So, there was this major snowstorm that shutdown DC and much of Virginia and Maryland for about a week. Many folks were without electricity for about that. The newspaper had a grocery store pictured....the shelves were picked bare save for some lemons in the produce section -- the headline was "When Life Gives You Lemons."
My worthless supplies? I had seasoned firewood that heated my house. My neighbors with only the electric furnace did without until they came to my house. I had plenty of dry goods, a generator, and extra water. Water you ask? Water doesn't magically come out of the faucet in a rural area when there is no electricity to run the pump.
Once whatever is in the filter/basin is gone, you're hosed. It is better to allow the water to slowly drip and hope the power comes back before it is empty....rather than use it al up and have the pipes freeze. I was crazy right up until the temperature in the house dropped below comfortable, water wouldn't come out of the faucet, and the bellies started to rumble. It was less than 24 hours that my cell phone rang (that I can charge with a hand crank radio) and I was taken up on my offer.
Aside from SPAM and powdered milk......charcoal is good to store. It helps decontaminate an NBC environment. TECNU for poison ivy is also good too (its original purpose). Having a basic dental kit, manuals, and 1st aid helps too. As does, IV bags, catheters, extra tubing and on and on and on. Preparing doesn't end.
I've also made it through hurricanes and other natural disasters. I'm charitable, but watching the 'too-little and too-lates' show up at Wal Mart can almost be a spectator sport.
A bottle jack and tire tool won't help you if your car bursts into flames either, but that doesn't mean you go without them; you may get lucky and only have a flat.
It is only silly until you need what you don't have. Situations turn desperate really quick.
I guess I'll just have to accept some people didn't learn from the ant and the grasshopper story.....unfortunately those results won't be entertaining.
It was probably 15 years ago that we has a neighborhood meeting after a huge flood. I was running the meeting and had off handedly mentioned I'd filled every container I could find with water. Even old timers asked how I knew to do that. Really?!? It's not rocket science to look at the sky and watch the evening news weather reports. All services out here are iffy so every time there's a big storm, I'm filling water bottles just in case. On Tuesday, the electricity went out for no reason and the first thing I thought of was no water for the garden.