Meanwhile, on the Disaster Preparation Front

Preparation is part of self-sufficiency. 

I often say to my friends that disaster preparation is not necessarily about "the end of the world as we know it," nuclear disasters, civil war, etc. Just in the past couple of weeks there have been two incidents that make it clear that it is better to have a few supplies on hand and be prepared for small emergencies than not: An attack on a power substation in North Carolina, and a boil water alert just down the road in Maplewood.

The North Carolina incident is the more concerning of the two. Apparently, it just took two gun attacks (and there are plenty of guns and ammunition floating around) to put some 45,000 people into the dark. CNN noted today:

03:32 - Source: CNN

CNN — 

Residents of a North Carolina county are entering a third day without lights or heating, after a suspected attack on electric substations resulted in a widespread outage that blanketed the county in darkness, shuttered schools and businesses and prompted a curfew.

At least 34,000 utility customers in Moore County were still without power Monday night

This is reason to do some simple things: Have a backup source of heat. I am SO happy that we have our fireplace insert now. We could go weeks without heat. But even something like our old propane "Heater Buddy" and some propane would be enough to prevent freezing for a couple of days and keep the water pipes flowing. No lights? Having a few solar lanterns and lightbulbs around, we don't have to worry about being in the dark, or keeping our batteries updated. Keeping an emergency crank radio around would allow us to recharge our cell phones for communication and listen to emergency alerts. And water. Water is incredibly important, and it doesn't take much to have at least a week's worth on hand. We've got quite a bit more than that, but I'd think that a week would be the bare minimum. This is just a couple of water jugs for most folks. A camp stove (you could go outside to cook for a short time) and fuel are easy enough to have on hand. I recommend something like a Solo stove, so that fuel becomes optional. These things burn wood scraps, twigs, and leaves - things that are laying around in most yards. Finally, we never let our cars get below half a tank of gas. I always want to be able to drive at least 250 miles without stopping or worrying about the electric pumps failing to pump gas. 

These are small things that are eminently doable, yet, if you read the CNN article, things that many people simply don't do. Pink Floyd was right to note the "Thin Ice" of modern life. 

It can be shattered in an instant by a few crazies.