Preparedness for when

GreyQueen

(((((((((thriftwizard)))))))) I'm so sorry to hear about your step-father and am sending all good wishes to you and the wider family at this time.

It will certainly do a power of good for the clan to manage without the matriarch for a while, so long as they look after the chickens. Foxes take no prisoners and it only requires a one-off example of inattention and they're in there, killing.

A relation of mine died last autumn and his estranged daughter was told by the family that he was gravely ill in hospital, that he wasn't expected to last until the end of the week, and the family were making farewell visits. She dismissively remarked that he was always ill, that it was nothing serious, and couldn't be dissuaded otherwise, and didn't visit. He died by the end of that week. So sad. Some people seem unable to comprehend that there is a point whereby the medics can mostly predict the endgame, perhaps it's just too distressing to internalise, and they go off and do distracting things.

Earlier this week we had yet another water main burst in the city and a section of the city, which included sheltered housing schemes, was off supply for several hours. At the time my manager was in close contact with the water company (the public invariably ring the council when the water goes off, so we know as soon as anyone) and they didn't know what the fault was, where it was, and thus couldn't estimate the time of a fix.

Which meant that we considered that as a RSL we had to start making contingency plans to get bottled water to our vulnerable elderly tenants. Mercifully, for all concerned, the supply was back in a few hours, but the temporary loss caused stress and concern to residents.

Sooo, the moral of this story is, if you have elderly people whom you care for, formally or informally, you may want to have the conversation with them about getting some bottled water as a standby. SuperGran and another septugenarian neighbour have done this, in response to the water main ruptures here at the Towers.

jk0

True enough GQ. I have mentioned similar to my mother.

Trouble is, she is a member of the 'awkward bunch'. I'm sure you know lots of people like that.

Whatever I suggest to improve her life, she will already have thought of some excuse why she can't/won't do it.

Money out of the bank: Risk of burglars. (No need to anyway, as she can always write cheques.)
Extra dried/tinned food: Can't afford/carry it.
Extra water: Can't find room for it or carry it.
Fill up car with petrol: Can't afford it.

Karmacat

GreyQueen wrote: »

(((((((((thriftwizard)))))))) I'm so sorry to hear about your step-father and am sending all good wishes to you and the wider family at this time.

From me too, thriftwizard ...

Sooo, the moral of this story is, if you have elderly people whom you care for, formally or informally, you may want to have the conversation with them about getting some bottled water as a standby. SuperGran and another septugenarian neighbour have done this, in response to the water main ruptures here at the Towers.

I've had this conversation with my 88 year old mother ... she told me that she'll be fine, because she fills the kettle before she goes to bed :eek: then my sister got onto her too, and she agreed to at least get a couple of litres in. Better than nothing.

nuatha

Sorry to read your news Thriftwizard hopefully they'll follow instructions (without getting too helpful). Unfortunately denial or refusal to believe is a fairly common coping strategy, which doesn't actually making anything easier, especially on those who face reality head on.

jk0 wrote: »

True enough GQ. I have mentioned similar to my mother.

Trouble is, she is a member of the 'awkward bunch'. I'm sure you know lots of people like that.

Whatever I suggest to improve her life, she will already have thought of some excuse why she can't/won't do it.

Money out of the bank: Risk of burglars. (No need to anyway, as she can always write cheques.)
Extra dried/tinned food: Can't afford/carry it.
Extra water: Can't find room for it or carry it.
Fill up car with petrol: Can't afford it.

MIL doesn't even expand her answers that far. Added to which she won't leave the house if there's a frost (let alone snow) for fear of falling (and doesn't like to trouble us, if she's run out of anything).

So I've a couple of boxes stored in her garage, she's unaware of the contents but is happy to store them for me. There's 12 litres of water and basic supplies. Certainly enough to keep her going for a few days (and I'm generally not more than a day away, can walk in it in 2-3 hours).
End of this month I need to swap out a few items for shelf life purposes. It means that if there is a problem and we can't instantly head for her, then we can tell her that there's x supplies on hand and know she's ok in that regard.

Karmacat

nuatha wrote: »

MIL doesn't even expand her answers that far. Added to which she won't leave the house if there's a frost (let alone snow) for fear of falling (and doesn't like to trouble us, if she's run out of anything).

So I've a couple of boxes stored in her garage, she's unaware of the contents but is happy to store them for me. There's 12 litres of water and basic supplies. Certainly enough to keep her going for a few days (and I'm generally not more than a day away, can walk in it in 2-3 hours).

Brilliant :j:j:j

moneyistooshorttomention

Nuatha,

Lol at your strategy with mil.

Brings to mind the comment of "No point in getting older if you don't get craftier":rotfl:

GreyQueen

:T Wow, nuatha, stealth prepping at one remove, most excellent.

I have some semi-stealth prepping at my folks' place. As in some members of the household know about it and some don't, the one in ignorance being the one who would be likely to create a fuss.

A couple of summers ago, I bought a whole load of white pillar candles (14 at 50p each) which had only been ever-so-slightly burned. Think they'd been used for a function. And I packed them very tightly into a box which had formely held bottles of wine, with a box of household matches, and they are in the folks' place. If they need them, they know where to find them, if they don't need them, it's no biggie.

There are other preps there but these are a bit hush-hush and not to be blabbered on the interwebulator. Still can't get them to store water, tho.

Butterfly_Brain

The light in the kitchen blew this week and it was at night of course But I was prepared I have those stick on lights under each cupboard and a couple of lanterns and managed to cook a meal and wash up in that light.
The next day and £8.99 out of pocket for a fluorescent bulb :eek: it was fixed.
I swear the last time we had to change it the price was only £4.99 :eek:

The outlaws actually have 16 litres of water from when they had a pipe burst, but not a lot in food storage. We have made provision for them in our storage, to be on the safe side, they live 5 minutes walk from us so we can reach them quickly.

Butterfly_Brain

This is worrying

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/video/2015/feb/04/another-economic-crash-is-coming-how-did-this-happen-video

blindman

Butterfly_Brain wrote: »

The light in the kitchen blew this week and it was at night of course

Who turns lights on in the day:cool:


But I was prepared I have those stick on lights under each cupboard and a couple of lanterns and managed to cook a meal and wash up in that light.

Surely being prepared means you have another light bulb in the house?

The next day and £8.99 out of pocket for a fluorescent bulb :eek: it was fixed.
I swear the last time we had to change it the price was only £4.99 :eek:

The outlaws actually have 16 litres of water from when they had a pipe burst, but not a lot in food storage. We have made provision for them in our storage, to be on the safe side, they live 5 minutes walk from us so we can reach them quickly.

Hope their water is potable-doubt it