Prepping is changing as I get older
Yesterday I finally buckled down and did something I had been avoiding: Cleaning out under the kitchen sink to make room for water storage.
I live in the ‘mother in law apartment’ of my house, with the rest of it occupied by my middle son and his family. The basement is shared. My/our water storage is in the basement, mostly in 5 gallon or larger containers. It was more than a year ago that I realized I probably couldn’t carry a 5 gallon container up the (outside) stairs, and what if the stairs were in ice anyhow? What if my son was away and I was alone?
There’s room for a thin 5-gallon under my sink, and gallon jugs there and elsewhere, but cleaning out under the sink meant having to get on my knees- not so easy- and dealing with a mess of junk under there.
So, I procrastinated for more than a year on an essential prep. It is much more likely that I will need water for a few days or weeks, and I had not moved to do the obvious first, even if I had longer term storage downstairs! Doesn’t do any good if I can’t get to enough water to get by for a bit.
Another example is that I ran out of ibuprofen. Often have to take a couple in the evening if I’ve been working in the garden or doing a lot of housework. Tom Clancy said in one of his novels that special ops forces bring plenty of OTC painkillers as they get sore from all the heavy activity. Good point! If TSHTF, we will all be sore as our activity levels go up- carrying wood and water, cooking from scratch, guarding, etc. etc. There was a time I had plenty of ibuprofen, and then…it got used up. That’s been fixed, too.
On one of forums, someone said they were no longer buying long-term storage foods because they won’t outlive the storage life. Got me thinking! Are there ways you are changing what you prep for and make adjustments for aging?
Yesterday I finally buckled down and did something I had been avoiding: Cleaning out under the kitchen sink to make room for water storage.
I live in the ‘mother in law apartment’ of my house, with the rest of it occupied by my middle son and his family. The basement is shared. My/our water storage is in the basement, mostly in 5 gallon or larger containers. It was more than a year ago that I realized I probably couldn’t carry a 5 gallon container up the (outside) stairs, and what if the stairs were in ice anyhow? What if my son was away and I was alone?
There’s room for a thin 5-gallon under my sink, and gallon jugs there and elsewhere, but cleaning out under the sink meant having to get on my knees- not so easy- and dealing with a mess of junk under there.
So, I procrastinated for more than a year on an essential prep. It is much more likely that I will need water for a few days or weeks, and I had not moved to do the obvious first, even if I had longer term storage downstairs! Doesn’t do any good if I can’t get to enough water to get by for a bit.
Another example is that I ran out of ibuprofen. Often have to take a couple in the evening if I’ve been working in the garden or doing a lot of housework. Tom Clancy said in one of his novels that special ops forces bring plenty of OTC painkillers as they get sore from all the heavy activity. Good point! If TSHTF, we will all be sore as our activity levels go up- carrying wood and water, cooking from scratch, guarding, etc. etc. There was a time I had plenty of ibuprofen, and then…it got used up. That’s been fixed, too.
On one of forums, someone said they were no longer buying long-term storage foods because they won’t outlive the storage life. Got me thinking! Are there ways you are changing what you prep for and make adjustments for aging?