What If’s in Life

Today I was thinking about where I have lived and where I would like to live. I have lived in many parts of the world. The U.S. Asia, and Europe. All of them had something to recommend themselves. NYC, San Francisco, L.A., Washington DC, Baltimore, and Boston to mention just a few. Were all good at the time. Now I live in a medium-sized town in the South West. There are many thing I miss on the Coasts. The Diversity of the people of the large cities was great. As a friend said in Washington D.C. “Every time there is a new war or Natural Disaster DC gets a new Restaurant.” It was true. We ate many different types of food.

But now I am glad we are away from the large cities and the Megalopolis of the East Coast. NYC and L.A. are two places I am glad I left. They are death traps by any estimations. There is no way for the majority of the populace to get away from either city in the event of an emergency. To make this point I have a personal event that happened back in 1998. I was in Manhattan and wanting to leave for Philadelphia after a long week. Someone dropped a box off of their vehicle in the Brooklyn Battery Tunnel. The brave men and women of the Police and Fire department closed the tunnel. It took several hours to decide the box was harmless and it was just an accident. The bad part of this is traffic grid locked up to the Holland Tunnel. A trip that should have taken only a few minutes lasted for several hours. I saw many vehicles run out of gas and add to the problems. People were getting frustrated and very angry. I learned a few new words that summer night.

So if there is a major event such as a prolonged power outage or the main water pipe to the island breaks many people would not be able to get off the island. L.A. is just as bad the road are not able to handle all the people trying to exit the valley at the same time. Last time I was in L.A. the traffic jam reports started at 2:00 pm. They lasted till past 7:00 pm. The first day I asked if there was a special reason for the report so early in the day. My co-worker said it is the normal time for the reports to start.

I am not proposing any conspiracy theory or enemy attack just a thought. What will happen when there is another Coronal Mass Ejection similar to the one in 1859 that melted the telegraph wires in the US and Europe? It is only a matter of time before this very natural and unpredictable event will happen again. With many of our basic services dependent on computers; how are we going to manage the nuclear power plants with the computers permanently offline? Fukushima and Chernobyl are just a precursor to a global level nuclear power plant meltdown.

If you are in a major population center with limited resources such as food fresh water and heating fuel you and just about everyone else will be wanting to leave to a safer place. We moved away from Philadelphia to the more sedate South West. It is a healthier lifestyle where we can ride our bikes or walk to work. There are the mountains for recreation and providing water and food. The Great Plains are east of us; Nebraska or Kansas are a few hours drive from us where there are large farms and areas that are still growing food. The mountains provide food if you know where to look foraging, fishing and hunting are still possible in the mountains. I prefer to do my foraging in the foot hills and around town. When a major event happens there will be too many people in the forest and mountains for my comfort. This is also true for large cities. Many people struggling for the limited resources. There is a lot of food available if you know where to look and what to look for. I spend a lot of time improving my foraging skills and finding better low and no tech ways to thrive.

I would urge everyone who is reading this blog to consider; “What will I do in a prolonged emergency?” My wife was correct when she convinced me to leave the East coast for the South West. We left a year before Super Storm Sandy hit the East Coast. I have many unprepared friends back east caught flat-footed. They had a day or two of food and no stored water. A couple of batteries for the flashlight. Some of them were out of electricity for more than two weeks. Many homes flooded and one of my friends had a generator. The problem was it was under three feet of water in the middle of the storm. Many believed the outages would only last for a few hours. They did not put aside any food or water nor did they have an alternative means to cook food or heat their homes.  There are those who did prepare and still had problems such as my friend with the submerged generator. There were more people who just did not believe it can happen to me. Too many people suffered needlessly. All it would have taken was a little forethought and planning. Every month put aside some non-perishable foods and a buy a few buckets with lids for water and storage of dry goods such as flour, rice, and beans. Granted these are not the tastiest meals but when you are hungry a bowl of rice could be considered a feast.

As with my friend bad luck happens and no matter how well you plan something can go wrong. Murphy’s Law stated it best “If anything can go wrong it will and usually at the worst possible time.” O’Tools commentary is also true “Murphy was an optimist.” He said only one thing will go wrong. It is best to have at least one back up plan in the event the original plan is untenable. I like several options I have made friends throughout the area and have options of where to go and what I can do to thrive in an unpleasant event. In the Army we knew the first casualty of any engagement was the Battle Plan. So a second or even a third fall back plan is something to consider. Don’t over think the issue. A major plan and a backup are all you really need. Keep some basic resources on hand such as money, medicines, food, and water. You and your family will most likely be fine and weather the storm; whatever its cause.

As I have said before Barter will be the continuing economic model. You will need either commodities or in demand skills to trade for what you need and are not able to make or grow. Many people today barter skills and services. It will be very important to learn or refine skills and maybe start a garden. During both World Wars it was your patriotic duty to grow a victory garden. The reasoning was simple if you could feed yourself the major farms could grow food for the soldiers, marines, and sailors who are not able to tend a garden. I have two greenhouses in my back yard that extend the growing season up to 10 months in the year. I will be able to start putting out plants at the middle of February where last year I had to wait till the end of March and into April. My tomatoes and peppers will be out in the middle of March. Which means I will have garden fresh tomatoes in June. This is the best way to provide food for my family. Heirloom seeds and lots of love and attention.

To close, living in a less populated area where there are more natural resources is in my opinion the best option. I realize it is not possible for everyone. Being ready for a week of no electricity is something you can do. Look at how much your family eats and drinks in a week. Over time you can stock up on non-perishable food stocks. Canned food is not the best as the canning process cooks the food  to death. There is very little nutrition left in a can of vegetable. But they will help satisfy you hunger and give some calories to keep going. Stocking up on grains such as millet, oats, quinoa, rice, beans, and a week’s worth of water are something everyone can do to prepare. They are also great trading commodities. Have a few hurricane lanterns and oil ready and flashlights with fresh batteries. I keep my batteries in a cool closet so they stay fresh longer. Do not keep them in the flashlight as they will go dead. A radio with a battery or manual charging crank for official information is a good item to have. Shortwave radio receives are great as the ham radio operators pass information very quickly and in my experience provide valuable information on resources and where to go for help. The government cannot always be where you need them. So the ham radio operators pitch in to help where they can. To live a sustainable life you must think ahead and plan for the “what if’s” in life. An alternative way to cook other than the microwave is also a good idea.