The Shrine
Years ago, dealing with baggage from my family history, a friend suggested I set aside an area for pictures, as a way to remind me even though my family was messed up, we’re all connected, and loving them and honoring them brings forth positive energy that can reinforce my sense of self. Kind of groovy talk, but it worked. I call it The Shrine.
The Shrine gets bigger all the time. I’ve added friends, cremated pets and a few mementos. I come from a long line of non-breeders, so there aren’t any children. But I do try to keep up with furry friends.
I realized I didn’t have a picture of my sister’s dogs, Rags and Scraps, so I asked her to send me one. The box arrived a few days ago, and Cheryl’s precious doggie friends have been added to The Shrine.
Dale’s Taco Shirt
Also in the box was a taco-themed Hawaiian shirt she made for Dale, two pot holders of the same fabric, organic wheat flour from a local farm and a Stealth Angel emergency car kit. Not that her dogs aren’t adorable, but I think Dale looks pretty darned cute! Oh, and now he claims to be in dire need of tacos.
Emergency Preparedness
As for the emergency kit, well, yes, because I’m always a worst-case scenario kind of gal. Cheryl and I have talked before about how to get out of a car if it’s sinking or mistakenly flies off a bridge … just a few pleasantries to pass the time.
Among other things, the kit includes a flashlight, whistle, compass, fire starter and a carbine-tipped pen that can break glass. My sister has an additional escape tool she clips onto the shifter in the car – you can use that little guy to break the glass and cut off your seatbelt.
Who knows when you’ll need these tools, but it seems some sort of danger is always lurking. You’ve no doubt read about electric outages across California. The power company, PG&E, is attempting to reduce the risk of wild fires associated with high winds and dry weather. PG&E equipment has triggered these fires in the past, and in the case of Paradise, some 85 people were killed.
Cheryl’s power is out – and she lives way up in the northern part of the state. My massage therapist lives in the same town we live in, and she canceled my appointment for today because she has no power. We, on the other hand, are lit up like a Christmas tree.
We’re hoping to squeeze through without disruption, but we recognize anything can happen. My sister and my massage therapist both work from home, so an outage is more than a nuisance for them. We’re retired and don’t require special medical equipment, so we might be inconvenienced, but that’s about it. Depending on how long it stays out, we could lose a lot of food in the freezer.
I read there was a long line at Starbucks, and I thought, well, this is it. People will not tolerate such abuse.
Dale and I need to get smarter about an emergency bag. As in maybe have one. My sister could retire and offer her services as a personalized emergency bag adviser. Or she could put them together and sell them. She is super-prepared. Hence the Stealth Angel.
Cheryl had a few hour’s warning before the power went out. She sent me an email that all was well, but she was going into prep mode. Cheryl lives in an area with frequent earthquakes, so I don’t see this as overkill.
“We are definitely losing power as of midnight tonight. We have been told to prepare for it being off at least until Friday. Because they have never done this before and don’t know how the turning on process will go, it could be even longer. Got an emergency call from the water company saying to limit water usage, including toilets, because the sewers are going to have to be pumped manually … God bless those people.
I did laundry, a load in the dishwasher, charged everything I could think of, unplugged stuff with this computer going next, and checked all of my emergency lighting for batteries. I even filled my WaterBob (a liner for the tub) with water just in case. The main issue will be the refrigerators. The one in the garage should be OK as the fridge only has drinks, and the freezer has a block of ice in it so it should last. Won’t open the freezer upstairs and pray for the best. Will limit opening of the upstairs fridge.”
She just emailed me a few minutes ago that her power was back on, but the smoke alarm went crazy. Annoying, but all is good. I assume this is the first of many planned outages, so I am seriously going to get smarter about some sort of kit. I mean, no matter where you live, it’s always something.
Are you prepared? What’s in your kit?
It’s great to be prepared. I should be doing more to have an emergency kit prepared. Right now about all I know is where my flashlight is located. HAH!
I can’t stop smiling at your line “I come from a long line of non-breeders.” Um, how does that happen, exactly? How did you get here? 😉
(As a scientist, I need to know!)
Yours in jest,
Deb
I’m so happy you got my joke about coming from a long line of non-breeders. I’ve used it many times, and I believe you’re the first person to call me out. Ha! Anyway, most of the women in my family .. . sister, cousins and such … did not have children, though some obviously did, and the generation before us did their part. I’m pretty sure the gene pool stops here.
Haha! Glad to be of service. As for me, I think I started a “long line of non-breeders.” No grandkids yet and maybe never. And that’s perfectly fine with me – my life is already happy and complete, as is.
My power is off and it sucks more than I thought it would. I’m all prepared and the quiet will do me some good, but it seems very unnecessary for my neighborhood. I had been thinking that I could live a year without much grocery shopping with all the frozen fish, meats, and other foods I have. I guess now it goes in the trash.
I haven’t opened the freezer yet, but I may have to liberate the ice cream and stuff my face. Who throws away ice cream?
I agree. The ice cream should be liberated. We just got back from getting a new keg for the kegerator, and I was thinking how awful it would be for the beer supply should the power be out for days. Maybe we need a kegerator generator.
We’re still without power and we don’t even have breeze going thru. It’s really a PITA. But, funny, our anniversary present to each other was a Honda generator so that bad boy is keeping our fridge and freezer going just fine.
I was hoping today it would come back on but it doesn’t look like it now. We always have an emergency kit ready plus I have a bin with instructions if we have to evacuate. Better to be safe than sorry.
A generator might be another price we have to pay for living where we live. Glad your food is safe!
I am in one of the counties that are warned we may lose power. It is Thursday and at this moment we still have electricity, yay. I filled up my car gas tank yesterday morning and bought a few food items that don’t need refrigeration. Our church has power and I went to Bible studies there this morning. I ordered a cell phone charger that will charge my phone while my car is running, that seems like a good idea. I smiled when I thought of a nonbreeder family somehow having children.
I just got back from the gym, which had power. There was no line at the gas station, so I filled up. We had contractors coming over tomorrow to look at repairing the grout in our bathroom. They canceled, said they had no electricity. My husband believes the business community will rebel. After all, they are losing money. PG&E will have to come up with a better plan to maintain their lines.
I was just thinking you should include a picture of Dale sometime. He is pretty cute in that taco shirt!!
We have no emergency kit. It’s not something we’re forced to think about very often but we should. Our biggest issue would be getting caught in a snowstorm while driving. Power outages also occur at times with snow and ice but they don’t typically last too long. Our biggest pain seems to be losing satellite TV when it rains or snows. Cushy life, huh? But seriously, it’s always good to be prepared.
Aw, thank you! He does look cute. Snow is a whole different issue and one I’m glad I don’t have to deal with. For us, I guess the biggest thing is losing freezer food. As you can imagine, that is not unsubstantial. We might follow Tahoe Girl’s plan and get a small generator just for that.
If you get one, get the Honda. We’ve had other brands and the Honda is amazing and quiet.
Yes, that’s what we would do. We saw those little guys in action when we attended a golf tournament. So quiet!