The Prepping Thread - A Newer Beginning ;)

greenbee

VJsmum said:

Good news euronorris.  One fewer thing to prep for and such a relief...  

Trouble is that the media has its own agenda.   Some 'news' stories are included just to fill space with little or no factual basis and other stories are planted for other motives.  Each individual publication has the interests of the publishers most at heart - be it Murdoch or whomever.  

Really, unless there is something published in a peer-reviewed journal (and the quality of those varies), with the background,  the data, the methodology and the caveats,  as well as the findings, then it is little more than - as the saying goes - fish and chip paper.  

Nevertheless,  as I  and others have said, some are genuinely wanting to know all the potential things to prep for and that is after all the purpose of the thread.   Others of us are likely to scroll by.  Shouldn't stop anyone from posting anything they feel is relevant. 

I'm like you - what's the source, is it reliable, where's the data from, is it a statistically valid sample, what was the question and does it have inbuilt bias... I drive my colleagues nuts removing stuff from things they want to share, but it's my job to keep them away from generating FUD (fear, uncertainty and doubt). Then again, I'm also supposed to be writing something about this year's predicted zombie apocalypse  

From the point of view of energy supply, the grid was built in the 1950s and has been creaking for years thanks to underinvestment. However, the advent of renewables has increased investment although it's patchy. For anyone investing in solar panels, electric cars are basically storage on wheels... 

In terms of the phasing out of gas boilers, they won't be ripping out existing ones (at least, not until the grid is retired), but it's worth planning for an alternative when yours needs replacing. That said, I'm on oil. Air source heat plus solar panels seems the best option - 3 units of heat for one of electricity. Ground source isn't really worth it for the size of the house and the space/disruption. Solar thermal would be nice, and would be sensible to do at the same time - particularly if the price of dual-purpose panels comes down. 

My most important prep is probably hanging on to my job. So I guess I should get back to it... 

mothernerd

boazu I'm grateful for the information. I don't have a tv and stopped watching the news years ago (MH issues). I stopped taking a paper following the Manchester bombing - too many 'personal stories' and little proper information on what happened, where and what the effects were. I had already dropped to only taking a paper on Saturdays. My ex asked me about this. I had been taking a daily paper (from habit) but never got the chance to sit down and read it. If I bought the Saturday paper anything that had occurred during the week that was important was still in there, I just bypassed all the three minute wonders and storms in a teacup.

I too think the media have their own agenda but have a totally different perspective. I think the real important news is buried in those little tucked away articles while the media distract us (bread and circuses although bread is in short supply for those most in need). We all know the government slip info out on the sly (mostly bypassing parliament these days) on Fridays or when a major celebration is taking place. By all means do your own research or consult the experts but these little nuggets are the first clues. Not so that we all run round saying "We're all going to die", but just to be aware. 

We also had an interesting side discussion on Greek letters. I knew epsilon - but from Aldous Huxley's 'Brave New World'. The people are grouped by the letters (subliminally conditioned from conception - in laboratories of course - to accept their 'status' and to believe that their 'group' is the best possible group). What I found chilling was that many years later doing a business course, I found that advertising is aimed at a select number of groups (can't remember if it was 7 or 9) each identified by a newspaper and two (maybe 3) other products so 'Guardian Woman' used Flora spread and Rive Gauche perfume. They group the whole population in this way (the recent Sun bingo adverts made me cringe and shudder but then I'm very much not the target audience). 

The other letters I'm aware of mainly through their use as maths symbols (and statistics and science and other applications). More distant knowledge and a bit hazy -Theta is the one that looks like an egg with a line across the middle and a dot, I think. Omega's an upside down horseshoe. Anyway the thread has moved 5 pages in a day which is very healthy. Keep prepping, each in your own way but offering mutual help and support.

[Deleted User]

Many thanks for all the positive comments on posting 'possibilities' and little things in the 1" articles in the columns at the side of the page in the papers.  I certainly don't intend to frighten people and I'm certainly not seeking to post doom and gloom like Frazer from the Dads Army programme that's exactly the opposite of my thinking.  I'm not an anxious personality, I deal with things but I do like to know what 'might' happen and be ahead of it if I can with my level of prepping. I'm glad that some of us find it useful so I will keep popping things on as I find them and I would suggest that those who find my posts unacceptable really do use the 'ignore' facility and don't read my posts for their own peace of mind and to save them any more of the unnecessary ongoing anger towards me as a poster.

LameWolf

wondercollie said:

LameWolf said:

-taff said:

And don't forget those who plain can't be bothered to read doom and gloom... that's me by the way

I don't read the doom and gloom either - not because I cba, but because it feeds my depression, which I am struggling with badly as it is.

DH reads stuff online, and tells me the bits he thinks I can handle. Gotta love that man!

Re prepping - I have a little more space in the Room of Doom as we've used up 2 of the 4 tins of spuds I bought when there was a rumour that they would be in short supply. I've never bought tinned spuds before in my life!

Agree with the doom and gloom, I don't want to read it here.   I deal with enough of it a work.

The only time I use canned spuds is in Corned Beef hash.   Then it's lovely.

How did you use yours?

We've been living on salads as it's been so hot the last few days; DH has been preparing them, and he cuts up half a tin of spuds into bite size chunks, seasons, and adds mayo for his take on potato salad. It means he doesn't have to cook the spuds and wait for them to cool, which is a bit of a bonus for him; though once the tins are used up, he'll go back to cooking and waiting.

He's also still doing all the grocery shopping - even if I hand him a list (which I always do), I take my chances on what he comes home with.

If I go to the supermarket myself, he has to come with me anyway, as I need him to propel my wheelchair, so it's easier for him to go on his own. I hate grocery shopping, in any case.

Edited to add: Great news @Euronorris

It's a real PITA having to read ingredients panels, they're always in such tiny print!

Nargleblast

Wise words all round on the thread today about either accepting what people post and if you wish, having a civilised discussion around the issues mentioned, or, as someone suggested earlier, channel your inner Dionne Warwick.....if you see an item in a thread, where nonsense is said, and it does in your head, scroll on by.....

Mothernerd, I also remember Brave New World and people being taught to  think things like "I'm glad that I'm a Beta!" Very chilling indeed. It reminds me of the habit governments have of trying to set one part of the population arguing with another, hoping that the uproar will deflect attention from their stupid decisions. 

One of my prepping ideas was to get my dog used to a once a week walk with the dog walker so that when the day comes that my son decides to move out again, I can relax on my days at work (two long days a week) knowing doggy is catered for. The dog walker takes her out with other dogs for a good four hours at a time in places like nature reserves and quarries where she can run around and socialise. On her return she's always ready for a good lie down!

-taff

boazu said:

Interesting thing the difference in interpretation of other peoples posts.  What to me is flagging up pertinent information so that we all know about it and can make any preps needed is seen as 'Gloom and Doom' by some others.  If it's in the media and might affect our lives in the future I would rather know about it and flag it up so others are aware too not to make the world a dark and scary place but so that we can find ways round it and have better lives if it happens to come to fruition.  It shows how vast the range of different interpretations of the word Prepping has even in this little online community.

I would just like to point out that when I was referring to doom and gloom I meant in the newspapers and TV. If there was an online one where I could just read about what I wanted to read about, that'd be fine, but when you're confronted daily with screaming headlines about the awfulness in the world that I personally can do abolutely nothing about beyond voting, then I switched off years ago and was much happier as a result. My parents would watch the news and act as if it were personal to them and they were much better informed than I was and the news was more local or national. Now, not much hope of that beyond the fluff stories on points west or whatever.

-taff

Floss said:

Yes, prepping means different things to different people, that's well established.

Personally I am happy with my prep level but I do have some concerns around people feeling they have to prep, when some folk cannot afford to buy even a few extra things for a store cupboard. By that I mean those who manage on a week to week basis, with no savings & no magic wand to provide a log burner & logs, an allotment or even to fully fill their cupboards & freezer.

Some folks can't afford to live in a secure environment, some folks feel obliged to be nice to people for no reason, some folks go tightropewalking...There is always someone worse off than anyone else somewhere, so if you are concerned about a speciifc set of people, why not identify them and help directly? It's no more a pie in the sky idea than worrying about someone who you don't know and have never met being offended or pressured by reading something on the internet.  If you mean people reading this thread who might feel like they're pressured into prepping then there's nothing that you can do about that is there? And to be honest, thsi threads title is pretty obvious, so if they cannot afford to prep then reading something about prepping is not a common sense thing to do. But again, there's no saying that prepping is merely about having extra food in, I'm sure that the entire thread has more ideas of how to get things for free, how to achieve some small level of prep other than just buying food. Although the apps Olio and TooGoodToGo are very useful in that regard.

Floss

Thanks @-taff, I already do help those who aren't always in as good a position as others.

MingVase

I think some people take themselves far too seriously and get far too heavy. We used to have great help, advice and ideas on the Prepping thread...

-taff

Floss said:

Thanks @-taff, I already do help those who aren't always in as good a position as others.

In that case, the frugal living thread might be of more help.