Work In The Dark

 Get used to working in the dark! The best can navigate their side in almost total darkness.


If you are a security officer alone on a construction or other site making use of the quickly fading sunlight to accustom your eyes to seeing in the dark and then practice making much of your patrol in the dark  CAN help you to do your job more efficient and safely.


I've know guards to make a habit of flashing their spotlights around just to let possible intruders know there is a guard on duty.  That's fine and no doubt discourages many intruders.


But remember that if you're dealing with a person or a group determined to get into your site let's them know exactly where you are -- making it easier to either get around you -- or ambush you.


So practice "dark navigation whenever possible". Be like the old Indian fighters in the Wild West who  used darkness to their advantage. 


Intruders do. You should do it too. You might not use this all the time because sites and situations vary greatly but it is an invaluable security technique to perfect.


If you're not good at it now remember that it just like learning to ride a bicycle.  It will get easier and easier and you won't regret having this skill.

Use The Power of Your Mind

 Two interesting articles highlight how we  can do this.


The first article "You are what you think" Hazel Morley, a learning and development coach from the U. K. reminds us that  we are not always able to control the circumstances thrown at us in life -- but we can control our thinking in response to those circumstances. He says, " Whatever your approach to the challenges life throws at you its  how you think about what happens to you, not the even or circumstances itself that makes the difference."


And there is a lot of truth in that. There are numerous cases of people who have confronted and beaten things like cancer with a positive frame of mind.


It is not always easy to to do but with practice you can do it he insists.


A good point!


The other article,   " A Slew"  by Stephanie Booth  in the  November  2011 edition of Psychology Today  warns that some of us are not paranoid or skeptical enough  in our relationships with others while others live in an almost total state of paranoia.


Although she does not describe it exactly this way -- some paranoia, or skepticism is healthful because there are a lot of harmful people out there as you can see from the number of people who are ripped off by skim artists or who go missing or who are murdered after meeting  somebody new.


But it can be a very thin line you are walking along in life. It all depends on the  circumstances you find yourself in or the context of your life.


Ton Buzan in his book Head Strong also reminds us that our mind, especially our subconscious mind does not just add one thought to another, but multiplies so it is critical what thoughts you let stay in your mind. Positive thoughts, once meditated on for a while begin to multiply until you have a whole string of positive thoughts filling hour mind -- but so do bad or negative thoughts. So according to Buzan so we need to be vigilant about what we think about.


So, if you have drifted into that constant state of paranoia where you think everybody you meet is out to get you it is time to do a reality check or seek help before you become completely mentally crippled.


Whatever your circumstances  the  magazine article is a very interesting read and this particular edition of the magazine also contains some interesting articles on things like procrastination, defying age well.


It wouldn't hurt to check it out.

Protect Yourself and Enjoy a Delicious Meal

The typical Canadian breakfast is often bacon and eggs. Delicious, but hard on the arteries and your heart if you indulge yourself too often.


Now, thought, there is a delicious alternative to that fatty bacon -- plantin -- the cousin the to bannanna found in many large supermarkets as well as smaller produce stores -- especially those that cater to an Asian market.


Just buy them ripe( green they are as hard as rocks and seem to take ages to ripen lying in your home cupboard.  Then simply cut them in strips, cook them in a good grade olive oil and serve along with eggs, tomatoes etc.  Delicious -- and also very healthful. Why not try it?

Learn Self Defense!

The latest murder in Armstrong British Columbia is a sure warning that more people should be enrolling in self-defense courses such as the ones offered  at: www.multipliedforce.com

Instructors at the school connected with this site will teach you and your family the realities of street attacks and how to defend yourself against them.


Check it out.  Martial arts schools are good, but they don't generally  prepare you for the realities of savage attacks in the street with more emphasis, often, on competitive techniques which  might not be enough to protect you or your loved ones out on the street.


There is a world of different between most competitive martial arts techniques (although some are the same or similar) and self defense techniques  


Check it out and enroll in a course that are sure will help you to survive on  the street.  A good self defense can quickly teach you  techniques to survive sudden attacks such as the one the young lady in Armstrong B.C. faced  and escape to safety. 


That is what you want first. You can go on to learn competitive martial arts techniques after this -- often in the same school that teaches you mixed martial arts and the self-defense course.


The organization I mentioned is just one of many.  Professional security companies such as Securiguard out here in Vancouver, B.C. also offer the public self-defense courses. Some schools also offer courses on CD's an on-line to teach you --the basic theories -- of self defense.


Remember you need to practice all of this though. So find a good school.

Watch Those Little Library Bugs

As if we didn't have enough threats to our security and well-being in the world -- but we bedbugs that are starting to infest books have recently added to that.

A recent newspaper story in the Vancouver Sun, on Thursday October 20, reported " Bedbugs found at second library branch"

It turns out that the invasion was relatively minor and the library staff has responded quickly by calling in extermination companies and treating books with a special heat treatment that kills that nasty litter critters that cause varying allergic reactions to their bites in susceptible persons.

Although this problem was minor it is a reminder that bedbugs and cockroaches can come home with us in our clothing as well as in paper bags and boxes that we have picked up in stores.

So it is always a good idea to check for such things when you return from shopping or some other building you suspect could be infected.

We once helped somebody move out of a cockroach infected apartment and although we thought we had been careful in checking our shoes and clothing after we escaped from the infected building and left our clothes outside for the night after arriving home we still encountered the odd cockroach in our own house for weeks.

And it takes only one to create a full-blown home invasion force withing a few weeks. So double check those shopping bags and even library books -- you just never know.


The book infestation is really rate -- so don't let it turn you off going to the library. It is just that it doesn't hurt to check. (I once found a $10.00 folded up into one of the books  I brought home from the library.) 

Remember -- Strictly in Moderation

Strictly in moderation.  That is the latest warning from medical researchers when it comes to alcohol.


We have heard a lot lately about the health benefits of wines -- and even liquor. And the latest edition of  Taste mgazine which you can pick up in your local liquor store in here presents some very tempting liquor and food combination don't go overboard;  according to the latest studies as reported on CTV's  National News on Tuesday, Nov 1, 2011 women  especially should be careful not to  as new research shows  that women having  14 drinks in a weeks raises their breast cancer risks by some 51%


Even a few drinks in a week creates some danger but the risk does grow from about 1.5 per up to that alarming 51% with each drink that she takes.


I don't know who did this study, but the idea of drinking in moderation -- for everyone -- is a good idea at all times. Focus more on that delicious looking food this holiday season.

Make Sure You Have A Will!

A stark reminder of the importance of having a will -- was driven home recently while working a chap who is now trying to find any surviving family members in another land before the local  Public Trustee grabs the estate of a friend who recently died unexpectedly.


Many people (myself included) try to push the thought of dying away off in the shadows -- as far away as possible, but that can be a little risky as shown by this experience.  His friend never thought he would died and so put off the idea of making a will until the last moment when doctors told him that he was not going to make -- that he was going to die within in days.


Although he hurriedly decided to leave his estate  worth over $8,000,000 in property -- to a big aid organization.  The local Public Trustee tried to claim that this will was written under duress and tried to have it declared void.


What the final outcome will be  I'm not sure, but I do know that if this friend had taken the time to think things through he very likely would have  written a will that left a least a portion  of his estate to another organization that he was associated with -- and that they could have done a lot of good with it.


So, don't leave something like this to the last minute. There  are far too many cases where people do and the Public Trustee here in B.C. steps in and take control of the estate -- which can mean big legal battles for surviving family members.