Overlooking the obvious is of course, one of my stronger traits. While I like to be somewhat "prepared" I seem to have overlooked an important area; Personal Physical Preparedness. Case in point: a little over a week ago I hurt my back. That's nothing new, for I usually do that two or three times a year. This time, however, was much more severe. I spent 2 days in bed and I was completely helpless. The pain was too severe for me to stand on my two feet. When it was determined that things were getting worse and not better, our options were few. We called the Doctor, and called the 811 medical help line. In a short time, three paramedics were standing in my bedroom. If not for the pain, it would have been humorous. They managed to get me into a chair and down the front steps onto the street. Then they transferred my carcass to a stretcher, and took me to Emergency. After an hour or so, examinations etc I was given three needles. One in each arm, and one in the old caboose. 30 minutes later, I could get up and walk, albeit feebly and slowly. They concluded it was "only" a pulled muscle, and nothing spinal like a slip disc. For the next five days, I rested, took pain killers, and tried to walk around as much as possible, just to keep from seizing up. What a week. Even a week later, I'm still on pain meds, and I still move very slowly, with jolts of pain at every wrong twist or turn.
Getting back to my original point, what good is emergency food and supplies when you find yourself in a situation that you can't move ?? This is surely a weak link in any preparedness plan. I will say first though, that the injury was a little self-inflicted. I was stacking firewood, hurt my back, ignored the warnings and pain, and kept on working. So the first lesson I guess is to listen to your pain. Had I stopped at the first warning sign it might not have been so bad. That aside, I need to address a couple of things. First, I don't exercise enough, Second, I don't exercise enough. I sit at a desk for most of the day. Somehow, I have to muster the discipline to be more active; especially with winter coming on and the tendency to be even more sedentary. Let's see how it goes...
