This is from Australia...always let somebody know where you are going and when you expect to be back

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I'm of the view that ... it could happen to me

i have a physical disability, and my balance / falling is always an issue. I tend to be cautious with almost anything re physical work, especially if i am on my own. i have a cell phone in my pocket. I walk around the property with a shovel, so that I can pick myself up when i fall. I can do basic snowplowing, general chores, with the tractor when i am on my own. I manage, but i do plan a bit.

You keep strokin chicken.
You're in BC. Go dig up a dinosaur with your shovel.

 

[Oaktree]

I downloaded a free app called STRAVA. It has a feature where you can send a safety text to up to three people. Then they can track your location very accurately in real time. I don't know the official resolution, but based on the progress that shows on my phone, I think it is less than 10 feet. The app is kind of like facebook for jocks. You can post, follow, etc... You can also subscribe and get a lot of analytical information on activity. I don't subscribe and have mine locked down. It gives my wife and I both a little peace of mind.

I do realize that if the worst were to happen, say a cardiac event, by the time she would realize something is up, it is all over.

The only downside is, she can tell when I sidetrack 30 feet to the ice cream shop on my rides.

I had never heard of that until a couple months ago when a colleague mentioned using it to track when she's out bicycling...not so much so someone knows where she is, but apparently it's something other cyclists use to see what the commonly used roads/paths are in a given area. Personally, I find it weird that someone would actually want their movements tracked. Cellphones are bad enough in that regard anyway.
I suppose if you have a loved one with some form of dementia it could be useful, but that's about the only thing. Still couldn't get me to do it.

 

[Jstpssng]

I had never heard of that until a couple months ago when a colleague mentioned using it to track when she's out bicycling...not so much so someone knows where she is, but apparently it's something other cyclists use to see what the commonly used roads/paths are in a given area. Personally, I find it weird that someone would actually want their movements tracked. Cellphones are bad enough in that regard anyway.
I suppose if you have a loved one with some form of dementia it could be useful, but that's about the only thing. Still couldn't get me to do it.

I agree. However, for somebody working or hiking alone in remote areas that could be a lifesaver. It might even have saved the life of the hiker who died in your state a few days ago. There also are other, similar gadgets which accomplish the same thing. The Garmin InReach can send updates to several emails.

 

[Yander]

We hitchhiked from Boston back to my uncles once. That's most of MA lengthwise.
Never had an issue, was a great adventure.
Wouldn't try that on a bet today, even if armed and in a group....

Reminds me of a joke: Hitchhicker gets into the car of a stranger and the hitchhiker says, I'm surprised you picked me up, I could have been a serial killer or something. The driver of the car says, what's the chances of two serial killers being in the same car?

 

[Yander]

As a teenager I used to check my muskrat traps in a little John boat. I sometimes was a couple miles from any house (back when there were less houses). Thinking back, if I ever fell out and got wet up to the chest, I probably would have died of hypothermia. I checked traps when it was really could out sometimes, didn't even give it at thought. Now, I won't even go out to gather eggs when it is cold out without a phone in my pocket.

On another but similar note, I was in a gun store near Delaware Ohio state park and a young guy came in and with a very serious but quite tone, asked the guy working there if he could give him his cell phone in case anyone found his brother. Both the employee and myself thought his brother may have gotten lost and they were looking for him in the wildlife area. We asked him what his brother looked like and he said, he looks like me, but then he said to the employee, it's just a recovery effort at this point. The worker said may ask what happened to your brother. He told us they were out fishing out of a low profile boat maybe a john boat and they got swamped. Water temps were still in the thirties (March Time). His brother's life vest slid off and his own life jacket stayed on and he managed to call 911 before he passed out.

They rescued him and he was in the hospital for a couple days but his brother's body didn't get discover for almost a week. You have to put a little thought to those things when you are dealing with extremes, Heat/Cold. You don't get very long to recover from a mistake or a breakdown. Took me a couple days for that to stop bothering me. I just can't imagine.

One boater injured, another may be missing at Delaware State Park

DELAWARE, Ohio (WCMH) — One person has been taken to a hospital and another is believed to be missing Thursday after a possible boating accident at Delaware State Park. The Ohio Department of…

www.nbc4i.com

 

[Jstpssng]

As a teenager I used to check my muskrat traps in a little John boat. I sometimes was a couple miles from any house (back when there were less houses). Thinking back, if I ever fell out and got wet up to the chest, I probably would have died of hypothermia. I checked traps when it was really could out sometimes, didn't even give it at thought. Now, I won't even go out to gather eggs when it is cold out without a phone in my pocket.

On another but similar note, I was in a gun store near Delaware Ohio state park and a young guy came in and with a very serious but quite tone, asked the guy working there if he could give him his cell phone in case anyone found his brother. Both the employee and myself thought his brother may have gotten lost and they were looking for him in the wildlife area. We asked him what his brother looked like and he said, he looks like me, but then he said to the employee, it's just a recovery effort at this point. The worker said may ask what happened to your brother. He told us they were out fishing out of a low profile boat maybe a john boat and they got swamped. Water temps were still in the thirties (March Time). His brother's life vest slid off and his own life jacket stayed on and he managed to call 911 before he passed out.

They rescued him and he was in the hospital for a couple days but his brother's body didn't get discover for almost a week. You have to put a little thought to those things when you are dealing with extremes, Heat/Cold. You don't get very long to recover from a mistake or a breakdown. Took me a couple days for that to stop bothering me. I just can't imagine.

One boater injured, another may be missing at Delaware State Park

DELAWARE, Ohio (WCMH) — One person has been taken to a hospital and another is believed to be missing Thursday after a possible boating accident at Delaware State Park. The Ohio Department of…

www.nbc4i.com

That's the kind of thing that nightmares are made of. The first year that I trapped I let my rat traps stay in too long and the lake started to freeze. It was the last day of the season (actually, that evening) so I got my canoe up onto the ice and started pushing it while walking along side. Every time that the ice broke I would roll into the canoe. Looking back now it would have been better to just call the warden service, and risk the fine for trapping out of season.

A few years ago a teenager drowned while tending beaver traps. His girlfriend was on shore watching helplessly when he went under.

 

[dougtrr2]

I had never heard of that until a couple months ago when a colleague mentioned using it to track when she's out bicycling...not so much so someone knows where she is, but apparently it's something other cyclists use to see what the commonly used roads/paths are in a given area. Personally, I find it weird that someone would actually want their movements tracked. Cellphones are bad enough in that regard anyway.
I suppose if you have a loved one with some form of dementia it could be useful, but that's about the only thing. Still couldn't get me to do it.

I have my Stava app locked down so information is not available to anyone else. I don't "follow" anyone and no one can "follow" me. I agree that it would be a little creepy for complete stranger to be able to track my movements. The safety text that allows me to be tracked only goes to two people.

Doug in SW IA