Any change to future emergency preps?

[flowerseverywhere]

Here we are in the middle of the pandemic. We can get most supplies we need, especially if you are willing to get up early. Also, we are in a mid-populated area. Not too rural but rural enough to have farms close to us. Populated enough to be close to hospitals and several within thirty minutes affiliated with major Universities. We also are approaching hurricane season, although between floods, pandemics, drought, earthquakes, snow and ice events etc. no one is immune from having to be self reliant.

In light of everything what would you do differently in the future to prepare? Once this deadly very contagious virus made the news in January/feb before the run on stores and lockdowns, is there anything you could have done to be better prepared?

[Yppej]

More stocking up on items where the supply chain may get broken that I like to buy in store. My job went to no dress code for the duration but I only have 2 pairs of jeans that fit and I like to try on clothes, for example.

Will see if my hairdresser, who also works as a home health aide, would put on her scrubs and do private cuts of masked customers.

Not prepay for home heating oil at a lock in price that may crash.

Make sure if I ever switch jobs it is to another essential industry.

[happystuff]

Be downsized in a more efficient/smaller house; more savings; better stocked in foods and necessities - although we are doing okay in this regard.

[razz]

Life's experiences prepare each of us.

Having gone through lean times at different earlier points in my life, I was prepared for most of what has unfolded. Family has chuckled at my need for a stash of supplies, shopping for bargains, food preservation each year and general simplicity of life. I don't hoard but I have on hand what I need, most of the time.

I love the opportunities for extra experiences when finances are more abundant, eg, travel, theatre, indulgence when shopping. It is always within a careful limit.

Have to chuckle though - my stash of lentils did dehydrate excessively with storage so now I have to soak them overnight and then cook. They are still somewhat firm but tasty with a chewable texture like a burger.

Preparation is more a mental effort than physical resources, IMHO, a need to decide what is enough and what is optional.

[happystuff]

Preparation is more a mental effort than physical resources, IMHO, a need to decide what is enough and what is optional.

+1 Well said!

[herbgeek]

I was mostly well prepared- but that's a way of life when you live in the sticks. I tend to have a lot on hand and purchase more items while I still have some left in stock, as opposed to waiting until I am out to buy more. I had plenty of food, but low on paper products (specifically paper towels and tissues- I had plenty of TP) and alcohol. The Trader Joe's I've been using has beer but no wine. We live extravagantly here folks, and finally finished the last of the boxed wine. Luckily the local liquor store has curbside pickup but its a 3 day wait to get stuff.

I would have like to have had more frozen veggies, as they were the first to disappear. I was in the process of working down my extra freezer so that I can defrost it one of these days. This has not been a hardship at all, because my local Trader Joe's has plenty of fresh veggies.

[iris lilies]

I would not change any scheduling of future pandemics because I like that it came on right at the beginning of gardening season. We have been rolling in fresh spinach, green onions and leeks, now rhubarb, and other things will be coming on soon.

[Gardnr]

We would have been OK for quite awhile. I usually stock up TP first week of April so that was a bit challenging-took me 4 tries in 6d to get a pack-just in time.

We were shut down when I usually do my garden start up shopping. The greenhouse is not up and nothing is started. I have ordered plants from an organic farm that is 35miles away. We will drive out there May 8 for "curbside" pickup.

I get free-range eggs from a RN that I worked with as do many of us there. One other RN and I take turns driving out there to pick them up so I continue to get my fresh 2dz every Wednesday. Those chickens don't care about 'rona.

So really, I wouldn't have done anything differently if I'd had warning except grabbing garden supplies early!

[Tradd]

I had let my stash get rather low. This time around, because I knew what was going on in China due to work (int'l shipping), I stocked up about a week before most everyone else. While I know many people had issues finding bread at the beginning, I was alright on that as I always have 2-3 loaves in the freezer.

[bae]

I'm pretty happy with the level of preparedness I had going into this. I had already used as my baseline level "being ready to be at the far end of the supply chain after a major earthquake for 12 months", so this is not as bad as that, so far.

Things I'd change:

- More on-site veggie production. My mother's home is 8 minutes away from here by bicycle, and has lots of raised beds, a huge greenhouse, a chicken coop and run, lots of productive fruit trees, and plenty of room for expansion, but in this particular crisis I'm not visiting there much, as she is in a high risk group, and I am a first responder - I'd hate to kill her to drop by for veggies every day. I'm setting up a few boxes on my deck to grow herbs and salad greens, and some indoors growing areas as well - low volume, but enough to provide happiness to what I cook.

- My baseline preparedness was assuming there'd be two of us in this home, with some overlapping/complimentary skills. Due to my recent divorce, it's just me, and some of the skills/tools/raw materials that walked out the door have yet to be replaced. (See my recent request for sewing machine advice). Working on that. Humans are social creatures, while you *can* do every needful thing yourself, it's so much easier as a team. The peculiarities of this particular event prevent having random friends/family outside the immediate household participating as a team much.

- I got caught at the beginning of this with both of my powered seagoing vessels down for repair, and have not remedied that. I could finish up the repairs on one of them at least by myself, and I have sail/human powered vessels that would provide transport if necessary - in this particular crisis I'm not really moving around much, so it's not a huge issue yet. I won't make this mistake in the future though - one boat out of service at a time :-)