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Curious how many here actually have a 3/7/30 day supply of emergency water and food? (for weather, quake, end of the world, etc) This discussion came up recently with some neighbors, and thought it might be interesting to pursue.

I think it's a great idea and even looked on the LDS site for recommendations. DH and I lightly talked about it...but he doesn't
"buy into" the idea at all.

I might could go maybe half a month with some things but would definitely run out of most essentials. But because DH poo-poo'd the whole idea, the main thing would be gasoline for the generator to keep the freezer, refrigerator, and well pump running.

I'm not sure I have enough jars and flat to can the thawing frozen food that would ruin.

I'm not sure how many days of food I have on hand in case of an emergency. I do know I have food and drink items in closets in separate parts of the house because I live in earthquake country. The problem is they could be crushed in an earthquake so knowing what would survive intact is the reason I don't know how many days I have on had.

It's a good idea to keep individually wrapped food bars in your house in addition to foods normally eaten because in an emergency they are an easy supplemental food source to have.

You also should know how to shut off the water incoming water and power supply to your hot water heater so you can use it as an emergency drinking supply. The reason you want to shut off the water supply is so the water in the tank won't be contaminated. You should also know how to drain the water from your hot water heater.

Everything I have read said you should have a gallon of water for each individual per day. I have emergency bottled drinking water and a good supply of bottled juice and other beverages.

Also, the best route to take is to store food that requires no or little preparation because during an emergency you won't have the ability to clean up afterwards do to the lack of power and water. The foods you store should be foods you normally eat or you won't rotate your stock and have fresh supplies. Nor will you have foods on hand that you will want to eat.

Here's a calculator for the size of your family:
http://lds.about.com/library/bl/faq/blcalculator.htm

The LDS have this down to a science. I have friends who have a closet off their garage that is well stocked. The freshest goes to the back. She prepares meals from storage replacing as needed. She takes things like bags of flour, meal, sugar, etc and cans them in large cans...at a facility for that purpose.

wow I looked at the LDS site. just..wow..

When we were just getting started as teachers we had almost no income in summer, so I started buying food for the summer in about March and by the last paycheck I had 10 weeks worth of food set aside. We don't really do that large of an amount any more, but we still call our pantry "the summer cupboard."

As it stands we could go about 3 weeks on the food we have here right now.

Sometimes an idea sounds good, but it is not always a sound idea.

How is an emergency stockpile going to help you if your home gets flattened by tornado, earthquake, volcanic eruption, tsunami or wildfire? Or a natural gas explosion?

There is something very creepy and paranoiac about the whole emergency stockpiling issue, IMO.

Oh, that's right: the Mayan calendar ends on Dec. 21. Let me know when the world ends.

quote:

Originally posted by aychihuahua:
Sometimes an idea sounds good, but it is not always a sound idea.

How is an emergency stockpile going to help you if your home gets flattened by tornado, earthquake, volcanic eruption, tsunami or wildfire? Or a natural gas explosion?

There is something very creepy and paranoiac about the whole emergency stockpiling issue, IMO.

Oh, that's right: the Mayan calendar ends on Dec. 21. Let me know when the world ends.

You still can salvage items after an earthquake. Where I live we receive tsunami warnings so you have time to load your car and leave. A natural gas explosion doesn't take out an entire area so you still have access to stores that carry food. In some of the neighborhoods where I live residents will share storage of stockpiled food so one doesn't have to rely solely on the stockpiles in their own home in case it doesn't make it through a disaster. As far as tornadoes go they don't always take out an entire town. I lived through a tornado that completely took out the block across the street from me but my block was untouched. Wildfires also allow you time to evacuate.

Not to mention if you have family and friends spread out over an area and the means to reach them the odds of survival are greater in a disaster if everyone has stockpiles. I was in an earthquake that destroyed the house I was staying at but I had plenty of bottled water and non-food survival items that I was able to load in my car. I drove to a relatives house that had food but lost potable water because the water supply in their area became contaminated so water was unusable for drinking or showering. They also lacked non-food survival items so it worked out better for us.

We live in hurricane country. When the evacuation order comes down you grab some clothes, the dogs and your handy document safe and leave. Before then you batten down the hatches and bring in the porch furniture.

I recall the nonsense about all these emergency storage stuff back in 1999 and the world was going to end because of computer programming problems. I'm still angry with DH - I wanted to spend New Years Eve 1999 in Key West - the guys were afraid of air traffic control problems.

Some folks I heard about in Alabama went nuts with all the end of the world stuff in 1999. I heard of one woman who was stock piling dried beans - LMAO!!! Sorry - but dried beans?

We do keep extra clean and sanitized water bottles in case of hurricanes. If it looks like we might take a direct hit we will fill the water bottles.

I live in earthquake country, so I have an emergency backpack kit in the house and in the car. Of course, I regularly have bottled water and some edible pantry items that could be used in an emergency. There's no way I could go a month without power, though, like some people have had to do, without assistance.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Graciepj,

quote:

Originally posted by Graciepj:
I regularly have bottled water and some edible panty items that could be used in an emergency.

LOL! Never, ever would have thought of those as emergency rations!!!!

Have enough canned goods to last a good long time, if needed. When Sandy was heading to NJ, I did fill up some gallon jugs with water... don't really know why?? Don't have well, so would still have water. I'm well inland and had very minor storm damage and only lost powere for a little over 24 hours. I did make sure I knew where flashlights were and had plenty of batteries. Could manually light stove top... imagine oven could be jump started too, but no idea how. I made sure I had the ESSENTIALS... toilet paper, cat food & litter, coffee and some good "junk food" for snacking!

There are various types of emergencies, and they each call for different types of preparation, and different sites can help you determine what the most likely emergencies would be in your area.

We keep enough foods, water, personal care products, etc. to carry over for at least two weeks without electricity--for SHELTERING IN PLACE.

We have The Husband's commute car prepared for two types of events:

1. an accident where he can move his upper body, but lower body is trapped.

2. an ice/snow storm where he can get to a hotel and stay unexpectedly.

We also are partially prepared for an event which calls for us evacuating our home. This needs more work.

We do not have a stockpile for the End of the World. We do not have a one-year or six-month stockpile in case of unemployment.

For unemployment, The Husband is of retirement age. Retiree-aged folks look at things differently. We don't have a bunch of mouths to feed. We'd rather have a six-month supply of medications!

I am not talking about a grab and go kit that provides 3 days of water, non-perishable food and medications plus vital documents and cash in case of an emergency evacuation. That's prudent.

What I think is excessive and ineffective is stockpiling, a.k.a. hoarding, food rations to last 12 months. That's paranoiac.

We're not really worriers, but we've got items on hand in the event of an earthquake. Here's our list:

3 day's worth of food and water for 2 of us
First aid kit
Flashlight and batteries
candles and matches
knife, wrench
portable radio with extra batteries

I think that's it. If a catastrophic earthquake hit and we survived, likely we'd be out helping others rather waiting for help to arrive.

Is the end of the world coming again?

Bah! Really- if the end of the world happens why would one need a stockpile of emergency supplies? LMBO!!

I believe that knowledge (and common sense) is the true power in any emergency situation. I believe fear gets one no where.

We've only the food we have normally on the pantry shelves, but I was thinking about getting/filling a few gallons of water, just in case. And I try to keep a full bag of dog food in reserve. (Mostly to cover until the next sale)

To clarify my "I think it's a great idea..." I meant for short term storage.

I have very good friends - he is a smart man. I mean a REALLY smart man. With both of their sons grown and gone, they turned one of their bedrooms into a food warehouse before "Y2K."

I said, "BETTY!" She said that they donated it all to the local food bank.

IMHO That was just a hoax begun by computer programmers to sell the "fix." Before it happened I asked our IT guy at work his opinion and he confirmed mine...said that it was a hoax, but the federal government had bought into it and since the company submitted bids for federal government jobs they had to become Y2K compliant. eyeroll

All we need here is about a weeks' worth of goods in case our electricity goes off. People really dumb-down when ice and/or snow is predicted here. After being gone 7 years living on the Texas gulf coast and returning to this area, I went for my normal weekly grocery shopping trip before one predicted winter "storm." I saw the store manager and asked when did we get within 5 miles of the gulf coast and what hurricane was making landfall. The bread, milk, bottled water, etc...the shelves were empty. I was just flabbergasted! When it does ice/snow here...it's generally gone within 48 hours!!!!

This message has been edited. Last edited by: KeepYouInStitches,

I remember the Happy Days show when Mr. Cunningham was going to build a fallout shelter. The kids told him to forget it...that they weren't going into a shelter only to emerge and find all their friends dead...what's there to come out for?

I wonder how much of that thirteen year old Y2K food is still out there waiting to make people sick if they ever use it.

I agree that all thiis stockpiling for unknown disasters is riculous. It just shows how people these days are really lacking common sense that our generations past had-and used!

It is logical that if one lives in an area where they might get snowed in or be w/o power due to snow to have supplies on hand.

But all this other stuff- just shows how silly people have become. I worked at Wal~Mart during Y2K, and people were nuts. They cleared the shelves buying all their emergency supplies, and when it didn't happen, they were back with it demanding refunds for things like cases of vienna sausages! Yes, I handled the paperwork in the office.

Living near the coast, the same silliness happens anytime there is even the mere mention of a tropical storm or hurricane. And if snow flurries are predicted? Why the entire region shuts down!

I just think the world is lacking in common sense these days.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Becky56,

Moving from NYC to DC in 1984 was a big eye-opener. Back then, we New Yorkers did not go nuts when there was snow in the forecast. Subways and buses ran. People walked to work, like I did, in knee-high snow. Heck, people would cross-country ski through Central Park to reach their destination.

In DC, the mere suggestion of snow flurries in the forecast would clear out the store shelves of bread and other food items in a few hours.

There was even a joke about it on the local weather reports: the severity of a snowstorm could be measured in loaves of bread. If there were flurries, it was a one-loafer. A major snow event was a 4-loafer.

quote:

Originally posted by conrad:

quote:

Originally posted by Graciepj:
I regularly have bottled water and some edible panty items that could be used in an emergency.

LOL! Never, ever would have thought of those as emergency rations!!!!

OMG! Conrad, I read my post 15 times and couldn't understand why you thought it was funny. THEN, I GOT it. If you could only see how red my face is now. I hate typos!!!

quote:

Originally posted by Becky56:
I agree that all thiis stockpiling for unknown disasters is riculous. It just shows how people these days are really lacking common sense that our generations past had-and used!

It is logical that if one lives in an area where they might get snowed in or be w/o power due to snow to have supplies on hand.

But all this other stuff- just shows how silly people have become. I worked at Wal~Mart during Y2K, and people were nuts. They cleared the shelves buying all their emergency supplies, and when it didn't happen, they were back with it demanding refunds for things like cases of vienna sausages! Yes, I handled the paperwork in the office.

Living near the coast, the same silliness happens anytime there is even the mere mention of a tropical storm or hurricane. And if snow flurries are predicted? Why the entire region shuts down!

I just think the world is lacking in common sense these days.

Could you please clarify for me if you consider an unknown disaster to be an earthquake that might happen. If the head of FEMA tells your area that you should have a two week supply of water, food and other essentials on hand because that is how long it will be on your own before help can get to you, do you ignore that advice.

Do you think it is common sense to wait until after a disaster to buy food and water and hope that it will be available. Is it common sense to be unprepared and pay inflated prices for the supplies that arrive? Price gouging happened here where I live after and earthquake. $3.00 for a pint of bottled water. Price gouging for water happened in areas after Sandy.

Is it lacking common sense to prepare for the reality that after a disaster supply routes to your area will be cut off?

OMG!!! I missed it to and had to go back after Gracie's reply to see just what she was talking about!!!

Gracie, just think of it as doing your part to make sure we all have a laughter filled day.

Believe me, we've all done such things.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Florida Farm Girl,

quote:

Originally posted by Florida Farm Girl:
Gracie, just think of it as doing your part to make sure we all have a laughter filled day.

Believe me, we've all done such things.

Thanks, Florida Farm Girl.

quote:

Originally posted by still tryin:

quote:

Originally posted by Becky56:
I agree that all thiis stockpiling for unknown disasters is riculous. It just shows how people these days are really lacking common sense that our generations past had-and used!

It is logical that if one lives in an area where they might get snowed in or be w/o power due to snow to have supplies on hand.

But all this other stuff- just shows how silly people have become. I worked at Wal~Mart during Y2K, and people were nuts. They cleared the shelves buying all their emergency supplies, and when it didn't happen, they were back with it demanding refunds for things like cases of vienna sausages! Yes, I handled the paperwork in the office.

Living near the coast, the same silliness happens anytime there is even the mere mention of a tropical storm or hurricane. And if snow flurries are predicted? Why the entire region shuts down!

I just think the world is lacking in common sense these days.

Could you please clarify for me if you consider an unknown disaster to be an earthquake that might happen. If the head of FEMA tells your area that you should have a two week supply of water, food and other essentials on hand because that is how long it will be on your own before help can get to you, do you ignore that advice.

Do you think it is common sense to wait until after a disaster to buy food and water and hope that it will be available. Is it common sense to be unprepared and pay inflated prices for the supplies that arrive? Price gouging happened here where I live after and earthquake. $3.00 for a pint of bottled water. Price gouging for water happened in areas after Sandy.

Is it lacking common sense to prepare for the reality that after a disaster supply routes to your area will be cut off?

I stand by what I stated that I BELIEVE it is foolish to hoard and stockpile items in the event of an emergency.

It is good common sense to keep a few days supply of basics if you live in an area prone to some type of outage such as snow, and yes earthquake would fall under that too. Even though I didn't include earthquakes in my OP.

I have been in a week long power outage caused by a hurricane. I never needed a large hoard because after the first couple of days the stores were restocked with staple items. Those of us without power ate non perishables at home and the Salvation Army and red cross supplied us with a daily hot meal and ice each day for our coolers.

There was no reason for mass panic and hoarding. Just a need for common sense and patience.

Where you gonna be if that earthquake buries all those hoarded supplies in the rubble or destroys them?

I am thankful I don't live in an earthquake prone area but if I did, I would use common sense and keep a small stock of emergency supplies in case I needed them.

quote:

Originally posted by still tryin:

Could you please clarify for me if you consider an unknown disaster to be an earthquake that might happen. If the head of FEMA tells your area that you should have a two week supply of water, food and other essentials on hand because that is how long it will be on your own before help can get to you, do you ignore that advice.

If that is indeed the emergency preparedness advice that FEMA is offering to earthquake-prone areas, then of course it should be taken seriously. http://www.ready.gov/natural-disasters

That is not what we talk about when we mention stockpiling/hoarding provisions in a bunker somewhere to last for 12 months after some kind of cataclysm.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: aychihuahua,

quote:

Originally posted by Becky56:

quote:

Originally posted by still tryin:

quote:

Originally posted by Becky56:
I agree that all thiis stockpiling for unknown disasters is riculous. It just shows how people these days are really lacking common sense that our generations past had-and used!

It is logical that if one lives in an area where they might get snowed in or be w/o power due to snow to have supplies on hand.

But all this other stuff- just shows how silly people have become. I worked at Wal~Mart during Y2K, and people were nuts. They cleared the shelves buying all their emergency supplies, and when it didn't happen, they were back with it demanding refunds for things like cases of vienna sausages! Yes, I handled the paperwork in the office.

Living near the coast, the same silliness happens anytime there is even the mere mention of a tropical storm or hurricane. And if snow flurries are predicted? Why the entire region shuts down!

I just think the world is lacking in common sense these days.

Could you please clarify for me if you consider an unknown disaster to be an earthquake that might happen. If the head of FEMA tells your area that you should have a two week supply of water, food and other essentials on hand because that is how long it will be on your own before help can get to you, do you ignore that advice.

Do you think it is common sense to wait until after a disaster to buy food and water and hope that it will be available. Is it common sense to be unprepared and pay inflated prices for the supplies that arrive? Price gouging happened here where I live after and earthquake. $3.00 for a pint of bottled water. Price gouging for water happened in areas after Sandy.

Is it lacking common sense to prepare for the reality that after a disaster supply routes to your area will be cut off?

I stand by what I stated that I BELIEVE it is foolish to hoard and stockpile items in the event of an emergency.

It is good common sense to keep a few days supply of basics if you live in an area prone to some type of outage such as snow, and yes earthquake would fall under that too. Even though I didn't include earthquakes in my OP.

I have been in a week long power outage caused by a hurricane. I never needed a large hoard because after the first couple of days the stores were restocked with staple items. Those of us without power ate non perishables at home and the Salvation Army and red cross supplied us with a daily hot meal and ice each day for our coolers.

There was no reason for mass panic and hoarding. Just a need for common sense and patience.

Where you gonna be if that earthquake buries all those hoarded supplies in the rubble or destroys them?

I am thankful I don't live in an earthquake prone area but if I did, I would use common sense and keep a small stock of emergency supplies in case I needed them.

I don't think a two-week supply constitutes hoarding. As far as being buried in rubble that is what the shovel is for. - LOL That's also why the supplies are spread out in around the house on the bottom closets because it increase the odds that something will survive intact.

Oh and the supplies you store should be non-perishable items.

I don't understand people stocking up on milk and bread because those don't keep. How do people keep them from going bad if the power goes out? Milk and bread only keep for a short time in the refrigerator. How many loaves of bread are people putting in their carts at the grocery store?

I have also heard of people in iffy employment situations who are concerned with being terminated stockpiling non-perishable foods and supplies. Many have talked about how it helped them better survive until another job could be found.

While the most I could get away without groceries would probably be a relatively short time if there's a disaster (most likely a tornado or fire as last year) in my area, I have no problem with someone who has food stored for a year. That is their business...not mine.

quote:

going bad if the power goes out?

I think some folks have generators, but we don't.

My homecanned goods are non-perishable goods. We don't have a lot, because it's just the two of us, and an annual yeild of 12 qts of tomato sauce is fine. But, when our power is out, that's not much good.

But, I do can fruits, veggies, soups. They will do in a pinch if we have to shelter-in-place due to storms, etc. We can heat the soup or veggies on the grill.

(Although I could drink all the pints of my homecanned Golden Delicious apple juice in one day because it's sooooo yummy. )

quote:

Graciepj

I knew it was a misspelling of course, but I just had to jump on it, in case you caught it first. Each and everyone of us has to make personal decisions when it comes to what is really important, to not run out of.

And I learned something very helpful from still tryin about incoming water supply shut offs. And using your hot water tank as an emergency drinking water supply. Had never thought about that, (what a great idea) but will file it away in the corner of my brain, just in case I need it someday.

quote:

Originally posted by KeepYouInStitches:
To clarify my "I think it's a great idea..." I meant for short term storage.

I have very good friends - he is a smart man. I mean a REALLY smart man. With both of their sons grown and gone, they turned one of their bedrooms into a food warehouse before "Y2K."

I said, "BETTY!" She said that they donated it all to the local food bank.

IMHO That was just a hoax begun by computer programmers to sell the "fix." Before it happened I asked our IT guy at work his opinion and he confirmed mine...said that it was a hoax, but the federal government had bought into it and since the company submitted bids for federal government jobs they had to become Y2K compliant. eyeroll

All we need here is about a weeks' worth of goods in case our electricity goes off. People really dumb-down when ice and/or snow is predicted here. After being gone 7 years living on the Texas gulf coast and returning to this area, I went for my normal weekly grocery shopping trip before one predicted winter "storm." I saw the store manager and asked when did we get within 5 miles of the gulf coast and what hurricane was making landfall. The bread, milk, bottled water, etc...the shelves were empty. I was just flabbergasted! When it does ice/snow here...it's generally gone within 48 hours!!!!

I have to respectfully disagree with your computer guy to a certain degree. Many many legacy computer systems had a problem that had to be fixed in the months leading up to 2000. Was it all systems and as bad as the MEDIA made it out to be, no, but it was a serious problem.

DH was not directly involved but his IT department put many many hours into testing all the programs for problems.

As for real ignorance in the lead up to Y2K - the people who sold their newer car because it had electronic devices in the motor etc.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Charming,

As far as the business I worked for, it was an unnecessary expense.

We did nothing on the home computer and nothing crashed on it.

IMHO it was still much ado about nothing for the majority of the world.

Have you folks seen the TV show "Doomsday Preppers?"

Now those people know how to "stockpile"

quote:

Originally posted by KeepYouInStitches:
As far as the business I worked for, it was an unnecessary expense.

We did nothing on the home computer and nothing crashed on it.

IMHO it was still much ado about nothing for the majority of the world.

The issue was not home computers and anyone who spent a penny on them were ripped off. The problem was legacy mainframe systems. Primarily an issue for larger corporations and governments. Not a lot of newer or smaller companies use them. They were developed back when every byte counted and many many changes have been implemented over the years using proprietary systems.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Charming,

I had a data logger at work that had to be refurbished in late 1999 because it crashed when I tested it for 2000. And we had to up grade the controls on a couple other machines. The prpblems wer found when the company head office ordered us to test everything. All that testing, all the hype, found a lot of problems before they hit. Most of them were fixed before they could cause a problem.

___________________________________________________________

As for emergency preparedness - no, I'm not prepared for months or years of living on my own. I am prepared for 1-2 weeks. My area is prone to blizzards in the winter, tornados in the summer. I live alone, I don't have a spouse I can send to the store for supplies when I'm sick. 2 weeks - a blizzard followed by the flu - is a reasonable disaster to prepare for. I don't like pushing a grocery cart through snow, so I buy paper products and cat food and laundry detergent and other non-pershibles in the fall to last until spring. Right now I have about 70 rolls of tp in the basement.

My water supply is a well with an electric pump, so I keep a little bottled water on hand for drinking and a lot of tap water in milk jugs on hand for flushing. My heat is an electric heat pump. The house has a fire place and a wood stove. There's a big woodpile out back.


______________________________________

What's your preparation when a storm is forecast? Mine includes doing laundry and running the dishwasher. I want a good supply of clean clothing and dishes before the power fails. I also find the candles, and turn down the temperature in the refrigerator.

JoW mentioned another item we have on hand but don't really think about - hurricane lamps (battery and oil) lots of batters and a couple of bottles of lamp oil.

For our gas/charcoal grill we have an extra tank, plus one day we'll add the fixture to our propane tanks for the grill, but that is really for convenience of not running out in the middle of dinner.

I found the BEST source of emergency light at a sporting goods store. Its a crank-powered flash light. Crank for a few seconds you get several minutes of light. Crank for a few seconds then turn off the light and you have a light you can turn on several hours later. It was in the close-out bin and only cost $4.

Looking on line I've also seen a crank-powered radio and a crank-powered flashlight with a charging station for a cell phone. I don't loose power often enough or long enough to need those, but folks in hurricane country might want to consider investing one.

We keep one of those in each of the cars. Plus we have a crank lantern. We actually got to use it a few months ago when something blew one of the power stations in our area.

Something else to consider if electricity fails and you are not home? Do you have a house key either on you, or hidden somewhere outside your home?

When our big tree fell on power lines this summer, two of the eight "power affected neighbors" were gone and had to break into their homes that night, as they only relied on their garage door opener for entry. The power was not restored until 2 am. Just something to consider.

quote:

Do you have a house key either on you, or hidden somewhere outside your home?

This reminds me of when the push-button key fob for my car broke off in the car. I still had the keys to the car in my hand, and I accidentally locked the car.

I couldn't get in. Cancelled appts that day. Waited for The Husband to arrive home to get the car unlocked with HIS fob for my car.

I was so used to opening the car with the fob, that I had completely forgotten that I could actually unlock the door with the KEY in my HAND!!!

quote:

Originally posted by conrad:
Something else to consider if electricity fails and you are not home? Do you have a house key either on you, or hidden somewhere outside your home?...

I don't trust the garage door to stay locked. And its not unheard of for me to leave for work and accidentally leave it open. I lock the door between the garage and the house. I have that key and a front door key on my key ring. After locking myself out a couple of times I put a key to the rarely-used back door in the back seat ashtray of my car.

The front door key has come in handy several times. A couple summers ago my neighborhood had 3 power failures in 1 week. I had to let my self in the front door a couple times. The power company did some emergency tree trimming and ended the power failures.

quote:

I was so used to opening the car with the fob, that I had completely forgotten that I could actually unlock the door with the KEY in my HAND!!!

Did that once on vacation. I was in the camper. DH left truck running and locked the door. When the key is in the ignition, the fob doesn't work. I went into the store in a near panic. DH just looked at me. Took my fob out of my hand. Placed it back in my hand with the key in my palm. DUH

And yes, I have a house key on my key chain...and there's another somewhere on my 10 acres...and I know where it is.

We have keys stashed all over the place. Because we have to go through a locked gate to get to the back door I have a key stashed on the back porch even though it is the same key as for the front door. We have a key to the front door stashed under the house, plus keys for the gate, storage rooms under the house, etc. all stashed in different places under the house.

I locked the key inside one of the cars once. Fortunately I was at home. But DH had the spare key. I didn't want to admit I did something so stupid (just par for the course, but I wanted to keep this one off my record) I tried to find the one stashed in the wheel well - no luck. I noticed one of the back windows was slightly open - I spent a good hour trying to open the lock. Finally managed!! YEA - embarassingly - we belong to AAA.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Charming,

Like many, during the day only, we leave the door to the house via the garage unlocked. And we always keep the garage door closed.

But just in case we need to get in and it was locked (different key than other house keys)...we hide a key in the garage itself. There is NO WAY anyone but I can find it! LOL...and even I have to stop and think!

Our neighbor also has a key to our home, and we have one to several of our neighbor's homes. But they are unmarked with unique key fobs for identity. I'd ever put an address or name on the key, or a potential burglar could ransack the whole neighborhood!

Last evening, Blast from the Past was on. We watched it and chuckled. Then, I wanted to know WHEN it came out and why. I mean....how did the writer come up with the idea. It dawned on me that Y2K was in its beginnings. Now, we have shows of people preparing for disasters after the devastations that have occurred throughout the world. The families involved in these shows are even scored for how prepared they are. No one ever achieves 100 %. Why? There will always be factors that can't be prepared for. There's nothing wrong with being prepared. Why did Aesop have the grasshopper and the ant fable? How many years ago did the idea of preparedness begin? Were you ever a scout? Sometime in our lives we have been taught to be prepared. Living in a rural community as a child, I remember having several items in our home....just in case. Living in town, I trust the store will be open. Lately, some items aren't there. So having a backup isn't such a bad idea.

For Y2K our emergency rations consisted of an extra six-pack of beer.