Zombie e-cards, zombie classes, zombie programming

Originally published at Notes From The Bunker. You can comment here or there.

It’s been a zombie-themed day.

First off, someone texted me this:

I won’t say that when I got married there was a checkbox for ‘can kill zombies’, but there was a checkbox for ‘will not impede or hinder preparedness’.

Then, for giggles I head over to Rosauers to see how their 25% off sale on storage food was going. Quite well, apparently…there were some major gaps on the shelves. I like to think I’, kinda responsible for that by letting the local LMI’s know.

And finally, I watched E2S3 of ‘The Walking Dead’ yesterday. One thing I enjoy about this show is that afterwards my wife usually gets thoughtful and makes supportive comments about our lifestyle or recommends that we buy more food/gear/ammo. Thumbs up, either way.

And finally , this amazing email from REI shows up:

Missoula REI — Zombie Preparedness – Surviving a Zombie Apocalypse

Description: Imagine a viral outbreak has occurred wiping out a majority of the local population and other major cities throughout the globe. The fatal virus is to be considered highly contagious and dangerous. Nicknamed the “Zombie Disease,” because those killed by the disease seem to be returning to life and prey upon the living. We are now facing a full fledged attack. Those of us left alive must now ask ourselves, “Where do we go from here? How will we survive and maintain the existence of the human race?” You are invited to attend the Zombie Preparedness Class at REI, where you will learn valuable survival techniques that could save your life. These same techniques could be invaluable in the event of any natural disaster in an urban environment.

My first thought was not “Are they serious?”, my first thought was not “Awesome!”, no..my first thought was “REI has a zombie specialist?”. I must attend this…if for no other reason than to see who shows up. I mean, really…what’s the crowd for this gonna look like? I expect a mix of casual college-age ‘this sounds like fun’ types, a few tinfoil hatters, and some ‘maybe this is really about preparedness’ types. I wonder what the pitch at REI management was like when this came up ..”Steve! I’ve got an idea for a class!….”

Article – Seriously? Government warns citizens of ‘zombie apocalypse’ to urge bett

Originally published at Notes From The Bunker. You can comment here or there.

WASHINGTON – “The zombies are coming!” the Homeland Security Department says.

Tongue firmly in cheek, the government urged citizens Thursday to prepare for a zombie apocalypse, part of a public health campaign to encourage better preparation for genuine disasters and emergencies. The theory: If you’re prepared for a zombie attack, the same preparations will help during a hurricane, pandemic, earthquake or terrorist attack.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency hosted an online seminar for its Citizen Corps organization to help emergency planners better prepare their communities for disaster. The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention last year first launched a zombie apocalypse social media campaign for the same purposes.

You know, I first posted about this about four years ago how zombies were becoming the metaphor for preparing against the end of the world. When you you push that cart with six cases of canned tuna through the checkout at CostCo and folks give you that weird look you somehow get more miles out of replying with “I’m preparing for the zombie apocalypse” rather than “Im preparing for the eventual economic collapse of this country”. Strange but true…it’s more acceptable to prepare for the zombies than it is for the ‘real’ disasters.

Additionally, I don’t think .gov is really thinking this through. If a person isn’t motivated to prepare for the real threats that are out there what makes .gov think that they’ll prepare for the imaginary threats? Do they really think that the folks in New Orleans who can’t be bothered to prepare for hurricanes will bother to prepare for zombies?

If .gov really wants folks to prepare then , by Crom, let them show some real willingness to help….open up the military bases to allow civillians to purchase surplus clothes and gear at rock bottom prices, donate unused military bases to state governments as emergency command centers, promote tax-free purchases on survival related gear, etc, etc, etc. Tell you what, man…if I were president (or even governor of my happy little state) I’d be all over that stuff….