The Coffee House

[JacaRanda]

Anybody hate you yet?

Nah. You guys are welcome to it. I lived in LA county for 10 years. I don't have any desire to move there again.

Come back to the OC or North County San Diego for winters only. Sammys are waiting for you

 

[bribrius]

As one who is prepared for nearly anything, I don't understand that either.

And what about those people getting ready for a hurricane? I mean doesn't anybody keep the plywood they used last year? I guess they just remove it and haul it to the dump after every hurricane.

Not having lived in the Midwest or East Coast ... it is only recently that I've realized that you guys are prepared and expect that the power grid will shut down for a day or so numerous times over the winter. On the West Coast, as the grid rarely is down, nobody has these expectations, and thusly, very few people have generators or firewood or a back up food supply, et al. All that backup stuff is quite odd to us.

Yup, being prepared for dealing with the effects of storms is something I grew up with and is second nature to me. And whatever lessons I learned here in the Northeast, I had them reinforced when I lived in Istanbul, where power or water would disappear completely randomly, regardless of weather. Never knew when they'd come back, either. Often it was just a few hours, but a few times, we'd be without water for up to 2 days with no explanation. Having large reserves of potable water is a no-brainer for me.

And on a related note, since living overseas, I also carry a package of tissues with me at all times because I still don't trust that there will be toilet paper in public bathrooms!

the water is something else, with a well it was just a matter of keeping the well pump running. with town water it depends on if it goes down which hasnt happend often but has happend. It doesnt just stop flowing though it just isnt really that clean, even though supposedly it is sand and charcoal filtered they lose power over there it makes a difference. . Ours is pumped from a spring but a town spring, filtered town charcaol. so if it goes down you are better off not drinking it. My most recent experience with that is the water was brown out of the tap, to make it worse we have a spare water tank that fills off that town supply too. So recently even after the water situation was sorted out on the town level and safe to drink again i had this crap in the bottom of the water tank settled at that point. It ran somewhat brown, mostly some extra minerals and dirts for a week. we drink bottled water in such cases. It really isnt harmful for showers so much, no different than jumping in the river Just a little questionable on drinking. i also heat it if need be and use water purifcation tabs. but mostly it is just excess iron and minerals in it, no so much that it is totally unsafe. That almost never happens though

 

[limr33 3]

Anyone own a windshield scraper? I actually needed one a couple of weeks ago.

You want one with attached glove? A long handle? Handle with brush on the other side? Rubber grip or regular?

Yes. Yes, I have windshield scrapers.

 

[limr33 3]

the water is something else, with a well it was just a matter of keeping the well pump running. with town water it depends on if it goes down which hasnt happend often but has happend. It doesnt just stop flowing though it just isnt really that clean, even though supposedly it is sand and charcoal filtered they lose power over there it makes a difference. . Ours is pumped from a spring but a town spring, filtered town charcaol. so if it goes down you are better off not drinking it. My most recent experience with that is the water was brown out of the tap, to make it worse we have a spare water tank that fills off that town supply too. So recently even after the water situation was sorted out on the town level and safe to drink again i had this crap in the bottom of the water tank settled at that point. It ran somewhat brown, mostly some extra minerals and dirts for a week. we drink bottled water in such cases. It really isnt harmful for showers so much, no different than jumping in the river Just a little questionable on drinking. i also heat it if need be and use water purifcation tabs. but mostly it is just excess iron and minerals in it, no so much that it is totally unsafe.

We're on well water, so no power=no water.

We have jugs for drinking water and other jugs to use for flushing the toilet or bathing.

 

[Designer]

Anybody hate you yet?

Nah. You guys are welcome to it. I lived in LA county for 10 years. I don't have any desire to move there again.

Come back to the OC or North County San Diego for winters only. Sammys are waiting for you

That sounds perfect! I actually love that area. I had an Aunt and Uncle who lived in Vista. My son #2 and DIL lived in the SF Valley, so we've been back for short visits. They now live in AZ.

 

[bribrius]

the water is something else, with a well it was just a matter of keeping the well pump running. with town water it depends on if it goes down which hasnt happend often but has happend. It doesnt just stop flowing though it just isnt really that clean, even though supposedly it is sand and charcoal filtered they lose power over there it makes a difference. . Ours is pumped from a spring but a town spring, filtered town charcaol. so if it goes down you are better off not drinking it. My most recent experience with that is the water was brown out of the tap, to make it worse we have a spare water tank that fills off that town supply too. So recently even after the water situation was sorted out on the town level and safe to drink again i had this crap in the bottom of the water tank settled at that point. It ran somewhat brown, mostly some extra minerals and dirts for a week. we drink bottled water in such cases. It really isnt harmful for showers so much, no different than jumping in the river Just a little questionable on drinking. i also heat it if need be and use water purifcation tabs. but mostly it is just excess iron and minerals in it, no so much that it is totally unsafe.

We're on well water, so no power=no water.

We have jugs for drinking water and other jugs to use for flushing the toilet or bathing.

i'd rather have well water but i'd have it hooked to the transfer box for the generators

 

[JacaRanda]

Anyone own a windshield scraper? I actually needed one a couple of weeks ago.

You want one with attached glove? A long handle? Handle with brush on the other side? Rubber grip or regular?

Yes. Yes, I have windshield scrapers.

E) All of above A brother has to be prepared next time. This Southwest weather is extremely unpredictable as you just discovered.

 

[bribrius]

Anyone own a windshield scraper? I actually needed one a couple of weeks ago.

You want one with attached glove? A long handle? Handle with brush on the other side? Rubber grip or regular?

Yes. Yes, I have windshield scrapers.

E) All of above A brother has to be prepared next time. This Southwest weather is extremely unpredictable as you just discovered.

in california i would consider earthquakes, kind of duck cover, then get out of dodge on foot region before the looting starts. you lose power for extended periods in southern cali it would be a war zone. if not the gangs then the beverly hills people pissed off....

 

[limr33 3]

Not just Cali. After Hurricane Sandy, people were looting like crazy. New Jersey took the brunt of it and NYC had more problems than we did in the 'burbs, but even by me, people were starting to freak out after just a few days, especially about getting gasoline and internet access..

 

[Designer]

E) All of above A brother has to be prepared next time. This Southwest weather is extremely unpredictable as you just discovered.

You can usually make do with some unconventional tools (a CD frost scraper, for instance) but some things are just not negotiable.

I once had a car with summer tires, and did not realize it until snow and ice covered the roads.

 

[bribrius]

one thing i like about where i live. tshtf i can pretty much grab the bug out bag and disappear. i am not in a large city area, where they end up trapped like sardines feeding off eachother in turmoil and panic.

Not just Cali. After Hurricane Sandy, people were looting like crazy. New Jersey took the brunt of it and NYC had more problems than we did in the 'burbs, but even by me, people were starting to freak out after just a few days, especially about getting gasoline and internet access..

that isnt too bad. the fun part is when the nations food supply runs out in three days if everything gets shut down. The in between time between that and when the govt kicks in dropping and assigning food rations trying to organize under martial law from area to area is when the cannibals come out. Personally, i think it is wrong to eat your neighbors. But if the kids gotta eat they gotta eat. so joe and sally might have be cooked up with some good barbecue sauce.

but in all seriousness, the risk of such things is increasing. Not sure if anyone noticed but here in the u.s. the government has really been pushing citizen survival initiatives for the last decade. we are almost back to fifties levels if not there.






Food Storage and Preparedness | Homeland Security News

CDC Emergency Preparedness and You | Gather Emergency Supplies | Disaster Supplies Kit

http://www.fema.gov/pdf/areyouready/areyouready_full.pdf

Home | Ready.gov

for a while they were even running the occasional govt. sponsored tv ad.

 

[JacaRanda]

Stop scaring Man. In every Friday 13th, Jason seemed to be out away from the city terrorizing folks. I'm sticking with the safety in numbers type of deal.

Pick your poison on the mother nature side as Lady L mentioned; hurricanes, floods, tornadoes, blizzards, forest fires, mudslides etc.

 

[minicoop1985]

I'm about as prepared as I'm not prepared for anything ever. Our power nearly never goes out, and we're on city water, so we're OK ish. Only thing to worry about is heat...

 

[pgriz]

Preparedness:
1) 4000W generator. Check
2) Fuel for generator. Check.
3) Patch for home electrical panel. Check.
4 7 days of water. Check.
5) Propane BBQ. Check
6) extra propane tanks. Check.
7) Water purifier. Check
8) Canned food for 7 days. Check.
9) Candles, flashlights, and spare batteries. Check.
10) Battery-powered radios. Check.
11) Extra gas for car. Check.
12) First aid kits and prescription medicines. Check.
13) Sense of humour. Check.
14) Board games and card games. Check.
15) enough books to keep us going for at least a week? We've got that covered for at least for several months worth.

When we had the ice storm in 1998, we were without power for about 9 days. Some places were without power for up to 30 days, as the distribution network had to be rebuilt extensively. Last Sunday's ice storm had us lose power for almost 20 hours - not a very big deal, but rather inconvenient. Snowstorms are usually no big deal, up to about 15-18inches. More than that and stuff starts grinding to a halt as the snowplows working on the main roads start to fall behind. Apparently we are also in a seismic zone, with potential for a moderate to moderately-severe earthquake. Windstorms are not very common, although we've had some small twisters do some damage in the past 10 years.

We get annual zombie invasions in mid-October, but they seem to be good to the downtown merchants, so heavy artillery doesn't seem to be needed. We're a little low on alien invasions. Maybe that means we're due, or maybe we have enough "interesting" people that they just blend in. What else? Floods - happen from time to time, but since we're sitting on an island in the middle of the main drainage from the Great Lakes, we're kinda used to water flowing around us.

 

[snerd]

Preparedness:
1) 4000W generator. Check
2) Fuel for generator. Check.
3) Patch for home electrical panel. Check.
4 7 days of water. Check.
5) Propane BBQ. Check
6) extra propane tanks. Check.
7) Water purifier. Check
8) Canned food for 7 days. Check.
9) Candles, flashlights, and spare batteries. Check.
10) Battery-powered radios. Check.
11) Extra gas for car. Check.
12) First aid kits and prescription medicines. Check.
13) Sense of humour. Check.
14) Board games and card games. Check.
15) enough books to keep us going for at least a week? We've got that covered for at least for several months worth.

When we had the ice storm in 1998, we were without power for about 9 days. Some places were without power for up to 30 days, as the distribution network had to be rebuilt extensively. Last Sunday's ice storm had us lose power for almost 20 hours - not a very big deal, but rather inconvenient. Snowstorms are usually no big deal, up to about 15-18inches. More than that and stuff starts grinding to a halt as the snowplows working on the main roads start to fall behind. Apparently we are also in a seismic zone, with potential for a moderate to moderately-severe earthquake. Windstorms are not very common, although we've had some small twisters do some damage in the past 10 years.

We get annual zombie invasions in mid-October, but they seem to be good to the downtown merchants, so heavy artillery doesn't seem to be needed. We're a little low on alien invasions. Maybe that means we're due, or maybe we have enough "interesting" people that they just blend in. What else? Floods - happen from time to time, but since we're sitting on an island in the middle of the main drainage from the Great Lakes, we're kinda used to water flowing around us.

My preparedness plan................. I come take all of your stuff.