Happy Halloween!

Try and enjoy the night. Be mindful as zombies may try to sneak in with the trick or treaters. Of course, don't mistaken some of the playful trick or treaters as zombies. They are only after candy, not brains.

Your Neighbors

I came home the other day and saw this is my neighbor's yard:

A cinder block! Great. All I could think was how strong are zombies? Wonder if they can lift and throw that thing? Or what if I was fleeing through my neighbor's yard and tripped over that stupid thing? Can anyone say "Free Lunch"?

Sometimes fortification of your home isn't about what you do but what your neighbor does or doesn't do. I mean, no matter how well fortified your house is, what good is it if your neighbor has a ladder laying in their yard that could be used to access parts of your home that would not be normally accessed? And this is a real concern for most. Unless you live miles away from any other person, you have to make sure your neighbor hasn't left something laying around that could be used to defeat your defenses or cause you some potential harm.

So, take a walk outside. Inspect the items in your neighbor's yard (NO do not go into fenced in areas). Maybe you need to talk to your neighbor about moving some of those cinder blocks?

Checking the backyard,

The wife

What I Learned From: Return of the Living Dead

Another zombie movie I like because its so corny is Return of the Living Dead. And yeah, I learned a few things from that movie too.

Synopsis here.

Lesson 1 - If You Get an Unexpected Delivery, Get It to the Rightful Owner

Suddenly you have at least 1/2 a dozen barrels of something that was intended for the military. What do you do with it? If you find yourself in Return of the Living Dead, you store it in a separate room and leave it until you are ready to show it off to some new young guy. And if you are that crazy, don't smack the barrel to ensure its "safe". So my advice, make sure military deliveries go to the military least you unleash a zombifiying toxin.

Lesson 2 - Stay AWAY from Graveyards

Personally, I have never understood why anyone would want to hangout at a graveyard much less go there to kill time on a dark and spooky night. Maybe its my innate fear of zombies, but I don't want those things climbing out of their graves and devouring me! My suggestion, put as much distance between you and any graveyard. No point helping them out.

Lesson 3 - Don't Investigate Weird Stuff

The most important lesson of all - Never go investigate the creepy noise/shadow lurking in the corner. Need to know what it is? Why not stay where you are call out to see if you get a response then decide how to proceed. Or even grab something handy to defend yourself with, just in case.

Lesson 4 - Seclude the Potential Zombies

If someone around you becomes "ill" after exposure to mysterious gases, perhaps its best to seclude them somewhere (or you could take them to the hospital and leave them....). You know if someone becomes "ill" they will soon be looking for a lovely, fresh brain to eat. It won't be mine..hope you don't get "ill" near me.



Looking for a place to seclude the zombies,

The wife

Maps

After the invasion has occurred, you may find yourself in need of leaving your base. Maybe you need additional supplies, maybe you are trying to save another survivor. No matter what your reason, you must know the area in order to find the quickest and safest route to your destination. Our recommendation? Obtain a map of your local area. These are usually available at local convenience stores or retailers. You can even find them online (try a google search: Your Town, Your State and "Folded Map"). Maybe you have to transverse a long distance. For this you need a map that covers a larger area. The easiest thing is to obtain a map of your state.

Did you know that most states offer a free folded map of their state? Its part of increasing their tourism. There's even a site with listing for them all. Check out: http://mapathon.com/foldall.htm

Click on your state's name and off you go to obtaining a free map (okay some states no longer offer a hardcopy map but most still do).



Waiting for my new maps,

The wife

Doors – How to fortify them against invasion

Doors can be made of a variety of materials and provided with various means to secure them. In the house I grew up in, we had a screen door that was just a wooden frame with a mesh material stapled to it. It was locked by hook and eye lock. Not defendable at all. I mean with a little bit of strength someone could break through the mesh and rip the wooden frame apart. Add the "jonesing for brains" and the door is down with no problem. Our home had a regular entry door behind it so at night no criminals were getting in. However, during the day only the screen door separated us from the potential zombie frenzy. Our recommendation, if you have one of these doors, take it down and throw it away. They are not defendable.
 

Entry Doors

Homes come with some sort of entry door. They can be solid construction (fiberglass, wood, steel) or provided with glass panels. Sometimes the glass panels are integral with the door and sometimes there are glass panels next to the door.
As pretty as your glass panels may be, they are a security concern. A glass panel of any size can be broken through with enough force and the right tool. You have to stop and think. If the glass panel was gone, could a zombie get into my home (either by managing to unlock the door or by falling through the opening)?  If the answer is yes, then you need to either get rid of them all together, replace them with a shatterproof glass or keep spare wood and nails handy.
 

French Doors

So much glass EVERWHERE. Talk about non-defendable. These doors are pretty much pieces of glass with a frame. Some of them have fairly decent locks (deadbolts on top and bottom). But how good is a lock if all a zombie has to do is smash through the glass. Forgo the extra natural lighting and go green (solar panels) instead of opting for these doors.

 

Security Doors

These can be constructed of solid panel glass with a metal frame (Security Storm Door – See Storm Doors below). Some are even provided with a metal grid that covers the glass panel (Gardenview Security Door). Or they can be constructed of solid metal.

 

Most security doors are fairly solid and highly defendable. Those that are solid pieces of glass are not as defendable. If you do choose to have one of these, keep a solid door of some sort behind it. Keep the solid door shut at all times. The solid glass door should really only be used for decoration not zombie defense.

 
 Sliding Glass Doors

Ah, my favorite door. They are cheap and allow you a wonderful view (assuming you have something better to look at than just an apartment parking lot). Locks are easily popped, that's why they sale bars (Charlie Lock) to keep the doors shut. Again its like the french doors, not easily defendable. Keep them away from entry level. You also need to know if the sliding track is on the inside or the outside. A door with an inside track is easier to secure than one with an outside track.
 

Storm Doors

These are my favorite. A very lovely door that lets all the light in you could want with a little security. Usually these doors are in front of an entry door. What could be better than 2 doors that are protecting you? Now the zombies will have to take twice as long to get in to your home.

Some storm door varieties:

• Full-View - Full pane of glass
  
• Ventilating - Multi vent doors have full screens and allow for top and bottom ventilation with easily adjusting glass panels. Single Vent doors offer a half screens allowing for bottom ventilation.
• Security - Can be full pane of glass or as described earlier.
  

Locks

Of course the best door in the world is meaningless without a proper lock. All doors should be provided with some sort of deadbolt that extends as far as you can fit (this will vary on based on your home's construction). Maybe you already have a deadbolt. But if it is only a few inches long, only resides within the door frame, how hard do you think it is to kick that one in? In addition, we reccommend addition of a second lock on your doors (still talking exterior ones). This will give you added protection. You really need to do your own research here too. Find out what kind you need for your home and get the best you can.

"Oh no ZombieHomePrep", you say, "I have one of those doors you say are not defendable. What should I do?" You do have a few options. (1) Replace the current door with one that is more defendable, (2) Replace all glass with shatterproof or even bullett proof glass) (3) Board them all up and never use again. 

Happy Home Improvements!

The wife

FOOD!!

One of the most important things you will have to stock up on is food. Once you are locked in away from the zombies, you will need eats for the next oh say, FOREVER? Traditional emergency preparedness sites tell you that all you need to do is keep enough food for 3 days. Why? Because they are only planning to protect you against something like floods, hurricanes or tornados. These things come and go. They are passing. Unlike zombies that take over EVERYTHING! To make your home truly viable you will need to have on hand at least 6 months of food. Of course, 3 days worth of supplies is easy to keep on hand as it requires little storage space. But 6 months? Where, what and how can you store this amount of food. 


Where?
This is all up to you as to the where. However, be sure its in a cool, dry place or climate controlled. Don't store in a cold or damp place. Otherwise, your food will not be eatable. Oh and try to keep it in a location where the mice cannot get to it either. No point feeding the vermin.

What?

The best thing is most foods come with a good by date on them and you can easily determine if these foods can be added to your short term stock. Some items like cerals, crackers and like are usually good for 1 year. Other items like canned veggies are good for 18 months. Be sure to include high protein foods like peanut butter and things like energy/protein bars. Also, include a few snack foods too. No need to deprive yourself of those things that you love. Perhaps you want to go with something that lasts a bit longer than standard food items you can pick up at the local grocery store. There are other options like MREs  (meal readyentrees) or freeze dried meals. MREs can have a shelf life of 3 years. Freezed dried meals can have longer shelf lives. One website states their meals last 25 years! Wow if that's true, you can have food forever. of course, at the price, it better last 25 years. Then again, who will be around to complain to?

How?

Anything that is prepacked should be fine as long as you store it in a cold, dry location or leave it in a climate controlled area (like your own kitchen). You can even put these items together in a large storage container.  If you choose to can your own veggies/fruits, be sure to follow proper canning guidelines. Either get a book from the library or check a reputable site.

Things I will miss

When the zombie invasion occurs, life as we know it will change. Many things we will have to learn to live without, many things that make life so easy and convenient today. So this post is the list of things that we will miss most-

The wife's list

1. M&M's.......

2. All other chocolate candies

3. Going to the library (stupid zombies preventing me from borrowing books - How dare they!!!)

The husband's list

1. The internet

2. Coke (good riddance to Pepsi!!)

3. Papa John's Pizza

Well, that leaves me with only two questions. What is the shelf life of M&M's? And what are on your top 3 "Things I will miss" list?

M&M-less,

The wife

Trick or Treat

It's the first day of October which means the odds of running into a zombie (or other unworldy ghouls) is much higher this month. The first thing that should be on your "to do" list this month is to determine how close the nearest graveyard is. If the dead were to rise, would they have a long walk to your home or is the distance a bit uncomfortably close? Sad to say, our distance is uncomfortably close. Not to mention there is a nice paved road leading them right to our home. The graveyard has not moved, but there used to be a forest between us and the undead's home. The forest seemed like a good barrier. I guess that's what the housing boom can do, remove useful barriers. Perhaps though, your graveyard has its own gate and is locked at night to help keep the dead in (or is that to keep the living out???). Again, the one near our home is not equiped with a gate. The more I write about what the graveyard closes does not have, the more I feel like we are saying "Come and Get It". Of course, this just points out the need to ensure our home is fortified against zombies. Since they have a convenient and close location in relation to our home, we have to make sure we are prepared now. Don't worry, if you find yourself in the same boat as we are, you will find more info on this website about further fortifying your home.

Stay vigilant,

The wife