Best be prepared

It's been a strange week. Monday morning, the power went out, and it didn't come back on til the afternoon. And in this heat, it was a horrible experience being in a place with no backup generators and the a/c is out. It was stuffy and overbearing, and no one can really think straight when you're burning up. Nobody wants to work and patience runs short! Opening a window didn't help, because it was hot and dusty outside. It was like being slow roasted in an oven, and I was sweating hard! We all were. Thank goodness my deodorant works well. I wish I could say the same for others. Some people stunk awful, like old dirty socks--festering, moldy, crusted socks! But how exactly do you tell someone that they reek without it sounding offensive?

On Wednesday, I was glad that I took a shower early that morning because by 8 o'clock, the water had stopped. It was out all day! Turning on the sinks only resulted in pitiful spits and a gurgling, gasping sound from the pipes. You might think that so long as you have drinking water from the bottle, you'll be okay. And you would be, say, if you lived in the wilderness. But people in the city have to use toilets--or at least they're supposed to--and when the toilets don't work, well, it's not a pretty sight (or smell). And with this heat, you need another shower when you get home just to wash off the dust and grime and sweat that's covered most of your body.

On Thursday, phone lines were down in the afternoon. It's a good thing that I didn't need to make an emergency call. Come Friday, the cable was out for a few hours! It's not so bad when you have other things to do, but it sure does suck when you want to sit down and watch tv.

I'm not sure what's causing all these break downs. Now it could be just a coincidence, the usual failure of infrastructure from decay or the need for routine maintenance. Or maybe this is the government's new way of preparing us to survive a hurricane disaster, when things don't work. Perhaps it's a sign of an impending apocalypse. Or quite possibly, this may be the work of gremlins who ate food after midnight, got wet, multiplied, and are planning to take over the world.

It was late, and I could've sworn it was a stray cat!




Whatever the cause, I want to be prepared. I'm restocking up on the survival supplies--flashlights, batteries, canned goods and water, blankets, multi tool/pocket knife and matches and lighters. I also need some baby wipes--they're much better than toilet tissue and I can use them to wash up should water become scarce. I'm also going to include extra clothes, important documents, first aid kit, travel kit, and cash. In addition to these basic items, I'm thinking of adding booze--might be a long while til help arrives. I may also need a weapon, possibly a rifle. This'll come in handy to fend off the looters, the vicious roving gangs that survive the apocalypse, and quite possibly, help eliminate the gremlins should they get out of hand.