so, i think i mentioned before that the chances of an earthquake striking Nepal are fairly high... in fact quoting my 'preparing for earthquakes' book that i got given yesterday it sayeth: " the last major earthquake in the valley [Kathmandu] came in 1934 and the statistics indicate that another devestating earthquake is not only inevitable in the long term but also highly likely in the near future".
Now, there are some people around and about who optimistically hope that the earthquake in Pakistan last year relieved some of the pressure on the fault line... however most people seem to just accept that an earthquake is going to happen, and that it will be worse than awful when it does... I think estimates are 40,000 dead and millions displaced... but i could be wrong. The thing is you cant live every day in total paranoia that your house is going to fall down and that you may be squished or be swallowed up into the earth... however I have now been pursaded that some preparation is required. So at the weekend my friend and i went out to buy some largish plastic barrels... we then went to the shop and bought all sorts of junk that i would never normally buy - tins of baked beans, tins of sardines, tins of fruit, tins of soup, tins of vegetables (all stuff that could be eaten cold)... cream crackers, digestive biscuits, peanuts, rasins... i also got in lots of baby wipes, loo roll, soap, liquid detol, a towel, pleanty of bottled water... (this seems like a lot of stuff but it is nothing like as comprehensive as the book suggests)... then i am supposed to put this barrel in the safest place in the house - preferably in an outside shed... well i live on the second floor - i dont have an outside shed... and how on earth do i know where the safest place in the house is should an earthquake strike. currently the barrel is by the front door, but i cant think that this should be a permenant solution... perhaps the back balcony - but thats where the gas cylenders are... oh the decisions. i figure if i am lucky to survive an earthquake in one piece then this stuff will be useful, but if my house falls down then the location of the barrel will be irrelevant...
other excitments are that i have a work permit now, and this means that i am registered with the UN in case of emergency evacuation... although whether i would be a priority of theirs i am not sure, as its not like i work for them... anyways they have the exact GPS location of my house, amongst other things...
I think that is all for now!
over and out roger roger?
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