Link Round Up: Things You Should Know

Here's some things you should know...

• America's corporate pension system is dying (tl;dr you need to be responsible for your own retirement plan)
• When TSHTF you may need to create your own medicine cabinet...from your garden.  Here's some good info.
• Can you get a daily sit rep in your corner of the world?  I just found this on line for my state/area.
• Another reddit link...I Want Out.  News and info for expats.  Check the I Got Out link on the right of that page too.
• And if you are bored this summer, consider the Devil Dash.

25 Ways to Cut Your Gas Costs

Well, my local gas station just tipped $4 per gallon this morning, which, according to friends in other areas, had already happened to them a couple of weeks ago.  Unfortunately I don't see this price receding any time soon.  Here's some ways to keep a grip on your gas costs:

1. Buy an electric or hybrid car (obviously an expensive proposition but if you commute really far each day and gas prices stay high you may come out ahead. Do the math first, of course).
2. Find the cheapest gas prices in town here.
3. Carpool. I used to do this when I went to a lot of meetings and this saved me a ton of money on gas as well as wear and tear on my car.
4. If you do drive for work, make sure you are getting reimbursed for your mileage (when I used to be reimbursed for my mileage, I would simply check our state rates occasionally to make sure they hadn't changed since last I checked).
5. Live closer to work. Another high-front-end type of expense but walking to work could save you a lot of money and give you some cheap exercise as well.
6. Group your errands together and do them in a gas-saving fashion (I tend to make a circle to hit all of the places I need to go to when I do my errands to the bank, library, post office, grocery store, etc).
7. Do as many errands from home as possible (I do nearly all of my banking and bill paying online, for example).
8. Have "no travel days". In other words, don't leave your house unless it is by walking or bicycling a couple of days a week in order to save money.
9. See if you can work four ten hour days instead of five eight-hour days. This will save you the cost of commuting one day a week.
10. See if you can work from home (even better!).
11. Commute by motorcycle or moped instead of car. 
12. Buy gas and store it. You could realistically buy a few tank fulls of gas at today's prices and store it for future use. We used to do this with gas for farm equipment years ago. BUT you need to be able to store it safely and use it before it gets too old.
13. You can always play the market and bet on oil futures. Obviously not a good idea if you don't know what you are doing but some people who "bet" on oil prices a while back are now raking in the money.
14. Try bicycling or walking instead of driving. I have some healthy friends who can bike 20-50 miles a day to and from work without a problem (I am guessing they are super healthy from all of that exercise).
15. Take the bus instead. This is what I did when gas prices hit $4+ a few years back. I left my car at home, bought a monthly bus pass, and found I preferred traveling by city bus rather than driving myself.
16. Check your insurance rates. If you will be ditching your car most of the time to save money on gas, see if you can get a discount on your car insurance.
17. See if your employer has van pool options. My sister in law does this. She lives far from where she works in Atlanta and her employer actually offers free van pools to take her to and from work. The only thing her van pool mates need to do is alternate who drives the van.
18. Drive better. This article gives some great tips on how to not drive like a maniac (speeding, fast braking, etc) and save money on gas.
19. Buy cheaper gas. Actually our vehicle has never had the experience of premium gas so it doesn't know what it is missing. The cheapest gas works just fine in our car.
20. Look at other travel options. When we are going to travel somewhere we look at ALL of the options (the cost of driving, taking the bus, taking Amtrak, flying, even going by way of cruise ship).
21. Don't make wasteful driving trips when other options will work. I am always shocked at the number of parents who drive their kids to and from school when walking or the bus would work just as well. Ditto for my sister's late night McDonalds runs.
22. Don't take more car than you need. If you have two or three cars on hand, take the cheapest one that will work for your purposes (obviously hauling the soccer team will mean you will have to take the Escalade, but running to the store for groceries can probably be done in the tiniest car you own).
23. Make fewer trips. If you are going grocery shopping, try going only once a month to make the grand haul on groceries like this.
24. Can you ditch your car altogether? Having no car at all would be very difficult for us but here's a website of people who have gone car free.
25. Can you become a one car family? At the most I think we had six cars in our driveway at one time. Fortunately we were eventually able to shift down to one car shared between the spouse and I which works out very well (and saves us the cost of gas plus insuring, cleaning, and maintaining multiple cars).

Here's some more great ways to save money on gas.

Some Thoughts on the Trayvon Martin Shooting

I'm sure you have heard about the Trayvon Martin shooting last week.  In fact there has been little on the news lately BUT this incident.  And since this relates to shooting, of course I have a few things to say about it.

• If you are going to shoot someone, you need to be damn sure you are in the right (obviously I am not privy to the investigation so everything I write here is based on what has been reported in the media).  From what has been reported, the shooter was in an "iffy" position at best.
• Consider a range of "what if" scenarios (especially if you tend to carry a weapon).  My personal "what if" scenario boils down to this: if someone is in my yard, I'm going to call the police and let them deal with the situation (I live in an area that would receive a pretty quick response time; this may be different if I lived in a very remote area).  If someone breaks into my house, I will happily greet them with my firearm of choice (there is no question at that point about their intentions).  If I don't like the way someone is acting in public, I will move away from them, call the police and let them deal with the person if at all possible.  If someone comes up and accosts me, I would be pissed off but still try to diffuse the situation.  Pulling a weapon would be done only in the case of impending death or severe injury. Obviously these scenarios are on a case-by-case basis and each situation is different but I know where my personal line in the sand is and it isn't something I want to have to decide in the heat of the moment.
• Even if you don't have the duty to retreat (which goes along with some "Castle Doctrine" laws in some states), if you can safely retreat, do so.  Sometimes you get pissed off.  Someone is breaking into your garage, it's the third time it has happened in a month, and you decide you are going to stand your ground this time.  And sometimes the law will cover you if you shoot someone in your garage BUT if you look at the situation logically, you have to consider if what is in your garage is worth the money, time, legal hassle, psychological consequences, etc. of taking someone's life.  I would rather spend my money/time/effort making a garage that is as secure as Fort Knox than shooting some idiot kid that, while he probably had it coming to him, will have to get "it" from someone else.
• Always do your due diligence.  This applies to all aspects of your life.  When I learned that the police kind of skipped over nearly the entire investigation that should have been done at the shooting scene (read about it here on the 26th) no ballistics, no drug or alcohol test on the shooter, returning the weapon to the shooter, etc. I thought wow, someone didn't cover their ass very well...or at all.  This will definitely come back to haunt them.  If you are in the right, you will often have to prove you are in the right so make sure you have the...well...proof. Duh.
• Don't underestimate the power of social media.  There are probably some dictators from the "Arab Spring" uprising who should have got this message a bit sooner.
• Don't overestimate the media.  On a totally different track, I was watching a TV show about the Rutger's student who may end up in prison for a hate crime that resulted in the suicide death of another student.  I didn't pay a whole lot of attention to the case but from what was reported in the media, the kid sounded like the most horrible person on the planet.  After I watched the show, I equated his actions not to a bully seeking vengence but a stupid teenager who watched 'American Pie' and thought he would try a similar prank.  There's two--sometimes more--sides to each story.  Before you get all spun up over media reports, seek out the facts first.
• Geraldo Rivera made an interesting point about the Martin case and got hammered.  I am, however, inclined to agree with him.  People size you up in a split second.  Yes we live in a free country and yes you are free to wear whatever you want BUT hundreds of thousands of years of anthropological conditioning have rendered humans to the point that...well, we still make snap judgments about people by taking one look at them and immediately correlating what we see to our own frame of reference.  I even remember making this point a few time to my sons years and years ago.  While I knew them as intelligent, loving boys with a penchant for tattoos, in the area we lived, kids who looked Asian were either headed to an Ivy League school or part of a gang.  Unfortunately--due to the clothing style that was popular (pants buckled somewhere around knee area), their penchant for tattoos, the fact that they liked to do their own haircuts (and often ended up shaving off the resulting mess)--someone passing them on the street wasn't going to invite them for tea and try to suss out their character, someone passing them on the street, whether it was a cop, a middle-aged white woman, or a real gang banger, was going to make a judgement about them and act accordingly.  Which was a scary thought, hit home by the fact that my oldest son's best friend was jumped by a gang for just this reason, even though he had nothing to do with gangs, he just looked the part because he thought it was "cool".  He ended up in the hospital for nearly a week.  Gah. It's a wonder teenager live to adulthood...
• And sometimes they don't...as exhibited by the tragic shooting of Trayvon Martin.  The level of responsibility it takes when you choose to carry a firearm is huge and you don't want to regret a rash decision.  So receive training, tactical training if possible, don't go looking for trouble, stand down and avoid trouble if possible if trouble comes looking for you, and think long-term before you act.

10 Things...

...In no particular order...

1. The CNI website was a mess yesterday; it's better today.
2. End of an era: Encyclopedia Brittanica stops printing
3. You don't send someone with a traumatic brain injury into combat (duh)
4. Pain at the pump...with no end in sight.
5. I'm all for prepping...but this is a bit extreme.
6. Bye bye Bear...
7. Here's hoping you are in the 40%.
8. This may not go over too well...at least not in any public place I can think of.
9. One of my favorite sites on the web: TED (followed by TEDMed, TEDEd, and TEDX)
10. And my second favorite site.

100 Prep Tips for Seniors

...because I haven't covered this topic in a while...
If you are a senior, going to be a senior, or help seniors (and I'm talking about older people, not high school kids), here's a bunch of tips to help you become better prepared/safer:

1. Take your name off your mail box (put an address only on the box)
2. Take your name off your voice mail (put a phone number only here; ie: you have reached 610-555...)
3. If possible install a locking mailbox and deposit your outgoing mail in a locked box as well.
4. Go to http://www.annualcreditreport.com/ and review your credit reports for free to make sure the information is correct (don't use those other supposedly free credit report websites)
5. Inventory your home--either written or on video--and be sure to update the inventory annually.
6. Write down your doctor's name and number, a list of your current medications and dosages, and a couple of emergency contacts with name and phone numbers then stick this paper on your refrigerator.
7. If you need a DNR order, post this on your refrigerator or next to your bed too (ask your doctor for details)
8. Exercise every single day (this will go a long way towards improving your health and balance)
9. Volunteer (this will go a long way towards both keeping your mind and body active and warding off depression)
10. Put together a "neighborhood watch" of sorts with other seniors in your neighborhood (I know seniors in many retirement communities who do this because they don't have family near by so if their neighbors note that they haven't been out in a while they go and check on them to make sure they haven't fallen or worse)
11. Fix anything that could be a falling hazard in your house (loose stairs, throw rugs you can trip over, etc)
12. Make sure your fire alarms work (this is a simple test that takes only seconds)
13. Put a BOB together (EVERYONE should have one of these whether you are 1 or 100)
14. If you must evacuate your house, throw all of your medications in a bag and take them with you (evacuation centers usually don't have any way to provide you medications if you forget yours)
15. Try to get 90 day refills of all of your medications so you will always have extra on hand.
16. Make sure your Will, Power of Attorney, Medical Power of Attorney, and Living Will have been recently updated.
17. Make a list of each bill you pay each month.  Review this list and see if you really need to still be paying for some of the items (ie: if you are a single senior, don't have anyone dependant on your income, and have enough savings to cover your funeral, you probably don't need to be paying for life insurance; if you are still paying to rent a phone from your home phone carrier, go buy one--it will save you money)
18. Make sure your home is safe (bushes don't obscure windows, doors have dead bolt locks, there is a peephole in your door, etc)
19. Have an attorney and a CPA you can trust (and don't turn your financial/legal affairs over to the nice lady down the street; have a professional with a good track record for those things)
20. Review your investments periodically with your CPA (things you invested in when you were younger may not be in your best interest as you advance in age)
21. Take a senior driving class (besides giving you a discount on insurance, it will point out ways you can driver safer as you age)
22. Put grab bars where you need them before you need them (by the bed, by the toilet and shower, etc)
23. Stay off ladders! (Serious falls off ladders by people aged 45 and up are increasingly common)
24. Cross at crosswalks! (Ditto for trying to sprint across the road between intersections)
25. Carry a whistle and a flashlight on your key ring.
26. Use nightlights around your home if you tend to get up in the middle of the night.
27. Double check your medications before you take them (one lady I know has a sheet of photos of her medications, and prescribed dosage, so she can remember what it is she is taking)
28. If you have new medical concerns, discuss them with your doctor (many people see signs of aging as, well, signs of aging instead of the important medical condition they can become.  Check to see if your new symptoms are something that need a medical evaluation)
29. If you must smoke, do so only outside and extinguish your cigarettes fully before you go back inside (fire from unattended cigarettes are more common as you age)
30. If you must drink, don't drive (actually that rule is for everyone)
31. If you must drink, ask your doctor how to do so with the medications you are currently taking.
32. Lock up your medications (this will keep them out of the hands of your grandchildren and visitors to your house)
33. Lock up your firearms (ditto)
34. If you have firearms that you intend to use for self defense, practice regularly.
35. Have your chimney cleaned regularly if you use your fireplace or wood stove often.
36. Have a CO2 detector installed in your home.
37. Arrange your kitchen for safety (you may want to move items from high shelves down where you can easily reach them; you may want to move the microwave to a counter instead of over the stove)
38. Write your name, address, and phone number down and leave it by the phone (this could be helpful to you--and your guests--in an emergency)
39. Have your hearing and eyes checked annually; if corrections need to be made, do so immediately (ie: a new lens prescription or better hearing aids, etc)
40. Hold a fire drill.  Yes I know this is more fun with the kids but if you are by yourself, you will need to know that your plan for evacuation is something you can actually pull off (ie: you may need to crawl out on the roof from the guest room instead of shimming straight down a rope from your second floor bedroom)
41. Keep a charged fire extinguisher in the kitchen and in the garage if you do projects in your garage (wood working, furniture refinishing, etc)
42. Put together a stellar first aid kit.
43. Be sure that you have a stash of easy to cook foods (canned soup, crackers, etc) that you can easily prepare if you are ill and don't feel like cooking an entire meal.
44. Make sure the areas you walk around your home in the evening (drive way and walk ways) are well lit.
45. Make sure any electrical circuit near water (in the kitchen and bathrooms) have GFI switches on them.
46. Set your hot water tank to 120 degrees (this will both save money on water heating and prevent scalding)
47. Beware of extension cords, these can be both a tripping hazard and can overheat and cause a fire.
48. Make sure you have easy access to phones in the places you are most likely to need them (by your chair in the living room, by your bed, etc)
49. Move if necessary (this is a huge psychological thing but I have seen too many seniors try to hold onto homes that don't suit them--too much land to care for, all of the bedrooms are on the second floor, etc--when they probably should have moved to a home that is much better suited to their current needs)
50. Make a list of community service agencies before you need them (211, Meals on Wheels program, Senior Center locations, Adult Services Agency, etc) 
51. Keep a flashlight and a pair of shoes next to your bed.
52. Make sure the shoes you wear are safe (tennis shoes are better than slippers or heels which can cause falls)
53. Hang out with your friends (regular socialization makes people less prone to depression)
54. Do things to keep your mind active (cross word puzzles, sudoku, learning new things, etc)
55. Always have an emergency fund.
56. Keep the majority of your money in a bank (and obviously never flash the money you do carry with you in public, that's just asking to be robbed)
57. Get on the Do Not Call registry (https://www.donotcall.gov/)
58. Beware of fraud whether via email, telemarketers, door to door sales people, etc (seniors are a huge target for scammers)
59. Don't invite people into your house (if you are selling something on CraigsList, meet the buyer at a safe, neutral location; if someone comes to your home and asks to use your phone, take your cell phone outside for them to use; etc)
60. If you need some sort of work done (to your car, to your house), take a younger, knowledgeable friend or family member with you.
61. If you are prone to falls or heart attack, consider signing up for a Life Alert-type system.
62. Get a pet (this has been shown to alleviate loneliness and depression and actually lead to a longer life for seniors; dogs are also a pretty good burglar deterrent)
63. If you need medical aids, use them (some people want to put off using hearing aids, canes, walkers, etc as long as possible but this can create dangerous situations; better safe than sorry)
64. Watch your step (try to avoid having slippery floors, stairs with slipper surfaces, bathtubs should have non-skid surfaces, etc)
65. Each time you visit your doctor, take all of your prescriptions--or a written list of them--and have your doctor review them for drug interactions (don't forget to tell him about non prescription pills you take too)
66. Review your driving.  If you have trouble seeing at night, don't drive at night.  If you have gotten into a number of fender benders, consider whether it is time to stop driving.
67. Make your home look lived in--both day and night--to deter burglars.
68. Check into transportation alternatives before you need them (the local bus system, the local senior "access" bus system, etc)
69. Plan your own funeral (most people don't like to think about this but of the people I know who did plan their own funerals, the arrangements worked out much better than when grieving family members did this)
70. If you have specific things you want to give to your loved ones, consider doing it before you pass--not only do you get to see them enjoying your things while you are still alive but it eliminates problems after you pass.
71. Leave a key to your house with a trusted neighbor in case of emergency.
72. Always keep your car and home locked up (windows too!) whether you are home or not.
73. Make sure your home is easy to find if you have a medical emergency (house numbers should be clearly marked, etc)
74. Learn how to pay bills and bank online and have your pension checks direct deposited to your bank account (this alleviates any problem you may have when paying with cash or sending payments through the mail)
75. Protect your personal information (be careful who you give out your social security number, credit card number, or other personal information to; shred any documents with your personal information on them)
76. Travel in groups.  Whether heading out to the theater or around the world, go with others to increase your personal safety.
77. Be sure to stop the newspaper and hold your mail when you go on vacation so you don't tip off burglars that your home is unoccupied.
78. Practice good internet safety (many senior centers have classes on this; don't put your vacation plans on FaceBook, don't respond back to scammy emails, don't click on pop up ads, etc)
79. Walk around your house at night and be sure that people outside can't see into your house.
80. Listen to your body when it comes to sports and other avocations (ie: if you like bowling, you may want to eventually switch to a lighter bowling ball; if you used to shoot a 10 gauge shotgun, you may want to switch to something lighter like a 12gauge or even a 24 gauge if you can still find one; if you usually play singles tennis, consider doubles, etc)
81. If someone comes to your door that you don't recognize, ask to see ID (this can include everyone one from law enforcement to someone from the gas or cable company)
82. Have a way to protect yourself when you are in your home (this may be via a firearm, a knife by your bedside, or even a loud air horn)
83. If you become a victim of crime--any type of crime--report it immediately. Not only will this help you but it could prevent others from becoming a victim as well.
84. If you see something odd, report it.  Seniors are usually home in the daytime and may notice a strange car lurking about or someone going in through the neighbor's window.
85. How big is your purse? It shouldn't be a huge monstrosity that carries everything but the kitchen sink.  Carry a small purse with just the important things in order to stay safe (it makes you less of a target for thieves, means that if your purse is snatched you have less to lose, and it allows you to have full range of motion with your arms)
86. Kid-proof your house before the grand kids come over (lock up medications and firearms, remove clutter, maybe even put the dog in a bedroom if it gets anxious around children)
87. Connect with the outside world regularly--via email, phone calls, even HAM radio nets (it's a sad thing when someone is found dead in their home days or even YEARS after they passed because they weren't in regular communication with anyone who would know that they had gone missing)
88. Stay home if it isn't safe to go out (icy roads, snowy walkways, a dust storm that makes allergies worse, etc)
89. Always carry a cell phone with you (even if you don't like cell phones you can get a cheap one with a minimum of minutes to use in an emergency)
90. Check out your clothes--are any of them tripping (like long house dresses) or fire (blouses with flowing sleeves near the stove) hazards?
91. Study up on the latest in child safety if you will be taking care of the grand kids (ie: child seats and bike helmets are required these days, babies are now put to sleep on their backs, babies shouldn't share a bed with anyone, etc)
92. Practice pet safety: always keep your pet's vaccines up to date, train your pet so they aren't a tripping hazard, when outside always have your pet on a leash, etc.
93. Call 911 when necessary (a medical emergency, you hear a burglar, to do a welfare check on a neighbor) but don't become a "frequent flyer" (don't call them when a call to your doctor would be more appropriate)
94. Practice car safety: keep the gas tank at least half full, keep your car in good working order, always check the back seat when you get into your car, don't park in secluded areas, etc.
95. Practice financial safety: never co-sign a loan for anyone, never loan money to people if that isn't part of your financial plan, never give your ATM card and pin # to anyone, etc.
96. If you, or a senior you know, are suffering from elder abuse, report it immediately to local authorities.
97. Keep a reasonable stockpile of supplies you use often (toilet paper, adult diapers, food, toiletries, etc) in your home (we aren't talking "hoarders" here, just a reasonable supply so that if you can't get to the store for a week or two it won't be a big deal)
98. Follow the same personal safety advice you would give your grand kids (don't walk alone, avoid alley ways and doorways, don't walk at night in rough areas, etc)
99. Be sure you are eating well.  Sometimes when cooking for one instead of a family we slack off and either don't cook the most nutritious of food or skip meals; don't do this.
100. Help other seniors.  If you have practiced all of these safety and preparedness tips, consider teaching them to other seniors (this type of information comes best from other seniors who have been there, done that, instead of from a 20 year old who has no clue; share what you learn so others can benefit as well)

And in Today's News...The Number of Home Invasions is Up

Actually I just caught this story at the tail end of the news this morning.  Seems that as the economy heads south, the number of home invasions tends to increase, as they are doing now.  Among some that you may have heard of recently:

•  3 Arrested in Deadly Home Invasion Robbery
• Suspect Pleads Not Guilty in Deadly Burglary
• 5 Arrested After Home Invasion Robbery

I could go on and on.  There are literally hundreds of home invasion robberies that have made the news in recent months, many that end with the home owners being injured or killed and others that end with home owners taking action and killing the intruders. 
I am hoping that if this ever happens to you, YOU will be the one that comes out on the winning side of the deal.  Here's how:

• Be properly licensed to carry a concealed weapon (note that if you will only have firearms in your home and you won't be carrying them outside of your property, you may not need this license; check with law enforcement in your jurisdiction).
• Buy a firearm (or two or three).  Of course you will want to seek advice from someone who is knowledgeable on this topic before just running out and buying a gun.  There are many types and sizes of firearms and you want one that you are comfortable shooting and that will get the job done effectively.
• Seek training.  There is a world of difference between target shooting in the back 40 and using a firearm in defense of your life inside your home.  If you plan to use a firearm for protection, it behooves you to be properly trained to do so (training will cover such things as your rights and responsibilities when it comes to using a firearm defensively, proper ammo, knowing what is behind your target, close-quarters combat techniques, and local rules and regulations).
• Practice.  And practice.  And practice.  If you plan on using a firearm for self defense, you absolutely MUST practice with it (on a weekly basis IMHO).  The only thing worse than having no firearm to protect yourself is having a gun you bought years ago which has been hidden in the back of your closet for more than a decade which you have never practiced with (or only practiced with a couple of times over the course of years).  You must be intimately familiar with your firearm if you are going to use it in a life or death situation.
• Be a good firearm owner.  This means that you properly store your firearm, that you clean it after each use, that you can strip it and put it back together by yourself, that you can safely load and unload it, and that you have practiced with it often. 
• Take other steps to keep your home from being a home invasion target: make the outside look as unappealing as possible, don't let strangers into your home, don't brag about all of the goodies you have in your home, etc.

As the world gets more chaotic, there are more and more people who will take the risk of barging into someones house and taking what they want, usually at the end of a gun.  If you ever find yourself in this position (and I really really hope you don't), you need to be prepared.  And not just you but everyone in your family as on occasion it has been children who have had to respond to home invaders which is unfortunate but nonetheless happens.  As the old adage goes, expect the best but prepare for the worst; in this case, the worst can be really bad if you aren't prepared.

5 Things You Should Worry About Now

The news is damn depressing lately.  These problems should be at the top of your big, fat, hairy problems list:

1. The whole Israel-Iran thing (Israel is marching off a cliff here and we are marching right along behind them.  Lovely.)
2. Unless you have been playing the cotton futures, this is bad news.
3. Ditto with oil futures; this will be a problem, no doubt compounded by #1 above.
4. It may just be my perception but it seems as if each year, natural disasters increase.
5. And this little gem which completely ignores the constitution, due process, and all of that innocent until proven guilty stuff.

It's Tornado Time

And fortunately I am far away from all of the tornadoes this year (last year I was hiding in the basement of a friend's house a number of times during tornado season--namely, each time he came around to say "a tornado is fixin' to come this way, y'all better hightail it to the basement"...sorry but each time I remember his warnings they came with a heavy Southern accent!).  Fortunately we would suffer the outer bands of wind and rain from tornadoes but never a direct hit, however we did go out after one particularly bad tornado in north Georgia and it literally looked like someone took a giant weed whacker to the town.  Scary stuff.
Anyway, if you do live in a tornado-prone area--or even in an area that possibly could see a tornado--it is time (way past time for some)--to break out the emergency supplies, including:

• A weather radio (I wouldn't live in tornado country without a weather radio)
• Your BOB (it should always be at the ready)
• A basement (if you don't have a basement, than go to someone else's basement...hiding in a closet of your mobile home isn't even a close second IMHO)
• Extra of everything you may need, stored in your basement, in the event that a tornado does wipe out your town (water, food, emergency supplies, etc)
• Cash (ATMs are one of the first things to go down when the power goes out)
• A list of community resources and disaster resources (where are the community disaster shelters, how do you contact FEMA after a disaster, what is your community's tornado plan, etc)
• A list of personal resources (what happens if your computer/cell phone is toast after a tornado? You will need names and phone numbers of friends and relatives, contact info and policy numbers for your insurance, etc)
• A way to communicate after a tornado (a wind-up radio at the minimum so you can receive official news and information, a back up cell phone--that may or may not work, a HAM radio, and a way to power these devices)
• A way to evacuate after a tornado if necessary (if your town is flattened you will have to decide whether to go or stay; if you decide to go you need to know ahead of time where you will go and how you will get there)

And to all of my friends in the midwest and south--stay safe out there!