I decided in late 2021 not to drink alcohol again. Was having a conversation with my then-15-year-old son about his mother's habit of drinking to 'rest' after a hard day at work, how it made him feel lonely... She was never really a hard drinker, but diving into a gin or three and playing bubble-popping games on her phone for a couple of hours isn't exactly good parenting. They get along better now that she's long moved out and doesn't drink either, something that took a while for her to grasp as maybe being a good idea. So yeah, I remember how good a beer tastes. But I drank lots of beer in my decades as an adult, don't feel any compulsion to continue, so it's a non-essential.
Coffee is something I like. As I do tea. But with tea causing a conflict with the new cancer medication I've been taking (sunitinib - the effects of the drug diminished by black tea somewhat, almost completely eliminated by green tea), I don't drink tea now. Coffee I have once or twice a day, more as a vehicle for turkey tail mushroom powder than for enjoyment, as another 'fun' aspect of this medication is that it blows my sense of taste to smithereens. Some things taste normal and good. Others, like coffee, taste rather foul. Oh well. The mushroom powder may be helping with the kidney cancer effort, so I'll keep it up. And if the grid goes down and I can't run my little espresso machine, I'll just put the mushroom powder on my food. And then I won't take it, because supply chains will be gone and I'll run out. I can continue making my own of course, as turkey tails grow in abundance in our local forests. Just a lot of work. But cooked for a while in water, the 'tea' is actually rather tasty.
For water we have a couple of Sawyers with washable ceramic filters, and a big gravity fed filtration bag, also with a washable ceramic filter. Giardia and other pests shouldn't be a problem, but the few drops of bleach will be reassuring anyway. Really don't want an intestinal illness in times when medical help may be impossible to find.
I have doubts about urban small game being non-viable. Crow is very edible, with one episode of Meat Eater (Steve Rinella's show) demonstrating preparation and eating, the two guys saying it was like very fine venison. I like crows, they're very cool, very smart critters, but in desperate times... sorry, crows are getting shot. Seagull is supposed to be terrible eating, but in a pinch? And pigeons are in abundance. Grey squirrels appear around here on average a couple of times a week. Not a lot of eating there, but every bit helps. I collect butternuts from our tree every year and keep those in the freezer, and each fall brings a lot more, so some fatty protein there. Even rats can provide sustenance. Lots of them living in city neighbourhoods, and with night vision on an airgun they are easy prey. Same for raccoons.
Not suggesting eating will be easy. But survival will be possible, for at least half a year I'd guess. Beyond that, alternate plans would be necessary, whether more distant exploration for food, or actually relocating to somewhere with hunting access. Depends largely on what kind of disaster might unfold. With that report for the US Government a couple of years ago suggesting that as many as 90% would die off in the first year if the grid shut down entirely, competition for resources would be minimal. A smelting net can bring a lot of little fish down at Kits Beach - my dad used to bring home 40 to 60 smelts for just a couple of hours in hip waders, pulling in his net whenever he felt hits and filling a bucket. Shellfish are also an option, plenty on docks and beach rocks, so long as one pays attention for dangerous red tides in the heat of summer.
Got the silver taken care of. Figured gold is too awkward in terms of value for smaller transactions. But the Yugoslavian civil war showed that precious metals were entirely ignored during the conflict. People traded food, ammunition, and critical tools such as Bic lighters. Practical stuff has value. As do skills. If you can fix stuff, you'll do better in such a crisis, whether it's maintaining your own gear or trading skills for food.
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