I guess some people need them to be longer and more frequent. Those who are out of touch with reality are the ones I find most irritating.

Sue

Hopefully you won't have to do the same next week. There looks to be the potential for an even more intense blizzard next Wednesday. One to keep an eye on once more.

http://www.accuweather.com/video/655578741001/three-more-storms-on-the-horiz.asp

What sort of time scale will the mains electricity repairs take for the nearly half million households affected. Folks will tend to get a little upset by the 3rd day with no power.

It's sunny and in the mid-60's here. My garden is looking great. Tonight when I get home from the cannery I'll probably sit out on the back patio in a thin jacket and have a cold beer.

And I still keep "winter" gear(shovel, ice scraper, hats, mittens, blankets, food, water, etc...) in my truck.

-Blast

There's a "brand new" 10 year old ice scraper under the seat of my truck . . been there 10 years I recently had to pull everything out of the bed to haul some stuff so I took the opportunity to repack and tighten it up. Good stuff in there. One container of truck stuff, two containers of me stuff and a duffel of winter clothes. My GHB rides separate.

It's 79F here now, will get a tad below 50F tonight; the beer is cold...

Maybe this will do the trick Izzy. I've never been more scared than during the 2003 East Coast blackout, when I couldn't feed my baby. I vowed then and there that nothing like that would ever happen again.

Izzy,

Organic evaporated milk is available.

The first thing this page mentions is SWEETENED CONDENSED milk, but if you go all the way to the bottom, you'll see that they also have regular evaporated milk.

Sue

Compounding my friend's anxiety while trying to get home was not being able to reach her 8 months pregnant daughter-in-law who was also struggling with her commute -- whose cell phone battery had run out and she did not have a charger in the car. It took her several hours to get home from the office and she was without a working phone most of that time.

We're only half way through the prime snow season here, so my friend would like to quickly assemble a car kit for her daughter to have in the car at all times (another phone charger was purchased today). And she wants to build a kit for after the baby is born.

I don't have children so would very much appreciate the advice of mothers and fathers (and others with knowledge, of course, such as EMTs) on this forum as to what a woman who is 8 months pregnant should have in the car that's in addition to what everyone should have.

Also, what should be in a car kit for the baby once she/he is a passenger?

1) 8 months pregnant car kit

2) infant car kit


Obviously it would vary somewhat in summer as opposed to winter, but I'm frankly not sure how much.

The baby is due to be born on February 22.

That's too bad Izzy. "Live and Learn" is what "they" always say but sadly, "they" are either in the minority or don't practice what they preach.

I was in the dentist office today and read an article in Canadian Living Magazine. (A generalist magazine, geared to women, focused healthy eating, family life, fashion, weight-loss, etc. Not at all survival focused but often also containing articles or at least ads for 72 HR Canada) The article recommended "purging all canned food from your kitchen" because it's high in sodium. (To be fair, they said "kitchen" not "pantry" but the difference will be lost on most.) It seems counter to their consistently seasonal advice to stock up on supplies for emergencies. I realize canned good aren't the be all and end all BUT they do address the cost issue and are pretty easy to procure and store. Of course, organic evaporated or condensed milk will probably still seem to expensive if someone already has the mindset that extra supplies are an unnecessary expense.

For a pregnant women, I'd start with the standard set-up but add extra food and water, suncreen (in the summer), maxi/bladder pads and emergency birthing supplies.

It will vary by age and personal preferance, but for an infant kit, I'd start with: diapers, wipes, cream, plastic bags, formula, bottles, water, extra sleepers, socks and blankets, a soother and a sling or chest/back child carrier.