I look at the events in Texas and think to myself that none of us are far from similar situations. We are all dependent on basic utilities for the most part. Yes some of us might have generators but how much fuel do we keep on hand? Just about everyone is on a municipal water supply, except for those of us out in the country living on wells.

How much food do we keep in stock, maybe a few days, a few weeks? Do you have emergency medical supplies? Where would you go if your home was no longer livable? Do you have emergency funds if ATMs are down? How much water do you have stored up? There are a million and one things to think about that we take for granted that are at our disposal in normal circumstances.

I don’t spend my days or even hours fretting about this stuff but I am adjusting my plan as events around the world and country show what can happen when not prepared. I would say we have been more prepared than most who also live paycheck to paycheck. We keep at least a couple of week’s worth of food and probably could say a month a lot of times with a little conserving. My better half keeps a nice supply of bottled water.

But I have holes in the plan. The small generator I have won’t power much. I don’t have it tied into the panel so the well pump still isn’t powered. I don’t have a really good supply of fuel as a backup. I used to have a pool so water for flushing toilets was there but no longer being I’m filling up that hole in the ground (alias Money pit) so the water becomes more important. So getting my backup power and tied into the panel so water can also be had is the first step.

I know all these things because I live in the sticks. Well, the sticks surrounded by sprawling suburbs of cities so our power has had some difficult years if not brutal ones with multiple days and sometimes weeks of outages. Most weather-related of course but not always. I’ve lost count of the times it’s gone out for 3-7 days at a time. But knock on wood, we have been on a good roll here in northern Howard County.

Anyway, it was just a thought about being more prepared. I know it’s not cheap. But when those things aren’t available it can be painful and dangerous. In a lot of cases, the generosity of others carries the day through. But what happens if everyone is in the same boat?

Random Thoughts of the Day

• When you can’t open your car door because it’s frozen shut, it’s hard to think about going anywhere. And I’m cool with that.
• Any day that starts with bacon grilling, can’t be all bad.
• Greed erodes morals.
• Digging through that ice did a number on my back. I don’t mind shoveling snow but that was wrong.
• I have a taste for BBQ.
• I vow to get my email inbox under control.