Preparing for troubled times ahead - Advice on what is needed.....

[bearbait]

I was chatting to one of the nurses at my local surgery the other day (Powys). She was intimating - none too subtley - that (if one is on regular meds, obvs!) one should aim to keep a month or more's supply in store as a backup, along with your current batch. Apparently they're finding some meds easy to get for the dispensary but some more difficult.

And a slight digression here: given our current situation, and that of many / all countries on our planet, a fairly relevant aphorism I came across the other day, attributed to Theodore Roosevelt:

Do what you can, with what you have, where you are.

 

[Woody girl]

I know people struggling with diabetes meds and menopause meds.
I have got extra asthma meds, 2 months so far, but aiming for 3 months. I'm only supposed to have one and a spare, but the inhalers can get "lost" quite easily, requiring a new one. I keep an empty one of each, to prove I need a new one so I don't need to " loose " them too often.
I've also managed to afford my own nebuliser, at the beginning of covid (which reminds me I need some ventolin ampoules for it, )as the surgery stopped treating asthma attacks due to covid and the fine spray a nebuliser emits, making it "dangerous" and liable to spread covid. So I can treat myself now if need be. Also got a small jackery to power it if needed during a power cut.
I cannot rely on an ambulance being with me in time, living out here in the boonies. I need to look after my own medical needs.
A good thing to have is 75 mg soluable aspirin in case of heart problems.
A good comprehensive up to date St John's or Red Cross first aid book should be by the medicine cabinet, which should be well organised by complaints. ..ie ears, eyes coughs colds flu, stop botty, and go botty

 

[sidpost]

Do what you can, with what you have, where you are.

Sounds a bit like what is going on in Ukraine right now!

 

[sidpost]

I am lucky enough to have a multi fuel burner, so I'm managing to keep temperatures in the house fairly constant so far. It's the emptying of ashes, laying lighting tending and hauling of logs and coal that are doing my knees and back a disfavour!
One hot meal a day, soup or stew. Making it in the slow cooker and reheating portions on the camp stove.
Crumpets and toast on the fire.

I've lived off grid in my younger days, so have the skills and fortitude that will keep me going, even if it's more difficult nowadays than it used to be.

I worry for frailer and less able people. Most living in old people's bungalows round here, are all electric and have no alternatives to heat or cook. No warm space has been set up for them and apparently won't be, despite having a community hall that could be used. I've offered to provide hot home made soups for free if one is set up, but nobody wants to do it, and I'm told health and safety won't allow me to provide soup from my own kitchen as its not certified, and I don't have a hygiene certification.
For heavens sake! You'd think I was offering a cauldron of frogs and toads, rather than a healthy nutritional meal !
I think we are going to see lots of new tennents by spring.
I'm quietly steaming about this attitude. But experience tells me it's pointless trying to push the issue.
What a sad state of affairs.

The real problem isn't so much you, its the people before you that made really bad decisions and mistakes that ruins efforts like yours today.

Then add concerns over special dietary issues for older people or, some of the current craziness around veganism, no gluten, religious food restrictions, etc. which may be real for some people but not everyone!

While not as big a problem in Europe in my experience, food in general in the USA has a lot of general misinformation about good and bad things. For example, butter was bad so use margarine, oops margarine has transfat so use butter ... eggs are bad due to cholesterol which is true for a small percentage of the population - not EVERYONE (speaking from personal experience)!

Food education in the USA is terrible generally. Most people cannot cook something that doesn't come in a freezer bag, can, or similar ready to eat concoctions. I need to learn to bake yeast breads but, I've got baking powder/soda options for pancakes and cornbread down pretty good! Bread at the store at >$3.50USD a loaf is too much for many people but, they don't really know how to make anything similar. I'm not into sourdough yet but, I can see that coming pretty quick as well with my new Kilner sour dough jars! Kilner jars are really nice BTW, started using them for fermented veggies and went on from there!

 

[sidpost]

A good thing to have is 75 mg soluable aspirin in case of heart problems.

BC powders work really well for this type of situation!

If you have known heart issues and don't have issues with blood platelets, a 'baby' aspirin a day is a good idea for many people. The trade-off for me is that it makes capillary bleeds from shaving hard to stop from weeping.

 

[sidpost]

Get some Kilner fermentation jars and give sauerkraut and/or kimchi a go. You can ferment most commercial crops which will preserve them for a very long time.

This is one way our ancestors fought off starvation during Winter!

For those with 'backyard' Gardens, look towards Winter lettuce and similar things like I encountered in rural Germany. No, it won't grow in freezing temperatures but, you can grow a lot of things to supplement the pantry/cellar over Winter so you have more than just cans, mason jars, fermented items, and potatoes over Winter.

 

[sidpost]

For those looking at power cuts, a liquid fuel camping stove is a good idea. I have an Optimus Polaris and Soto Muka so, with petrol, diesel, kerosene, AvGas, etc. you can heat a teapot or simmer a stew or fry an egg.

These aren't as convenient or as easy to use as the IsoButane canister camping stoves like my Soto Windmaster but, they also don't depend on those expensive and limited capacity fuel canisters.

Personally, I would skip alcohol stoves because the flame isn't very visible so, inexperience can lead to fires where you don't want them!

Also, if you use these, generally I would recommend cooking outside to avoid carbon monoxide build up and possible off-gassing of liquid fuels. That being said, these have been used in tents for decades but, the people doing that have a lot of experience so, proceed with caution.

If you have dry twigs and such, a "Kelly Kettle" or whatever you call them locally where you live, can work exceptionally well for heating water for tea and coffee. Heavy porcelain is a real heat zapper so, I'm a big fan of the double wall Titanium cups bought from Ali Express. Lixada and Tomshoo are a two common brands of good quality and modest costs with a ~12oz/350mL double wall cup being ~$20USD for me delivered which works great with tea and instant coffee or breakfast oatmeal!

 

[gra_farmer]

Get some Kilner fermentation jars and give sauerkraut and/or kimchi a go. You can ferment most commercial crops which will preserve them for a very long time.

This is one way our ancestors fought off starvation during Winter!

For those with 'backyard' Gardens, look towards Winter lettuce and similar things like I encountered in rural Germany. No, it won't grow in freezing temperatures but, you can grow a lot of things to supplement the pantry/cellar over Winter so you have more than just cans, mason jars, fermented items, and potatoes over Winter.

I must admit I have always wanted to try fermented cabbage and greens. I have loads of collard greens at the moment, I may need to think about doing this.

Can you send a link on the kilner jars you use?

 

[Woody girl]

I'm glad I "got paranoid" as one person put it. I've spent the last couple of years since covid started gently "prepping" and upping my self sufficiency game as much as I could.
I have several alternative cooking options, woollen blankets, candles and solar lights, and a solid fuel stove. I have put many tins aside, and I'm glad I did. One example.. co op rice pudding used to be 55p, yesterday I looked and it was £1 a tin.
I need gluten free food, so I have that added expense. , one small loaf over £3, or 6 wraps £4.20. (Normal pack of 8, £1.20)
It's expensive needing to be gluten free, please, if you are considering donating to a food bank, think of those that may have, like me, a real medical need to eat gluten free and be struggling to afford pasta, bread, cereals, gravy powders etc, and donate them.
For some it's not a fad, but a serious health issue.

 

[SaraR]

Heavy porcelain is a real heat zapper

That's why (well one reason any way) you preheat ceramic pots and mugs. Save a bit of hot water in a thermos and use that to preheat your mug while the fresh water is boiling. You only need a little bit, not a full mug/pot, and afterwards you can use it for washing up or whatever you need warm water for.

 

[TeeDee]

Beating the Cost of Living Crisis - using a diesel heater (boost) as a heat source​

 

[Decacraft]

Beating the Cost of Living Crisis - using a diesel heater (boost) as a heat source​

Saw that one a while back, very interesting.
I have seen a few videos with the heater being on full blast and using only a litre of fuel and lasting a few hours, so looks ideal for a living space/shed as well as a vehicle.
Not sure on what the power consumption is (still needs electricity) but the off roaders and overlanders and caravaners run them off a small battery.
Would be very advantageous if the heating were to go off.

 

[Woody girl]

Got given an almost new electric blanket today.
I'm going to put it on the bed tomorrow when I change the bedding.
Looking forward to it, as the heat from the woodburner doesn't realy reach my bedroom too well. (10° this morning, Brrr.!) Though the living room is cosy enough. Was almost thinking of sleeping in there if the snow comes. Maybe I won't have to now.

 

[Broch]

Got given an almost new electric blanket today.
I'm going to put it on the bed tomorrow when I change the bedding.
Looking forward to it, as the heat from the woodburner doesn't realy reach my bedroom too well. (10° this morning, Brrr.!) Though the living room is cosy enough. Was almost thinking of sleeping in there if the snow comes. Maybe I won't have to now.

If you suffer from any aches and pains, just put it on for half an hour before you get up, it's amazing how much it helps that first rise from the bed

 

[Nice65]

I was chatting to one of the nurses at my local surgery the other day (Powys). She was intimating - none too subtley - that (if one is on regular meds, obvs!) one should aim to keep a month or more's supply in store as a backup, along with your current batch. Apparently they're finding some meds easy to get for the dispensary but some more difficult.

And a slight digression here: given our current situation, and that of many / all countries on our planet, a fairly relevant aphorism I came across the other day, attributed to Theodore Roosevelt:

Do what you can, with what you have, where you are.

It’s good advice from Roosevelt, never truer. We’ve been struggling with lack of phone signal to even order anything and the local pharmacy is struggling with the massive increase in patients as the grade A agricultural flood plains are paved with thousands of homes. His advice, to me, means that if it looks like a rainy day tomorrow, fill the van with drinking water and empty the portaloo today, make sure the generator has fuel and the heater has diesel.

Meds, one of mine came back as being out of stock until January! And it says ‘do not stop taking this…’ Well, I will do, I’m sure I’ll cope.

 

[Nice65]

Got given an almost new electric blanket today.
I'm going to put it on the bed tomorrow when I change the bedding.
Looking forward to it, as the heat from the woodburner doesn't realy reach my bedroom too well. (10° this morning, Brrr.!) Though the living room is cosy enough. Was almost thinking of sleeping in there if the snow comes. Maybe I won't have to now.

We did that when we moved into our bungalow, around 2010, just pulled everything around the woodburner. It’s not great, because the rest of the house just gets so cold.

Have you looked at the Chinese Diesel heaters? They’re really efficient and you can pipe the heat wherever you want. There are some excellent domestic paraffin heaters out there now too, not cheap, but less than heating water and pumping it round to the rads.

 

[Woody girl]

Hi Rich, havnt looked at diesel heaters. Not sure how they'd work in my bungalow , I can't use paraffin heaters as the fumes make me sick and worsen my asthma.
I'm managing to keep warmish, but may just have to put the central heating on low if we get snow. No point in making myself ill.
Fire was out last night, that's why it was so cold. I forgot to bank up the burner, so woke to a freezing cold house. My own fault.
It's now a balmy 16° in the bedroom this evening , so bearable with my thermals and a hot water bottle.
I've got my down sleeping bag on top of the bed and a couple of wool blankets so I'm not actualy cold in bed... its just that dash from the warm bed through the cold bedroom to a warmer room to dress that's a problem. So may end up sleeping on the sofa to avoid that.
Anyway, see how the blanket goes. I've never had one before, so it's a new experience.

 

[Woody girl]

If you suffer from any aches and pains, just put it on for half an hour before you get up, it's amazing how much it helps that first rise from the bed

Ha ha, yes getting up out of bed for a morning necessity was a bit of an ordeal. I was cosy enough under the covers, but my dressing gown was on the door hook and the thought of getting chilly as I exited the warm bed to grab it so I could stay warmish while I dashed to the bathroom took a bit of courage this morning.
I kept eyeing it for ages, until pressure to visit the little room overcame my reticence to exit the bed!!
It's hanging on my bedhead now, so that won't happen again.! I have suffered from some nasty stiffness today from the chill I got first thing.
This won't happen again, fire is banked and set for the overnight burn, dressing gown to hand, and a couple of hotties on my aches and pains.
Can't wait to try the heated blanket
( though I might get a po and save the race to the cold bathroom and my poor bladder from exploding! )

 

[gra_farmer]

It’s good advice from Roosevelt, never truer. We’ve been struggling with lack of phone signal to even order anything and the local pharmacy is struggling with the massive increase in patients as the grade A agricultural flood plains are paved with thousands of homes. His advice, to me, means that if it looks like a rainy day tomorrow, fill the van with drinking water and empty the portaloo today, make sure the generator has fuel and the heater has diesel.

Meds, one of mine came back as being out of stock until January! And it says ‘do not stop taking this…’ Well, I will do, I’m sure I’ll cope.

So I don't know what it is like where you are Rich. But urgent care, where I am are brilliant, and are stock piled with meds, for those that need it, and cannot get it....and amazing with it, not asking money either (for those that normally pay), when they just need it.

It's worth investing, explain your need, and ask a question.

 

[Nice65]

Hi Rich, havnt looked at diesel heaters. Not sure how they'd work in my bungalow , I can't use paraffin heaters as the fumes make me sick and worsen my asthma.
I'm managing to keep warmish, but may just have to put the central heating on low if we get snow. No point in making myself ill.
Fire was out last night, that's why it was so cold. I forgot to bank up the burner, so woke to a freezing cold house. My own fault.
It's now a balmy 16° in the bedroom this evening , so bearable with my thermals and a hot water bottle.
I've got my down sleeping bag on top of the bed and a couple of wool blankets so I'm not actualy cold in bed... its just that dash from the warm bed through the cold bedroom to a warmer room to dress that's a problem. So may end up sleeping on the sofa to avoid that.
Anyway, see how the blanket goes. I've never had one before, so it's a new experience.

The diesel heaters are for boats, truckers cabs etc, small space heaters. The air intake for the burn chamber is situated outdoors, as is the exhaust. The air intake that runs air to be warmed over the hot burn chamber (looks exactly like the cooling fins on your bike engine) is then piped into the living space. We have a small 2kw in the van that gets very toasty, for you a 5kw running off a 12v leisure battery that is kept charged would work well. We were running on red at £1.10 a litre and burning about 2 litres over a day and night. Obviously this is highly dependent on many factors, but tick over is exactly that, ticking of the fuel pump delivering micro doses of diesel.

Also, due to mine being set up a bit wanky, I know the things literally inside out and can point you in the right directions.

So I don't know what it is like where you are Rich. But urgent care, where I am are brilliant, and are stock piled with meds, for those that need it, and cannot get it....and amazing with it, not asking money either (for those that normally pay), when they just need it.

It's worth investing, explain your need, and ask a question.

Thanks Gra. I‘ll be fine, in this case it is simply the dosage is out of stock. I have been prescribed double dosage with a break split in the middle and the simple instructions changed to ‘take half etc…). It actually means I get 2 months supply in one, and as I’m exempt from charges and hassling the poor overworked staff, a microscopic positive to all and an additional microscopic ‘up yours’ to the pharmaceutical companies leeching on the system. It is Levothyroxin, without which I’m ok, but kinda hampered with fatigue if I don’t.

I‘m looking carefully at some of the herbal and fungal remedies on the market, the company British Supplements supply quality products, but what they can‘t do is recommend anything, so some research is needed. It’s the same old story, if it can’t be licensed and sold for massive profit, then it’ll be pushed down. Like vaping until British American Tobacco got the Juul and a load of plastic disposables on the market.