IT'S THE END OF THE WORLD AS WE KNOW IT!  I FEEL FINE!

     Friends, as I sat at my computer this morning I pulled up the daily news sites and started reading.  Apparently next Tuesday, November the  8th, A comet will come closer to the earth than the distance from the Earth to the moon.

     The 2005 YU55 circular comet is as large as four football fields!  A comet this size if it were to slam into the earth would strike with the force of "A 4,000 megaton blast, a magnitude 7.0 earthquake, and if it falls into the ocean - could cause a 70 foot high tsunami within 60 miles of the crash site.", According to an expert at Purdue University.

While the comet is going to be close, astronomically speaking.  It will miss the earth.  However you have to ask yourself.  Why are we just now finding out about such a close call?  If it were about to strike the earth, the chaos this event would cause would be a panic of biblical proportion.   Here in Alabama where I live, if we find out we have a 1 inch dusting of a snow storm coming, you will be extremely lucky to find a gallon of milk or a loaf of bread within 20 miles of your home.  This time is the worst time for shopping!  In the case of a genuine catastrophic event coming, the panic reaches a fever pitch, and people become violent, and even possibly deadly, as they attempt to take by force what they cannot purchase.  Do you really want to be in that situation? 

     Or would you rather be sitting at home.  Boarding up your windows, hunkering down in your shelter, and enjoying your food reserves.  I know I would much rather be at home draining every last drop of water out and into storage containers before the last minute. 

     That's assuming of course that the event would be happening far enough away that I would not be affected directly.  If I knew for a fact that I was in the strike zone.  I would make one text message to my wife and daughter.  A single text message would have them politely drop what they are doing and make their way home by the closest possible route.  If something happened that they had to strike out by foot they would be prepared for that as well. 

In each of our vehicles we keep an emergency bug out bag.  It's the basic items that will make a difference in a time of trouble.  Since I have just started these bags I have all kinds of missing items that I plan on finishing my purchases soon and having the bags 100% for when (not if) the time comes that we need them.

     Once I have a decent enough camera I will take you on a tour of one of our bug out bags so that you might could form an idea of what you might want in yours.  In my truck I have the following items at all times.  A mini air-compressor, tire plug kit, jumper cables, flashlight, zip ties, and basic hand tools.  (wrenches, sockets, screwdrivers, pliers, etc).  I also carry a backpack.  In that backpack are a number of items such as a full first aid kid, a leatherman's tool (a multifunction tool with all kinds of "Swiss army" style attachments), A flash light, dust masks, an emergency heating blanket, hot hands, long term storage food bars, water bottles, duck tape, (yes  duck tape), and a number of other items.  I have a few things I am still missing, that I will go into more detail soon as we start making your bug out bag. 

     Yes I have weathered jokes by my wife and daughters about my doom and gloom planning, then I simply remind them of the devastation we saw in April, with entire towns being taken off the map.  The lucky ones who survived the morning tornado outbreak on that day, lost electricity, and never knew that another tornado was bearing down on them.  A $30.00 weather radio would have saved lives.  If you had one with batteries.  I have one of those as well. 

     I was lucky, as was the rest of my entire extended family.  James Spann, my local weatherman, and in my opinion the greatest weatherman in the history of the breed came on tv and said simply, be somewhere safe all day tomorrow, this is going to be bad.  We left that morning and went to my parents house where we have generators, storm shelters, etc.  When we were on our way to my mom's we started naming items that we forgot at home that we wished we had brought.  In my wife's bug out bag, she knows that she has to grab her daily medicines and place the entire bag into her backpack.  She doesn't have to grab anything else.  Unless there is enough time of course.

     In my kitchen, I have a way to safely, quickly, and securely carry enough food to feed my family for quite some time.  I have the items in place, though I need to add to the quantity of food within my containers.  With an hour's notice we could be self sufficient, and geared for the long haul.   I have accomplished this little plan for very little money.  I will go into further detail as the days go on. 

    At the end of the day, you have to ask yourself in the mirror, "Am I ready for a minor power failure?"  What about a loss of water in your house.  What if your house were suddenly unlivable?  What are your plans?  Keep following friends, I'll help you get prepared without breaking the bank. 

Be safe.  Be prepared.  Be ready.

Wes