Category Archive

emergency

House fire preparation: 7 things to do to safeguard your stuff in case of a house fire

7 things to do to safeguard your stuff in case of a house fire

In October 2017, my garage caught on fire. It’s all been a truly awful experience, and there’s been a steep learning curve for us.

Here are a few house fire preparation things that you can do right now to make sure that, if you face a catastrophic loss, you end up with the best of a bad situation…

Emergency preparedness list

Your just-in-case emergency supplies list (without getting too post-apocalyptic about it)

The world is pretty rough for some of us with natural disasters, flooding, hurricanes, and the incoming zombie apocalypse. Strike that last one. It’s worrisome in certain areas (and we know that even U.S. citizens don’t always get the help they need in their own country), and it never hurts to be prepared. But you don’t have to get all paranoid survivalist about it. Just a few extra supplies on hand can give you a little peace of mind.

I scoured the CDC website to see what they recommend for emergency supplies to have on hand. Here are the most important…

I was robbed at home and it changed me forever

I was robbed while I was at home and it changed me forever

I was sleeping, but some rustling noises woke me up and I unconsciously reacted to them by jumping out of bed and running into the living room, where the noises were coming from. Them BAM! There he was — a hugely tall guy one foot away from me, in the middle of tearing through my living room.

I was being robbed.

Are there liberal doomsday prepping resources?

I’m interested in disaster preparedness, self-sufficiency, and urban homesteading. All of these interests are often grouped together and referred to as “doomsday prepping.” But most of the prepping sites I’ve found are very conservative politically and socially, and I’m about as liberal as they come! Do you know of any liberal doomsday prepping resources?

5 crucial life lessons I learned from growing up with a nurse as a mother

The lessons I learned from my mom aren’t just about how to cure a sore throat (gargle with warm salty water) or how to ease back pain (alternate warm and cold compresses). Looking back, I see all the crucial lessons for life in general that I learned from growing up with a nurse for a mother.

10 things I’ve learned from having a chronically ill cat

When we first took our cat Princess in, her old owners said she had mild muscle spasms, but they were nothing to worry about. We discovered less than a week later that her muscle spasms were actually seizures. Over the past four years my wife and I have learned a lot from this journey with Princess. These are the top ten things we’ve learned…

What precious things would you grab in a house fire?

What precious things would you grab in a house fire? It’s a “what if” question that gets bandied around often. I’ve heard, and given, many different answers over the years. My dog. My cat. Photo albums. A jewelry box. Signed books. Family heirlooms. It’s all bullshit.

Get your “Oh shit, I’m sick” kit ready before it’s too late

Being sick freaking sucks. But if there’s one thing that sucks even more, it’s having to go to the store when you’re sick to stock up on all the illness accoutrements. During undergrad I worked at a pharmacy on campus, and was regularly exposed to all manner of germs and products with which to treat those germs. I started stocking up on supplies at the beginning of the year, so that when the inevitable welcome-back bug infected me, I’d be ready.