We are all wrapping up another year – in spirit, projects and with presents. Whatever you celebrate, or don’t, I sincerely believe that this is a time to pause, smile, set aside any differences we might have and just enjoy what we can.

As I mentioned earlier, this time of year meant family get-togethers, but, as a kid, Santa was my man.  And my task master -- Clean your room, keep the barn swept, check the horse’s hay and water twice a day!  Cause if I didn’t, somehow, he knew.  And I wasn’t risking being on the naughty list.

Fast-forward to today.  Now it seems now that I just end up on naughty list.  It is not a conscious effort, mind you.  It just sort of happens, ya know?  However, there are some things that I would never do, but should put others at the top of the Naughty List, such as:

Naughty: Not holding the door for the person behind you.

Nice: I don’t care if they are younger than you.  Be an example of courtesy.

Naughty: Talking on the phone while driving.

Nice: For heaven’s sake, holding the phone in the air with the speaker on does NOT count as “hands free.” If you don’t have blue tooth, either wait, or pull over and park somewhere to chat.

Naughty:  Using Laundry Scent Boosters to “enhance” the smell of your clothes.

Nice:  PLEASE STOP.  Lightly soap smell is fine, or even no smell.  You don’t need a choking sphere of gaggy fragrance around you wherever you go.  A nice perfume is fine. Just a little.

Naughty:  Companies who make Laundry Boosters.

Nice: Just don’t buy that stuff.

Naughty: Cars that back up into parking spaces.

Nice:  PLEASE STOP. OK, I see you CAN back up into a parking spot now (thanks to the ubiquitous “back up cameras”), but 1) I have to wait for you, and 2) more importantly, there are no “back up lights” to warn me that you are pulling OUT of the parking spot -- so you don’t run me over!

Naughty: Crossing the street (or walking around generally) while talking on your cell phone.

Nice: Keeping your phone in your purse or pocket while walking, and making sure someone who is driving “hands free” on their speaker phone doesn’t run you over.  [By this time, it is implied that running over people is definitely naughty. Period.]

Naughty:  Doing ALL your shopping on line.

Nice: Get out of the house.  You need the change of scenery and to interact with real live people out there.  Plus, as an added bonus, it lets you meet your neighbors, provides jobs, and supports your local economy.  Win-win!

Naughty:  Being judgy.

Nice:  Oops… OK, now I see that, Santa.

But before I go, I would like to give a nod to the wonderful life of Penny Marshall, who passed away yesterday.  Her earthquake scene as Laverne and Shirley, which I have shared before, is just a classic.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r7oWUAZzQPg  Goodbye, Penny.  You have inspired people in many ways, and, especially, you made us laugh.

I hope you have a wonderful holiday and take some time to stop and smell the pine trees. 

Until next year, your preparedness pal,

Sue

Time to change. Oh, no, not you – you’re adorable! Time to change your clocks.  Again.  I usually forget which way to set them because “fall back and “fall forward” are equally plausible, as it is for spring.  Just a couple years ago I showed up at work and wondered where the heck everyone was.  (I finally figured it out.)  I blame this on way too many clocks to change.  Every thing has one! Even my space heater – why? And then there is my digital watch, which takes a nuclear physicist to change. Or my technologically advanced husband and children.  They probably work as a team.

For those whose inner Lewis Black surfaces at Daylight Savings Time change, I get it.  It seems to take weeks to adjust your internal clock. Except when it doesn’t. Recently I was in Michigan at a conference—where I barely survived (it got down to the 30s!!). Michigan is on Eastern Time and I magically just switched to that time zone. However, in those 10 days my body must have reverted to my default settings* because now I wake up routinely at 4 am and stay awake until 5 minutes before my alarm goes off.  Then Lewis Black wakes up.

On Tuesday, we can VOTE yea/nay on Daylight Savings.  Please VOTE of course on all of those other things – and there are lots of sites to help inform you on the issues – but this could be your chance stop the falling, springing, back and forth shenanigans and just leave your clocks alone.  For good.

One thing I learned at the conference is how most Americans have greatly UNDER-INSURED their homes. So, get on this.  There are an increasing number of natural disasters and the length, location and severity are shifting too, so make sure if something happens, you have adequate insurance to recover.  Consider earthquake insurance, too. An earthquake is inevitable, possibly a really big one, so please take the time to check your insurance.  Even if you are renting – protect yourself and your property.  Now. Please.

Lastly, nothing says “end of Halloween” like the immediate appearance of holiday decorations.  When I grew up, this time of year was all about family, family gatherings, marathon game sessions (usually euchre) and ice skating.  Because of the snow, outside decorations were usually just a few strings of lights.  Here, however, our always sunny (warm) climate, has allowed my creative side to blossom. This year I was a bit stumped-- at least until I saw (thank you Home Depot for having decorations out so soon!) it -- a beautiful, sparkly, winged unicorn.** And really, what says Be Prepared/Happy Holidays more than a unicorn?  All I need to add is a CERT vest (green) and first aid kit (red). Nailed it.

So, my friends, stay positive, laugh, enjoy your friends and family, vote, and above all, always be prepared for whatever happens.  You are important to me.

PS.  You are receiving this special message because you told me you enjoy my emails.  Whenever that changes, please let me know and I will tearfully remove you from my special email list.  ;-)

*I was born in Michigan where I lived for 25 years. Apparently, I was tougher when I was younger.  Or at least had a better internal heater.  I grew up on a 20 acre farm that had a pond, golf driving range, putting green and 10 acres of the best sweet corn I have ever eaten.

** https://www.homedepot.com/p/Home-Accents-Holiday-72-in-Cool-White-LED-Mesh-Unicorn-TY505-1714-1/305026004 (I know you all want one…)

“Pick a disaster, any disaster…”

I recently played a fun table game about disasters.  Oh, don’t stop reading!  Really, it WAS fun.  Yeah, OK, maybe not THAT fun for everyone, but maybe that is the secret to getting people prepared for disasters, in a fun way.  Like the words in that song: “Just a spoonful of sugar makes the medicine go down!” [sing with me now] “the medicine go do-own, the medicine go down…”

Those of you who are Big Bang Theory fans (which should be everyone), Sheldon Cooper is my idol on many fronts, especially when it comes to practicing for disasters.  Can you imagine your roommate waking you in the middle of the night to play a game? Try not to think of that as creepy, which is suddenly seems, and think of what that should be-- exactly what emergencies are – those buggers sneak up on you when you least expect it, then SHA-BAM! There it is!

But if you regularly played a really cool game that interacted with others, had some good food and drink, and learned something all at the same time – that seems so easy! Note, that evidently my age shows when “playing a game” involves a game board, dice, having other people there who make eye contact and maybe add a wheel to spin and tokens to move, but just go with me here…

A professor in the Geology Department recently hosted a trial of a game about disasters.  It was a bit like “The Settlers of Catan,” but with disasters. Pretty cool, I thought. So maybe we could start changing a few other games to have “disaster” themes.  In “Life” throw in an earthquake or flooding event. In “Yahtzee” make all double 4s a pandemic that makes you miss a turn.  Or “Chutes and Ladders” that makes you get nearly to the end then land on the wrong spot and have to slide back down to the very beginning again every time you play it and… Oh, wait – that is the REAL Chutes and Ladders. I always hated that game…

We all know that disasters are, well, disasters and not fun.  However, we CAN make thinking about them and preparing for them a little more enjoyable by integrating those concepts into already fun stuff.  Please give it a go and let me know.

In the meantime, enjoy Sheldon as he makes sure his friend Leonard is always prepared:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zhmk8IEDSrs&list=RDZhmk8IEDSrs&t=15

Beaches, Beer and... Ballistic missiles?

 On January 13, my husband and I were winding down from our fabulous 11-day vacation on Maui.  For the first ten days, we were able to enjoy some great Maui-brewed beer, wander lovely beaches and generally have a relaxing time. Until Day 11. I was packing for our afternoon flight when my cell phone emitted an emergency alert. We all know that sound – it is the one that comes with the Amber Alerts about potential local child abductions.  They are always worrisome and, as a parent, sad, but when my husband picked up my phone and said, “Um, I think you might want to see this…” I was puzzled. “An Amber Alert?”

     “Well, actually, it says that there is a ballistic missile headed to Hawaii…”

     WHAT?!  The actual text read: “Emergency Alert. BALLISTIC MISILE THREAT INBOUND TO HAWII. SEEK IMMEDIATE SHELTER. THIS IS NOT A DRILL.”

     OK, planning for disasters is what I do every day. But I have to say that this gave me pause…  Let’s see, I have written plans for earthquakes, fire, civil unrest, floods, pandemics…  Dang, not one for ballistic missiles! What should we do?

     I did what most people were evidently doing-- Going out on the balcony and shouting to others on balconies – “What does this mean? What should we do?”

     The condo came with a binder on how to do laundry, requests to keep sand on the beaches, and the best places to eat breakfast, but, perhaps not surprisingly, not a thing about ballistic missiles.

    Then I did what I figured one does in the 21^st century…I turned to Twitter.  However, when I searched for anything “missile,” I got the same thing my trip to the balcony got me – “What does this mean? What should we do?” And, of course, “Is this a hoax?”

     On TV we found, perhaps logically, that the owner had gotten the “sports package” so the only thing on every channel was some type of sporting event. Now I know that sports are really big, but somehow I thought maybe something like a missile strike MIGHT interrupt at least the bowling and darts channels for a while.  Eventually, a scrolling message appeared with the same message, along with “If you are indoors stay indoors, if you are outside, seek shelter indoors.”

     The scientist in me started to contemplate just where the safest place would be.  After considering several scenarios, I realized that on some level it really didn’t matter.  In fact, it seemed more like a situation of “luck” in terms of where you were in relationship to where the missile landed.  My thought was, “Is sitting in this condo on the top floor any better than sitting on the beach a few hundred yards away? And the beach has a much better view!” 

     After a very long 20 minutes or so, the TV finally announced that it was “mistake” and that no missile was on its way.  And because of some procedural obstacle, the actual Amber-like alert to recall the first message was not sent until 38 minutes after the first warning, which for those not getting an earlier “oopsy” message must have seemed much, much longer.

     While it certainly makes for an interesting vacation story, it really did give me pause.  Given North Korea’s recent activities, this was certainly plausible in my mind.  It also gave me some work to do.  It never seemed that necessary a few years ago to add “missile strike” to our emergency plan.  On one hand, it seems a little crazy, but on the other, well, it’s best to be prepared.

     I am attaching a video of what I believe happened in the Hawaii Office of Emergency Operations on that day.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VimTTtmTbmQ  It seems as plausible as anything else I’ve read.

     Enjoy and stay prepared, my friends.