Emergency Preparedness

"Because you never know when the day before... Is the day before. Prepare for tomorrow." ~ Bobby Akart

Good morning; afternoon; and evening friends and fans! Namaste. For the last several years I've been watching prepping channels and it's very informative information indeed. As of late or whenever time permits, I'll go on Amazon and take a peek-a-boo at what items are for prepping (as well as having a bug out bag on hand). More on the prepping channels in a moment while I'm trying to sort out my thoughts on what I want to say but don't get me wrong, I can be meticulous when it comes down to writing and photography and will list some of the channels I do watch at the moment. So far, I've purchased several items in the past year or so are LuckyNV Carry Travel Case Cover for LifeStraw in October 2021; Survival Vegetable Seeds Garden Ki Over 1,6000 Seeds Non-GMO and Heirloom; 30 Pieces 4 Sizes Mylar Bags Assorted Sizes 5 Mil Mylar Bags for Food Storage also in October 2021; The Ultimate Survival Medicine Guide: Emergency Preparedness for ANY Disaster by Joseph Alton, MD and Amy Alton, ARNP; Survival Kit, 220PCs Emergency Survival Gear First Aid Kit Mobile System Compatible Outdoor Survival Gear. I also recently ordered a 24 BattlePack Tactical Backpack. There are other items I may come back for when I have the available funds. I've also ordered Survival Vegetable Seeds Garden Kit over 1,600 Seeds Non-GMO and Heirloom, Great for Emergency Survival Gear, 35 Verities Seeds for planting Vegetables 35 Plant Markers Gardner's Basics. I'm slowly getting my bug out bag ready for when there's an emergency and will have to order several additional bug out bags for my son, Stephan. If you know of any retail stores here in New York City that I can check out and, in the meantime, I'm going to find any stores on my own. I'm a fan of having several different options than having very limited options and may have to find a bug out checklist to print out for my own records so to speak. I may have to get myself a new mountain bike since my bike currently have a flat tire, didn't have the bike for a month at the time of the flat tire and I have no way of getting my bike to Target in College Point for flat tire repairs. The next two Mylar Bags had been mentioned in either on The Angry Prepper or The Angry Truth channels on YouTube. These two Mylar Bags can be found on Amazon.

• 100 Pieces 5x7 inch Mylar Bags
• Mylar Bags for Food With Oxygen Absorbers
• OXYGONE 500 CC [100 Packets] Premium Oxygen for Food Storage, Oxygen Absorbers (pack of Absorbers.
  

-My YouTube Suggestions-

 "A community is like a ship; everyone ought to be prepared to take the helm." ~ Henrik Ibsen

Onto prepping channels on YouTube, there are several YouTubers I'm a fan of that I regularly watch from time to time. Several of them have at one point (once upon a time) served in the military and one of them I like because this dude is a natural speaker, he doesn't talk down to you or at you but does get you thinking and curious enough to look things up on the internet. The name of this dude's YouTube channel is Survival prepping for normal people and this October will mark two yeas since this guy posted any videos on YouTube. Another YouTuber is Black Scout Survival, I believe Mama Bear Prepping is another active military personal if I'm not mistaken. Another suggested YouTube channel is City Prepping; The Angry Prepper/The Angry Truth; Prepper Nation. They'll often mention Alaska Prepper in several of their videos or often times when they take the live stream route and another YouTube channel I watch is Pinball Preparedness. There are some of the YouTube channels I do watch and there's another YouTube channel, I forgot the name of this YouTube channel but I know it's a husband and wife team. I'm sure it'll come to me when I find out which channel I regularly watch will make mention of this particular YouTube channel but I'm not going to drive myself crazy trying to think of the channel. I often watch Poplar Preparedness and any other channel on YouTube, best to click on the hashtags in the description part of the video (yeah, I know, such a millennial thing to do but I don't get the whole point of in or the significance of these hashtags). It's been a hot minute since I've watched Sensible Prepper or Survival Dispatch, The Urban Prepper. That YouTube channel I was trying to break my head over is Full Spectrum Survival! Just know that when we end up in a Shit Hits The Fan scenario that no one will come to save you and just think of The Walking Dead, there may be a separate blog about what I've learned what to avoid; a general idea of what could go wrong and what could go right. I'm currently up to season nine of The Walking Dead on Netflix and there's another zombie themed show on Netflix I've watched but sucks that it's only five seasons of Z Nation. [Side note: You may recognize Christian Serratos from The Walking Dead, she plays the character Rosita Espinosa and she's done two seasons of Selena: The Series on Netflix.] Another zombie show I'm watching is Black Summer (currently up to season two) and another zombie related show I've never gotten past episode one is Reality Z on Netflix (Reality Z is mostly in Spanish, I'm a non speaking Spanish Latina). Okay, I'm getting a bit carried away with zombie related shows but these are a whole other blog in itself. I've found another YouTube movie titled 'Prepper | FREE FULL COMEDY MOVIE | End of the World Comedy Drama Movie'. There's a reason why I've put the preppers who are currently serving in the military but haven't come across any preppers whom are police officers. I'm sure there are active police officers who are preppers. One of these YouTube channels have mentioned where to stock up on food: Nutrient Survival and as well as stocking up on medicine: Contingency Medical.

-Electromagnetic Pulse-

"Victory at all costs, victory in spite of all terror, victory however long and hard the road may be; for without victory, there is no survival." ~ Winston Churchill

If anyone knows of any items for an EMP attack (Electromagnetic Pulse), I'm all ears and open to checking out items. I'd have to find some faraday bags, as well as faraday cages and making sure I have all my devices protected. I hope I wouldn't have to experiences this my lifetime and if need be, I should stock up on novels from Anne Rice or any other novels if in the event of an EMP attack. Stock up on what you need now, even if it's a little bit at a time until you have a good ten years worth of food, books, and entertainment (such as board games, card games such as Uno! Dominoes, whatever you may have on hand for you and your family). Here is a reading suggestion for you to read: 'How To Defend Against The Electromagnetic Pulse Threat By Literally Painting Over It' and 'DHS Combats Potential Electromagnetic Pulse (EMP) Attack'. Best to be prepared for anything that life throws at us and I don't trust the government since I feel they have something devious up their sleeves. I'm hoping to keep this type of blog in three blogs, meaning there may be two future blogs about prepping and I have not yet decided whether if there will be two additional blogs on prepping. Best to be prepared with anything from books to games and anything to keep yourselves occupied. If you're not much of a writer, pick up the habit of writing and always have several copies of dictionaries on hand since you may not be able to use your phones to look up whatever words you're looking for on your phone. Personally, I find people to be spoiled with their phones.

-Shortages-

"Recent research shows that many children who do not have enough to eat wind up with diminished capacity to understand and learn. Children don't have to be starving for this to happen. Even mild under nutrition - the kind most common among poor people in America - can do it." ~ Carl Sagan

It's bad enough there's baby formula shortages on hand in many retail stores and now we're facing another. Here's a reading suggestion: 'National Tampon Shortage Is Affecting American Women - and No One Knows When It Will End' and 'The FDA is facing an investigation into its handling of the baby formula shortage'. I'm going to be honest, I'm grateful that I don't have an infant to care for at the moment because I don't have to worry about how the baby will be fed, etc. If we're currently facing all these shortages out there on store shelves, I'd suggest stock up on diapers of different sizes so you'd be best prepared for what's to come and I know this sounds insane but I'm sure somewhere in your subconscious mind you know I'm right. Even if you have to go to BJ's Wholesale Club or even Costco Wholesale for things like garbage bags, shampoo/conditioner, bath soap, and whatever else you feel you need to stock up on. For freeze dry food, I wish I could suggest which freeze dry foods are good because I have not [yet] ordered any freeze-dried foods. Perhaps you can order small amounts from Amazon and see which ones you fancy. I wouldn't know too much about things like freeze dried foods since I have zero experience with trying freeze dried foods.

 

https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/tag/preppers

Blessed be,

Jennifer

'The Walking Dead'

"Every sacrifice we make needs to be for the greater good. The second it isn't, the second we lose sight of that, it's all over." ~ Dawn Lerner, The Walking Dead, Season 5: Slabtown

Good morning; afternoon; and evening friends and fans! Namaste. I've been watching 'The Walking Dead' for a hot minute on Netflix and I'm currently up to season eight. As I'm watching the show, if there were ever a zombie apocalypse outbreak but not limited to what we've seen on shows such as The Walking Dead; Black Summer; Z Nation; Reality Z; and any other zombie apocalypse shows that are out there. There's things I've noticed throughout each season such as health issues/complications and survival skills. I'll get to that in a moment with things that came to mind in recent weeks and I do want to point them out if in the event there is a zombie apocalypse in my lifetime that no one had thought of [in my lifetime, I honestly don't mean to frighten people but it's a reality, truth be told]. I hope people will have their aha moment once they go through all the thoughts of every zombie movie you've ever seen. There may be spoiler alerts (although I cannot promise you anything, 😉 😉) throughout this blog at random for those who haven't kept up with every and all episodes of The Walking Dead. (Spoiler alert! 👉🏾) There was this one character, Dale Horvath played by Jeffrey DeMunn, I liked the fact he'd seen right through Shane Walsh's [played by Jon Bernthal] bullshit before anyone else did and it sucked Dale was killed off these show. There will always be that person who will see right through your bullshit whether you want to admit to the truth or not [🤷🏾‍♀️] and there had been moments when a character would point out whatever it is to the point you're just like, "True shit but they have a valid point though" or you'd be like "Dude, come on already, you know it's so freaking true and obvious!" I'm just saying and for those who have watched The Walking Dead would know what I'm talking about. One of my favorite characters had been killed off in the first episode of season seven by Negan and I nearly stopped watching the show as a result of Glenn getting killed off. Don't get me wrong, I've had several favorite characters on the show but I'm not going to get into all that. Unfortunately, Glenn Rhee [played by Steven Yeun] and Abraham Ford [played by Michael Cudlitz] both had their heads smashed in by Negan while everyone from Rick Grimes crew, especially Maggie, Glenn's wife on the show all watched helplessly as Glenn and Abraham had their heads smashed in with Lucille or Lucy (Negan's bat). The upside is it's best to learn new skills such as a form of martial arts and if you're familiar with the movie, 'Enough' starring Jennifer Lopez, there's a scene in the movie where Jennifer Lopez learns self-defense, it's called Krav Maga. I've always wanted to learn mixed martial arts and I've always told myself that if I ever have a daughter, I'm going to put my daughter in a mixed martial arts at age three. My favorite part in 'Enough' is when Jennifer Lopez learns self-defense and the final fight scene. That's the one promise I'm going to keep until I have a change of heart when it comes down to motherhood is to have my daughter take up mixed martial arts from an early age. Best to find a place that offers Krav Maga and Tactical & Operational Shooting. It'll come in handy early on in the zombie apocalypse in a shit hits the fan scenario. I may at a later time write about SHTF and will look into different programs involving self-defense. Your best bet is to do your own research.

"I have no problem with responsible gun owners who own weapons for self-protection, hunting, or just sport. The ones who believe they have a constitutional right to 100- round magazines to fight off I don't know what - a zombie apocalypse? - try to shut down dialogue with threats and other macho posing because of their flawed beliefs." ~ Kurt Eichenwald

I feel [personally] the people who will survive a zombie apocalypse or shit hits the fan scenario are those who are healthy and mobile enough to survive such event. If you've been training for any length of time, it's a plus and it's best to learn survival skills now to prepare for an apocalypse/shit hits the fan scenario beyond what we watch on television or on Netflix. At the time of this blog, I still yet have to learn these survival skills that can benefit both myself and my son, Stephan both short and long term. If I could get my son in the Boys Scout here in New York, it'll be fantastic because he'd have the necessary survival skills and although, I'm not crazy about boys having knowledge of self-defense because I feel that they can use martial arts for all of the wrong reasons that would unfortunately be used in domestic violence. Yet, I fully support women of all ages to have knowledge in all forms of martial arts because you'll never know what the future will hold for us as women and especially if you end up with an asshole who is very abusive on so many levels. I pray that if I have a change of heart regarding having a daughter that I'd be financially established enough to put her in a mixed martial arts program and as well as the Girls Scouts. Boys, as I've mentioned before, I'm not worried about them because I feel they can hold their own or unless if your sons and nephews have a developmental disability such as autism and/or Down Syndrome than I feel it's a different scenario than those without developmental disability. It's from my honest perspective, although I still favor girls learning self-defense more so than boys.

"We fear death so profoundly, not because it means the end of our body, but because it means the end of our consciousness - better to be a spirit in Heaven than a zombie on Earth." ~ Alison Gopnik

For those with health issues and as well as dietary needs such as those who are vegans. I'm not going to disagree with those who are vegans by choice or born into a family of vegans but we need to eat to survive. If you're asthmatic, a diabetic or someone with cancer and I'm sure you'd survive at least a year but not so much for those who are asthmatic because how will you manage your asthma once when you run out of your asthma medication? What's worse is when there's no electricity to run your nebulizer machine and you're in complete screw city if you run out of your asthma medication. Another thing are those who are visually impaired (whether blind from birth or at some point in life such as an illness or cataracts), I feel they wouldn't survive a zombie apocalypse whatsoever without slowing you and your crew down. Another thing is you never see any elderly people on any zombie shows and that's another thing I've also noticed on The Walking Dead. It's mostly the young; middle aged people; and healthy on zombie shows. You never see any blind people in zombie shows such as The Walking Dead or people with asthma and people who have Cerebral Palsy or anyone in a wheelchair, whether if you're paralyzed either from the neck or waist down or from birth. Plus, you have people who are diabetic and you never hear about folks who are diabetic on any zombie apocalypse show. If there are any diabetics in any post zombie apocalypse show, what if they go into a diabetic shock as a result of their sugar going down as zombies are closing in on them? There's not much anyone can do without having to leave them there without risking their own safety. I hope you see where I'm getting at, I'm talking about those who have legit seen the show, every episode of The Walking Dead up until now. You never see anyone who is blind; asthmatic; down syndrome; autistic (I don't mean having an actor or actress portraying someone with autism because to me it doesn't feel genuine whatsoever but consider this, portraying an autistic person on a show needs to be around someone who is autistic and spend hours and hours doing research for the part on the show, such as The Good Doctor. I feel it's best to hire someone with autism and they can do just do a good of a job as someone who isn't autistic. I believe in authenticity and realness of the acting, as well as singing because that's what makes things real and genuine. I also believe in giving people a benefit of a doubt but of course I know it often gets people into trouble because it's gotten me in trouble in the past and I'm a bit cautious now as a result of it. Another dilemma is in the case of Maggie and Lori who became pregnant on the show and it's an awkward situation. There's another infant on the show, one thing that got me for sure is if everyone is in the middle of nowhere, how in the world are they going to find diapers and clothing for the baby [🤔]? 🤨 Best to find someone who can make children's clothing and it's going to take a village to teach that child to potty train. However, I know it's just a television show for crying out loud! For those who have watched every episode and kept up from season one up until now as we speak, I'm surprised I haven't heard any of these being brought up in conversation. Yes, I understand that The Walking Dead became boring after a while because everyone kept running from the zombies and Shane was an asshole early on in the series before he was killed off the show.

"You can't negotiate with a zombie. They have only one impulse - that's to eat us or our brains." ~ Stephen Graham Jones

There may be some spoiler alerts for those who haven't been keeping up with every single episode of The Walking Dead and don't worry, I'll wait for you to be all caught up with every episode of The Walking Dead. At the time of this blog, I'm up to season nine and episode fourteen (episode titled: Scars) with three episodes left of season nine of the show. One thing I've learned towards the end of season six of 'The Walking Dead' is you have to consider what could go right and what could go wrong because when they encountered Negan and his goons, no matter where they turned, they came across Negan and his crew at each place they've turned to escape Negan to get Maggie some medical help. Meaning, Negan and his crew created roadblocks preventing Rick from heading to the Hilltop in season six of the show. However, Rick Grimes hadn't thought things through each time they came across Negan's crew at each roadblock as they were attempting to leave before being dragged out of their vehicle. In season seven, episode eleven where Eugene Says "I'm Negan" and it made me wonder if he was just going along by saying he's Negan in order to survive or if he genuinely did this in order to survive without being murdered by Negan. Throughout each season they've come across each group of people such as The Governor [played by David Morrissey] than Negan [played by Jeffrey Dean Morgan] and now Alpha [played by Samantha Morton]. Keep in mind I'm only on season nine of The Walking Dead on Netflix and have made mental notes of what to do and what not to do; be prepared of what could go right and what could go wrong such as Negan making his debut sixth-season finale of The Walking Dead. Here's a New York Times article titled: 'The Walking Dead' Season 6 Finale: Negan Arrives, and Then...? I personally haven't come up with a game plan if I ever found myself in a situation similar to groups such as the Saviors, which is Negan's crew. Perhaps I'm overreacting as I normally do but I like to be prepared just in case if I were in this scenario. Zombies are attracted to loud noises and I feel like this blog will tie in with emergency preparedness/SHTF. It's best to learn sign language if in the event you cross paths with someone who is deaf.

Blessed be,

Jennifer