In Addition to Opening Presents, How About Learning about www.OpenSource.org for the brighter future and opportunities in learning we all deserve

If there is a prize for the longest blog post title, maybe I'll get it with one of these gems. I allow whatever to flow to sit there and not need revisioning (maybe an additional few words come to mind after a post evolves.) I will say that a heroic fellow I know happened to be the one to be tuned into some funny sounds while not being able to get a good night's sleep and took a minute to Get Up and Check things Out...

There was a fire and he didn't hesitate to Pull the Fire Alarm! How Cool is That?! At least one other person reported hearing something if not the alarm and thinking it was something malfunctioning in their multi-story apartment. Yikes. I know someone else who slept through two regular 'wake up' alarms as did her partner that they had set to catch a flight to an important event they'd planned on (but thankfully had paid for with points not actual dollars.)

Likely more people would benefit from taking all things basic to fire and health safety, travel plans for success and more. Having an extra set of buddies who will doublecheck plans and details a few days in advance and the actual day of would make sense. The couple had another housemate who knew of their plans and thought she heard them getting up shortly after she got to bed, all in the wee hours of the morning.

Almost comical except they tried to make their hour long drive to get their flight and realized 'they'd run out of time' to catch that puppy. Still, the learning from such episodes can be helpful for others. Another savvy speaker unfortunately did not have someone calling him to confirm the details of the day of his speech on the other side of the country which he had not left for (since he was given the wrong date as in the following day.)

A simple call a week in advance if not the day  of or even two days before with a text reminder etc would have helped everyone clear up their 'miscommunication.' Always good to confirm important details. With the first fellow who is a linguist as it turns out, half the building was badly damaged and no one got hurt.

Again major thanks to his 'light sleeping' and quick thinking. Another person once heard somethings suspicious in her generally quiet neighborhood and mentioned that to another person (in the wee hours of the night) and that person said it was likely nothing to worry about...until shortly after when firetrucks came to put out the fire across the street of a new home no one had yet moved into.

Talk about 'never assume something can't begin to fume' even if no one is there to do the starting. Likely everyone has heard of a story or two where a vacant building or barn has 'just started on fire' with no clear explanation. One person found a tractor smoking in the barn he often used, and the cause likely was a mouse chewing through some wires. Even when driving a car can malfunction without being hit or otherwise malfunctioning and have a fire start under the car or maybe in the engine.

I know someone that happened to and the silver lining was that the car was not worth that much, that everyone got out safely (of course that's number one) and that the driver saw the smoke billowing out the back of the car during the day which may not have been the case when the next driver was going to take it down the highway that night.

Maybe that's one of my longest sentences prizes.So with all that Intro, I got searching more about 'the quick thinking' clever linguist who used good old common sense and sounding the alarm and likely dialing 911 but I'll have to learn that as I can... likely both wouldn't hurt. Before long I found a link to the Open Source Learning site so thought I'd share That Gem.

Treat yourself to a few videos to learn about Open Source efforts that some visionary bright folks work toward on behalf of the most of us. Also peak at www.patreon.com to learn about making money as an artist or creative person (yes maybe even me as a blogger etc) more than can be readily made on youtube. Youtube seems to be clamping down on such efforts by setting more hoops and terms to meet but again, I am just learning about that, vlogging and all things internet, online business and coaching and so much more.

Check out www.opensource.org and enjoy the new horizons! Why not put up a smoke alarm, carbon monoxide detector and so on (checking for any propane that could leak as well) or naturally occuring radon and other sneaky elements one would be wise to know about as part of an annual and regular 'house check up' whether anyone lives there or not. Also caution is needed if ever drying paint with a heater (don't know the guidelines for that) but someone who'd worked hard with his family getting everything 'just right' over many years suffered the loss of the home to fire when that last paint was drying with something going wrong with the heater and so on.

I think I've heard other stories like that as well over the years. Maybe having a buddy or two keeping watch with a fire extinguisher would be key but there's a chance something went wrong with wiring that was not visible too. Again, I'll try to learn more for the record. The overall point is to count your blessings, keep things in order best you can and take the team approach to living and working, sleeping and improving things as one can over time for a better experience all around. 

Putting a bright emergency light in the window (or out at the end of one's driveway which could be activated from inside or having some other signal with neighbors such as if a blue curtain is in a window all is well, but if the white one with a green cross is on it (which could be kept on the side and hopefully pulled across in an emergency), call for help if intruders etc were there as has sadly been the case at times.

having one's cell phone handy, charged and even a second less expensive one located strategically would make sense (or know how to use Skype which goes from one computer to the next or can allow one to call a land line from one's computer with skype for a few bucks a month.) These measures should be shared with family and others in ways to encourage team safety in everyday living, and see other posts for more on That Puppy. Now time for dinner 'as planned more or less with a  short nap for a few minutes to help with overall chilling out protocol.