Want to play a game?

[24Pink14Stink]

OK, I'm interested in a thought exercise. I'll give details on a scenario below and you tell me what you would do. It has to be based on your current level of preparedness (honor system, seasonal variations are ok) and any and all opsec/persec considerations are at your discretion. Some of this is made up and may not apply, so do your best to be creative. Feel free to ask questions and a tip of the hat goes to Fingerlakesprepper (youtube) for the idea.

You arrive for work in the morning and your boss tells you that he needs you to attend an important meeting with a client at their office. The client's office is an hour's drive in the direction opposite of your home. You have no friends or relatives in the area. It's a Thursday and your boss tells you that you need to drive separately as he's leaving for a long weekend directly from the meeting.

You get to the meeting around 10:30 and the meeting quickly becomes heated. The customer isn't happy and your boss is working hard to retain him and repair the relationship. Suddenly, the power goes out. You glance at your phone and it's dead. Everyone's phone is dead. The client's secretary who was about to go get lunch for the meeting comes in and tells her boss (your client) that her car won't start. You immediately realize that it's likely you were just hit with an EMP. Your boss asks to skip lunch and just finish the meeting, it should only take another hour or so.

What do you do?

Do you finish the meeting?
Do you bail?
Do you tell folks what you think is happening?
When you do leave, what do you have in your car to help sustain/protect you?
Do you have a plan for getting home? If so, what is it?
Is there any way for you to communicate with those that are important to you?
Do they know what to do in your absence?

[thughes]

[thughes]

I have to noodle on this a bit, stay tuned......

[24Pink14Stink]

I would expect so.

[Norm DeGuerre]

how am I getting home ..??
assuming I was not driving my 1980 Mercedes 190D with no electronics what soever ..

[Norm DeGuerre]

by the way, I thought about this--

there is no way a measly emp event will damage my starter motor which at each use has to endure 400 - 600 amps depending on outdoor temperature
I good so far

should I worry about traffic signals ..???

[24Pink14Stink]

See Norm. That shows forethought. Can you share more details about your 190D? How you maintain it? Most vulnerable parts, etc? What should we look for if we want to buy one?

[Norm DeGuerre]

I bought mine from a doctor in nyc..
34,000 miles $7000
they drove the car once a year to the Adirondacks for vacation, like 1500 miles a year
typically these, the 190 Diesels are used as taxis in countries that basically have a lot of dirt, Saudi, India, etc

I bought this 'cause there isn't crap to fix on it, they routinely run 500,000 miles on the original motor as taxis
I also should mention, at only 60hp, its incredibly slow to get up to speed ..

just keep the crankcase full of clean oil, the tank full of clean oil, and drive

the fuel injection is all mechanical, there is nothing to emp ..
hell, you could start this with a rope, if you were like 20 years old, that is

[Norm DeGuerre]

there are lots of older 190D's around, they made like 2 million of them
look for the standard stuff..
did the previous owner take care of it ..?
does it look like it was parked in a salt mine at night ..??

other than Injection Pump problems there just isn't much to go wrong
around 350,000 you might need a valve job
I have never talked to anyone that needed rings ever
the trannys seem to be good till some 300k miles

the only service bummer is getting at the a/c evap coil as ya got to take the dash apart

not a ton of wiring, some lame ass diagnostic system ( pre-OBD-0 )
and, the radios tend to crap out

[WARFAB]

I'm a little fuzzy on EMP details. My rough understanding is that the widespread damage will occur through the power grid and anything hooked up to it. I thought small electronic devices getting fried is a more localized thing closer to the epicenter.

[WARFAB]

I was just at a store doing some shopping and the power went out. Immediately thought of this thread and wondered if Rocket Man had finally done it.

[24Pink14Stink]

Bump. Anyone want to play besides Norm in his 190D?

[thughes]

So, as far as I am concerned, the meeting is over at that point and I explain to the attendees why. My daughter should be safe (locked down on college campus), my brother knows to head to my house and rendezvous there with the rest of the boys in the neighborhood to arm up and hunker down.

Next step is to assess the client's office from the perspective of setting up operations, seeing as though I'm not heading out on foot at this point. I would also be assessing the personnel available to me at this location, organizing the worthwhile ones and letting the useless ones wander off towards home (or wherever they feel they need to go...most likely certain death).

Available resources within the facility would be gathered up and accounted for (water, food, etc.) and a tentative plan devised with input from anybody that may be familiar with the local area: Is there somewhere else more secure nearby that we need to go to? Is there a source of supplies nearby (grocery store, etc.)? Is there a local military or LE facility nearby? How far to the local hospital? Any chance I could find a bicycle nearby (to bail on these suckers and get my azz home)?

I always have a go-go bag in the truck that contains some necessities for myself (weather-appropriate gear and clothing, water, snacks, spare ammo, etc). I also have a wind-up radio that would supply outside news as well as shortwave reception and NOAA.

At this point I send smoke signals Norm's way so he can come pick me up with his Mercedes and give me a lift home.

[WARFAB]

Any chance I could find a bicycle nearby (to bail on these suckers and get my azz home)?

Interesting point. The one guy at work keeps his bike down in the loading dock area year round.

[Meketrefe]

I doubt anyone will know this is was a large magnitude attack for hours or perhaps days.
In the immediate hours will be simply like a major outage and people are used to those.
I might finish the meeting and use the subject of what is happening as an ice breaker.
A lot of vehicles will work. This fantasy that nothing will work is not accurate so if mine
does not work I will ask for rides.
My family most likely will be at home. If they don't hear from me but learn that some vehicles
and communications are down then they will assume I got stuck and will simply wait.
I get stuck at airports longer than 1hr drive can keep me away from my destination.
My family have everything they need to stay w/o power for weeks.
if I cannot get a ride I would sit and look for information before making any decisions.
we will see some sort of emergency response even if it is at the local / community level.
After assessing my options I might just decide to start walking. I can do a steady 5 miles
per hour and have enough things in my car to help me like some water, food, lights, clothes, shoes.
I can reach the house within the day and I actually walk long distances. Never 60 miles
in one shot but I can do it.
In the end the expectation is that you will find some alternative to get there faster.
Might have buses doing main routes. Who knows.
Once I get there I will reassess. We have all the things we need to choose options.

sounds good?

What is the prize for this game?