First of all, you shouldn't fault people for wanting to inform family that they are OK.
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No,not my point,my point was alcohol/tobacco are always referred to as THE great trade item,in todays world electrons seem to have supplanted that as a 'necessity' and would be a fine trade item.Point,the world has changed (cell phone vrs land lines,for example) and being at the forefront of change is beneficial.

I was watching CNN and of course you have the typical come rescue me types who just cant cope with much,that will never change.

Then they had some guy probably in his 50's,he was cleaning up his yard and pulling out the debris from his damaged home.Said he too wished the power had been restored,until then he was doing what still needed to be done,be it now or later.And that he wasnt going anywhere.

So this guy gets it.Get off your duff,get down to business and get it done! Obviously he was prepared enough to be self sufficient,be it less than optimal.

Kudos to that kind of thinking and doing.Not trying to cobble something together after the fact.

Proactive,Reactive and Inactive,I want to be in the first group,but most arent.

Now the people that think that just in time delivery systems will keep em supplied,or are clueless that system even exists,those folks are going to suffer.And these look like the so called brighter people in the populace too,thats scary IMO.

I think it was here somewhere someone said I bet they start looking at preppers in a more positive light going forward,I hope so too,every person who prepared in good times is one less person in dire need in bad times which is good for all in the major scheme of things.

My 2 little old ladies neighbors and the family next door with the 2 young kids wont starve in an earthquake until supplies arrive,but we may eat a lot of bread and soup until then.But I,and they,will eat.Barring zombie scenario.

As for genny's,as many many people go on without any power (power by Christmas,maybe??),more and more can see that a genny is a wise prep,they tend to be poo poo'd by many,IMO its a rather good prep.If you only use it to keep batteries charged light at night is a very comforting thing and important defense item.A cheapo fast NiMH battery charger (many batteries come in a pack with em),while hard on batts,is a super thing to have in grid down times.

A Honda EU genny might get you 15-25 DAYS from a single gallon of gas running it 30 minutes a day.You can do a lot in 30 minutes of power,for sure you wont be huddled in the dark.