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(Week 4, level 1)
by mrs. patsi @ A Working Pantry
Wagon clipart link …
https://clipart-library.com/clipart/713877.htm
Here we are at day 22 or maybe 23, depending on where you
live.
Today, we’re going to wrap up level one of this class, take a
couple of weeks break and then come back for level two.
We’ll meet back here on Monday, December 2nd when we
begin level two. By that time, we’ll be on
day 37 in our imaginary scenario and things will begin to look significantly
different; our short-term preparedness will have been tested and we’ll have a
good idea of where we stand.
But before we do that, let’s take a look back at level one …
I have absolutely loved the way everyone has ‘circled the wagons’
with their knowledge and experience. It’s
what I had hoped for and in realty has far exceeded my expectations, leaving me
feeling like I was constantly playing catch-up!
What a wonderful and worthy issue to deal with; I will use our break
time to rearrange my schedule so as to have more time to answer questions and
comments in a timely manner for levels 2 and 3. I am thrilled at everyone’s
responses. Thank you!
I have taken so many notes that I simply stopped trying to
write them in my notebook and started copying and pasting. During the break from our class, I will add
them to my notebook under the proper categories, making it easy to find specific
solutions to a specific concern.
In level one we …
Dealt with the element of surprise …
Cabin fever …
An injury …
Cash on hand or not …
To shop or not to shop …
Making tough decisions …
To help or not to help …
Developing a new routine …
Do we have enough food …
Security issues …
And more.
I have tried to present these classes in a non-threatening manner,
never ever do I want to come across as a doom’s day type person, however, I do
want to come across as one who does her best to prepare her family to live
prepared. I recognize that there is a
fine line between living prepared and taking preparedness to extremes, but here’s
the thing, no one knows that line except you.
Living prepared is going to look different for each family, let’s keep
that in mind when we’re looking at what others are or are not doing.
Living prepared means incidents such as in our imaginary
scenario, while unpleasant, are survivable and isn’t that what we want to do,
survive the curve balls that life sends our way.
Okay, I’ve chatted enough … share your thoughts on level one of
our class … what are your take-a-ways?
mrs. patsi @ A Working Pantry
She looketh well to
the ways of her household … Proverbs 31:27
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It is so interesting, especially after doing this during your last class. There is so much to learn from you and others, with each scenario being slightly different. Shortly after your last class a couple of years ago, we'd had a fairly major "incident" in our community and my furnace guy (who actually lives about 2 blocks away, in my same community) and I discussed our concerns, how we handled it, anxiety, etc. He was here last week to do my annual service and brought up our previous conversation re: being prepared for any emergency. I was telling him about this class and the question of "what would you do if someone was pounding on your door?" He shared another "incident" last summer, that occurred at HIS door -- two women, ringing his doorbell late at night, asking for help ... they thought someone was following them. He answered through an upstairs window, after looking at his RING camera. So, the scenario really rang true. While my neighborhood may feel safe on a daily basis, it may not be as safe as I think. We'd previously discussed being armed, just in case, and he asked me directly if I'd gotten my FOID (firearm owner's ID) card. And I do know where he lives, just in case there's a need.
ReplyDeleteLike you, I have been amazed at the participation and helpful feedback. After just having been through seven days without power it is hard to comprehend more than three weeks. She nice we had settled into a pretty good routine after seven days I think we would be even more self sufficient and ready to go out for the long haul physically. Emotions at this point would be harder to deal with. I hope that here in our home we are still being kind and understanding with each other.
ReplyDeleteI’ve been taking your comments to heart since you’ve “been there done that”. I came to the same conclusions about the emotional aspect. It’s imperative that we keep our heads and be a help, not a hinder. Mel in Co.
DeleteI’ve enjoyed reading other’s ideas and suggestions. Shared the course with a friend and we talked about how fortunate we are to be country folk as we have less infrastructure to deal with such as where to get water or how to function without many reserves. This isn’t to say one is better than the other, but rather how tenuous life is wherever one lives and how important it is to “be prepared for the worst and hope for the best”. My son is a city dweller and we have talked about how important it is that he grow food in his yard. And that they have shelf stable food always at hand. This has been quite an eye opening experience for me.
ReplyDeleteI have really dwelled on each scenario presented, thought about tips I hadn't thought of (need for ice packs for injury when there's no freezer, wind up radios (had one where is it?), water needs...). And I've been 'funny' but also serious about my husband's level/ability to help or participate. The truth is I don't know what he can do or how he will react. Nor how far he's willing to go in the doing part.
ReplyDeleteHe's definitely protective and he's capable but some of the things I have experienced in my lifetime are so foreign to him that he's likened rural living to third world living...and he was in a third world country for a few years! In my childhood I think most rural homes still had an outhouse (as did my childhood church!). My grandparents didn't have electricity until my mom graduated high school. They didn't put an indoor bathroom in the house until I was a small child! My mom hauled water to an old house we lived in because we had no running water. Electricity was a single bulb with a plug on it hanging from the ceiling. And as I said, when we were without power here for extended periods he was at work and I was on my own coping with things. His job was in Emergency services so he HAD to be at work, it wasn't selfishness on his part.
So, I have realized that I really need to up my trust in his direction. I honestly never NEVER thought I'd be so concerned about reactions rather than actions in such a situation with him! So that too has been food for thought which was definitely something I needed to know.
I have shared with him my primary concerns: having water enough. I've been telling him for years that I very much wanted a well I could draw water from it need be. I've also suggested the propane generator and how to have a supply of gasoline that would be safe (not susceptible to being fouled) and where we'd best have that positioned.
Thank you Pasty for agreeing to run this class. I'm learning a lot and doing a whole lot of thinking and planning. Water is first on my list at the moment...
Thanks Patsy for taking the time to put this together. We have some areas to work on. I never really thought about needing cash in smaller denominations. I’m looking for to the next session. Sue in Mn
ReplyDeleteThis has been a really interesting and thought-provoking exercise. I have picked up lots of tips and it has made me realise that I am actually quite well set up to deal with short term issues, but probably not so much for long term.
ReplyDeleteMy house is relatively small and I don't have a lot of storage space, but I do try to keep stuff to hand that would be useful whilst keeping things quite low key so as not to alarm my son, who is prone to panicking/worrying a lot due to his learning difficulties.
I have done three things which are minor, but which could help in the sort of scenario we have been discussing. The first is to put a box of matches in my bedroom. I keep a wind-up torch in the bedside cabinet in case of powercuts and I also have candles on my dressing table, but I had never actually thought about having matches to hand! It makes much more sense to have them nearby, rather than having to use the torch to go downstairs and fetch ones from the kitchen. The second is to replace some of the larger denomination notes in my secret stash of cash with smaller ones. For some reason £5 notes seem in short supply, but I think that they would prove more useful in some circumstances than £10 and £20 notes. I only had a couple of £5 notes already put aside, but have now started holding onto the ones that come my way and swapping them over for the larger notes. The third thing has been to go through rechargeable batteries not in use and make sure that they are actually charged up. Not much use in having them to hand, only to find that they have no power in them. Again, it sounds stupid, but I had never really thought about that before.
I can't stress how important being organized is to this experience. I just broke down and started a list of things I need and things I already have. What can I get by with? What about Rx drugs? Water and how to get more. The list goes on.
ReplyDeleteThank you Patsy for putting this class together. Living in a rural area I thought we were pretty prepared but have been given been given food for thought. The comments and suggestions from other participants have been very interesting and informative. I'm always eager to learn something new so I'm looking forward to to the next set of classes (notepad in hand of course).
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for the class there have been some great ideas. I have a great list of things to work on. One is to have a good supply of things that don't rely on power, clock, can opener, crank radio and flash lights. Plus I need to research for more solar things.
ReplyDeleteThanks again til next time.