ABY #16: Water, water--oh, and did I mention water?

My 16th ABY: Water purification system

If I could add anything else to this, it would be:  Extra filters, extra water purification tablets, extra stored water that I know is already clean. Translation: More, more, more ways to make sure that available water is clean, and that there is plenty of drinking/cooking/cleaning water available...

You may recall that my first ABY was water. Can't underestimate the importance of water for drinking, cooking, and sanitation purposes. Just sayin'...

Hope everyone had a great holiday!

ABY #1: This blog and the other...are you in?

On my other blog, I am posting a series on adding a can of food a day to storage between now and the first of the year. You can read more (and participate if you like) about it here. In brief, ABY is what I am using to refer to the phrase, "Additionally Better Prepared by the New Year", by using the first letters of the first two words and then the first letter the very last word of the phrase. On this blog, instead of focusing on canned goods, I plan to post daily between now and the end of the year (posts for Sunday will appear on Saturday or Monday) about ideas, recipes, additional items, etc. that I have found that will hopefully end up making me better prepared by the end of December.

My first ABY: Bottled water

If I could add anything to this, it would be: More water. Ok, I am kidding, but only kind of.  I think of all the difficulties that arise during emergencies, and having water to drink, cook with, and otherwise use would help with a lot of those problems. Storing water in clean soda pop bottles is an option if you don't want to buy the water already bottled. Pretty basic, but having water on hand can end up being crucial in an emergency.

So, a challenge...what would you like to learn, acquire, practice, before the end of the year that would make you "additionally better prepared"? I would love to hear if you would like to share. You don't have to have a blog to share--just leave a comment here or a link to your ABY post on your blog in the comments so that others can benefit.

So...are you in?

Unusual emergencies

A couple of unusual emergencies have occurred in our country recently:

--I first heard about the water pipe break in Boston yesterday, and found this article on it today. From what I understand, the break has had far-reaching consequences, and while water is available, it must be boiled. I found it interesting that one person quoted remarked that it is "inconvenient"--I'm just glad that they have water to work with, even though it must be boiled. Perhaps more disturbing are some of the comments in the comment section (though I read only the first few) about fights over the bottled water in the stores...

--The oil spill disaster is affecting the Louisiana fishing industry, which you can read about here. In the linked article, mention is made of the fact that the fishermen are now unable to go out and harvest, when they have spent a great deal of money to get ready for the fishing season, which usually begins about this time. This means less (or perhaps, unfortunately, no) revenue for them, and less available food for any/everyone who relies on the seafood they usually provide. In this less recent article, there is a man quoted who indicates that this disaster will have an impact on the sea life in the area that could last many years.

My thoughts and prayers are with the fishermen and their families, and to those (some of whom are the same fishermen) who have to work in dangerous conditions to clean up the effects of the oil spill. I hope that those affected have enough provisions set aside to weather this emergency, and I hope that everyone in the affected area in Boston has the means to either boil their water or purchase clean water. And I hope everyone everywhere prepares for emergencies, unusual or no....

You can learn a lot from a name

Went to the Malad Welsh Festival on Saturday. It was a lot of fun.

There was a "Taste of Wales" booth,Welsh singing, other performances, and games for the kids to play. One of the highlights was a horse-drawn wagon tour around Malad. The picture above was taken of the wagon behind ours--it was nice that the weather was great there on Saturday.

About now you may be thinking (if you are still reading) that this is just a fun activity post, but oh, even on this trip I found something that applies to prepping...and it has to do with how Malad got its name.

According to those on the tour, Malad reportedly got its name in one of two ways:

--When some Frenchmen arrived in Malad, they got terribly ill after drinking the water. Malad is short for maladie, which means sickness in French.

--When some Frenchmen arrived in Malad, they ate the tails of some beavers that had apparently not had that great of a diet. Beaver tail was considered a delicacy at that point--and you guessed it, they got sick. So they named the town Maladie, which eventually became Malad City.

So what did I learn from this trip?

--The Welsh Festival in Malad is great.
--Was reminded that clean water in all circumstances, including emergency preparation, is a necessity. Make sure you have good water to drink, or you may be marked forever. Malad's been called Malad for a long, long, time.
--Know the source of any beaver tail you decide to eat. You know, just in case... :)

A good time was had by all. (This time. Not the time the Frenchmen visited. :)

Hopefully you're more prepared than not...

By now you have probably heard about the possibility of a flu pandemic, and Ernie over at Indiana Preppers has done a lot of work to compile a somewhat massive list of articles to read about it here.

Hopefully everyone has been putting some things together in preparation for emergencies/hard times/name your situation, and these things would help those who have done so immensely should there be circumstances that require everyone to stay at home. Some of my thoughts on this issue:

--I was telling my husband that if they declared a pandemic and told everyone to stay home, the first thing I would do would be to fill everything that I could with water. If everyone stays home, chances are that regular water services will be cut off. We have some water in storage, but nowhere near what we would need for 3 months worth, which is the general number that I've heard about how long a quarantine would last.

--Over at Colorado Preppers, there is an excellent post about Preparing for a Home's Power Outage. Hope we never have to use these pointers, but there's a lot to think about in case we do have a power outage.

--In particular for Idaho readers, and anyone who lives near an Albertson's that has this sale running, there are a couple of good prices on storage items if you want to run out and strengthen your supplies. As far as I know, you do have to have one of those oh-so-nifty Albertson's cards. Progresso soups, which last time I checked at the local national chainstore were $1.68 (hopefully I don't have them switched with Campbells dinner soups, which I think are currently going for $1.62) are $1.50 each if you buy 4. (It's one of those things where if you buy $10.00 worth at $2.50 each, you get $4.00 off at the register, making it 4 for $6.00, hence $1.50 each. Aughhh, I don't even like reading that....but it's a good deal, compared with current prices.

There are also some pretty good prices on cold cereal, which would come in handy for power outages.

--These are only some of the thoughts I have--I just hope people have already been preparing for something like this, and that this doesn't turn into a pandemic. Someone who is very emergency preparation minded sent an e-mail this morning, part of which I'm cutting and pasting here:

" Will this be a pandemic? Or is it just another hard flu? You will have to decide for yourself what this is at this point and whether or not you will quarantine yourself and your family before the government says to. Now is the time to keep up with the news and rely on prayer for guidance for your family.

At the very least this is a wake up call to have the recommended three month minimum supply of food, water, medicine and all necessities. If this becomes a pandemic we can expect to be quarantined for three months. The government has been warning us for several years so most of you, hopefully, believed it and prepared. If not, get to the stores before the shelves are empty. Call your doctor NOW if you need a 90 day prescription refill and get it as soon as you can. It will never hurt to always be 90 days ahead on essential meds.

Please do not underestimate the time a disease will take to spread. With our methods of travel added to the ventilation systems in large confined areas and the number of times we go to malls, sports activities, etc., one person who was exposed a day ago could unknowingly begin the infection of thousands of people before really feeling sick him/herself.

What am I doing? I am taking my own advice and staying home the rest of the day and checking the news frequently. Am I panicking? No. I am watching and waiting, going about my usual routine and not doing anything differently than planning to not go out into crowds. I am regretting I didn't see this sooner because I did go shopping this morning and I would not have had I been aware of this article."

Get as prepared as you can while you can. Wishing everyone the best, and hoping that our food storage/emergency supplies will not be needed until another day, if ever....

Got water?

At Albertson's last week in their flyer I saw that they have gallons of water for 10/$10. That's with the Albertson's card, but after I bought the less than 10 bottles they had on the shelf, I found out that it's normally only $1.19 anyway. Still and all, I wanted some more drinking water in storage, and now I have some, and the dates on it are pretty good. If you don't have any water storage at the moment, the general rule that I've heard is that a survival amount of water would be a gallon of water per day per person, and that's the bare minimum--it doesn't account for any water for cleaning, washing, etc. I figure even $1.19/gallon for water packaged in sturdier plastic isn't a bad price. I don't know if that regular price requires a card or not.

One of the reasons that I worry about having enough water in storage that is ready to use is the possibility of a pandemic---a widespread devastating illness such as what occurred in 1918 with the flu, that spreads quickly and disrupts just about everything in everyday society. I recently received an e-mail that had links to information about pandemic preparedness, one of which is Pandemic Preparedness Planning over at Provident Living. There are links on that page to more information about preparing for a pandemic, including Pandemicflu.gov, and a link to a video by BYU-Idaho (if you live in Rexburg, you can't really get more local :) about prevention of Avian flu.

It's difficult (and can be expensive) to store enough water for emergencies. However, if your emergency situation turns out to be a pandemic, it will probably will be worth all effort and expense that you put into water storage now to be able to remain at home and not risk exposure by venturing out to find/buy some. If you have sickness already in your home, it will help with caring for the ill and lessen stress for everyone if you have a safe, reliable source of water in your own home to work with. Why the stress on water if you have running water in your house? My understanding is that if a pandemic takes place, it is highly likely that no one, including those who make sure that the water that is coming out of our faucets is safe for use, will be venturing out to do their jobs. Will it get that bad? I don't know--but the better prepared that we are, the less we will have to worry about.

Got water? It would be hard to overestimate its value in any kind of emergency, not only in a pandemic. So important that I would be surprised if there weren't more posts on it to come....