Preparedness for when

lobbyludd

I'm not differring with you on the sensibleness of making sure you have the facilities to personally be comfortable in those situations, I have enough food to last at least a month and water for several days at all times, plus medications, I can cook, heat and light this house without any external power supplies for at least a week etc. All power to you if you go further than that, everyone who does releases pressure on any external help that is available.

What I am suggesting is that whilst you speak to several thousands of your commmunity with crises, in hysterics, panicking etc, most people aren't contacting you, and even those who do, are not, in the main dead within days, they do find a way through. I do indeed know someone who fits "Becky's" behaviour, no common sense, panics at everything, no thought of consequences or any forward planning, but she's one person, and I know her because any whiff of a non-routine event and she's straight round to my brother and his wife (who used to be travellers and are extremely resourceful, no nonsense types) asking how to sort it out (including on their wedding day which was less than appreciated!) but she is notable precisely because of her exceptionality.

Hospitals etc all have disaster plans in place to deal with major power outages and water shortages, they won't operate on "business as usual" but it will operate. Councils, and government too. they will be appropriating police, and fire vehicles, all fuel for non-emergency travel will be diverted, contractors will be hired from emergency funds to bring water in. Non-state networks (charities, churches, etc) will kick in and step up. when emergency situations have happened in the UK this is what has happened.

I am not arguing against being prepared, for whatever anyone wants/forsees, but I do have a different view of how most "normal" people would cope in a mass crisis, I think they'd complain bitterly, moan, think it wasn't fair, curse the authorities, some would panic a bit, some a lot, but also most would get through it, adapting, coping. I don't think several million early 30's women with kids would all be isolated wrecks in the brief time before external systems to sustain the basics of life kicked in effectively, which unless the state architecture was wiped out over night would be forthcoming in the UK. unless you are talking a very extreme scenario, in which case I have no idea. probably none of us do.

but we disagree, which is the spice of life and I'll bow out of debate.

twiglet98

The thought of shops and petrol stations taking neither debit nor credit card payments, and ATM machines not dispensing either, is one my adult offspring find laughable. I keep enough cash in the house to cover non-direct-debit outgoings for about two weeks hence, I'm too worried about keeping it safely hidden to have several months' of necessary spending money in the house, much as I'd like to. Maybe burying some in the garden is worth a try!

thriftwizard

What worries me isn't so much what Brian & Becky Normal would do in the event of a real, countrywide emergency, it's what the Government would do, or not do, or not be able to do. I suspect the infrastructure to respond simply isn't there any more, because it's not cost-effective to have surplus capacity in, say, the emergency systems, particularly not when important parts of them have been hived off to private contractors whose main concern (and in fact, their duty) is making money for their shareholders. And why should, say, a French or Russian company pull out all the stops to rush to the rescue of British citizens? They may have troubles of their own that take precedence. Our water company here is French-owned & the gas comes from Russia.

And sadly, I do think that many younger people will be at a huge disadvantage, because the background, everyday knowledge that many of us over 40s have, just isn't there. I still meet young people who are stunned to realise that you can really, truly make clothes yourself, or jam, or bread; that it's not some arcane & fiendishly difficult art that just makes interesting TV. It's no good saying they'll soon learn to sew on a button if they have no idea that buttons are sewn on, or that you'll need a needle in order to do so.

VJsmum

oh lobby. please dont bow out.

i love to read all sides of.a debatd

Morganarla

Just popping in rather quickly to say hi and bye!

You when life just doesn't have enough hours? Yup, feeling that right now. So sorry for my absence.. I am reading the daily updates I get to my email after midnight, I read them in bed as OH is showering!

Just freecycled my massive old CRT tv which was too big for the old kinda-built in tv cabinet thingy in my teeny cottage, which also has no tv signal..! It went to a decent and deserving home, so very pleased about that.

It also frees up the cabinet to become a pantry, of sorts! Going to rig up a curtain for it on the sewing machine (if OH's mum can set it up for me, via Skype and translation from Slovenian to English ha!). So when I finally get paid on Friday (first pay from new job) I'm going to do massive prep-tastic stockpile shop. SO excited!

Love and furry kisses from all of us to all of you xx

GreyQueen

Nice one, Morganarla, lovely to pass something on to someone who will get good use out of it and to gain space in turn.

I must admit, I have looked at those TV cabinets in the chazzers and thought to myself.......Hmmm, a lot of space in there. I'd've had one of them myself had I the space for one.

After all, there's no law against keeping groceries in rooms which aren't the kitchen, and those of us with small homes already have to go off-piste with our domestic arrangements.

The weather has been rather changeable here today, with a constant cycle of showers, not especially heavy or long, but coming over every few minutes. I managed to get out to see a pal in the middle of the afternoon and as luck will have it, I got to and fro in the dry. By a whisker - I scuttled the last few yards to the door in the rain.

Really hope tomorrow is better as I want to play on the allotment.

Well, if going to be flat-bound, I suppose I should balance my interwebbing with some productive activitiy. Well, failing that, the housework.

No ironing hanging around, than goodness, VJsMum.

mardatha

Awesome post Thriftwizard
We once had the water go off and it took until the third day to get a tanker out here and even then it only stayed a short time then went on to another village. They left a pile of bottles at the top of the street though.
I think life/ people have changed so much in the last 30-40 years, and not for the better as regards prepping. I once read a post on MSE asking how on earth did you manage to live on cash. I boggled. I would never, ever, EVER be without money - the very thought scares me.

daz378

just finished 10 hour shift , as colleague was on sick and dificult to cover, heard some twitterings on the news that the government bond markets are getting a bit jittery due to the quantative easing most western governments are having to operate, america s already signalled its intention to stop.... how serious im not sure , may have to do a bit of research........reckon i could survive a month or 2 in the flats.... but would really like to do a bushcraft course snares traps/ edible vegatation etc


http://www.nasdaq.com/article/bond-report-treasurys-slide-in-worst-week-since-2009-20130621-00490

lobbyludd

on an entirely different note -and if prepping for an end of the world... extreme situation, I've not seen anyone mention (although not read back)
a) salt: although we are warned against eating too much and everything preprepared is laden with it, it is essential for humans to live, it's a preservative for food and can act as a topical antibiotic (as can sugar paste) and as a steriliser. Difficult to get in the wild unless near the sea. Was a highly priced commodity in times gone past.
b) fat: there are essential oil/fat dissolvable vitamins etc that humans need external sources for, and lack for extended periods, causes big health problems. Vegetable sources are hard to process yourself, and animal sources don't store that well in any sort of heat.

the_cake

Random prepping thoughts ....
Keeping some cash at home: I have hundreds of books, so I cut away the inside of some pages of one I was never going to read, and keep some (not many! Would that there were more) folded notes inside it. There is nothing whatever to differentiate that book from the others, and as long as I keep my marbles, remember which one it is, and don't suddenly decide to do a book cull and send it to the charity shop (nightmare!), my secret stash is safe. Or it feels it, unless the house catches fire.
Today I went food shopping - usually try and do it on a Friday, and now I know why. Some absolutely basic stuff was completely out of stock (this was in A**I): tins of cat food, plain flour, tinned tuna chunks. It felt a bit weird, to be honest. We get so used to just being able to get what we want, when we want it, don't we?
On the flipside, I noticed that Sainsbobs had some excellent reductions in the Asian food section: creamed coconut blocks at 50p, peppercorns 77p for 100g, polenta flour £1 for a very large bag, and lastly a whole range of the KTC tins at excellent prices, including chick peas at 33p. Hope it's nationwide, and you can all grab some bargains for your larders. (Isn't "larder" a lovely comforting word?!)