Dagny's idea of renting is excellent. Put on some decent clothes, get a haircut and wash the car. Go to a realtor and make your pitch. A lived-in house is more likely to stay in decent shape than a vacant house, esp if the junkies start moving into them. If you have a lawnmower, offer to keep the front yard up as part of the rent.

Sue

I want to thank everyone for the great ideas! I am looking for a place, so I will check with some local realitors. Most apartments in my area are two stories over the garage, the type of construction that failed during the Northridge earthquake.

It will be awhile until I can afford a car, but I better realize a car is important for storage and important transportation to avoid the govt "vacation" plan in times of emergency. I will have to stay with the bus for now.

Thanks ironraven for the recipes. I will give them a try. They are the type of recipes I was hoping for: meals that can be prepared from foods that do not need to be refrigerated.

I will buy a cooler on wheels! A great idea for storing water and a little food. Since I am on foot at this time, it will allow me to move more in a disaster. I will also purchase at least one of the 7 gal water containers.

I was also thinking of buying some 5 gal buckets. One will get a toilet seat for waste problems, and the others can be used to collect water where I can find it (many apartments have a pool that will provide water for washing and cleaning, not drinking, and I might find other sources of water - they have run a recycled water line to a local park for lawn watering, and with purification, that might yield more drinking water.

Spud

> 2) Anyone have a favorite recipe for canned meats, such as canned chicken?

Louise and I live on canned food for a week at Burning Man, and we have a lot of recipes that we got off the Web. Check here and see what recipes we have that suit you:
http://www.cieux.com/bm/recipes.html

Some assume we have access to our ice chest, but many used canned foods, dried milk, and pasta - so you'll need water. We also hoard those little packets of condiments you get in fast food restaurants: mustard, ketchup, mayo, etc.

Water is tough. Without knowing your apartment situation, it's a lucky guess to give you good advice.

Sorry about the divorce. I went through it decades ago. It's rough while it happens, but time passes, and I'm now the happiest I've ever been -- I wish the same to you.

Have you considered a bicycle? It sure beats walking. Depending on the range and local conditions, it may also prove a viable alternative to your bus transport as well. Cheap, too. You can probably scrounge one from friends, auctions or second hand for virtually nothing. It will require some minimum maintenance, but not much.

Excellent suggestion. Very good bikes can be had very cheaply.

And in the event of a major earthquake a number of roads could be impassable with a vehicle, not to mention clogged with traffic.

And a bicycle trailer could carry gear or supplies and a small child or pet.

There's a long thread somewhere on bugging out with bicycles.

I added a trailerbike to our setup

Thank you Philip for all the recipes. I don't have a refrigerator at this time, so the recipes are a big help.

Thanks MostlyHarmless for the bicycle idea. I will check out what is available at the Salvation Army, when I go this weekend to check for a refrigerator.

I am confident that the divorce will be best for the entire family as time proceeds. It is challenge to start over again, but a good challenge. My son is learning a lot of important life lessons he would not have learned so young, which should better prepare him for a productive life. I was proud the other day when I heard him tell a friend the advice I had given him: you get up and make the most of each day, and life is about how much you can do with whatever you have.

Spud