The everyday SHTF: Are you prepared?

"What will SHTF be like?" Ask that on any prepper board and you'll get fanciful tales of EMP bursts sending us back to 1700, Obama seizing power as a dictator leading to civil war and militias saving the day, etc. About the only thing missing is zombies.

What's more likely is a SHTF affecting just you. For example, my cousin, who lives in Reno, got home after picking up her kids from school to find the fire dept at her apartment building. This was right after the big December cold snap, and a cheap water pipe had burst, flooding three apartments, including hers. Most of her stuff was ruined. Even worse, the complex had a 0% vacancy rate. Three families were dumped onto the street. My cousin, her hubby, and her two kids had to shoehorn themselves into a single bedroom of her mom's dinky house in Sparks. Crowded, you bet. She eventually found another place.

I was driving to downtown a couple weeks ago when the cars in front of me lurched forward, then stopped, at a red light. I stopped in time, but the woman behind me didn't. My car was gouged up pretty bad, and the front of her car was bashed in. Then, just this morning, my mom's van was almost totaled by a guy who didn't see her stopped at a red light in time. Fortunately, he swerved at the last second. I am not ready-yet-to live without my parents.

People get lost in the woods all the time, like the San Francisco family that got lost near Roseburg, Oregon, a few years ago. No cell phone service. So dad tried to hike out, and died, during winter. His family was ultimately rescued. Compare that to the Oregon native who took a wrong turn in the woods near Medford. Once she realized she was lost, she stopped, bedded down for the night using a blanket she had in her vehicle, then followed her tire tracks back to the main road the next morning, showing up at the command post set up for searchers, and startling them.

Are YOU ready for something like that? Losing your job, or house, or car? People collect guns to ward off attacking UN troops, then end up selling the guns at a discount for food. One guy and his wife got lost in the desert, and he decided to hike out. Wifey was ultimately rescued, but no trace of him was ever found. People get lost in Death Valley, and are swallowed by the desert. Maybe a bone is found years later. It's more likely that you'll get hit by lightning than that you'll be fighting in a new American Revolution. Are YOU prepped?