Preparedness

While I was watching CNN this past weekend, getting my Hurricane Irene updates.  I could not stop thinking about how the announcers were talking about being prepared, getting supplies to hold families over, and to get out of the direct path of the hurricane.  Now here in Texas we could use any drop of water the east cost does not want.  Could there be a national waterway?  Kind of like the national highway but instead we pumped unwanted water from on location to another location that needed it.  The above pictures are of our back yard and yes that is a 4" wide crack in our lawn and yes it is 3' deep.

Being a diabetic I have to plan on having backup medicines while traveling or away from home and being prepared for low BG's, and also mechanical issues with meters and pumps.  As an Eagle Scout I also live by the motto: Be Prepared.  Last as a responsible camper I have survival, and emergency kits. 

Now anyone can just go out and buy a bunch of stuff and pack it away as an emergency kit.  Remember Y2K?  They say something like 100 billion dollars was spent on people stocking up for that day alone.  Those of us that enjoy the challenge of gathering these needed supplies at the lowest cost possible are always on the lookout for ways to gather needed supplies without spending much cash.

Remember me telling you about my OCD friend Ken?  He is gathering supplies for our upcoming backpacking trip in NOVEMBER.  Talk about an early preparation (J/K I like to tease him).  The good thing with backpacking foods and supplies is that they double as emergency supplies as well.  What do you think backpacking is, It is being on the lamb with everything you need on your back (more kidding).  Now from the picture above you are thinking Ken has either made powdered insulin, crack cocaine, meth, or single serving sizes of gatorade.  If you guessed single serving sized packages of gatorade you are correct.

Ken found a machine at his work that seals these small packages.  He asked around and found out it was not used and put it to use for himself.  Now he can buy gatorade in bulk or any other koolaide or drink mix, Measure what out single servings and seal them away forever.  You could keep these packs in your car, backpack, diabetes bags, or even your pocket.

Wow, look at that picture of a beautiful Maserati Gran Turismo.  I snagged this picture at lunch last friday.  Now this is a 10!  You can make out everything from the name to the tailpipe.  No question on the car.

Back to single serve Gatorade.  I looked on the internet for generic prices of single serve gatorade packeges.  I came across packets averaging about .77 cents per package.  Then I looked for gatorade in bulk and came across a 76.5oz can that makes 9 gallons of juice for 12.36.  That would be 16 servings in each gallon making each serving only .09 cents.  You do have to figure gatorade usually works the 20oz so you are still around .25 cents per serving.  Ken is always finding ways to amaze me.  Maybe he will invent powdered insulin.