The Neon Nurse's Charting

This was going to be a long post about the flu AND making preparations for disaster. Now it's going to be a two parter, because otherwise it will be too long and people will keel over and do a faceplant into their keyboards reading it, and all my efforts to keep them safe and well will be wasted!

Here's the thing--I am generally happy, good to go, and lucky. But I am nervous about this oncoming winter. Will we have a flu pandemic? An economic crash? Extreme weather or natural disaster? Or just rolling blackouts in our power and shipping infrastructure because of fuel prices?

Seriously, we don't know what might happen. Heck, one of these days you might be sitting around saying, "Remember ol' Neon Nurse? She lived in that Lamar town, the one that got accidentally destroyed by the UFO crash."

So you never know. But spending time making some plans and gathering some useful goods might turn out to be A Very Good Thing later on. Feel free to chime in with your ideas! I know darn well I won't think of everything!

Let's start with the list of basic needs. Most important is air, but trying to make plans for what to do if the Earth's atmosphere is suddenly stripped away is beyond my scope of practice, so we'll skip that one.

WATER: Can't live without this! Luckily, it's the easiest and cheapest one to stockpile. You know all those plastic bottles you get milk, water and pop in every day? Wash them out, maybe rinse them in a little bleach water to be sure the water will still taste good when you open the bottle again, fill 'em up, and stick them on a shelf, in a closet or under the bed. Or yeah, sure, BUY some if you like that water better than tap. :) But you should probably have 1/2 a gallon per day per person set aside, for whatever period of time seems smart to you.

FOOD: What you stock up with depends on what means of cooking you might have if there is a long-term power outage. Got a camp stove, or a grill on the back porch? That can widen your options in canned goods considerably. I mean, you CAN eat cold Spaghetti-Os or chicken noodle soup...if you want. But if you don't want, make a list of things you like that can be eaten right out of the can or box without preparation, and stock up on those instead. Tuna, broth, fruit, peanut butter on crackers--stuff like that. Don't forget to buy extra pet food, too!

PERSONAL CARE GOODS: Everyone's list of what they just GOTTA have to get through the day is probably going to be different, but a few things should be on all the lists:

Toilet paper, for instance. Plastic bags for disposal of waste if your water is not working (all those ones you've saved from the store and a bucket = free no-water sanitary facilities!)
Over-the-counter medicines, like aspirin, Tylenol, decongestants, cough medicine. (At the first hint of a health crisis, those things will be GONE from the shelves. Stock up now.)
If you can afford it, it wouldn't hurt to have an extra bottle on hand of any prescription meds you take regularly. (Ask your health care provider if there's a chance to get a prescription for a 100 dose bottle instead of a 30--sometimes it's not even that much more.)
Toothpaste and deodorant.
Hand, dish and laundry soap.

OTHER USEFUL THINGS: Batteries for flashlights and radios. Cellphone. (I hear they are useful if the main phone system goes out. I don't have one myself, but I'm thinking of getting one of those pay-as-you-go kind.) Anti-germ masks (there are good deals on eBay--more on this later) First aid kit/supplies.

So that's a start. Make your list, start getting things a few at a time. An easy way to do it is, when you go to the store for something you need, buy two and save one back. When you use up the first one, buy another and then use that second one you bought earlier. That way nothing goes stale.