Chile Forum

Yea, there are certain people we realize the moment they arrive in the country they are going to need closer supervision than normal. For both their protection and Chile's. Thus, we spent years developing and perfecting the the Spencer Global Positioning System covering All of Chile.

We kept trying to get Vicky and Greg to just buy a cell phone and use it, but they kept loosing it. So we then gave them one of our cell phones. Greg promptly destroyed it. We were finally left with no alternative but to tag him like they do bears with a radio chip.

Let me disagree with the OP. For the very question is wrong. If I were the OP, I would ask some other questions, as they seem to be more interesting.

WHEN IT HAPPENS TO ME?...

Why things happen to me personally? Why good things occur to me? And why bad things occur to me?

Is that true that some things are unavoidable at some point of time, while this is not so with regard to some other things?

Is that true that nothing happens just because it "so happens", but every single thing manifests only because of certain conditions?

Is that true that when a certain number of the said conditions, and causes, occur simultaneously -- then good or bad things are unavoidable?

Is there a way to protect myself from bad things, and to force only good things to happen to me?

Are there any means to control the arising of unfavourable conditions and causes, so as only good things happen to me personally in the future?

People say, that there is a science (that is completely misunderstood at the present time), involving systematized observation of arising of this favourable and unfavourable conditions, and causes.

People also say, that there is a science about the means to master and control this arising of favourable and unfavourable conditions and causes, and this science is also completely misunderstood at the present time.

If I were the OP, I would ask these questions.

Best advice: Have a moped (very small moto) and a can of gas strapped to the back. It can get you 350 miles even through heavy traffic jams. This per retired U.S. disaster coordinator from Kennedy era during 1962 October missile crisis, who re-visited the subject post 9-11 attack, and opined it was still his best advice for evacuation/survival from major metropolis in the event of major disaster.

better yet, spend a couple thousand on a good reliable off road bike; even if you are not a fan of motorcycles.

Personally I am inclined to horses (especially world record holding jumping Chilean horses). Until you have spent some time in the Patagonia, jumping trees, and forging rivers, you don't appreciate how useless modern machinery is in most situations. Most of our machines are designed for roads, trails, bridges, and so on. What happens when there are none (gas problems aside)?

Down there near Chaiten and Futa, we have crossed rivers, jumped trees, and climbed mountains on horse back you would not be able to do on human foot or by tank. In fact, not even by helicopter (low cloud cover valleys, incredibly dangerous changing wins, with 200 foot trees). Search the forum for the threads about the search for the plane that went down there. They crashed at the end of the runway, and it took about 10 days to find them.

interesting thread, especially for those of us that spent a lot of time in california. we're no strangers to the odd sensation of the earth shaking under our feet. i was greeted by an small tremor my first week here in concepcion.

my experiences in CA made it clear that wood frame houses are much better for withstanding an earthquake, and being far away from a large population center is always a good idea, as long as you have some basic self help skills. keep some extra food and water around, make sure you have a good first aid kit. be ready to camp out for a week or more. i kept myself ready in LA even though many people teased me. now it is more or less integrated into my lifestyle. i use wood for cooking, i have lots of water stored on the property since my water supply is irregular anyway, and i can live without electricity indefinitely, although i would miss the internet.

of course, having a network of friends is great idea....as for the ex-pat community, i think that we are fairly well dispersed, and i'm not sure how much we would really be able to help each other.

How timely is this thread! Freaky, almost....

Thanks for bumping this thread, I had been trying to find it. So spooky. Also spooky, as my husband pointed out, that it was only 5 days shy of the 25th anniversary of the 85 quake.

I can tell you what I would do. There is a whole section of the forum for it.

Personally, right now I am cooking. Chile for Chile, watching the news, and trying to not think about the months and years to come. We are planning, but doing it in a more objective less personal manner. If we think about it or take it too personally, it is just crushing and I am not sure we would be able to function.

i think it is fairly predictable what will happen....lots of people will preach the "be prepared" message, and now that everyone gets jittery every time a truck drives by, a lot of people will do some of the basic things...get a flashlight, buy some extra water or whatever...and then, after a few weeks, they will take the batteries out of the flashlights because they need them for their radio, and they will decide to water the plants with the bottled water they have....and they will be just as unprepared for the next event.

and the government? HA! i doubt i will ever understand how the navy could have possibly failed to issue tsunami warnings after an 8.8 earthquake 20 miles offshore.....what the hell???? not that the warnings would have necessarily made much difference. most of the people who live near the ocean know how dangerous it is and the know the escape routes...not that it's hard....find a street that goes uphill and walk as fast as you can.

will pinera's government be more effective? i doubt it. we'll get some new faces with a slightly different philosophy, and they'll turn into the bureaucrats they are replacing. perhaps they'll be smart enough to put someone who speaks english in charge of communicating with the international science community.... but that's probably expecting too much.

meet the new boss......same as the old boss.

cali_chile48 wrote:
of course, having a network of friends is great idea....as for the ex-pat community, i think that we are fairly well dispersed, and i'm not sure how much we would really be able to help each other.

Cali - I know you know now, but for anyone else who wasn't glued to allchile for the past week....
There was a very hairy half day when Charles asked if anyone had heard from Cali - we knew where he lived and the general position of his house... also that Dichato had been slammed by the tsunami - well the forum was alerted soon thereafter that he had been heard from... if that info hadn't made it to us, I am pretty sure someone from this motley group would have made their way to Dichato in search of him...

I for one will be happy to have my Spencer Global Positioning Chip inserted when I finally get down there!

we HAVE been able to help each other...a lot....mostly with INFORMATION, which, as i learned last week, is VERY IMPORTANT in a crisis....and i also learned that there is more of a safety net here than i thought there was. good to know.