Dishing On: Disaster Preparedness

From what I've seen on my Facebook wall today, plenty of you felt that lovely little rolling quake we had earlier :). I'll admit that I only realized it was an earthquake about halfway through. Our apartment shakes when people run, so it was kind of disorienting.

Still, each time something like this happens I'm reminded of my life growing up in the Torres household. See, you couldn't live under our roof without knowing the meaning of disaster preparedness. Some of you 80's and 90's babies might remember having to take those little earthquake kits to school each year. You know the ones. Filled with non-perishable food, those solar blankets, and other random items? In the Torres household, we had those... times ten.

My dad is big on being ready for anything. We were the family who had a rubbermaid tub packed with our stuff during fire season, in case we were evacuated. We were the family who had a real life evacuation plan in case of a fire (which we one time actually did have to use). We were also the family with huge 10 gallon drums of water sitting in our backyard, and the water sanitation tablets to go with them. JUST IN CASE. That's my dad's motto. Be ready for anything.

Now that I live in Castle Nottingham, we try to keep the trend going. We have emergency lights that turn on in case of a blackout. They are also removable, as flashlights, in case you need to go from room to room. We have canned food a plenty, and a handheld can opener (although according to my dad a knife will do just as well). We even have what is most commonly termed a "Go Bag" in case of an emergency that causes us to leave in a hurry. It's filled with medicine, gauze, medical tape, non-perishable food, water purification tablets, and a bunch of other stuff with space to spare for a quick change of clothes. All packed up in a bag that's easy to grab and go with.

Daddy always said to be prepared. JUST IN CASE.