With Whom Do You Share Information About Your Preps?

Are you prepared?

Do you have water stored? How do you plan to get water in an emergency?
Do you have a stockpile of medicine at your house?

If someone approached you and asked those questions, how would you respond?

"Just what are you up to?"
How do you deal with your own Gladys Kravitz?

Hubby Dear was asked these very questions recently. The lady is one of those people who will come to see him for a specific reason and spend the next 45 minutes talking about weather, the state of her daughter's uterus, the price of corn, and everything BUT the reason for her visit. She has asked him preparedness-related questions before, but this time she was persistent. She had been watching Doomsday Preppers and it filled her with burning questions including whether her well would still work if Texas was suddenly pushed up to where Canada is today. (Yes, she was really scared about that!)

Hubby Dear remained very general, telling the lady that, yes, we are prepared for basic emergencies like ice storms but we don't have a stockpile of medicine. Both of these are true statements (for the moment - the stockpile of medicine will be forthcoming!), but he certainly could have divulged more information had he chosen to do so. It is possible that this lady and her family could be potential prepper allies, but we simply don't know them well enough to gauge their intentions. Could it be that they were sizing up a potential target for looting post-SHTF? Could it be that I am overly paranoid? ;)

How would you respond to something like this? Do you let your freak flag fly? Or do you keep your prepping secret for OPSEC's sake?

Where Were You on Sept. 11th? How Has It Affected Your Preparedness?

My 9-11 Story: The Young and the Clueless

The morning of September 11, 2001 dawned bright and lovely in the large Midwestern city I was living in at the time. Well, as bright and lovely as it can get in a ozone-filled, back-to-back-car-jam-prone metropolis. Hubby Dear was in his second year of medical school and I had a newly-minted teaching license and was working at an inner city magnet school.

My first hour class began at 8:10 central time (approximately 20 minutes after the first plane hit). For some reason, I was a bit late that day and was not in my usual position at the front of my classroom when the bell rang. I ran into another teacher right outside my classroom door. I was eager to get inside to take control of the 35 hormonal eighth graders that would commence to riot if I didn't present myself soon. Mrs. M.,  a grandmotherly, rather flaky English teacher, grabbed me by my arm and said, "Oh, Mrs. Harried Homemaker! I wanted to tell all you social studies teachers - a plane has run into one of the Twin Towers. You should turn on the television." She smiled benignly and bustled away.

"OK. I can do that", I mused. "I'll give my class their quiz and tell them if they do well, we can turn on the TV."  In no way, shape, or form did I have a clue as to what was really going on. I pictured a small plane - you know, like a Cessna or something - crashing onto the side of a skyscraper. I really didn't see what would be historic about a plane crash that occurred so very far away from us, but decided to take Mrs. M's word for it. Heck, I could use an easy day and the TV might just transfix my students to the point where I could get some paperwork done.

I gave my students their quiz and, as promised, turned on the television. The scene that greeted us was far from what I had imagined. What in the heck was going on? It took us a moment to catch up to speed. Really, this is in New York? I didn't think this kind of stuff happened in America.

My students were excited more than anything. Perhaps that's because they had no relatives on the east coast to worry about. Maybe they were hardened to the imagery from watching too many action movies. All they knew is that the teacher was changing her lesson plan and allowing them to watch TV.

I did mention to them that they would always remember where they were when they heard of the Twin Towers tragedy - like my grandparents and Pearl Harbor, or my parents' generation with the Kennedy assassination. Some of them thought that was cool. Honestly, I kinda did, too. The idea that I was witnessing history was a bit intoxicating to this history teacher.

Clearly, I had no idea of the immensity of the tragedy. I didn't know that our nation was under a coordinated attack and that not one but four planes had been hijacked. Over the course of the day, we learned more about what was really happening along with the rest of the country. It took me a while - probably until I became a mother a couple years later, now that I think about it - to really grasp the enormity of what occurred.

 Did 9-11 Lead Me to Prep?

Remember when this was in the news? 

Well, considering I didn't start prepping until 2010, 9-11 didn't have much of an effect in that area. I continued living in that happy land called Denial. You know, the fairy tale land where nothing bad could ever happen to you or anyone you love? Do you remember when they created the Dept. of Homeland Security and started giving instructions on the use of plastic sheeting and duct tape? I totally ignored it. Nothing major was going to happen again in the USA, much less the Midwest, and certainly not in MY lifetime! In my opinion, Hubby Dear and I had all the trappings we needed to succeed and be happy and preparedness had no part of it. Nowadays, I measure success and happiness by a different scale and preparedness is part of the fabric of our family.

So, 9-11 isn't the main reason why I prepare, but the tenth anniversary of that horrific event reminds me to hold the course. We don't know what the future holds, but we do know that as long as we live, we will have the need for food, water, shelter, clothing, etc. I can't do much personally to stop Al Qaida, but I can certainly provide the simple essentials of life for my family.  


So what's your story? Where were you on Sept. 11, 2001? Did it affect your preparedness? I'd love to hear your stories. 

How This Prepper Did Disney

Hi, y'all! I've finally escaped central Florida and found the way back to my blog. Our mega road trip to Disney World left me with a wicked sunburn, a giant pile of dirty laundry, and a desire for some real home-cooking. Don't get me wrong - our vacation was fun - but there really is no place like home.

Osama bin Laden was killed not long before we left for Disney World. You wouldn't think those two events would be connected, but I felt a bit nervous that some nutbucket would decide that DW would be a great place to retaliate. It didn't help that on the eve of our departure CNN displayed a map with potential terrorist targets in the US. Wouldn't you know it, DW was on it!

Needless to say, we had a fabulous time at DW and nothing scary or even irritating happened, but had things gone sour, we had some preparedness resources at our fingertips.  Thanks to those of you who responded to my plea for ideas on how to be prepared while on vacation. In addition to the comments left by my fabulous readers, here are some things to think about before you head out on the road this summer.

Road Trip Lessons and Tips:

1. Our car had been recently serviced. The oil was changed, tires were inspected, and windshield wiper fluid was topped up. Vehicle maintainence is always important, but even more so prior to a road trip.
2. I checked our car kit to see that nothing was expired/used up. This is what I routinely carry in our family van: road atlas, a case with basic tools, jumper cables, and work gloves; 3600 calorie food bars (one for each family member); Aqua Literz and Aqua Blox (beware!);  hand warmers; ponchos; emergency blankets; matches; whistle; compass; an emergency tool like this; cell phone charger/radio/flashlight like this; head lamp; lightstick; toilet paper; duct tape; multi-tool; a basic first aid kit.
3. Take along plenty of cash. Just make sure you don't keep it all in one place in case of theft or lost purse/wallet. Both Hubby Dear and I carried some, plus we had an emergency stash in our van.  
4. Pack with care. In addition to clothing suited for the muggy Florida weather, I packed a pair of jeans, a jacket, and sturdy shoes for each member of the family. They didn't take up much room in our suitcases, but if we had to walk long distances or camp out, we would have been thankful to have them. We also brought along an entire case of diapers. That's one item you do not want to run out of ever, much less in an emergency.
5. Bring along plenty of snacks and additional water. I bought a case of bottled water and several kinds of snacks and kept them stashed in the car. A bag of crackers can do wonders to keep young children quiet and content. Quiet and content children = sane mom and dad. Obviously, this is also useful in case of an emergency.
6. Hubby Dear attended a conference on three of the mornings we were at DW. His conference was being held at a different Disney resort than where we were staying. What if there was some kind of emergency while we were separated? We made plans ahead of time.  
7. While in the parks, we made sure to take along extra water and sunscreen. Additionally, I carried all the elements of my EDC. The first aid kit came in handy a couple of times. 

Getting prepared didn't take much additional time or effort on my part, but it gave us a lot of peace of mind on our vacation. If you are travelling this summer, don't forget to make preparedness part of your planning!

"I can't believe it would happen here." Really?

You probably heard the news about the attempted bombing in Oregon. A Somali-born, naturalized US citizen named Mohamed Osman Mohamud plotted to blow up a car bomb at a tree-lighting ceremony in Portland, OR. As I watched the news coverage on Sunday morning, I was struck by the comments of several of the "people on the street" that were interviewed. They all said something to the effect of, "I can't believe it would happen here."

I couldn't believe my ears. Really? People think they are safe from terrorism just because they don't live in one of the top five metropolitan areas in the US?

In case you forgot, this happened in OKC.

Maybe those people interviewed had forgotten the Timothy McVeigh bombing in Oklahoma City in 1995. Last time I checked, OKC wasn't exactly vying with New York City for population bragging rights.

Check out this quote from the same CNN article I linked at the top of my post:

           Officials said Mohamud also stated, "... it's in Oregon;
           and Oregon like you know, nobody ever thinks about  it."                                           


The terrorists are catching on to this head-in-the-sand mindset, and you can bet that this failed terrorist attempt in Portland will not be the last. Thank goodness the FBI intercepted this jihadist lunatic before he hurt a lot of innocent people.

This kind of thing can happen, even in places like Orgeon or America's Heartland. Wake up, people!