Is Your Car Included in the Recall Issued for Nearly 34 Million Vehicles?

Takata,  a maker of air bags, has determined that a defect exists in some of its air bag inflators. Takata has agreed to a national recall of certain types of frontal driver and passenger side air bag inflators used in vehicles manufactured by BMW, Chrysler, Daimler Trucks, Ford, General Motors, Honda, Mazda, Mitsubishi, Nissan, Subaru, and Toyota.  These inflators were made with a propellant that can degrade over time and has led to ruptures that have been blamed for six deaths worldwide. The action expands the number of vehicles to be recalled for defective Takata inflators to nearly 34 million. 

Is your car on the recall list?


Visit the Vehicle Owners Tab on www.safercar.gov (www.safercar.gov/Vehicle+Owners/) to find out if your vehicle is on the recall list for the defective air bag inflators.

The NHTSA advises that you check your VIN in the SaferCar.Gov VIN search tool periodically as some recalls are not posted publicly or distributed to vehicle owners until weeks after the recall has been issued.

Be sure to check the official website of the automaker for your vehicle regularly as well.

Peace and blessings.



Source: NHTSA Recalls Spotlight - Takata Air Bag Recalls

Above All Else...Guard Your Heart

In Proverbs 4:23, it says:

Above all else, guard your heart,

for everything you do flows from it.

I remember when I first took attention to this verse when it was applied to relationships.  Rule #1 - Don't just give your heart out to anybody.  To first learn the person, having them gain your trust, then gradually opening your heart to them - knowing of course there are no guarantees that it won't be broken, but at least making all efforts to extend this vital vessel in seemingly safe waters.

The heart is our emotional command center.  But it's also our life command center.  When it's broken emotionally, the body can still function.  But when it's broken physically, life can cease.

In these last couple of years I have been in the hospital several times for overnight evaluation.  Either blood pressure was up or there were symptoms of a cardiac episode.  Every single time it was during a season that I was dealing with a stressful situation.  Not because of my personal pursuits or busy schedule, but from trying to come in and be BatGirl, Cat Woman, Wonder Woman, All Mighty Isis, and Foxy Brown in times of others' crisis.  

Since 2012, I began to step back from being what others have for so long expected me to be and perform.  By the end of 2014, I mastered being supportive without forgetting to keep myself supported.  I blogged on this past New Year's Eve about behaviors and feelings that would not accompany to 2015.

I have seen too many times where people have grieved, mourned, and overextended, while forgoing all sense of their healthy self for someone else.  With all of their unconditional gift of care, love, and support, they were gravely disappointed to only find that the other's drama, foolishness, and/or crisis continued without a lull.  

Compassion is one thing, but codependency is another.

So while watching to whom your heart is given, there is a safewatch to what your heart is given.  While the heart goes off on its own, it listens to the brain, too.  Whatever or however a situation is reflecting in the mind, the heart is internalizing that as well.

Heart disease is one of the many health conditions that can be caused by stress.  Stress can be physical, emotional, or mental.

A powerful option to alleviate stress is to have a solid spiritual base.  

God, give me grace to accept with serenity

the things that cannot be changed,

Courage to change the things

which should be changed,

and the Wisdom to distinguish

the one from the other.

~ Attributed to Reinhold Niebuhr

Another option is to know that there are only 24 hours in a day and a third of that day must be used for sleep and rest.  

Eliminating rest and sleep is never an option.  

But the number one option is to be kind to yourself.  When you are kind to yourself, you are guarding your heart.

TND

http://www.helpguide.org/articles/stress/stress-symptoms-causes-and-effects.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serenity_Prayer

Time Management is a Process

Currently:

• I am a mother of a busy high school teenager
• I  play video games, Play-doh, and hide and seek with my grandchild every weekend
• I am in a musical that will run for about 19 performances with possible media appointments for the month of December
• I began rehearsal for another theater production last week that is set for January through February
• I assist people with real estate matters
• I am working on two new books
• I am booking engagements and holding seminars based on my latest book

There is more to the list, but this is enough to get the gist. Let somebody tell it, they would say, "That is too much to be doing."  Let another ask, "How is that possible?"

Through the years, I have attended a plethora of time management seminars either while in Corporate America or of the self-help variety. 

I incorporated the tools from all of that training from the Gantt chart, to an iPAQ (a PDA before the smart phone and iPad and in all honesty has some functions that the smart phone and other equipment STILL lack - hint), a Daytimer or Franklin-Covey planner or system, High Performance Academy a spreadsheet, Microsoft Outlook, iCal, or just a good ol' plain notepad and a pen - all to something that would best work for me.

Of all the things out there, it may be difficult to find just one tool or system to keep a busy person on track - thus, time management absolutely requires personal customization. 

I created a thorough comprehensive Things-To-Do List to make sure that I complete at least 85% to 95% of what needs to be done to:

1. minimize procrastination, 
2. avoid distraction, and 
3. avoid getting behind on any deadlines.

I found it easier for my Things-To-Do List to be broken down in the following steps:

• Priority List - The Main Things I Must Complete Today, No Matter What
• Call List - Organizations and People I Must Reach Out to Today
• Pending List - Things Pending or People I'm Waiting on Before Next Steps
• Money Matters - Daily Checklist of Things To Do To Take Care of The Benjamins (money)
• Project List - A list of projects accompanied with a list of the five big things that need to be done to move a particular project forward

All of these things are placed in a folder that I keep with me from the office to my desk at home to sitting in a waiting room.

This information is revisited nightly as preparation for the next day.

I created a form package that seamlessly assists me in staying on track throughout the day from step to step that may help you in managing your busy day.

Visit www.ladyintelligence.com to submit your request.

Have a great productive day.

tnd

Green Grape Smoothie

Making smoothies is great for those who are interested in eating and drinking less sugar and processed foods.  I try to have a fruit-based smoothie in the morning and a vegetable-based smoothie for lunch, with dinner, or as an early evening snack.  I also try to avoid having any dessert type smoothies or shakes after 7 to keep glucose levels down to a normal level.

I made the Green Grape Smoothie a couple of days ago.  The picture below does not give the vivid color that this smoothie really had.  The beauty of this smoothie is that no sweetener was needed as one would think when using kale and spinach.  The natural sweetness of the fruit made this delicious drink a hit.

The recipe is below.

Enjoy.

This delicious, healthy smoothie features spinach and kale—the cancer-fighting greens that keep you going—as well as sweet grapes, a pear, orange, and banana.

• 1 cup cleaned spinach leaves, firmly packed
• 1 cup cleaned kale, roughly chopped, firmly packed
• 1 cup green seedless grapes
• 1 Bartlett pear – core, stem and seeds removed
• 1 orange – peeled, pith removed, quartered
• 1 banana – peeled
• 1 teaspoon chia seeds
• ½ cup water
• 2 cups ice

Preparation

1. Place all ingredients in blender.
2. Process on low speed for 15 seconds.
3. Increase to medium speed, then high speed.
4. Process until well blended.

Nutritional information

Makes 5 servings
Per serving (1 cup)

Calories: 80
Carbohydrate: 19 g
Sugars: 12 g  
Fiber: 3 g
Saturated fat: 0 g
Cholesterol: 0 mg
Protein: 0 g   
Sodium: 15 mg                       

 From:  Lucky Green Recipe from The Wellness Team of Health Hub from Cleveland Clinic.

TND

A True Friend - A Lesson As Early As Possible

Source:  ywca.org

Health Relationship Green Flags ~ Unhealthy Relationship Red Flags

 

Source:  ywca.org

Practicing What I Preach

June 27 was National HIV Testing Day and on that day and any other day that's about HIV/AIDS awareness, I preach about the need to get tested.  I preach about the need for potential lovers to get tested together so that they begin on the same page.  As part of the Get To Know Him Better Awareness Campaign, I preach that HIV testing is a major component in getting to know about someone with whom you are entertaining cultivating an intimate relationship.

Well, today I attended a Pride Festival.  If you don't know what a Pride Festival is, it's an event that celebrates the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) culture.  Although I am a woman that is strictly d**kly, I respect the viewpoints and lifestyles of others (judge not, lest ye be judged).   With a forecast of scattered thunderstorms throughout the whole day, not one drop of rain fell on the festival grounds. It couldn't have been a more beautiful summer day for music, dancing, conversation, fellowship, contests and giveaways at every booth, and education.

And you know what?  I saw maybe four police officers the entire six hours I was there.  If heterosexuals could get together for an event with peace, love, and acceptance in their heart, it would truly be a beautiful world.  I'm just saying.

Well, as soon as I entered the area, there was the city public health RV giving out free gift cards for taking a free HIV test.

Whoa!!! Just like I preach on Lady Intelligence Live, it's easy to get an HIV test - at the free clinic, at community events, at home, and/or through the city public health department.

However, getting an HIV test is a daunting task even if one is doubtful that they are infected.  But there's nothing like knowing for sure.

So, after getting the blood test and then later an oral test, I am thankful that both tests were negative.

I can continue to preach.  I've had the practice.


~~~

Got a Blood Pressure check too.  Keeping it real with Simple Health and Wellness.

National HIV Testing Day - June 27

The National HIV Testing Day may be over as this post is composed and published, but June 28 and thereafter is as good as any day to obtain an HIV Test.

As I mention on a continual basis on Lady Intelligence Live; in my book Big Girl Little Girl; on this platform, Lady Intelligence - The Blog; and as a part of the Get To Know Him Better Awareness Campaign; potential sexual partners should get tested together AND get the results together.   That way both are on the same page.  Although, it won't guarantee monogamy or the absence of future exposure, at least it's a step in knowing at that moment if that potential lover can affect someone with HIV - mainly YOU.

No longer does a person have to go to their doctor, a free clinic, or their local health department to get tested.  A couple can take the test in privacy with an HIV Home Test (info from FDA.Gov).

There's no specific date to get tested.  There are 365 days a year to do so.

More Info:

BlackDoctor.org Article Post - 
A Couple Who Tests Together, Stays Together:  2 Doctors Break Down Love & HIV

I Would Be Remiss Without Adding to the Simple Health and Wellness Broadcast Episode...

...that although I said during the broadcast that the nurse practitioner and the gynecologist saved my life, in all truth it was God that led me to a conscientious nurse practitioner I had never met (my gynecologist of 20 years was on leave at the time) to the sequence of medical examinations and treatments to uncover a usually silent condition that doesn't make a peep until it has progressed to a threatening and serious prognosis.

I must also add that the symptoms that led me to make an appointment were not on the classic symptom list.  I didn't feel right.  I felt something out of place.  It wasn't painful.  I actually thought it was the birth control device and that it possibly moved out of place.

Looking back to that season, I didn't speak much about the condition but only to a few people, i.e. three sisters in Christ at church; a cousin; a colleague/neighbor/friend who was my rock in helping me with transportation and household matters; a childhood friend who took care of my home while I was in the hospital; and my children so they would be up-to-date with their family medical history and not kept in the dark with what was going on with their mother.

In my telling, I shared only what was needed to be known. I meticulously kept any inkling of the treatment process from those I knew or felt would make it an interrogation opportunity.  I vowed not to give life and presence to the doctor's diagnosis so that my energy, mind and soul would be consistently focused on nothing but having good health.

Every time the specialist asked me if there was anyone to whom he needed to speak, I told him no.

I went to each appointment by myself.  But I was never alone.  God was there the whole time.


Lady Intelligence Live Broadcast:  Simple Health and Wellness

May 1st is the 12th Annual National Day to Prevent Teen Pregnancy

Wednesday, May 1, 2013 is the 12^th Annual National Day to Prevent Teen Pregnancy and it’s sponsored by the National Campaign to Prevent Teen and UnplannedPregnancy.   

This year’s theme is:  "Sex Has Consequences".  

On that day and through the month, teens nationwide can visit StayTeen.org to participate in the online quiz – which challenges teens to think carefully about what they might do in the moment through a series of interactive scenarios.* 

Lady Intelligence believes that part of "Get To Know Him Better" Awareness Campaign is knowing one's self and the consequences involved.  Women who intentionally or unintentionally make bad choices in relationships come from a younger generation that intentionally or unintentionally made bad choices when it came to their interactions with the opposite sex and future planning.  

Awareness is power.  Early Awareness is Powerful.

 More Information:

*http://www.thenationalcampaign.org/
*http://www.stayteen.org/
*http://www.thenationalcampaign.org/national/

Stress

Just the word itself can make a person cringe.

A dictionary definition:  a state of mental or emotional strain or tension resulting from adverse or very demanding circumstances.

Stress is unhealthy.  Stress can quickly turn to anxiety and/or depression.  Stress zaps precious moments away from life itself.  Stress clouds judgement and makes a minor detail turn into a major disaster.

Ways to eliminate stress:

1. Develop a daily meditative practice.  
In some cultures, meditation or prayer is done many times a day. Take two deep breaths.   Concentrate only on the breath going in and going out.  When thoughts start to wander, go back to concentrating on the breath.  Add yoga as a meditative practice in addition to still meditation.

2. Exercise. 
A brisk walk around the neighborhood for about 20 or 30 minutes does wonders. Don't listen to music, don't talk on the phone or text (for one, to maintain awareness of surroundings of four-legged and two-legged creatures depending on the area), and don't use the time to worry about anything that worrying is not going to change - which would be anything.  Use the time to enjoy the fresh air and the nature surround sounds.  Bicycle riding, skating, going to the gym, all the same.  The key is exercise.

3. Develop a daily gratitude check.
Think about only the good things in life.  If breathing, check that off as number one.  If walking, check that off as number two.  If walking around unsupervised and unchained, check that off as number three.  If wearing clothes and shoes, make that number four.  If food was eaten and water was available, make that number five.  And so on.  Eventually, the grateful list will grow beyond the electricity still on and a bill being paid to the little things like having a matching hat and scarf set to as big as just missing a hold-up at the favorite gas station.  Instead of concentrating on what's wrong or could go wrong, the mindset is changed to focus on what's good - with easy continual practice.  More good comes when the focus is on the good.  It's all about the window where a person sees the world.  If the window is dirty, then the world doesn't look pretty.  Make a gratitude check as frequent as inhaling.

4. Squash the Stressing
Look at whatever is causing the stress as an opportunity for growth and a stepping stone to bigger and better things.  Stressors can make or break.  Come out unbroken.

5. Be In The Moment
There is nothing that can be done about yesterday and tomorrow will operate in the way that it wants without permission, manipulation or authority from any person.  Stay in the moment.  The biggest stressors in life are grieving about what happened and trying to do something to make an outcome happen a certain way in the future or a different way in the past.


Interesting Reading*:

Indiana University: What Stress Does to the Body
http://www.indiana.edu/~engs/hints/stress1.htm


Centers for Disease Control and Prevention:  Managing Stress
http://www.cdc.gov/Features/handlingstress/index.html


New York Times - Health Guide: Stress and Anxiety
http://health.nytimes.com/health/guides/symptoms/stress-and-anxiety/overview.html


Web MD - Health and Balance:  Blissing Out:  10 Relaxation Techniques to Reduce Stress On-the-Spot
http://www.webmd.com/balance/guide/blissing-out-10-relaxation-techniques-reduce-stress-spot


*Above links are not recommended as professional substitutes.  Just provided as sources for other ideas to deal with stress and anxiety.  If need be, seek financial, medical, legal, relationship related, family matter related or psychological advice from someone certified or licensed in that particular profession.

Top 10 Lessons Not to Learn the Hard Way About Sexual Health

The Top 10 Lessons Not to Learn the Hard Way About Sexual Health are:

1. STDs are sexually transmitted diseases.
2. STDs may be treatable ( i.e. herpes) but all STDs are not curable (HIV/AIDS).
3. STDs can go undetected offering no symptoms.
4. Some undetected STDs cause irreparable damage to the body. Depending on the STD, damage may take place to the reproduction system causing sterility, to the eyes causing blindness, etc.
5. HPV is a genital human papillomavirus and is the most common sexually transmitted infection (STI). There are more than 40 HPV types that can infect the genital areas of males and females.
6. Almost all cases of cervical dysplasia or cervical cancer* are caused by human papilloma virus (HPV).
7. An unplanned pregnancy is a planned pregnancy resulting from using no birth control.
8. Condoms are not 100% effective to prevent an STD or a pregnancy.
9. Committed sexual relationships among single partners are a string of promiscuous sexual relationships over time..including that partner and all the partners that they have had and all the partners that the partners have had and so on.  Infidelity in a marriage contributes to this string.
10. Abstinence is the most effective to prevent the transmission of a sexually transmitted disease or sexually transmitted infection.

HPV Source Information Source for this Post: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Cervical Dysplasia and Cervical Cancer Source Information for this Post: PubMed Health/National Center for Biotechnology Information

STD - General Information Source for this Post: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

*Additional Reading:  BlackDoctor.org - Six Ways to Reduce Your Risk of Cervical Cancer:  http://blackdoctor.org/14965/how-to-prevent-cervical-cancer/

Repost from April 2011 

www.ladyintelligence.com

Nicol

*Amendment

Nausea and Hot Flashes Can Be Signs of Something Else

What comes to mind when hearing about somebody having a heart attack?

Someone clutching their chest and then eventually falling over?

There are different symptoms of a heart attack, especially for women, not including direct chest pain.

When my mother had a heart attack, she complained of the need to use the bathroom as well as vomit.When the feeling didn't subside, she went to ER in a squad. It was at the hospital, they discovered that it was a heart attack and they transported her to the main campus where they were waiting for her and prepped for surgery.

Just recently, I was on a hospital observation floor for two days. I didn't feel good with the same symptoms as described above. My doctor and I had already been in close communications regarding my blood pressure and I had just sent her my numbers a couple of days before. But since I didn't feel right and it was getting worse, I took my blood pressure. It was extraordinarily higher than what I have ever had before...and it was rising. Feeling close to fainting, I called EMS. After extensive testing and 1 day of medication my numbers are normal. Hormonal, thank goodness.

Regular exercise and diet are key to improving numbers to healthy blood pressure, cholesterol (although there is recent controversy now questioning if bad cholesterol is really bad), triglycerides, and glucose levels. Unhealthy numbers can possibly and over time eventually lead to heart issues, kidney problems, stroke, amputation of digits and limbs, and other health concerns leading to fatality.

Regular visits to the doctor are strongly recommended. Exercise and diet do not provide a 100% guarantee to a medical episode-free life.

The following link is from BlackDoctor.org about a woman's recent experience on thinking it was just something else. She was really having a heart attack.

http://blackdoctor.org/15589/bdo-my-story-kimberly-montgomery/?omcamp=es-bdo-nl

HIV Cases Increasing in Black Men

Late last year, BlackDoctor.org posted that HIV Cases are Increasing with Black Men.

An excerpt from the posted article:

"About 1,000 young people ages 13 to 24 are newly infected with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, each month, according to new data released for the first time.
About 60% of HIV-positive young people have no idea that they’re infected, according to a new CDC report."

Don't know what's worse?  The 60% of the young people that have no idea that they're infected or the 1,000 of young people ages 13 to 24 newly infected.


To read the entire post, go to:
http://blackdoctor.org/14209/hiv-highest-risk-group/?omcamp=es-bdo-nl

Valentine’s Day Post - Love Self Enough to Use a Condom

Not only is it St. Valentine’s Day but it’s also National Condom Awareness Day.

In fact, according to the American Sexual Health Association (ASHA), the month of February is National Condom Month.

As already known, condoms are used for birth control (protection is increased with another form of birth control) and the prevention of sexually transmitted diseases.

Everything has its effective rate but the only thing that is 100% is abstinence. 

If not in a committed, monogamous, marital (yep) relationship…

...Love self more before loving someone else. 

And even then…

Happy St. Valentine’s Day.

More Info…

Condom Effectiveness

Advocates for Youth.  Rights, Respect, Responsibility.  http://www.advocatesforyouth.org/publications/416

National Condom Awareness Day

*American Sexual Health Association (ASHA) http://www.ashastd.org/

(Condoms are also great to protect mic sets/packs from actors’ perspiration, powders, perfumes, oils and adhesive tape. 

--> ☺)

Alzheimer's

BlackDoctor.org recently reported that recording artist Bobby Womack told a Britain music station that his doctor informed him that he had signs of Alzheimer’s.  This story hit home for a number of reasons.

One, Bobby Womack is one of my favorite singers.  Two, Womack was a favorite of my father’s as well.  Three, he hails from my hometown. Four, my father was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s a decade ago and after much suffering passed away a year ago this month.

In this particular BlackDoctor.org article, they posted a list of likely early clinical symptoms of Alzheimer’s.  The disease can progress rapidly or it can be a long, suffering, painful, and debilitating progression.

If a person has been diagnosed with symptoms of Alzheimer’s or another dementia progressing disease, the following are suggestions to keep in mind:

1.  Seek legal advice and obtain the following:

• Last Will and Testament
• Power of Attorney
• Living Will
• Power of Attorney Healthcare Directive

2.  Get all credit and loan accounts in order.  It’s a good idea to get disability insurance and credit life insurance for individuals who are over the age of 65 while in good health.  If a disability occurs or if the person passes away, the bills should be paid in full by the insurance in place.

3.  Maintain vision and dental appointments.  It’s a good idea to keep up vision and dental appointments because as the disease progresses, it may become difficult to get the patient to these types of appointments let alone for them to be able to communicate and respond appropriately while being seen.

4.  Keep driver’s license or state ID up-to-date.  Some institutions may need this information to process certain transactions before the Power of Attorney is established on record.

5.  Take advantage of home health care and/or hospice when offered.  These types of programs are helpful to keep the family member home and comfortable for as long as possible.  These types of programs also offer assistance with hospital and bedding supplies and equipment that can be of great assistance to the family financially.  Some of these programs incorporate other therapies such as massage, spiritual, physical and so on which help to keep the family and their family member in good spirits and keeps the family member mobile for as long as possible.

 N

Feet First

I live in tennis shoes for the most part and I love the arch support.  If I don’t have to put on any fashion shoes or boots, I’m good because to me they are not the most comfortable things to wear.  But after searching and searching, I just recently started wearing high heels that I could stand to have on for an hour or two.

Tried on these little ditties a few months ago while the kids looked for boots…the shoe guy saw me trying them on and said that they were just for display and that nobody human could stand or walk in them.  They were actually comfortable and easy to walk in because of the way they scooped the foot. Few months later, I saw a woman at the Cracker Barrel with them on in another color and she was holding on TIGHT! to her dude.  :)

Anyway, I saw this collection of celebrities’ feet pics on the web or in print somewhere.   In this collection,  their toes were on top of each other, their feet had huge bunions, they had pure-dee hammertoes or the toes just went in some other kind of direction other than straight. The commonality in all of the pics was that the toes turned, almost twisted, toward the outside of the foot.

I noticed in my demo pic with the shoes, my toes looked a little like theirs going off to the side but then my toes, when barefoot, pointed straight ahead.  Only thing though is that there is a slight slant to the outer side with the big toes that was not always the case.   

Breaking News!!
High Heel Shoe Wear 
Jacks Up Feet!!!

Those celebrity sisters, assumedly, live in high heels and that’s why their toes have developed side-way joints from trying to support all that weight.

WebMD has a nice slide show about the worst shoes for your feet. Take care of your feet.  If not, they could look like....this

Would you say start the year off on the right foot ???

N

Do You Have a Catastrophe Plan?

You are at work and your building shakes off the foundation, but you make it to the parking lot shaken...blessed to be alive.  Keys and cell in your hand.  Your car is driveable. It’s the middle of the day.  Your kids are at school.  What do you do next? 

It’s 3:00 AM, flooding is turning into a rushing river.  You’ve been told to evacuate.  What do you do next?

Fire strikes.  Do you or your family members know the fire escape plan?  Do you even have one?

~~

When catastrophe hits, it seems that there is more reactive energy versus proactive energy. 

Catastrophes are not new.  The human race is knowledgeable that earthquakes, tornadoes, hurricanes, volcano eruptions, and tsunamis exist.  Terrorism falls under the classification of a catastrophic event.

On the morning of March 11, TV sets displayed the caption:   

Breaking News:  8.9 Earthquake in Japan

The video above the caption captured a wall of water sweeping over miles of land carrying along yachts, buildings, trucks, and cars.

The rescue workers on 9/11 didn’t have a clue that the burning towers they were entering would collapse on top of them.

We watched how there was a scramble to get down to flooded New Orleans immediately after the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

It is perplexing that a nuclear plant has a power outage without two to five back-ups to cooling the reactors. How serious is that not to have? Now that we know that a burning building can collapse what else needs to be in place for rescue?

There has been enough human experience that governments and emergency response teams should have a written, well-drilled plan should any of the above-named catastrophes occur.  Across the globe.  There’s nothing wrong with a “What If...” Retreat ever so often.

~~~

As crazy as this may sound, I never leave my desk without my phone and my keys.  If anything else, I know I’ll be able to get to my car, potentially get to the family and into the house, and make a phone call (with the hopes that the cell towers are still transmitting). Where I got that great idea?  Going out to the car to sit and chill until it was clear to come back into the building during company fire drills. 

• What is your plan of action for you and your family? 
• What runaway kit do you have on hand in case of disaster? 
• Do you have a supply of water, batteries, flashlights, a radio, non-perishable food, cash, blankets, books of matches, changes of clothes, toiletries, can-opener, copy of legal and bank documents and other things stashed somewhere in one location where everybody in the household knows to grab in case of evacuation need? 
• Do you have a generator in case of a region-wide blackout? 
• Do you have emergency plans of action for the elderly members of your family? 
• Do you have a stock of ice bags in a freezer?
• Do you know what to do and how to protect yourself in case of a nuclear disaster?
• What to take (regular medications), what clothing to wear, where to go to minimize exposure?

What you don’t have the time to do in the wake of a disastrous event is to get online to see what to do or try to call 911.

There is no clear-cut ABC 123 cookie cutter perfect plan to have in place for that clear-cut ABC 123 cookie cutter perfect scenario.  There is no need to be paranoid, but there sure is no need to be ignorant and a deer in headlights if something should happen.

• Check out Make a Plan by Ready America (Disaster Assistance.gov). 
• Arm yourself with knowledge about various disaster types (http://www.disasterassistance.gov/disasterinformation/disaster-types.shtm) 
• Learn about possible immediate needs (http://www.disasterassistance.gov/disasterinformation/immediate-needs.shtm). 
• Learn a little about radiation emergencies at the Center for Disease Control (http://emergency.cdc.gov/radiation/)

Just like in school when there is a fire drill and a tornado drill, a family should have a quarterly discussion and various scenario disaster drill. 

As said before, it is not necessary to be obsessed and paranoid, but when there is a plan, when there has been some type of preparation and plan in place, the panic level won’t be so high allowing vital time of energy to do the best in the given situation.

One can cross a bridge when they get to it, but it wouldn’t hurt to know a better way or two of crossing it.

© 2011 Nicol
© 2011 www.ladyintelligence.com

Originally posted on March 11, 2011 - Reposted on 11/1/2012 in response to Hurricane Sandy