Gas Leak eeekkk

Yesterday I came home after an hour or so of shopping and as soon as I walked into the house there was an overwhelming smell of...something.  Even though we use natural gas appliances, I don't really know what that kind of gas smells like.  I walked into the kitchen and saw that the dial for one of the burners was turned partially on but there was no flame so I put two and two together and nearly hit panic mode!

I opened the kitchen slider (fortunately it was a really windy day) then high-tailed it outside.  I started Googling what to do if there is a gas emergency and it said to call 911 or the gas company so I opted to call the gas company (I didn't want a full response from the fire department) and the lady said she would send someone out immediately.  She finished up by telling me to stay away from the house, not to light a match, not to turn on or off lights, etc.  Visions of the exploding houses your see on the news when there is a gas leak raced through my head...yikes!

The guy from the gas company arrived within a half hour and brought out his gas detector machine.  Here are some things I learned:

• CO detectors don't detect natural gas (the guy said they are two different types of gas so the detector won't detect natural gas).
• He also said the risk of carbon monoxide is that it will kill you quickly but natural gas leaks can go for a while (then if someone lights a match it might be game over).
• Natural gas rises instead of sinks.  By the time the gas guy arrived the first floor of our house didn't have the strong smell I noticed earlier but when we went upstairs the smell was again overwhelming so he opened the windows to let the second floor air out.
• Then he went to the thermostat and turned the fan from "auto" to "on" and said to let it run for a few hours as that would help air out the house.  I never thought of doing that so next time we have a lot of cooking smells I will do the same thing.
• Fortunately it wasn't 110 degrees outside so we could air out the house for hours without it getting too hot inside.
• The guy said that he responds to most house fires as there is always the suspicion of a gas leak when a house catches fire but he said the main cause of house fires these days is items with lithium batteries left plugged in to charge overnight.
• He said that in households with kids, he suggests stove dial covers which require a couple of steps before allowing the dial to be turned on.  For hubby and I (we still can't figure out how it was turned on, maybe one of us bumped into it?) we both check the stove now before we go upstairs to bed or leave the house.

I'm glad everything worked out OK with this situation!

Preparedness and Other Things

When gas prices go from this...

...to this within one day, you know there is a problem! 

Which brings us to the topic of preparedness...

At this point, I don't know which disaster to prepare for first!  There is sky rocking gas prices which leads to massive food price increases, weather disasters, a national and global supply chain break which impacts nearly every product on the shelves, housing costs that are quickly rising out of reach for a majority of the population, huge increases in violence/suicide/drug use...oh, and the growing threat of global thermonuclear warfare.  eeekkk

Since it looks like disaster is lurking on every corner these days, our preparedness activities are now focused on the following:

• We started a tiny garden.  We have a tiny yard and rough growing conditions in the desert so obviously there is no way we could grow all of our own food, but it seems like even growing a little food is a good hobby.  I'm also going to give regrowing food scraps a try.
• We got rid of all of our backpacking gear years ago when we made a major move but now I am checking prices on basic camping gear (tent, sleeping bags, stove, etc) because there are many kinds of disasters that could force us out of our home so it would be a good idea to have a way to shelter and take care of ourselves if we couldn't stay in our house.
• I'm also looking at small solar power systems.  If the power goes out for an extended period of time, especially in the middle of summer, we would be toast (literally!).  A couple of solar panels and a battery bank would at least give us some power for our basic needs (keeping us and our food cool mostly).
• We are stockpiling food like crazy.  We have more than six month's worth of food stored at this point and continue to add to our food stocks with every grocery store visit we make (usually stocking up on loss leaders and sale items).
• Keeping more cash with us.  We always use credit/debit cards for all of our purchases (paid off monthly on cash reward cards) so we rarely use cash.  But with the possibility of cyber warfare that could shut down online banking/ATMs for an extended period of time, having cash on hand seems like a good idea.
• Focusing more on our health.  The best way to stay healthy and not need medication/hospitals/etc is to focus on eating well (this is a work in progress) and exercise (I have more than 100k in walks scheduled for the next two weeks).  
• Buying stuff in bulk that we will need in the future.  With prices on everything rising and supply chain issues increasing, it is a good idea to have a lot more supplies--from toiletries to disposable items like furnace filters to cleaning supplies to clothing--on hand.

I'm sure there are many more things we can do but at least we are making a start.  Generally, we just try to live life day by day, enjoying ourselves as we go along.  I try to limit the amount of news I watch every day as it is so sad and depressing, but I still want to be proactive when possible in order to avert disaster.

The Emergency Bag

We always carry an emergency "bug out bag" in our car.  Ever since hubby had several health problems in a row that usually ended with him staying in the hospital for days at a time, I decided to put together a bag of emergency supplies so that if we had an emergency and needed to leave our home for any period of time, we would have all of the basics to sustain us right in our car.  I usually take this bag out every few months, review the contents, add or subtract stuff in the bag as needed, and make sure things like batteries still work, the battery bank is charged, the food is rotated, etc.  With hurricane and wildfire season coming up, I thought this was a good time to make a post about what we always have with us.  

Our emergency bag includes:

• A bag.  I use a backpack as it is easier to carry than, say, a duffel bag, in case I need to bring the bag into a hotel room/hospital room/need to leave the car behind/etc.
• A complete change of clothes plus jackets and underwear for both hubby and I.
• Four face masks and two sets of nitrile gloves (this was added since covid but the masks are also good for wildfire smoke too).
• Two Mylar emergency blankets, two disposable plastic rain jackets, and some paracord
• A spork and a micro fiber towel from REI
• The black flowery bag has tampons and a complete set of makeup for me (lipstick, eyeliner, brow liner, concealer, powder, eye shadow)
• The small grey bag is a first aid kit (band aids, Thera flu, alcohol wipes, Tylenol packets, safety pins, lip balm, two condoms--not for their original use but to be used to carry water in an emergency, as a tourniquet, etc, spare batteries for hubby's hearing aids, Fix a Dent for hubby, glucose tabs for hubby, a few cough drops, an two day's worth of medications for hubby)
• In the pink striped bag is a toiletries kit (comb, razor, nail clippers, nail file, tweezers, bobby pins, tooth brush, toothpaste, floss, shampoo, conditioner, suntan lotion, soap, mirror, hand lotion, deodorant)
• A 20,000mAh battery bank 
• An AM/FM transistor radio and ear buds
• A second spare pair of corded earbuds (both of our cell phones still have a port for corded earbuds so we use these in an emergency as they don't need to be charged like our wireless earbuds)
• A headlamp
• A mini Maglight flashlight
• Spare AAA batteries (for the radio, headlamp, and Maglight)
• A charging cable with type A and C tips (to charge our cell phones, tablets, wireless ear buds, etc)
• USB to type A and type C cables (ditto, so we can charge multiple items at the same time)
  
• A thumb drive with all of our backed up files on it
• A small Gerber knife
• A Sharpie pen
• A Fisher Space pen
• A combo emergency whistle, magnifying glass, compass, and thermometer
• Two packs of Kleenex tissue
• A ziploc bag with matches, sticky notes, rubber bands, mini can opener, and a mini Super Glue
• Basic food (granola bars, candies, mini packs of raisins, mini packs, of nuts, etc)

We carry the following items every time we leave the house:

• Cell phones
• Wallets with ID, credit cards, and cash
• My purse: packet of tissue, keys, sun glasses, face mask and a mini emergency kit that I always carry in my purse (band aids, Wet Wipe, Tylenol packet, spare hearing aid batteries and spare medication for hubby, tampon, lipstick, pocket knife, Fisher Space pen, thumb drive with my files backed up on it, mini Maglight, alcohol wipe, matches, nail file)
• Insulated Contigo beverage containers along with lunch or snacks
  

In the car we always have:

• Mini umbrella
• Spare jackets
• A case of bottled water
• A complete car emergency kit
  

Also:

• We would be wearing a full set of clothes and shoes
  
• We would grab our tablets and laptops on the way out

Prepping for the Next Pandemic

Even though we are still in lockdown, our businesses and politicians are looking at opening up our city as soon as possible.  Not only does it take money to keep even the most minimal bills for a casino paid, the revenue from taxes on gambling and hotels is what funds the biggest part of Nevada's government.  Needless to say, people don't want this situation to drag on forever. 

So while (hopefully) we avoid the coronavirus this time around, I am pretty sure it will come back again (since it is a novel virus, it will pretty much go through all of the population eventually much like the flu).  And while this time we were blindsided by the pandemic and given only a few days warning that everything was shutting down, I definitely want to be better prepared for the next time something like this happens.  Here is what I am doing/starting to do/planning to do in order to be better prepared for the next disaster:

• Get bidets for our toilets (probably a better long-term option than toilet paper and the people I know who have these swear by them)
• Stock up on a reasonable amount of toilet paper (I probably won't give up this luxury all together and as soon as Costco has more in stock I am going to get several big packages of it)
• Buy a freezer and fill it with food (we used to have a freezer when we had all of the kids in the house but with just the to of us, we decided we didn't need one.  I think we may buy a small freezer when they are back in stock)
• Cook at home more often, even when all of the restaurants open back up (this is also a good way to rotate a lot of stockpiled food)
• Do an entire home inventory of consumables and stock up on all of the items on my list (I already made the list and now as we shop I try to buy a few extra of each item which range from toothpaste to hair color to scouring powder, etc)
• Get all of our legal stuff done ASAP (I need to renew my driver's license and do the annual registration for our car; I'm glad I already got my passport renewed instead of putting it off)
• Stock up on hubby's prescriptions and look at all options for renewing them (we were literally given a few days notice that his access to free prescriptions would be suspended until further notice; we need to plan better in case this happens again)
• Make hubby's doctor appointment as soon as possible (currently only emergencies are being seen at our military hospital so as soon as he can get a regular appointment with his doctor we will do this in case another shut down happens again)
• Improve my health (I really need to improve my diet but we have been exercising every day so that's a good thing)
• Completely stock our pantry and refrigerator (we are pretty good about this but from now on I will feel better with at least three of each item instead of shopping when we have half an item left)
• Plant a garden, even a small one (we actually have two growing seasons in Las Vegas, in the spring and fall, so I should take advantage of this and plant at least a few things like greens and tomatoes)
• Get out of debt ASAP (the car should be paid off soon and next up will be the credit card)
• Put money in savings every month (we are kind of good at this but as soon as we are completely out of debt we can start saving even more)
• Do all of our home maintenance projects (we need a new AC system, probably sooner rather than later, and there are several other projects we would like to tackle; these things are better done before another shut down happens)
• Review and restock our first aid kits (fortunately we haven't been really sick during this pandemic but if it happens again I want to be prepared.  The first few weeks of this current lockdown we couldn't find any sort of medications in the stores!)
• Do car maintenance (we haven't really drove the car much lately but I like to get the oil changed and basic maintenance done regularly; we will do these things as soon as things get back to normal)
• Develop multiple sources of work-from-home income (everything is kind of at a standstill right now but any trickle of income is a good thing; I need to work on this!)
• Get some things for home entertainment (we have been making due OK but it would be nice to have a sewing machine, some jigsaw puzzles, and I would also like to learn to play the violin so I will be looking for all of these things at the Goodwill when it reopens)
• Get some emergency evacuation gear (watching things in the south with tornadoes all over the place reminds me that even though we don't have many natural disasters here, we should still have some emergency evacuation gear like sleeping bags, a tent, etc)
• Buy more house clothes (that's literally almost all we have been wearing for a month so as soon as the Goodwill opens, I will be looking for more of this type of clothing)
• Get a better water filter system (our tap water is awful and as soon as the quarantine hit, we couldn't find a single water filter system in the stores.  I've heard that whole-house RO systems are the best so I will look into this)
• Get some hair clippers (again, as the lockdown drags on, everyone's hair is getting long and we can't find a single hair clipper to buy when there are usually several cheap sets at Ross and TJ Maxx.  We will definitely be buying one of these when they come available)
• Pick up hard to find items as they become available (although we have hand sanitizer and bleach and a few masks, apparently it would be a good idea to have even more of these items on hand in case of emergency so when they come available again, I will definitely pick some more up)
• Learn some new skills (soap making, canning, sewing...all of those old fashioned skills that I haven't done since my grandmother was alive could really come in handy in an emergency so I need to brush up on all of these skills)
• Get our vaccines (I haven't got a tetanus shot, flu shot, etc. in years so I probably should get these and any other vaccines that I need before the next disaster hits)
• Keep up connections with family and friends (ever since the lockdown we seem to be more connected with family and friends via calls, texting, FB messenger, Zoom, etc. than we ever were before.  We definitely want to continue this)

So that's my not-so-short to do list but I really want to make an effort to be better prepared for any kind of disaster that happens in the future!

Dollar Store Preparedness

It's only been five days but many people impacted by Hurricane Michael are already desperate for food and water.  On the one hand, I understand that many of these people are elderly and poor, but on the other hand, only a couple of dollars a week at the dollar store can buy you a lot of preparedness items!  Here is a list of items you can pick up at your local Dollar Store, Dollar Tree, or 99 Cent store to see you through a variety of emergencies...

1. Tarp
2. Duct tape
3. Para cord
4. Matches
5. Candles
6. Flashlight
7. Batteries
8. AM/FM radio
9. Aspirin
10. Tylenol (or other pain reliever)
11. Bandaids
12. Antibiotic ointment
13. Antihistamine tablets
14. Other first aid items: Ace bandage, medical tape, gauze, etc.
15. Instant ice packs
16. Instant hand warmers
17. Bleach (unscented)
18. Bar soap
19. Hygiene items: mirror, comb
20. Rubbing alcohol
21. Sharpies
22. Scissors
23. Utility knife
24. Repair items: safety pins, paper clips, nails, wire, etc.
25. Super Glue
26. Glow In The Dark Bracelets
27. Ear plugs
28. Paper plates
29. Paper/plastic cups
30. Napkins
31. Plastic utensils
32. Ziploc bags
33. Plastic food containers (with lids)
34. Gardening gloves
35. Toothbrushes
36. Toothpaste
37. WD40
38. Lighters
39. Whistle
40. Hand sanitizer
41. Tissue
42. Rain poncho
43. Emergency blanket
44. Sewing kit
45. Razors
46. Magnifying glass
47. Paper towels
48. Plastic bucket
49. Scrub brush
50. Ammonia
51. Latex gloves
52. Steel wool pads
53. Coffee filters
54. Safety glasses
55. Disposable filter masks
56. Trash bags
57. Nail clippers
58. Dental floss
59. Vitamins
60. Vaseline
61. Aluminum foil
62. Cookware: baking pans, spatula, knife
63. Can opener
64. Sheet plastic: plastic table covers, shower curtains, etc.
65. Latex balloons
66. Safety flasher
67. Fluorescent vest
68. Basic tools (screwdriver, pliers, hammer, saw)
69. Notebook
70. Pens
71. Pencils
72. Padlock
73. Bicycle lock
74. Tool box
75. Bungee cords
76. Bandana 
77. Sun glasses
78. Laser pointer
79. Solar yard light
80. Clotheline/clothes pins
81. Emergency cell charger
82. Zipties
83. Alcohol wipes
84. Wet wipes
85. Playing cards
86. Kid's entertainment (games, puzzles, crayons, etc)
87. Disinfectant cleaner
88. Wire coat hangers
89. Tote bags/daypack
90. Plastic storage containers
91. Bug spray
92. Suntan lotion
93. Food: spices (salt, pepper, garlic powder, etc)
94. Food: nuts and dried fruit
95. Food: candy (chocolate, hard candy)
96. Food: trail mix, jerky, nutrition bars
97. Food: instant carbs (oatmeal, instant noodle soup, pasta)
98. Food: canned goods (soup, spaghetti sauce, canned fish, canned meat, beans)
99. Food: baking items (yeast, sugar, flour, oil, baking soda, baking powder)
100. Beverages: tea, coffee, drink mixes, bottled water and juice
101. Specials that rarely show up but that you should grab when they do: Pedialite, Thera Flu, Sterno

And a few caveats: most dollar store stuff is crap so if you can only afford a $1 knife get one but as soon as possible, upgrade.  Pay attention to sales at other stores as you can sometimes beat dollar store prices on many items (ie: baking soda for 59 cents, 69 cent canned goods, etc).  Pay attention to labels (I've found things at the dollar store that are expired, other things that are mismarked such as an ibuprofen pain reliever marked as aspirin--there's a difference.  And I am pretty particular about buying items, particularly food items, which are made in the US instead of China.

Evacuation

The son finally got evacuated from the North Carolina coast which was a big relief.  The original plan of leaving with the neighbor whenever (or even if) they could leave didn't work out.  So last night we tried to figure the best way to evacuate him and his girlfriend and his dogs.  We looked into public transit such as planes, trains, and buses and there was not a single ticket to be had (I'm not sure if everyone was trying to evacuate this way at the same time or they just stopped all flights and other transit ahead of the storm).  We looked at having a friend or family member drive in to get them but the nearest person lives 11 hours away plus all of the roads coming into the evacuation area were closed to reverse traffic.

Finally after Googling I found that the county was providing free buses to evacuate people and their pets if they had no other way to get out.  He called the number I gave him and they were on the bus and headed out of town this morning.  The best part of this is that it is a bus with bathrooms (great if you are stuck in traffic for hours on end) and they will be taken to a shelter with beds, food, water, and even medical care according to the website all for free (which saves A LOT of money over paying for a hotel and food for a week or longer until they are allowed to return home). 

So the good news is that they are out of the mandatory evacuation area and will not have to spend much money for food and shelter during the storm.  The bad news is that they are still on the bus after more than eight hours!  First there was a lot of slow traffic leaving the area then they got to the shelter and found that it was already full, then they went to the next shelter and it too was already full so at the last message the bus of evacuees was still driving from town to town looking for a place to drop off everyone!  Yikes!

10 Items to Always Carry With You

Based on my experience today...  Hubby dropped me off at the outlet mall so I could walk while he want to the casino and I realized that there are several things I always have with me just in case...

1. A bottle of water (it was an outdoor mall, lots of shade but still).
2. Sunscreen (for a minute I thought the free bus wasn't coming so I was going to have to walk myself to the casino in the high heat, sunscreen would have saved me from being burnt to a crisp).
3. Granola bar or other snack (saves me from getting hungry then buying expensive snack food at the mall).
4. Packet of tissue (with allergies, this saves me from finding a restroom to get tissue).
5. Sunglasses (a necessity in Las Vegas).
6. Cash and coins (I always tip the free bus driver $1 and if I want to buy something small it's good to have small bills on hand to pay for these sorts of things).
7. Packet of aspirin (a quick cure for headaches, etc).
8. Ear buds (when I wait for hubby I often watch Ted talks and YouTube videos on my phone so ear buds are required for listening to these things and not annoying everyone in the vicinity).
9. Cell phone (a necessity these days!).
10. Uber app (the kiosk said the free bus which is supposed to run around downtown all day wasn't in service.  I nearly needed to call an Uber but the bus did show up and the bus driver just said the kiosk is never right...).

Prepare to Evacuate on the Cheap

There have been A LOT of emergency evacuations in the news recently, from the California wildfires, to a possible dam breaking in West Virginia, to an armed SWAT standoff situation which required everyone in the neighborhood to be evacuated, everyone should be ready to leave their home--possibly forever--at a moment's notice.  Here are some cheap ways to get prepared to evacuate:

• Always keep a case of water in your car for emergencies (this is a given in Las Vegas due to the weather but it is also good to give to the homeless, grab a bottle when you go shopping, etc).
• Always keep your gas tank at least half full (at least you can get out of the immediate area before needing to refuel).
• Always keep an overnight bag in the car (or ready to grab and go in your house) with a change of clothes/toiletries/basic survival gear/etc.  If you had to relocate to a hospital or hotel in an emergency you will have everything you need on hand.
• Always keep your computer files backed up and off-site in case your computer dies, you are away from home and need an important fire, etc.
• Always keep extra prescription medication with you (in your purse, in your emergency evacuation bag) in case you can't get home to take it.
• Keep emergency food in your evacuation bag as well--granola bars, candy, beef jerky, packets of dried soup or oatmeal, etc.
• Don't forget to take your important documents with you as well (passport, Wills and medical directives, a household inventory, marriage certificate, birth certificates, etc).
• Also have your emergency fund with you in cash as well as a couple of zero-balance credit cards to use in an emergency.

If you want to make a comprehensive evacuation kit, here is a great list to check out.

Even if you don't have a lot of money, you can still put together this important survival gear slowly but surely.  Many emergency items can be found at the $1 store or Goodwill.  Also, putting a little money out of each paycheck towards your preparedness shopping list means you will eventually have everything you need in an emergency!

5 Things You Need for a Crisis

It's been a busy week, both with work and with crises happening left and right.  Besides the cousin and her kid who is on his way to trial and probably prison which I wrote about before, another relative had a heart attack and open heart surgery a couple days ago, and this morning another cousin called to say her brother died (she then called back from the hospital and said he had been resuscitated but probably wouldn't last long).  When it rains it pours I guess.  Here are some really good things to have to help you handle whatever crisis may come your way:

1. An emergency fund (the bigger the better; money can fix a lot of problems).
2. Insurance (car insurance, health insurance, home insurance, life insurance, long term care insurance...like I said money can fix a lot of problems and really big problems need the really big funds provided by good insurance coverage).
3. A Will, Living Will, Medical Power of Attorney, etc (often when a medical emergency happens you won't have time to get these documents together so have them on hand already).
4. Someone to help you out.  Sometimes you can't do everything for yourself and need someone to help you--from advocating for your health care to giving you a ride home from the hospital to bringing you food when you don't have the energy to even get out of bed.
5. An emergency overnight bag.  Depending on the emergency, you may need to evacuate your home because of a wildfire heading your way or race to the hospital and end up staying there for days on end so having an overnight bag already packed with a change of clothes, toiletries, some cash, some snacks, etc. can be a lifesaver.

Disaster Preparedness

There have been a lot of disasters around the country during the past couple months--poisoned water in West Virginia, rain storms, wind storms, snow storms, etc.  We feel kind of sheltered here in Las Vegas as, aside from the heat during the summer, there really aren't any natural disasters that are common to the area.  But, the recent news of all of these disasters has made me think we need to be better prepared.  Here are the things I need to do to get better prepared:

• Put together a comprehensive first aid kit
• Get a fire extinguisher
• Get a CO2 detector
• Keep a bigger stockpile of bottled water in the garage
• Keep more cash on hand in the event of a disaster where ATMs don't work
• Get a safe for said cash
• Make an emergency "grab and go" bag (toiletries, change of clothes, etc)
• Store a couple weeks of food that could be eaten in an emergency (not MREs but similar)
• Get my first aid/CPR/AED card renewed
• Put some sort of security system in our house (there are quite a few now that connect to your cell phone)
• Make sure there is a flashlight with new batteries in each room of the house
• Stockpile stuff we would need if we couldn't get to the store for a week or so (toilet paper, soap, etc)
• Start a small garden to provide a tiny portion of our food (tomatoes, chard, etc are easy to grow)
• Get a concealed carry license for Nevada (I've always had one of these but haven't got around to taking the course here in Nevada)
• Go shooting (I haven't practiced in AGES)
• Make sure our car is well prepared for an emergency (food and water in the car, etc)

Well that's a short list.  When I used to drive hours each day for work, my car was much better prepared than it is now, also when we were used to having mini disasters happen--flooding, snow storms, power outages, etc--our home was much better prepared.  In fact, some years ago, most of my work revolved around being prepared for large scale disasters so it was natural to have the latest updated training, the cool gear, and the stockpiles of everything from matches to tarps to medical supplies.  I think we have become a bit lazy in our retirement so I plan to rectify this situation soon.

Daily update

• Walk: 2 miles (969 miles to go!  I now keep my walking shoes in the car and, like today when hubby was playing poker, I went to a nearby park and did my walk there).
• No spend:  Fail.  I should have planned for being gone all day and packed us a lunch but I didn't so after bowling and before poker we were starving and came upon a new Greek Restaurant--which was really really yummy by the way--and we ended up spending $23.16 for lunch which is WAY too much money for lunch.  
• Update this blog: yep
• Update client's blog: yep
• Photo: yep
• Client work: 1 hour
• Genealogy: sent in a form to correct my grandmother's death certificate (which was free).  There is one more death certificate I need to correct but for that state is costs $34 to do it! :(
• Writing: a couple of pages written on my fabulous tablet during hubby's bowling!

Let Me Tell You About Our Night...

Yesterday I was so psyched!  We were looking forward to seeing Cirque du Soleil and things were going well throughout the day.  Then things got a bit messed up.
First, hubby was a little late coming back from playing poker but we still had time so we went to our favorite Chinese restaurant.  Since it was Sunday we figured we would dash in for a quick meal but were shocked to see a long line.  We decided that since we had time we would wait and eventually we had a nice meal before heading off to the show.  With 30 minutes until showtime, we left the restaurant and got in our van then noticed that it had a flat tire.  Fixing it would have taken who knows how long since we had never changed the tire in the van before so hubby decided we should hop on the shuttle that had just arrived which goes from the off-strip casino to the Strip.  The shuttle dropped us off mid-strip and we hustled ourselves to the Mirage Casino where the show was being held (a little over a mile).  Did I mention I was in heels and it was freezing outside?
We made it to the show with five minutes to spare, tried to put the tire situation aside for a couple of hours and enjoyed the show (we really did enjoy the show, it was amazingly elaborate and when I found out the lady next to us paid $150 for her ticket while we paid $100 for two it was a little extra bonus).
After the show (about midnight now) we went in reverse--walked back down the strip, caught the shuttle and got dropped off where the van was.  Fortunately by now the parking lot had cleared out a bit so hubby moved the van into the middle of two parking spaces and we set to work.  After digging out all of the very ancient emergency stuff we kept in the back of the van and trying the Fix A Flat which didn't work at all, we set to work changing the tire.  We were both crawling around on the ground to make sure the jack was set right, it then took ages to jack up the van, then after practically wrenching off the spare which was located UNDER the van I decided to read the directions and found that there was a simple way to lower the spare that didn't involve rolling around on the ground.  We got the tire changed out then found that the spare, after hanging under the van for over a decade, was virtually flat.  We were able to drive one block on it to the gas station where we found that no amount of air would fill up the spare since it was coming apart from the rim.  Ugh.  Now it was about 1am.  So we tried putting air into the original flat tire and that seemed to work so we went about changing out the spare with the original flat yet now filled with air tire.  We were much faster this time, working like a pit crew!  Note that this wasn't in the best part of town and people were driving by slowly looking at us.  After adding a bit more air, we hoped it would hold until we got home.  Which it did.
This morning hubby took the van to the tire shop and ended up buying four new tires (turns out two of the tires had nails in them and all seemed to be losing air and they were pretty much worn and had maybe 5,000 miles left).  Now the van has four brand new tires, hubby swears it drives much better, and he was able to use the least worn tire as the spare (he had to buy a new rim so it would fit where the donut did but it was cheaper than buying a new donut spare).  Whew.

Lessons learned:

• Practice changing your tires BEFORE you need to do it in the dark in the freezing cold.
• When you have your tires rotated, be sure to ask them to check the air in the spare (we had never done this so it probably went flat years ago).
• Have a back-up plan.  If I was by myself I probably would have panicked and tried to fix the tire first thus missing the show but hubby kept a cool head and we ended up enjoying the show (if we wouldn't have shown up we would have lost the money and voided the tickets!), then fixing the tire problem.
• Carry cash. We had to scrounge to come up with enough quarters for the air machine.  From now on I am putting quarters and some cash in the car for emergencies.
• Make sure you have the correct emergency equipment in your car.  The jack and tools were right were the manufacturer put them so many years ago but we did decide we need to put a pair of work gloves in the van (our hands were pretty greasy by the time we got through), and a small tarp (the knees of our pants were similarly greasy from kneeling on the ground).
• Once again, having an emergency fund was a lifesaver because the tires came to a little over $500.  If we wouldn't have had money in our emergency fund we would have either been stranded or had the punctured tire repaired but it would be more susceptible to blow outs.  

100 Preparedness Items You Can Buy for Under $10

I am so thankful that our friends and family on the East Coast survived Hurricane Sandy with little more than a lot of rain (thankfully no flooding or wind damage!!).  We were pretty much glued to the TV news yesterday as we waited and watched what was going on there but while we were home all day, hubby decided to break out our box of emergency supplies and see if there were things that needed to be replaced/updated/etc.  Turns out we still have a pretty good supply of gear and other items that would help us survive a disaster but the batteries were dead in the flashlights and the food was way past expired so we will be replacing these items ASAP.  Which brings me to this post...here are 100 survival and preparedness items that you can buy with a spare $10.  Having a few things is better than having nothing when it comes to a disaster so it isn't like you need to run out and buy everything on this list right away but little by little you can buy these items and end up with a pretty good-sized tub of emergency supplies.

1. A few cases of bottled water.
2. Non perishable, easy to eat food (cans of tuna, jars of peanut butter, dried fruit, granola bars, jerky, etc)
3. Flashlights.
4. Spare batteries.
5. A battery/solar radio.
6. Rope.
7. Paracord.
8. Tarps.
9. Matches.
10. Ziploc bags.
11. Duct tape.
12. Roll of heavy plastic sheeting.
13. Sturdy plastic garbage bags.
14. Work gloves.
15. First aid kit supplies.
16. Car cell phone charger.
17. Whistles.
18. Manual can opener.
19. Dust masks.
20. Wet wipes.
21. Bungie cords.
22. Glow sticks.
23. Chemical hand warmers.
24. Toilet paper.
25. Hand sanitizer.
26. Poster paper and markers.
27. Board games.
28. Paper plates/plastic utensils.
29. Spare towels.
30. Spare blankets.
31. Shovel.
32. Pocket knife.
33. Firestarter (flint and steel).
34. Compass.
35. Large plastic water container.
36. Spare gas can.
37. Spare gas.
38. Water purification tablets.
39. Rain poncho.
40. Signal mirror.
41. Signal flares.
42. Jumper cables.
43. Fix a flat.
44. Tools (hammer, screwdriver, pliers, etc).
45. Sterno.
46. Spare house key.
47. $10 bill.
48. $10 in change.
49. "Breaker" bar.
50. Spare socks.
51. Vitamins.
52. Bag of grain (rice, etc) or dried beans.
53. Latex gloves.
54. Bottles of fuel for the camp stove.
55. Sewing kit.
56. Hat.
57. Bandanas.
58. Suntan lotion.
59. Plastic goggles or safety glasses.
60. Map of local area.
61. Big plastic tub to put these supplies in.
62. Foil "emergency" space blankets.
63. Multi tool.
64. Nalgene water bottle.
65. Hard copies of all of your important documents.
66. Tool to shut off gas/water main valve.
67. Extra prescription medications.
68. Baby items (diapers, formula, etc)
69. Books (especially "how to" survival books but also some for entertainment).
70. Senior items (diapers, hearing aid batteries, etc).
71. Pet supplies (extra food, cat litter, etc).
72. Scissors.
73. Bleach.
74. Utility knife.
75. Current photos of all family members and pets.
76. Spare cell phone battery.
77. Bug spray.
78. Sling shot.
79. Box of BBs.
80. Vitamins.
81. Treats (chocolate, candy, cookies, etc).
82. Tweezers.
83. Feminine supplies.
84. Heavy duty aluminum foil.
85. Roll of food grade plastic wrap.
86. Candles.
87. 5 gallon plastic bucket with lid.
88. Paper and pen/pencil.
89. Lysol or other disinfectant.
90. Binoculars.
91. Walking staff.
92. Daypack/knapsack.
93. Ax/hatchet.
94. Fishing kit.
95. Fix it kit (nails, screws, wire, zip ties, rubber bands, etc).
96. Magnifying glass.
97. Funnel.
98. Fixed blade knife.
99. Car rescue tool.
100. Fluorescent flagging tape.

10 Cheap Disaster Preps

Being prepared isn't something that you can "buy" and be done with it and then you will be all ready for any disaster that may strike your area. Rather preparedness is a series of ongoing tasks which will allow you to be more knowledgeable and more ready when a crisis occurs. Instead of thinking money when you think about disaster preparedness, think of the basics--things that you can do/use/have in the event of any type of disaster that may occur.

To get started, here are ten simple, and cheap, ways you can prepare for a disaster:

1. Make sure you have working smoke detectors with fresh batteries. People are much more likely to die in a fire than in a tsunami, earthquake, or hurricane. Something as simple and cheap as a smoke detector can save the lives of you and your family. Note that some fire departments provide these free of charge.
2. Learn CPR and first aid. Another way someone is more likely to die (considering that cardiac disease is THE leading cause of death in the US) is due to heart attack. The way to be prepared for this, and be able to save a life, is to know CPR, AED use, and basic first aid. The best part is that these classes are often offered free of charge at local fire departments, hospitals, and the Red Cross.
3. Do you have enough food stored to eat for a week during a disaster? You don't need fancy MREs and high tech freeze-dried foods which cost a whole lot. Rather, you can take $21 down to your local grocery store, buy 21 cans of soup, and there you have your food for a week. Simple.
4. Another critical item you need to be prepared for a disaster is water. You can live quite a long time without food but everyone needs water within a couple of days or they will die. Putting aside one gallon of water per person per day for a week is simple and cheap. Five gallon water containers can be purchased at Walmart for a couple of dollars each and there you have your emergency water supply. Just be sure to rotate the water regularly.
5. One of people's first needs after a disaster is information. After many disasters, power is out, thus no TV, no internet, and no charging your iPhone. The remedy? A cheap AM/FM radio can be your connection to the outside world after a disaster and what is even better is the fact that a simple radio is actually very inexpensive.
6. A first aid kit can be bought as one big kit or you can make your own. This is another low cost item that can offer big dividends after a disaster (or even during a particularly bad cold and flu season).
7. Flashlights (and batteries) are a must have during a disaster. Even a simple power outage can be a disaster if your house is pitch black and you have no source of light. Flashlights are simple, cheap items that you can buy for a couple of dollars each. Just make sure you buy one for each family member--having five people share one flashlight would be a disaster in itself.
8. Ten items from the dollar store that will help you out during a disaster: a whistle, a pair of work gloves, a breaker bar, a dust mask, a manual can opener, a bottle of bleach for water purification, a box of matches, a packet of moist towelettes, duct tape, big plastic garbage bags.
9. An emergency evacuation bag is important. Many times people need to evacuate with only the clothes on their backs (think wild fires, chemical spills, etc). A $10 backpack from Walmart into which you put a change of clothes and toiletries can make a simple evacuation bag that you can keep at the ready in a downstairs closet in case you must leave at a moment's notice.
10. Your spare time is a valuable (and free) commodity for emergency planning. If you take the time to make an emergency communications plan, practice regular fire drills with the family, practice stop, drop, and hold earthquake drills with the kids, make back up copies of your computer files and important papers, and do a bit of research (like finding out what your community's emergency sirens sound like, where the closest evacuation shelter is, or what your children's school emergency plan is) you will be much more prepared than the average person in the event of an emergency.

Disaster preparedness doesn't have to be an expensive, overwhelming task. Simple steps, done regularly, can get you and your family prepared in no time and at very low cost.