WRT the discussion about fear. I am on both sides of the fence. I previously felt that I was the victim to my experiences. I would be happy if happy things happened. I would be sad if sad things happened. I now discover I can work the game the other way. By simply BEING happy I bring to myself experiences which are worthy of being happy about. Weird. But true. We are all absolutely in control of our own emotions. But we must choose to be so and then we must make it so. And at first this takes a little discipline. Find a little mantra that works for you. Like: “I am the creator of my own reality”. If you feel yourself being victimised by your experiences repeat your mantra. In so doing you discipline your thoughts. Then you turn your whole universe around. Literally. Things go the way you want them to becasue you know they must. Too strange to believe, I know. So don’t believe it. Do it. Experience it and then simply know it from your own experience!
Here is my personal preparation list:
1. I have tow large-ish LPG gas bottles (camping variety). One has a lamp attachment and the other has a cooker attachment on top. I therefore have enough light to see and heat to cook for more than two weeks. I don’t need space heating. It doesn’t get cold like that here.
2. Rice. Lots of brown rice. In a fix it is a wonderful food and it lasts long. All it needs is water. Which brings me to the next point:
3. I have two large jerry cans of fresh drinking water. I will refill these on a weekly basis to keep them fresh.
4. Salt. A bag of sea salt. If you run out, your cooking can be a bit sad.
5. Sugar. In a fix it’s a useful thing. But I also have honey, which I prefer as a sweetener.
6. Dehydrated lentils, beans, split peas, barley. Mix one or more of these in with the rice and you have a good balance of protein, etc.
7. UHT milk. A good food source in a pinch. And it lasts.
8. Concentrated tomato paste. Enlivens a bland meal of lentils, beans and rice (or whatever). As do:
9. Dehydrated onions, dehydrated carrots.
10. Olive oil. Good, healthy fats. Add some variety by occasionally giving stuff a fry in olive oil.
11. Torches and batteries
12. Two big bags of dog pellets. Can’t be eating happily and not feed my four-legged children! This is about a months worth for them.
13. Plenty of toilet paper. What goes in must come out and you DON’T want to be without toilet paper.
14. A good first-aid kit. All the usual like pain pills and anti-histamine etc. and then more radical stuff like bandages and a scalpel and stuff. You don’t want to need medical help when there is a Lightship in the sky. Can you imagine how the emergency services are going to be stretched? And how the phone lines are going to be clogged? And how the roads are going to be full of people all trying to be somewhere (with their family… out of the city… at home) when this goes down. You want to be at home quietly taking care of your own self and helping out your neighbours as you can. So… a good kit is a must as far as I am concerned. And obviously knowing how to use what is in there.
15. A jerry can of petrol. Or “gas” for my American friends. Car fuel. I don’t want to run low, have the service stations be closed and I want to go somewhere. So: a jerry can of fuel.
16. Possibly the most important on the list: A bottle of very good South African bubbly. Champagne – but made here in SA. It’s how I choose to mark the occasion of the arrival of the Lightship. I ALSO have a special “chemical” bottle chiller. You kinda shake it up and it begins an endothermic reaction. Cools a bottle right down without needing a refrigerator. So, even if their is zero electricity, I am gonna have a chilled glass of champers to celebrate the arrival of the Lightship!
18. Binoculars. I understand that this thing is huge. But I want to be able to gawk at details if I want to.
19. Camera. duh! With spare batteries. double duh!
20. Tinfoil hat. Because I am inspired by Paul. That is just the coolest thing! LOL!
I have put all this stuff together in one place in a corner of a walk-in cupboard adjacent to my room. It is all together so I won’t have to go searching if I need anything. I have put lighters there (for the gas equipment) and also stuck a little battery operated light right above it in case I need to get there in the dark. I have packed everything in plastic crates so I can easily and quickly bring it out.
Other than that, I have a swimming pool full of relatively clean water. It can be made potable if needed but certainly it can be used to flush the toilet or wash and clean with.
…and that is my list. I feel quite prepared for any eventuality where the stores are closed. And of course all this is over and above what is my kitchen anyway. I always have a bunch of fresh stuff there. So I guess I could eat the fruits and vegetables first before I need to dig into the dehydrated stuff. So I feel quite prepared.
Can’t think what else I might need.
Anyway. I share my list in case someone else wants to use some of these ideas. And in case you want to suggest some things I might want to add to my little “chest o’ loot”
