You Can’t Eat Money
Better Safe Than Sorry
I woke up earlier than usual today with the same bedtime thoughts I had the night before.
Should I buy another power station?
Yep! I think about stuff like that quite often these days. My region has been warned of possible rolling blackouts this summer. That would be a first for us. We live in the midwest where water is plentiful, so drought isn’t our big worry. However, our power grids are not up to snuff. If the weather continues to trend sizzling hot, who knows if they can handle the electricity demand.
Sigh …
Recently, I purchased a fan/light/charging station all in one because many people in town lost their power due to a storm that hit last week. We didn’t lose our power, thankfully. With temperatures soaring and high humidity, however, life without a means to stay cool gets pretty grim pretty fast. Sure, the power was restored in a little over 48 hours, but that was 48 hours of sweating that I don’t fancy.
I searched for several days for a battery-operated fan.
Finally, I found one that makes claims to run for up to 54 hours on one charge. It also came with a light that is pretty damn bright. To top things off, I can charge my cell phone on this device if needed.
Such a handy piece of equipment to add to my prepper bag.
I’ll admit that I’ve always had a bit of the prepper in me. I find independence to be refreshing. To be able to take care of me has been my main goal in life. Being disowned by my parents at a young age left a scar. I came out on the other side with a need to be self-sufficient. That’s another story for another post, but suffice it to say, I suspect that’s influenced my priorities in life.
For the past two years, I’ve focused on preparing a homefront that supports self-sufficiency if needed.
I don’t want to get caught with my pants down. My power station keeps my small chest freezer running. My gas generator recharges my power station. The battery-operated fan keeps me cool.
I have at least a dozen tools in my prepper bag and counting.
Some people are shocked that gas is so expensive or that shelves at the grocery store are bare. I always expected it. In fact, I’m surprised that it hasn’t happened before now.
Modern humans traded survival skills for a pocket full of change long ago.
With all of our emphasis on the almighty dollar, we devoted our energy to acquiring money. That was our ticket to everything we needed. Money, money, money. As long as we had money stashed away, a rainy day would never become a flood of despair. That paper in our billfold would give us access to everything we needed.
Except you can’t eat money, can you? You can’t cool a room or heat a house with it either. It’s just a piece of paper. Isn’t it?
I don’t want a closet full of shoes. Nor do I give a rat’s ass about a swimming pool or a sports car. I’m not impressed by glitz and glam.
That’s the truth.
Just give me a power station or a few solar panels instead. You can stock my larder with dry goods or arrange a few raised beds of vegetables in my tiny backyard. I’ll put them to use.
When the grid goes down, I’ll be as smug as a bug in a rug.
Teresa Roberts is a retired educator, author, world traveler, and professional myth buster. You can find her books on Amazon.
