Climber,

epirider's correct.

You can always come back in and catch up on posts. That's one of the many things I love about this site. It's like an ever-expanding library.

School is priority number one because your education is the most important tool in your survival kit.

In my pursuit of preparedness knowledge, I'm finding myself going back and attempting to relearn much of what I've forgotten over the years (chemistry, geometry, etc). Especially when researching what I've got to do to get my home off the grid as much as possible.

As far as your girlfriend goes, maybe she would like to join in the conversations. I'm sure she has some insights that many of us haven't thought of (never having been an adolescent girl myself).