Space Oddity (Or More Accurately, Oddities To Keep in Your Extra Space)

Good afternoon, Queen City!

While we are sure most of you are probably gearing up for Turkey Day (or Tofurkey Day if you're like me, whatever you're into), emergencies do not have discretion for holidays, so we still wanted to share a resource with you on our last day in the office this week. Here's a nifty article on 20 Emergency Preparedness Items You Might Not Think Of by MommySavers.com with some tips on some of the items that might typically be left out of your home emergency kit. There are even some useful links at the bottom of the article for where you can purchase some of the items online. Who knows where to find MRE's at their local grocery store? I certainly don't, and for that reason, this Thanksgiving I am quite thankful for Amazon. Please enjoy the article, and while you're cooking your turkey, tofurkey, and everything in between, do take a minute to make sure you're being safe and examine your prep space for hazards. We certainly don't want any turkey grease fires!

Wishing you all peace, happiness, and humility for a happy Thanksgiving with whomever you choose to share it,

Rob and Tiara

P.S. Just in case you aren't familiar with Loren Bouchard's wacky and wonderful animated masterpiece "Bob's Burgers," we really just can't resist posting Linda's Thanksgiving song. We sing it to each other in the office most days, and no Thanksgiving is complete without some Linda Belcher-style love.

Burnin' for You!

Hey, guys!

So if you haven't figured it out by now, Tiara and I can become a couple of pyromaniacs when we want to. And, after the wild success of the pine cone fire starter, we decided to do our research and see if there were other effective ways of making fire starters for your emergency kits. Funny story, there are plenty, so today we decided to try out the good ol' dryer lint and Vaseline method. Here's what you do:

First, you need only two supplies for this -- Vaseline and dryer lint. If you're like me, you keep a Costco-sized tub of Vaseline on your desk because your lips get chapped in the winter cold, but if you're not, this Costco-sized tub of Vaseline cost me a whole three bucks. Hip hip hooray for cost effectiveness. As for the dryer lint, I really hope you aren't paying for that.

At this point, I really do recommend wearing gloves. I didn't, and while I'm really quite fine with getting down and dirty and doing whatever, it got a little hairy (pardon the pun, Tiara's dryer lint also came with quite the accompaniment of dog fur). Especially if you're making these in a group (for whatever reason you may be), I would recommend keeping some gloves on hand. At any rate, gloves on or not, all you have to do is scoop out a ball of Vaseline and start mashing it with the dryer lint to incorporate it at least fairly evenly. There aren't really any specific ratios, at least not by my method, so don't think you need to measure anything exactly, but keep fiddling with the Vaseline and lint until you have a saturated but firm ball of fire-starting power. It might even look something like this:

Clearly, any semblance of sanity is not always within my skill set, but as Miss Frizzle put it best for the Magic School Bus, "Take chances! Get messy! Make mistakes!" Obviously you will want to make more than one of these, as you will probably need more than one fire started if you are without power for multiple days at a time, and they store just fine in an old egg carton or zip lock bag! 

And since again, we are Charlotte's resident pyromaniacs, here is the test video. After all, if you checked out Tiara's link to Pinterest Fail, mistakes do happen and we would never want to leave you unprepared in case disaster does indeed strike and you need to start a fire. So without further ado, here is proof that dryer lint and Vaseline (and Blue Oyster Cult, if you're also blasting the namesake of this post) may indeed save your life one day, and do please enjoy our colleague Sara's pretty fantastic interjection at the end:

Peace and blessings, and stay safe, y'all!

Hey Good Lookin'! What You Got Cookin'?

Howdy, y'all!

Tiara and I have embarked on a new endeavor, and we would like to extend an invitation to all you wonderful folks within and outside of the Queen City to join us. We are looking for recipes for an emergency kit cookbook. Basically, what could one make out of items in his or her emergency kit without a power source? Black bean salad? Peanut butter hummus? We are looking for all things wild and crazy and creative, but again -- no power, and it has to come from a product with a long shelf life that one could keep in emergency storage. Please comment below with any fantastic ideas you have, and of course, when the cookbook is finished, credit will be given where credit is due! Let's get cookin'!

Stay safe, Charlotte!

Who Said We Don't Need No Education?

Okay, we know, Pink Floyd did (and trust me, Tiara and I love on some Pink Floyd). But coming from two college graduates, sometimes education can be pretty damn wonderful. Since we are here to educate and equip all you wonderful little boo kitties on the ways of preparedness, we would love to offer you the opportunity to join us in a disaster preparedness course offered (for FREE!) via Coursera. The course is taught through The University of Pittsburgh, and begins on January 26, 2015.  Don't worry, we will be posting reminders (and they will send reminders to your e-mail) as the date approaches. We hope you will be able to join us on our journey! See the link below to sign up:

Disaster Preparedness (Coursera)

Stay safe, Charlotte!

Let It Snow (But Be Ready)!

Good afternoon, Charlotte!

With last week's cold snap, Tiara and I agree that it is certainly time to get all set up for winter weather. Even if it isn't technically winter until December 22, if another 18 degree night hits soon, we want for you to be prepared. Here's a nifty short video from FEMA with some helpful tips and reminders about what you can do to be sure you're ready. (And a huge thanks to Meg Tizzano up at Jersey Cares in Newark, NJ, for sending this to us!) 

Stay safe, Charlotte!

Burnin' Down the House (Or Rather, How Not To)

Happy Friday, Charlotte!

Last night, Tiara and I had the great opportunity to partner with Inspector Jessie Horton from the Charlotte Fire Department to provide a fire education session at Albemarle Road Elementary School's monthly Family Night. Inspector Horton spoke about the importance of getting out of a house fire once one begins, as well as the importance of testing smoke alarms and carbon monoxide detectors once a month, and keeping a fire extinguisher near the exit of your home and knowing how to use one.

We were also able to use a mock fire extinguisher with an interactive illuminated board to simulate how to put out a small fire with an extinguisher. Inspector Horton taught us the P.A.S.S. method of using a fire extinguisher:

• Pull -- pull the pin from the handle of the fire extinguisher
• Aim -- aim the hose at the base of the fire
• Squeeze -- squeeze the handle of the fire extinguisher to eject the contents of the extinguisher
• Sweep -- sweep back and forth along the base of the flames for most effective extinguishing

I have added a few pictures from our educational session below, and further down the page I have attached an infographic with some fire statistics. Please do comment below with any questions or if you would like additional information about fire safety and what you can do to prepare!

Stay safe, Charlotte, and enjoy the pictures and facts!

(Here's a link to view this infographic in better detail: State Farm Fire Statistics Infographic)

"I Will Survive!"