Part 3 - Gain Peace of Mind By Being Prepared with "Hard Copy" Contact Information . . .

Just in case some of you may not be old enough to even know what I mean by hard copy when I refer to your contact sources. . .
                My grandmother survived the San Francisco, California earthquake of 1906. I have a letter written to her from a boyfriend across town, expressing his concern for her. It took two weeks for the letter to reach her.

They didn't have many ways to contact one another back in those simpler times. What information they needed they usually had written in a little note book which they carried with them. I also have one of those in my possession. It belonged to my grandmother's father.

Today writing things down seems unnecessary and even crazy. 
              Why would we bother when all we have to do is pull out the little gadget most of us have as our constant companion, scroll and click! Instant contact from anyplace to anywhere.  Wow!

But what if . . . the power grids (or whatever the things that keep our electronic world afloat are called) suddenly went down?

It really could happen, as impossible as that seems. Actually, there are probably any number of reasons that could happen. Or will happen.

We used to memorize the phone numbers of family and friends we talked to often. For the most part now, we know them by the order in which we punch them in. Our "electronic" brains know them. How many are safely tucked away in our physical brains?

This is a very scary what if ---- even for me who still likes "hard copy" in most cases.

How much more scary should it be for those who are electronically dependent---or addicted!

Remember, insurance brings peace of mind.

For our “insurance” I made wallet-size lists of all of our 

family members with all of their contact numbers and

 addresses---home, work, college, etc. We even listed our 

doctor and our medicines, including strengths and dosages.


If you have been following these just in case posts you know that, in each one, I suggest you do something TODAY and then to CONTINUE. This time, I will leave it to you to figure out the steps you should take to gain this contact-information-security for you and your family and, hopefully, follow-through.

Things we have done:

• Sent copies to our children and (hopefully) they made copies for their children.

• Made additional sets, laminated them, and attached them to our emergency get-up-and-go-bags so they would not be misplaced.  (Watch for that  Just in case post, coming soon.)

If you want to visit my older post on this subject and see far, far older pictures (of the earthquake damage taken by my grandma with her Brownie box camera) just click the link below and you will instantly be there.

http://thecreativecheapskate.blogspot.com/2011/08/what-if-you-lost-all-of-your-electronic.html


P.S. I love to hear from you, and I respond to all appropriate comments. We are having so many spam problems  we have had all "anonymous" responses blocked.   If you want to contact me please do it personally through our e-mail address, listed in the bar on the right side of the blog.  Thanks for understanding.

Part 2 - Gain Peace of Mind By Being Prepared to Store Human Waste . . .

No matter who you are, when you gotta go you gotta go and . . .
The lack of sanitation facilities following a major disaster can quickly create secondary problems unless basic guidelines are followed:

Water flush toilets cannot be used when water service is interrupted because the water remaining in the fixture is not sufficient to flush the wastes down. Clogging may result and your living conditions become just that much more uncomfortable.

If the toilet is NOT able to be flushed, it can still be used. This is less stressful for most people than using some other container. Remove all the bowl water. Line it with a heavy-duty plastic bag. When finished, add a small amount of deodorant or disinfectant,
securely tie the bag, and dispose of it in a large trash can with a tight fitting lid. This large trash can should also be lined with a sturdy trash bag. 

Sewage must be disposed of in ways that will prevent contamination of water supplies. Digging holes in the ground to bury raw sewage should be avoided because doing so can pollute fresh ground water supplies. 

Failure to properly dispose of human wastes attracts flies and can  lead quickly to epidemics of such diseases as typhoid, dysentery and diarrhea.  

Almost any covered metal or plastic container will do. You can use a covered pail, a 5-gallon bucket, or a small lidded kitchen garbage container for an emergency toilet.  Anything that has a cover and will hold the contents until you can dispose of them will serve for sanitary purposes at first. 

The following are  simple things that should not be dismissed or . . .  poo-poo-ed! They utilize things you most likely already have on hand. They cost nothing and require minimum storage space, while having the potential for maximum usage in time of need.

Begin Today: Gather some plastic grocery bags and empty cottage cheese, sour cream and/or similar containers

If you are like me you already know how handy these items are for everyday use. Imagine how indispensable they will be in an emergency ---as containers for disposing of whatever needs to be disposed of; adding an additional "layer" of secure containment.

Continue: 

As you can, accumulate a supply of heavy-duty plastic bags, twist ties, disinfectant  and toilet paper. 

Note: a good disinfectant that is cheap and easy to use is a solution of 1 part liquid bleach to 10 parts water. Dry bleach is caustic and not safe for this type of use.

For more on keeping safe and clean just in case we find ourselves in the thick of it, click on the link below to  go to my previous post What if there was suddenly no means of disposing of human waste?

http://thecreativecheapskate.blogspot.com/2011/08/what-if-there-was-suddenly-no-means-of.html

And,

To learn how we compactly store plastic bags for everyday use and for emergencies, click on the link below to go to my previous post Quickly capture kitchen clutter . . . in stuff you usually throw out

http://thecreativecheapskate.blogspot.com/2013/05/quickly-capture-kitchen-clutter-in.html

Watch Your Progress: 

Each step, not matter how small, is a step towards  peace of mind insurance! How great does that feel?

Reminder:  I love to hear from you, and I respond to all appropriate comments. We are having so many spam problems  we have had all "anonymous" responses blocked.   If you want to contact me please do it personally through our e-mail address, listed in the bar on the right side of the blog.  Thanks for understanding.