Well, the post I wanted to make last week has been pushed back again. I wonder if the idea behind it should be shelved, since things are conspiring against turning it in...
Earthquake!
Yeah, we had a medium-size one last night, 4.5 on the Richter Scale; big enough to wake me up and shake up the dog, but not enough to break anything here. It was quite a surprise to our recently arrived from overseas house guest! They are used to typhoons, but the house shaking for no apparent reason was a novel experience for them, and there was a little squealing and shouting from one end of the house to the other, checking on everyone.
That by itself wasn't too bad, but the text messages coming in for the next hour wore me out. I was scheduled to start an hour early that morning so I really needed some sleep, but the check-ins were (and are) appreciated.
This past week has really been crazy at work. How crazy you ask? This crazy!
Prepping Without Knowing How
With PG&E's announcement of a preemptive power shutoff, flashlights and batteries sold out fast along with the normal stock of generators carried in local stores. Many people decided to place orders to guarantee having one in case the power actually went out in a larger area than was first outlined. From last Monday to this Wednesday morning, a local store ordered and sold 144 generators of several sizes. This morning, the store I was in sold out of generators again.
I believe the blackout, and now an earthquake, has really opened many peoples' minds to planning for a disaster. Thursday the 17th is the 30 year anniversary of the (almost Big One) Loma Prieta Earthquake, and on the U.S.G.S. website is an explanation of what happened -- and what will happen -- to this area in the future. I wrote about earthquake prepping and showed an animation in this post from last year that pretty accurately showed where things were shaking in last night's quake. Please read through the linked posts under "What To Do". My fellow bloggers show what, and also explain why, they do when planning for a disaster.
Blackout Update
P.G.&E has said that all but a few isolated areas will soon have power restored. Now that they have potentially prevented a fire similar to what So. CA. had this past weekend, the Governor is now demanding PG&E pay people affected by the blackouts $100 and businesses $250, while respected news outlets are questioning whether this situation is potentially the New Normal for California.
Here at Blue Collar Prepping we have a very strict 'No Politics' policy that is enforced for members and bloggers, so I am not blaming any party. What I am going to blame, however, is 50 years of forest mis-management (in my opinion) and short sighted business practices for contributing to the fires that have burned too many square miles, destroyed far too many structures, and killed so many people for far too long.
Be safe and be prepared.
Takeaway And Recap
- Nothing was purchased for this week, but I'm being asked even more questions on where to start. I have to dig my prepping books out of the totes to see which might be a good beginner book.
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NOTE: All items tested were purchased by me. No products have been loaned in exchange for a favorable review. Any items sent to me for T&E will be listed as such. Suck it Feds.
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