Be Prepared

"Let's get ready Sydney" is a campaign to have the residents of the Australian city ready to evacuate their homes or places of work in case of an emergency. Most news reports are slightly cynical (possibly because the Lord Mayor revels in the moniker Clover Moore), quoting the suggestion that you evacuate your cat in a cotton pillowcase. Having met some cats in my time, I suppose this is because they won't tolerate synthetics next to their fur. I am impressed that Sydney has had the forethought to arrange safe sites in the city.

I admit to a morbid fascination with major disasters and contingency planning. I watch disaster movies about volcanoes and asteroids, check the US FEMA website , I know the CDC have traditionally been headquartered in Atlanta and love the word 'vector' in relation to viruses (though not in relation to school science- trying to work out stupid things like where the guy in his boat will end up when trying to cross the river depending on the current-FIND A BRIDGE, mate, you'll only have to walk on the other side anyway-I could've passed science if it involved common sense)

Having cheerfully given up some of my flextime to attend a lunchtime lecture on coping with pandemics, I arranged for the people in my department to get emergency contact cards to store in their purses and wallets. Also felt extremely smug in a recent powercut caused by workmen in our road (after 9pm, a shock in itself!) by being able to grab my keyring featuring a small, bright LED torch (and a 1gb usb memorystick, y'know, just in case) to get to the candles and matches drawer which also contains tinfoil used to reflect additional light and prevent spillages of wax onto surfaces. My habit of carrying a giant bag containing...well, everything in the universe, also paid off when I arrived at work on a dress-down day only to be advised I was needed to attend a meeting offsite. Ten minutes later I was ready to go: hair serumed and kirby-gripped into submission; face made up with mascara, eyeshadow and powder; perfumed and accessorised with ring and necklace to upgrade my look a little!

The idea of getting a Go-Bag ready is eminently sensible, a smaller scale version of the BOB (bug-out bag) which should contain the essentials to get you through 3 days of an emergency- terrorist attack, natural disaster or what have you-so I recommend a look at the links. A little preparation can go a long way. If you can't even trust a huge company like Cadbury's to protect public health, then who knows what the efforts of people who DON'T like the public and AREN'T trying to make a profit of us might achieve.

Oh, and you can still donate a pint to John Smeaton, the Glasgow Airport baggage handler who nutted the nutters trying to set the airport on fire. Nice symmetry, that, the man nipping out for a crafty fag. Not CLEVER terrorists to annoy the average Glaswegian...as his site says "Those hapless al-Qaeda boys were to find out that Glasgow has no respect for international terrorism. Nobody gets between 10,000 Weegies and a £99 week in Ibiza booked on Thursday night through Barrhead Travel.
And most of all, no-one messes with The Polis. Not in this town."