LinkVETS - The Veterans Resource Network

My mom and I just got back from an Alaskan cruise. Our ship encountered some rough seas and my mom told me that a crewman said an earthquake had caused the rough water. Hey, can't earthquakes cause rogue waves? I began conjuring up images from the “Poseidon Adventure.”

Oddly enough, I had already anticipated such a scenario. Here is a little known fact about me... one of my hobbies is to think about catastrophes and create contingency plans. What can I say? Some people do needlepoint and some people collect stamps. I like to think up “what if” scenarios and come up with solutions.

One month before my cruise, I rented a huge shopping-mall Christmas tree and tied it to my roof and practiced climbing it.  That is how they saved themselves in the movie. Because of my notoriously low lung capacity, I had my 68-year-old mom practice holding her breath and swimming underwater obstacle courses in a pool at her local YMCA, just in case she needed to do a “Shelly Winters.”

I am kidding, of course. Besides, my mother would never agree to wear a swimsuit in public, but I'm not kidding about the fact that I do believe in contingency planning and being prepared.

It wasn't that long ago in our nation's history that American pioneers had to stock up and plan for contingencies, because they were often isolated and on their own. If something bad happened, they had to be prepared to save themselves. Because of modern conveniences, most of us have easy access to goods, money, and even information. We hop in the car and can quickly get to what we need, but what if that all went away? How many of us have planned ahead? If you had to shelter in place, how long could you keep your family comfortable with the supplies that you have currently in your home?

Our government has information available to help us participate and take some responsibility in our own preparedness. Here are a few of those informational resources:

• Fema's Are You Ready Guide
• Ready.gov
• Emergencies and Preparedness
• International Travel: Crisis Preparedness
• Public Health Emergencies
• Earthquake Hazards Program
• American Red Cross
• Flu.gov

We have a well stocked home should we ever need to shelter in place. We also have a “grab and go” kit in case we need to evacuate immediately. I occasionally get teased by friends and family about my preparedness “eccentricity.” One time we had friends over for dinner and my husband's friend thought he would mess with me. He asked me, “So, if you ran out of food, would you eat Doc and Daisy (our dogs)? Without skipping a beat, I said, “Of course not. They are my family, but I have been deliberately fattening up some neighbors and friends... just in case. Would you like some more fajitas?”

3.26 Copyright (C) 2008 Compojoom.com / Copyright (C) 2007 Alain Georgette / Copyright (C) 2006 Frantisek Hliva. All rights reserved."