Super Storm Sandy Prepardness Tips

I do a blog for my ward that I am sure not many people read, about Provident Living.
This same post is coming out today on that blog, so I decided that I would duplicated it here for my family and others to read.

Yes it is that good and that important.
SO PLEASE READ IT!

In fact I PLEAD with you to read every line...

Then ACT on the promptings you may feel.

PLEASE!
Thank You

Written by Frantz Ostmann, who experience first hand the hardships of Super Storm Sandy.

THIS is a MUST read - reflect - PLAN accordingly ... it WILL happen to me at some point - will I be ready?

by Frantz Ostmann on Saturday, November 17, 2012 at 7:13am ·
1. The excitement and coolness wears off around day 3
2. You are never really prepared to go weeks without power, heat, water etc. Never!
3. Yes it can happen to you.
4. Just because your generator runs like a top, does not mean its producing electricity.
5. If you do not have water stored up you are in trouble.
a. A couple of cases of bottled water is “NOT” water storage
6. Should have as much fuel as water
a. Propane
b. Gas
c. Kerosene
d. Firewood
e. Firestarter, (kindling, paper, etc)
7. Even the smallest little thing that you get from the store should be stocked up.. (spark plug for the generator, BBQ lighter, etc)
8. If you are not working, chances are nobody else is either.
9. I was surprised how quickly normal social behavior goes out the window. I am not talking about someone cutting in line at the grocery store.
a. 3 people were killed at gas stations within 50 miles of my home.
b. I did not say 3 fights broke out, 3 people were killed.
10. Cash is king (all the money in your savings means nothing)
11. Stored water can taste nasty.
12. You eat a lot more food when you are cold
13. You need more food than you think if your kids are out of school for 2 weeks
14. Kids do not like washing their face in cold water.
15. Your 1972 honda civic gets to the grocery store as well as your 2012 Escalade… but the Honda allows money left over for heat, food, water, a generator, fire wood, a backup water pump, you get the idea..
16. The electrical grid is way more fragile than I thought.
17. Think of the things that are your comfort, your escape, a cup of hot chocolate, a glass of milk and a ding dong before bed, tequila, etc. Stock up on those too. You will need that comfort after day 3.
18. You quickly become the guy in the neighborhood who knows how to wire a generator to the electrical panel, directly wire the furnace to a small generator, or get the well pump up and running on inverter power or you are the guy whose Master’s degree in Accounting suddenly means nothing. (Love you Steve!)
19. A woman who can cook a fine meal by candle light over the BBQ or open fire is worth her weight in gold. And women, whose weight in gold, would not add up to much, usually die off first. Sorry skinny women.
20. It takes a lot of firewood to keep a fire going all day and into the evening for heat.
21. All the food storage in the world means nothing if your kids won’t eat it.
22. You might be prepared to take care of your children and their needs, but what about when the neighborhood children start to show up at your door?
23. Some people shut down in an emergency. There is nothing that you can do about that.
24. Your town, no matter how small is entirely dependent on outside sources of everything.
a. If supply trucks stop rolling in due to road damage, gas shortages or anything else you could be without for a long time.
25. In an emergency Men stock up on food, Women stock up on toilet paper.
26. I was surprised how many things run on electricity!
27. You can never have enough matches.
28. Although neighbors can be a great resource, they can also be a huge drain on your emergency storage. You need to know how you are going to handle that. It is really easy to be Bob the guy who shares on Day 3, not so easy on Day 11. Just reality.
29. Give a man a fish he eats for that day, teach a man to fish and he will never be hungry again.. Now I get it.
30. All of the expensive clothes in the closet mean nothing if they don’t keep you warm.
31. Same goes for shoes… Love you Honey!!!!
32. You cannot believe the utility companies. They are run by politicians!! Or so it seems,
33. Anything that you depend on someone else for is not avail anymore.
34. Quote “A man with a chainsaw that knows how to use it is a thing of beauty” hahaha
35. Most folks don’t have any emergency storage. They run to Wal-Mart and get water and batteries and then fill their tubs with water. That is it. A lucky few will get a case of ramen and a box of poptarts. That will be your neighbors supply. (especially if you live outside of Utah)
36. Fathers, all the money you have ever made means nothing if you can’t keep your kids warm.
37. Mothers, everything you have ever done for your kids is forgotten if your kids are hungry.
38. You really do not want to be the “Unprepared Parents” The kids turn on you pretty quick.
39. Small solar charging gadgets will keep you in touch. Most work pretty well it seems.
40. Most things don’t take much power to operate.
a. Computers,
b. Phones
c. Radios
d. TV
e. lights
41. Some things take a ton of power to operate.
a. Fridge
b. Toaster
c. Freezer
d. Hot plate
e. Microwave
42. When it gets dark at 4:30pm the nights are really long without power.
43. Getting out of the house is very important. Even if it is cold. Make you home the semi warm place to come home to.. not the cold prison that you are stuck in.
44. Someone in your family must play or learn to play guitar.
45. Things that disappeared never to be seen again for a very long time.
a. Fuel, of all kinds
b. Matches, lighters of any kind etc.
c. Toilet paper
d. Paper plates, plastic forks and knives
e. Batteries, didn’t really see a need for them. (flashlights??? I guess)
f. Milk
g. Charcoal
h. Spark plugs (generators)
i. 2 stroke motor oil, (chainsaws)
j. Anything that could be used to wire a generator to the house.
k. Extension cords
l. Medicines (Tylenol, advil, cold medicine etc)
46. There was a strange peace to knowing all I had to do each day was keep my family safe, warm, and fed, but my peace was someone else’s panic.
There were also many things that were not learned from hurricane Sandy, but reinforced. Those things were the importance of my family and their love and support, especially my lovely wife, that my Heavenly Father is really in charge, period, and finally that I am very thankful for the upbringing and experiences that have taught me and brought me to where I am .. Wherever that is…hahahaha..
God Bless!!!

Family Wall

Just wanted ya all to see one of my most priced possessions...of late.

 

Took the door off of our room and put it on the wall in the Family Room.

 

Alan and Dean attached it to studs and it isn't going anywhere.

 

We can even lift it up to put pictures behind it.

 

Just noticed that the curtain and sun shining in behind me is distorting the picture. ugh!

 

Five children across on their wedding day

Five family pictures below each parent.

LOVE IT!

In case you didn't know...

Jason and Andrea / Tiffany and Cameron / Heather and Brandon

 Brittany and Jeff / Mallory and Dean

 

 

  

 

 

(What is up with my camera and the line going through each picture?!)

This is the whole wall.

Lunch

Just ate some lunch and thought I would share....well not share the food, just a picture of it.

Came home this morning from work and made some bread.

It's almost time to go back out on the bus, so I cut myself a slice of fresh bread.

 Then I remembered we had this...

Yes, it is fresh honey from our Bee's UUUMMM Good!

Thank you B utifull Bee's.

Vinyl lettering

In one of our guest rooms we put this on the wall as you walk into the room.

Then in our master above the bed is this.

In case it is too hard to read. This is what it says:

If you live to be a

HUNDRED

I want to live to be a hundred

MINUS ONE DAY

so I would never have to

live a day without you

Winnie the Pooh

Not at all what I went to the store to purchase.

But I LOVE IT.

Maybe I need to watch Winnie the Pooh now.

Brownie in a Mug

Ever had the craving for just a little bit of dessert but didn't want to make a huge batch of something or having to wait 30 minutes or more?

How about 1 min. 40 sec. !!!

Here is the recipe

In a mug add:

1/4 cup flour

1/4 cup sugar

2 Tablespoons cocoa powder

dash of salt

stir it up then add

2 Tablespoons olive oil

3 Tablespoons water

mix well, then put it in the microwave for 1 min. 40 sec.

This is what it looked like before I put it into the microwave.

This is what it looked like after 1 min. 40 sec.

Then I added a little bit of ice cream to it.

 Because that's what the recipe suggested, and well why not?

I was so excited cuz it worked! So I hurried and made another one.

Not for me silly!

Then I ran over and made one for Jason and Andrea.

Go ahead. Make one for yourself.

It only takes 1 min. and 40 sec.

And yes once again,

 We Thank our friends at Pinterest

mirror re-do

I just scrolled thru my picture and I am so disappointed that I didn't take a before shot of this mirror redo.

Actually it would have required 2 before pictures.

Because I bought this mirror probably 30 years ago at the Chino Auction in Calif. and have always liked it a lot. It is a heavy duty furniture quality mirror.

So it started off looking like a finished piece of furniture. You know the brown type of furniture finish.

So Mallory told me it was dated and needed an update.

Out comes the can of Black paint and it's done.

Make over complete.

But it never really seemed complete to me.

One day when we were at the store I grabbed a can of Country White paint and made the change.

I covered it in the Country White, then gave it a little roughing up (sanded some of the edges).

TAAADAA

I'm liking it A LOT now!

I wish it was Summer all year long.

Not the hot weather kind of Summer.

Just the stay home kind of Summer.

I think thay call that retirement!!

Snacks

So it was Sunday evening and we were settling for a relaxing evening, having some neighbors over (Jason and Andrea:) and looking forward to a few snacks.

First round was the energy bites I had made once before and were a hit.

Then a new recipe of some chocolate oatmeal bars (that I made into balls instead)

The grapes were something Alan brought in from the garden. You need a little something healthy to balance it all out. Although, both of the items were on the healthy side with oats, flax seeds, peanut butter, nuts, honey and cran raisens. Can't feel too guilty about that. 

Don't judge the serving trays. They just came out of the freezer, so why dirty another plate. We planned on eating them not just admire them.

                       Round Two was chocolate/peanut butter covers banana bites covered in toasted coconut.

                           Along with some mini frozen grapes dipped in Greek honey yogurt.

I wasn't trying to make a statement with my display obviously. The cookie sheet, wax paper look wasn't meant to be a blog post. But hey, when food comes out, so does the camera in this family.

 The winning treat of the night....had to be these little babies! They were SO yummy. I have never had Greek yogurt before, I never realized what I was missing.

Below was the picture from Pinterest. It was with blueberries that were dipped in Greek yogurt (use a tooth pick to swirl/dip the small fruit). Then freeze.
I used grapes because we were out of blueberrie.
 We loved it!


This next picture does not give these masterpieces justice. Alan dipped the banana chunks into melted chocolate chips and peanut butter, then we topped it with toasted coconut flakes, just because we had some already made.

We will definitely make these again too!

This is the recipe courtesy of my pinterest board. Along with a picture of what it looks like via a Real photographer.

FROZEN BANANA BITESWhat you'll need . . .

• 2 large bananas
• 1/4 to 1/3 cup vegan chocolate chips
• 1/4 to 1/3 cup natural peanut butter
• Unsweetened coconut flakes

It was a deliciously entertaining evening. Good treats, Good company and our show was equally GOOD!

Once again Pintrerest comes through.