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.

We have a tiny kitchen but I have found a spot to put my extra tins - on top of the cabinets! If I angle them correctly shouldn’t even be very visible. I won’t go too mad as I don’t wanting all the cabinets to come crashing down.

so far i have one tin of decaf after a post yesterday! Like the idea of a bottle of vodka too. We already have a decent few fish tins anyway. Think I will just get more than usual when I see offers.

Do you have space under your bed or behind books in a bookshelf?

Oh I quite like the idea of putting in hinge behind books - thank you

Checked the pantry just now. We have canned: haricot beans, green beans, black beans, cannellini beans, chicken consomme, beef consomme, chopped tomato, chicken soup, cream of mushroom soup, beans, tuna, olives.
Bottled saurkraut, pickles, water, our own garden veg and fruit. Bulk panko bread crumbs, cinnamon bark, penne, macaroni, linguine and couscous. Vacuum packed chick peas, puy lentils, black pepper, marrowfat peas and haricot beans. Oatmeal, sugar, ground coffee, chocolate, basmati rice. A box full of condiments etc: picallili, mustard, Lea & Perrins, lime pickle, mango chutney, tamarind paste, tomato paste, oyster sauce, hoisin sauce. Spices and baking powder/ soda, flour stored elsewhere.

It seems very ott when I type it out but truly we use the stuff every day, but keep multiples of everything and fill the shelves back up when DH shops.

Tuna, crackers, cheese, cereals, crisps tbh. I have lots of pasta sauces, tin toms, tin beans, glass jar hot dogs are a dirty treat so I just grab an extra jar everytime we shop. Cuppa soup type things as it’s warm and a bit of water. Microwave rice like a Pp. Lots of honey always local as it helps with hayfever symptoms, maple syrup just because I always have some anyway.

I always have soups in the cupboard as well which you could technically eat cold.

I have a good stash of water and water purifying tablets so using water for cooking won’t be a problem for my pastas / noodles. Which are great to stock up on as cheap and I have teens so they eat like locusts.

Tip with microwave rice as well is most you can fry.

Lots of herbs and spices is what you want to flavour very possibly boring bland foods. Always get them from the world foods isle cheaper for more. I have a heat sealer so I’m always buying in bulk and re packaging.

Nettle tea is also good for hayfever just as a random share.

I pretty much just buy everything we use but over buy it. Then made sure we have a way to cook it.

Our garden has an orchard, greenhouse and poly tunnel.

Buy everything you use but over buy it. Words to live by.

DH also says "take care of the luxuries and the necessities will take care of themselves". Don't make a store cupboard of things that you don't like just because they store well. DH makes sure to get lots of olives and wine, because who wants to go into a crisis with peanut butter and a cracker? No one.

Actually peanut butter is a good choice for the pantry. But treats are good too 😁

good bit of advice i read, buy what you like to eat, no point being sensible all the time

I am flexible on most things, but tea is non negotiable. Definitely need to buy some spare decaf. If only the men running the world would have a nice chat over tea and jammy dodgers instead of missiles.

Can’t brag about how big your jammie dodger is tho 😉

That’s all it bloody is. Willy waving over fucking oil and shit.

Haha I do actually like peanut butter and crackers, and I think DDs would happily live on them for a few days if needed. I do however have a healthy stash of crisps and wine so I will be well catered for come the end of days! 😉

It's a fair point though to make sure to have some treats in. If the power went off or you were stuck at home for a few days I think some morale-enhancing biscuits would be a necessity!

I also just randomly buy random books because well I can and I have adult money is my excuse lol

But it would help kill boredom. Also have a healthy 👀 stash of Lego. I’d ban monopoly though don’t need internal fights when shits going on outside.

I've just read that 4 neighbouring countries, including Mongolia, have locked down borders with Russia because of the plague outbreak.

I've got some sweet treats in, boiled sweets, tinned chocolate custard and a blue tin of those Royal Dansk biscuits. Wine box.

I plan to bring them out when the novelty of Candlelit monopoly games wears off. Morale is important.

Tinned chocolates is a good idea and will be useful at Christmas anyway - plus calorie dense 😉

Belgium is joining in the unrest now as well. In the cities of Liege and Arlon there's been rioting and arrests.

https://www.brusselstimes.com/brussels-2/2347065/sixteen-arrested-as-student-protests-in-liege-turn-violent

https://today.rtl.lu/news/world/student-protests-turn-violent-in-arlon-and-liege-dozens-arrested-597218949

Meanwhile Russia is going 'NOPE no plague here! Fake news.'

We don’t actually riot here do we.

They riot with meaning and want.

When we have a riot it’s yobs steaming from sports direct.

I must admit I did stand with the tractors blocking in a Tesco depot before for better pay for farmers. But even that was very tame. Someone came with bacon butties for all and flask coffee.

Can you point me to where you read this? This is the kind of development I had on my radar as something that would make me take notice a bit more. I have not been too concerned so far, but if neighbouring borders close, then that's a real escalation.

https://x.com/EmmanuelMacron/status/2107418464033931674

Here's Emmanuel playing with his toys.

Russian media claims a second victim has died from 'plague outbreak' at infection zone hospital as Kremlin scrambles to cover up details
https://www.dailymail.com/news/article-16186315/amp/Russian-media-claims-second-victim-died-plague-outbreak-infection-zone-hospital-Kremlin-scrambles-cover-details.html

I'm seeing posts about Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and Mongolia and the plague. I haven't got a source that I completely trust, but the tweets say they have tightened sanitation checks rather than 'lock the border'. So a heightened alert which is prudent really.

The US embassy in Moscow just put out a health alarm urging caution and that they couldn't help us citizens still left in Russia if there was a problem.

Meanwhile whilst everyone is having a meltdown about the plague

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cqzrd7v1j163o
Kenya confirms it's first death from ebola.

We started to be a bit more sensible and buy a few water bottles, gas bottles, DH also got some sort of astronaut packs and drinking straws just in case many years ago.

Then covid, the big pandemic happened. Food supplies delivered in abundance to the vulnerable, guaranteed WiFi, going to work in masks. We really thought is this it? It's not the apocalypse, though of course it felt one at the time.

I guess from this experience people expect the government to step up and help as they did then. However, if it came to a real no electricity and no WiFi then most wouldn't be able to cope within the world we live in.

I'm not gonna lie, but I can't remember. Probably some dodgy unheard of news site that popped up on my feed 😬
I would put a lot more faith in what @RedToothBrush says above tbh.