Certain Flashlights May Not Be Enough

During a conversation recently, a friend told me about the emergency flashlights in her home.  They plug in and store at an electrical outlet, recharging constantly, and when the power goes out they turn on automatically to shine on the floor providing emergency lighting.  "Are those your only emergency flashlights?" I asked. They are.

Here are my concerns:

• In an emergency, the charge may fail too soon if the flashlights come on automatically.  Let's say you leave for work Friday morning at 7:30 am, and your home loses power shortly after.  That night you go out to dinner and a movie with a friend right after work.  You arrive home at 10:00 pm to a dark house with no working flashlights because these flashlights have already been shining for 14 hours!

The Case for Bottled Water

Do you keep one case of bottled water for each person at home?  There are lots of ways to store water for an emergency, but start off easy with one case for each person.

• Bottled water is ready to go when you are - no prep, no mess, no hassle. It doesn't require additional preparation, no filter, no container, no worries.  And when it's gone, you have refillable bottles left to reuse until trouble subsides.  (Then you can recycle them.)
• A case of single serve containers are affordable ($3-6 dollars).  That's your 72 hour supply.

Titanic's Lost - How shall we remember?

In Halifax, hearses wait to receive bodies from recovery operations.

An alphabetical list of the passengers and crew of the Titanic follows.   Names in bold indicate survivors.

Abbing, Anthony
Abbott, Eugene
Abbott, Rosa
Abbott, Rossmore
Abelseth, Karen
Abelseth, Olaus
Abelson, Mr. Samson
Abelson, Mrs. Hanna

Titanic's Story Remembered - How do Titanic's many cities remember her?

Statue on street in Belfast

The cities closely linked to the Titanic still offer a front row seat to tourists and scholars interested in the mystery, drama and history of Titanic's demise.  Each city's museums, exhibits, and memorials share perspective and details of the events that shocked the world.  Whether you travel many miles or research with the click of a button, these links will help immerse you in the majesty and misfortune that was and is Titanic.

•  City of Registry - Liverpool, England -

Titanic Still Teaches Us - What can you do to stay safe at sea?

Safety on the water is always a concern.  I've enjoyed three Caribbean cruises, two house boats, many passenger and car ferries, and several city tour boats without incident, but I prefer to be overly prepared in any situation.  I searched for some good "Staying Safe on a Cruise" websites and blogs, but I came up surprisingly short.  Most information provided helps you steer clear of crime (pickpockets, abductions, etc.) on larger boats or cover basic physical safety on smaller craft.  Those are paramount to be sure, but when I step onto a boat, especially a big one, I want to think of the other things that might go wrong and be prepared to avoid or endure them.

• Food and water - On both of my most recent cruises, I took some snacks and bottled water, just in case.  They mostly sat there until the last day of the cruise.  But if there was a food contamination scare or if we had drifted for days at sea with no power, I was ready.