Preparedness for when

Popperwell

2tonsils wrote: »

In many cases the damage is done by the feeling that they have intruded into your private space. You may not feel safe or secure again and if you are in the house when they break in you may feel in physical danger or actually be in physical danger.

I can relate to that...

RAS

Confuzzled wrote: »

my neighbour used to shovel my small path for me without asking and for the very reason mentioned above, i politely asked him to stop. due to my knees and back if i walk any real distance (i'm ok inside the house but out and about i'm not) i need to use a cane

i am NOT in a position to be trying to catch myself slipping and sliding and if i fall i may not be able to get up without great difficulty. i found walking on the snow so much easier and less slippery then the veneer of ice that kept forming after he'd shoveled it.

I know exactly what you mean. I went an absolute purler walking home after Christmas a couple of years ago. One neighbour had helpfully cleared and salted the pavement between his house and another house. With the temperature below -11C, the salt was useless but it had of course melted the snow during the daytime, just. The position of street lights and cars meant I did not notice in time to avoid it. Fortunately I landed on my rucksac rather than my spine and did not have anything breakable in there.

I now avoid walking down that side of the street at night after snow as he has done the same thing on other occasions.

mcjordi

PW- you know the detector vans dont exist dont you? i aint had a license for circa 7 years

pineapple

Popperwell wrote: »

I cannot see any point buying lots of stuff as when I go(either into care or leave this planet)I have no one to leave anything to.

But surely that's a good reason to have a blast and buy what you enjoy or need. Instead of, as many people do, being afraid to spend their savings because it will eat into the inheritance for the family.
I'm in exactly the same position and intend to spend to the hilt.
But in the event of my sudden demise, any savings and house proceeds go to charity.
Back to the weather, two Jimneys and a delivery van got stuck on our icey lane today - and a visiting builder (in a landrover) got stuck and crashed into the retaining wall he had just built! :eek:. I had to come to the rescue with hot ash from the stove and my stash of grit.
The post didn't make it but a neighbour met the postman up on the main road and brought it all down.

GreyQueen

pineapple wrote: »

I think if anyone breaks into my house they'll leave me something out of pity :rotfl:.

That's my standard line. My CRT computer monitor alone weighs 21 kg and has no resale value whatsoever. Ditto the 10 y.o. PC. Not sure what the value of my 14 y.o. ghetto blaster style stereo would be (prolly less than zero) and haven't got a TV of any description, nor any jewellery at all because I don't like wearing it.

I once had a fascinating convo with one of the Met's SOCOs who spent all day, every day attending burgled homes. I was fascinated and if it bored him to be talking shop he was kind enough not to show it (friend of a friend situation).

Anyroad, he told me the top targets thieves are looking for in your house and one of those is your CAR KEYS. Also up there was cash, jewellery, digi cameras and high end audio gear.

The frustrated thief is a real menace so it's not a daft idea to have something portable and "valuable" in plain sight and to hope they'll grab that and scarper. I have a jamjar of coins as my sacrificial object. So long as they don't take my tinned goods.

I described the layout of my flat and his professional opinion is that it would be very hard to burgle because it is so overlooked and cheek-by-jowl with the other flats. I knew there was some advantage to living in high density housing.;)

We haven't any snow here as it's far too mild but it's persisting it down and has been for about 24 hours. If it clears out overnight and freezes, the roads and pavements will be pure glass tomorrow.

I've been telling people about YaxTrax and other grippers as so many people are struggling. It's particularly menacing if you go out to work in one set of weather and have to return in another.

BigMummaF, I've driven a vintage double decker, inc through mountains and I agree with you; people who've never driven something large and heavy have no blessed clue. They have a lot of mass and acceleration on their own account, never mind in adverse weather conditions.

In my city, the bus company are very safety-conscious and will take all the buses out of service for less than an inch of snow. Phfutt! And it's mid-afternoon and all the buses are called back to the depot and commuters and shoppers are suddenly stranded "up the city" with no transport. And maybe no suitable footwear to walk home in.:( Or buggies or walking sticks and what-all to cope with.

The cabbies do a roaring trade on those days, but not everyone who rides a bus can afford a taxi on an emergency. Good to have thought about a Plan B in order to get home.

One winter some commuters who bused in from about 10 miles out had to put up in hotels and there wasn't a free bed in town. I nearly got stranded in a county town where I was staying overnight at a pal's place but the roads had been cleared the next day and I was able to slither back into my burrow, although it took me 3 hours to do a 30 + minute journey.

Ooh, just hit something random on the keyboard and it went BIG! Gawd knows what I've touched but will post anyway as I'll probably lose the post if I try to undo it...........:rotfl:

wondercollie

Over here chains are illegal in the cities and towns. They are only required if doing the mountain passes and ice highways. I remember the winter I had our first child my husband gave me snow chains for Christmas! Never used them but they were in the back of the car incase the RCMP enforced the "chainup" requirements when driving through the avalanche zones. It's fun watching the big rig drivers chain up, massive job.

My city only clears main roads down to tarmac. Residential areas are only graded. Which means they flatten the snow ruts out. Right now, I'm driving on 20cm of snow packed into ice. It's a mess come April with some of it not melting until mid-May.

It's supposed to snow again tonight. Oldest has gone down to Calgary with his Regiment for Men's Christmas Dinner. It's a horrible drive at this time of year, so I'm hoping safety is their main concern

pineapple

Apparently we are expecting an 'arctic blast' next week - in fact they say it might be too cold for grit to work so stock up now to minimise any need to travel and dig our yer thermals.
Sorry for the Star link - in fact it has just been on Sky News
http://www.dailystar.co.uk/news/view/286721/UK-to-be-hit-by-16C-Arctic-blast/
Let's not forget it's not necessarily about snow. The ice where I live has caused us tremendous problems in the last couple of days. We put grit down and it did clear up and everything was fine. Then it poured down one evening, washed the grit away anyway and by morning everything was frozen solid. Neighbours with big 4 wheel drives, especially the big heavy ones, fared no better than those of us with ordinary cars and a set of winter tyres.
Because of our locality we often get frozen gas and water pipes too and those whose only source of heating is gas, pay the price.
I sympathise with those who need to get to work. I used to work in a mental health unit and staff on shift absolutely rely on the next shift turning up. Plus - it's probably different now - but I used to 'do agency' and we were only paid for the actual time at work so you prayed not to even get poorly..

BigMummaF

Let's just be thankful "we're all in this together"

Please?
Can we start the revolution now, & we can be home in time for tea :rotfl:

pineapple

Just to lighten your Saturday, I thought I would share the insightful email advice from my car insurers re winter driving.

'Due to the recent wet weather we’ve been experiencing, there is a higher risk of icy patches, even on gritted roads, where water run off can wash away the salt. There is also a risk of snow in some parts of the country'.

No - really? :eek:
And under 'Tips for defrosting your car'

De-ice your windscreen: Use an ice-scraper and if you have one, a de-icer spray too. Remove all of the excess scraped ice from your car - if left on your screen or bonnet it could spray up and obscure your vision when you drive off'.

Never occurred to me. So THAT'S what I've been doing wrong! :think:

Elsewhere there is the recommendation to use winter tyres. Scuse me? Would this be the same insurers which got all shirty when I told them about my winter tyres and said changing your tyres might be classed as a 'modification'? :wall:

mrs_lds

For you preppers stock up on tuna at Asda only £2 or 4 pinces tins