In case Chicken Little calls in sick
It's hard to come up with a funny bird flu headline.
I decided that I had better take some steps in case bird flu does become the pandemic that some think it could become. After Katrina, we have seen that we sure as heck can't rely on the government for a quick response to a crisis, and to be honest I don't think they really could react to a country wide outbreak.
The biggest need I see is food. I'm assuming that bird flu won't make the utilities go off-line. If that happens, then it's really bad. So today when I went shopping I bought enough canned, dry and frozen food to give me an additional 2 week reserve for myself and Ryoga. Ryoga was easy, I bought an extra bag of dry cat food and a case of canned. I almost bought a cheap bag of cat food, but decided that in the middle of a crisis I didn't want to deal with him getting finicky or something because he didn't like the cheap food.
For myself, I stocked up on tv dinners, rice, and lots of canned food. By my reckoning, I have about 3 to 4 weeks worth of food for myself, assuming 2 meals a day, with about a third of it being frozen. Hell, I'll probably lose weight. I need a national crisis to diet.
Next I'll stock up on some first aid supplies, though I shouldn't need a lot. I should ask my friend Sherri for advice... she's a lot better at this kind of preparation stuff than I am.
And no, Ozling, a bottle of bourbon doesn't qualify as emergency supplies.
I decided that I had better take some steps in case bird flu does become the pandemic that some think it could become. After Katrina, we have seen that we sure as heck can't rely on the government for a quick response to a crisis, and to be honest I don't think they really could react to a country wide outbreak.
The biggest need I see is food. I'm assuming that bird flu won't make the utilities go off-line. If that happens, then it's really bad. So today when I went shopping I bought enough canned, dry and frozen food to give me an additional 2 week reserve for myself and Ryoga. Ryoga was easy, I bought an extra bag of dry cat food and a case of canned. I almost bought a cheap bag of cat food, but decided that in the middle of a crisis I didn't want to deal with him getting finicky or something because he didn't like the cheap food.
For myself, I stocked up on tv dinners, rice, and lots of canned food. By my reckoning, I have about 3 to 4 weeks worth of food for myself, assuming 2 meals a day, with about a third of it being frozen. Hell, I'll probably lose weight. I need a national crisis to diet.
Next I'll stock up on some first aid supplies, though I shouldn't need a lot. I should ask my friend Sherri for advice... she's a lot better at this kind of preparation stuff than I am.
And no, Ozling, a bottle of bourbon doesn't qualify as emergency supplies.
posted by Oz at 10:35 AM
4 Comments:
Bourbon is most certainly an emergency supply. It is both an antispetic and a pain reliever. I recommend a good bottle to sip for pain relieve but for mixing, I mean, for antiseptic purposes nothing to expensive is needed.
I agree with Jason about the bourbon. An emergency supply should have at least one luxury item to help keep your sanity. Coffee drinkers should stash away some coffee, smokers some cigarettes, etc.
As for the whole bird flu pandemic thing, I don't buy it. I think it's just another scare tactic the government is using to control us (just look at NAIS) and the media loves it because it sells.
Being prepared is always a good thing though. :)
I do have a good book on emergency prep if you want to take a look at it. I have it both in paperback and on a CD. It's from Backwoods Home magazine, their website has lots of good articles too, including my favorite goddess of individual freedom, Claire Wolfe.
I would add Distilled water. A few gallons this will be there in case there are utiliy problems.
I'd add a few medications that you regularly use such as decongestants or other sinus meds.As well as a first aid kit. Also maybe a few filter masks which could handle the bug if it did get here.
A few batteries for flash lights and radios.
As to the bird Flu the 1918 Flu epidemic was pretty bad with the bug being able to get into the US inside 24 hours of an outbreak there is reason for concern.
But I think it better to leave that to the folks who have the actual talent for handling the situation.
In other words I can do nothing to stop it so I am not going to worry till I need to worry.
Post a Comment
<< Home