Storm coming

We had a lot of 'fun' last Friday. The ice storm in the Northeast took out our power at 4:30 AM. I tried to get back to sleep, but the sound of tree branches cracking and then the THUMP as they hit the ground was hard to sleep through.

The weather was bad enough that school was canceled for the day, and when I called the office they were also without power. So we all got to spend the day together at home.

A big branch, maybe 10 feet long, crushed part of the fence that keeps the goats in place. It also collapsed part of the chicken coop. And there was lots of other debris of various sizes covering the yard. But I wasn't going to go out and try to clear it away when the trees were still making ominous sounds. The branch was sticking up because it was buried in the ground was warning enough.

We were fortunate. A good neighbor helped clear that big branch and some of the other debris. He was happy to take away the hardwoods for his stove. We had power back by bedtime. We'd also been able to use a camping stove (I set it up in the garage) to make essentials like morning coffee and hot water. We used a big fire to keep the first floor warm and lots of small candles to light up parts the house.

But the storm made me think about preparing for emergencies. Some of the town only got power back on Wednesday, and some folks in this region are still without power. Would I be able to manage my diabetes if we lost power for 5 days? And what if we were evacuated and had to go to an emergency shelter?

Earlier this year I found a suggested emergency diabetes kit on the Children With Diabetes site.

But did I use it to put something together. Oh no, because we never lose power in our town. Except for last week.

I'm planning to be better prepared for the next storm that rolls into town, like the big one that's threatening to roll in today!

One bonus from the storm was the lovely fire that was perfect for toasting marshmallows on. Here's my family hard at work.

Labels: emergency, kit, marshmallows, storm

posted by Bernard @ 8:06 AM 1 Comments Links to this post  

Diabetes365 day 9 Tuesday, October 16, 2007 - Fire drill

I was sitting at my desk working this morning and the fire alarms went off! What a racket!



Whenever there's a fire alarm at work the first thing I reach for is my diabetes supplies. After that I'll take my camera and personal laptop, but those are a distance second in importance.

There's nothing worse than being stuck in an unusual situation without a means of testing my blood sugar and correcting it if it's low. That's why the diabetes supplies are so essential. If there was a real alarm and we were outside for more than 10 minutes those supplies might make the difference between a single alarm and two!

Over my lifetime with diabetes I've taken many ambulance rides as a result of severe low blood sugars (hypoglycemia). It's never pleasant waking up in a strange place and not knowing how you got there. So diabetes supplies are essential.

Yet another thing to think about because of diabetes. (And another reason why you're not likely to see me on a future episode of Survivor).

See other diabetes365 project photos here.

See my diabetes365 photos here.

Labels: diabetes365, emergency, firedrill, supplies

posted by Bernard @ 6:45 PM 5 Comments Links to this post