Survival Skills

I love to watch the show "I Survived". It is sad, horrifying, brutal, heart-breaking, but I can get through it knowing the person lived through whatever ordeal they experienced. I am fascinated by the stories in the show but I also watch it to learn. I may be slightly paranoid, but I like to think how I would deal with scary situations, to plan ahead what I would do to protect myself. I know you cannot really plan for those types of things but I figure I'm better having thought about it than not.

Here are some survival skills I have learned from "I Survived" (and maybe from spam emails!):

• Do not go running alone in the dark
• If you are in or near a chimpanzee sanctuary, carry a gun (just watched one of these... they didn't have a gun)
• Lock everything - doors, windows, cars, office, everything
• Don't walk alone with headphones on - you need to hear what's happening around you
• If someone or something doesn't seem right, it's probably not (better to err on the side of caution)
• Be able to hold your breath for a good amount of time (I'm up to 2 minutes!)
• Bathtubs really are the best place to hide from tornadoes (and a good tip I learned from one man's story - tie your pets (or children) to you when you're sheltering from a storm)
• Remember everything about your attacker(s)
• You can kill or stop someone pretty good by punching them really hard in the throat
• Leave evidence (in the car they take you in, at the location they take you to, etc)
• Always take a GPS or emergency locator device when you're hiking a treacherous mountain or trail (or better yet - just don't do that kind of crap)
• Always ration your food and water (when you're on said treacherous trails)
• If your attacker is in your car, crash into another car, crash into anything, cause a scene
• If you're in the trunk, kick the taillights out and wave your arm through the hole
• Stem the bleeding
• Anger makes your blood flow faster and will warm you up - get angry and punchy if you're stuck in the cold (don't think this works for long...)
• Don't drink salt water
• Have a barky dog (it's a lot harder to get surprise attacked when your loud mouth Yorkie starts barking to the high heavens when someone comes in your house - none of these people ever have dogs)
• Don't park next to vans
• Outsmart your attacker (don't ever stop thinking your way out)
• Don't live in the boondocks where you can't reach your neighbors when you're running bloody for help
• Tell your attacker personal things about yourself - you are human, make them realize it
• Get lucky
• Pray
• Play dead