The second-worst outcome is, I was on the ladder when the door hit it on the way down. That one, I probably could have limped or crawled away from. Remember Darrel the Former Cop?
The first-worst outcome is, I was there between the door and the ladder to break its fall. And there I’d be, alone in the desert with a broken head.
The key to remaining safe is often to remain cowardly, and knowing when to get the hell out of the way of the inevitable.
They say that Louis XIV had the inscription Ultima Ratio Regum cast into all the cannon of the French Army. It means “The Ultimate Argument of Kings,” and that always struck me as one of the most honest and up-front things any ruler or would-be ruler ever said. “We can dress it up prettier than this, but when it comes down to the unvarnished truth this is what it’s about: You’ll do as I say or I’ll send my goons to kill you.”
I thought about that for a long time. If there’s an ultimate argument, it seems only logical that there must be an ultimate answer. For years I thought the ultimate answer must be the bullets in my rifle, but it never seemed quite right. I’ve got bullets – he’s got frigging Cannon Balls. I mean, if there were three hundred million rifles throwing bullets at him, then maybe. But we all know that’s not going to happen. So if there’s an ultimate answer to his ultimate argument, it sure as hell ain’t bullets.
It finally came to me – and that’s when I abandoned the city and most of my stuff, and gave all that was behind me a good stiff Randian Shrug.
The ultimate answer to kings is not a bullet, but a belly laugh.
Little Bear 2009-2018
Laddie the Amazing Torso Boy 2011-2020
"Freedom Outlaw. It’s not what you do; it’s how you do it. It’s an attitude — from which actions always follow. It’s a do-it-yourself occupation. And a lifetime vocation."
- Claire Wolfe, Backwoods Home Companion, 6-07-10
I owe my success to having listened respectfully to the very best advice, and then going away and doing the exact opposite.
- G. K. Chesterton
"If every Jewish and anti-Nazi family in Germany had owned a Mauser rifle and twenty rounds of ammunition and the will to use it, Adolf Hitler would be a little-known footnote to the history of the Weimar Republic."
- Aaron Zelman
"Authority should derive from the consent of the governed, not from the threat of force."
- Barbie
"Never underestimate the ability of shit to find a fan."
- F. Paul Wilson
"You can't make an omelet without breaking eggs." The sophistry of villains - Bah!
- Robert A. Heinlein, Double Star
“Truth is, I’m not specifically interested in an armed society. What I want is a free society.”
- George Potter
I never saw a wild thing sorry for itself
A small bird will drop frozen dead from a bough without ever having felt sorry for itself.
- D. H. Lawrence
Aristippus passed Diogenes as he was washing lentils.
He said, “If you could but learn to flatter the king, you would not have to live on lentils.”
Diogenes said, “And if you could learn to live on lentils, you would not have to flatter the king.”
Sandy Hook was a Gun Free Zone. So was the Westroads Mall. And the Aurora Theater. And Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. Should I go on? They were all Gun Free Zones.Â
– Reality
“Political tags — such as royalist, communist, democrat, populist, fascist, liberal, conservative, and so forth — are never basic criteria. The human race divides politically into those who want people to be controlled and those who have no such desire. The former are idealists acting from highest motives for the greatest good of the greatest number. The latter are surly curmudgeons, suspicious and lacking in altruism. But they are more comfortable neighbors than the other sort.”
- Robert A. Heinlein
"Civilization is the process of setting man free from men."
- Ayn Rand
If ever a man should ask you
For your business or your name
Tell him to go and fuck himself
Tell his friends to do the same.
For a man who'd trade his liberty
For a safe and dreamless sleep
Doesn't deserve the both of them
And neither shall he keep.
- Frank Turner
Don't be afraid to try something big, just because you're an amateur. The Ark was built by amateurs. The Titanic was built by professionals.
- Anon
"Nothing scares a police officer more than the threat of being treated the way that they treat people every day."
- Anon
"Be polite, be professional, but have a plan to kill everybody you meet."
- Gen. James Mattis
"Lust for power is the most flagrant of all the passions."
- Tacitus
"The man who knows what freedom means will find a way to be free."
- F.A. "Baldy" Harper
"The greatest discovery of any generation is that a human being can alter his life by altering his attitude."
- William James
We who lived in concentration camps can remember the men who walked through the huts comforting others, giving away their last piece of bread. They may have been few in number, but they offer sufficient proof that everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms -- to choose one's attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one's own way.
- Viktor Frankl
The free man will ask neither what his country can do for him nor what he can do for his country.
- Milton Friedman
“We must be free not because we claim freedom, but because we practice it.”
- William Faulkner
There is nothing noble in being superior to your fellow man; true nobility is being superior to your former self.
- Ernest Hemingway
"Everything the State says is a lie, and everything it has it has stolen."
- Friedrich Nietzsche
John Moses Browning - The most badass Mormon who ever lived.
"The nine most terrifying words in the English language are 'I'm from the government, and I'm here to help.'"
- Ronald Reagan
The most dangerous creation of any society is the man who has nothing to lose.
- James A. Baldwin
"It is better to be a warrior in a garden than to be a gardener in a war."
- Anon
“I tried to live in such a way that, when dying, I would rather feel happy than scared.”
– Witold Pilecki
Few men desire liberty; most men wish only for a just master.
- Sallust
"Place your clothes and weapons where you can find them in the dark."
- Lazarus Long
Read, every day, something no one else is reading.
Think, every day, something no one else is thinking.
Do, every day, something no one else would be silly enough to do.
It is bad for the mind to continually be part of unanimity.
– Â Christopher Morley
“I have found that, to make a contented slave, it is necessary to make a thoughtless one. It is necessary to darken his moral and mental vision, and, as far as possible, to annihilate the power of reason. He must be able to detect no inconsistencies in slavery; he must be made to feel that slavery is right; and he can be brought to that only when he ceases to be a man.”
-Frederick Douglass
ESSE QUAM VIDERI –
To be, rather than to seem
– Marcus Tullius Cicero
“A Winchester rifle should have a place of honor in every black home, and it should be used for that protection which the law refuses to give.”
– Ida B. Wells
Do what thy manhood bid thee do; from none but self expect applause.
He noblest lives and noblest dies, who makes and keeps his self made laws
– Sir Richard Burton
Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.
– Winston Churchill
“Happiness is a journey, not a destination. Dance as though no one is watching you. Love as though you have never been hurt before. Sing as though no one can hear you. Live as though heaven is on earth.”
― Father Alfred d’Souza
First… Are you OK?
A distant second… Is the door totally screwed up now or is it repairable?
If unrepairable, and the goal is strictly emergency egress, consider a large slider window rather than a door.
That said though, a real door coupled eventually with an outside stairway would give you a convenient alternative to your undersized hatch and its (IMO) treacherous ladder.
I’m just fine. When the merely-likely began to look inevitable I took myself elsewhere and watched it happen.
Also, yes. I’m starting to think that would be fine place for a window, and maybe an emergency-escape rope. The door is repairable, but also not – if that makes any sense. The reason I wanted it back down is that it needs to be cut 10″ shorter, which puts the cut smack into one of those vents, which essentially made the door useless. I hoped to get it down intact, but didn’t get emotional about it either way.
Trouble is, a revised plan means I need to find a 24″-wide window on short notice.
Joel, so glad you are OK and thanks for letting us know. You can buy for about $30-$40 a folding emergency escape ladder with hooks for the window edge and large metal brackets at the top that hold it away from the wall while you climb down it. Especially in winter, an icy or frozen rope may not be the best way out for you. If your closest largish town has a Habitat for Humanity ReStore it may have a window you can use and the price will be very affordable. You can call and ask before you go. You can climb out a low set largish window to tan au naturel and enjoy your sunrises and sunsets with an adult beverage in hand just as easily as opening a door. The key to success is having it mounted low.
Oh dear! I’m so glad you did get out of the way! A window sounds a great deal more positive all around, but I’d certainly get some help with installing it if I were you.
Actually, I’d be doing the standing around watching. LOL There is no way on earth I’d ever get up on that (or any other tall) ladder. The little one in my kitchen is challenge enough. 🙂
Since you’re limited to size, I highly recommend a casement-style window to give you the maximum opening for egress. Like this: http://www.homedepot.com/p/JELD-WEN-V-4500-Series-Casement-Vinyl-Window-THDJW140000360/205720104?N=5yc1vZbxe9#specifications
It’s an unexpected expense, but not a deal-killer. I suggest that you just get on with the rest of your project that you have the materials for and that don’t involve that area.
Kudos from a fellow coward!
I’ve been doing lots of climbing in my new career, and the conversation with guys who haven’t gone up before usually goes something like this:
Don’t take anything up with you.
If you have to take something up, don’t drop it.
If you drop something, don’t try to catch it.
Very glad to hear you didn’t break the fall of the ladder or door!
I know you’re limited on materials to work with, but can you frame in the rough opening for the window/door/hatch now (assuming you have a target size in mind) and just fill it in with some plywood or something until you can locate and obtain a window/door/hatch? You could either nail/screw the plywood in place, or possibly hinge and latch it to use as a “door” until ready for whatever finally goes in that spot.