I was with my TBM mother recently and I brought up how I thought it a good idea to install a security camera system in my house. She said (referring to a burglary) “it will never happen, don’t worry about it...”.
Surprised, I asked her, “how much food storage do you have in your basement?”. Response, “quite a lot.” I then threw it back at her, “it will never happen, don’t worry about it.”
You're right, there is a parallel. But I know people who always come out with that line "don't worry it will never happen." Well, what happens when it does? The people who think like this are never prepared... even for common events such as burglary, power cuts and bad weather.
I would be interested in a camera system as long as it is not connected with the internet. Criminals can hack into it, and so can others... they can even hook it up to facial recognition software, so who knows who is watching?
Good point re: Internet. I was thinking self contained, no internet connection.
I just thought it amusing she couldn’t see how both are “security blankets”. Hers will spoil and get thrown away, mine will record interesting dog and cat antics while I’m away from home. The likelihood either will ever be used for the purpose they were obtained is minimal, but so is insurance, yet we all have it.
gettinreal Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Hers will spoil > and get thrown away, mine will record interesting > dog and cat antics while I’m away from home. > The likelihood either will ever be used for the > purpose they were obtained is minimal, but so is > insurance, yet we all have it.
I think common sense applies with food storage. Some stuff will keep for years. And I don't mean those piles of wheat that Mormons are obsessed with.
Food storage is also useful when you are short of money. Not one of Mormonism's worse ideas, just that they have to be so robotic about it.
Food storage is a waste. HQ has been saying to stockpile for 50+ years, and has anything happened in that time? No. And it will nothing will happen in the next 50 years. It is pure paranoia and part of the BITE method.
"has anything happened in that time? No. And it will nothing will happen in the next 50 years. It is pure paranoia and part of the BITE method."
Of course it has "happened". Look how many floods, earthquakes, power outages etc there are... It does happen to people now and then. I've already used food storage.
It's a good idea if you choose sensibly and don't buy perishables and wheat. I've used stuff from food storage many times.
Yeah, floods and fires happen, and in both of those, food storage is worse than worthless. After a flood it is a bunch of rusty cans that need to be thrown out, along with the ruined carpeting and wallboard. If you use it quickly, it can be kind of entertaining guessing what's in the cans where the labels have soaked off.
If there is visible rust on the can it should be discarded. There could be microscopic holes that let in bacteria. Botulism in particular is a possibility.
In the case of fires and floods, you usually are lucky to get out with the clothes on your back and maybe whatever you can throw in your vehicle. All those cases of whatever in the basement are worthless unless the flood/fire actually misses your house.
nolongerangry Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Food storage is a waste. HQ has been saying to > stockpile for 50+ years, and has anything happened > in that time? No. And it will nothing will > happen in the next 50 years. It is pure paranoia > and part of the BITE method.
No, it is not a waste. It is smart shopping and being prepared. You guy extra of the type of food you normally eat. You buy on sale and when specials are offered. You have extra that end up saving your a lot of money over the months.
Be sure to cycle the packages/boxes/cans so you don't have a bunch of stuff go way out of date.
Last time the Pasta Salad mixed went on sale I bought two cases for 60 cents a box. Ended up with having plenty to give to a family that suffered a disaster. Some for a local church group doing a homeless feed. The stuff was normally more than $3 a box - but some kind of big group buy and "loss leader" marketing program made it dirt cheap. And yes, we eat it.
We don't do 2 years and definitely no wheat. A fair amount of rice - we eat a lot of it. Same with various beans, peas and the like.
Buy what you like to eat - storage works even if you don't have a lot of room. Then - when things are tight or whatever you know you have enough to get by without worrying about a run on the stores. (think Hurricane coming - Florida - right now)
My mother canned a lot and she had wheat, etc. We usually used the soups and vegetables she bought or canned, but there was a lot of stuff left in the "fruit room" in the basement. My oldest brother, who watches out for the house and our other brother, said that a can of baked beans exploded in the cupboard in the kitchen. I thought my sisters had thrown all this stuff out the first year after my parents died (since I was not allowed in the family at the time), but they hadn't.
So my brother checked things in the fruit room and many bottles had broken and there was sticky stuff running down the shelves and onto the cement floor. It took him about 3 weeks to fill the big black garbage can to clean out the fruit room and then he had to mop it all up.
So much for food storage.
I like the idea of the security cameras so I can watch what my dogs do when I'm gone!!! My boyfriend has one in his trees out front to watch the deer that come through his yard. He lives in an area with a lot of homes, but the deer come down the road in front of his house and, in the winter, they sleep in his yard.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/29/2019 02:42PM by cl2.
One big issue I've had with the idea of wheat being stored is that if it gets wet as in the case of flooding, it can get moldy. Moldy wheat is not good to eat as it causes something like an LSD trip. Historians now think that one cause of witch hysteria such as the Salem Witch Trials was that type of poisoning.
Another issue with the Mormon idea of food hoarding is that in the case of a fire, flood, or other disaster, that food is destroyed as a result. The only thing that the cult did get right in a way was the 72 hour kit, which preparedness experts say should be for longer than 72 hours.
I'm a prepper He's a prepper She's a prepper We're a prepper Wouldn't you like to be a prepper too?! ;-)
Wildfire in north Bountiful 1 am last Thursday morning. Three houses burned to ground, 8 others damaged, 400 residents rousted out of bed, evacuated, some still in jammies. Mandatory evacuation lifted Saturday morning.
I doubt anyone's food storage did a lick of good.
Hurricane Dorian - a few days worth of food and water would be handy, as would a stash of plywood to cover windows. At least a half tank of gas and a credit card and some cash would be useful. A case of green beans, not so much. Spam sandwiches while trapped in your car on the Interstate could be handy. :)
Bill Burr points out that if you're the strongest, meanest and most well-armed person on the block, everyone else has done your emergency preparation for you.
elderolddog Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Bill Burr points out that if you're the strongest, > meanest and most well-armed person on the block, > everyone else has done your emergency preparation > for you.
You never know which neighbor has a really nice Remington 700 in .308 and was a sniper in the military - because he doesn't say a thing about it to anyone.
A good supply of tobacco would be worth it in a disaster more than a few days. Trade value goes higher and higher the longer normal services are suspended.