Are you taking any steps because of the Ukraine situation?

[DetailMouse]

The situation for those in the country is heartbreaking, I've sobbed at several news stories this morning and my heart aches for a Ukrainian friend whose family is still there.

On a far more selfish, practical level have you "done" anything to protect yourself and your own situation? If nothing else I can see an impending deepening of the financial crisis. A friend has taken all her money out of the bank, for example, but it's true she's prone to a bit of drama. Gas supply worries me a lot.

Is there anything we should be doing now to help a bit if the situation is prolonged or worsens?

Yes I sent my dh into the garden today with a shovel and told him to dig a bomb shelter !! He basically told me the same thing the poor brave 13 Ukrainian boarder guards on Snake island Told a Russian warship !! Go F**k yourself !! They were then all killed in a Russian bomb strike . I somehow don’t think that will happen anytime soon in Aberdeen.

If you only fill up with petrol twice a year then it's not going to be a huge problem. Hopefully in August people won't still be panic buying.

People going mad buying petrol again here which will obviously lead to shortages again

Waitrose petrol station was not very busy at all, these queues must be a rumour, though Asda is always rammed as it is a couple of pence cheaper, I would have been foolish to leave it and pay more next week.

@strawberryapricotpie

I thought the Cuban Missile crisis was more frightening. I can remember being sent home early with the message, "WW3 could start this afternoone, go home to your family." When I got home my gran was there which was unusual, she rarely visited and if she did it was at weekends. Apparently if we were going to get blown to bit we were all going together.

Crikey, that must have been terrifying @ancientgran!

It was but then we'd grown up playing on bomb building sites, I lived in the inner city, so WWII had a certain fascination for us. I don't think we understood how different another war would be, we were told but hard for kids to comprehend.

It was unusual for the nuns to be quite so direct at my school but they did tend to be a bit no nonsense. We were told to pray when we got home but I think we were all too excited about an afternoon off school. Kids are pretty resilient aren't they, well not all obviously but lots of them. I daresay us snotty nosed kids from the inner city slums would be the ones to survive, pretty tough lot on the whole, as my gran used to say, "Little pigs thrive on muck" and that was us.

I’ve sold all my belongings and moved to an underground cave with my cats, nothing extreme

I thought about buying extra pasta then gave my head a wobble!

My rationale was Ukraine is known as the bread basket of Europe as that's where a significant amount of wheat is grown.

Agh I’ve got 30 miles left in tank and a 60 mile’ish round trip tonight to a gig. Am I going to struggle to get diesel? Now I’m kicking myself for letting it run low.

@sheeplikessleep

Agh I’ve got 30 miles left in tank and a 60 mile’ish round trip tonight to a gig. Am I going to struggle to get diesel? Now I’m kicking myself for letting it run low.

I guess it depends on area. Petrol stations here are absolutely fine. No queues, no shortages.

That’s reassuring @peboh I am going to leave a bit early to allow for any queuing. Thanks

What stupid things do you think we should be doing? FFS. What a drama Queen.

There will only be a ‘run on the banks’ if a lot of ott people do what she just did.

I got £20 out because Russian interference might cause temporary problems with contactless but money is safe in our banks. Even in WW1 and 2 people could still use the bank. Maybe internet banking will go down but we will still be able to go into branch and get stuff done assuming most people’s local branches haven’t been shut down.

I have ordered some emergency essentials to put together a ‘pack and go’ emergency bag. I live in a port city that was flattened in ww2 and as I have a baby I just don’t want to leave it to chance.

@Nanalisa60

Yes I sent my dh into the garden today with a shovel and told him to dig a bomb shelter !! He basically told me the same thing the poor brave 13 Ukrainian boarder guards on Snake island Told a Russian warship !! Go F**k yourself !! They were then all killed in a Russian bomb strike . I somehow don’t think that will happen anytime soon in Aberdeen.

No but on the other hand it is good to be aware of if the area you live could be a big target. The oil field off of Aberdeen might well be one. (Didn’t hear about the boarder guards sound horrendous!)

I think looking at your finances and see where you can pay extra for fuel as prices will go even higher.

I like the idea of prepping but only because I love a good list and rows of food lined up on shelves.

There were huge queues at the petrol station when I needed to fill up today.

On the flip side, I'm organising for my Scout group to write letters of support to Scouts in Ukraine.

@User5rh

Waitrose petrol station was not very busy at all, these queues must be a rumour, though Asda is always rammed as it is a couple of pence cheaper, I would have been foolish to leave it and pay more next week.

Well I saw the queues with my own eyes so not a rumour here. FB Spotted going on about BP running out of fuel.

I can’t find the comment but someone was asking about how to donate help gofund.me/22b0fbf1

No queues here for petrol, everything is normal.

I've always held a month's worth of cash in the house anyway. Just somethingy parents did too. But other than that, probably keeping my car at least half full of fuel. I don't think anything else will make much difference.

I've just checked the cash situation in the house. I've £2.92 in my purse and DS2 says he has a fiver and about 20 Euros he brought back from his last holiday. I think we're all set.

@ItsLisaLou

I’ve sold all my belongings and moved to an underground cave with my cats, nothing extreme

I love that, it sounds like a good idea! (At least as an overnight camp).

If you need to withdraw life savings from a bank then you’re not going to be living in a country where it’s worth anything are you? Good grief.

Making sure you have a bit of extra food in cupboards sounds like a generally good idea, especially with Brexit.

@Sparklingbrook

I've just checked the cash situation in the house. I've £2.92 in my purse and DS2 says he has a fiver and about 20 Euros he brought back from his last holiday. I think we're all set.

I think a lot of people are still wading their way through the tinned tomatoes, pasta and loo roll they stockpiled/panic bought in 2020.

I was thinking of taking £20 out of the bank. It’s probably a bit daft and overreacting but I realised I had 64p so if my account ever had issues I’d be stuck!

God I'm tired of people pretending it's nutty to have a few quid in cash, should there be an emergency.

The smirking about how it'll be pointless in the event we're all nuked.

People think in such BLACK AND WHITE terms. It is ridiculous because it's not a case of hellfire and being reduced to dust, OR life completely normal. There is a whole middle ground.

Some short term roadbumps are very possible. I remember Mastercard (I think?) had problems for a few hours one evening a few years ago. I had a bit of cash in my purse, so was able to pay for my Aldi shop. It's that kind of thing you can put some measures in place to mitigate for.

We all know if SHTF having a few bob at home isn't going to help