Originally published at Notes from the bunker…. You can comment here or there.

Apparently the eastern portion of the US is getting a unusually large amount of snow. Me, I love snow. It makes everything quiet, pretty and just plain peaceful. Right up until you have to drive in it.

Remember the first rule of surviving a disaster? Yeah, well theres alwyas going to be someone who ignores the weather advisories. The National Weather Service has this advice:

3. IF YOU ABSOLUTELY NEED TO TRAVEL IN AN EMERGENCY…DO NOT TRAVEL
ALONE. LET SOMEONE KNOW YOUR TIMETABLE AND YOUR PRIMARY AND
ALTERNATE ROUTES. CARRY WITH YOU A WINTER STORM SURVIVAL KIT WHICH
INCLUDES A MOBILE PHONE…BLANKETS… FLASHLIGHT WITH EXTRA
BATTERIES…HIGH CALORIE NON-PERISHABLE FOOD AND WATER…AND A
SHOVEL.

4. IF YOU GET STRANDED IN YOUR VEHICLE…DO NOT LEAVE YOUR CAR TO
TRY TO WALK FOR ASSISTANCE…YOU CAN QUICKLY BECOME DISORIENTED IN
WIND DRIVEN SNOW AND COLD. THIS STORM WILL SUBSIDE EARLY THIS
EVENING…SO WAIT IN YOUR CAR FOR EMERGENCY HELP TO ARRIVE.
PERIODICALLY RUN YOUR ENGINE FOR ABOUT 10 MINUTES EACH HOUR FOR
HEAT. ENSURE YOUR EXHAUST PIPE IS CLEARED OF SNOW AND ICE. CRACK
YOUR WINDOWS TO AVOID CARBON MONOXIDE POISONING. TIE A COLORED CLOTH
TO YOUR CARS ANTENNA TO BE VISIBLE TO RESCUERS. FROM
TIME-TO-TIME…MOVE YOUR ARMS…LEGS…FINGERS…AND TOES TO KEEP
BLOOD CIRCULATING.

“Emergency”. Lets think about that. Out of milk? Not an emergency. Wife going into labor? Emergency. Internet is out so you’ll blog from a friends house? Not an emergency. Roof collapsed and you need a place to stay for the night? Emergency.

First rule, man….the very first rule – don’t be there. But I guarantee you we’re gonna read stories in the paper that go something like this “Susie Homemaker and her daughter, Susie II, 9, were stranded for nine hours yesterday when their minivan became stuck on I-2. ‘Susie Junior had a birthday party to go to and we just got stuck!’, said Homemaker.” Or something equally stupid will be in the paper.. someone flipping their car when they were on the way to get wings for their Super bowl party, etc, etc. Once they get pulled out of their wreck someone should ask them if it was worth the Chinese food they picked up or the movie they just had to go rent.

If I said to you “you can either stay home and not have pizza or you can give me $3500″ what would you do? Youd figure that going out for pizza isnt worth $3500, right? So who in their right mind sees nine inches of snow on the ground, high winds, crappo visibility and thinks “Ah, I’ll just drive down to Pizza Hut and pick up a few”? Next thing you know theres a tree where your front headlight used to be and youre $3500 in the hole to get a new radiator, quarterpanel, bumper, lights, etc, etc.

I stopped being a hero long ago. If its 1 am on a Saturday night and the roads are icy Im gonna take a pass on going out for a burger. Why deal with drunks and icy roads over a $5 combo meal? Screw that.

If youre really serious about being prepared then you should probably have a similar attitude. Sometimes the game just isnt worth the candle.