Making a home inventory - why do we own so much!?

I’m in the midst of updating our home inventory for insurance purposes and hoping we never need it and wanting to just get rid of tons more stuff! 

No wonder housekeeping takes so much time and energy. 

I do have the visual clutter at a very low level if you exclude the garage and my husband’s desk🤭

However we do have a house that has 3 bedrooms (one used as an office/music room), 2 bathroom, kitchen, garage laundry/storage room, and living, dining, family and little bonus rooms. So lots of room and stuff to care for even though we have reduced a lot each time we move.

I’m at the point I am decluttering as I go about other tasks. Today some unnecessary paper manuals left the house. Little steps.

Minimalist GO BAGS for fast evacuation

I modified this substantially to fit our situation.

Once I wrapped my mind around the fact that these were for a situation where the fire or industrial incident (Chevron has refineries within toxic chemical release range) was so urgent that we had to leave “right now” vs having some time to gather our 72 hour supplies, I was able to come up with a list that works for us. The goal is short term survival and have the resources to find longer term supplies. We have signed up for the county life threatening emergency alert system so hopefully would be notified of the need to leave immediately.

This is a work in progress so will be modified as we learn more but we will have basics in place at least. Next will be a longer term plan plus sheltering in place without power or water.

Interestingly the hardest part was accommodating being able to charge & save important technology plus planning for recovering critical documents. That is the cost of being a tech late adopter and I may have to soon take my son’s advice and learn to use a password manager and secure cloud storage.

What we will put in each of our GO BAGS (small backpacks). 

Coats, the dog, phones, etc. would be grabbed as we leave.

Clothing - long pants and long & short sleeve shirts (cotton preferred as it doesn’t melt in the heat of a wildfire), 2 sets of underwear and socks, gloves, rain ponchos. We figure we would be wearing shoes but I had room for a pair so added them. 

Toiletries - just toothpaste, toothbrush, Kleenex and hand wipes.

Medical - 7 days essential medications in an old pill bottle, N95 masks for smoke, medical masks, hand and foot warmers. I added my old pair of glasses.

Finances and Critical Documents - $100 cash, passports for proof of identity, copy of medical insurance IDs and medical info, dog rabies and license info, critical contacts (including family, insurance & financial), flash drive with critical document recovery info & additional documents, copies of photos of each other plus local family and us with dog in case of separation.

Evacuation & Short Term Survival - evacuation route alternatives, emergency blanket, headlamp with extra batteries, water, 1 day dog food.

Additional items in the car - first aid kit, flashlights & extra batteries, paper maps, water, cups & dog bowl, emergency vests, glow sticks, device charger & cords. We keep the gas tank at least half full. These items might not be available if the car was in use by one of us or we had to go by foot for some reason.

Thriving Thursday Week 11

Happiness, Comfort & Health

• Woohoo! I walked over 10,000 steps outdoors one day (4.1 miles for this short person) for the first time since foot surgery. I was quite pleased with myself ☺️
• Pilates trainer is great and it is helping me feel pain free.
• Saturday we watched our granddaughter’s swim class while visiting with the rest of the family. She came over after and we colored, chatted, ate snacks, walked the dog, and helped her find our houses on a paper map and follow the route we drive between them. Then we and the pup had dinner at their house. The baby has learned to say “hi” so we enjoyed listening to her say “hi,hi,hi!” a lot! This is the kind of time together I was hoping for by moving.

Minding our Money (and the Environment)

• Taxes e-filed and amount owed paid! It makes me so happy to have our e-filing problems over with and no more mailing of returns.
• We bought an indoor tv antenna and cut cable TV. Once Sonic goes live in our neighborhood in July we will switch internet to them. We took the easy but more expensive route a year ago when moving as the house was set up for cable already.

Making Home Upkeep Easier (and keeping things repaired) 

• Weeding one day a week during this rainy season seems to be working. The landscaping redo definitely helped.
• We learned to bring the balcony chairs in when it is very windy. They were blown over and scraped the house. Hubby used paint left in the garage to fix it.

Emergency Prep Project

• Added to the car emergency supplies: paper maps free from AAA and 2 reflective vests. Returned the Fix-a-Flat can. It says it has to be kept outside the passenger compartment and we have a hatchback so that won’t work.

Thriving Thursday week 9 - Leap day, Baby rave, & procrastination

How are you spending your extra “leap day” today? We don’t have anything special planned.

Spring has definitely arrived her! The trees are flowering, daffodils are up and the birds are staking out territories. Another colder spell on the way but it is temporary.

Happiness & Health - because these make our lives brighter

The biggest happiness came from having my older son and DIL come to stay for grandbaby’s birthday party weekend. The baby’s parents and big sister had a blast setting up a “baby rave” birthday theme party in their dining room with colored lights synched to the playlist, a big balloon chandelier, lots of light up balls and wands, and good food. The birthday girls had lots of fun with the light up toys and loved her cake. The look on her face as we sang Happy Birthday to her was priceless. 

The road to the party was a bit rocky despite all of us pitching in. The day before as cooking was about to begin a pipe broke under the sink causing a several hour delay. The morning of the party big sister had to be picked up at 5am as she was sick so she spent the party in her bed or the bathroom poor little girl. Then almost all of the baby guests plus some family and friends had to cancel at the last minute due to illness! The party still was a success and fun.

Minding our Money (and the Environment) - saving on or skipping things that don’t matter to us so we can afford the things that do

We pruned the neighbors trees on our side of the fence so there won’t be a problem with homeowners insurance this year. He really needs to take them down or tun them into a hedge but I don’t see him doing that.

Otherwise the same old stuff here along with spending on family visiting for the baby’s birthday and helping with the party expenses as part of our gift. We got here a pile of pajamas in the next size as she needed them.

Making Home Upkeep Easier - so we can spend time on what matters to us

I am trying out focusing on deep cleaning one room or space at a time. This month’s was the kitchen which will also get part or all of March due to all the appliances and cupboards. The dining room though will be quick so it may also get done in March.

Making sure I spend an hour or so each week keeping up with the weeding and any pruning is working well. My hope is that the amount of weeds will decrease each year as the seeds in the soil are used up. The weed barrier is helping a lot. This week the pup got to come out in the backyard with his chew bone for over an hour while I weeded as it was dry enough for him. He was so happy.

Emergency Prep Project - we want to survive and thrive at the worst of times

This was the procrastination area.  I did get hubby signed up for the emergency notification system and updated the dog finder info for his license and microchip.

Must stop dithering - emergency supplies

IT IS DARK OUTSIDE (& INSIDE) WITH NO POWER!!!

I’ve been having difficulty focusing my emergency prep and taking action to buy supplies. Then we had yet another power outage which showed I need to replace two more emergency plug in lights and get on with buying more emergency supplies. 

I had a chat with my older son and decided to focus on power outage prep first. 

Power outages likely will occur in tandem with wildfires or earthquakes as well as "just because" so it is one aspect of sheltering in place emergency prep anyway. 

For planning purposes I'm thinking this could reasonably last several days under a not major earthquake or fire destruction scenario. Comfort and necessities as much as possible during the event is the goal. As always, it helps to break an overwhelming goal into small well defined projects.

So what do you lose when a power outage lasts a few day? Light, heating or cooling, cooking and food preservation capability, hot water for hygiene (and perhaps water itself), ability to charge devices and thus communicate and access the internet, access to money via ATMs and ability to charge or debit purchases, and perhaps more. A long power outage is a whole different scenario that I’m not even contemplating preparing for.

I'm using a power outage checklist I found online and adapted to our climate (S. Cal) and 2 people plus a dog in an all electric home. 

ALREADY HAVE

• Three-day supply of drinking water (have 7 days minimum survival water plus water heater contents)
• Non-perishable food that is easy to prepare (canned, boxed, dried, etc.) and a manual can opener
• First aid kit/supplies and medications
• Extra blankets and warm clothing, including a hat
• Watch and phones but no means to charge them
• Pet food and water
• Cash
• Garbage bags and plastic ties for personal sanitation if needed
• A battery operated lantern and plug in emergency lights. Need to check battery supply annually.

NEED

• Radio, battery-powered or hand-crank - check ones we own to see if they can use batteries and, if so, keep batteries in stock

• Personal Cleanliness supplies like moist towelettes, etc. for personal sanitation
• Staying Cool - buy hand held fans and remember to use wet neck cloths to help cool body

WANT FOR COMFORT

• Two solar lanterns with one capable of charging devices or a separate solar charger and one lantern

• Two headlamps with batteries for hands free activities 
• Single burner propane stove & lighter to use outdoors (we do not have a gas stove we could light or a grill or camping stove)
• Funnel for draining water heater into containers
• Large well sealing ice chest to preserve perishable food

Per a request here are some of the products we are buying

Gas ONE Butane Gas Stove with 4 Butane Fuel Canister Cartridge (Amazon)

Black Diamond Equipment - Spot 350 Headlamp - Azul (Amazon)

Energizer Rechargeable Emergency LED Flashlight, Plug-In Power Outage Light, 25 Lumens (Amazon)

LuminAID PackLite Nova USB Solar Lantern (REI)

LuminAID PackLite Max 2-in-1 Power Lantern (REI)

Hmmm, hadn't thought about that happening.

Wow, our emergency preparedness really needs some work! 

We got almost caught short twice in two weeks and it is partly because I had defined emergencies as natural disasters or power outages not supply chain shortages or medical emergencies.

So problem one was when I had to go to the ER two weeks ago because of suspected food poisoning. If it had been caused by our dinner then Hubby would have had to go too. Fortunately he didn't as our back up dog care is our local son and DIL and they were on vacation in Mexico!

Now you may not think dog care is such a big deal but our dear old dog is medically complex and we are keeping her alive with 4 medications and prescription food due to her having not just one but two metabolic diseases (Addison's and kidney disease) plus high blood pressure. So oops on back up care. A neighbor has agreed to be our very local back up until one of our sons could get her and we will back up her cat care. Now I need to put together even more thorough instructions.

Our second oops was also dog related. We struggled to find a prescription dog food she would eat and she lost a lot of weight in the process. She likes her current frozen food regime. We were almost out so we were pretty shocked to find out it was out of stock at the store and by mail order from the manufacturer. We do have some shelf stable food for her for true survival emergencies but it isn't prescription.

Although we finally did find some at another store we also go a new prescription for the slightly less on target food the same company makes which was not out of stock. We do need to think this through even more though.

I'm sure there are many other things we aren't prepared for and am thinking that getting our emergency plans and to do list really thought through will be a good "couch" project while I recover from my foot surgery.

Getting serious about emergency supplies

And even thinking of everything is a job!

Then I started a spreadsheet with categories of dog, household (cleaning, toiletries, paper good, first aid, over the counter meds, paper & plastic goods, other), food & water (drinks, vegs, fruit, beans/legumes, whole grains, meat/poultry, fish, nuts/seeds, dairy, oils, condiments, baking supplies, spices, and mixed foods like soup, frozen meals.

Then there are the different types of emergencies: have utilities but unable to shop &/or find supplies like a pandemic LOL) vs. earthquakes/wildfire shelter at home without utilities. And then there is just plain illness/infirmity.

Deciding how long to have pantry last is another question as is where to store things and make sure nothing gets wasted. Making my head hurt but I think it is important to think through and make decisions.

So later this week we will buy some canned green beans because we have canned fruit, tomatoes and beans but no veggies as we prefer fresh or frozen. I also found out we were low on a few spices.

Last grocery store trip there wasn't any dishwasher soap or dish soap oddly. So I went to CVS and they had a few of each and I added more to our supplies along with more laundry soap. I had to pick up a gel re-freezable ice pack for the upcoming foot surgery so made the trip useful.

We also ordered some shaking activated cupboard latches to see if they will work on our kitchen cabinets. If everything falls out of your cabinets and breaks you have a dangerous broken glass & china sticky mess.

We had baby latches on the upper cabinets in our former California home and nothing in the kitchen broke during the Northridge earthquake. If these work we will get enough to finish the job. Since we thought we were going to move we hadn't really done all we need to do from a safety perspective.

I hate having to think about these things and spend the effort to manage supplies. I am not at all of the "prepper" mindset just aware that natural and health disasters happen.

Have you reconsidered you pantry or home supplies after the last 10 weeks of supply chain shortages and wanting to avoid stores?

Living with wildfire risk

We have been talking about how to address my fear of wildfires - basically a fear of not being able to get away from them in time. It is interesting that once I had my earthquake survival kit packed and water, etc. stocked up at home I really don't worry about earthquakes. They just happen and then it is over and you have to deal with the consequences.

A wildfire though is in a definable place with the winds either sending it towards you or not. Roads can only take so many cars at once as people evacuate.

So how often do you pack up and leave when not at immediate risk? I wanted to leave when the Easy fire (Reagan Library adjacent) started even though it was a ways away. The risk was that options for driving away would be limited if 2 freeways were closed instead of just the one that was closed immediately. The winds were blowing our way.

We came home after one night and then that very same evening the Maria fire started even closer to us but the winds were not likely to send it our way. Hubby suggested I pack for evacuation before going to bed and have my cell phone near me to get any evacuation alert so that is what  I did.

I'm learning to understand wind patterns. I need to learn more routes the leave in addition to major ones. We are considering whether or not for the car to be gone all day when one of us is at home. I need to figure out how to have our and the dog's meds packed and ready to go while rotating them so they are current. The dog needs food too and we need a change of clothes at least.  That goes beyond earthquake preparedness because usually you don't have to leave in the earthquake scenario.

I found this great Wildfire And Emergency Go Kit article and will be working on getting everything together for it as well as making it supplement out earthquake supplies with are basically food and water.

So that is the plan. Any additional ideas?

5 for Friday: Edition 4 - Where there is smoke there is fire

There is certainly a lot of smoke and fire in our area right now. I'm sure you are hearing about all of the horrible wildfires in the Los Angeles area. Ours is the Ventura one (Thomas fire) but it is not endangering our community.

My heart goes out to everyone with losses and to the animals suffering now and later as their habitat is destroyed. My heartfelt thanks to all the firefighters and volunteers helping the evacuated humans and animals. May the winds end soon so the fires can be put out.

1. We have seen flames at the top of a mountain ridge one night while driving home from dinner out (3rd Thai restaurant was a winner!). We also have smelled smoke and greeted people who are sheltering with neighbors while evacuated from their homes in the fire area.

2. Yesterday was the first day I was really concerned for our home and health but fortunately it turned out to not be a problem. I was finally taking a walk as the winds had died down so the air quality was better and I really needed some exercise. A bit into my walk I saw a smoke plume rising nearer to us than before. By the time I got home from my short one mile walk there was a huge black smoke cloud.

We finally learned where this flare up was and were able to pull back on our personal concern. I did sleep with the cell phone by bed though so if an alert came through I would hear it. Instead email updating woke me up at 3:30am LOL.

3. My emergency preparedness now that we are back in California had been focusing on earthquake readiness. Now we are talking about potential fire evacuation routes and what we would try to take if we had to leave very quickly vs having time to pack.

We are so fortunate that we have places to stay with family if we even need a break from smokey air or just from concern. Not everyone is being as fortunate as these fires have devastated over 100,000 acres so far and displaced hundreds of thousands of  people.

4. 2018 will be our first year on Federal retiree benefits and Medicare. We took the time to research our Federal health insurance options as it will be secondary to Medicare. We changed to a different health plan with lower costs but our same doctors. Since the combined insurance and Medicare will eliminate copays and annual deductibles, it looks like we will be able to keep total health care costs about the same for another year even with adding dental insurance. That is a huge accomplishment I think. Even better? Hubby took care of the registration/insurance change while I was out.

5. On a more cheerful note, I sold tickets for the Pet Club holiday dinner and bought tickets for a holiday brass band concert.

How was your week?

Preparing for emergencies caused by nature

In our previous home the main nature caused potential emergencies were tornadoes and power outages due to falling tree limbs, ice or wind. Pretty simple to prepare for so we stocked up on water, food that could be eaten cold and emergency lights. We also were clear where in the basement to huddle and paid attention to tornado watches and listened for the siren nearby.

In S. Cal it is a bit different - earthquakes being the big one to prepare for. However there can be "forest" fires, mudslides, floods, etc. Having been to this rodeo before I know it is important to be prepared to get by on your own for at least a week with no utilities, stores out of food, gas stations not operating or out of gas and ATMs not working. You also need to have "bug out" bags for each person and pet in the car and/or home. In our case since we have one car that could be gone there needs to be something at home too.

I'm fortunate that the community has a emergency response group and a ham radio tower and operators. That would help but its a community of about 3,500 people all over 55 with an average age of 72. We need to be prepared to help ourselves and others.

Enter this thorough website that the state of CA offers. I think it could be adapted to any emergency situation if you are interested in checking or improving your preparedness. Be Prepared - Individuals and Families. I like Arizona's website too: Just in Case

So what have I done in the month since we moved? Nothing but buy a couple of gallons of water.

Today I looked up the list of what to have on hand and got started with upping our water and non-perishable food supplies.

(1) Water @ a minimum of 1 gallon per person per day for a minimum of 3 days. Add in some for the dog.
- We now have six gallons and I will keep stocking up until we have at least 15. I'll also look into a good water filtering system such as is used for camping to make non-potable water drinkable.

2) Food for at least 3 days including dog food. Pick foods that require no refrigeration, preparation or cooking and little or no water added. Make sure to have a can opener, paper plates, plastic cups and silverware, etc. Canned goods such as beans, fruit, & tuna, peanut butter, dry cereal, crackers, protein or fruit bars, nuts, canned juices, etc. I read a suggestion somewhere to actually make up a 3 - 7 day meal plan with calorie counts to make sure you have the right foods stored. Good idea.

Here is a great list of non-perishables to have on hand. Some do require the ability to heat water so take that into account. Not a good idea when gas lines many have ruptured during an earthquake but helpful in other circumstances perhaps. Disaster foods

- We now have a few extra cans of beans, fruit & tuna as well as disposable plates, etc. I will make sure to always have extras of the other items on hand as well as adding more canned goods.

Next on the list is a first aid kit. Will work on that next week and keep going down the list.

Are you prepared?