Crisis What Crisis? Is my friend over doing the stockpiling and am I too? Continuation thread (2)

[RedToothBrush]

Continuation of the AIBU to think my friend is overdoing emergency stockpiling thread for discussion about the government advice to stockpile for an imminent emergency and what the heck that emergency might actually be.

I'm moving it over to chat from AIBU as it makes a bit more sense to be there at this point.

Previous thread
https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/am_i_being_unreasonable/5576816-aibu-to-think-my-friend-is-overdoing-emergency-stockpiling?page=1

Spoiler: it's more of a perfect storm of lots of factors coming together to potentially form one great clusterfuck from economic woes, global energy shortages (mainly diesel), potential food shortages, war and madmen to crazy weather patterns rather than a clear identifiable singular thread.

This is a practical thread and a bit of a handhold thread to make sense of events and how they may affect you. This is not an end of the world thread.

We are however going through a period where various governments throughout Europe think there is an elevated risk of some kind of problem due to global instability and we should start to get our heads around the possibility of needing to be ready for anything.

Remember an emergency can range from a temporary unexpected event to a much longer crisis but the underlying principles generally stay the same.

So this is for everything from tips and considerations about what might be a good idea to do /save minimise potential risks to just straight old political bollocks talk about how things are developing.

This is the official government information and advice, if you want further details on what the actual recommendations are:
https://prepare.campaign.gov.uk/get-prepared-for-emergencies/

This does actually explicitly say to write a personalised plan for your household which everyone knows and understands and to talk about the issues you may face to help you be able mobilise for any situation which might arise. Which is exactly what this thread is ultimately for.

I read yesterday that his republican cronies are calling for the introduction of marshal law if he doesn’t do well in the mid-term elections.
If that’s not a veiled threat…
He’s the absolute epitome of megalomania. What option have we but sit and wait?

He's the sort of deranged leader that either loves you or next minute on a whim sends you to the firing squad. I wonder how many in his circle are figuring out how to get him out of office.

Control freak losing control is most likely to lash out..

Gosh that's a worry I was just questioned about requesting some too soon. I said they were not sticking well and had to use more!

I've been eating some of my 'stockpiles'. Mainly because I eat everything from the fridge, then the freezer (you know in case of powercuts). Then I looked around and realised I had probably bought enough tins for about 3 months, maybe longer. So I've started eating a few. One thing I have noticed is lots of tinned food is not really very filling. I usually eat lots of fish, chicken ie protein. Tinned mackeral, sardines are quite good for filling you up. All the tinned ravioli, meatballs, micro rice etc I find are not very filling. I'm guessing because they are not 'real' meat. I wonder if my supplies will last as long as I think as I am eating more tins per meal than anticipated as still hungry. I've got about 90 tins of mackeral/sardines but I finding the tinned soup not very filling. I am missing my fresh stuff (greek yogurt, berries, cottage cheese and proteins meats). Just food for thought (sorry no pun intended). Don't think it would be very enjoyable eating tinned food for very long although I suppose the tinned fruit tastes okay (not sure how good it is for you)

In other news I have started watching BBC's 'Survivors' again. (the 2008 version with Julie Graham). I've seen it before but I am quite enjoying watching it again. I reckon the fighting over fuel, food and general lawlessness is quite accurate. I also think the men demanding sex in return for work/protection is quite accurate. God knows what I will do since my young attractive days are long gone. I think that might be a good thing mind since young attractive females always seem to be first in the (rape) firing line in any end of the world scenarios. I think i would rather be ignored and unprotected. These types of programs always make me wish I had done some useful career like doctor, nurse, farmer rather than the paper pushing career I did have and which would be bugger all use if society becomes lawless.

I'm reading your updates about Trump. He does seem to be a law into himself now doesn't he. With the budget coming up, the midterms, the clocks changing next week and all the ongoing riots, blockades, SOH carry on, wars things do seem to be 'messy' in every direction. Today my dog was shaking with fear when I put my car through the carwash. He is getting old and I think things that he coped with when younger upset him now. I don't think he would cope well with war. On the plus side he doesn't hear the fireworks anymore so that is a bonus.

I actually dreamt we were are war last night. It was all muddled up as dreams tend to be but it is clearly affecting me.

Think I am feeling quite grateful to be in my fifties now in case anything happens ie if I die or starve then I think well at least I got xx years not like the youngsters. Is that morbid? I don't know.

My amazon firestick stopped working the other day (a wire had come loose) and my first thought was the russians had cut our cables. I had my little radio on for updates. When there was none, I switched on my computer and realised the internet was still working and it was just me having tv problems and not the whole country.

It's funny. I know we are all talking about it and prepping to a degree for it but if I woke up tomorrow to headlines of 'UK first victim of Russia's European War' and they had bombed our electricity grids or something I would still be 'shocked'. Why is that. We are talking about it, thinking about it and yet it still seems quite unbelievable. Is that because I don't want it to be true.

Anyway just a middle aged women rambling on the internet about the impact this is having on me. I did put batteries into my 2nd torch this week so that was 'practical' . I now have 2 battery lamps and 2 torches all working. You have to remember how dark it is outside with no street lights. That always shocks me. You kind of forget when the power goes out it's not just your house, but the street lights as well. Last winter or the one before (I can't remember) the housing estate opposite mine had a power cut for about 7 days. We didn't have it and I was blissfully unaware of it. I don't know what caused it but just goes to show it happens (and that was before all this chaos started).

I think I am going to be really angry at AB if he does not allocate funds to defence in the budget. He is making us sitting ducks.

Oh and I know the 'Survivors' is a tv program and not 'real' although I do find the BBC do quite good realistic things like this and threads.

At the start of Survivors you see the govt giving updates to the public/news which is just bullshit to keep everyone calm. That did me think of how things are just now.
So much chaos and yet the papers are full of Megan and Harry and other such trivialities. Are the frogs being kept calm while the water heats up.

I would say re tinned foods not being as filling, you need to pair up the tin with rice, pasta, couscous - something high in carbs so you feel full. I know how much rice I need for one meal, and I have enough now for 6 weeks. I then match that up with the tins I have, do I have 6 weeks' worth of tinned food?

Yes you are right about the 'missing' foods, things we probably can't get hold of. I like yoghurt and cheese for example, but know I will quickly exhaust those items and may not get more, so what will I have to fill that gap? I do think the food won't last as long as we think, not unless you're very strict and prepared to go a bit hungry at times.

I am now also using the BBE dates to estimate when I need to start eating food in the stockpile if life is going on as normal, so I don't end up with expired tins (mostly you can use them after the BBE date, but still I try to eat them before that). In the end it is a matter of keeping records of what you have and when it expires.

Think I am feeling quite grateful to be in my fifties now in case anything happens ie if I die or starve then I think well at least I got xx years not like the youngsters. Is that morbid? I don't know.

Not at all, I feel the same (am 70).

We are talking about it, thinking about it and yet it still seems quite unbelievable. Is that because I don't want it to be true.

I think some of us are living in a sort of parallel universe at the same time where one part of us is going along as normal and is almost sceptical of the prepping we're doing, and the other part is just waiting for the inevitable news and wondering whether we've prepped enough or the right things. I think that's a perfectly normal way to feel. I do wonder how people felt before WW1 and 2 broke out, must have had a sense of foreboding I'd imagine.

I now have 2 battery lamps and 2 torches all working. You have to remember how dark it is outside with no street lights. That always shocks me.

We've a street light that tends to not work when it's been raining. It's pitch black with it off. I now have a headtorch a well as a hand held one. I have a red light option on the headtorch, it's much nicer to use than white light, not as dazzling!

Yes will be interesting to see how the budget goes... and the US midterms... and so on it goes!

I need a better way to light the living rooms and bedrooms.
We have candles of course but I'm worried about fire.

I think the scenes from France are incredible and it's not one town it's all over

@HurryUpParcelDelivery I can relate to a lot of that.
The other day, both local ATM's were out of service.
I wondered if it was too late and I'd missed the boat for getting some cash - and it wasn't a good feeling.
I've been evaluating my first aid supplies and added trauma bandages and burns dressings which weren't in my standard first aid kit.
Oh how I wish I could get a course of doxycycline and amoxicillin.

I'm absolutely for battery lanterns and headtorches and a big stash of batteries.
Torches are a nuisance imo as I like my hands free when I'm moving about.
Rechargeable stuff is only as good as your memory to do it, and the ability to.
My back up is candles.

Battery powered fairy lights are cheerful all year round, I've got some pink and blue ones up the stairs.
Has anyone mentioned tinned coconut cream? Can it add to most things savoury or sweet, quite filling and healthy fats.

We have some really good solar string lights. We take them camping. Yes we are those campers. Had them five years now and they last all night till sun rise turns them off again.

We do have 4 battery lanterns, 5 head torches and various large and small hand torches.

candles placed in every room as decor anyway should the need arise. 6 Battery packs I try to keep charged but the teens steal them 😅

I do have a few solar watering systems so maybe I’ll look into how hard it would be to convert that to even say charge a phone up as I know they work well rather than some random unknown Amazon purchase.

@PriorPreparation I've decided on a lantern per room and headtorch per person.
I'm also adding a fire blanket to my list. Should really have one anyway tbh.

We have a fire blanket and two fire extinguishers already.

@FindingMeno what type of lantern like a camping one ? Sounds very precious but I'm sensitive to lights and really hate cold white lights !

We have fire blankets though.

Also people should get lots of antiscepric stuff ...Dettol /wipes and so on

I'm out today so not had a lot of time

Romanian F-16 pilots have shot down two drones that entered Romanian airspace.

According to Romania’s Ministry of National Defence, the drones were intercepted over the Black Sea at around 18:00 local time.

The situation in France looks absolutely dreadful. Looting in a number of places. Buildings up in flame. Police seem completely absent in some areas.

Albania has seen the Ministry of the Economy ransacked today.

Ukraine is having more issues with Starlink speed.

Pakistan has closed its border with Iran 'temporarily' for trade

Dana warnings going out in Spain for flash flooding.

So many ships are being hit in the Strait of Hormuz that the service that normally records it can't cope or the owners are now unwilling to report.

Trumps rally tonight holds 8200. There are just over 1200 people there. This image from last night doesn't exactly say "winning".

Massive queues of traffic to get out of Ukraine as the most recent issues with no electricity.

Enormous 'No Kings' protest in NYC against Trump.

Protests in Italy.

Protests against Netanyahu in Israel.

Protests in Brussels.

Lindsay Graham is in Ukraine - it's his bill that put more sanctions against Russia. Until trump decided yesterday to make an executive order that negates half of it. Zelenskyy enjoying the photo op in his spat with trump

Moscow airport has been heavily delayed due to drones with hundreds sleeping in the airport.

Just another normal average day.

Ha, I bought 2 fire blankets today! Adding to the one I already have, as I noticed my current one is just 1 meter square, so got 2 larger ones of 1.5 meters square. I also have some foil emergency blankets very small and easy to store. So small that I've misplaced them and need to find them again! 😂

I was watching the Paris riots today, you can't really call them anything else. Shops smashed and looted, things set on fire. Absolutely awful, and that's just Paris, it's all over France.

Still can't imagine the UK erupting like that, it takes a lot for Brits go off like that, however sometimes just one event will trigger it, eg Southport.

Gentle it's terrible isn't it. Also in Milan and Brussels ,cost of living /low wages and sheer opportunism.

@PriorPreparation we have bulbs from Amz which charge up when on when the electric is available and then last about 3 hours when there is a power cut. They were a recommendation from a lady in South Africa who was living through daily load shedding. The light is quite harsh, but the fact it is coming from a usual point in a room is very comforting

I remember watching a documentary about the holocaust. They were interviewing survivors who were pretty old at the time of filming. One said she got asked why did they not leave Germany before it was too late and she said it happened little by little by little and then it was too late to leave. That's what I feel is happening just now. Things are happening little by little under a fake aura of 'calm' and then it will be too late.

I've got little lamps. I bought them from John Lewis quite a number of years ago now. They look like old fashioned oil lamps but they are battery operated.

I know what you mean. I went to top up the car today and I had that small moment of fear that all the pumps would be empty but it was fine. My car looked 3/4 full but it took another £22 pound of fuel so I felt better after that.

What are the antibiotics for? Is that for the Russian plague which has 'dissappeared'

@PriorPreparation we bought these from Amazon last year in case of power cuts. They have a few settings and a choice of a bright white light or a soft warm light.

@PriorPreparation what I have may not suit you as they are remarkably bright for such a small size. They're from Amazon. I don't know how to do a link but they're quite cheap, in packs of 2, and turn on by just pulling up the top section.
As mentioned by @Clearingthedecks fairy lights might be better for you.

I haven't bought that but I did buy some nestle carnation milk which I remember vividly from the seventies. I thought it might be a treat for all the tinned fruit I bought. I hope it tastes the same.

Just googled carnation milk. What is the difference between evaporated and condensed. Is one creamy and one watery? I hope I bought the creamy one. Will be pissed off if it's the end of the world and I've bought the diet version (lol)