Preparedness for when

[Deleted User]

I braved the commercial places this morning and am now in the happy position that I only have to get fresh milk, bread and bananas next Tuesday and we're there. I thought I'd got it timed just right today, left the village on the 9.52 bus and got the 12.06 bus back from the Bus Depot. It usually takes just under an hour to get to Mr.M from here and the same back except when ALL the senior schools in the entire area let ALL the pupils leave at lunchtime to start the christmas holidays. One very large school actually had police officers stationed at various points outside the main gates and there were parents in parked cars, kids on bikes, kids on foot, normal road traffic, pedestrians, busses, delivery lorries etc. etc. all trying to use the one piece of road at the same time - IT WAS TOTAL CHAOS!!!!! Unfortunately repeated at every senior school we had to pass on the way back here. I don't mind them finishing at lunchtime but surely common sense says stagger the times that different years leave, the large school must have upwards of 2000 pupils and they were taking up pavements entirely, bikes and walkers for about 1/2 a mile in either direction from the gates, Madness!!!!! My just under an hour journey took 1 and a half hours in a bus full of hyped up schoolkids who csame on like a swarm of extremely excited and noisy locusts, BAH HUMBUG!!!!!

GreyQueen

RAS wrote: »

Some of us have been taking the train long enough to have realised "Will Inspector Sands please go to the Station Manager's Office," does not refer to a named individual.

Most interesting, I never knew that, but I hardly venture onto a train from one decade to another. I wonder who the original Sands was and why his name came to be used in this way?

I do know that I took my responsibilites for my 200 charges (+ cast and crew) very seriously. A lot of people who use theatres and other similar mass entertainment venues have obviously never given a moment's thought to a worse-case scenario such as a fire.

We had a maximum amount of wheelchair spaces, for example. It was based on the physical room and the logistics of getting their occupants out in a SHTF situation. Sometimes we'd get people in a strop if there were no wheelchair spaces free. We weren't trying to make life difficult for disabled people, but we did have an incredibly steep rake in the auditorium and the wheelchairs could only be in a certain - flat -place (right by the fire exits for priority evacuation). Right at the front of the stage.

When we did children's shows, we'd always encounter parents who were incredulous that they couldn't just deposit their under-tens and come collect them two hours later. We needed at least one adult per family group of children. To help the evacuation if it came to that, as well as to stop them running amok during normal business.

I find I have a lot less tolerance for being in crowded environments where there is no obvious exit than I used to have. I was going up a string of escalators in a department store this week and feeling the tension rise. I put it down to unclear paths through the shops and no windows. I feel very unhappy if away from natural light.

This evening I have been about preptastic matters by refilling two of my three water carriers. The other one is due to be changed in Feb. I have 3 camping type water carriers indoors (all hidden); a 10 litre and 2 x 25 litres. One of the biggies was bought new, the other two came from a boot fair at the end of summer, costing £1 and 50p, respectively.

All were sterilised with an overnight soak in a dilution of Milton Liquid and are changed over every 3 months (I keep a note in the diary). The "old" water is slung in the bath-tub and brought up to temperature with the hot.

The three containers cost about £10 together and the 60 litres they represent could be the difference between life and death in a crisis, so I figure a wee bit of time and effort in keeping them charged up is a small price for peace of mind. I also have a lot of 2 litre bottled water stashed here and there, to supplement the biggies. I keep a strip of masking tape on the top of the carriers with the fill date written on it.

Just a little aside in case someone could benefit from it; be careful when handling the caps on water carriers as you can compromise your water hygeine by touching the inside of the cap with mucky hands, or putting the cap down on a mucky surface. If you remember the discipline at these times, I figure you're less likely to go wrong when you're up against it and stressed out in a crisis.

Here's hoping that those injured at the Apollo theatre as comfortable as possible tonight and that they will make a swift and full recovery.

Goldiegirl

GreyQueen wrote: »

Just seen the newspaper online.

I used to manage the box office of a very small regional theatre. Theatres have a special code if a fire is detected, to alert insiders to start the evacuation. You don't yell FIRE! in a packed auditorium.

The code is Mr Sands is in the building.

If you ever overhear that said between theatre staff, be ready to evac and follow their instructions exactly. Certain rows will have been allocated to certain fire exits, as it takes time to file in and out of a building and if people panic, it may go very badly in an emergency.

That is very interesting information - I hope never to meet Mr Sands, but hearing that would now certainly put me on the alert.

Puts me in mind of the other enclosed place that I like to frequent - a Cruise ship.

I always sail with P&O and they have the safety musters before sailing. All passengers have to attend in a public room that they have been allocated, to hear the briefing and to practice putting on your life jacket. The crew are regularly drilled and tested, especially since the Costa Concordia incident, but in a real emergency, I do wonder what would happen. The passengers are often quite elderly and have trouble finding their way around the ship at the best of time, let alone in the stress and panic of an emergency. Hopefully I'll never have to deal with it for real.

lobbyludd

- Mr Sands is clearly an individual to be reckoned with, when I was a saturday girl in Woolies in 1842 (or long enough ago that a) there was a woolies on the high street and b) may as well have been 1842), the code for "trouble at till" i.e. customer being aggressive/robbery ongoing/fight between drunkards near a particular till was an announcement for Mr Sands to go to the till in X department.

which was fine if it was the drunkards, who probably had no idea which till they were tussling near, but as a code for the other situations it failed miserably as it was quite clear if you were attacking/robbing the pick and mix or records department. also the "response" was for the only "man" employed there on a Saturday - a lovely friend of mine but- 15yo, 40lbs soaking wet and a milky-bar kid doppelgänger to go to said till to manage the situation.

Now I know mr sands is a universal code I shall pay more attention!

Perplexed_Pineapple

Evening all, just popped in to say that a cook set with a hexamine stove and some mess tins is in the lightning deals at Amaz0n for £12 - for the next 16 minutes lol. I don't need it but might be useful for someone?
ETA: Linkie: http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00505EYJI/

Goldiegirl

Where I used to work, 'Doreen' was our Mr Sands.

This is going back 30 years, in a high st building society.

Doreen was our code for problem customers, or robberies.

If you were being held in a room with a nutter demanding cash, you were supposed to telephone out and ask for Doreen to bring in the money

daz378

when i worked at the nynex Arena manchester now MEN Arena the code was will the reverand Brown and his party of 4 contact the office....survived last weeks Sat night up town ... but 2 days to get over it.....one of my colleagues has rang in sick ... putting even more pressure on us in the festive period...phone has pixellated and gone dark, am insured ..but would prefer to upgrade if a deal can be done..... going to do an xmas prepper shop tomorrow few tins , extra salt and vinnegar, roast tatties , fill freezer and cupboards

maryb

In black and white American films which always seemed to be set in hotels for some reason, it was a page boy going round saying "paging Mr Smith" Always seemed daft to me using such a common name

bluebag

I used to love having a half day off on a Wednesday, back in the days when I worked in a chemist.

I used to go and watch a matinee in the local flicks. On a screen that wasn't much bigger than some tellies now.LOL

jk0

Goldiegirl wrote: »

Where I used to work, 'Doreen' was our Mr Sands.

This is going back 30 years, in a high st building society.

Doreen was our code for problem customers, or robberies.

If you were being held in a room with a nutter demanding cash, you were supposed to telephone out and ask for Doreen to bring in the money

Just imagining a new cleaning lady coincidentally called Doreen starts on the day someone decides to rob the place...