Guest Post: End of Life for Windows 10

 by George Groot

George is a member of our Facebook Group and has written for us before. 

For those who aren’t in the know, Microsoft will end support for Windows 10 on October 15, 2025. This is not something to be afraid of; operating systems and other software generally have a limited shelf life, and Windows 10 will join Windows 8, 7, XP, 2000, Millennium Edition, 98, various NTs, 95, and 3.1 and earlier as unsupported.  

But first, let me ask the rhetorical question Why do we need a modern operating system that's as secure as possible? Answer: Because the internet is a horrible place. For all the good that a great global network of constantly-on communications devices and computers has done for economic uplift, it has also created new risks to people’s livelihoods, life savings, and mental health.

The good news in all this is that Microsoft isn’t requiring too much in the way of expensive hardware to get a machine certified to run Windows 11. Basically, any Intel Core series with an 8000 or higher number, or an AMD Ryzen with a 2000 or higher number will do. However, if you're using a computer older than 2nd Gen Ryzen or 8th Gen Intel, you should know that while there are plenty of people out there who have managed to load Windows 11 on hardware well into the “Core 2Duo” era, they have really only done so to see if they could. If you're absolutely married to your current hardware and you have the tech chops to be your own IT department, this is an option, albeit one that I don’t recommend. 

 

A better option is purchasing newer hardware on the Microsoft approved list. If you aren't a tech person, there are companies that purchase “off warranty” corporate IT gear and refurbish it for the market. My normal place to purchase a refurbished computer is Newegg.com, and so what follows is current as of the time of this article's publication:

Desktops

An Intel Core i5-8500T refurbished business desktop already loaded with Win 11 Pro can be had for under $200 US at Newegg. If that’s your budget and you're fine with a basic web browsing and productivity software suite box, that’s probably the best option for people who are not very tech oriented. 

Laptops

Unfortunately for mobile users, Windows 11 laptops that are affordable (under the $200 mark) are on the underpowered side, using Celeron and Pentium processors with a small amount of RAM. These budget laptops will work for basic email, web browsing, and streaming media, but they lack significant onboard storage. 

TPM 2.0

Another option is if you're running hardware on the approved list, but somehow your system fails the Microsoft Windows 11 upgrade health check. Generally this is due to a lack of a TPM 2.0, or Trusted Platform Module, on the motherboard. Depending on your motherboard you may be able to purchase a TPM 2.0 module and plug it in, but buyer beware! Some manufacturers use a 12 pin, some 14, and some 20 pin modules, so be sure of what you need before you purchase. Once the TPM is installed, Windows 11 can make use of that hardware to perform whole drive encryption to help secure your system and data.

Linux

The desktop-oriented Linux distributions of today are much easier to use than they were when I first started playing around with Slackware Linux in the late 1990s. If you know nothing about Linux, an easy choice is Linux Mint, which is a derivative of Ubuntu which is downstream from Debian. Debian is a free operating system that is community-supported, whereas Ubuntu is a “corporate Linux distribution” supported by Canonical. This means Mint benefits from both crowdsourced bug fixes and improvements from Debian, as well as corporate security updates and “polish” from Canonical.

While Linux is much more user-friendly than it used to be, it’s still rather picky about who it's friends with. If you have a basic computer with integrated graphics from AMD or Intel, there should be no issues with graphics drivers, but if you have an Nvidia graphics card then Linux can be dicey right now. If all you need is a machine to surf the web, send/receive email, maybe play a few retro-games on an emulator, Linux is great. 

Notice I didn’t mention “streaming” there, as most streaming platforms aren't Linux friendly due to proprietary Digital Rights Management (DRM) software. If nothing else, you can load Linux on a legacy PC and set it up as a Network Attached Storage (NAS) file server to make your own network-attached storage appliance.

My Plan

I plan to go Windows 11 for my wife and two sons' desktops if I can get TPM modules that work for their motherboards, and also purchase my wife a Windows 11 laptop. My wife’s old desktop and laptop will have their files backed up to our NAS and migrated to the new machine. My “beater laptops” (refurbished government computers with built-in CAC smart card readers) will likely end up running Ubuntu since that is the desktop distribution most common where I work.

Erin had to ask me to clarify a lot of this, so if you need things explained please leave a comment and I'll help as best I can. 

Able, Differently Abled, Disabled

Many of the posts on Blue Collar Prepping over the years have addressed things such as Bug Out Bags (BOB), Get Home Bags (GHB), and the like. Several of us have also addressed physical limitations and pain management. However, one thing that hasn't gotten a lot of attention lately is actual disabilities and self-perception.

This was driven home to me recently when my doctor advised me to file for disability. I'm only in my mid-50s, and while I have health issues, I don't think of myself as disabled. One of the consequences of this image of myself is thinking I can manage more than I really can, frequently to the dismay of My Wife. One of the benefits of my doctor's recommendation is that I've started to take a harder, colder, and (I hope) more honest look at myself and my abilities: I'm not young, I'm not in very good physical condition, and my health limitations need to be taken into consideration when planning for disasters or emergencies.

I approached this self-assessment as if I was considering another person for a variety of jobs, mostly physical at different levels of exertion.

• Can they regularly lift twenty or more pounds multiple times a day? Yes, I can still do that.
• What about fifty? Probably not, or at least not as frequently.
• Are they able to carry a fifty pound pack for several hours? No, I'm no longer able to do that due to medical issues.
• What about a twenty pound pack? Possibly, though I'd likely be in considerable pain at the end of that time.
• Can they walk five miles? Maybe, but depending on the pace there would be a certain amount of health risk.
• Can they cover broken ground at a reasonable pace? No, I can't do that.
• Could they carry another person a short distance? As long as the person wasn't too big and the distance wasn't too far, probably. But there's a good chance I'd require medical assistance after.
• And so on.

Based on this assessment, at this time bugging out is pretty much off the table for me, especially on foot. I can no longer carry a significant quantity of gear, and I can't carry it very far. While physical conditioning may improve this to some degree, that's countered by my deteriorating health. I'm not planning on dying any time soon, but part of aging is accepting that I need to live within my limitations.

Moving forward, more of my preps will focus on bugging in and making sure our home can be maintained in adverse conditions. This is never a bad plan, but it's even more important now. 

I also plan on seeing what physical therapy can do with regards to some of my medical limitations. Of course, that will also be limited by my finances. 

I strongly recommend that all of our readers take a dispassionate assessment of their own health and abilities, then work at tailoring their disaster plans and supplies to that reality. No matter how mentally uncomfortable it is, it needs to be done to ensure optimum survivability.

Stay safe and good prepping.

Organizer Boxes

Not actually Erin.

Picture by KJ Photography

& is used with permission.

I'm in the process of moving to a new bedroom in my house, and one thing which has been made startlingly clear to me is that if your preps aren't organized then not only can they be hard to find when you need them, but they also take up more space when they're arrayed all loosey-goosey. In this article I'll discuss some of my favorite methods of organizing and storing my preps. 

USPS Priority Mail Flat Rate Boxes

These sturdy carboard boxes come in four sizes (small, medium, medium long, and large) and are very stackable. Moreover, because they're white you only need a Sharpie or similar marker to label them. Best of all, they're completely free! Not only can you pick them up by the handful at any Post Office in the country, you can also order them in packs of 10 or 25 from the USPS website and have them delivered to your door, also for free. 

Car Seat Organizer

https://amzn.to/3IR7r8B

This versatile $20 PVC and cloth box can hold snacks, tools, baby supplies, or anything else you might need to store in a vehicle. I keep mine in my trunk and it stores my "oh crap" tools like a jump starter, electronic road flares, an air compressor for inflating tires, a high-visibility safety vest, a bottle of tire slime, and a basic toolkit. 

Travel Pill Case

https://amzn.to/4a9c0ak

I suffer from allergies and frequent headaches, and as I get older I've started to collect maladies like aching knees and a stiff back. In addition, I live with an elderly mother who has all that plus several prescriptions. This handy clamshell box allows me to carry many different types of pills without rattling like a pharmacy. It's a steal at 2 for $5.50, and it can hold a variety of items like screws, vehicle fuses, fishing lures, etc. 

https://amzn.to/4a9c0ak

What are your favorite organizers?

Guest Post: Tidewe 5500cu External Frame Backpack

by George Groot

George is a member of our Facebook Group and has written for us before. 

I’ve written before that military issue rucksacks generally suck for actually hauling lots of stuff long ways. The Infantryman on patrol needs a rucksack that doesn’t increase his overall profile from the front, so military rucks get bigger away from the body rather than packing gear higher and closer. This leads to “rucksack lean,” where you put your shoulders forward to get the weight closer to where your natural center of gravity normally is. Civilian backpacks don’t have that design consideration, so they are generally more “up” than “out” when packing in your kit, which leaves the weight closer to your center, and minimizes the “rucksack lean” quite a bit.

I mentioned in a previous post that for the past few years I've participated in the Mammoth Sniper Challenge, a three-day event in January where there’s a lot of ruck marching, no resupply of anything except water, and you sleep outside. I needed a rucksack that would hold a winter level sleep system, all my food, ammo, shelter, and clothing for three full days. I’ve lived out of a large ALICE pack for long enough to know that it can be done, but it’s not exactly comfortable, so I went looking for an affordable, large capacity, civilian hunting pack. 

A “merely good” external frame rucksack/backpack can cost several hundred dollars, and all of the more affordable options are made overseas, mostly in China. While I ultimately ended up choosing an American-made (and more expensive) ALPS OutdoorZ Commander freighter frame and pack bag, the Tidewe 5500cu (90L) hunting backpack may be a decent option for you given the volume that it can carry and the features that it has. 

https://amzn.to/3TqbU7c

The Good

• Two main compartments, two zippered side “sustainment pouches”, and two small convenience pouches on the waist belt. 
• A built-in pack cover for rain, a convenient top flap cover for items you may need to grab quickly, and a center flap pocket (ideal for storing magazines). 
• A rifle buttstock pocket to strap a full-size rifle to the side of the rucksack. 
• Cinch straps across the body so you can pull the load tight against the frame, or use the straps to attach items externally.

The Bad

• The nylon straps are a bit “floppy” and not milspec stiff, which means you will likely need to adjust them more often as they slip, or you’ll need to modify the straps to stay in place. 
• If you are handy with needle and thread, then modification isn’t a bad thing. 
• If you are fine with tightening down attachment points when you do a rest stop, there's no need to modify them. 
• If you aren't fine with either, then this isn't the pack for you. 

https://amzn.to/3TqbU7c

Testing
My initial test with the pack was about a 30 pound load: two tarps, 100 rounds of 9x19, 100 rounds of 7.62x51, a complete Army modular sleep system, a sleeping pad, two days of MREs, a one pound cylinder of propane and burner, wool hat, neck gaiter, a few rifle magazines, and a half gallon of water. I took it on a one hour hike (about 4 miles) and at that weight level it is much more comfortable than either an ALICE or MOLLE military rucksack.

I started off with a light weight because I was in the “condition my feet” level of ruck marching, and needed to get a good set of callouses built up between now and January. Over a span of weeks I increased pack weight and distance until I was able to knock out a 12 miler.

I used this pack for Mammoth Challenge 2023, but for this year I replaced it with the Alps. 

Final Verdict

The Tidewe 5500cu is a decent hunting pack, but not a great rucking/hiking pack. I recommend it for hunters, or for a short  “into the woods” weekend camping trip. If used for long hauls, you'll have to keep tightening the straps that connect the pack to the frame or the whole thing will shift and/or rock on your back and suck the energy out of you.

I do however recommend the Tidewe over a large green ALICE pack, because you can pack the weight closer and higher than the ALICE, making things much less painful on your back and shoulders. 

The Tidewe pack can be removed from the frame so the frame can be used purely as a cargo carrier, for deer/elk or even firewood, that's pretty useful. (My Alps pack has the same feature.) If you just need an external frame backpack for hauling things around short distances, a used one off of eBay or secondhand store is probably going to be more affordable. 

All in all, if you don't have a good hunting pack or hauling frame pack, the Tidewe 5500cu isn't bad for what it is, but honestly I would look for a used Alps or Eberlestock, or another better brand on the used market, over a new Tidewe 5500.

Product Review: Portable Car Jump Starter

Not actually Erin.

Picture by KJ Photography

& is used with permission.

Back in 2022 I blogged about a portable car jump starter which I had bought but had not tested. Well, that situation has been rectified, because as it turns out I needed to jump start my car today, and it worked exactly as advertised. 

First, I checked the charge on the power bank. Despite not having been charged since I bought it back in August of 2022 and having been kept in a hot car for all that time, the power display still read 100% charge. 

I then plugged the sensor module into the power bank and attached the clamps to the battery terminals. As I said in my previous post, "I especially like how the clamps are manufactured with extra plastic that bulks them up such that it's impossible to short anything out by having the teeth touch each other; I would have to deliberately circumvent the safety features to short-circuit these. I also appreciate how the sensor module has lights which tell me if I have the positive clamp attached to the positive terminal or not."  The sensor showed steady green, so I got in the driver's seat said a quick prayer, and turned the key. 

https://amzn.to/3VkEObd

The engine started effortlessly, and when I put the jump starter away the battery said 98% charge remaining. I am incredibly pleased with how well this product worked, and the only thing keeping me from giving it a full product recommendation is the fact that I can't find my specific model on Amazon, and Chinese clones of products can be a gamble in terms of quality. 

Still, even if it doesn't jump your care, you still have a rechargeable 18,000mAh power bank with built-in flashlight and emergency strobe, which is very useful in a lot of situations. And if it does work, then you've potentially saved yourself from needing to call a very expensive roadside mechanic or having your vehicle towed. 

At $60, I'll take that gamble. 

Bike Time Is Near!

The dust has settled and the First 72 Hours have passed. Follow along as I build a long term plan via Prudent Prepping.

Decent weather will be here very soon, but that doesn't mean you should ignore motorcycles until you put away your sweaters. One thing I was told before I even had a license was "Look for and count motorcycles when you're driving around. That way, you'll have a good chance of always seeing motorcycles when you start driving on your own."

I was able to talk to a California Highway Patrol motorcycle officer at my local bike shop late last year, and I asked him if he rides on his own time. He said yes, but not as much as before due to what he sees on the job. He said in accidents where the biker wasn't 100% at fault (such as single bike accident, speeding, bad lane changes, etc.) 75% of accidents between a car and a motorcycle, the car driver always says "I didn't see the bike!" 

To me that says some bad things about about the bike rider. Do we have lights on? Are we riding so as to be seen as easily as possible? Are we riding with enough space front and back to give us 'bail out' space? Can you see the driver in their mirrors? Yes, I know, those seem to be as often ignored as turn signals on the Interstates. 

YouTube, Instagram and TikTok seem to be lacking videos of bikers riding the speed limit, following traffic laws and not auditioning as stunt riders for the next Mad Max movie. Now this isn't to say that I don't ride faster than the posted speed limit; I certainly do, and I drive faster that that in my car also. I also live where filtering at a stop is allowed and lane splitting is legal. What I don't do, and what I don't recommend, is splitting lanes when traffic is flowing well and at a double digit percentage of the surrounding traffic.

In short, we bikers have a responsibility to be cautious driver and to make ourselves as visible as possible (and I'm not talking enough reflective tape to look like a crime scene). This is as much for our own safety as it is to be good examples. 

On To More Fun Things

I am 100% a fair weather rider, and I embrace that label, so if there's the chance of rain my bike is parked. I do carry some waterproof gear with me, because here in North California the coast can be foggy and damp even in summer, let along the random rain in the Sierras. What I pack are Frogg Toggs Men's Ultra-Lite2 Waterproof Breathable Rain Suit.

https://amzn.to/3v2Lnog

From the Amazon ad:

• WATERPROOF – Made with frogg toggs breathable, non-woven fabric that is waterproof, wind resistant and extremely lightweight. Perfect for light use when reliable waterproof protection is necessary. ASTM F1695 protection and blood penetration rated 
• RAIN SUIT – Jacket and Pant included. The unique Polypropylene material provides an excellent, affordable, and reliable rain wear option 
• FEATURES – Jacket features and adjustable hood with cord locks, full front zipper with storm flap and elastic cuffs. Pant features and elastic waist, straight leg design and stuff sack that fit s both pant and jacket 
• USES – The Ultra Lite2 Rainsuit compresses easily and is perfect for backpackers, stadium seats, sports sidelines, golf bags, emergency kits or anywhere a lightweight rain suit is needed. The Ultra Lite is not designed for rugged use, wandering through brambles or areas where sharp objects could tear. For these uses we recommend you look at other frogg toggs Rain Suits for rugged use 
• SINCE 1996 - frogg toggs has endeavored to provide the world’s best rainwear, waders, cooling products, footwear and accessories at the best possible prices

I like this rain suit not only for how it's made, but also how it's packaged. Previously I had a generic, inexpensive rain jacket that came in a plastic envelope that I kept in my saddle bags all the time. That was a mistake, as rubbing around unsecured wore a hole in the package as well as the jacket. Frogg Toggs come in a very heavy plastic/vinyl package, and I'm not sure that I want to try them on since the set is folded up so nicely and I don't think I could get them back into the package! I do know they will fit, though, as a friend has a set and he is the same build as myself.

Safety Equipment

In my last post, I mentioned the first aid gear that I carry in my car and on my bike, the Adventure Medical Kits Trauma Pak First Aid Kit with QuikClot Sponge and the bigger North American Rescue Mini First Aid Kit. To keep them together and easy to grab I've hooked them together with a small zip tie.

The zip tie is barely visible.

I'm still working on how to secure everything in the saddle bags to prevent wear and tear, so as the weather gets better I'll hopefully work out a decent answer!

Recap and Takeaway

• The only thing I haven't reviewed previously are the Frogg Toggs, and the folks who own them all swear by the quality at that price point.
• Frogg Toggs were purchased from Amazon for $19.99 with Prime.
• Adventure Medical Kits and N.A.R. Kits are items I can't recommend any higher. You can certainly get better, more detailed kits, but you will be spending more that what you see here.
• One Adventure Medical Kit was also purchased from Amazon for $25.97 with Prime.
• One North American Rescue Kit was purchased directly from N.A.R. for $108.69, and I believe the price has gone up from when I bought my last one.

Stay safe on the road, everyone, and keep your heads on a swivel.

 

* * *

Just a reminder: if you plan on buying anything through Amazon, please consider using our referral link. When you do, a portion of the sale comes back here to help keep this site running!

 

If you have comments, suggestions or corrections, please post them so we all can learn. And remember, Some Is Always Better Than None!

NOTE: All items tested were purchased by me. No products have been loaned in exchange for a favorable review. Any items sent to me for T&E will be listed as such. Suck it Feds.

3D Printing Revisited

As I covered in a post in January 2022, I'm a fairly new member of the 3D printing community. When getting started, there are many decisions that need to be made, as well as a variety of trials and tribulations for a newbie to 3D printers and printing.

Buying a Printer

There are many of them on the market with various features and a wide range of price tags. Bambu, Creality, Prussa, and Voron are just a few of the companies offering benchtop 3D printers. Most people recommend starting with a Creality Ender 3; in my case, I chose the V2 model. The V3 has since been released, and by all accounts it's worth the increased price tag, as some of the upgrades I mention below are included as standard in the new model.

Printers can also often be found on sale, either online through websites like Woot, or in stores such as Microcenter. Assembly and setup generally aren't terribly difficult, so long as you can use basic hand tools and follow printed directions.

Upgrades

One of the first upgrades most 3D printers usually get is replacing the extruder/feeder parts with metal ones, as well as replacing the springs and adjustment knobs for the print bed.

Ender 3 Upgrade Kit

When the Trouble Begins

Bed leveling, also called tramming, is one of the larger bugaboos of the printer world. It takes time, patience, and close attention to fine detail. The purpose of this operation is to make sure the print nozzle -- the part where the melted plastic exits onto the print bed -- is neither too close nor too far away from that bed. Both of these extremes will cause problems, either with prints not adhering to be bed properly or adhering too well, the latter potentially causing damage to the bed when attempting to remove a print.

From what I've read, the optimal distance is approximately 0.1 millimeters between the nozzle and the bed, or about the thickness of a piece of paper. However, a metal feeler gauge of the appropriate size is more precise.

32-piece feeler gauge set

The frustration from attempting and repeatedly failing in this operation caused me to walk away from my printer for a few months until a friend sent me one of the best upgrades to reduce the aggravation involved with bed leveling. Called the CR Touch, it's a small mechanism attached to the side of the print head and a software package that enables the printer to check bed leveling automatically. The bed still needs to be leveled manually first, but once that's done the printer can more easily maintain proper offset.

CR Touch

This was a game changer for me, and I went from angrily attempting to relevel the bed repeatedly after each failed print to near-perfect prints most of the time.

Designs

Speaking of prints, we need design files in order to print something, and there are a number of online resources where these can be found. Thingiverse and Printables are two of the more well-known and popular ones, but there are many others, including sites hosting designs specific to the 3D printed firearms community.

For those with graphic design skill, there are also tools available for creating our own printer files, such as Tinkercad. I've uploaded a few I created to Thingiverse and Printables myself.

A needle file holder designed by the author

I've also downloaded, and either used as-is or modified, a variety of other designs. One I think would be of particular interest to preppers is a set of nesting dividers that fit in an Altoids tin. This was originally designed for watercolor paints, but I'm sure we could come up with a variety of other uses.

Altoids tin dividers

Slicing

Once a print is acquired, generally as an STL file, it needs to be run through what's called a slicer, a program that uses gcode to create the tool path and extrusion details the printer needs to actually print. I use UltimakerCura, but there are other slicers available as well.

Within these programs, we can rotate and scale our models, as well as adjust print specifications such as temperature, speed, quality, and a million other options. I'm only reasonably familiar with a couple dozen of these settings myself.

Ultimaker Cura screenshot

Filament

Once the sliced file has been output and transferred to the printer, we still need filament. The most common filament on the market right now is PLA, which stands for polylactic acid. The current version, PLA+, can be found in a bewildering array of colors and, if bought in bulk, for a reasonable price. I've been happy with the filament I've ordered online from IIIDMax.

After everything's been set in motion, all that's left is to cross our fingers and wait. If all goes well, in a few hours, we'll have a completed print. If not, we'll have a print bed full of what's appropriately called spaghetti.

 

A failed print

My very first successful print was one that came with the basic printer files, a Lucky Cat. Since then, I've downloaded and printed a variety of decorative and useful objects. But as a tradition, and possibly some superstition, I first print a lucky cat with each new filament color.

A clowder of lucky cats

As my skill and confidence have increased, I've begun printing firearm parts. I started with relatively simple things such as grips, optic mounts, and fore-ends, then moved on to more complicated designs, such as linear compensators.

Two AR pistol grips

I've printed two linear comps, the first for a 5.56 AR, and the other for one in .300 Blackout. They came out beautifully, and I've run a couple magazines through the 5.56 one with no issues.

  

Linear Compensators

My next achievement will be printing a frame or receiver. Maybe this is how I finally get a Glock?

I'm sure I've left out a number of important 3D printing details, but as I said, I'm still a novice in this world and I know I still have much to learn. Some additional links are provided below.

May your bed always be level, and your spaghetti only be the kind cooked for dinner.

Links:

• Gatalog
• Thangs
• TeachingTech
• T-Rex Arms
• Slant 3D (YouTube)
• Print Quality Troubleshooting Guide
• Maker's Muse (YouTube)
• Ivan the Troll
• Hoffman Tactical
• Cults3d
• CtrlPew
• Chep
• 3D Gun Builder

Emergency Payments

Not actually Erin.

Picture by KJ Photography

& is used with permission.

Back in December, my mother's dog Precious needed to be taken to a 24 veterinary hospital for emergency surgery. (Precious is fine now, so don't worry about that. She came through the surgery like a champ and has completely recovered.)

Miss Precious, Christmas 2023

Like most emergencies, this came late at night and without warning, so neither my mother nor I were at our mental best. This is one of the reasons why I prep, so instead of having to think I just got dressed, grabbed my ER bag, and got in the car. Unfortunately, my mother isn't a prepper, and she tends to panic in high-stress situations, which is why I prep for her. This will become relevant in a moment. 

Long story short, we got Precious in the car, took her to the hospital, had her seen, and were told that the surgeon needed to operate on her immediately. All well and good, but less good was the price quoted to us, which was just shy of $2000. Given that Precious could die during the operation, we were asked to pay before services were rendered. 

Normally this wouldn't be a problem as we have that much in our emergency funds. However, remember that panic I mentioned? Mom forgot to bring her checkbook along. She did have her wallet with her debit card (we don't use credit cards anymore, given the debt that my father got us in with them due to his dementia), but the debit card had a hard limit on it that wouldn't cover half of the procedure. 

If I knew then what I knew now, I'd ask mom to give me her debit card, call the 24 hour customer service number on the back, and have her talk to whomever answered about temporarily lifting that limit. If you didn't know you could do that, now you do, so keep that in mind. 

Unfortunately we didn't know that at the time, so we needed to get credit another way. The receptionist at the hospital told us about CareCredit and Scratchpay, which are both businesses which help finance medical bills. They are functionally the same, with the chief difference being that CareCredit doesn't do as deep of a credit check as Scratchpay does, and so were told to apply to CareCredit first so that if we were rejected for it the credit check wouldn't hurt our chances for Scratchpay approval. 

Fortunately for us, we were approved (likely because my mother had clawed us out of the debt my father got us into) and we were able to pay the hospital for Precious' surgery. As of now, Precious is doing fine, the debt is paid off, and we have a CareCredit account in case I (who can't afford health insurance) get hurt. 

So remember: if you ever need to pay a medical bill in the middle of the night on a weekend and don't have the money for it, you can apply to one of these medical financing companies. 

This knowledge weighs nothing, so always carry it with you.