mars attacks

[the_siobhan]

I saw a show on the Discovery Channel last night called When Aliens Attack. It started off as a reasonable "what if" exercise discussing whether or not the US defense program had run alien invasion simulations and what they would probably look like. Then it veered off into an absolutely hilarious portrayal of plucky bands of survivors surmounting tremendous odds to save the human race. Apparently helium balloons are our secret weapon. That, and a mandatory breeding program. It was awesome.

It did make me think about emergency prepardness. (Shows like this always do.) We could probably live off tinned beans in my house for a month. I can't think of a way of dealing with water backup though, that doesn't involve a stockpile of water bottles. Because I think bottled water is a blight on civilization and I don't particularly want to support that industry. I guess we could always tap into the water heater, it's pretty new so we wouldn't have to deal with too much rust in the process.

Back in the real world, I was reading Captain Awkward the other day and saw somebody talking about she just cannot deal with the request to "clean the house" because it's such a big thing and so overwhelming. Whereas, "do the dishes" is something she can manage. It made me laugh, because that's pretty much how we have to deal with housework around here. If it ain't broken into steps we can't manage it and we just spend the evening playing video games and eating takeout food off pot lids. Then it occurred to me that I've been running into that exact problem at work and I kinda stopped laughing. Oops. That might explain the panic attack I had yesterday morning.

So today my goal is to focus on one thing at a time. Which might be easier if I wasn't constantly being interrupted by people who want me to work on something else.

So it goes. Friday is tomorrow and I will have the whole house to myself for the night. I have big plans to play video games and eat mac'n'cheese off a pot lid.

Comments

[wild_irises]

In earthquake country, they sell chemicals you can put into a 55-gallon drum of water that keep it drinkable for five years. 55 gallons is, of course, not a lot for people over time, but it's a good start.

[the_siobhan]

Like iodine pills? That makes a lot more sense actually - have something that makes any water drinkable when you aren't in a position to boil it.

[0jack]

You can buy a special liner for the bathtub that turns your bathtub into potable water storage provided that you have enough warning to fill it. :) Also, if you have an partially-used chest freezer, you can actually save electricity by half filling it with containers of water and then putting slats across to use as the new 'bottom'.

[the_axel]

Seeing as we have a massive water supply just a couple of kilometres from our house, I don't think we need to worry about the supply.

And, come to that, there's enough charcoal in the basement and wood out back that we can keep a fire going for an awfully long time, if we want to boil water.