Have you seen Robert Manwill?

Just heard about the fact that Robert Manwill, an eight-year-old, went missing in Boise on Friday. Details and picture here.

There is currently no Amber Alert out for him. Please keep an eye out for him.

Not a typical emergency subject...

But it is an emergency situation nonetheless. What do you do if you are a child and are separated from your group at an amusement park? What do you do if you are the responsible adult in such a situation?

I spoke with a family member recently who has worked security at an amusement park in the past. This is the gist of what was said, and recommended:

--If you are the parent, speak to any employee. Anyone dishing out icees or refreshments or walking by in official amusement park gear. If they can't contact security for you, they can tell you who can.

--The first impulse, this relative said, is to go looking for the child, because you want that child back right now. Again, speak immediately to a park employee so that security will be notified and they also will be looking for your child.

--Inform your child what to do if they find themselves in such a situation. They should do the same thing that is recommended that you do. Contact an employee--anyone who works for the park. The person thus contacted will call security, and the child will be taken to the lost child station, and a responsible adult will be found to reclaim the child.

This may seem like common sense, but at the moment that a child goes missing, common sense may go out the window when anxiety over the situation occurs. If you have thought it out ahead of time and prepared yourself and your children with the knowledge they need to get out of a situation, there is a better chance of a quicker reunion.

This may seem a little off-topic, but I was interested to learn how the amusement park system works, at least as I understand it. Knowledge is a powerful thing, and if you teach your children before an emergency happens how to deal with said emergency, everyone is the better for it. This also applies to the more typical emergency preparedness topics that get discussed on this blog, and a few examples may be:

--teaching your children how to cook emergency meals in case the adults usually responsible are ill or otherwise unable to do so.

--teaching your children what to do when the power goes out.

--teaching your children how to garden so that they know how to/are able to assist in growing their own food in case of food shortages.

Those are only a few situations, but I would love to hear more ideas about how to get children involved in emergency preparedness. How are you involving children in emergency preparation?

Hoping for the best and preparing for the worst can start at a very young age indeed...

5 questions

The jury is still out on Twitter. I will let you know if I decide to use it--been busy around here, and haven't researched it enough yet...

Have seen around on other blogs that sometimes they send around lists of questions and sometimes everyone reprints the questions and answers them and/or sends them to specified people telling those people to answer them..... Well, having established that this whole idea is not new to me, I present the following questions (or non-questions) with my answers, but with absolutely no pressure on anyone else to do the same thing. (You are welcome to use these wherever you like, however.) It might be interesting for anyone reading to see how they're doing in terms of these questions, though, just in their head. And then do a little dance o' joy in their head when they see how successful they actually are.... :)

1. Name a non-food storage emergency item that you have bought in the last week.

I will say, for the record, that I bought aluminum foil. It was part of one of those mix and match 10 for $10 deals so I got a couple of small rolls. Haven't bought that brand before, so hope that they aren't normally like $.79/roll or something. Anyway, needed more in storage, so it looked good to me....

2. What are you still putting off in terms of your food storage?

Sprouting. Sprouting. Sprouting. (Can I say more sprouting when I have done no sprouting?) Um, yeah, and it won't happen this week so it will be next week at the earliest. Seeing as how I have now been in possession of sprouting equipment and seeds for a pretty long time, this is not one of my bright and shining moments. Gotta learn to sprout. Gotta just do it...

3. Name something you have added to your food storage in the last week.

I added some canned fruit to my food storage, because canned fruit is one of my weakest areas in terms of food storage. Ah, fruit cocktail.....

4. Have you tried something new in terms of food storage recipes this month?

Notice I said month and not week because I don't try new recipes as often as I should--but I did try to make frybread last night, the outcome of which can be found on today's post at my other blog. I did make this recipe (Thanks Harried Homemaker!) last week due to a special request by one of my children. I need to not only make successful recipes more than once, but incorporate them into "regular" meals or the meal schedule...

5. Have you helped anyone with their food storage in the last month?

This one is a little harder to answer, because there is always the maybe of people finding recipes on my blog or using a link I've put up to increase their food storage or food storage usage. The things I put out on food storage are usually in the form of how to find information from other people, but I hope it helps someone somewhere somehow. The short answer is I hope so. We did donate some canned food to a canned food drive this past week, so some of our food storage was rotated. Don't think that counts though...

Thought this was worth posting about because I hear/read things here and there about the pandemic, and hope that people are concentrating on getting as many supplies in as they can within their means, because it looks like it won't be long before it may be needed. 90 days quarantine is a long time. 90 days of supplies is a lot of supplies. Having a variety of recipes that will help ease stress for 90 days would be a definite advantage. But every little bit counts, every person who becomes more prepared is a definite plus, and any help you/I /we can give each other will leave us all better off when/if emergency supplies are needed.....

Got an answer

A great big thank you to MatthiasJ over at Kentucky Preppers Network for sending a link about Twitter in response to my last post. If you haven't had a chance to check out Kentucky Preppers Network, I highly recommend it--full of great emergency preparation information.

I'm going to pretend that I'm not the only one who needs to know more about Twitter, and who needs to look at this website :) :

http://tweeternet.com

More information is a good thing.....

I have a question...

I have been hearing about Twitter, and tweets, but I don't know how to use them. I got the impression somehow that you needed to use Twitter on phones, but come to find out it can be used on the computer. If someone is willing to explain how to use Twitter on the computer, I would appreciate it-- I want to know if it is something that could better this blog, and hey, any kind of communication that can help you in an emergency is definitely worth looking into.

So, if someone could send me information on Twitter, with as many details as you can fit in on how much it costs, how it works, (phone and computer is fine, I just don't think I would be using it as phone technology, but someone else may be able to) if you think it could better communication about things important to this network, etc. it would be greatly appreciated.

In a nutshell (I figure you know I'm long-winded by now :) How does Twitter work, and would it be beneficial as emergency communication?

From what I heard, it certainly seemed to help with communication that wasn't getting out in any other way during recent unrest overseas....

Thanks for any help in advance.

Cap and Trade can still be stopped

Gotta love the checks and balances. Especially in this case, since the Cap and Trade Bill passed in the House of Representatives.

For any and all Senators, look here. For Idaho:

Senator Crapo

Senator Risch

I called Senator Crapo's office this morning, and was informed that he has not yet decided on which way he will be voting. Please call and let him know what you think.

I was informed that Senator Risch is voting against it. I asked his staff to thank him. Please call and let him know that you are supporting him in his decision.

If you are wondering why I find this applicable to prepping, you are probably not alone, and may want to check out this post from last week. I really feel that this could have a negative effect on our abilities to prepare for emergencies, as well as hasten the need to use the supplies we (hopefully) already have on hand.

Your opinion does matter, and it can make a difference. Please contact as many Senators as you can to make your thoughts known. Our vote may not affect them, but there are only 100 of them, and their vote definitely affects us. Cap and Trade needs to end in the Senate.

Happy Independence Day!

If you are interested in any of the Idaho tea party activities, you can find more information here.

Have a safe and happy 4th of July! Happy Birthday, America!