Who is this irresistible creature who has an insatiable love for the dead?
Have you ever wondered how a somewhat normal husband and father became the demigod you all know and love? Did you know that before the madness and the scars that Scarydad was a lot like you? Well, I was.
Gather close my Minions. Tonight I will share with you the series of events that gave the world your favorite mad blogger, taken from the journals of the person I once was:
November 10, 2010
Finally convinced the other half to watch the first episode of The Walking Dead. I have to say that it was even better the second time. If they stick this close to the comics all the way through, this is going to be an awesome show.
So, after all the action and the blood and guts and everything, Dear Wife turns to me and simply says, “We wouldn’t make it. Our house is not defensible.”
Ok, what?
“Seriously,” she said, “If the zombies were to rise, or if there was a riot or a tornado or something, we’d be totally screwed. They’d just come through those front windows without slowing down. I’ll bet you probably don’t have enough gas in your car to make it out of town. I know I don’t.”
“So, what do you think we should do?”
“I don’t know. But I’d like to look into it. I never really thought about it before but that show really makes you think. I’d like to start keeping the gas tanks full though.”
So off to Google I go to see what I can see. This is cool. I see a wife-endorsed trip to the Army Surplus store and the gun shop in the near future. Sweet!
March 17, 2011
Wow. There is a lot of crazy survivalist stuff on the internet. It’s funny to me how “off the grid” a lot of these guys either claim to be or want to be but if you look at the forums, they are literally on line 24/7 discussing this stuff. How are you online and off-grid at the same time? The world may never know.
But, I have found some useful stuff in among the tinfoil hat brigades. Some of it is so simple that I’m surprised I never thought of it before. Like having a bag of essentials in your trunk in case you get stranded or something.
The thing is, I was a Boy Scout and “being prepared” is something I guess I’ve always done. I had the knowledge, I was just lazy about it. I did get a few good gear runs before the wife decided we needed to redirect the budget. I don’t know if the few steps we’ve taken have made her happy or if she just forgot about it. She hasn’t mentioned it much and I’m too busy being a grownup to play internet commando with these guys.
October 16, 2011
Season 2 of Walking Dead tonight and Dear Wife is ready to talk preps again. Guns, ammo, gear, food, you name it, she’s down.
Which is great because last week I found something that I can really work with. When visiting a friend he told me about a podcast about modern preparedness and survival. The host approaches this stuff maturely and without pomp or bravado. And he calls bullshit when he sees it too, which is refreshing. Since I have so much time in the car, I’ve been listening a lot the past several days and I’ve learned a lot.
It’s interesting how media sort of has its finger on the pulse of society. There is a lot of end-of-the-world noise on the ‘net and a lot of it on our tv and movie screens. Makes me want to hunker down a bit.
December 19, 2011
One of the survival tenets on my Survival Podcast is to create multiple streams of income so that you are prepared and at least supplemented in case you or a spouse loses a job. After the holidays I’m going to follow that advice and start a website. It will be called Hats and Guns and I’ll talk about things I enjoy, like fedoras and Beretta pistols. I’ll start selling advertising and we’ll see where it goes.
5/15/2012
I have a better idea.
Hats and Guns is doing OK but it’s unfocused. I’m not sure what I want it to be or how it’s going to grow. I’ve put a lot of work into it, so I’ll keep it, but tonight something happened.
I was playing with dear daughter and I accidentally frightened her. She began to cry so I picked her up. I said, “Oh, I’m sorry I’m such a scary daddy…”
That was it. After she went to bed I went straight to the computer and bought the domain. I’ll make a 24/7 Halloween site. That’ll be a lot more fun than what I’ve been doing.
I’ll launch it soon.
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So there you have it. It all started with an episode of The Walking Dead. It is so tragic to read about now, knowing what would happen to that lovely young man just days later:
A simple experiment gone wrong forever changed me into the magnificent, but damaged beast you all revere. I am a different person now; but he kept his promise. He did launch the site.
And now I make it my life’s work to make his dream a reality.
Won’t you join me by paying tribute in the comments?
