“Squint! Squint! Squint to the grandeur!” (director’s instruction in ‘Hail, Caesar!’)
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I don’t have the space to be a prepper. Or money. Instead, scope out where stuff is. If we enter a Walking Dead-like end of the world sort of thing, know where the DISTRIBUTION centers are. They are nondescript and supplies by the pallet. Same with places that deal in industrial vehicles. And seed in bulk.
I really think I could write a book that would be both funnier and more practical than Max Brooks’ Zombie book.
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Doh. You’ve triggered a theory of mine, or an axiom, or something. I’d say if you “could” you would. If you say, “I just don’t feel like doing it” or “but I don’t have time” then you can’t, because motivation and opportunity are part of “could”. 
That being said, I think I’d read your zombie book if you wrote one. WWZ, the book, had its moments, but didn’t really do it for me.
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This. We had a major storm and power go out in New York for two weeks and people were standing in line for hours to get gas for their generators like it was the oil shortage. The next state over was fine but everyone was losing their shit and desperate to stock up on milk.
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Seen BBC’s Survivors? They do that. Smart move. Well, it doesn’t quite go to plan, but… I won’t spoil it. Suffice to say that if you’re going for a central supply, you have to be fast and strong…
I don’t really have the space to be a real prepper either. But I do live in NYC where I feel like I at least need to have a bugout bag and some shelter-in-place supplies in case of disaster (and we’ve had a few here). Honestly a bug-out-bag is (at least in my mind) pretty useless since in case of emergency it’s likely that public transportation would be a mess and the roads would be jammed, which is why (if possible) my plan is more shelter-in-place. I have a week’s worth of food for the family, some water containers, emergency lighting, and radio. Probably need to replace my food supply actually, as it’s reached the end of its shelf life. Anyone have any suggestions?
If I had my druthers, the one item I’d add to my emergency kit would be a motorcycle. That’s the best way out of anyplace in case of emergency.
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Old or new?
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I think it’s 2008
EDIT: Oh, I didn’t realize what you meant by the question. I guess it’s the “new” one from 2008. I didn’t know there was an older one of apparently the same plot from 1977. Where can I find that?
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Just canned goods. Restock as you go and ensure you’ve got a week. That way you’re not depending on four year old cans of black beans. Learn to bake bread, that’s really good during a power outage as most of the work is spent waiting for it to rise and stuff.
I’m setting some space aside in the basement this weekend to stock up and get a bag together in case we need to take the back roads to grandma’s. As long as we can get north past the GWB quickly we should be okay.
I hope.
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Generally good advice, but I eat almost no canned foods.
Now that’s an interesting idea. My first thought was “but if the gas is out, I won’t be able to bake it.” But then I realized that I have a fireplace (very good for emergency heat) and I could do a dutch oven bread in there. I might have to practice doing one of those just in case.
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Hmmm - I dunno. I think “could” denotes feasibility. Like physically able to do something. Though the problem is the likelihood of “could” can vary greatly between, “Never” and “right away”. I guess that would be under “would one” do something.
You’re totally right that motivation and opportunity are two huge factors in many things. Especially something that would take more than a day to do. Sinking that much time and energy into something with no guaranteed return means one would really really want to do it, regardless of return.
So like in this example, if someone locked me in a room with a toilet and some food and told me I had 2 weeks to make a 300 page first draft, I probably could. Barring someone actually doing that, I don’t see myself doing it. I can barely manage to go to work and feed myself lately. Though I did buy two books about writing and actually reading them, vs letting them sit on a shelf, so who knows.
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The torrents have your answer.
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Freeze dried only? I’m not sure what kind of long-term storage options are left if not canned. Dried and salted, a lot of beef jerky and cod?
instant ramen (and similar) maybe? the shelf life is probably somewhere around millenia if one accepts loss in flavour
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Ramen has flavour?
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bland is a flavour
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But would ramen lose that flavour, even over the course of a millennium?
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willing to participate in an experiment? buy two packs of instant ramen, eat one and write down the taste experience. wait until 3017, prepare the second one and compare notes.
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Sure. I just hope that my future robot body will have its taste buds properly calibrated by then.
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No, I’m not against canned, but like you said the best way to do it is to rotate the stock constantly because they’re usually only good for a year. But if I bought canned goods for emergency use, I wouldn’t rotate them because I don’t really use them in my daily cooking - I generally eat fresh foods (and foods that I freeze). Right now I have a cache of MREs which I’ve decided are great for peace of mind, but not great for actually eating - they’re pretty disgusting. I’ve had them since Hurricane Sandy and now I need to replace them with something equally long lasting, but preferably more edible in case of actual emergency.
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