72 Hour Kits, First Aid Kits, and Zombies

I grew up in the LDS church where things like food storage, emergency preparedness, and even basic first aid training were natural parts of life and topics of conversation.  I make a point of having food (and water) storage and can feed 12 people with a half hour's notice at all times.  I live in an area where, in a 365 day period, we can receive any kind of extreme weather warning from baseball-sized hail to flash floods to blizzards to tornado warnings to wildfires.  So you'd think I would have something as simple as a basic first aid kit and a basic 72 hour kit.

You would be wrong.

Back in July, this became painfully obvious to me.  I went and watched World War Z (yes, that's right, a zombie movie), and found myself horrified by 1.) the part of the movie where Brad Pitt and his family are fighting for supplies in a grocery store and nearly get murdered in the face over things like medication and water bottles, and 2.) the prospect of having to do something similar if I were ever in a disaster situation (likely, it will not be a zombie apocalypses, but that doesn't make the scenario of me getting murdered in the face in a grocery store any less likely).  So, thanks to a zombie movie, I started the project of getting together my 72 hour kit.

I consulted a lot of sources (listed below) and complied a list that makes sense for my situation (single, in Idaho, female, no serious medications or health conditions, with a vehicle and at least half a tank of gas and with at least two separate "rendezvous with apocalyps survival group" options).  I got several items on Amazon, others from Walmart and walmart.com, and a few I already had lying around the house.  For anyone who does something similar, I highly suggest the Prepared LDS Family blog (for well-rounded 72 hour kit advice) and the Self Reliant Sisters blog (for good discussions about food, especially); Mormons know their stuff when it comes for planning for disasters beyond guns and MREs.

http://www.ready.gov/basic-disaster-supplies-kit

http://www.ready.gov/publications

http://lds.about.com/od/preparednessfoodstorage/a/72hour_kit.htm

http://www.nationalterroralert.com/72hourkit/

http://www.costco.com/Shelf-Reliance%C2%AE-72-hour,-2-person-Emergency-Pack.product.11500240.html

http://www.emd.wa.gov/preparedness/documents/piy_72_hour.pdf

http://selfreliantsisters.blogspot.com/search/label/72%20Hour%20Kits

http://preparedldsfamily.blogspot.com/2013/01/make-72-hour-kit-in-12-steps-step-1.html

http://preparedldsfamily.blogspot.com/2009/04/additional-emergency-supplies-for.html

One thing that I was concerned about was getting food that would cover basic nutrition needs in terms of calories, nutrients, variety, and portability.  I decided the best thing to do was to get foods that I would also be likely to eat during finals week.  There are three basic reasons for this: 1.) they're easy to eat and don't require water to cook, 2.) I KNOW they keep me both full and not bored, and 3.) I can easily rotate them twice per year.

Another thing I had to be aware of is that, as a single person, I only have me to carry stuff.  I can't divide things among the packs of several people.  Which means I have to take less of some stuff, or different kinds of stuff, than I might if I could divvy up stuff that didn't need to be duplicated for each person (like a first aid kit, a tent, a radio, etc.).  This SUCKS.  Even splitting the survival basics with one other person would significantly lighten the load.  But I'd hate to get to a survival camp and not have any of this stuff.

Anyway, here are the links to the spreadsheets for my 72 Hour Kit.  THIS ONE is the list I came up with for the actual kit, and THIS ONE is a detailed list of my First Aid kit.  There are several theories on how to pack stuff, but I just ended up using a duffle bag.  I totally encourage you to get at least some kind of emergency plan together, even if it's not as extensive as this one.  Good luck!

New Year's Goal

So, it's the new year, and I guess I'm supposed to write a blog about the "New Year's Resolutions" that I've set for myself.  That's what all good bloggers do, right?  (Not that I'm a "good" blogger... I don't even know what that means...)

But to be honest, the whole notion of setting a bunch of personal goals just because I have to buy a new calendar has always seemed strange to me, not to mention non-productive.  My sister and I talked about it once, and both she and I prefer to set goals based around something more realistic, like new job, or new semester, or whatever.  Not to mention that the kinds of things people set their goals about (here's a list of the Top 10 Resolutions for reference) don't really apply to me.  I enjoy my life.  I don't smoke.  I'm never going to join a gym just because it's January and I certainly have a personal thing about dieting.

However, I do have a goal this year.  Not necessarily because it's a new year or even because of the new semester.  It's something that's been building for a while, and something that I feel pretty good about.

To be honest though, in some ways I feel like I'm going about it the wrong way.  Not my goal, but setting my goal.  I'm a big fan of setting "SMART goals" because I think they're a great thing: they're clear, they're organized, and they work.  (SMART goals are goals that are "set" within a framework: Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Resource-using, Time-bound).  HOWEVER, this particular goal doesn't really fit into that framework, because it isn't specific or measurable or time-bound.  It just IS.

My goal is to take care of my body.  Of course, there are a few things that go into that, but because of the mindset behind what I'm doing none of them are specific or measurable.  I'm not looking to lose a certain amount of weight.  I don't have a specific fitness goal like running a mile under a certain amount of time.  I definitely don't have a goal about wearing a certain pants size.  I just want to feel like I'm taking care of my body.  Like I said, not exactly SMART Goal material.

While it might be difficult to set anything specific with this goal, there are a few components that I can put into list form:

• Regular medical check-ups (both illness- and wellness-based)
• Getting more movement into my day
• Listening to my body (instead of my taste buds) about what food my body is craving
• More fruits, veggies, and whole grains
• Avoiding processed foods
• Enough restful sleep
• Vitamins
• Regular skin maintenance (facials, pedicures, SPF, etc.; skin is the largest organ of the body)
• LOTS of water
• Attention to mental health, especially stress
• Cosmetic care (hair cut/color, make up, clothing, etc.)
• More exposure to natural sunlight

It's not a complete list, obviously, but it hits a bunch of key components.  I really am focusing on whole-body wellness (physical and mental), and I really do care about my body because of all the things it does for me and gives to me.  I'm grateful for my body, and it's time I started treating it like the beautiful thing it is.  So that's my goal for this year: take care of my body.  It's the only one I'm going to get.  And I'm falling in love with it one day, one green bean, one nap, one walk, one strawberry at a time.

First of all, this is the first post I've made in a while and I HATE the new interface.  Seriously.  WTF?

Second, I've started online dating.  Or, well, not dating.  I've not yet had a date.  But online messaging.  It's been about 10 days and so far... well... I'm not any more successful online than I am in real life.  Oh well.  It's something to do.  Oh, and for those of you who might be wondering how that fits into the whole "permission to stop trying so hard in dating" thing, it's simple.  I'm a little bit of a hypocrite.  A very, very bored hypocrite.

Third, I'm currently looking for a job.  For those of you who are familiar with the job market in Pocatello... it blows.  I've had a couple of interviews, but it's hard to even apply for things because there are so few job openings that I'm even qualified to apply for.  My goal is one application per day.  Sometimes I make it.  Other times... no one is hiring that day, so I don't apply.  I would really like to have something to do.  Something that doesn't involve Facebook.  I think it's time to start volunteering somewhere.

Fourth, sewing is one of the most frustrating, rewarding things I have ever done.  I took a costume construction class this past semester, and afterwards I decided to buy a sewing machine and have been making stuff since.  I've made some stuff for me and for other people as well, and I've been really enjoying the results.  The only problem I've been having is that I haven't finished reorganizing my room to make space for said sewing machine, so I've had to settle for sewing in the living room.  Having to clean up and pack my stuff to my room every night and bring it back to the living room and unpack it the next day kind of puts a damper in working on projects.  But cleaning is much less fun than sewing so...

Meh, that's all for now.  I kept avoiding the two things I want to talk most about, and this is no different.  Blah. Maybe later.