School Daze #34

 Dear Wairua,

  I'm helping your uncle pack for his visit to Sinq. One thing he's been doing before travelling is some advanced intel on the area, not only the resources but also the ratbags that haunt the area. A quick squizzy at the Local or DScan is helpful, but you can mark individuals, corps, and even whole alliances as either mates or ratbags. So when they pop into the system, you know to be on your guard, or flat out to a safe.

  Most times, your corp (when you join one) will have already tagged the most bung eggs in the area for you, but you can also look them up yourself by using the EVE killboard, filtered for the systems around you. Who's killing freighters or mining barges in HiSec? Put them on your own bung list. Who hunts the LowSec systems you're doing PI or mining in? Mark them too. This way, a squizz at local can tell if you're good as gold, or in for a bloody mare. 

  Get yourself a zippy little waka, and make some locations for yourself, off the beaten path. An extra layer would be to make a mark between two planets, go back to it, motor up or down 200 Km, then make your real location there. Preferably within Dscan range of your customs office, to see if your pickup may go to ratshit. Same deal with the customs offices, make a warp-to location above or below, but still in pash range to scoop goods, so you can warp elsewhere without getting hung up on the building.

  Also, some areas are busier at some times more than others. Look at the kills and the ratbags involved, plot it out on a clock, and figure out their most active times. Once you figure out the patterns, you can make your jaunts in the slow times.

  Security is all on you, mate: Keep your noggin on a swivel, and no worries. Have fun with your uncle, and learn from him. He's a good man, as was his father.

Yours,

Dad