Sunday, June 26, 2011

Prepping and Preparedness - Life As We Know It

Our life as we know it is clearly being assaulted on a number of fronts until it seems that civilization is at the verge of collapse. Our own dependence on the trappings of what many consider a civilized society is our biggest enemy. Its effects on you and your family can be lessened or avoided with a decent amount of preparation ahead of time. On the other hand, you may have decided to let the institutions that control our civilized society take care of your problems. If so, you may be in for a rude awakening to the reality of our situation.

Let’s consider a variety of present day situations that can affect our lives.

1. While we are able to predict the occurrence of certain natural events to some extent, we do not have the ability to stop them from happening. Major flooding, hurricanes, earthquakes and other natural disasters will continue to threaten our existence and without a proper amount of planning ahead of time will be an even greater threat to your survival. Our society is already crippled by an inability of our institutions to respond to these threats in an efficient manner. The strain which has been placed on our emergency services by these natural events has already been seen in recent events over the past few decades.

2. While we have one of the better systems of emergency services of any civilized society, it is increasingly burdened with a greater number of events and more people that need those services. As the population continues to increase and the severity of natural disasters, which also seems to be on the rise, increases, our emergency services which have been hindered by a lack of resources themselves due to a lack of adequate funding, mismanagement and an increase of government “red tape” will eventually be unable to keep up.

3. While our government institutions are largely responsible for a number of policies that affect our everyday lives, they are not the only ones responsible for our current situation. Many private institutions also have a role in these problems. Corporations driven by greed that are seeking ever larger profits continue to do so at the expense of those who have come to depend on their products and services without regards to the true cost of their actions.

4. As our population increases, there will be even greater demands on our food and energy resources. Shortages of food and fuel are already commonplace events in many parts of the world and we shouldn’t make the mistake of thinking we are immune from those same shortages. The availability of these resources is continuing to decline and will eventually put us on a collision course with disaster.

5. We are also beginning to suffer the effects of an aging infrastructure that has been neglected to the point where we may not be able to fix the problem without drastic measures. This will only increase the cost of maintaining many of our basic services that are now taken for granted. Water supply systems, sewage systems, electrical power systems and many of our transportation systems (highways and bridges) are failing and very little if anything is being done to alleviate this problem and is being largely ignored until something actually does fail.

6. All of the above factors continue to place a severe strain on our economic situation as well. You also need to consider the effects of high unemployment rates, low wages and inflation rates that affect the cost of basic needs such as housing, food and fuel. Many of our basic institutions continue to ignore these problems and rely on government hand-outs to correct fiscally irresponsible business practices or rely on government printing presses to furnish the funds for reckless spending levels which are unsustainable.

It is this basic inability of our institutions, both public and private, to deal with these problems and situations in an appropriate manner that puts us in this rather precarious situation of needing to be prepared.

Be aware, Be informed. Be prepared.

Riverwalker

Thursday, June 23, 2011

Hacked!

After several years of having a posted email on my website, someone has decided to hack my account and send out unauthorized emails to persons on my contact list.

Apparently my email account has been hacked by some sort of social networking or messenger site. It's sending invites to people who I have sent emails to or received emails from at one time or another.

My apologies to everyone for this problem.

Please do not respond to these unsolicited emails. Mark them as spam or delete them.

I am working to solve this problem on my end.

Apparently this is affecting a lot of persons other than myself, including gmail users as well.

Be aware. Be informed. Be prepared.

Riverwalker

Friday, June 10, 2011

Secure it is.

My fellow Texans need to be aware of the escalation going on.

Pickdog

Saturday, June 4, 2011

Short Term Emergency Check List



ESSENTIALS:

Flashlight

Battery-operated radio

2-way radio or other form of communication

Extra Batteries

First Aid Kit (one for your home and one for each car)

Note: As a precaution, do not include candles. Candles cause more fires after a disaster.


WATER:

3 gallons of water per person, minimum, in a food-grade, plastic container

Water purification tablets

Additional water for sanitation

FOOD:

Minimum 5-day supply of non-perishable food that requires no refrigeration or preparation and little or no water

Dry cereal

Peanut butter

Canned fruits

Canned vegetables

Canned juice

Ready-to-eat canned meats

Ready-to-eat soups (not concentrated)

Quick energy snacks

SANITATION:


Disinfectant

Household chlorine bleach

Soap, liquid detergent

Toilet paper, towelettes, paper towels

Personal hygiene items

Cloth towels (at least 3)

Feminine supplies

Plastic bucket with tight lid

Plastic garbage bags, ties (for personal sanitation use)

CLOTHING:

Plastic garbage bags, ties

Sunglasses

Rain gear

Sturdy shoes or work boots

Blankets or sleeping bags

Complete change of clothing and footwear per person

TOOLS & SUPPLIES:

Whistle

Aluminum foil

Crowbar

Compass

Paper, pencil

Plastic sheeting

Medicine dropper

Needles, thread

Signal flare

Matches in a waterproof container

Assorted nails, wood screws

Pliers, screwdriver, hammer

Plastic storage containers

Heavy cotton or hemp rope

Cash, traveler’s checks, change

Map of the area

Non-electric can opener, utility knife

Cell phone with charger

Mess kits, or paper cups, plates and plastic utensils

Tape, duct tape and plumber’s tape or strap iron

Patch kit and can of seal-in-air for tires

Shut off wrench, to turn off household gas and water

FOR BABY:

Formula

Diapers

Bottles

Medication

Powdered milk

Baby food

PETS:

Food, water

Non-tippable food and water containers

Leash, harness, carrier

Records of vaccinations

Pet medications

IMPORTANT DOCUMENTS:

Important telephone numbers

Record of bank account numbers

Family records (birth, marriage, death certificates)

Inventory of household valuables

Copy of will, insurance policies, contracts, deeds, stock and bonds

Records of credit card account numbers and companies

Copy of passport, social security cards and immunization records

FAMILY MEDICAL NEEDS:

Insulin

Prescription drugs in original containers

Heart and high blood pressure needs

Denture needs

Extra eye glasses

Contact lenses and supplies

ADDITIONAL ITEMS:

Family photos

Jewelry

Irreplaceable personal items

Thanks to Tess Pennington at www.readynutrition.com for putting this short term emergency checklist together.

Be aware. Be informed. Be prepared.

Riverwalker