs for more balance. Sadly, I would not necessarily recommend putting food in a bug out bag, as it will get contaminated by radiation while you are moving to a place of safety.

Store your foods in your fallout shelter, and the remainder under at least 6 feet of dirt, and then retrieve when it is safe to do so.

Water Cleaning During a Nuclear Disaster

The cheapest way to remove nuclear radiation from water is to use uncontaminated dirt. Zeolites and activated carbon will also remove some radiation. Later on, when you emerge from your shelter, the best thing you can do is distill the water.

Even though this will not remove tritium, it will still get rid of all the other nuclear contaminants. It is also very important to have a 5 day supply of bottled water in your fallout shelter.

The plastic bottles will shield the water from the radiation. Be sure to wipe all dust off the bottles so that you do no contaminate the water with any fallout that may have gotten into the shelter.

Secure Decontamination and Hygiene Essentials

With the exception of Gamma radiation, almost all other radiation will be trapped by your clothes. Therefore, it is very important to have a change of clothes in your shelter.

The most effective decontamination is a long shower and scrubbing with lye soap. Since it is not likely you will be able to create an underground piping system for this purpose in a day, your best bet will be to make sure as much of your skin and hair as possible remain covered with white fabric.

Include a bandanna or scarf (preferably sari cloth as it can also double as a water filter) that you can quickly and easily slip over your nose and mouth to block out as much dust as possible. Even weaker Alpha and Beta radiation particles can wreak havoc if they get into your body via your mouth or nose.

Insofar as hygiene, store away wet wipes and other aides for keeping yourself as clean as possible without using water.It will also be useful to store away bags that can be used for urine and stool as you will not want them building up in the shelter. These can be pushed into an adjoining tunnel from your living area, and then sealed off with dirt or a door.

As much as you may be tempted to find a way to put these bags above ground, I do not recommend it. They can leave you open to detection by people above ground. You will also be exposed to radiation each time you emerge from the earth.

Be Ready to Defend Yourself

If you have a gun and ammo, you will be ahead of the game. That being said, it is also important to store away knives and anything else you can use as a weapon. Try to practice basic self defense moves now and do what you can to brush up on your situation awareness skills. Even 15 minutes of practice each day can be of benefit.

Depending on where you live and the severity of the blast in your area, it is possible that people will be roving around while you are still underground. These people are likely to be looking for food, medicine, and water. Even if they are suffering from radiation sickness and have just a few days to live, do not be surprised if they try to get into your shelter to steal from you.

Do what you can to disguise your shelter so that no one can find it once you enter it. If you have neighbors, it will be best to dig and work on your shelter during night hours or other times when no one knows what you are doing.

Communications and Gathering Information

Other than medical devices, your phone and radios are the most common electronic survival tools that will be damaged by an EMP.

Be sure to put an unlocked smart phone, a mobile SIM (Freedom Pop gives you free minutes and time every month), and backup computer files in an EMP proof bag, and store them in your shelter.

Even if cell service and internet go down, you can still use the phone for accessing digital files. Most web pages can be easily saved as PDF files, and it is also possible to download many useful YouTube videos for viewing offline. Build your library now of information that you may need while you are in the shelter, and once you emerge.

It is also important to store away a radio that gets AM and FM bands. If the radio is based on transistors or IC circuits, it should also go in an EMP proof bag. Include a solar battery charger and sufficient rechargeable (and fully charged) batteries to last 5 days for all your devices.

You may not be able to use the solar charger during the first five days of a nuclear crisis, but you can use it once you emerge from your shelter. Since crank radios can be quite expensive, you may be better served by storing away simple materials that you can use to build a foxhole radio and a simple transmitter.

Right now there are several things you can integrate into your daily life to prepare for a nuclear emergency. There are also some cheap, fast things you can do in a weekend that will put you well ahead of anyone else that makes no effort at all this direction.

While these suggestions will not take you much past five days, they are an important start that will give you an advantage that can still be wielded once you emerge from your shelter.

This article has been written by Carmela Tyrell for Survivopedia.

References:

https://www.globalhealingcenter.com/natural-health/natural-remedies-for-radiation-exposure/

http://www.oism.org/nwss/s73p919.htm 

from Survivopedia Don't forget to visit the store and pick up some gear at The COR Outfitters. How prepared are you for emergencies? #SurvivalFirestarter #SurvivalBugOutBackpack #PrepperSurvivalPack #SHTFGear #SHTFBag