Changes; First Aid; Get-home Bags

I’m very sorry about the nonexistent post this week, folks. I was already thinking about moving to Fridays because I have school on Wednesdays – but then one of the kittens tried to blind me with a well-placed jab right in the middle of my eye. That eye is still swollen – almost shut - so I’m having a tough time seeing much of anything. It turns out that you need both eyeballs for depth perception. I already knew that, but now I have firsthand experience to enhance my understanding. Yay me.

I also learned that having two contact-lens wearers in the house is a good thing because we have a bunch of saline solution. You might want to get some of this stuff even if nobody wears contacts: saline solution is great for flushing your eye following a cat scratch. Even though I adore all of my fur balls, I know that their claws aren’t the cleanest things on this planet. Flush well, folks, and do it more than once.

However, I am NOT a doctor and am not involved in the medical field in any way other than being the occasional patient. I would most definitely haul butt to the doctor’s office if I were you because your eye and sight are not things that you want to fart around with. We’re talking nasty infections, blindness, eye disease…all sorts of things that none of us really want to have happen.

While we’re on the subject of first aid: do you have kits in all of your vehicles as well as your home and bug-out or get-home bags? Multiple kits might seem redundant, but you might have to ditch the vehicle at some point – if that happens and you forget to grab the kit, you’re screwed if you cut yourself or get debris in your eye. It’s better to have multiple kits spread out as far as I’m concerned.

Oh, and don’t forget to check the supplies. Adhesives can lose effectiveness over time and, even though it’s safe to use most medicines after their expiration dates (within reason, of course), fresher is usually better. A visual inspection also jump starts your mind, which can help you notice an important item that you didn’t think about when you first assembled the kits.

There really isn’t much else to say about first-aid kits other than the fact that it’s a good idea to store all of your supplies in a waterproof case. You never know when you’ll encounter moisture, rain, flood water, etc. along the way, so keeping the first-aid supplies dry and clean is a priority.

I also, recently, checked my get-home bag’s contents. It’s always a good idea to rotate your supplies when needed and make sure that everything is still in good working condition. I changed from an old backpack to an ALICE pack because the backpack was dry rotting when I dug it out of storage…and because I got the ALICE pack for a really-good price at the newly-opened milsurp store in town. I used this type of pack when I was in the Army, so I already knew that it’s comfortable, durable, and roomy: mine holds all of my essential gear with a little space left over for other stuff.

This time around, I added a few pull-top cans of food: ravioli, mostly, because I love that stuff whether it’s hot, warm, or cold. Even though it’s easy to heat up a can of food – camp fire, engine compartment, the sun, whatever – I don’t know that I’ll necessarily be able to do any of those things.

While you’re checking the supplies, don’t forget to inspect the bag. Make sure that the straps aren’t rotting or worn and that the seams are all in good condition. You really don’t want the bag to fall apart or tear when you’re out in the woods or the side of the road, right? Right.

My eye’s starting to really hurt again, so that’s about it for today. Take care, folks, and keep on doing what you’re doing. Progress is slow sometimes – my family and I are in that stage right now, in fact – but keep moving forward. Things improve soon enough if you stick with them.

Fun with Search Queries

Note: Last week, I suggested making lists of the “little things” that you might overlook when you add to your stockpiles. My family added some interesting things over the last few days: shoelaces, for example, and small sewing kits. We also realized that you really can’t have too much duct tape.

Fun with Search Queries

Today, as a bit of a break from the usual routine, I decided to see what search terms people are using to find this blog. Because I’m the helpful sort, I’ll also try to figure out what these folks want, and come up with an answer or two.

Bad toothache; antibiotics not working
How long have you been on the antibiotics? They don’t do away with the pain the first few days, especially if you’re hurting a LOT. Oh, and see a dentist: that bad tooth needs treatment, unless you want to pretend that you’re in “Castaway” and knock it out yourself with an ice skate and a rock. Having never done anything of that sort, I have no advice for you about it, but I imagine that removing your own, infected tooth would be a bad idea, considering that you would be spreading an infection around. That could be, you know, bad.

What are four sources of water?
Let’s see: The magical tap in your kitchen; the stockpiled barrels or jugs of water in your cache; the creek or river if you have a way of purifying the water; and the toilet tank or water heater if you’re in a bad way.

Alternate answers include: Rainfall; the magical tap in the bathtub; the water well, provided that you can access the water (no electricity means no pump, unless you have a backup plan); and the bottled-water section of the grocery store. Not all of these sources will be available all the time, of course, so be sure to have backup plans for your backup plans.

Natural pest repellents
My family and I have had success with horse apples, as I’ve said before. We’ve also learned that ground cinnamon, sprinkled around the area we want to protect, repels everything from roaches to scorpions. Bay leaves also repel a variety of critters as long as you remember to grab said leaves every week or so and crumple them a bit between your hands (keeps the pungent smell vivid, it seems).

If you’d like a solution that you can spray directly on anything that you’d like to kill – black-widow spiders, scorpions, etc. – go find cold-press orange oil. We get ours at the feed store, but we’ve also found the stuff at organic nurseries. Mix one part of this with two or three parts water (either mixture works fine, I’ve noticed) in a spray bottle and you have a nice-smelling firebomb for those nasty critters. It’s even better than dousing them with Raid – trust me.

Oh, and while we’re on the subject of organic pest control: roosters and chickens eat all sorts of critters, including the dreaded scorpion. Our rooster roams near the house. This works out because he has plenty of room to move around and because he eats things that we don’t want around the house. He LOVES scorpions. Loves them. Good, good rooster!

How to avoid taking the swine-flu vaccine
Just…um…don’t take it? But seriously, if you’re in a position where you could be required to take this shot, you’re going to have to weigh the consequences of refusing against the consequences of being vaccinated, and then make a decision.

Alternatively, you and a whole bunch of other people in the group can collectively refuse, seeing as there’s usually some strength in numbers. When I was in the Army, that sort of attitude would get you into deep trouble, but most of the rest of us can refuse. Just say no, folks.

Can you boil an MRE in a pot?
Yes! Take the entrée out of its cardboard box and drop it in a pot of boiling water: a few minutes later, you have a piping-hot meal. You can also heat the MRE in the sun, which works best if you put the food on a dark surface (still sealed in the bag, that is). Ideally, though, you’ll have the MRE heater, which requires only a tiny amount of water to operate.

However: I don’t stock up on MREs, at least not at this point, because they’re a bit overpriced. If you’re in a place where you can boil a pot of water, you can make all sorts of inexpensive, but nutritious and filling, foods: oatmeal; rice; noodles, that sort of thing. None of those foods take up much room, depending on how much you pack and how, so why not?

Survivalist scams
Well…I’m not exactly sure of what this means, but my first thought is “overpriced gear.” Folks, you don’t have to have an AR-15, Mountain House freeze-dried food, or ten thousand acres in the middle of nowhere. It’s entirely possible to work within your budget, whatever that may be, and come out ahead in the end. Survival is more about the preparedness mentality, which includes acquiring knowledge and skills, than about the gear anyway, as evidenced by the fact that more than one “adventurer” has died despite having a pack full of crap.

That being said: I highly encourage you to buy good books about the things that you’re learning to do. Oh, sure, most information is free if you have Internet access and decent search skills, but there are times when a “real” book is best. I love books anyway, so this isn’t a burden or a challenge for me.

Avoiding Swine Flu

I won’t be taking the swine-flu vaccine because I have better things to do than worry about the potential side effects of something that has not been thoroughly researched and tested. Even though I’m not much of a conspiracy theorist, common sense tells me that all sorts of things can go wrong with something like this: we don’t know the long-term effects, or even the short-term ones for that matter, so there could be dangerous, if not lethal, consequences to taking the injection.

There are, fortunately, alternatives to taking a shot that I don’t trust or like. The main idea is to reduce the risk of even catching the flu in the first place, which beats going through the misery of having that crap. We can all do a few things to stay as safe as possible without having to go get a swine-flu shot.

Hygiene
My family and I are improving our already-decent hygiene because many people pick up all sorts of germs by contact with infected surfaces and people. Mom has been stockpiling hand sanitizer as well as liquid hand soap. She has travel-sized bottles of Germ-X and Purell for our vehicles or backpacks, and larger bottles for the house. We also have the liquid soap in the bathroom as well as by the kitchen sink.

While I was doing some reading in preparation for writing this article, I came across the CleanWell company. These folks make natural hand sanitizers, which could be a good bet. I personally have never even heard of CleanWell before, much less used any of their products, so I’m asking you, readers, if you have any experience. Would this be worth checking out? I don’t have any problem using Germ-X and Purell, but it’s nice to learn something new every now and then.

Common Surfaces
We’re also more conscious of common surfaces, and what could lurk on them. When we go to the grocery store, we take the hand sanitizer with us and use it once or twice while we’re there. We touch as few things as possible, too: if we want to look at a product, we do so without touching it if we can. Who knows how many people have touched that can of beans before, and how sick they might have been when they did it?

Speaking of common surfaces: We keep the bathroom, kitchen, car interiors, etc. clean with Lysol. This is a bit pricier than a bleach-and-water solution in a one-buck spray bottle, I know, but we’re lazy. We also have the bleach and water for surfaces that it doesn’t hurt, like the stainless-steel kitchen sink. (I’ve never given this a try, but I’m fairly confident that using bleach and water inside my car would be, you know, bad for the upholstery.) Mom mixes up one tablespoon of standard-strength, household bleach per one quart of water. Inexpensive spray bottles from the dollar store, properly labeled, make it easier to spray the solution on the possibly-infected surface.

Seclusion
Then there’s the ol’ hermit routine: staying at home as much as possible in an attempt to avoid exposure. I do this anyway, because I don’t like being out and about in society very much. I’d really rather just stay here at The Homestead and enjoy the peace and quiet – but even so, I do have to go to school, the grocery store, church, et cetera. That’s when practicing good hygiene habits, and paying attention to common surfaces, really matters in my opinion.

However, some folks really enjoy getting out of the house, and do it a lot more often than I do. My brothers are a few of these people. When they go out, they keep their hands as clean as possible, especially when they visit places that are overloaded with germs. Movie theaters aren’t the cleanest places in the world, and you’re stuck in there with a bunch of possibly-sick strangers for two or more hours at a time. Common surfaces in fast-food restaurants might look clean, but can be infected with all sorts of germs. Shopping malls aren’t so great, either.

Supplements
My family and I are also taking vitamin D3 in an effort to boost our immune systems. This is, I believe, better than taking an unproven vaccination, especially when you do some reading about vitamin D3 and the pharmaceutical industry to gain a better understanding of the situation. Frankly, I trust a vitamin a lot more than I trust the pharmaceutical industry, especially when it’s rather clear that our bodies really do benefit from the vitamins.

Ultimately, our faith in God’s protection as well as His insistence on giving us common sense, and expecting us to use it, beat taking an unproven, untested swine-flu shot. I can’t guarantee you that I’ll be flu free forever, but I couldn’t guarantee that even if I took my shots every year.

Useful Links:

Dr. Miller’s “Avoid Flu Shots, Take Vitamin D Instead” – well worth reading. He mentions that seventy percent of doctors do not take flu shots. Interesting...

CleanWellToday.com - the hand-sanitizer company I mentioned in this entry.

Girly Stuff

Gentlemen: I don’t know how each of you feel about discussing a lady’s once-monthly personal needs, so please take this as fair warning. However, many of you have women in your lives. If you’re the primary devotee to prepping, you might have to think about her needs when you’re adding to the stash. Those of you who want to add barter items to the stockpiles might also be interested in this one.

When my grandmother was a young woman, during the Great Depression, she used rags once a month. She didn’t have the same options that I have. Even if her family had possessed lots of cash, she wouldn’t have had the overwhelming number of choices that I have today. She was thrilled with the old belt system that’s been obsolete longer than I’ve been buying pads and tampons.

Though I admire my grandmother for surviving the Great Depression, and though I’m very interested in how people got things done during that time, I don’t want to go digging in the rag bag when the economy goes completely insane and one small package of maxi pads costs twelve dollars. Oh, heavens, no. I’m going to be as comfortable as possible one week a month, because there are certain creature comforts that I insist on having. My period is miserable enough, what with the backaches, cramps, and general irritability that come with it. If I have to shove old t-shirts down my pants while the world is falling apart around me, I’m not going to be a happy person at all.

Besides: feminine products are slowly going up in price, just like everything else. What cost me two bucks and change several months ago is a little more than three bucks now. When everything that I buy creeps up in price like this, I can save a good chunk of cash later by buying early, and buying often. Every week, my family and I buy something extra, whether it’s toothpaste or canned food, rice or maxi pads. Whatever we can save by buying gradually is good, because we don’t have much extra money around here. Even if we save only a few bucks, we consider that a good deal.

So, a few months ago, I bought an extra bag of pads. I took them out of the plastic wrapper and put them in a Ziploc Big Bag. This bag went into one of my storage boxes, where it’s nice and safe. Over these last few months, I’ve added more when I could, building up a nice little supply just in case they become too expensive, too hard to find, et cetera.

The pads have adhesive strips which, over time, can break down. This is why we should change out the bandages in our first-aid kits, and keep an eye on our stashed maxi pads. I do not know how long a maxi pad has to sit before that process becomes noticeable. Even though I’m sure that broken-down adhesive won’t prevent the pad from doing its job, I’d really rather have something that functions as it should. Rotating is good for the stocks, and good for me, so why not, right?

I should mention that I bought the plain, unscented pads. I despise the scented, foo-foo version, but there are other reasons to buy the “regular” kind. One huge advantage to unscented maxi pads – even for those of you who don’t use them once a month – is their ability to absorb lots of liquid. Blood, urine, whatever: these pads will soak up a good bit of whatever you’re trying to clean up. You can use them as bandages, which was actually their earlier purpose, for example.

There’s more to this than the pads, though. Midol’s good to have on hand, too, because of the backaches and other symptoms. I also like keeping chocolate around because, sometimes, a bite or two makes me feel better than all the Midol in the county. If there’s something else that makes you feel better when you’re riding the crimson tide, go ahead and add that to your stockpile.

How much feminine-related stuff do you need in your stash? I don’t know. Are you planning to not buy anything related to your period for a month, or six months? Figure out how much stuff you use, on average, and go from there. Don’t forget to account for any girls in the house who haven’t yet started menstruating: plan for their needs, too, especially if you think that you’re going to be without a means of buying more stuff for a while.

Also: even if you don’t have gals around, guys, tampons and other such things could be very easy to trade with other people. I would consider throwing some generic tampons or pads in with the other supplies if I were you, guys. The tampons don’t take up all that much room, are individually wrapped (meaning that you don’t have to trade away a whole box unless you want to do so), and can sit in storage for months, if not longer. If a woman’s feeling rotten enough, she’ll give you pretty much anything for some Tampax or a dose or two of Midol. That’s worth considering when you build up a pile of things to trade.

Temporary Toothache Relief

I have dentures because I inherited rotting teeth from my Mom’s side of the family. Yes, I’m only twenty-seven, but I’m actually happy to have a full set of false teeth. They don’t rot out in my mouth, abscess, or cause me any other excruciating pain, unlike the real teeth they replaced.

However, my family and I had to wait a long time to get my bad teeth out of my mouth. We don’t have much money, and don’t qualify for Medicaid, so we had to scrape together cash and pay the dentist a little at a time. He wouldn’t do the work until the bill was paid, because he couldn’t exactly chase me down and put my bad teeth back in my mouth if I skipped out on him. Fair is fair, if you ask me – but while we were working and paying him off, I was miserable.

Toothaches, particularly abscesses, are not fun. If you have the ability to see a dentist, do so. I’m terrified of these professionals, having had more than my fair share of nasty experiences with them over the years, but good ones will fix problems. You can’t eat properly with broken teeth, and suffering through an excruciatingly-painful abscess pretty much shuts down anything that you would be doing with your life if you weren’t in agony. I spent plenty of time flat on my back, with an ice pack or heating pad covering my face, instead of going to classes or doing some other, productive thing with my time.

However, I know good and well that not all of us have money lying around for dental appointments. Dentists are expensive, especially if you don’t have insurance. Even if you do have coverage, major dental work – like dentures – is often a 50/50 deal (you pay half and the insurance company pays the other). I understand not being able to afford dental work, and I understand the misery that you might suffer while you’re trying to reach that goal.

If you have a toothache or an abscess – you just might have to deal with it at home as best you can because of that whole lack of money thing. This sucks, but you can do a few things to try and alleviate some of the misery. This is not a substitute for a dentist: rather, this will make you somewhat more comfortable until you can scrape together the money to get into the office.

Infection
Clove oil is a fantastic thing. If you dribble a little bit of this over and around the affected tooth, it will draw out the infection. This is one of my favorite alternative remedies, because clove oil is inexpensive, easy to find, and extremely helpful.

I also got good results from tea-tree mouthwash. This stuff has natural, antiseptic properties. And unlike the chemical-laden, prescription mouthwash that my dentist prescribed when I saw him about an abscess, the tea-tree version did not make me hurt even worse. Seriously: the large bottle of Colgate prescription stuff was horrible. I hurt so badly after I swished the first time that I started throwing up. The tea-tree oil didn’t do that to me – and that stuff’s only about ten bucks a bottle where I shop.

Swelling and Puffiness
Moist heat can be your friend when your tooth’s trying to murder you. I have a moist heating pad, which is a fantastic investment if you ask me. I found mine in Walmart’s pharmacy section for about ten, twelve bucks. When I curled up with this sucker pressed to the affected area, I usually felt better. This takes some time, and it doesn’t completely eliminate the pain, but it helps. (This pad was also, incidentally, the only thing that enabled me to doze off the day that I had all of my teeth pulled in one sitting. Not even the Vicodin was as helpful as this.)

Side note: if you don’t have a moist heating pad, get hand towels from your kitchen or bathroom. Dunk them in the hottest water you can stand, wring them out, and press them to your face. You will have to change out these compresses fairly regularly, but they do work when they’re what you have on hand.

You can also try alternating between heat and cold. I sometimes did this, with good results. Just be sure that you don’t leave either one on your face for more than five to ten minutes, as that can be painful.

Sometimes, getting into a hot shower and letting the water hit the affected side of your face helps. This wasn’t helpful every time I had a toothache, but there were times when curling up in the bottom of the bathtub, with the shower head doing its thing, did help.

Nausea and Vomiting
When the tooth’s abscessed, and you’re busily throwing up everywhere, get some Emetrol. You know: the nasty-flavored anti-nausea medicine that’s loaded down with sugary syrup? That stuff. Walmart’s store brand is pretty good, and a lot cheaper than actual Emetrol. Take as recommended to keep the puking at bay. Throwing up makes things worse: the force of your vomit washing over your bad tooth is…just…miserable.

If the Emetrol doesn’t work by itself, take a dose of it and chase it with the appropriate amount of Pepto-Bismol. During one miserable abscess, I did this three times within forty-five minutes. After the third dose, the vomiting finally stopped long enough for me to start taking the antibiotics and Vicodin.

Pain
Orajel works really well on tooth pain. This is another case where Walmart’s store brand does a good job for less than the name-brand version. I used to stick the tube into my mouth, near the bad tooth, and just squeeze. There were times when I’d squeeze out a good one-eighth of a tube all around the tooth. This isn’t recommended as a long-term solution, but it does help relieve some of the pain for a while.

If you happen to have some Vicodin in the medicine cabinet, left over from that sprung shoulder last year, take it. I’m a big fan of stashing my leftover pain pills. I very rarely need them all for the actual problem, so I rathole the leftovers. More than once, they’ve been handy for other problems.

Ideally, you'll be able to find, and pay for, a dentist in the near future. However, things go wrong. Maybe you can afford the bill, but live in the middle of nowhere (like I do) and all three dentists in the area are off for the weekend. Maybe society's gone right down the toilet and dentists aren't affordable, if they're still in business where you live. Maybe something else has gone wrong. Being able to relieve at least some of your misery is a vital skill, because a toothache will flatten you.

Prepared for Migraines

Because I can’t prevent all of my migraines, I prepare for them as best I can.

Preventing the problem is the best choice, of course. I prefer avoiding trouble to dealing with it when it happens. Stress triggers some of my skull bangers, so I try to blow off steam before it reaches that point. Writing, playing poker, exercising and going off by myself to rant at a wall are all helpful. I also fire up Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas and take out my stress on innocent pixels.

However, weather changes and fluorescent lights also trigger migraines. I can’t change these things, so I have to be ready to deal with the problems that they sometimes cause.

My migraine meds are stashed in appropriate places. One pill (they’re individually packaged because exposure to air is, apparently, not good) stays in my wallet, which is with me every time I leave the house. I also stash meds in my backpack, along with anti-nausea medication, for school. Most of the rest are here in Command Central (my bedroom) because I spend so much of my time here. (Work, schoolwork, writing, playing video games…lots of good stuff happens here.)

Actually, I have more than one of the pills handy. This is just another area of life in which redundancy makes all the difference in the world. The pills take up just a tiny amount of storage space, so it’s very easy for me to be ready. It’s not like I’m a pioneer woman hauling four extra wagon axles in my Conestoga.

There’s also the fact that caffeine helps me – a lot. However, I despise coffee. So, I chug Mountain Dew. It’s not unheard of for me to keep a twenty-ounce bottle of Dew on hand pretty much everywhere I go. I love soda anyway, so it’s not like carrying a Dew around is any kind of burden. The soda fits nicely in a backpack pocket, or in my shopping cart at the store.

When I’m ready, I can grab whatever I need and try to put a stop to the migraine before it becomes a full-fledged head crusher. If you have a regular condition – or even an infrequent one that only pops up when it’s least convenient for you – you’ll want to do the same. Your bug-out bag or first-aid kit, for example, should include the medications that you can’t function, or live, without.

Have your physician prescribe an extra whatever: inhaler, medicine refill, et cetera. Just let him or her know that you want to keep the spare someplace safe, in case you forget the first one when you leave the house or something. (Many people with asthma have at least two inhalers. This has, at least, been the case the asthma sufferers I know. It’s just a good idea to always have at least one of those things handy, just in case.) Most doctors understand this, and will happily prescribe you another one. This doesn’t apply, though, if you’re on heavy-duty narcotics. Most doctors value their medical licenses enough to control the Vicodin, and similar medicines, as the law requires.

All of the above is just common sense, but I know people who don’t take vital meds with them. Another migraine sufferer I know won’t take any sort of medication anywhere. Why not? It’s an inconvenience, she says. How inconvenient is it, really, to stash one tiny, pre-packaged pill in your pocket or purse? This takes half a minute, max, but saves you hours (or even days) of pain and misery.