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Preparedness for when

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  • GreyQueen
    GreyQueen Posts: 13,008 Forumite
    Tenth Anniversary 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    :)BHB, might it be worth checking the direction of the prevailing wind, as in whether a plume from an injured reactor would be likely to blow towards your home or more likely away from it?

    If you're downwind of a reactor which goes into meltdown, it will effect people a lot further out than 15 miles. Given the numbers and whereabouts of the reactors, and the size of the UK, plus the reactors in France, and I expect that almost everyone would be affected.

    I was living in Scotland, on the eastern coast, at the time of Chernobyl. The official advice was not to drink the milk and not to go out in the rain....!

    Mar, ouch, that's a very cold indoor temp, hoping the thermal blinds make things a bit better. Does the weather strike your house directly, or is there any shelter/ could there be sheltering trees (scots pines :p) planted?
    Every increased possession loads us with a new weariness.
    John Ruskin
    Veni, vidi, eradici
    (I came, I saw, I kondo'd)
  • mardatha wrote: »
    I've been MIA just been busy elsewhere. We went down to minus7 here and my kitchen was at 10C, seriously not fun. I bought a couple of thermal blinds for the kitchen and bathroom as they face north. We still have lying snow- that's been a fortnight now. It is slowly melting as today we have a sweltering 3C. I keep gazing longingly at my wee veg patch and wishing it was spring.

    Been absent for a few days - coping with DS's chicken pox and associated cabin fever!

    Mardatha - I hope the weather warms up soon for! I've never heard of thermal blinds before - do you have any more info or a brand to look up? We have a mixture of single & double glazing (due to style of house) and some rooms are perishing! Thanks

    Frugalsod - very informative posts! Thank you - I've learnt a lot of new info
  • Gingernutty
    Gingernutty Posts: 3,769 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    jk0 wrote: »
    Regarding falls, has anyone noticed the number of people who walk around with their hands in their pockets?

    Okay, I know it's cold, but if you slip, it will be your face that hits the ground first.

    Buy some gloves, and swing your arms. That will improve the fluidity of your progress, and make slips less likely. Plus you might be able to catch hold of something to break your fall if you do.
    GreyQueen wrote: »
    :) Yes, I caught myself starting to do hands-in-pockets this week and stopped it immediately, as the ability to throw your arms out to correct your balance at the start of a slip is crucial.

    Beware of the FOOSH!

    Here in hospitalland there's the FOOSH which puts a lot of people in the X-Ray department.

    A Fall Onto OutStretched Hand can result in broken wrists and arms.

    Be careful how you fall out there.
    :huh: Don't know what I'm doing, but doing it anyway... :huh:
  • GreyQueen
    GreyQueen Posts: 13,008 Forumite
    Tenth Anniversary 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    :) I Fooshed a collar bone as a nipper. These days, being well-padded, when I fall it's bottom-first. Which isn't great for the personal dignity but sure beats breaking anything.
    Every increased possession loads us with a new weariness.
    John Ruskin
    Veni, vidi, eradici
    (I came, I saw, I kondo'd)
  • fuddle
    fuddle Posts: 6,823 Forumite
    That's the thing, if you're going down you're going to hurt something. I just wonder are we equipped, in that sort of quick scenario, to make a decision and action a plan or do we not have time to process that sort of info? Do we have to rely on our reactions to make the right call for us?
  • moneyistooshorttomention
    moneyistooshorttomention Posts: 17,940 Forumite
    edited 7 February 2015 at 10:16AM
    I've had a couple of falls recently and been aware that I was going down as I did, but not been able to figure out what to do about it iyswim. I don't know if there is a way to turn that couple of seconds where you realise what is going to happen and are swearing visibly into re-positioning your body for minimum damage.

    It came as a surprise to me after the last fall to find that I had done more damage than just a grazed knee and temporary bit of pain, as I didn't realise falls could do that (at least not to me personally iyswim), as that's all that had happened during previous falls, and I had done a bit of damage to one of my hands.
  • mardatha
    mardatha Posts: 15,612 Forumite
    edited 7 February 2015 at 10:40AM
    No trees GQ I'm on a moor at the edge of hills. They take the edge of westerlies but do nothing for a north wind.
    Ryanna look on blinds websites and search for thermal, they are also blackout (sheep oot back field are dead miffed they don't get to watch us anymore) But I found a wee local man in Selkirk who did them for a very good price inc fitting, was very happy.
  • GreyQueen
    GreyQueen Posts: 13,008 Forumite
    Tenth Anniversary 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    fuddle wrote: »
    That's the thing, if you're going down you're going to hurt something. I just wonder are we equipped, in that sort of quick scenario, to make a decision and action a plan or do we not have time to process that sort of info? Do we have to rely on our reactions to make the right call for us?
    :) It'll vary. When I fooshed my collarbone I was running in the back garden like a mad thing, ran too fast, upper body got ahead of the lower body and I sort-of ran myself into the ground, and extended my arm downwards. The shock of a palm-first landing with an extended arm broke my collarbone. Fortunately it was my left and I'm right-handed. I was about 7, it's not something I'm likely to be doing at 50. ;)

    The reason I want my hands free is that if you start certain kinds of slip, you can correct your balance by throwing your arms out, the aim being to counterbalance yourself. It's instinctive, it isn't about having your arms extended towards the ground, its more a horizontal and upward movement. If your hands were in your pockets, your body would still instinctively try the same movement but you wouldn't be fast enough.

    I'm tall and very leggy, so my centre of balance is relatively high, even though I wear flat shoes. Such rare slips as I have had, have taken me backwards and I've landed on my backside. I'm pretty content with a bottom-first landing, it's far preferable to going all the way over and cracking the back of your skull, or going forward into a faceplant, or landing on a knee or an elbow.

    When walking on slippery surfaces, you need to try to keep your feet relatively close under your body, not taking big steps. Then if you start to slip, it isn't much of an adjustment to correct your balance. HTH.
    Every increased possession loads us with a new weariness.
    John Ruskin
    Veni, vidi, eradici
    (I came, I saw, I kondo'd)
  • jk0
    jk0 Posts: 3,479 Forumite
    Eighth Anniversary 1,000 Posts Name Dropper
    I've been musing about slipping on icy pavements. It occurs to me that we would hardly have slipped at all when we walked on the bare ground.

    In view of that I often walk on the grass verge when the pavement is slippery. I never slip there.
  • Karmacat
    Karmacat Posts: 39,460 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper
    I never realised there was so much to falling :o in fact, I'm one of the people that walk about with their hands in their pockets :o:o I *was*, anyway.

    I'm taking notes.
    2023: the year I get to buy a car
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