Preparedness for when

JayneC

GreyQueen wrote: »

My city is being afflicted with an absolute plague of domestic burglaries, non-domestic break-ins, thefts from cars and vans, it never stops. Literally dozens of burglars are now in custody but it hasn't slowed the pace. I'm having a weekly listing of the crimes from those parts of the city where I have interests (which is 50%) emailed to me by the Police and the list goes ever onwards. I have myself been the victim of three property crimes in two weeks.

We will see a lot more of this, I expect. With the attendant hikes in insurance premiums and loss of peace of mind for those who have been targetted.

A friend who lives a couple of streets away told me taht someone had walked into her house and stolen her bag out of the hallway last week, in the middle of the day whilst the house was occupied!:eek:

I have to admit that I tend to leave my door unlocked when I'm home, but have now started to lock myself in. Even with a demented dog who almost crashes through the window barking, if a car so much as pulls up outside, never mind a person walking to the door!

I spent a good few hours last week sawing wood. I had accumulated quite a pile of scavenged wood which was (admittedly rather untidily) piled in the front garden. This apparently has upset next door who claimed I have an obsession Any how it's now sawed and quite a bit burned, with the rest (too wet to burn) stacked a little more neatly in the back. Have still got a stack more in the back to saw too so will be rather busy this week as well, weather permitting.

I've been offered some extra hours at work to finish off a task that's been lingering for a while. We are due an OFSTED inspection so money's suddenly become available!!! It'll definitely help towards debt clearance so have agreed to an extra half day per week, not sure how long it will last for, but the cash'll be welcome, even if more time at work isn't .

DawnW I work in public sector too and travel quite a lot. The thought of the LA paying taxi fares for some of my journeys made me smile. I often travel in excess of 100miles and sometimes in excess of 200! There was quite a push to get us to take the train for awhile, which is even worse. You can end up awaiting connections for ages sometimes!

Am off to a seed swapping event tomorrow, these are the little things that can make a big difference. Nurturing supportive networks of like minded people as well as sharing resources:).

ALIBOBSY

OH is an IT techie and he still says a desktop PC is far better than laptops or pads. With a desktop it is far easy to update or add memory etc. Plus often its simply not cost effective to fix a laptop,where a desktop is far easier to mend. He reckons should things get bad you stand much more chance of keeping an old desktop going than a lappy or pad.

Ali x

pineapple

I always try to disguise my considerable wealth. It is a carefully contrived look. Leggings with dog hairs + muddy boots are advised. Add to that a top from a lady called Sue Ryder - and if you can manage a couple of grease/gravy stains or maybe a splatter or two of paint - that's a bonus. Today I even bettered that. I was aware that I had attracted a bit of attention in town and not of the good kind. Peering at myself in the car mirror, I realised that the plaster on my chin (where they did the biopsy) was hanging off revealing mucky steri-strips clinging for dear life onto a scab.
It's a wonder people didn't start throwing coins at me :eek:

jk0

I'm back!

Did you notice I was away? Actually I was here all the time, it's just the bl**dy Orange Broadband that wasn't until an hour ago.

I have been wracking my brains to think of a SHTF substitute for this. The only thing I could come up with was to crank up my Windows 98SE PC, and connect to dial-up internet to download my emails.

It worked, as my inbox did not have any large emails in it.

Anyone got any other suggestions?

(I can't use mobile phones or dongles for internet due to electrosensitivity.)

GreyQueen

ALIBOBSY wrote: »

OH is an IT techie and he still says a desktop PC is far better than laptops or pads. With a desktop it is far easy to update or add memory etc. Plus often its simply not cost effective to fix a laptop,where a desktop is far easier to mend. He reckons should things get bad you stand much more chance of keeping an old desktop going than a lappy or pad.

Ali x

It's good to have a techy imput. My pooter Wiz has pimped this 2002 PC over the years and it presently has twice as much memory as it came with, but is running XP. Doesn't have enough hamsters (or was it something else?) inside to run the latest Windows but having used Win 7 at work, I can't see that I'm missing much. With a motherboard in good nick, it should truck on for several more years.

I blimming hate shopping for new techy stuff anyway, it annoys me beyond measure. There's a fair bit of the earth's resources sitting in this PC and I'm happy to keep on with it until it's unrepairable. I only use it for playing on the web, emailing, writing letters and watching rental DVDs on occasion.

pineapple wrote: »

I always try to disguise my considerable wealth.

And so you should, Ms Pineapple, so you should. We don't want any vulgar flashiness here, we keep our own considerable wealth hidden.

Why, if people knew about the value I attach to my homemade patchwork quilt, my fondness for the funfur blankie on my bed or my sentimental attachment to some of my kitchen accessories which came down from my late Grandma, I'd be on everyone's go-to list for housebreaking.:rotfl:

I'm still shuddering about how nearly they got the Pashley on 9th Feb. Thank goodness young males don't like granny-type pushbikes, hey?

I've just remembered something; I have two gold crowns at the back of my mouth. I must remember not to smile too widely in case someone gets a glimpse and decides to prise them out. There's gold in them thar molars...............:p

jk0, good to have you back. Can't help with techy advice on grounds of being ignorant, tho. I'm still not sure what a 'dongle' is and I'm sure it's rude, or Bob will make out it is, anyway.

Perplexed_Pineapple

Looks like we may get snow after all:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/topics/weather/10663110/UK-weather-snow-forecast-for-England-and-Wales.html :j
It's been a weird kind of winter with not much frost and really not all that cold which is probably one reason we've used 30% less gas this quarter according to the statement I just had, still seems the bill has gone up though :mad: Also I expect the extra insulation collected over the summer and keeping the temperature of the house at a level our freebie Age Concern thermometer says is "cold- you are at risk of hypothermia" :rotfl:has helped.

Butterfly_Brain wrote: »

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uoJthzxpn7A

The banksters know that the s will hit the fan soon

I'm not sure the interviewee is a bankster, a brief google search suggests he is a outspoken self-publicist who does a little day trading and then makes a career out of talking about it.

GreyQueen wrote: »

If we end up with a lot of unrest due to hardship, it could be very dangerous to look affluent in your personal grooming, accessories, jewellery, choice of vehicle etc.

No danger there then. GQ my phone is also a Noki@, sometimes people try to sell me the latest "app" for something, I let then blether on for a bit before asking "so, does that work on the Noki@ operating system?" which half of them don't understand the question and the other half look gobsmacked that you would be using such an antiquated piece of technology
No prepping to speak of today, but have found a book called "prepper's pocket guide" by Bernie Carr, which starts with "Chapter One - declutter your home". Plenty of scope for working on that... :rotfl:

GreyQueen

According to my weekly digest of villainy, smart phones are being swiped in burglaries, muggings and from handbags in clubland.

Con-foo-GQ say better dumb phone in the hand than smart phone in someone else's hand. Grasshopper.

Bernie Carr blogs here; http://apartmentprepper.com/

I've been reading it for some time. I suppose I am technically an 'apartment dweller' but I prefer to be more frank in Brit-English; I live in a council flat.

I would wear gorblimey trousers but I can't find them any more. And I must return to the chambre de nuit where I have my designer wardrobe disembowelled onto the bed. To stop me getting bored, I'm playing silly burgers with the kitchen timer; 5 mins sorting clothes, 5 mins in the kitchen, 5 mins online.

I can make my own entertainment, innit?:rotfl:

Ellidee

GQ you never fail to cheer me up - thankyou ! :kisses3:

[Deleted User]

Frugalsod wrote: »

and that will allow me to cope with unexpected problems like water shortages etc.

I have 2x 25L Polypropylene water containers, which I keep permanently filled with drinking water.



Given I live alone, that should keep me going for a minimum of 10 days.

GreyQueen

Ellidee wrote: »

GQ you never fail to cheer me up - thankyou ! :kisses3:

Thanks, sweetie, I'm fairly amusing IRL as well.

Here's a linkie to Lonnie Donegan's My Old Man's a Dustman in case anyone young/ foriegn doesn't get where 'gorblimey trousers' come from. And check out the comedy classics on the side of the screen - I'm rushing back there to listen to Ernie (The Fastest Milkman in the West). Haven't heard that one for decades..........:rotfl:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y7GeZ3YmONw