Preparedness for when

the_cake

GreyQueen wrote: »

A faaarrttt joke!

Thank goodness, I was beginning to regret asking in case it was too outre.

****Fans brow with a rolled up copy of The Lady, retires to her fainting couch, calling for Jeeves to bring the smelling salts and a stiff gin (oo-errr, missus )*****

Sorry GQ, Jeeves would if he could, but with only paws he finds it very difficult to carry things .... and he always mixes the gin far too strong, even for me.

GreyQueen

the_cake wrote: »

Sorry GQ, Jeeves would if he could, but with only paws he finds it very difficult to carry things .... and he always mixes the gin far too strong, even for me.

That's cats for ya; never ones to learn a useful-to-humans skill like mixology. Give the boy a stroke from another devoted cat-servant.

Perplexed_Pineapple

nuatha wrote: »

PP It may be worth getting a bodyshop's opinion on how repairable your car is. Frequently insurance companies will write off a car because their repairers are too expensive to make the repair economic. My previous car was written off for a dented rear door - I bought the salvage back off the insurance company (they reduced the cheque they paid me by £150) and got a door from a scrapyard for £40, and had it fitted for another £20.
Whether that is the case or not, do look around ebay and local papers to get an idea of what that model and year is selling for, as insurance companies tend to value cars less than they might, but may be persuaded to increase their valuation given evidence of local prices.
Hope you aren't feeling too stiff and sore this morning

Thanks Nuatha, it really is beyond a bodyshop job, the radiator is in smithereens and the engine is a big lump of twisted metal with bit and pieces hanging out. I think I've been very lucky to walk away relatively unscathed to be honest.

ALIBOBSY wrote: »

Spotted a trailer for a SHTF type drama that I thought might be right up the street of my fellow preppers on channel 4.

http://www.channel4.com/info/press/news/channel-4-to-air-what-if-cyber-attack-drama....

....On the main Ch4 site shows as scheduled for Monday 9th September at 9pm.

ALIBOBSY that looks very interesting as per previous discussions don't really watch much TV but will make an exception for that!
Kiwiblue I know your general area fairly well, I guess you are somewhere near Foxton, we used to have family there. It's a lovely part of the world and ideal for a self-sufficient type of lifestyle I guess. Did you get much affected by the earthquakes that shook up Wellington recently?

GQ the original reason hospitals introduced parking charges for visitors is that a lot of town-centre hospital car parks were used as free parking by people going shopping. That's changed and the NHS is much more focused on balancing the books and making a bob or two where they can. Most of them have outsourced parking control to people like NCP or S3RCO.

kat360

Bedsit_Bob wrote: »

Only 2 options come to mind.

Option 1 is to adjust the types and quantity of stored food, to what you could reasonably use, before it went off.

Option 2 is a standby electricity supply, which would invariably mean a generator.

I think the MOD would freak if I installed one (hubby is armed forces). We were told that there is a back up generator on camp for the camp and houses, but I'm unsure if they meant just the houses that are on camp or the ones off camp too.

Was doing a Tesco shop so I thought I'd stock up on some tins. 33p for a tin of carrots! When did that happen! :eek: Is it just me or is the price of food creeping up again?

jk0

I used to hate tinned carrots as a child in the seventies. They always tasted sour to me. Have they improved them at all?

boultdj

GreyQueen wrote: »

Yup. You'll have to be quick, tho; I've a McVities lemon cake and half of a jamaican ginger one (2 for £1 at Icelandia yesterday).

Shall I put the kettle on? If you start heading south now you can get here in about 7 hours, bar traffic.

If you'v got a foodfarm near you the cakes you mention are 39p each.

ragz_2

jk0 wrote: »

I used to hate tinned carrots as a child in the seventies. They always tasted sour to me. Have they improved them at all?

No they still are! But if you sweat onions until soft then cook drained carrots in them with a pinch of sugar and some cinnamon they are very nice.

Sure they were 17p last I looked or 22p at the most.

Did a lot of preppy grocery shopping today, I think the Syria situation is making me paranoid. 12 litres of water and some tinned potatoes and corned beef, neither of which we eat but if we didn't have fresh stuff...

whitesatin

Hard_Up_Hester wrote: »

Afternoon all
I haven't posted on here for ages but I thought I'd just let you know about when the poo hit our fan recently.
Just before school broke up I was rushed into hospital, I was in for a week and even when I came out I was unable to get out of bed.
To list a few of the unexpected expenses.
Hospital parking, astronomical
Nightwear, I didn't have any.
Taxi to get home from hospital as there was no warning that I was being released at 9 at night & no-one free to collect me.
Extra food as I was given a specific diet to follow.
Extra electricity for the fan I needed o keep me cool during the heatwave and also for the lights that were on all night as I couldn't sleep.
Extra help around the house as hubby is on shifts and wasn't always around when needed.
Bus fare for hubby, I normally drive us both to work & back.
I'm sure there is more but these are the main ones and it might just help someone else to plan ahead.
Hester

When we are healthy, we never give a thought to such things. I will now now, thanks.

GreyQueen

boultdj wrote: »

If you'v got a foodfarm near you the cakes you mention are 39p each.

Ooooh, how very annoying. I was in one of those stores on Friday and didn't even look at cakes, I was foraging for tinned pies. Must do better next time.

Been offline for a few hours trying to get stuff done. Have managed to excavate enough floor to shove the vac around and got the BOB back together. I like to lay be down to sleep with my BOB by the end of the bed, my handbag over the bedpost, torch to hand and glasses nearby. The idea is I could vacate in seconds.

Looking forward to that prog next Monday. I shall get the folks to record it for me and catch up with it at some point afterwards. I wonder if stuff gets made on a certain subject as a way of introducing it into the public domain as a subject for discussion.............?

PP, thank goodness the engine block and rad took the force and not your mortal self. I've been fortunate and not in a crash apart from a rear ender in the driving school car when some numptie shunted me on a lesson (his fault!) and that was all of 5mph. I have, however, had a terrible crash happen to the car immediately in front of me, and there for the grace of whatever was me and my brother. When you attend 3 shocked, bleeding and broken-legged casualties, all the time thinking if we'd've left a few seconds earlier, that other car would have hit us not them.....

Foodstuffs are most definately creeping up. Several things have gone up a few pence since Friday in Tosspots. It adds a sense of urgency to storecupboarding, as a hedge against inflation, never mind anything more apocalyptic.

Howsomever, I did make out like a bandit on YS broccoli and have made the stalks the basis for a soup with hg onions and tatties off the lottie. Waste not, want not.

Whitesatin, I think a hospital bag is not a bad idea for anybody, even the able-bodied and otherwise well can end up with a surprise admission. It's an idea to think about having something respectable in the line of nightwear, and a lightweight robe and slippers. Wouldn't cost much to put these items together from the charity shops and could save a deal of trouble. Plus little comforts which you pay thru the nose for in hospital shops, such as toiletries and tissues, something to read and some cash.

A few years before he retired, Dad was still at work and Mum was a pensioner, workplace and home 10 mins' walk apart. Dad suddenly suffered a retinal detachment at work. He knew what it was as had one 40 years prior. Time is of the essence with those things and you need to get straight to hospital.

Quick call to Mum, she jumped in the car and fetched him then went immediately to Middling Hospital 15 miles away. They took one look and sent them to the Big Hospital (another 15 or so miles on) whereupon they admitted Dad, who was still 30 miles from home with not so much as a toothbrush to his name. Which necessitated another round trip.

Imagine how convenient it would have been if they'd been a hospital bag in the car? Mum also once had a call from Big Hospital, following up from a routine blood test, circa 4 pm; we don't want to panic you but we want to admit you tonight......!

When life throws you a loop like that, you don't want to be scrabbling around looking for a clean nightie and your best slippers.

jk0

Hedge against inflation?

Hmm. That's what my late father used to tell me about his two year old stale cornflakes I had to eat when I visited him as a child in the 70's.

Even then, I was bright enough to point out that even if the cornflakes had stayed fresh, he would still have to go back to the shop & buy more at the current price when the stale pack ran out.

To have to eat stale ones, albeit the price ticket on them looked incredibly cheap, made the 70's even more miserable for me.

By all means buy a month or so's stock, but you cannot hedge against food inflation unless you know the day you are going to die, and then buy food at today's prices to last up to that date. Don't do it for anything that's going to go stale though!