I am mostly recovered from a nasty virus that I caught from my six month old grandson. At times I was sleeping, or attempting to, 20 hours a day, I could handle necessary chores, but simply trying to avoid coughing enough to breath comfortably, left me weak, and feeling too tired to exert myself. Walking a couple of hundred yards was exhausting.
I had to go to the store a couple of times for off the shelf medicine and some ice cream, which I normally eat little of. I became acutely aware of how vulnerable I was. I could not move fast. I was so weak that a 12 year old girl could probably have taken me down. It is difficult to stay aware of the situation around you during a coughing spasm. I knew that my physical and mental faculties were severely degraded. It was hard to write even one article a day. Looking at it the next day, it was obvious that I was making grade school errors in spelling and grammar.
My mother had been the first one to tell me that growing old was not for sissies, and this seemed to be a precursor of times to come. With luck, it happens to the best of us.
It pushed me to think more about carrying in a degraded physical condition.
First, I decided that open carry was advantageous. My slow pace and weakened condition made me an obvious target for human predators. Better that they be deterred by the presence of a gun than have to try to draw while under physical attack. For the same reason, I moved the holster to a cross draw position, so that someone coming up behind me would have a much harder time grabbing the pistol and attempting a disarm. Another bonus was that it put the pistol between me and the shopping cart that I used as an aid in the grocery store. The shopping cart gave a little added protection and balance.
The bulge in the right front shirt pocket is a smart phone with the lens peeking out. It has excellent ability to record video/audio. A small Velcro tab keeps it from flying out of the pocket.
I tried a fannypack system, but it seemed extremely slow, and added minimal deterrent value, though it eliminated an obvious disarm.
At least one fannypack system is specifically designed for people in wheelchairs.
I do not claim to have discovered any secret, foolproof method to protect yourself when you are old, sick, and tired. There isn't any. But being armed gives you some chance. They do not call them "equalizers" for nothing.
©2015 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice is included.
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Next time you have to cough, and this is expert advice. Take a slow deep breath in and blast it out, If you get sore ribs from too many small coughs you will have to splint your ribs with the hands and cough the soreness out. Small coughs don't move anything and cause your intercostal rib muscles to get strained and very sore. It is a miserable condition to get your self into but strong and painful coughs is the only way to clear your lungs and reduce the pain. small ineffective coughs will make you very sore over time and accomplish nothing more. You may need to make several slow inhalations and exhalations before each strong cough to move the secretions to where they can be coughed out. Your cough reflex nerve is where the right and left lung airways meet, the carina, You have to get the secretions to that point to move them out. some times huffing on exhalation helps. the thicker the secretions get the harder they are to move and the more dangerous they become. Stay well hydrated and keep your temperature down or your secretions will become thick like glue. then you get pneumonia on top of the virus. Too much weight in the lungs and you develop a plural effusion, then you are into big time trouble. The older we get the easier it is to crack ribs, splinting always helps. cross your arms in front of you spread your hands over your ribs and bare down as you cough then cough while supporting your ribs. A little practice does wonders.
This argument is evidence of the importance of being able to read and to understand English language punctuation. The oft quoted sentence in the Constitution concerning the right to bear arms includes commas enclosing a phrase that when missing and misplaced, has an entirely different meaning. The reference is to militia who today are state troopers not average citizens.
You are correct. The ability to read and understand written English is important. Your characterization of the second amendment is simply wrong.
Here is the definitive analysis of the second amendment as a sentence in English, by Professor Roy Copperud.
"He's on the usage panel of the American Heritage Dictionary, and Merriam Webster's Usage Dictionary frequently cites him as an expert. Copperud's fifth book on usage, American Usage and Style: The Consensus, has been in continuous print from Van Nostrand Reinhold since 1981, and is the winner of the Association of American Publisher's Humanities Award."
A quote from the analysis:
[Schulman:] “(1) Can the sentence be interpreted to grant the right to keep and bear arms solely to ‘a well-regulated militia’?”
[Copperud:] “(1) The sentence does not restrict the right to keep and bear arms, nor does it state or imply possession of the right elsewhere or by others than the people; it simply makes a positive statement with respect to a right of the people.”
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2967854/posts
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