Is This a Test?

I live in Florida now.

Which means, unfortunately, I am now susceptible to natural disasters. I moved away from Arizona because I was scared if I stayed any longer I was eventually going to end up with a scorpion in my bed.

Now I have tornado warnings, tropical storms and alligators in my neighborhood pond.

Smart thinking Alec.

Anyhow, long story (involving bathtubs, rooms without windows, 72 hour kits, a solar-powered storm watching radio, 4 gallons of water, a TV show called Storm Chasers, British soap and zombies) short, I have decided to take emergency preparedness a little more seriously.

I've been gathering a few cans of food here and there lest I be stuck in a hurricane with nothing to eat but half a tub of peanut butter and dry noodles.

I still haven't figured out how to work the storm radio or where the get-out-of-state-quick exit route is, but at least I'm doing something. Right?

Which brings us to last night. I bought a couple of extra gallons of water to replenish my emergency water stash. And I left those extra gallons in the car. Then I thought, right before turning on 17 hours of Netflix, I should fill up some of these empty gallons. Just in case. I know I have water in the car, but what if the stairwell crumbles and I can't even get outside.

'Darn you paranoia,' I told myself. 'Stop trying to ruin my 17 hours of Netflix watching.'

And then this morning, I ate a banana and my water turned off.

I tried the bathroom sink.

Nothing.

I tried the kitchen sink.

Nothing.

I even tried the shower.

Nothing.


And now I know my emergency preparedness kit should contain at least 10 pounds of hand sanitizer. And dry shampoo.


Grocery list:

10 pounds of hand sanitizer
Dry shampoo
Yogurt


I am also now researching the best way to store water, because I just realized 3 gallons of Publix drinking water isn't going to be enough to get me through an emergency. HELLO ALEC, YOU WASH YOUR HANDS WHEN YOU'RE NERVOUS.  I'm going to need a thousand gallons of water. At least.


Side note: I wanted to make sure I was using the correct version of store, because you know, sometimes you look at a word too long and it looks wrong. And wouldn't it be embarrassing if I spelled store wrong on my blog that no one reads? And so I typed it into Google. And guess what! If you type "I need to store" in Google, the number 5 suggestion is "I need to store cord blood." Which was mildly more entertaining when I thought it said "I need to store cold blood." Side note to the side note: I should possibly add wooden stakes to things needed for an emergency kit. You can never be too careful when it comes to emergency preparedness against supernatural beings. At least that's what I learned from 17 hours of Netflix.

Grocery list:
10 pounds of hand sanitizer
Dry shampoo
Wooden stake
Yogurt


Getting back to my no water story, you'll all be relieved to know that a county water line broke and the water is out in my entire apartment complex for a mere 'couple of hours.'

That gives me a couple of hours to not do my laundry, not wash my hair, not clean the dishes, not brush my teeth and not flush the toilet.

I can hold it, I can hold it, I can hold it.

Hey! Maybe I'll use this time to plug in my storm watch radio.