But this has less to do with terrorism than a reasonable attitude towards what life may bring.

Hey, I live within a few miles of the San Andreas Fault. It might be the day the guy in the other lane decides to adjust his radio and drifts across the line. My ticker might give out. Then, of course, that NEO is drifting out there somewhere...

Reasonable outlook:

I got water stored up, my house is braced against earthquakes, and I know where the gas turnoff is. It wouldn't be my first earthquake here. I watch out as best I can for the guys in the other lanes. I see my cardiologist a couple times a year and am taking Lipitor. Kind of stuck on the NEOs, but I hope the NEO detection system we need will be built eventually.

And I keep my eyes open for suspicious activities, too, but it isn't a full-time occupation for me.

Still, shit happens, and while you do what you can, you can't prevent it completely. Keep it in perspective.

Also remember, the precautions required for absolute safety would require almost complete loss of our freedoms. And regardless of how people complain about the Patriot Act, on a freedom-loss scale of 1 to 10 it's about a 2. It could get a lot worse.