Sanitize

Ah, the treasures of a disinfected home.  Do you store bleach in your supplies?  Bleach can be marvelous in an emergency.  You can sanitize drinking water and disinfect surfaces and clothing.  It's good to have on hand, but...  Did you know that bleach has a shelf-life?  In fact, in optimum conditions, the Clorox.com website states it should last only between 9 to 12 months!  If you are a chemist or have a salt-water pool, then you may know that eventually it will turn into just that: salt water. 

What to do?  What to do?  You can't store it long term, and even if you could, how much could you bring if you had to leave your home?

Let me introduce quaternary tablets.  These little wafers of germ-killing joy are used in restaurants to sanitize surfaces and washed dishes.  All you do is add one tablet to a gallon of water and you have an instant disinfectant.  Add the solution to a spray bottle for your food prep surfaces.  Fill your sink with water and add one to disinfect dishes if water treatment services are down.  (Remember, if you do not have clean water you should disinfect your dishes chemically or by boiling them.) 

These tablets are easy to pack and carry, bleach bottles are not.  And best of all, quaternary tablets are inexpensive.  Buy a case for about $5 for a bottle of 150 tablets with shipping here. 

Don't take sanitation lightly.  Find ways to better insure you can keep your environment clean for your family in a disaster.

Inexpensive Eye Glasses--Zenni Optical

There are a lot of obstacles a person can come across in an emergency situation for which no one can plan.  You'll be in the best position if you plan now for the problems you know you will encounter, especially in regards to medical and physical conditions of family members and yourself.  This includes impaired vision.

How is your eyesight?  Do you wear glasses?  Do your children?  How much do you depend on eyeglasses, and do you have extras packed away for an emergency?  Do you just wear contacts instead? 

In a worst case scenario, contacts may not be reliable--they tear, they require maintenance, and they are easily lost.  But eye glasses can be very expensive.  How do you stock up?

Go to ZenniOptical.com.  They are an eyeglasses retailer online and their prices are unbelievable.  All you have to do is have your eye prescription.  Not even the signed paper, but the reading--the numbers.  Make sure it is accurate and up-to-date!  You will measure your eyes, upload a picture of yourself and be able to "try on" a large selection of glasses, after which you input your prescription and any options you may want to add (like tinting, etc.).

And here is the best part.  These glasses will cost you $8 to $35 each... for a good pair of eyeglasses!  They have springe hinges and anti-scratch coatings, etc.  There is no catch.  They are not cheap knock offs.  The quality point of these glasses is the same as any place like EyeMasters, Lens Crafters, etc.  In fact, my daughter got a pair that we happened to have seen in a store for $80 with a half-price sale.  That same exact pair from Zenni Optical cost us $25.  AND all these prices are with shipping!

Google it.  Youtube it.  You will find lots of positive reviews.  In my household we bought 7 pair of nice quality glasses for one adult and one child, and it cost us under $150.  Do yourself or you family member a favor and order at least one extra pair for your emergency supplies.