Comments on: Saturday afternoon Costco.

By: Dorothy

Dorothy — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 15:34:48 +0000

beb if you double click on the picture of the survival package, you’ll see that’s not a condom, but an icon explaining that it contains drinking water.

If you had a condom in there it would take some of the fun out of whiling away the time while you’re trying to survive, wouldn’t it?!

By: Jeff (the mild-mannered one)

Jeff (the mild-mannered one) — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 04:08:15 +0000

Hello — if you missed the first run-thru of “Mad Men”, this is well worth the next 40 minutes (it’s a short ep, and season finale, and what a finale).

TV insert claims it will also run again at 10:15 tomorrow night, EDT. Much grist for the mill.

By: Jean S

Jean S — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 03:42:25 +0000

grew up in Miami, went through the 1989 SF and 1994 LA earthquakes…even so, I can’t stand the “dangerdangerWillRobinson!!!” vibe of that Costco pack. Way too Y2K. For once, the Mormons make some sense.

By: brian stouder

brian stouder — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 00:29:21 +0000

pssssst! A favorite polling source for other wingnuts with a profit motive is Strategic Vision. Ol’ Nate Silver over at fivethirtyeight.com has the goods on them; turns out that when Strategic Vision doesn’t ‘have their thumb on the scale, they flat-out make stuff up.

Maybe Sean Hannity/Glen Beck/other Fox idealogues will rush to apologize for all the crap they’ve trafficked in from Strategic Vision, over the past months and years…or not

By: brian stouder

brian stouder — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 23:49:52 +0000

Well, now it’s catastro and phe; sort of a Cuban twang in there.

Pam pointed the following story out to me, and it made me think of someone here (Dexter?) – who sometimes writes about his trusty old VW microbus. Plus – it made me say “Huh!”

http://www.wane.com/dpp/news/strange/van-stolen-35-years-ago-in-washington-state-recovered-1257508100632

an excerpt:

SPOKANE, Wash. (AP) – A Volkswagen van stolen 35 years ago in Washington state has been found in a shipping container at the Los Angeles/Long Beach seaport.
Customs agents found the 1965 van on Oct. 19 when they opened a shipping container bound for The Netherlands, The Spokesman-Review newspaper reported. They ran the vehicle identification number and discovered it was listed as stolen. Law officers said the van, which is in great shape, was stolen from an upholstery shop in Spokane on July 12, 1974 — while Spokane was hosting the 1974 World’s Fair

By: Deborah

Deborah — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 23:14:39 +0000

why is the word catastrophe split into cat strophe when I posted my comment?

By: Deborah

Deborah — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 23:12:02 +0000

One thing I remember about my childhood in Miami, FL is that when there were hurricane threats the community bonded. Kind of pathetic that it takes a catastrophe for that to happen, but happen it did. Being in line at the grocery story buying staples that would get you through the lack of power for a couple of days was thrilling compared to the monotonous way it usually plodded along. Neighbors talked to neighbors who never usually did that. And because we had the added benefit of missing school it was particularly exhilarating. That could be part of the reason that we actually like a crisis. It makes life so much more interesting in a sick and twisted way.

By: Jeff (the mild-mannered one)

Jeff (the mild-mannered one) — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 22:28:21 +0000

And in the Midwest, think 1811 and New Madrid. We’ve got our own Big One due to recur. A few cans of beans (and an opener) will come in handy.

Be prepared!

By: LAMary

LAMary — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 21:08:52 +0000

Brian, I have my stash of canned food and other foods that don’t need refrigeration or need water to prepare. Figure no water, no electricity, no roads. Whenever there’s a quake somewhere else, you notice a lot of people in line at the store have flashlights and batteries in their carts. The stores run out of the big jugs of water as well.

By: Rana

Rana — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 20:34:24 +0000

I suspect that the survival kit is actually a partial response to H1N1 fears. I was listening to something the other day (can’t recall whether it was tv or NPR) and there was a PSA about getting vaccinated, washing your hands, and making sure that your survival kit was up to date.

It struck me as a bit of fear-mongering – yes, if there’s a major epidemic one should anticipate having to stay home and not go out and mingle among the panicked at the Kroger – but the idea that this is (a) likely and (b) is going to turn into one of those hide-in-the-basement-with-the-shotgun situations is silly.

That said, I do think having some sort of survival set up isn’t a bad idea. I think though that one should look to the Mormons’ example instead of the freeze-dried MRE survivalist approach: store food and supplies, but store food and supplies that are things you’d be eating normally, and rotate them through. That way when the disaster comes, you’re not staring at a batch of identical MREs, soy flour and 15-year-old canned Treet.