Preparedness for when

womble_lancs

sb44 wrote: »

Anyway, the brilliant success that I had involved a pot room heater.

I have been trying different sized terracotta pots, with and without bolts and wasn't very impressed by the results.

Now, I have found a fantastic replacement for them.

I had saved the crock pot from an old 1.5ltr slow cooker that died on me.

A couple of years ago, I made a little heater from tealights and a metal Quality Street tin - the big ones you see lots of at Christmas. I punched a few holes in the base of the tin, then placed the lid, upside-down on the counter. I put the candles on the lid, then just placed the main body of the tin upside-down onto its lid.

I used it in my campervan when it was freezing outside (the van has no heating source built-in), and it did help to keep the chill off a little. However, I was still tucked up in a sleeping bag with a duvet and several blankets. I know some people use little portable gas heaters, but having lost a friend to carbon monoxide poisoning through ill-advised use of such a heater, I've tended to stay away from those.

sb44

womble_lancs wrote: »

A couple of years ago, I made a little heater from tealights and a metal Quality Street tin - the big ones you see lots of at Christmas. I punched a few holes in the base of the tin, then placed the lid, upside-down on the counter. I put the candles on the lid, then just placed the main body of the tin upside-down onto its lid.

I used it in my campervan when it was freezing outside (the van has no heating source built-in), and it did help to keep the chill off a little. However, I was still tucked up in a sleeping bag with a duvet and several blankets. I know some people use little portable gas heaters, but having lost a friend to carbon monoxide poisoning through ill-advised use of such a heater, I've tended to stay away from those.

Great idea. It's amazing what ideas we can come up with when needed.

How many tea lights did you put in your tin?

boddy

Was lucky to come across a wind up lantern yesterday when having a mooch about town. It also uses batteries. I already had a small battery run one. It was in the camping section.

I've got quite a bit tinned stuff in. Also porridge, tea bags and dried cat food.

I've mentioned prepping in a small way to my daughter. We remembered my ex mil had a large pantry years ago and a huge amount of tinned goods. When it was cleared out a lot of it was out of date. She actually had tinned sausage rolls in there which I had never seen.

Going back to people not looking after their hygiene, appearance etc. I see a lot of this around here. I live in a ex mining town. It really bugs me as I see them buying fast food, cigarettes and alcohol. It's the shopping in their nightwear that gets me as well. These are the people who would not know what to do if the SHTF.

I'm also trying to be a grey lady. I walk through a notorious area back and forth to my voluntary job. Have done this for years as my daughter lives in that area. I'm safe to an extent because if anything is kicking off they see me through. Even though I know the majority of people I think things are becoming desperate. People get their money sanctioned for weeks. I usually wear a named waterproof jacket but in that area I have resorted to a more downmarket one.

Sorry for the ramble.

*Forgot to mention the scratch cards they spend lots on. While the little ones are eating fast foods.

moneyistooshorttomention

Pumpkin Life - It's going to be a "no" vote, so I don't anticipate any chaos as a result of that.

But its always handy to have preps in anyway, in case of any other events in the future.

GQ makes some very valid points re how essential services could be maintained etc in the event of a curfew against Ebola. There will be some very harsh choices to make in such an event. Put it this way, I would seriously not want to be a woman about to give birth or someone about to have a heart attack if a curfew goes down - as the Powers That Be would have no option but to say "Many peoples welfare comes before one persons welfare. The curfew holds and that won't be an exception". There will be lone individuals who wont get what they personally need in an emergency, because the welfare of the vast majority of people will have to be put first.

That is very harsh, but I cant see an alternative if it comes to it.

GreyQueen

You're not rambling, Boddy, you're posting interesting stuff. I am always keen to hear what people are doing and what they are seeing and hearing down on ground level in the various parts of the country (and further afield such as Corfu and Florida and NZ - sorry if have missed any overseas pals off).

A lot of people are hanging on by their fingernails right now. Sometimes, they are people who are gainfully employed at double or more average wages, but their commitments are proportionate and they may have a lot of debts and no savings. I have one pal in this situation who is causing me grave concern. And there are others who have no savings at all, and no work, so if the benefits are sanctioned or late, they fall into an immediate crisis.

Living as I do, in a very impoverished ward in social housing, I get an interesting overview of how some people on low incomes misallocate resources, such as the fizzy pop bottles and takeout pizza cartons and other junk, inc alcohol bottles and beer cans, which predominate in our bins. Some of my neighbours are always to be seen with a tin of beer in one hand and a ciggie in the other whilst grumbling that they're skint. I don't ever see them up at the supermarket (3 mins' walk away) when the YS bargains go out, though.

I get a little bit impatient with that attitude, as you may imagine, but keep a neutral face and commiserate, as appropriate. Don't want my face rearranged or my door put through. I do also have a minority of the public on the phone threatening to 'go nicking' because DWP have sanctioned them, so can easily see that some people might resort to crime in a crisis.

It isn't that long ago that they started putting security tags on meat joints at the supermarket, is it? And one store I frequent has also incarcerated meat joints in big perspex boxes, which are unwieldy and have to be unlocked at the till, to stop people hiding them under clothes and in bags so easily. Sign of the times, eh?

Things have been going rotten for a long time, with the rise of these payday loans/ logbook loans/cash c0nverters/ gold buying and similar places. This isn't a healthy economy which produces things which people need to buy. All that was long exported, including the industries which built up much of the wealth of my city. This is a spivvy economy where the upper levels are busy with financialisation and the lower levels cannibalise their substance to eke things out a bit further.

I wonder if TPTB have truly comprehended that social security benefits are the only thing keeping them and their property safe?

mardatha

Womble-lancs - put the tealights inside the biscuit tin, then put a mesh wire tray (like the one used in the grill of the cooker) over the top, and put your kettle on it. Use about 9 tealights to get a decent heat, makes tea in 20 mins.

Caterina

moneyistooshorttomention wrote: »

Pumpkin Life - It's going to be a "no" vote, so I don't anticipate any chaos as a result of that.

Sorry, having to come out of lurkerdom for this. The above is a heck of a statement! If you read the future so well, can you give me next week's lottery numbers please?:rotfl:

moneyistooshorttomention

I can feel for you GQ re Shoebox Towers not being a one-off part of the area you live in by the sound of it.

I couldn't/and wouldn't commiserate in the slightest with those wasting money on junk and then complaining about being skint. I don't know quite what I would do. Story of my life that is = the dilemma of whether to tell a lie and be immoral or stick to whats right and be me regardless. I place a very high value on being me regardless if I'm sure I'm the one abiding by our laws and values.

Case by case analysis time. There are certain things I foresee as possible, where I tend to think I would "break the habit of a lifetime and lie" and would definitely be entitled to lie, whilst mentally calling the wrongdoers all appropriate names.

Something happened recently in my new area and lots of support was given to absolutely the wrong person involved:eek:. You couldn't have made it up. I saw no sympathy expressed at all for the poor innocent victim. I was shocked. A lot of us were shocked. It's struck me that I didn't think at the time to complain volubly about sympathy having gone to the wrongdoer. I now feel very bad about that and am kicking myself that I should have thought to come out in support of "poor innocent victim". I've just vowed that if that sort of incident happens again, I will come out fast and hard condemning the wrongdoer to try and right the balance and show that EVERYONE has to abide by our laws and values and no special pleading allowed.

GreyQueen

I don't think anyone can have a clue which way the vote will go and it may well be that some of those eligible to vote will finalise their decision in the last hours before the ballot.

I don't have skin in the game as it's 25 years since I left Scotland, but I have fond memories of the five years I lived there, friends up there still and have holidayed there as recently as 2006. Beautiful country, shame about the midges.

I hope whichever way it goes, it will work out well for the people of Scotland and the rest of the UK and that there will not be too much bitterness left behind for whichever opinion doesn't get its way.

After all, unless there is some plan to unzip Scotlandshire from northern England and tow it elsewhere, we're all going to be close neighbours and I wouldn't want anyone to get to the point where my Scottish colleagues here in southern England felt uncomfortable, or vice versa.

Probably best not to stir this pot on the thread, hey?

[Deleted User]

I would be very sad to see the union split apart but if the people of Scotland decide that independence is thier future it's thier right to do so. Listening to the news this morning it will be a very close run contest and I don't think anyone could guess the outcome correctly given how close the numbers of supporters seem to be on both sides. I wonder how things will be if the vote is YES for both nations? I also wonder if in the fullness of time the scottish nation might want to re-unify and if that would be an option at all? I think from all I've heard and read there might be difficulties in the scottish currency being a stand alone item, I don't think they'll be allowed to keep the £, certainly not linked to the english economy, I might be wrong there though?