Are you ready?

Having survived a 7.1 earthquake in California (I never knew I could hide under a twin-sized pillow but I did an excellent job), severe weather, Hurricane Rita, and a disaster-area-proclamation flood, I am DISGUSTED, PEOPLE!

Why don't you have a disaster kit? I don't get it! Imagine: something terrible happens today, a earthquake, flood, or terrorist attack. You can't get to the stores. The roads are impassible. You have no electricity. Now what? We all saw how well that worked after Hurricane Katrina! People went LOOTING because they had nothing stored to feed their kids!

I'm getting out my disaster kit. I work part-time and make a part-time salary, and I think anyone with the means to own a computer and read this ought to have one. Here's what I've got:

• Battery operated TV (10 C-cells) and extra batteries.
• Canned food we both like for a couple weeks. Ron's into the canned pastas, I prefer canned meats and soups.
• The means to store at least 40 gallons of water. 2 gallons per person per day, you decide how many days. Ron doesn't drink a lot of water but I do.
• Hand-crank radio (for Ron), hand-crank lantern for me (got it at Walmart for less than $20). I also have some battery-operated lamps but I plan to phase them out.
• One month's worth of medication for me, games, and knitting projects.
• http://www.ready.gov/america/getakit/index.html

I ride paratransit. That means I can forget about evacuating, and I'm happy with that. I like things quiet and routine. I never want to experience the mayhem I saw when Hurricane Rita was headed for Houston.

When I was a cashier, I used to have a recurring nightmare that I couldn't get my break. I was told I could take my break when my line was empty. As I gazed at my line, I saw it stretched across the entire store! I actually saw my nightmare come to life at Sam's club before Hurricane Rita.

Maybe I am sick. I have brain damage. I'm 'crazy". But I don't want to run around in the mayhem and terror and children crying and people arguing and trying to find gas and all. I want to be sitting at home, with the contents of my freezer ready to go into my ice chest, smiling and going "I'm so glad I threw an extra couple cans of food in my cart every time I went to Wal-mart."

I have never met another Houstonian who admits to having a disaster kit.