Sunday, March 03, 2019

the moral of this story?

Recently the news carried the story of a Bend Oregon man who was stuck in his car for five days when he got stuck in the snow.

Here's the story

You'd think the moral of this story is carry a shovel and cat litter to dig yourself out.
I disagree.

The moral of this story is: a clean truck just might kill you. Those leftover taco packets you didn't toss out right away: lifesavers.

Also, always take your dog to gas up the truck!


Don't even THINK about taking the cat!

12 comments:

Dena Pawling said...


Actually, the moral of the story is - live where it doesn't snow!

Happy Sunday from snow-less [altho very wet] SoCal.

CynthiaMc said...

Precisely why we live in Florida.

When we lived in Maine, there was a Saturday night blizzard. When Daddy opened the front door for us to leave for church on Sunday morning there was a solid wall of snow that went up to the second floor. My mother shut the door, looked my father in the eye, and said "We are moving back South."

nightsmusic said...

Nope! Definitely want to take the dog. He'll remain faithfully by your side after you die whereas, a cat will eat you with absolutely no remorse!

They're cats. It's what they do...

Craig F said...

The Florida survival kit: A bottle of water, sunscreen, bug spray

The snow country survival kit:

Snow chains
Shovel
space blankets
regular blankets
gloves
warm hat
water
clif bars
trail mix
butt warmer
extra batteries for butt warmer
flashlight
extra batteries for flashlight
cat litter
instant coffee
immersion heater (12v)
I'm sure that there is more but you get the picture

Kregger said...

So, just in case.
How many days must you wait before you eat the dog?
My dog started colluding with the cat after three days and began collecting bar-b-que packets from behind my truck's bench seat after five days.
Just asking...

Claire Bobrow said...

For a second, I thought this was going to be a mountain lion story...

...then I realized it was a photo of the DOY. I'm glad the stranded driver had a happy ending :-)

MaggieJ said...

In this day of cell phones, why does anyone drive without one?

In snow country, besides the cell phone, I'd want a good blanket, a couple of space blankets, emergency high energy food, candles, a coffee can in which to burn the candle, matches in moisture-proof container, water, and something to heat it in. The 12 v. immersion heater is an excellent idea too. All except the blanket and water would fit in a small backpack. All except the water could be kept permanently in be kept permanently in the car in a small backpack.

Yes, I am a member of the "belt AND suspenders" club.

JeffO said...

MaggieJ--

Dead zones still exist, especially in hilly (or mountainous, in the case of Deschutes County, Oregon) rural areas. My corner of upstate New York has numerous holes and gaps in cell coverage.

Anonymous said...

The survival kit should include a book and a small flashlight. You'll want those when you are warm but have to wait all night for rescue.

Elissa M said...

I have to repeat what JeffO said: There are lots of places where cell coverage doesn't exist and GPS will send you off a cliff. Even when there's coverage, you can't always get a signal.

True story: One of our nieces came for a visit, driving east (and a little south) from Flagstaff, AZ, not taking I-40. She had a general idea where we lived and figured she'd give us a call when she got closer. She says the moment she crossed the border from AZ to NM, she lost her cell signal. She ended up driving past our road, through the village three miles beyond, and five miles past the village before she got a signal and could call for directions.

There are numerous stories of folks getting hopelessly lost on rural roads due to following their GPS. Deaths have occurred. I never go anywhere new without a paper map and accurate directions.

Mary said...

These people driving up forest service roads...there's a guy still missing from trying to walk out over in Idaho.

AJ Blythe said...

You can't always trust your GPS. Back in 2012 a car load of Japanese tourists tried to drive to North Stradbroke Island because the GPS told them they could. I'm still not sure why they decided the GPS knew better than their eyes (which surely could see there wasn't a bridge between them and the island!).