The Prepping Thread - A Newer Beginning ;)

mumf

A usb battery charger ( plugged into your tv or pc) charges batteries for my little Sony FM radio , and for LED emergency torch. I keep a supply of charged batteries for that purpose,and it takes electricity that is powering the TV already. I found the 4 battery charger on Ebay for £2.99 and charges AA and AAA. I have a hand cranked radio,but frankly,if it comes to having to use that,I would suggest there would be nothing to listen to!

Thriftygifty

Boots are helping and will be selling 5 lateral flow tests for £12 or one for £5, 😒

MrsCD

I ordered a pack online for each one in the family. My dad is cev so we test before going to see him😔

maryb

Just spent the evening doing a back up of all the important files on my computer onto an external hard drive.  Just in case of cyber attacks on countries opposed to Russia's goings on

CCW007

I think it is so short sighted to charge for the tests and will be counter-productive. How will they know about new variants if people aren't testing because it costs them to?

I had cold-like symptoms start on Friday - did a test Saturday (negative), did a test Monday as I was due in the office this week - positive.  Follow up PCR confirmed it.

Tested today - very faint positive line. Will continue to do daily tests and won't go out until I get at least two negatives in a row.

I was convinced it was just a cold and was shocked when the test came back on Monday as positive - but I did the test because I had it available and it was the right thing to do.  If I had to pay for the test would I do it when I didn't think it was Covid?  I could have been out spreading it to people who were CEV in the meantime.  Thankfully the only places I went were the library (masked and used hand sanitiser on way in) and supermarket (the same).  It also shows the importance of regular testing - if I test negative tomorrow there was only a few days window to pick up the positive result.

Pretty sure I picked it up at the gym as that is the only place I don't go masked.  I felt a bit dubious about joining but felt that helping my physical health was important and they seemed to take precautions (disposable roll and spray to wipe down the machines) but it still wasn't enough.  I have been careful for two years, rarely eating out (in fact we had talked about going out for a meal Saturday evening to celebrate some good news but opted to stay in for a meal instead), masking whenever in public, using hand sanitiser whenever I have been to any shop etc so pretty gutted to have caught it.  Thankfully I have had very mild symptoms and feel like I'm getting better already.

OH is still negative so we're keeping everything crossed and doing what we can to ensure he doesn't catch it.

Thriftygifty

Speedy recover CCW007. I agree it's silly to charge for lateral flow tests, especially as everything just gets that much tighter financially, £5 - £12 may not seem much to some but for others that's alot.  In a minute they will be popping up on ebay!

CCW007

Thanks Thrifty.  There's talk of it being £20 for a pack of 7 tests - if you need to test daily for your work (care home, visiting vulnerable in their home etc) and you are on minimum wage and struggling already, how are you going to afford that?

slm6002

I tested positive on the wed with no symptoms (have to test daily for work currently) and felt fine until fri pm.  I could have been spreading it for a few days without even thinking about taking a test.  Fri I started getting cold symptoms.  I was feeling quite rough when it was time to take test to come out of isolation and very surprised I've had 2 negative tests.  I am still isolating as still not great and don't want to spread this cold, but without the tests I wouldn't have known and it would have been spread.  I just hope employees allow us time off and don't pressure people to go in.

elaine241

Well Russia has invaded Ukraine not unexpectedly given the troop movements and rhetoric coming from Putin! 
What are people feeling about this? 

Do I go out and look to buy more emergency supplies, top up my existing preps, buy anything specific or calm down have a cup of tea and wait for the whole thing to blow over? ( another quote from Shaun of the Dead :-) )

Ironically I tidied and reorganised my pantry yesterday as it was a total mess!  Quite surprised at the packages of pasta , rice and grains I had amassed buying the odd pack here and there. One disaster, someone had put an empty coffee jar back so NO COFFEE !! I am a tea drinker so didn't notice the glaring hole.

I have a very respectable collection of seeds due to not growing my veg patch last year. I went into a garden centre briefly as I had half an hour to kill before a work appointment. I picked up some squash seeds that were at the trial price of 99p as they were new this season, also some lentil seeds and some chick pea seeds, something I have never seen before available. I don't know if they will be any good but I thought I would give them a go. Due to my problems last year my potato harvest hardly got started. Most are still in the ground as they keep well there as they are in a very sheltered walled old pig yard. I am going too leave them there to see if they just sprout and grow, unless anyone knows why I shouldn't?

I am looking at buying a radio too as it is something to date I have not bought. In my defence I have several head torches, essential for lambing!

bellabella

I will be getting some cash and making sure we have all our  meds as i think cyber attacks will be the first thing they do to the west . Food well i have plenty of stores so will just keep ordering my usuals  to keep them going