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[at-l] Taking care of business
great, pragmatic list, but I cannot help but observe: And we call this
the advanced, civilized society that is gonna "free" us from the
harshness of nature??????
Dave Hicks wrote:
>
> Sorry.
>
> I'm missing a url and grabbed the wrong one. Jim created a list of homefire
> questions that I thought were a good check list.
>
> The following is an extract that I have in a word document on my machine.
> It may or may not be an exact quote, as I am not sure what I did with it
> once I copied it.
>
> So, where it is insightful, or helps with the getting organized, credit Jim.
>
> Where it is a problem, blame me.
>
> >>
> Do you rent an apartment or house? Will you move out? Sublet? If not, how
> will you pay the rent? What will you do with your furniture and belongings?
>
> Do you own a house? Will you move out? Have someone house sit for you? Sell?
> Rent? How will you pay the mortgage and property taxes? Who will take care
> of necessary repairs and maintenance while you are gone?
>
> Do you have furniture? What will you do with your belongings? Are you sure
> you'll know where to find everything when you get back? Will you make a list
> to remind you where it is? [Stuff walks]
>
> Do you own tools? How will you make sure you still have them when you get
> back? [Tools walk faster and farther.]
>
> Do you have the time/energy to sort through your belongings before you leave
> to figure out what you don't really need any more? How many books do you
> have? Will you get rid of some of them? How? Where will you store the rest?
>
> Do you own a gun? Who'll keep it - in a safe place?
>
> Will you have a storage locker? Where? How big? How much will it cost? How
> long will you keep it? How will you move your belongings in - and out? How
> will it be paid for? Can you get a "deal" on it? Who'll know where it is and
> who'll have access? ["Access" means more than just giving them the key - it
> also means "authorization".]
>
> Do you have pets? Who'll keep them, feed them, take care of them while
> you're gone? Who'll pay for food, vet bills, etc while you're gone? How?
>
> Do you have a car? When does your car registration need to be renewed? When
> does your drivers license expire? Before you return from the trail maybe??
> Where will you store the car while you're gone? Who'll drive it while you're
> gone? [Cars deteriorate rapidly if they're not driven periodically]
>
> Does the car need to be inspected before you get back? Who will do it? How
> will they pay for it?
>
> When does the car insurance expire? Will it be paid up for the time you'll
> be on the trail? If not, who will pay it? How?
>
> Do you have household insurance? Will it be paid up for the time you'll be
> on the trail? When does it expire? Who'll pay for it? How?
>
> Do you have clothes you can wear after you get off the trail? [If you lose
> weight or change shape - your pretrail clothes won't fit.] Where will you
> store them? How will you get them after you've finished the trail?
>
> Do you/will you have a safe deposit box? Who has the key and authorization?
>
> Who will have your checkbook? Will they have bank authorization to use it?
>
> Do you have a current will? Do you need to give someone power of attorney?
> [If so, write it with a time limit or automatic revocation clause]
>
> Have you done your income taxes (both State and Federal)? Are you expecting
> a refund? Who will keep an eye on your mail and deposit it for you?
>
> If your "on-trail" mailing address is in a different state, what does that
> mean with respect to auto registration, income tax, voter registration,
> school financial status, etc?
>
> Where will your mail go? Who'll pay the bills? (last-month bills, on-trail
> bills, credit cards?)
>
> Will someone monitor your mail for important stuff - like tax refunds, IRS
> audit notices, jury duty notices, etc.?
>
> What credit cards do you have? Which one(s) will you use on the trail? What
> will you do with the others? Who'll pay the bills while you're gone? How?
>
> What magazines do you subscribe to? Where do you want them sent while you're
> gone? Which ones do you want to cancel? Which ones need to be renewed while
> you're gone? Who'll pay for them? How? [Can you prepay them?]
>
> What organizations do you belong to? When do the membership dues/fees need
> to be paid? Who'll pay them? How? [Can you prepay them?]
>
> What kind of medical care do you need before leaving? Podiatrist?
> Chiropractor? Dental? Medical checkup? Optometrist?
>
> Will you be able to continue your health insurance while you're gone? How
> will you pay for it? What are their policies about getting service
> out-of-area?
>
> How will you get prescriptions filled along the trail? Will you buy six
> months worth of medicine ahead of time? How will it be stored (should it be
> refrigerated?) and mailed? Will you get a small quantity of certain
> prescription medicines for your first aid kit before you go (i.e. epipen,
> pain killer, altitude medicine?)
>
> Do you have a spare pair of glasses/contacts that can be mailed to you or
> put in the drift box?
>
> For the PCT and CDT - Do you have prescription dark glasses or glacier
> glasses? Where will they be when you need them? How will you get them when
> you need them?
>
> What kind of training will you want to get before you go on the trail? First
> Aid? CPR? Map & compass? Wilderness First Aid? Winter mountaineering? Learn
> to use an ice axe? Or crampons? Snowshoes maybe?
>
> If you're married and your spouse is staying behind to act as support, have
> you thought about how the hike will affect them? Do they understand what
> you're doing and why? What can you do to help them understand? What can you
> do to help them realize their dreams? Are you/they sure they can handle
> things without you there? What do you need to do to be sure that they can?
>
> When will you tell people at work that you're leaving? Will they support
> you, or will planning to leave get you fired? Or will they gradually take
> away all responsibility so you are left with nothing to do for the last few
> weeks or months?
>
> Can you get a leave of absence? Or will you have to quit or retire?
>
> Have you updated your resume? [Do it before you tell your boss you're
> leaving!]
>
> What do you need to do to clean up your life before you can leave? What
> unfinished business/loose ends are you leaving behind? What can you do about
> them?
>
> When you get off the trail:
>
> How much money will you have left?
>
> How long can you survive without a job? What kind of job will you be
> qualified for? How soon will you "have to" go back to work?
>
> Do you want to go back to your old life, or start over someplace else?
>
> What do you want to do with the rest of your life? What changes will you
> want to make?
>
> Where will you live? Location (what state/ town?) What kind of housing?
> Momma's house? Apartment? Rent or buy a house?
>
> Will you need to buy a car?
>
> You may need medical attention - will you have medical insurance?
>
> Remember to revoke the power of Attorney you left behind.
>
> Especially after the first few weeks, friends and family won't be at all
> interested in your hike/pictures/slides/stories. How will you handle this?
>
> Your family and friends will expect you to be the same person and act (and
> react) in the same ways you did before you hiked. But you won't be the same.
> So how will you handle this? How will you go about finding out who you are
> now?
> <<
>
> Chainsaw
>
> BTW -- here is a url for a set of mostly on-the-trail Questions:
>
> http://trailwise.circumtech.com/atlthruhikingquestionsandd
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: Amy <askowronek@mindspring.com>
> To: Dave Hicks <daveh@psknet.com>
> Cc: AT-List <at-l@mailman.backcountry.net>
> Sent: Sunday, January 06, 2002 8:49 PM
> Subject: Re: [at-l] Taking care of business
>
> >
> >
> > Dave Hicks wrote:
> >
> > >>>What do you folks do about the rest of your lives while you're gone?
> Do
> > >>>
> > > you not own houses? Do you not have pets, children, other
> > > responsibilities?<<
> > >
> > > If you have not seen it, you might want to check out Jim's site on
> > > consideration:
> > >
> >
> >
> > Hadn't seen it before, and just looked now.. but I don't see how
> > it addresses my question, other than a vague HYOH..
> >
> > Or did you mean it was an inconsiderate question? If so I apologize.
> >
> > -amy in md
> >
> >
> >
> >
>
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