Be Commandready: The Ultimate Life Survival Handbook

By Bill Romano and Debra Romano

Have you ever watched the news after a natural disaster and thought, what were those people thinking? When people are given ample notice and still ignore the warnings, you have to wonder why. In Be Commandready, authors Bill and Debra Romano present a life skills guidebook to help you always be prepared for not only disasters but everyday situations.

Combining the best advice of many individuals gathered throughout their lifetime, the Romanos offer a new way of thinking to help you navigate and prepare yourself for the rigors of life. The tips will show you how to

maximize time and efforts needed to excel and come out ahead; increase the opportunities that present themselves every day; think properly to reduce or eliminate your debts and invest more wisely in time and money; raise your expectations of yourself; focus on completing your lifes goals and desires; leverage yourself better, bargain better, and add more time to relax and vacation in life; seek the best in positive people, avoiding toxic people; and filter out most of lifes scams.

Be Commandready focuses on preparing you for the third phase of your life, a point where you can leave the rat race behind because you will be ready to live life on your terms and not on whims, responsibilities, and stresses associated with the every-day 9 to 5 indebted grind.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Archway Publishing
• Release date: Nov 6, 2014
• ISBN: 9781480812710

Bill Romano

BILL ROMANO is currently a Sales Director in the NY area with more than 28 years of experience. He holds numerous sales awards, a US Co-Patent, Trademarks & is a solar, energy & “life” preparedness expert. He is a Second Lieutenant In the Air Force Auxiliary as a senior member, with a specialty in Emergency Services. He is studying for his private pilot license. DEBRA ROMANO is a CCE, (Certified Credit Executive) thru the NACM, she holds a Paralegal Certificate & she runs large events as the Executive Director of the CFMA.

Book preview

BE COMMANDREADYTM

BILL AND DEBRA ROMANO

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Copyright © 2014 Bill and Debra Romano.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

Archway Publishing

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Bloomington, IN 47403

www.archwaypublishing.com

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Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

ISBN: 978-1-4808-1225-3 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4808-1226-0 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-4808-1271-0 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2014919434

Archway Publishing rev. date: 11/6/2014

Contents

Chapter 1    When You’re Prepared, You’re Not Scared

Chapter 2    Always Check The Back Door

Chapter 3    If The Fish Stinks

Chapter 4    Don’t Lower Your Standards; Raise Your Expectations

Chapter 5    You Want My Money, You’ll Get My Advice Along With It

Chapter 6    Don’t Work For Money, Let Your Money Work For You!!!

Chapter 7    Appear To Be Busy & You Are

Chapter 8    Coupons, Barter And Rebates, Time-Shares And The Skycap

Chapter 9    Buy When No Else Is Buying

Chapter 10    Start At The Beginning, Or Not At All

Chapter 11    Surround Yourself With People Smarter Than You

Chapter 12    Leverage Yourself, Create Your Own Buzz, And Avoid Toxic People

Chapter 13    Control The Pennies, Nickels And Dimes; Not Just Dollars

Chapter 14    Love Your Family, Enjoy Your Career, But Vacation As Much As Possible

Chapter 15    Do Academics Or The Trades Matter?

Chapter 16    It Is Not The Time You Put In, It Is What You Get Done!

Chapter 17    Shoot For The Stars, Sometimes Settle For The Sky

Chapter 18    Somebody Else Must Pay; Free Is My Favorite Word

Chapter 19    Take Chances On Uncertainty; Rome Was Not Built In A Day; Your Career Won’t Be Either!

Chapter 20    Don’t Always Listen To The So-Called Experts

Chapter 21    No Decision Can Be The Worst Decision Made

Chapter 22.    When You Have Assets You Have Responsibilities

Chapter 23    Phase 3; Exiting The Rat-Race And Being Commandready For It!!

Chapter 24    Appendix And Handy Survival Guide

About The Authors

CHAPTER 1

WHEN YOU’RE PREPARED,

YOU’RE NOT SCARED

D id you ever watch the news after a natural disaster and think; what were those people thinking? When people are given ample notice and still ignore the warnings-you have to think; Why? You should not only be prepared for when disasters strike, but in everyday situations. Are you the type to let the gas tank hit empty? Do you wait until the last minute to get things done? This may seem insignificant in your every day; however, you never know when you will be in a bad situation. For example, while my wife and I were taking a spring hike near Hunter Mountain, New York we were diligent, making noise in case we happened to encounter a bear or other dangerous wildlife. We spent the day hiking a vertical trail and were exhausted when we finally reached the top. My wife insisted we go a different way down the mountain. After some discussion we decided to go down through the ski slope which was closed, but still had snow on it. As we gingerly descended down the mountain, our legs were becoming weary as we were hiking for many hours. My wife thought we were in the clear. I suddenly told her to keep walking as fast as possible but not to look back. I had spotted a five-hundred pound black bear sitting on the ski slope. Who would have thought we would see a bear on the ski slope—me! Needless to say, I never stop making sure of my safety and of the safety of my family. My bear gas was at my side, but I am happy to say that I didn’t need it. The bear just took a look at us and sat there.

When my son was a baby, my wife and I continued to be active and travel a lot. We never wanted to become stagnant. We would travel in the car for hours and to make sure that we had an enjoyable trip, we carried a 12- volt bottle warmer. This insured us that we could go anywhere with a cooler and not have to find a place to stop and feed him. Again, this may seem insignificant, however, do you know what is like to have a screaming child in the car and have no relief?

The point is to always be prepared for whatever possibilities may arise. Does this mean you will never be caught unprepared? No, but if you take the time to think about where you’re going, what you’re doing and what you’ll need, you will be far ahead of someone who doesn’t.

This is a story that no one will believe (not even the auto insurance company!) I left my house one day to go hunting at 4am. It was still dark but I was excited about seeing friends I hadn’t seen in a long time. I was driving up route 17 in New York State and out of nowhere a deer ran out and my car was hit pretty hard. The damage was minimal so I continued on my way to meet the boys because I still had three out of four headlights left. I got off route 17 to travel on route 209 north, and within 20 minutes, unbelievably, I hit another deer! This deer did tremendous damage to my car, three out of four headlights were out, the hood was crunched and the radiator showed signs of potential leakage. The seatbelt air bags had gone off and to say the car was heavily damaged is an understatement. I wasn’t hurt, but unfortunately the deer was a goner. It just so happens I was driving my company car because I had just ordered a new four-wheel-drive truck and it wasn’t in yet. Now as you can imagine, my truck has every conceivable first aid, safety and emergency equipment possible. That morning, I had thrown a few extras in my car, just in case. One of the items was climbing rope. This saved my weekend because I was able to tie the bumper to the car, latch the hood down and continue on my way. A few more miles down the road, I was pulled over by a New York State Trooper. He asked me if I thought the car was road worthy. This brought back the shades of the movie Planes, Trains and Automobiles. If you remember in the movie, the radio was the only thing that was working; this typified my car at this point. Being Commandready got me to hunting camp, otherwise these two incidents would have fully ruined my weekend.

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WRECKED CAR, DRIVABLE?

It doesn’t hurt that I became an Eagle Scout when I was thirteen. The Boy Scouts was a stabilizing force in my life. The Boy Scout motto is Be Prepared.tm The Scouts teach you about all being prepared; making a fire, knowing what plants you can eat, what water is good to drink, how to make a shelter, first aid, etc. In my travels all these skills came into play. In my younger, single years, my friends and I traveled out West. Every year was an adventure from the Grand Canyon to Yosemite National Park. One year on our way to Jenny Lake in the Grand Tetons; we asked for a camping permit. The ranger warned us of an impending storm. In your 20’s you think, you can do anything and you do (Billy Crystal, City Slickers). We were at 9,000 feet and the weather starting getting rough, (Gilligan’s Island) so much so, that one of my buddies was almost hit with a tree branch that had been struck by lightning. After the near lighting strike, we knew that we needed to take shelter at a lower elevation immediately. We grabbed our gear and headed down the mountain. The moral of the story is first, listen to a ranger; he knows of what he speaks and when he says a storm is coming, it is and second; know how to survive when you need to. We made it out alive and learned a valuable lesson.

Another year, we went to the Grand Canyon. We hiked the famous Bright Angel trail to the bottom of the canyon. In August there are only two types of people taking this trail; crazy people and the rangers saving these crazy people. We got down to the bottom of the canyon and we were hot and exhausted. My friend was getting out of the creek when he was bitten by a rattlesnake. Thank God, I had purchased a $12 snake bite kit before we left, just in case. I can tell you that the kit did its job and although my friend was not feeling 100%; we probably saved his life. As you can see, with my friends and our craziness, we really did need to be prepared.

These are only a few different instances where being prepared made the difference between failure and coming out alive.

2011/2012 Storms

In October 2011 the Northeast part of the country was treated to a rare nor’easter some called Snowmageddon. The forecast was calling for heavy snows, falling trees, down power lines and all the good stuff that goes with it. An unprepared person (about 90% of people) might have ignored all the warnings, but a Commandready person would have seen all the leaves on the trees and taken heed. I prepared by prepping food, getting chain saws ready, procuring extra gas, and of course; warning others. It’s sad to say the storm hit with full force, cutting many power lines and catching most unprepared. My power went out but my generator was ready. My chainsaw cleared downed trees, I helped others pick up the pieces of their lives and I continued to Be Commandready for the next event. This definitely this triggered future warning signs. Now fast-forward to 2012, again in October. A rare category one hurricane, aka Super Storm Sandy, was predicted to hit everywhere from Delaware to Connecticut. High winds, high tide and some rain. As the storm drew closer and closer the perfect storm seemed to be forming. Some people remembered 2011; more people were prepared, but again most waited. I knew a storm of this magnitude could have the potential to re-arrange lives and it did. I double checked my preparedness situation, warned others, and readied my house bunker. This storm had the potential to knock out power for a great while so I doubled up on my fuel supplies (no power meant no gas stations pumping gas). The storm hit New Jersey with a 32ft (8.75 ft. was the old all time record) wave surge! 32.5 ft. is almost Biblical in proportion. This storm easily flooded most of lower New York, knocked out all transportation hubs, plunged lower New York into darkness for days all while salty sea water corroded all electrical circuits hindering the electric company from making any real progress. Parts of Queens (Breezy Point) burned to the ground. Fuel was rationed for weeks in both New York and New Jersey, lines were long and tempers were short. Guns were pulled for gas. Local police had to guard gas stations and local rescuers had to pull double duty. Power line companies sent workers all the way from Georgia. Just getting around town required an ATV or Motorcycle; most streets were closed or blocked.

Since my power utilities were underground I never lost power, I was part of maybe 15% of all the towns that did not lose power, while a block away my neighbors sat in cold homes (I offered anyone help). Even the very wealthy in my town, sat in the dark, ate cold foods and basically went back to the turn of the century utilizing candles for light, with very little heat. I leant out my second generator and heaters. A week later 2.5 million people were without power and chaos still abounded. Since I built a house on high ground I was not flooded, since I had gasoline I could travel without waiting in lines and since my truck utilized diesel