# Past survival situations?



## James95 (Feb 22, 2012)

Hey, I thought it would be a huge encouragement to the beginner preppers that are on this forum for others to share past experiences where the survival skills and preparations we've gathered were actually used in a survival situation. The information on here isn't just useful after TSHTF! 

I'll go first 

A few years ago, a small scale catastrophe actually occured in my little neck of the Mississippi backwoods&mdash;Katrina. I remember the looks of our property after it hit.. Leaves plastered to the house, limbs strewn throughout the yard, countless trees down, and the rickety tin barn that used to house my horses slung out in the middle of the pasture&mdash;devastation. Not as bad as it was in some places, but still pretty bad. Now, I love living in the backwoods. And it has a LOT of its advantages. But, we are by no means on the top of the energy people's list to restore electricity. My community went without electricity for three weeks. As soon as he realized the gravity of the situation, my father took all three of our ice chests, filled them with all the ice we had in the freezers, and piled all of the frozen perishables on top of each other to keep them frozen. That night we drank most of the milk, and ate the frozen burritos that were cooked on the Coleman propane grill. Throughout the rest of those two weeks, our community was drawn tighter and we depended more on each other than we ever had. I remember driving around with my mother and handing out lemonade to the elderly neighbors. Most of them were completely delighted simply because of the ice! My grandfather cranked up the propane generator and got the fire dept. Ice machine working, so we were able to supply ice to keep perishables cold to my whole family and some of the neighbors. I could make this long and drawn out, which I already have.. But I'll try to focus on the last most important parts. We survived because we drew together and toughed it out. This isn't a large scale catastrophe like a dirty bomb or an EMP, but it was a definite survival situation. When in that situation, the SMALL communities are the ones that thrive. I can not express how important it is that my neighborhood is a "good" neighborhood. There was no need to be paranoid that looters would come steal our goods because of the values instilled in our community. Because of that, we were able to actually draw together and assist each other. Which would hardly ever be found in a large urban city. Bottom line&mdash;if the electricity goes out, Ice is a great peace offering


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## goatlady (Nov 7, 2011)

Northern Arkansas Ice storm in Jan 2009 left our homestead without power for 2 weeks. We just cranked up the gennie and kept the freezers cold and water flowing. Took 3 people 2 days to clear the road to the highway and at the end of that 2nd day the volunteer fire folks came to check on us and helped with the last few trees. We were offered hot showers at the fire station which was the operations headquarters for all those great power guys from all around, and everybody was pitching in to help deliver water where needed. With our gennie and the regular propane kitchen stove and our food preps we were in good shape and luckily we had no structure damage even though we had 100+ trees snap on our place alone. Those that were prepped took that much pressure off the system. A prepping friend living waaay back off the road had some Nat. Guard guys hike in to check on them after about a week - road was NOT motor vehicle passable. Nat. Guard brought MRE's, but they received a nice hot meal themselves instead and one of the Guard guys had sprained his ankle badly, so my friend fixed him up and sent them on their way with canteens of hot coffee. My friend is totally solar so he was in real good shape.


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## goshengirl (Dec 18, 2010)

Love it, goatlady! :2thumb:

Our survival situation wasn't so much survival as it was a personal SHTF. DH has been laid off twice since 911 (he works in the airline industry). The first layoff wasn't too bad, and we didn't learn the lessons from it that we should have. But the second layoff hit us hard. We weren't prepping yet, but we did have a lot of food in the basement because we tended to shop in bulk at Sam's Club. All the stuff that didn't fit in our tiny kitchen was stored on basement shelves or in the extra freezer down there. It was that food in the basement that saved us, and we know it - even though it was just excess bulk and not a thought out food storage. (And since it wasn't a planned food storage, we sure got creative when it came to putting together meals - it was kind of liberating, putting together some odd combinations.)

It was that experience that got us into prepping. Well, DH is not a prepper per se, but he did decide we should move out to the country where we could plant a large garden and have a lower mortgage, and he puts up with all my fruit and nut tree planting. And he also puts up with all my food storage in the basement - because after that experience I know I'll always have food storage. I never want to see my family going hungry again.


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## Claymore5150 (Nov 17, 2011)

goatlady said:


> A prepping friend living waaay back off the road had some Nat. Guard guys hike in to check on them after about a week - road was NOT motor vehicle passable. Nat. Guard brought MRE's, but they received a nice hot meal themselves instead and one of the Guard guys had sprained his ankle badly, so my friend fixed him up and sent them on their way with canteens of hot coffee.


Awesome. I dig it.


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## partdeux (Aug 3, 2011)

Everybody should read the Bosnia Survivor blog/experience.

GG, I have done very well for most of my career, right up until it came to a screeching halt with no alternative. It was my deep love of pickles, which were really low on the priority list that we started canning. Now we are very careful about how and why we spend money, our canning is on steroids, and we buy as much in bulk and/or on sale as we possible can.


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## Claymore5150 (Nov 17, 2011)

<-----------has had a few predicaments over the years, but none that actually were survived due to "prepping", but maybe more along the lines of "training".
Flash blizzard, Austrian Alps. Not a fun day for ye olde Claymore. 

I know where Jimmy Hoffa AND Elvis are, they're both dead, saw their bones up under Pillow Rock about 20' below the surface on the Upper Gauley in WV. Might not have been them, though...hard to tell when you're rolled up in a ball, 20' down, rolling through class V gnarliness at a high rate of speed with no air. Fun day for the Claymore, but not a great swim (or the 2 other Vs that I swam that day, ugh!). 

Blizzard of march '93 would have been a lot more fun with a fireplace and a Coleman stove, just saying. Cold Chef Boyardee gets old after a couple of weeks. Ahhhh, life living with the parental unit in my pre Army days. LOL.


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## Claymore5150 (Nov 17, 2011)

partdeux said:


> Everybody should read the Bosnia Survivor blog/experience.


I agree, saw it first hand from a different point of view.


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## md1911 (Feb 9, 2012)

Southern missouri 2009 ice storm. My farm was 10 miles off the paved road. We were without power for 31 days at our house. We didn't own a generator. We used a bucket to haul water out of the well. We cooked on a bbq grill and the wood stove. We took baths in the tub water heated via wood stove. We ate well and stayed warm. As a matter of fact we had 1 other family stay with us. They had 9 month old twins. Plus mu 90 year old grandfather


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## gypsysue (Mar 27, 2010)

January 1983 My husband and I lived in a converted school bus, and we had bailed out of eastern Montana and were heading south for the rest of the winter. We got trapped in a snowstorm in northern Utah, east of Salt Lake City, and we pulled into a wayside and parked it. The road was closed for a day or two, then finally a plow went through. A little while later a Highway Patrol car pulled in to check on us. We had the heat going (we'd put in insulation and paneling) and we were eating stew and fresh biscuits, and playing cards. We invited the Trooper in for a chat!

Spring 1993 I was driving on a backroad up in the mountains south of Missoula and got my car stuck in the snow. I had my four young children in the car, and no one knew where I was. I removed one of the license plates from the car with a pocket knife, then used the plate to dig the car out of the snow. It took hours, but I got us out.

Spring 1998 We were living way back in the Appalachians in SE Kentucky and had a big snowstorm. We lived at the end of the road, up on a bench on a mountain. It was half a mile back down to the nearest neighbor and the road was blocked with dozens of limbs and downed trees. I was home alone with 5 kids, and I took one of the boys with me and we hiked through the deep snow down to the holler and rode to town, 17 miles away, with a neighbor and I bought a chainsaw, bar oil, gas can, gas, and 2-cycle oil at Ace Hardware. When we got back to the holler my son and I climbed back up the mountain through the snow, climbing over limbs and branches. Then I got the chainsaw put together and started at the top and cut my way down the road. I could hear chainsaws at the other end, and before I was halfway down the mountain I met up with a few neighbors who cleared my road from their end.

I've been in "iffy" situations where we struck out on a hike across the desert and got lost among the 'washes' and ran out of water (and got sore feet!), got caught in a sudden squall in a kayak 2 miles from shore, had a flat tire on a bicycle miles back in the wilderness on a "rails-to-trails" bike trail and no repair kit with me (I had to walk out)! We had a snowmobile break down last weekend 8 miles back into the National Forest, but we had the handheld Ham radio with us. We carry that, snacks, and firestarting stuff with us whenever we go in the backcountry now.

And yes! The Bosnia guy is a story worth reading.


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## katfish (Jan 11, 2010)

When we had the big ice storm that left us without power for a couple of weeks my place turned into a little community shelter. We took most of the things out of the freezer and fridge and put them in a pick up where they would stay cold. We cooked on the propane grill or the fireplace insert. I had an old predator call that played tapes that was charged up so we even had music for awhile. We spent a lot of time playing monopoly by lantern light and fortunately had a fair size stockpile of alcohol. It was actually a pretty good time


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## partdeux (Aug 3, 2011)

Claymore5150 said:


> I agree, saw it first hand from a different point of view.


Care to share the story?


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## GaryS (Nov 15, 2011)

My first 17 years of life were lived on a dirt farm in North Dakota. We didn't have electricity or running water for much of that time, so survival was a daily experience and we thought nothing of it. I recall being snowed in for up to six weeks, but we had plenty of canned food, kerosene for lamps, and a basement full of coal, so we were comfortable. What was really hard to take was no mail and no entertainment besides books, some of which had been read many times.

In the winter of '82, a fierce wind storm pounded the foothills of the Cascade mountains in Washington for three days, with winds up to 115mph. There was no electricity anywhere in town, and damaged homes all over. We had kerosene, all the canned food we needed, and a wood burning stove to heat the house and to cook on. Our son-in-law was a police officer, so we fed the overworked police department for two days. We made them sandwiches and big pots of vegetable soup until they got an emergency generator hooked up. The horrible wind was hard to take for that long, but getting by was nothing more than a nuisance. We at least had a battery powered radio to listen to, and we could have evacuated a few miles to escape the wind if the house had been damaged.


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## Claymore5150 (Nov 17, 2011)

Spent a little time cruising that countryside back in 94, providing escort for humanitarian relief, gathering intel, dealing with mine fields, ethnic cleansing, you get the picture.

Here are some things that I learned.

One very small village of people can stop a whole convoy in its tracks for WEEKS. <----notice the plural there, folks? WEEKS. 
They are hungry and cold. They'll "riot" in a very small street in front of the lead vehicle and behind the last. You cannot leave unless you can give them some food (some meaning A BUNCH) and a ton of blankets and maybe some fuel. You are stuck in a bottle neck and you can't go anywhere without killing someone.
"PeaceKeeping Relief" mission rules of engagement prevent lead/tail vehicles from running people over.
The villagers KNOW your R.O.E. and use it to their advantage.

It's very dangerous to plant a garden in an area where there are landmines.
Landmines are everywhere in a war zone.
Artillery shells are everywhere in a war zone.
You can walk past a mass grave and not even realize it...because you're looking for landmines.
Landmines are invisible with snow cover.
Artillery shells are invisible, too.
Notice a recurring theme?

It's a very long way from Macedonia to Sarajevo and then to Gorazde. There are a lot of little villages and a lot of cold and hungry people who are pissed off about being cold and hungry and having their village food stores raided by 3 warring factions and not knowing who is on whose side that week.

Any town under siege of artillery fire is in BIG trouble. High explosive trumps stone walls. Makes for rolling thunder and an impressive light show all night, every night. 

Atrocities are part of war, always have been, always will be. Conventions and treaties are broken all the time, they might as well be non-existent for most of the world.

Kids and landmines don't mix. 

If you're a "PeaceKeeper" loaded with weapons to the core, but not allowed to use them to stop/prevent bad stuff from happening, you feel powerless and that's a sucky feeling.

Metal sets off magnetic landmines. Don't go prodding with a knife if you can help it. Bad juju happens to those that do. Sharp stick=good!

Just a few thoughts...


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## md1911 (Feb 9, 2012)

Claymore5150. All the above posted things are very true. And great advice.


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## Jezcruzen (Oct 21, 2008)

I have never had to endure what I would call a real survival situation. I have experienced a number of short-term events where my preparedness made things a lot more comfortable. Ice storms with associated power outages come to mind, but we never lost power for more than three days at a time.

Reading this thread caused me to wonder how many times skills or situational awareness saved any of us from having to endure a survival situation and we may not even know it.

edit: Two nights ago our Wx radio went off announcing that there was a tornado warning. It was 0130. (I was sleeping soooooo good!) I woke everyone and got dressed. I checked the Wx site and the radar imaging showing the heart of the storm moving in our direction. Luckily, it broke up just a few miles away and we never received anything but heavy rain briefly.


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## Claymore5150 (Nov 17, 2011)

md1911 said:


> Claymore5150. All the above posted things are very true. And great advice.


We, in the northwestern hemisphere, are so VERY fortunate compared to the rest of the world.

Europe dealt with two world wars, an iron curtain, the fall of that curtain and the conflicts for power within the "dissolved" eastern bloc areas...it's so much to take in an 80 year period. And yet they still somehow pushed through and weathered those storms. It really is amazing what they had to endure.

I did quite a bit of travel while stationed overseas, some business, some pleasure (being a history buff). It can be mind boggling if you dwell on it.


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## Freyadog (Jan 27, 2010)

katfish said:


> When we had the big ice storm that left us without power for a couple of weeks my place turned into a little community shelter. We took most of the things out of the freezer and fridge and put them in a pick up where they would stay cold. We cooked on the propane grill or the fireplace insert. I had an old predator call that played tapes that was charged up so we even had music for awhile. We spent a lot of time playing monopoly by lantern light and fortunately had a fair size stockpile of alcohol. It was actually a pretty good time


Speaking of music. Two years ago I bought dh a Victrola with a pile of records for Christmas. It also had hundreds of needles, Never know when the power will go out and I figured it would keep us from going stircrazy.


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## BillM (Dec 29, 2010)

At the age of 12 I, and two buddies decided to explore a cave that had a very small enterance in a sinkhole.

Because our parents would have refused permission to us we didn't tell them what we were going to do.

We road our bicycles to the sinkhole and left a note attached to the handlebars of one of our bikes stateing that we had entered the cave at 10:30 am on that day and that we expected to be out by 1:00 pm.

We crawled about 1/2 mile into the cave useing two .50 cent flashlights and one of the flashlights quit working.

We decided to turn back and went a short way and I dropped the only other flashlight.

It went out and we were plunged into total darkness resulting in one of my buddies going immediatly panic stricken.

My other buddy grabed him and held him while I crawled around locating peices of the flashlight.

It took quite a while to locate most of it and useing peices of the nonworking flashlight and what I found of the dropped light , we were able to assemble a working light.

We immediatly left the cave with me in the lead and constant admonishments from the buddy who went nuts, not to drop it again.

I don't know if we could have found our way out or not if we hadn't got the light working but I just kept thinking that I left a note.


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## The_Blob (Dec 24, 2008)

BillM said:


> I don't know if we could have found our way out or not if we hadn't got the light working but I just kept thinking that I left a note.


and THAT is why parents strangle their children... :gaah:

seriously though, you got very lucky 

not that I eveeer did anything like that... ooooh nooooooo  

ok, this one time, at band camp........ :lolsmash:


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## kyhoti (Nov 16, 2008)

I had an experience over 20 years ago now that will stick with me forever. I had just moved to the city, and I was living in a corporate apartment with two room-mates; it was a management decision, not of my own choosing. Not long into the assignment, I ended up in the hospital for several days, and when I returned, not only had the room-mates moved on, they had broken the key off in the door lock. When I finally was able to get in to get "my stuff", it was gone. The room-mates had taken everything but half a garbage bag of clothes. They later claimed that they figured that I had quit, and had pawned my possessions. My contract was terminated the next day, and I had nothing but the contents of my car. No place to live, no food, no water, and only two weeks pay in my pocket and the clothes in a garbage sack. 

I bought what I used to call "camping food", things that needed no refrigeration and just hot or boiling water to prepare. I hit a thrift store for a few more items of clothing and some utensils (a pot, some eating tools and Coleman water jug). Then I topped off the tank in my car. I knew where there was a burned out building nearby that nobody watched, so I made it my base. I cooked out by the old loading docks on a juice-can stove (hobo stove), slept in my car, and looked for work while the sun shone. I rag-bathed from the water jug's spout, trying to keep a semblance of hygiene while job-hunting. I was a month finding a position, and two more weeks before I had a roof over my head.

Was this TEOTWAWKI? Nope, but the S had definitely hit it. True, the infrastructure of society remained intact around me, so I could get water from a tap, and there weren't mobs of lawless looters around me, but the area where I had to stay to avoid being harassed by the authorities was not patrolled. My little H & R .22 revolver felt pretty weak, but nine rounds of double-deuce was better than nothing.

Needless to say, I carry a little more in my trunk these days!


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## fedorthedog (Apr 14, 2011)

I have avoided the problems because I was lucky and prepared. I spent five months in 2007 as part of the management team that responded to a major flood in our area. We are in a rural area so no city gov. We had eight feet of water in some buildings (1000 year flood) ( same flood as seen on axe men in Vernonia Or) Learned to be more prepared than I had been and made a bunch of like minded friends.


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## pixieduster (Mar 28, 2012)

gypsysue said:


> January 1983 My husband and I lived in a converted school bus, and we had bailed out of eastern Montana and were heading south for the rest of the winter. We got trapped in a snowstorm in northern Utah, east of Salt Lake City, and we pulled into a wayside and parked it. The road was closed for a day or two, then finally a plow went through. A little while later a Highway Patrol car pulled in to check on us. We had the heat going (we'd put in insulation and paneling) and we were eating stew and fresh biscuits, and playing cards. We invited the Trooper in for a chat!
> 
> Spring 1993 I was driving on a backroad up in the mountains south of Missoula and got my car stuck in the snow. I had my four young children in the car, and no one knew where I was. I removed one of the license plates from the car with a pocket knife, then used the plate to dig the car out of the snow. It took hours, but I got us out.
> 
> ...


You are one awsome tough lady. Remind me of my Mom. "Never let anybody tell you that you CAN'T because you're a girl". Lol!


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## kappydell (Nov 27, 2011)

Early spring - we had a 'microburst' (looked like a tornado to the deputy on duty that night) that knocked 4 100-yr old trees down on our house and obviously tore down the power lines. We were without for 6 weeks since lots of others also lost their power, and we live on rural road with few houses. it also tore off neighbors roofs. Our 100 yr house was OK. All those trees merely ruffled the shingles. Fema man actually came by and 'suggested' we evacuate. We laughed at him. Landlord (bless him) came by at dawn with a filled 50-gal drum and stand which he had filled with water so we could flush toilets and wash. We are heated by propane, one tree actually danced around the tank but missed it, so we had heat. We just lit the oil lamps, turned on the battery operated TV for news, and got some dry ice for the big freezer. AFter that, it was business as usual except I would stop by and pick up ice for the ice chest that was our fridge. We cooked on barbecue grill. it was such fun we were almost disappointed when the power came back on. Prepping means you just change gears when something happens and keep going. 

Our preps have also been handy during personal economic meltdowns caused by job layoffs, which in my husbands job were frequent and sudden. When he became disabled, we lived off preps while we set up our new living arrangements, and when a good friend became disabled we were able to send food from preps so she would have something to eat until disability kicked in. Preps are ALWAYS a good thing to have!


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## Diego2112 (Aug 18, 2010)

This past July until... Oh, I'd say about January.

I was injured fairly badly at work, effectively cutting my income in HALF. Our car blew up about a month after. We had to drop $1200 to get a new one.

I was quite lucky, had a well-stocked pantry, and it got us through. It was hard as hell, and some meals were a bit tighter than others, but our "Prepper Pantry" got us nearly six months before we were REALLY hurting.

We are in the process of restocking it now, and upgrading/fixing our B.O.Bs.

The trick is now, I'm partially disabled, and will not be returning to that job (most probably). That will affect our income in a very NEGATIVE way, meaning preps will have to either be scaled back, or we'll have to figure something else out. We've got a dog on the way (REQUIRED), we've got the lowest level of internet we can (also a bit of a requirement-none of my wife's family lives in-state), and of course water, power, and various insurances. So there's not really much we can cut back on THERE, really. 

The GOOD thing is we've learned through these injuries (and from my previous living experiences in Africa/Middle East) how to live very, VERY small.


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## ContinualHarvest (Feb 19, 2012)

Lost my job yesterday. I have a good amount of preps but not nearly enough as I would like.


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## mdprepper (Jan 22, 2010)

So sorry to hear that. Hopefully something better is just around the corner for you.


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## md1911 (Feb 9, 2012)

That sucks hope you find a better one.


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## pixieduster (Mar 28, 2012)

ContinualHarvest said:


> Lost my job yesterday. I have a good amount of preps but not nearly enough as I would like.


Everything happens for a reason. Maybe its for free time to garden or finish up those projects? : )


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## horseman09 (Mar 2, 2010)

ContinualHarvest said:


> Lost my job yesterday. I have a good amount of preps but not nearly enough as I would like.


Dang. That's too bad. Hang in there. You're a prepper, so even if things get a little tough, you'll be OK.

gypsy, as another poster had said, you are one tough gal. We go back a little ways on this forum, so I agree, you are not only tough, but smart, too! In fact, I'll bet MMM has a tough time keeping you in line!


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## Ezmerelda (Oct 17, 2010)

When my husband was out of work for six months, and I hadn't worked in over a year before that, we ate very well because I had been prepping. This was the first my husband learned of it, because I had been very good at hiding stuff ALL over the house. I could see he was very worried, so one day I consolidated all my preps into one room. When he came home, disappointed again, from a job interview, I ushered him into the room and stood silently while he took it all in. He relaxed a little, and finally found a job, but he knows, even if he gets laid off, we WILL be eating.


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## partdeux (Aug 3, 2011)

Ezmerelda said:


> When my husband was out of work for six months, and I hadn't worked in over a year before that, we ate very well because I had been prepping. This was the first my husband learned of it, because I had been very good at hiding stuff ALL over the house. I could see he was very worried, so one day I consolidated all my preps into one room. When he came home, disappointed again, from a job interview, I ushered him into the room and stood silently while he took it all in. He relaxed a little, and finally found a job, but he knows, even if he gets laid off, we WILL be eating.


:congrat: Great JOB!


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## lazydaisy67 (Nov 24, 2011)

Two years ago we had a lot of snow. Power out on Christmas eve. Called Santa to make sure he could stop by before it got dark out, and we had our Christmas. We moved some matresses into one of the bedrooms and all slept together in the same room with a lamp on a stand. We were warm, slept well but in the morning when we went downstairs it was COLD! I had 4 kids at the time under age 12 and I was more concerned with them than myself really. We had food, but no way to cook anything, we had water in bottles, and blankets to keep warm with. I called the sheriff to ask if any roads were open and he said 'nope, and none are going to run today' (Christmas, go figure). When he found out we had 4 kids and no heat, no lights, no water, he located a man who had some old army vehicles on tracks and we were rescued by an army weasle. The kids thought it was the greatest adventure ever, but now looking back I feel like we could have stuck it out one more day...sheesh! Power came back on the 26th, however that was what made me kick it into gear so that we don't find ourselves in that 'helpless' situation again.


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## partdeux (Aug 3, 2011)

lazydaisy67 said:


> kick it into gear so that we don't find ourselves in that 'helpless' situation again.


Prep for a wide variety of situations, and be prepared... Sounds like a well rounded plan for success!


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