Preparedness for when

BessieBooBoo

Hello all

Virtual hugs to all those in recovery out there, don't fret about what you can't do, think about what you can do. E.g. Organise your stuff, meals, stock-check, update lists, research prices, etc. then you are fully ready and know exactly what you want when you are active again...

Gah, had a nightmare that my cards were nicked, and couldn't get to a phone to report it. Something to do with trying to get my socks on and not being able to (bizarre, I know, I must keep taking the tablets...). Goodness only knows what that means.

I am one of the many minions who has stuck to cards, bank account, d/d's, and minimum cash; now I am starting to worry. And I thought it was the cheapest/easiest way to sort the bills. I only have to recall Greece (& Iceland) and how people couldn't access their own money to realise that this may not be the best plan.

I feel like I may as well walk around with a big sign pointing at me saying 'prepper' . Even though I don't talk about it to anyone in RL (a relative was recently mercilessly ridiculed for preparing for possible apocalypse in 2012, and still hasn't lived it down); and only tentatively mentioned it to one set of relatives about 'Oh, wasn't that prepper on that tv show onto something, e.g. preparing for stuff like power cuts, etc' which fell onto stony ground...

Must get more into opsec mode. Maybe I can get my employer to pay me in used notes? Or are all of them restricted to BACS now? Hmm. I could try...

Or, more opsec to withdraw the salary at regular intervals for buying preps only. Doesn't feel comfortable thinking I am leaving a paper/electronic trail as wide as a motorway.

BBB (grabs tinfoil hats and sits and thinks)

ALIBOBSY

jk0 wrote: »

I think S hit the F today in Japan:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-23918882

The scariest bit of this is the people who messed up by using the wrong measuring device are, presumably, the same ones who will be making the attempts to remove the submerged fuels rods safely without causing a meltdown which would dump a whole load of radiation into the pacific :eek:.

Ali x

fuddle

Speaking of old cars that drain... £80 just handed over for 2 new tyres. I don't think my old ones were legal! My car is 51 reg that has nearly 50k on the clock. A Nissan micra that I'm determined will rust away to nothing before it needs replacing. I have a rattle underneath that gets that bit too loud for comfort when my clutch is too high. A problem soon enough I expect. Tyre fitter had a chuckle at the big box of woollies in my boot, complete with old walking boots. They've been there all summer and will be added to these next few months.

Winter tyres. I'm not sure whether to invest seeing as I've just bought normal but are they worth having if I do live on the South Coast? Can you use winter tyres even when it isn't slippery conditions?

BessieBooBoo

fuddle wrote: »

Speaking of old cars that drain... £80 just handed over for 2 new tyres. I don't think my old ones were legal! My car is 51 reg that has nearly 50k on the clock. A Nissan micra that I'm determined will rust away to nothing before it needs replacing. I have a rattle underneath that gets that bit too loud for comfort when my clutch is too high. A problem soon enough I expect. Tyre fitter had a chuckle at the big box of woollies in my boot, complete with old walking boots. They've been there all summer and will be added to these next few months.

Winter tyres. I'm not sure whether to invest seeing as I've just bought normal but are they worth having if I do live on the South Coast? Can you use winter tyres even when it isn't slippery conditions?

Hello Fuddle

I think I read somewhere that you shouldn't use winter tyres unless you are driving in icy/snowy conditions? May have been on the prepping for winter forum...? Not entirely sure why, possibly more wear and tear on them if it's too hot/dry.

HTH

BBB

Perplexed_Pineapple

ragz wrote: »

Ahhh I was going to post about maglights... glad you mentioned it, Perplexed Pineapple! I haven't got a torch, not a decent one and would really like a maglight, saw them on amazon for under a tenner (only want a little AA one D cells ones, while lovely to hold are probably a little OTT for my needs) but then realised the LED ones were twice the price, I imagine they are worth it though?

Ignore the stuff 'to be done' - resting and recovering is very important, try to...

Ragz I wouldn't buy an LED Maglite if I were buying new now, I'd buy one of the many other LED torches on the market, a LED Lenser maybe, they seem to have good reviews and have come down in price although I haven't tried one. I've had my Maglite for maybe 15 years and I'm sort of attached to it but it isn't at the cutting edge and hasn't been for years. On the other hand they are built to last and seem virtually indestructible, which I guess makes them very suitable for an OS prepper.

ALIBOBSY

We are in the older car camp. We had 2 cars for a few years, but decided it was just too expensive for the convenience. OH is now S/E so I don't have too many problems accessing the car when I need it for shopping, but occasionally in mid winter if I end up having to do the school run on foot in snow or hail I miss the extra car lol.

In the last few years OH has made an effort to read up and "mess about" with the car(S) and has done a lot of work himself-done full service each year, changed various fuel filters, fuses etc etc. Funnily enough having chatted to others about this its amazing how many other guys fix their own cars and a few have said if we need more major stuff like brakes et al, they have pits and the tools to help him do it. If he is really stuck we know a lovely local guy who will come out to fix it and never rips you off.

TBH like other areas in prepping I reckon knowledge is key.

Ali x

ALIBOBSY

BTW anyone spot the school burnt down on the national news. That's not far from us (maybe 2 miles?)and we could see the plume of smoke from the back garden in the distance.

5 kids have been arrested and I have to say the names are being banded about on facebook by the teens/kids who know them. It would appear they were bailed and have been spotted this morning pointing and laughing at the damage-idiots.

A few of DS's friends went there and are worried as obviously year 11 is an important year for their G.C.S.E.'s .

What annoys me as a tax payer, who indirectly will be stumping up to sort this, a bit is the fact that the school seem to have chosen not to spend money on making the building fire safe prior to this. When we went around on the open evenings we saw a building that had not been much updated since it was built in the 50's-loads of wood panels, low polysterene ceilings etc. The corridors were the narrowest I have EVER seen in any public building to the point that two abreast was a struggle and when there were people walking in both directions some adults had to turn sideways to pass.

The fire service say that foam and other materials in the ceilings/roofs meant the fire spread faster and burnt more intensely. They also point out that the school have not followed there recommendation in the past to install a sprinkler system.
The science block actually exploded and they had to have special staff there who deal with dangerous chemicals to deal.

The head was said to have been stood outside watching the fire and crying. The quote in the local paper was she said they had been having some extensive and expensive renovations done over the summer that had now gone up in smoke. My thought was a pity the money wasn't spent on making the building safer. Its about time these things aren't controlled by budgets and it is made compulsory for, if not all public buildings, schools and hospitals should have to have sprinklers.

My son's school is from the same era, but has had quite a bit of work done over the years and does have sprinkler systems.

Just glad no one was hurt in the fire, I dread to think how an evacuation of that building would have gone.

Ali x

[Deleted User]

Hello, I wish to register a complaint, I go away for a few days and you arrange a Peasants Revolt without me? I'll have you know I'm as revolting as the rest of you, NOT FAIR!!!!!!! I want to play too

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You'll have to arrange another one soon, such fun!!!

Well, what a weekend, such fun, one married off and sent on honeymoon with a posh hamper, the other one birthdayed, presented and mealed out, rescued the houndicus from the kennel monster and returned him to his house, phew, one relieved lurcha!!!and the bloomin garden has gone berserkers while we were away and like Topsy, grown some and then some more particularly courgettes and runner beans, oh joy!!! Seriously though we've had a wonderful time and it's nice to be back to routine and normal, hope very much that all those poorlies and dented ones are feeling much better now, looks like it might cool down a bit towards the end of the week so will make life a bit more comfortable for doing the jams and pickles that need doing now. I must say I was relieved that the Syrian problem is not going to have the armed response from the UK, somewhere there must be a bit of common sense lurking that made its presence felt, thank the monkeys!!! What the solution is I know not, but I've never seen sense in sending a gunboat and sabre rattling, violence only begets more violence and rarely a solution ,all the time it's the man in the street who is the victim, the cannon fodder, the casualty, the sufferer, the mourner, the disposessed, when will mankind grow up and become responsible adults? I wish it could be very soon, Lyn xxx.

grandma247

GreyQueen wrote: »

People who won't use cash for teeny tiny purchases drive me loopy. You buying well under £5 worth of goods and you can't organise yourself to pay cash? Got stuck behind one of them in the 99p St0re other day - should be a law against it. *

In defence of those who do this-- It may be the only money they have left and you can't get less than a fiver out (often a tenner) of the bank so if you need a few bits you have to use the card. Our pound shop will not let you spend less than a tenner anyway. Supermarkets generally will.

nuatha

Options for using cash may be getting scarcer - London Buses may stop taking cash. Which of course would mean there was a computer record of your every journey.