Yesterday we had a little trembler out here in L.A.. Originally clocked at a reasonable 4.7 on the Richter Scale, the Westwood-centered jolt was almost immediately downgraded to an almost not worth mentioning 4.4. Having grown up in earthquake country, I’m not fazed by the occasional rumble beneath my feet, and actually I enjoy seeing all the neighborhood cats panicking right before the shaking starts. That doesn’t however mean that I am in any way disrespectful of their potential for death and destruction, I am neither that complacent, nor that foolish.

One of the many, many, many things that I learned from my mom was to be prepared for such eventualities and her prep for an earthquake or other disaster, natural or idiot-made, was to keep in the trunk of her car a pair of spare sneakers, a blanket, first aid kit, and a gallon jug of water. Actually, knowing my mom that last one would have more likely have been a litre of soda, as she was hooked on the stuff. This was all in case she got rousted from the house and had to make do with the car has temporary shuttler/base of operations.

You may not live where the ground does the hippy hippy shake, but perhaps there are tornadoes, hurricanes, wild fires, fire ants, annoying aunts and uncles, or another potential disaster that could render your home uninhabitable at a moment’s notice, demanding that you take refuge in your home away from home, your car. If that’s the case, are you as prepared for the big one – whatever that may be – as was my mom? 

Image source: CoolMaterial