Be Prepared for Anything

I was shocked and disgusted to read that a WalMart worker in New York state was killed by a bloodthirsty crowd - out for bargains!

Apparently, when he opened the doors he was bowled over by the throngs of bargain hunters - who stepped over his body while they were focused on getting the items they’d been waiting for.

Some even complained when they had to stop their shopping and leave the store because a death had occurred!

What has our society come to when a person’s life is worth less than the hot ticket item on Black Friday?

It looks like we’re well on the way to becoming a cannibalistic society - devour the person who gets in your way or blocks you from your goal. Don’t think twice about it and don’t have remorse - after all, it’s every man for himself!

I’m disgusted and I hope more people express their outrage.

I’m especially offended that a sacred event like Christmas has been degraded to such as this. Perhaps if people would get back to the real meaning of Christmas - not the bargains and the gifts - they would take the time to help their fellow man, not mow him down.

My most recent grocery shopping foray was done on a specific budget. I had to keep my spending under a certain amount because that was all I had to spend - no room for fudging.

I made my list and marked items according to which store they were cheapest.

In my area, my three favorite grocery stores are located within about one mile of each other in an almost-triangular pattern. The largest store is the farthest from my home and I usually start there then hit the other two on the way back toward home.

I went into the first store and start selecting from my list. I forgot to bring my calculator and since I knew there was no budge in the budget, I kept track in my head of every item we put into the cart.

When we got to the checkout counter my husband asked me how much I had come up with. I told him that according to my estimates, our grocery bill for everything at this store should come up to $117.

When it finished ringing up it was $117.20! I was gloating!

On to the next store - where I noticed that canned tomato sauce had went up to 49 cents per 15 ounce can from 39 cents a month ago.

I finally went to the last store and knew that I had only $20 left to spend on groceries and when the total was rang up there it was $19.96.

And the moral of the story is: Make a list, check it twice; decide on a spending budget ahead of time; keep track of every item that goes into your cart (either with a calculator or in your head); use cash if possible - it helps keep you from exceeding your budget; keep a close eye on prices at the various stores you shop so you know where the best buy is located.

It can happen at any time - in the middle of the night, in nice weather, in the winter, during a storm.

The electricity can go off and stay off for awhile.

The last time we had an outage, I was actually in the middle of coloring my hair and was glopping on the color goo when suddenly I was surrounded by darkness.

I was in the bathroom and it was in the evening. I could hear my children calling from other rooms and I couldn’t do anything - my hands were covered in hair color. Thankfully, my husband was home.

We have a specific spot where we keep flashlights, batteries, matches and candles - so hubby knew exactly what to do. He grabbed flashlights for everyone then wedged one on the shelf next to the shower so I could rinse out the color.

Knowing where things are hasn’t always been the case. We used to have flashlights, matches, batteries and candles in dozens of assorted places and if the power went out we had to dig around in the dark, hoping and praying we hit an actual working flashlight.

I got tired of that happening so I gathered everything up and put it all into a box which now sits on top of a freestanding cabinet in the kitchen.

If you don’t already have such items in an easily-accessible place, you should. It’s invaluable if the power goes off.

This last power outage was caused by a blown transformer and the power was out for about two or three hours.  Last winter there were a number of outages due to ice storms, but thankfully we never lost power.

Nevertheless, I keep my box ready just in case. I’ve even bought a couple of wind up flashlights that don’t require regular batteries.

My next project is to create a busy box for my kids. It will contains card games and a few fun, no-electricity-required activities just in case of a power outage.

So, are you prepared?

Emergencies happen all the time - and usually with little or no warning.

Are you prepared?

Here are a few things to think about:

If there were an emergency and you need someplace to go to, where would you go?

If your power suddenly went out, do you know where flashlights, batteries, candles and matches are?

If an earthquake occurred, do you know what to do?

If you hear a tornado warning, do you have a safe place to go - in your home or somewhere else?

If you were snowed in or iced in, do you have enough basic items stockpiled to sustain your family for a few days?

Think about your answers.

More later. . .

I was in WalMart earlier today and after checking out I had some time to kill to I just sat on a bench near the checkout lanes and watched.

I watched what people were buying and I noticed something interesting. There were a number of people who seemed to be stocking up. I saw one guy buying about 10 boxes of cereal, six large jugs of bleach, a few bags of apples and some other assorted things. There was another couple who were buying several rolls of paper towels, bleach and lots of Depends (maybe they run a nursing home?) while another woman bought three huge boxes of diapers. I saw more people with multiple packages of toilet paper and paper towels,  and jugs of drinking water. In the past week I have also seen people stocking up on canned goods and other staple food items.

What’s going on? This is a common thing to see in my area when there’s a threat of snow - people lose their minds and clear the grocery stores of bread, milk and toilet paper in case they get snowed in. But what’s up with so many people stocking up?

I make it a habit to buy a cheap package of toilet paper, maybe a jug of drinking water and a couple of canned goods everytime I’m in the grocery store and have a few extra bucks so stocking up won’t hurt the pocketbook so much.

Has the economy gotten people in a near-panic or are people sensing the worst is yet to come? Maybe we should pay attention to the critters - mine have all been fattening up, snarfing as much food as they can lay their paws and claws on and sporting a fluffy, thick winter coat. Animals certainly sense more than we do, so what’s going on?

What have you noticed in your community? I’d love to know.

A guy who owns a local gun store was telling my husband the other day that he’s been surprised at the huge increase in the numbers of people buying guns and applying for FOID (Firearm Owners ID) cards.

Why is this happening? His thoughts (and mine) were that people realize that when Obama takes office he is apt to work to tighten up gun laws.

It’s hard for people to understand that law-abiding, legal gun owners like myself aren’t criminals and that criminals aren’t applying for their FOID cards and purchasing their weapons at local gun stores. They are buying illegal guns off the streets on the black market. Tighter gun laws will have no effect on them, but they will affect the legal gun owners who wish to defend themselves and their families from the criminals using the illegal guns.

So could it really happen? Could the Second Amendment about to see a serious challenge from an American President? Let’s hope not, but I wouldn’t hold my breath, but I will be holding onto my guns.

I had a friend ask me this last night. She had read my recently-posted zombie infestation survival guide.

I laughed and told her it was just for fun. I just watched a zombie movie the other night and the next morning I just had an inspiration: “Wouldn’t it be fun to write a serious (yet tongue-in-cheek) guide on surviving a zombie takeover in your community? I tried to model it after some of those dry and matter-of-fact user guides we’ve all read (or watched on screen in school!).

My friend said she got a kick out of reading it but wondered what in the world I had been thinking? I’m a little goofy sometimes, and my sense of humor is somewhat warped on occasion, so I explained it was all just for fun - and page views (snigger, snigger).

Sometimes I just enjoy writing outside the box and stretching my repertoire. Who knows what I’ll come up with next!

   It can happen in even the quietest and smallest of communities as well as large, bustling cities.
It might start slowly. You, as a concerned citizen, might begin to notice neighbors and even strangers acting oddly.

There are important questions to ask yourself to correctly assess the situation:
1. Is the neighbor in question moving in a pointless, stilted fashion?
2. Does the neighbor appear to have a fatal injury that should have rendered them dead and incapacitated, yet they are still wandering the neighborhood?
3. Have you observed the neighbor eating the flesh of other neighbors or strangers?
Affirmative answers to one or more of these questions could indicate a potential reanimation infection in your community. This infection must be dealt with quickly and precisely to stave off a complete infestation.
This infection could have occurred through a number of unexpected means.
There could have been a bioweapons experiment that was used to intentionally infect your community, thus providing analytical data to the organization or government developing the bioweapon.
The infection could have been caused by a nuclear experiment. The infection could also have occurred if the Earth passed through the tail of a comet (in which case the infection could only last for the duration of the celestial event).
The last two scenarios are unlikely and it is most probably that your community’s infection is the result of a bioweapon.
In truth, the cause of the infection is irrelevant. Survival is indeed the utmost concern you should have.
In order to combat and survive the infection and the potential infestation you must plan to protect yourself and, if necessary, eliminate infectees. Most people would call the infected individuals zombies, but this term is inaccurate and offensive.
In the interest of being inclusive and non-offensive, this guide will simply refer to these individuals as “infectees,” “infected persons” or “the reanimated,” or similar variations. The terms will be used interchangeably.
Things to remember when dealing with infected persons
1. Infected persons are not alive. They have been infected with a virus that has killed their body, infected their brain, then reanimated their bodies. Your neighbor Bob is no longer Bob. His brain has filled with infection and died, along with the personality you once knew and appreciated. Bob is now an infected person, or a reanimated individual. Because his brain has died and the infection has caused the reanimation of his dead flesh, he no longer knows you or cares about you. His intent and purpose is now to feed his reanimated tissue through the ingestion of  living tissue - yours. You must understand this point well. If a friend or family member becomes infected, they are no longer your friend or family member and cannot be treated as such. At this time there has not been enough data collected to postulate a theory on why the reanimated seek to feed on living flesh. Later guides are expected to include this information.
2. Once a person becomes infected, you cannot reason with them. In the previous example, we discussed your friend Bob. Bob is no longer your friend and you cannot convince him to not attempt to eat you. He will not listen. He will not understand. Do not attempt to reason with Bob as this will lose valuable time you will need to either escape the assault or put an end to it (methods of which will be discussed in a later point).
3. A person may become infected through a number of means - some of which have not been thoroughly documented. Therefore, this point may need additional reference citings and studies to validate its accuracy. One way of infection that has been proven and well-documented is through a bite from a reanimated person. The breaking of skin by teeth results in the virus being passed from the teeth of an infected person into the bloodstream of an uninfected person. Some people mistakenly assume it is the saliva of the reanimated person that carries the virus, but again you must remember the infected person is not a living person. Therefore they do not produce saliva. Other means of infection that have been suggested are: scratches or skin breakages caused by contact with an infected person or exposure to blood from an infected person (I.e. infected blood getting into eyes, nose, mouth or an open cut). These methods are still undetermined, but in the interest of safety, you are advised to avoid any and all close contact with the reanimated and their blood.
4. Reanimated persons tend to move slowly. It is unclear at this time why this occurs. There have been theories that this lethargy only affects newly-reanimated and infected persons who have survived longer develop a speed, strength and agility similar to what they experienced prior to infection. Since your survival depends upon infected persons not surviving long after infection, we will not explore this supposition further in this guide. It is sufficient to note that the slowness of reanimated persons is an important tool to utilize when escaping or killing a reanimated person.
5. It is unclear how long infection takes to present. A person who is bitten by an infected person could take minutes to become completely infected or it could take days. There has not been enough data collected to provide sound understanding on this point. In the interest of safety, it is best to assume infection will become complete within a matter of minutes.
This point brings us to the most vital aspect of this guide.
How to kill the reanimated
This is the most important part of this guide. If you are not able to escape to a protected area, you will need to defend yourself and your family.
The only way to cure a reanimation infection is to “kill” the infected person.
Kill is not the proper term since the infected person is technically already dead, but for all intents and purposes of this guide, we will use word kill - or deanimate - when referring to ending an infection.
It has been found that reanimated persons can be rendered immobile and deanimated through destruction of the infected brain tissue.
This destruction can be caused by a gunshot wound to the brain, a severing of the head (thus severing the brain stem) or an object piercing the brain (I.e. a stake, pipe, stick, sword, etc.). Since using an object to pierce the brain requires close contact with an infected person, thus increasing chances of further infection, you would be wise to implement a plan of firearms offense/defense against the reanimated.
It is important to eliminate the threat each reanimated person provides. Unfortunately, there must be no discrimination or delineation upon this point. All reanimated individuals must be rendered deanimated (or killed) in order to stop further spread of infection.
These are the basic pointers and suggestions for dealing with a reanimation infection or infestation in your community. Please review these steps thoroughly to familiarize yourself with them in the event of a reanimation emergency.

I am hoping we will have an answer to the question: Who will be the next American President?

I hope there won’t be a fiasco like we’ve seen in the past. The American people deserve to put this nasty election to rest and get on with our lives.

Whether you voted for McCain or Obama, you deserve to know that your vote has counted: that you’ve helped elect a President.

I voted early because I didn’t want to deal with long lines - although in my little voting house, there is rarely a long line. BUT, when I went to the county courthouse last Wednesday to vote early, I had to stand in line and the workers there said it had been a madhouse all week.

I guess we’ll see what tomorrow brings.

First of all, we don’t eat a lot of meat. Oh, we’re not vegetarians or anything. We’re just not big on meat - except for chicken and turkey which are eaten at most once per week, sometimes only once every 10 days or so.

We eat pasta, rice, fruits and veggies mostly. I try to buy very few convenience foods (although I do buy several frozen pizzas each month to keep on hand for quick meal fixes).

I make a lot of things from scratch - or at least not from a can or a jar: Breakfast muffins, pancakes, homemade pizzas, pasta sauce, macaroni and cheese, bread, cookies.

When I do my grocery shopping, I try to stock up on all-purpose flour (which can be stored in the freezer for long-term keeping), sugar, bread flour, oil, rice and pasta which are staples in my pantry.

I usually do count in my $300 budget items such as shampoo, soap, toothpaste, toilet paper, paper towels (although I rarely buy paper towels - I use dish towels and cut up socks in place of paper towels). Typically though, these items are bought on sale and with coupons so their costs are minimal, or I purchase as much generic as I can.

 I rarely buy name brands unless it is on sale and I have a coupon. I try to buy items in bulk whenever possible, but on certain items that’s not necessarily a cheaper (I’ve found that a 25-pound bag of flour is actually more expensive than buying five five-pound bags of flour).

Another tip I use is to shop at more than one store. This may not be feasible depending upon where you live. In my town, my favorite grocery stores are within less than a mile of each other. I make my list and divide it according to what items I know are cheaper at each store.

More tips later, but I would definitely love to hear some of your favorite tried and true tips to keeping your grocery budget down.