January 01, 2009
Thank you so much to all who have placed links on their blogs and facebook accounts. We really have so many more people checking in now and I have begun to get lots of questions, which was my goal. There is so much we can learn from each other and there is also, unfortunately, plenty of bad information out there. Together we can sort it all out. There is no reason preparing can’t be fun and affordable.
I am still in need of other businesses to highlight. During these difficult economic times we either need to save more money or we need to make more money. Each Wednesday we talk about saving money. I would really love to be able to help those who need a little help getting the word out about their businesses, and making more money. Some of these home businesses may even give you an idea that will work for you. Please send me an email at: carolyn@Totallyready.com if you have or know of someone who has a business they are trying to get off the ground.
Now to our Seven Steps…ONE MORE WEEK! I know some of you have just discovered us and are just beginning. If you have any questions please let me know. For those who are finishing up here goes:
1. Add disinfectant wipes to your cleaning supplies. These will be very important during a pandemic and you will want some in almost every room. We will talk about that more in our pandemic planning. For now, just stock up.
2. Purchase rubbing alcohol to use to disinfect thermometers.
3. Print off several copies of the Ground to Air Rescue Signals form. Place these in your car kits and 72 hour kits. They can literally save your life.
4. Early in our preparations we completed a photo inventory around our home. I put off doing an inventory of our food storage because most of us didn’t have much to inventory. Now we do. Next week when we finish up I will review what we have accomplished, it’s truly amazing! This week take your camera and take pictures of your food storage. Send these on to your out of state contact to include with your other inventories. You want to get paid back for your food storage too if there is a disaster, so you’ll need proof.
5. Find a food storage buddy. Our goal has always been to be ” Totally Ready for whatever comes” which means having at least a three month supply of the foods we normally eat. We have made a start but because we have also been working on other aspects of emergency preparedness we have not reached our goal. We will do that in 2009. A buddy will help you to stick to the plan, give you someone to share recipes with, provide you with someone to share volume purchases and furnish you with another set of eyes to watch the ads for bargains.
6. Add disinfectant wipes to your workplace kit. These are valuable not only during a pandemic but just for everyday use after someone else uses your work area. Wipe down the computer keyboard, desk top and phone and you can avoid many infections.
7. Review your home owner’s insurance policy.For some sample questions to ask: http://blog.tot
That’s all for now…
I have you linked on my page btw! anyways I guess that is a good idea to take pics of the food you already have and send it to your out of state contact. So I live in Arizona , would sending it to my family in Idaho count? Do I need to spread my food out and take pics of just take pics of how it is now, stacked neatly on shelves in my kitchen and pantry?
Perfect! You just want the record with someone who would not be involved in the same disaster, thus someone far away. If you keep all your records in a safe deposit box and the bank is closed you are sunk, another reason you want someone at least 50 miles away. You should take pictures of the food just where it is. Take several angles so you can see how deep the cans are stacked. This will also give you a record of any containers or shelving involved, which you would want replaced also, if you need to file an insurance claim.
This is a fantastic post. I need to get on it! I have been refraining from buying more disinfectant wipes because I was trying to “clean greener” and use fewer throw aways. But for some reason it didn’t click in my mind that in a pandemic the quick cleaning would be more important – especially if I might be feeling ill myself. DUH.
I’ll be picking some up at the PX today. GREAT reminder!
We have friends who lost their house in a fire and they were devastated at all of the food storage they lost. Of course they did not have photos to prove it had existed. Great reminder!