Is DH being unreasonable to think we should start hoarding ?

[oldandgreynow]

He is worried about what is going to happen to the economy after the 'window dressing' which has gone on in the runup to the election ends.he thinks we should start hoarding non perishable food incase there is a devaluation in the currency ,we can't import anything and there are food shortages.I can see this is a remote posssibility but surely very unlikely and most likely we'll end up with loads of stuff we don't like cluttering the house!

I keep reading posts, laughing, reading more posts, laughing more, forgetting what i was laughing at, etc., so please all assume it was you because it probably was.

I know how to. Um. Actually, when one contemplates one's skills in a postapocalytptic scenario, they sort of fade into insignificance, don't they?

Oh! But, when you all dig the hole to Australia, I shall be here with cake and coffee.

I'll join you in coming over all girly when the army turn up to rescue us. but only for five minutes, after which we can boast about how we were doing ok on our own, thank you very much. But we'll take a few of them tank thingies and the big weapons.

Because they work on Daleks as well.

Whatever Gallievans I am already practising winking and pouting

oldandgreynow - your DH is being sensible. Maybe TBH it is a bit of bloke thing. I honestly think about it quite a bit and have a quiet check through now and then that we have supplies of essentials. I feel I am protecting my family.

I know people are making jokes but here but there is a real live situation going on in Greece that could come to the UK.

A few years ago me and DW heard a rumour that one of the UK banks was going down. We were so worried about that we decied to go to the bank and took £500 out in £5, £2 and £1 denominations. About a week later the Northern Rock actually did go down.

We realised that there was a real risk an cash machines would not be operating. Since then, Alistair Darling has admitted the UK really was hours away from closing the banking system down.

The economy is still in severe stress and the interbank lending markets are very tight. There is real risk of further bank failures across Europe. Keeping the house well stocked with essentialls, fuel and some ready cash is a very good idea at current times.

Do this thought experiment. If the banking system shut down at 3.30 pm today. How long could you survive? My view is society would start to break down after 7 days. Supermarkets would run out of food and the power grid would shut down as power station workers could not get to work. Then there would be no fuel as petrol pumps require electric to operate. No internet either.

That is how fragile our society is - just 7 days from disaster.

I don't want to play anymore, my Mum has called me in

We're pretty well set up for a temporary glitch - where we stay there have always been a lot of power-cuts and when it snows we get quite thoroughly stuck. So we always have enough food in for a few days, plus a wood-burning stove for heat. I don't think its hard to plan for that, but the ongoing situation would be a lot trickier....

£500 in those denominations would keep me going in school lunch money for ages - £3.60 is such an awkward amount of change to find!!

I reckon we'd be OK for a bit longer than 7 days, but not much. We've got a stock pile of fruitshoots as they're £3.99 for 24 in Morrisons at the moment, and lots of food in the freezer. Obviously once the power went down we'd have to be careful about opening the freezer, but it would defrost quite slowly. Once the gas had gone we could use our stack of disposable BBQs (cheap at end of summer last year) to cook on. After the fresh food, we've got a good weeks worth of tuna, tinned toms and dried pasta. Might get a bit boring though!

They've got some emergency appliance chargers (iPod, phone etc) for sale in the garage down the road that use batteries. Perhaps they might be a good investment (for as long as the mobile signal lasts).

oldandgreynow.... think your DH has a point. I'm off to the shops to stock up!

It's scary to think how quickly it could end in disaster
I think we would be okay for a bit longer than 7 days too. We have plenty of tinned stuff (admittedly it's tomatoes, fruit, tuna and assorted veg)

We also have loads of bottled water, cartons of juice and dried pasta and rice and plenty of chocolate and sweets (because DP has a sweet tooth)

Like AMumInScotland, we too have a woodburning stove, so don't rely on electricity or gas for heating. We have a massive stock of logs and coal to keep us going in that respect.

Thinking about the 7 days from disaster makes me want to go and stock up!

I like to use this survival metric.

A standard nuclear family with two children needs 8000 calories, 500g of protein and 8 litres of drinking water per day.

Erm "Alastair Darling has admitted that the UK was hours away from shutting down the UK banking system"

Dagnamit Beenbeta, I spent a whole year of my life working on the contract for the *UPS's to keep the banking systems running, each one has 56 thousand gallons of diesel on permanent stand by - systems that are designed to kick in within a nano second of a break in any circuit. HUGE generators hidden in towns and cities in buildings you probably walk or drive past every day - even the colour of the outside walls was chosen for it's very blandness.

I wish I had not bothered and just spent the time stockpiling tuna and and knitting logs

Bugger!

*Unintteruptable Power Supply

I am now working on a drilling, tapping an siphoning device, made from an electric toothbrush, an AnywayUp cup and a shower hose, in order to surreptitiously penetrate the reserves of deisel for UPSs.

But don't tell anyone, OK?

pedrothellama - that is very interesting.

If the financial system had shut down the banks machines would have quickly been empty of cash. However, to start the electronic banking system again without access to power we would have needed what you have just installed.

Interesting indeed.

Good luck Dumpy Old Woman - just hope you are not in the building if the bloody thing starts up - you have a nano seconds warning and then your eardrums melt.

OK - will add integral ear-defenders. And remote control. Because come to think of it I will, on your advice, NOT BE GOING OUT.

i've been busy emptying my freezers and cupboard supplies over past month or so .. i need to defrost freezers and clear cupboards and its easier with less shite supplie in them

and been running my car on minimal diesel as waiting on a new one arriving any day.

wwwaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

i dont have enough food to last 2 days,we're buggered.

On the principle of a conversation with DS, where we established a pet elephant could eat our whole garden for a morning snack, and a pet goat would get through it in a week, I reckon between the three of us we could supplement our diet of leaves and grass for an extra 3-4 days.

And then move on to next door's goldfish.

An effective squirrel trap could keep us in meat for several weeks, I reckon.
I do feel that MNHQ should be taking this seriously and adpating the recipe tips of the day accordingly. They had special cook books in the war, didn't they?

I could suggest a couple of takeaways who've been inventive with local produce - sweet n sour seagull and alsation doner kebab anyone?

OTTMummA "I have a zombie plan, and am shocked you find it funny morloth!"

I too have a zombie plan, I am planning to become one of the undead horde - it seems the easiest option.

No running around trying to stay alive, just lots of brain munching.

I can see where he is coming from - what is happening in Greece will affect us very soon and a devaluation in the Euro will have a knock on effect.
In terms of not importing - I thought it was interesting to see how well stocked the supermarkets remained during the volcanic ash. Maybe I should be worried about just how fresh those Spanish straberries managed to remain.
Actually it was the volcanic ash that made me think about using UK only produce where possible and to think more about growing my own bread.

Morloth - A*

See everyone THAT is the way we should all be thinking

I have a sack of dried chick peas

smug