I find the similarity between the Tea Party Protest and demonstrations of the Occupy Wall Street groups more alike than different. Not ideologically, but definitely in their need to have the media appreciate their groundswell. If their goal is to raise awareness, then they need the media coverage for mainstream America to hear them. The Tea Party Protests were relatively peaceful, most of the Occupy Together demonstrations were peaceful, but some police arrests have garnered a headline or two.

The Tea Party gained attention with marches, signs, and blocking traffic. OWS needed to raise the intensity to catch a similar headline. This required stamina and camping in central business districts for the extended media coverage. If the next cause or continuation of these causes expects to gather any attention, then they will unfortunately probably have to raise the intensity. In other countries, this often approaches riots or destruction of property.

When flash mobs driven by technology meet political statements, this could create particularly dangerous situations. Flash mobs already turned dangerous in Philadelphia earlier this year, let’s hope that the economy and restlessness before elections don’t continue to degrade to something more dangerous.

How to Survive a protest turned dangerous:

Stay situational aware and understand your surroundings. If caught in or near a demonstration, have a plan to extract you and your family if necessary. In a mild protest? Don’t fight the crowd unless necessary. Grab someone close by and eagerly agree with their cause. Learn a quick phrase and grab a sign, identify with the cause and move with them towards the edge of the group. Don’t try and travel in the opposite direction. It is like swimming against the tide. When safely out of the path or on the edge, put as much distance as possible between you and the possibly dangerous element.

Swarmed in a dangerous riot? If it is a violent mob that has received the “go text” then innocent bystanders may be pulled in violently and with consequences. If in your car, be prepared to use your car as a weapon. Reverse and get the heck out if possible. If not, slowly and determinedly move forward. Rapidly accelerating may only get your car stuck or wrecked. I am sure an angry indiscriminate mob will excuse your running over a few of their friends once you crash your car into the one they just torched ahead of you. If you can legally carry a weapon, be prepared to use it against the center or leader of the mob. Carry pepper spray, air horns, coins in a handkerchief or what ever self-defense mechanism is legal in your area when in urban environments. Keep tools handy in your car or a can of wasp spray that can shoot a blinding stream of chemicals for several yards. If on foot, look people in the eye and be ready to use available self-defense weapons. Move through the crowd or escape as quickly as possible. Mindset will save you more often than tools, but having tools available will equalize your odds.

Sell.

Attend the Hurricane Workshop on June 4th. This is an annual event hosted by the Houston / Galveston Weather Service. It will include sessions, exhibits and and free expo at the George R. Brown Convention Center. Plan to attend early since it is open on Saturday until 2:30 pm.

The Popular Mechanics sponsored Home Safety Prep Show is down at Reliant Center and is an all day event on Saturday. It seems to have a bit more sponsorship and showmanship behind it.

Both will offer good exhibits by vendors on safe home improvements to protect against wind damage, backup energy solutions and family safety best practices.

Hurricane season runs from June 1st through the end of November and it is time to review your family plan.

Did 9/11 change us a country? Yes. Did it make us more prepared as a county, not really. But, I do believe many individuals have changed their outlook or habits to become more self-sufficient and understand that all we take for granted can change in a single morning.

Take care of your family, enjoy your life, and honour those who have gone before.

I don’t expect Prepping to go as mainstream as preppy, but if you see someone with a popped collar working in their garden, you might want to worry. The world might actually be ending.

Last year, we tried a few freeze-dried camping foods during some local power outages. These were, how do I say this?…. Not your brother’s MREs of questionable age. These were fantastic. In fact, we kind of wanted to enjoy a few more once the power was back on. Camp out in the living room anyone?

During the hurricane, we tried Mountain House Chicken and Mashed Potato pouches, chocolate mousse for a comfort food and a few others. This week we also tried Alpine Aire Foods. We gobbled these up with great taste, no cleanup and kept working with full bellies. Both were excellent and depending on flavours, I would recommend both brands. The both are easy to rehydrate and the taste is more than adequate. For example, to heat and serve the chicken and mashed potatoes, remove the mashed potato packet from the pouch. Add hot water and rehydrate the chicken breast, remove chicken and use the water to make mashed potatoes. Serve and eat. Nom, nom. Yum!

This past week, we gave good reviews to the rice and chicken, mexican style chicken and rice, lasagna and well… everyone was a little afraid to try the ice cream, but it is next on the list. These are expensive, but well preserved with a long shelf life of 7 years for pouches and closer to ten or more for #10 cans. We are buying a few more and will probably pick up a few for each car and backpack “just in case.” Well okay, we will probably pick up a few for those backyard campouts as well!

Next on the list, I SO want to try some Mary Jane’s Organic BackPack Foods. This looks incredibly good and love all the extra information about the company and philosophy. That’s being Ready with responsibility!

This has some nastiness potential, but it seems all government agencies including the CDC and WHO are doing all the right things for social containment. World Health Organization has declared the Swine Flu Epidemic and International Public Health Emergency which gives them the personnel and resources to follow, track and support the local agencies.

For information on how to respond and recognize symptoms, review the sites above. Now is a good time to top off any over the counter medications to support a flu like illness and check expiration dates on medicines. Make sure you have current medications for diarrhea, fever reducing medication, and rehydration solutions. Have on hand Pedialyte or similar such as Gatorade diluted with water to support an illness of stomach flu symptoms. If you are out at the store, make sure you have some easy to store foods requiring little or no preparation such as soups, juices and teas.

Finally, make sure you keep good disinfectants on hand and remember to wash hands often, keep surfaces clean, and cough or sneeze into tissues that are disposed of properly. Watch your local news for updates and take the time to talk about Pandemic preparedness with your family since it is on the news anyway.

Follow recent events using these resources:

Use the HealthMap to track events for last 30 days.

Subscribe to the RSS feed for news from the World Health Organization.

Subscribe to Breaking News Online for updates via Twitter
@CDCemergency and @breakingnews

Flu Wiki Forum and FluWiki website. Maybe a little more anecdotal, but full of information.

The journey officially begins in May after we finish renovating our 1998 Fleetwood Bounder. We will move into our RV and live in it “full-timing.” Not necessarily traveling, but mostly parked at RV sites in our metro area. Weekends will be spent in town or at our land where we will work on developing a weekend getaway in the country.

After months of research and test drives, we purchased the RV last month from Best PreOwned RV and have started some basic updates and renovations. The 35’ gas powered RV has been mechanically checked and the onboard living appliances tested. We just replaced the carpet with new flooring, but didn’t quite get the chance to make sure the new wood was as earth friendly as possible before installation. It may come out someday and be recycled for something more sustainable, but we will work with what we have for now. We have ordered no V.O.C. paint from the helpful staff at www.newliving.net and are currently deciding on countertop and tankless water heater options. One of our goals is to decrease our footprint, be more earth friendly and responsible towards our self and our neighbors. So far, pretty good. Anticipation is building!

The biggest challenge is rightsizing, but we are finding it easier than expected. So far, quite a few large pieces of furniture have been placed in new homes through Craigslist and we continue to sort smaller items for upcoming garage sales and charitable donations. Some objects definitely hold memories attached, but letting some of those go for new adventures and travels seems like a fair trade when we wrestle with it a few days. The steadily reducing clutter is keeping us focused. Our new life will cause some choices, but we are looking forward to it and the lessons along the way.

How does this fit on the Ready Queen’s blog? We are planning on this providing us with options. Options to be more financially secure, live a responsible life, develop a second homesite outside of Houston for weather related emergencies and allow us to focus on simple living. Not the answer for everyone, but one we find is right and rightsized.

Pick a weekend, it can even be at random. If you need, tell your family ahead of time, but just shut off the power. Try it for 12 hours, a day… shoot, even a whole weekend. Put the car keys away, no shopping at the store, no internet… in fact, turn off the breakers at the electrical box. Ohhhh… this isn’t going to be easy. Nope. It is going to kind of suck. But, what if the power were off for 3 days from a storm and you couldn’t go to a hotel or family’s house? What would you need to be comfortable and safe?

If you really want to be strict, don’t use the water faucet’s either. Most major storms, floods, hurricanes totally jack with the water supply and it is usually regulated to a boil-only situation. Do you have enough water on hand for cooking and basic cleanliness?

You thought you were prepared and it would be uncomfortable, but you could hang. But, how about your family? How do you entertain the kids? Are there any special medications the family members need refrigerated or special diets to consider? Do you have a grill, is the propane bottle full? Extra bags of charcoal and lighter fluid? Can you unhook your garage door from the electric motor to get large items out?

The local energy companies in the Gulf region typically indicate that a small Category 1 Hurricane can leave residents without power for 7 to 10 days. A Category 2 can quickly extend that time to 2 weeks.

Mentally, run through this exercise a few times before the test and definitely before the real thing. Then, pick a day… you will feel better after the fact knowing how to keep your family happy and less stressed in a real power out situation.

A recent trip to the Houston Hurricane Preparedness Workshop and meeting the Houston Mosquite Control team taught me how poorly I had underestimated the aftermath of a severe rain and flooding. Recent midwest flooding in the United States has produced a hatch of epic proportions. “For example, last week, 3,674 mosquitoes were counted in Ames-area traps, compared with 182 for the same week last year, Bartholomay said Wednesday. Trap quantities are just a tiny snapshot of the true numbers of mosquitoes flying around.”  The relief workers are being run out of areas or hampered with their efforts. The same thing happened after Katrina in New Orleans. Fortunately for the midwest, they are not fighting the particular types of mosquitoes identified as carriers of the West Nile Virus.

If you plan on weathering a severe storm or returning to a hurricane or flood zone, bring lots of safety measures for working in the area. This also means considering your family and pets. Make sure you have basic quantities of repellent and in your work and emergency kits. Then add more. Here are some basic measures for mosquito control:

• Wear insect repellent containing deet, picaridin or oil of lemon eucalyptus and apply it frequently. Don’t skimp, get 30% or greater percentage of Deet if possible.

• Drain standing water from backyard bird baths, discard old tires and other containers that trap water, and frequently replace water in wading pools. Don’t overwater plants and keep drains and woodpiles clean.

• Avoid going outside from dusk to dawn, peak activity times for some mosquitoes. Mosquito hatches can be present all day, but start as early as 3pm.

• Avoid dark clothes, which can absorb heat and make you more visible; choose neutral colors that blend in with the environment. Purchase mosquito netting for your head and cover other parts of exposed skin with netting if possible.

• Avoid perfumes and sweet-smelling lotions and cosmetics, including lavender scents, which attract mosquitoes.

• Perspiration is a lure, so wash after exercising or sweating heavily.

• Antihistamine tablets taken throughout mosquito season or after being bitten can help reduce bumps and itchiness.

Notes included from Chron.com and Associated Press.