To Store or Not to Store?

Times are, well disrupted, to say the least. The weather swings from drought to flood. Then the news stories about jobs being sent to another shore flashes on the screen then off like a faulty neon sign. To much of that kind of story is not good for business. The next story up, is about storing food to survive a disaster. Now that is good for business, and maybe the supermarket will employee a few more people.

No, the supermarket will not need to employee a few more people, they just installed half a dozen automatic checkouts and I suspect the computerised machines were manufactured in one of those off shore destinations for jobs.

Droughts, floods, tsunami's! Yes all are in the disaster category and the Japanese did plan for a tsunami, they built a wall. The wave that came in was unfortunately larger than the best predictions on how big a wave could go, and it is unlikely any food cupboard in the area of the tsunami was packed up and moved. The thing is, I could go to a lot of effort in preparing for a disaster, its just that I have nagging thoughts that no matter how well prepared I am, something unexpected will undo my plans.

You see a question was asked in the middle of a flash flood event, by someone who had problem with their sewer system, it was backing up. Nasty. Messy. Inside their house and in their kitchen sink. They wanted to know what to do? The first think that came to my mind was to leave home, but I don't think that is what they were wanting to hear, and not knowing all that much about the sewer systems I confessed to not having an answer for them.

It sounds like a good idea to store food for a disaster, but and this is a priority for my comfort as much as my well-being, a working sewer system in a disaster is normally what you don't have and the something that you most need. Trying to disconnect from a sewer system to go self sufficient...oh my, the paperwork and disapproving administrators.

  If you can't live where the food is......I think I am just going to risk being a Lemming, enjoy life, now, be happy, stress less, because no matter how well you plan, you just can't plan for everything and it is what you don't plan for that happens.

A Change.

A hot night, but one of relief, not just for me but for a garden dried and parched after four weeks of hot days. I might have just for a moment this morning viewed the weather in a different way, don't get me wrong, I wanted the rain, because now I can have a rest from the tug-of-war with the garden hose. You see the hose fittings have seen better years and when tugged, may or may not explode. 

Aiming hose joiners, male to female, and then slamming them together while the water is still running is messily  wet, but when the evening temperature is still thirty degrees Celsius at 7pm I don't complain. The spray of water released into the air and on me has a cooling effect, not just on my body temperature but on my mood. 

Still after one explosion the hose is not tugged as hard, I don't want the hose joiners parting while I am not watching them, the lawn, aka, mown weeds, does not have priority for watering any more. Too many years of drought cured me from that activity. Water is now reserved for my veggies and fruit trees.

The night might have been hot, but the morning has a coolness, much appreciated after the hot days of the last month. Finally a change has come through, and even though the night was warm it was also a night of rain. This has worked wonders on the garden, and by the look of the cloudy sky, there is a promise of more during the day, this will be welcomed as a blessing. 

My moment of unwelcome to the wet morning, was when my cat came inside from her walk. I'd left the door open, otherwise I would play open and close door for her, so when she did come back inside I wasn't paying a lot of attention to her, she rubbed my leg, like she usually does, I jumped instead of patting her and cooing 'I guess you want your breakfast now.'

A wounded look of rejection registered on her face, but as much as I wanted to, I could just not force myself to pick her up, or even touch her for that matter, because the most unwanted part of a wet morning just rubbed my leg. I wondered how do you tell a fluffy cat that she could have postponed her walk this morning? A wet cat rub on unclad legs is just yucky. I did get her the breakfast she wanted, while doing my best to avoid her wet fur.




Sunday Scribblings prompt 304 Action.

Happy New Year for 2012

                                                by Graham Miln
I started the New Year with the news that Cuban priests have predicting more earthquakes and that global warming will continue to increase.

If you look at the Early Warning Earthquake map the feeling that this prediction might already be happening. The people of Christchurch, New Zealand and Japan are left wondering if their part of the world is ending, with earthquakes of 5.0 and 7.0 respectively, Japan was lucky that their latest earthquake occurred in Izu Islands with few people around.

The priests also warned against marital discord. Unfortunately a little late for Russell Brand and Katy Perry.

click to link

Still there was some good news in the priests predictions, they see the planet moving into 2013, a little the worse for wear in places but the end of the Maya Calender cycle on 21st December 2012 is not an end for the planet they assure us.