Earthquake year!

IN a news report I heard on the radio recently it stated that last year there were only 30 earthquakes the whole year. Now from January to now we have had over 70 earthquakes. Suddenly there is a multitude of quakes here in sunny southern California. If this isn't the hint to prepare for a major quake then I don't know what will get you ready.

After the quake in Haiti, and seeing the total devastation, my parents decided to go to Costco and buy a 3 person tent for themselves. They are 77 years 0ld! They are taking precautions for themselves. My younger sister already has a tent and is working on her food storage. She has the two 35 gallon water barrels I picked up for her cheaply as well. And while my sister's pantry may be anemic, my parents are overflowing. Since they live a few blocks from each other its a simbiosis.

GET A JOB, GET A BETTER JOB, GET A CAREER

Friday I finished job club at LACOE. I went through the program ready to take on the world. I had a few falls. My email was wrong; therefore, her emails to me were being sent to another person with the same name. I had no money to buy gas to go to job interviews; hence I did a lot of calling, faxing and emailing for job leads.

Right now I have Work Source agencies calling me with job leads. They call me because I was part of the job club program. Job Club's motto is...

GET A JOB

GET A BETTER JOB

GET A CAREER

People in job club have preferential status in knowing before anyone else when jobs are being posted on CALJOBS. We get to know 24 hours before the rest of the population does.

Clients who were under the age of 25 were given entry level jobs with the YOUTH CORPS. They usually disappeared...graduated...from the group within the second week. Once that is done, real job hunting can begin by real adults!

powdered mixes + water = nice drink

At the 99cents only store I have come to realize there are more powdered mixes now than before. Who has gotten into the act? Well, coffee (10packets ) and tea (40 bags) have been there practicaly from the beginning. Powdered milk and Tang are neck and neck with them. Following them are the ones catching me by surprise. These mixes don't just come in a can for bulk purchases. They come in individual packets...10 to a box.

coffee
tea
powdered milk (3 qts/box sometimes 8qts/box)
GATORADE!!!! comes in individual packages now!
Crystal Lite
Carnation Instant Breakfast! Cited as the best source of CALCIUM for meal replacement. BETTER THAN ENSURE!
Pedialyte!!! that's new to the mix! Add it to your bottled water and your child is set to go. This is especially good if you are on a trip and your child suddenly becomes ill. We've all been there...both as children and as parents!


So I decided to calculate how many boxes of each item I would need to carry me through a year. Well at 10 packets to a box for 365 days I would need 36.5 boxes each...or really 37 boxes each.

What about powdered milk? At the calculation of one quart a dayI divided 365 by 3 quart boxes to give me = 121.5 boxes or 122 boxes of 3 qt packets of milk. Double it for two quarts a day or triple it for three quarts a day. Who needs three quarts a day? large families for one. also, if you plan to bake or cook from scratch, you will definitely appreciate the extra quarts daily. One more thing... consider the ability to trade with it... Don't believe me? Read Kathy in Fl story of THIS IS ME SURVIVING. The character of Kiri does a lot to trade. She sews new clothes and she prepares ready to mix packets...

So, look at the big picture and calculate what you will need for that.

Food Storage Lunch--Short Term non perishables

This past week and a half I have been rotating out my food storage from my car. What does that entail, you ask? envelope packaged corn, spam singles, fish---it was Lent you know.... and....7 oz bag of pasta and powdered drinks.

What did I do? Well, my every day carry bag held my lunch of the day, as well as the car.

the first time I ate out of my car food storage, it was a necessity...Due to family obligations, I was forced to endure half an hour drive from the work training site back home and then back to the work training site. When I arrived there the lunch hour had ended and I did not have my lunch yet...What to do? What to do? I remembered that I had pimped out my EDC leather purse with food and water. BUT, the car was what held the specialty! I really went all out (in my limited income) and had gone to the 99cents only store and bought non-perishable items to use in an event of an emergency and we had to drive to a motel or camp out for a duration. Personally, I'm aiming for the motel.

Well, from my purse I grabbed the spam single. In my car I grabbed the enveloped corn and a cup of apple sauce. I was given a paper plate and allowed to eat my meal during downtime of training. While I was greatful for what I had I noticed I was still hungry and actually bought something from the vending machine. I thought to myself, what am I missing that I am still hungry?

It came to me a few days later....GRAINS!!! I forgot the grains! So, the next time I went to my truck, again. I had the option of opening a 1 lb. bag of white rice or pasta or a 7 oz. bag of noodles. I opted for the 7 oz. bag of noodles.

I honestly thought that 7 oz. bag of noodles would be spent in one day...IT WAS NOT! In fact, its still in my purse tucked away in a zip lock! Just about everything is ziplocked in my EDC purse. Well, I opened up my bag of noodles and took out about one ounce of noodles and placed it in my STANLEY THERMOS (tm.) I added the whole 7 oz bag of cornand the packet of salmon. What I decided NOT to open was my spices. Even so, I was wishing for some added flavor, other than the salmon or white albacore I was eating all last week!