Well, this is my first post on this forum, so hello all. call me "Tom".
(30 minutes) I started a little black notebook with plans of what needs to be done and lists of things that I want to get ready, including a family communications plan, water plan, food plan, shelter-in-place plan, etc. I need to make my "List of Lists (of things that need to get done)). Thanks for suggesting this as a good place to start.
(10 minutes) I do not yet have a place picked in case evacuation is necessary, and I would evacuate only in dire straits. Shelter-in-place is my preferred method since I am out of the flood zone, out of the way of most tornado activity due to luckily-placed hills, I am on the upwind side of a city that is not too close, I am out of the main flow of traffic to or from anyplace, and generally feel OK in this place. I know I need to have a contingency for getting out, but just have not put the plan together.
(60 minutes) I cleaned up and organized my pantry so I can better store and rotate foods stores.
(10 minutes) I have been storing water in the empty 2 liter bottles as I drink the soft drinks out of them (I fill them with water and freeze them, and rotate them as I need ice for coolers...as the ice melts, I drink the water and it also keeps stuff cold while melting). I am using my spare refrigerator/ freezer in the garage to store this water...lots of room but never enough room. The plan is to store a gallon a day per person in the frozen state, and I got my water purifier out of my backpack (20 minutes) and reviewed its use. I have had a nice little portable generator in the basement for a few years (since 2000)and I have resolved to roll it out the back door and start it up weekly (20 minutes), and I have resolved to buy the transfer switch (at Lowes) for connecting portable generators to the breaker box (when money gets a little better, these switches are like $270 bucks).
I am (safely) keeping and rotating several 5 gallon gas cans of gasoline through the vehicles, always trying to keep a minimum of 15 gallons safely stored. I'm told that I need to rotate gasoline every 30-60 days but I don't knwo about that yet. I might increase this amount of fuel in the future. I bought an extra couple bags of rice, one extra box of pasta, and a couple extra cans of canned beans (because I like these Lucks Pinto Beans with Onion!) on my regular trip to the local Kroger store, a little at a time, and am trying to do a better job of rotating it through the rearranged pantry. I am resolved to begin cooking and eating cooked beans more, and I want to begin making stick bread for when I use my charcoal grill to fix meats and veggies.
I want to grow more foods, but I have missed the initial growing season this year and my little flower bed on the south side of the house is still in flowers and the soil is getting amended because I plop my grass clippings on the parts that are not actively growing flowers. Flowers will slowly convert to beans, tomatoes, and squash over the next few years. Then I'll have to learn to can foods the way my mom used to can foods.
I would like to make a canned stock rotating device (first in first out) to make rotating canned goods automatic, but that will take some woodworking and I ran out of weekend (this will take maybe 4 hours to make something to sit on the shelf in the the pantry, and it will be portable in case of evacuation).
(30 minutes) I bought a 100 pack of 12 gauge shells at WalMart (the biggest prep purchase this week...it was like 22 bucks before tax) and put them in my little existing ammunition can with the still-soft rubber seal. These will presently work in my long 12 gauge shotgun, but I am planning to get a little Moss 500 Tactical when I get some more cash (these Mossbergs are like $399 at my favorite gun shop... not the best price, but I give him all my gun-buying business and he gives me free range time). I could get things cheaper elsewhere, but he has always had ammunmition when I have asked for ammunition, and he is straight with me.
(2 hours) I looked up the Operating Manual on the internet and field stripped/ cleaned really well my Ruger .22 Model 1 semiauto handgun that I have had for years, and I have just now begun to get out and plink with it again. A good manual really answers a lot of things i had either forgotten or never knew.
(60 minutes) I reorganized my improvised catch-all first aid kit into a nice little shoulder bag that a neighbor gave me. I provided him with some solid fuel for his cookouts, and he gave me a nice bag. I reviewed the first aid manual that came with one of the kits that I used to make my big first aid kit. Good review of the basics.
(30 minutes) I dug some old Army Manuals out of the basement and thumbed through them, placing them beside my reading chair, including "Survival", "First Aid for Soldiers", "Medical Specialist" and "Combatives". Before-bed reading.
This is cheating, but last week I bought matching Ka-bars for my son and me, and resolved that I am not a knife collector- this KaBar is a working knife and I immediately sharpened it and took it out to cut on some sticks to get the "newness" off of it. I am not afraid to use it as the tool that it is, and I look forward to gaining some skill with KaBar. I am learning to keep my knives sharp, again, after a long time of being a sheeply suburbanite.
Weekend before last, I put together a little butt pack and filled my canteen, put on my hiking boots and went out to a local Wildlife Management Area for a little 2 hour hike (and I dug out my old lensatic compass and refreshed my map/ nav skills too). Nothing like practicing AND recreation. Over next couple of weeks, I'll go camping again, after 10 years of not camping, and will resolve to camp regularly now. I might start recon on some hunting spots in the Wildlife Management Area for later in the fall.
I need to begin slowly getting some more ammunition, and more little 30 cal ammo cans to store it in. Ammo is a lot of money, so I'll take it slowly.
Again, a little cheating on the timeline, but I have begun sleeping with my .45ACP on the nightstand in the last month. I upgraded my house burglar alarm system (last month), and feel like I would know if someone comes in the house in the middle of the night now. Not expecting the Police to do anything except show up after the fact and fill out the report, but the alarm system makes a heck of a racket and I will surely wake up and have a chance to handle things as best I know how.
Not major investments in either time or money, but I am feeling a lot more prepared now.
By the way, this was all precipitated by a break-in WHILE I WAS SLEEPING IN MY OWN BEDROOM a couple of months ago, and it brought home the fact that I need to get my own act together and be sure that I can take care of myself. At the same time, tornadoes tore through a local city and displaced a lot of folks, and remembering about Katrina and 9-11... well, the only thing to do is be as prepared as my mom and dad were in the 1960's.
Also, I need to get in better shape. 20 years of mid-management has made me soft.
Sorry this is so long, first post, I had a lot to get out, and this solidifies the plans for the future in my own head, at least.
Looking forward to reading everybody's posts... I have only read a handfull so far, but I'll get around to them eventually.
