Preparedness for when

lobbyludd

or people who don't eat it, or could get their head round not having it for a few days - which is quite a lot of people: civilisation does not rest on the constant availability of bread and milk

greenbee

lobbyludd wrote: »

or people who don't eat it, or could get their head round not having it for a few days - which is quite a lot of people: civilisation does not rest on the constant availability of bread and milk

This is what gets me. Can people REALLY not manage without bread and milk for a few days? Clearly it's a first world problem... and they really need to learn to think.

thriftwizard

Hmm - I know I've mentioned this before, but here I go again: A number of people live in flatlets with, quite literally, nowhere to store food or warm clothing, unless you are as inventive & determined as GQ. A while back, I worked for a while in sheltered housing, and got very cross with some of my tenants for trotting off up to town in raincoats, tights & high-heeled boots, on pavements thick with glassy ice. (They probably did have some other clothes on underneath, but with one or two of them I wouldn't have bet on it!) They silenced me by asking where they were supposed to store clothing that's not often used, or extra food; as their kitchenettes measured about 3' x 5' which soon disappears if you have a small cooker, fridge & sink, plus a window taking up wall-space, and their bedrooms were an alcove of a far-from-generous L-shaped living room, with a tiny broom/meter cupboard by the door and nothing else. There wasn't even room in the alcove for a wardrobe; a tiny chest of drawers by the bed was about it, or you couldn't get into the bed without some serious mountaineering.

The flats had been built at a time when pensioners found it cheaper to overwinter in Spain, and had enough money to eat out or have takeaways pretty often; they weren't designed for people to cook anything more than beans on toast. Or store anything much at all... they have now been demolished, thankfully. But I wouldn't bet on the very-expensive owner-occupied replacements being any more practical.

They're not far from the nearest supermarket or surgery. But far enough, when the pavements are slippery (only main roads will get gritted) for someone to get into serious trouble, and despite the ambulance station being pretty close too, the word "elderly" means they may well face a bit of a wait, sadly.

We're well-stocked up on flour, yeast, and even powdered milk here, and there are lots of tins & packets to work our way through; there should be eggs in the chicken shed too. I have some YakTrax, and shouldn't need to drive anywhere except in an emergency, as nearly everything you could need is here in our little town, even if there's not a lot of choice & things aren't always the cheapest. I wouldn't bet on needing any of it, but it's there if needed. When the time comes to downsize, if The Offspring ever all leave home, I'm going to put my foot down & insist on somewhere big enough to keep at least some emergency supplies in!

danih

We has 2 very bad winters in a row about 3 or 4 years ago. Nothing compared to the winters described by previous posters, but worst in my memory. At one point the footpaths in my town had not been free of ice for over a fortnight, the river froze over and footprints (belonging to stooped and v lucky people could be seen on it. I was doing agency work in a few local care homes at the time, and not only were there staff unable to get to work, some staff couldn't get home again, some ended up doing double shifts, others were lucky enough to find a spare bed or sofa in their work.


The manager of one care home admitted to being OCD, and pet phobic (yuk, bacteria magnets). She asked me during one particularly icy spell if I ever let my dog sleep indoors - in the back hall or the kitchen, just for the coldest days. I told her that Max slept in our bedroom all night, every night of the year. She was HORRIFIED and didn't talk to me much after that

SpikyHedgehog

Had a brainwave earlier on the subject of where to store food.

I'm lucky, we've got a 3 bedroom house with a good size kitchen-diner, a living room where I've put a shelving unit behind the sofa that has concealed food storage at the bottom of the shelving unit, and built-in cupboards in all 3 bedrooms. Plus I have DS1's old wardrobe in my bedroom as extra storage.

But. I also have a compulsive over eater in DS2, who will go and get a bag of hot chocolate mix from the stores and eat it by the spoonful, hiding the bag under his bed. Or raisins. Or tinned soup.

Which means I can only store things he can't eat without them being cooked (eg flour) or won't eat (raw potatoes, soup with lumps in). Only I need to have food he will eat in case we can't shop...

But I can put a lock on the door for the cupboard under the stairs! [STRIKE]And keep him in it.[/STRIKE] And shelf it out for food storage

jk0

danih wrote: »

The manager of one care home admitted to being OCD, and pet phobic (yuk, bacteria magnets). She asked me during one particularly icy spell if I ever let my dog sleep indoors - in the back hall or the kitchen, just for the coldest days. I told her that Max slept in our bedroom all night, every night of the year. She was HORRIFIED and didn't talk to me much after that

LOL. Did anyone see 'New lives in the wild' last night?

The poor huskies live in steel cages outdoors, in -28 C. When they are out on a trek the 'musher' digs hole in the snow and lines it with straw for them to sleep in.

calicocat

Dogs and cats make very excellent hot water bottles I have to say. ......:D.

Mine have never slept inside a bed (their choice)...but make brilliant duvet heater-uppers from on top.

I used to be able to tell the temp of my flat and when winter was kicking in by where (how far up the bed) my dog slept...the colder it got, the further up nearer me or my head he got.



Silly woman, if she was in real shtook for heat she'd be glad of a fury friend to keep her warm.

Frugalsod

SpikyHedgehog wrote: »

But I can put a lock on the door for the cupboard under the stairs! [STRIKE]And keep him in it.[/STRIKE] And shelf it out for food storage

The Harry Potter solution.

Perplexed_Pineapple

No major problems for storage space here I'm pleased to say although keeping the ol' Opsec up can be tricky. However today is a decluttering day which is sorely needed. Was interwebulating yesterday when should have been getting started and caught up on Ferfal's blog which I know some of you read. I thought this was interesting about what happened in Argentina when the economy collapsed. Much more believable than total armageddon scenarios and still quite scary:
http://ferfal.blogspot.co.uk/2014/11/life-after-economic-collapse-same-only.html

danih

I was tidying out my kitchen drawers last week, and discovered there is a perfect tin sized space behind them. I can fit those wide tins of sweetcorn and potatoes. So I now have a 4 drawer high tower of potatoes, mixed veg, beans, and corned beef / sardines. You would never know there is anything there!


Have to admit, its not hard to stash preps without looking like a mad woman in my house. If its not sitting right at the front of the fridge / cupboard / freezer hubby just can't see it.