January 25
Posted on: January 26, 2013This morning I woke to more howling winds and a ferocious snow storm outside. It had been sunny yesterday! What a cruel reminder that our weather can change literally overnight.
One of the things I had downloaded but didn’t look at was a listing for local Ham operators. Perhaps there is someone, hopefully very local, that can shed some light on the news without the slanted prejudice of the controlled media. But that would have to wait until I get back to town or we can run the generator; this laptop battery doesn’t hold a charge anymore.
There was something that was tickling the back of my mind all night about the news I had read. It occurred to me this morning what it was: there was no mention of the New Madrid Fault quakes. None. The news had shifted back to the Hurricane Sandy victims. That and the upcoming Super Bowl. What a strange country we live in, where a sporting event takes precedence over a major, multi-state disaster.
Breakfast was grits with a healthy pinch of shredded cheese. The cheese I had put back must be rationed tightly; I don’t know when, if ever, we will get more. Jacob had his usual scrambled eggs plus a glass of Tang. The three of us have agreed that since Jacob has taken to the new taste, it will be his; we can take vitamins instead.
Vitamins; something I hadn’t given a great deal of thought, and didn’t keep a running inventory of; so that’s what the three of us did today, to occupy our time while the storm raged outside.
I’m disappointed in myself. The tub I had marked as vitamins/medical, was half filled with the overflow of band aids & bandages. This is all we have:
3- nasal spray
7- bottles of allergy pills (funny though, I haven’t been bothered with anything other than wood smoke
2- bottles of IB-PM
1000 tabs aspirin
1000 tabs Ibuprofen
1-child liquid cold medicine, 1-adult
1 bottle of eye drops
Vitamins:
4 bottles of multi-vitamins 890 tabs
2-D3, 200 tabs
½ bottle of garlic tabs
Plus single bottles of lysine, calcium, magnesium, zinc, fish oil, B complex, various odd stuff. I really fell short on this. Calculating it out, the three of us have less than a year of vitamins if taken once a day. The body under stress uses more, so needs more; I read this somewhere a hundred years ago. If we each take two a day, it’s less than five months. Will it be enough? I should have done more. I should have done more. I should have done more. I weep with my failure.
I love how your journal points out potential holes in our preps.
One of my ‘goals’ with this story, is to point out where holes might be in our preps. Mine included. The list was a true list from a real bin, and yes, I had it half full of bandages that didn’t belong there.
I don’t think that in real life Deborah’s preps have these failings. However, most of us have areas in which we could use more of something. One of the strengths of Deborah’s writing is that we are each making mental checks through our preps as she mentions the survival landscape in this event.
I love tea, but that doesn’t sound good at all… blech!
vitamin C is in many pine needles.. just make tea, you can get it that way…
You are absolutely correct! After ‘dissing’ Deborah’s failings, I am sorely aware of the huge holes in my preps, just in my first aid/meds bins! Back to work on that for me!!
don’t forget the ‘various odd stuff’… we ALL have failings in our preps
Whaaaat? No fish mox forte? No fish flox? I would have surely thought ‘Deborah’ was on to the fish antibiotics thing. 🙂 What about vitamin c, other than the multis, she has no vitamin c!
And thank you for mentioning the *importance* factor of the sporting event thing. It saddens me at times to see just HOW INVOLVED people get with their sports, ignoring or overlooking much more important things (Home life, world news events, etc) Is it just a denial tactic?
Not so sure about the “take more than one” thing. You wouldn’t want to OD by accident. One multi a day is the right amount as a backup to your diet, even when stressed. For certain specific vitamins, some extra isn’t a bad idea – but not the multis.
Good reminder that we all have holes in our preps – just need to find them!