Posting in survival, because I learned some lessons this weekend as to some of the things that are wrong with my wife and my life. Not so much SHTF survival, but general life.
Kind of long story that happened this past week:
My wife and kids flew to FL to visit family. They were gone from Tuesday thru Sunday. I went on a solo bike trip to PA. No set destination, I left Wed and knew I had to be back before Sunday to pick them up from the airport.
I ended up coming down with a severe sickness. High temp, puking, all the fun stuff. With the sickness came confusion and bad decision making. I didnt know where I was, didn't know better to ask for help, or seek medical attn. I was in a dead zone with cell service, paying for cash for everything, like I said, no destination so no set plans.
Communication was intermittent because of cell service. I sent a text Thurs to the wife saying I was under the weather. I sent out an email to my wife on Fri am to let her know I was going to hole up in the hotel until fever broke and that I was an hour south of Scranton,PA.
My wife who is an RN went into full panic mode because of the Flu in her mind, thinking I am dying in a random hotel somewhere. Because I didnt think to call and actually talk to her and just tried to wait it out and sleep it off, this set forth a whole line of shit that I now have to address.
Friday PM, (12 hours of no contact from me)She called friends at home to see if anyone had heard from me or saw any activity on social media from me. All answered no. Which made the panic even more spread because I am known to be on social media a lot. At some point Fri my wifes phone died, losing access to everything.
Sat AM (24 hours of no contact with me) a friend reported me missing to my local PD. 3 different friends entered my home to check for "clues" as to where I was going. They tried getting into my computer, looked for any maps or anything to see what route I was taking. Meanwhile my wife was trying to get a new phone from Verizon, they wouldn't let her because she's not on the account.
At some point midday Sat, the police entered my home just to verify I wasn't there and there wasn't any notes left by me. At this point, posts on social media were starting to spread with a missing poster created of me and my bike being shared 100s of times from friends across MA/PA. At some point Saturday, friends laid out a dead coverage zone of Verizon and started calling every hotel in those areas looking for me. Friends also went to EZ Pass to check our account to see the last time my plate was scanned on toll roads.
Meanwhile from my point of view, I had zero clue any of this was going on. I was still in a very confused state of mind, driving around aimlessly PA knowing I had to get home for my airport pickup on Sunday. At some point Sat evening my local PD pinged my cell in Philly.
I got home around midnight, still pretty confused but alive lol. I had something like 80 texts and 50 social media notifications. That's when I found out how serious things were. Contacted the wife. Got screamed at. Talked to the local PD, canceled their search. Still feeling under the weather, but 95% better.
Things we need to improve on:
Wife knows way too little of my life. Passwords, pins, bank info, credit cards. Not that I hide stuff from my wife, it just has never come up that she needs my credit card password.
Wife not being on cell phone account: Verizon specifically will offer zero info to anyone not assigned access on account. Which is good, but we never thought of it. When we married, I added her line to my account but nothing else.
Cash: cash is nice for things, but offered zero trace as to where I was.
First aid: I travel without meds. I am not sure it would have helped or not, because I didnt have the sense to make the decision to go out and get meds, but it would have been nice to have them close.
Cell phones: we rely on technology waaaaay too much. I have no clue what her # is even if I did want to call her from the room phone. (My cell did turn on, so I had her #, just never thought to call.... I know doghouse)
Travel plans: where are you going to be. This one is tough for me and she knows it. When we travel, we like to never have set plans. That way, you dont rush to get to a destination. And a wrong turn doesn't matter, it's just a new road. The downside is there is zero clue as to where I was.
Cell tracking: we downloaded an app to our phones (life 360) that allows family to track movement. I'm not too keen on the tracking 24/7 which can be toggled on/off but for her piece of mind for trips like this, it's a good thing.
Police: you never know when or why they will be invited into your life. Take that however you want.
We have learned a bunch about our life that we would have never thought of in normal circumstances. This was a hell of a learning experience. It also shows what family and friends will do during times of need and forever grateful for some of the people in my life, even if it was a false alarm.
TLDR: Got sick and lost on a bike trip. Didn't contact family for 41 hours. Wife went into panic mode to find her "dead" husband. Shit storm followed. Learn from mistakes.
T-shirts I am making for friends:
Kind of long story that happened this past week:
My wife and kids flew to FL to visit family. They were gone from Tuesday thru Sunday. I went on a solo bike trip to PA. No set destination, I left Wed and knew I had to be back before Sunday to pick them up from the airport.
I ended up coming down with a severe sickness. High temp, puking, all the fun stuff. With the sickness came confusion and bad decision making. I didnt know where I was, didn't know better to ask for help, or seek medical attn. I was in a dead zone with cell service, paying for cash for everything, like I said, no destination so no set plans.
Communication was intermittent because of cell service. I sent a text Thurs to the wife saying I was under the weather. I sent out an email to my wife on Fri am to let her know I was going to hole up in the hotel until fever broke and that I was an hour south of Scranton,PA.
My wife who is an RN went into full panic mode because of the Flu in her mind, thinking I am dying in a random hotel somewhere. Because I didnt think to call and actually talk to her and just tried to wait it out and sleep it off, this set forth a whole line of shit that I now have to address.
Friday PM, (12 hours of no contact from me)She called friends at home to see if anyone had heard from me or saw any activity on social media from me. All answered no. Which made the panic even more spread because I am known to be on social media a lot. At some point Fri my wifes phone died, losing access to everything.
Sat AM (24 hours of no contact with me) a friend reported me missing to my local PD. 3 different friends entered my home to check for "clues" as to where I was going. They tried getting into my computer, looked for any maps or anything to see what route I was taking. Meanwhile my wife was trying to get a new phone from Verizon, they wouldn't let her because she's not on the account.
At some point midday Sat, the police entered my home just to verify I wasn't there and there wasn't any notes left by me. At this point, posts on social media were starting to spread with a missing poster created of me and my bike being shared 100s of times from friends across MA/PA. At some point Saturday, friends laid out a dead coverage zone of Verizon and started calling every hotel in those areas looking for me. Friends also went to EZ Pass to check our account to see the last time my plate was scanned on toll roads.
Meanwhile from my point of view, I had zero clue any of this was going on. I was still in a very confused state of mind, driving around aimlessly PA knowing I had to get home for my airport pickup on Sunday. At some point Sat evening my local PD pinged my cell in Philly.
I got home around midnight, still pretty confused but alive lol. I had something like 80 texts and 50 social media notifications. That's when I found out how serious things were. Contacted the wife. Got screamed at. Talked to the local PD, canceled their search. Still feeling under the weather, but 95% better.
Things we need to improve on:
Wife knows way too little of my life. Passwords, pins, bank info, credit cards. Not that I hide stuff from my wife, it just has never come up that she needs my credit card password.
Wife not being on cell phone account: Verizon specifically will offer zero info to anyone not assigned access on account. Which is good, but we never thought of it. When we married, I added her line to my account but nothing else.
Cash: cash is nice for things, but offered zero trace as to where I was.
First aid: I travel without meds. I am not sure it would have helped or not, because I didnt have the sense to make the decision to go out and get meds, but it would have been nice to have them close.
Cell phones: we rely on technology waaaaay too much. I have no clue what her # is even if I did want to call her from the room phone. (My cell did turn on, so I had her #, just never thought to call.... I know doghouse)
Travel plans: where are you going to be. This one is tough for me and she knows it. When we travel, we like to never have set plans. That way, you dont rush to get to a destination. And a wrong turn doesn't matter, it's just a new road. The downside is there is zero clue as to where I was.
Cell tracking: we downloaded an app to our phones (life 360) that allows family to track movement. I'm not too keen on the tracking 24/7 which can be toggled on/off but for her piece of mind for trips like this, it's a good thing.
Police: you never know when or why they will be invited into your life. Take that however you want.
We have learned a bunch about our life that we would have never thought of in normal circumstances. This was a hell of a learning experience. It also shows what family and friends will do during times of need and forever grateful for some of the people in my life, even if it was a false alarm.
TLDR: Got sick and lost on a bike trip. Didn't contact family for 41 hours. Wife went into panic mode to find her "dead" husband. Shit storm followed. Learn from mistakes.
T-shirts I am making for friends:
![[rofl]](/xen/styles/default/xenforo/smilies.vb/013.gif "ROFL [rofl]")
