Lights Out by Ted Koppel

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Originally Posted by UltraliteAngler

I am aware of this. But not much I can do.

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Well, if they are friends, perhaps you can educate them and gently encourage them to at minimum have the FEMA-recommended preparations at hand.

I personally try to only hang out with people who won't be forced to try to eat me when the next power outage happens, so you could try selecting a different crowd to hang out with I suppose :-)

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Originally Posted by Dhiana

UA - You may be surprised at what your "liberal, progressive, sci-tech worshiping friends" can do with sudden limited resources and no limits on that creativity.
Not sure that any of us would call ourselves preppers but when we have an entire city worth of needs tucked away in our closets, garages, and storage units amongst our fun fur costumes, utili-kilts, and art cars.

Most people see Burning Man as just a rave in the desert but the ingenuity and cooperation needed to make it happen in those conditions are mind-blowing!
Burners Without Borders is a group started in the wake of hurricane Katrina to help those in need after disasters and they are now worldwide.

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I know I might be surprised. :)

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Originally Posted by bae

Well, if they are friends, perhaps you can educate them and gently encourage them to at minimum have the FEMA-recommended preparations at hand.

I personally try to only hang out with people who won't be forced to try to eat me when the next power outage happens, so you could try selecting a different crowd to hang out with I suppose :-)

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I actually think that the more they learn about climate change (a topic they are all interested) the more they will come around to the idea of having some basic preparations made for disasters. I am by no means a hardcore prepper, but I cover some of the likelier bases.

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Originally Posted by UltraliteAngler

I actually think that the more they learn about climate change (a topic they are all interested) the more they will come around to the idea of having some basic preparations made for disasters. I am by no means a hardcore prepper, but I cover some of the likelier bases.

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If that sort of long-term threat will motivate them, heck, go for it.

But dude, you live in Ohio, you could have The Mother Of All Winter Storms any time, or tornadoes, or ... Threats that exist *today* and that will be much more comfortable with the minimum FEMA-advised preparations. Then your friends won't be a burden on the first responders and emergency workers when something mundane hits, and they can devote their time to the truly hosed.

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Originally Posted by bae

But dude, you live in Ohio, you could have The Mother Of All Winter Storms any time, or tornadoes, or ... Threats that exist *today* and that will be much more comfortable with the minimum FEMA-advised preparations. Then your friends won't be a burden on the first responders and emergency workers when something mundane hits, and they can devote their time to the truly hosed.

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I know. That is my rationale too, in many ways. One "superstorm" coming through Ohio might change their minds.

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Originally Posted by bae

Well, if they are friends, perhaps you can educate them and gently encourage them to at minimum have the FEMA-recommended preparations at hand.

I personally try to only hang out with people who won't be forced to try to eat me when the next power outage happens, so you could try selecting a different crowd to hang out with I suppose :-)

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LOL!

Our dependence on electronics/electricity is sort of like an upside-down pyramid. It's just so tenuous. So much is dependent on the bottom of that pyramid.....

At any point in time, I probably have enough food for a couple months. Unfortunately, too much of it is in the freezer. We do have a smallish generator, but the fuel wouldn't last that long......and who knows if we'd be able to get fuel.

I keep thinking about this "Bison" pump I saw online. Supposed, if you're on a well, you hook it up to an outside faucet and pump water from there.....even when there's no electricity for the pump in the well. Anyone in the country have one of those?
So my problem would be more with clean water. DH has a couple filters he used to take on boy scout trips. We do have a stream about 50' from the house, but dang.......I don't think we'd live long even after filtering that.

I haven't read the book, but when it came out I looked up some of the information. I did read the rather apocalyptic popular fiction book, One Second After, which is about EMPs (electromagnetic pulse) from the atmospheric detonation of a nuke over the U.S. which disables the grid as well as the majority of electric devices and systems except those going back to the tube and analog days. I don't think either is totally out of the range of possibilities, but not something I'm loosing sleep over.

I talked with a Mormon friend about his food stores and he indeed has a stash to last his family for about 6 months. The Mormons own food packing facilities to process emergency food stores that they get at a discount or low price. I suspect they taste better than the cardboard tasting things I've sampled from other emergency food suppliers, other than MREs which are actually pretty good. I asked, in his Christian charity, if he would share his emergency food with the unprepared such as myself. He smiled and said, "No".

So Florence, did you enjoy the book or did it just scare you?
So much of this book, sounds like what James Burke covered in episode 1, of his 1978 series, Connections.

I enjoyed it but I am stocking up also.