I just went through this exersize a short while ago, looking at how much I could save if I had 30 seconds to a couple of minutes to get out.
What I realized was that, fortunately, I have some of those large plastic moving bins in (unplanned) strategic places. One of them has some towels in it and is within 5’ of a large amount of valuable stuff, including my computer. So grab, shovel fast, grab the computer tower, grab the cat, run like mad.
If I had more time, there are a couple more in my bedroom closet filled with martial arts stuff, old blankets and the like. Just dump and refill with stuff I want to save, like my guns, pictures and papers, etc.
I’ve got a traveler’s wallet with my passport and other documents, then I’d want my laptop and back up flash drive with all my financial and tax information, etc.
I’d take my collection of watches and our wedding photos. My golf clubs are already in the trunk of the car, so they’re fine, but I’d need to grab my Scotch and my sole bottle of nice wine.
Photos. My childhood home burned down. It was a great lesson in how stuff is just stuff, but I do still miss the photos. I can think whistfully about the beautiful Queen Anne loveseat that had been my great grandmother’s which was promised to me, but the one I have now from Pier 1 keeps me off the floor just as well. I do not have a substitute for the snapshot of that same great grandmother climbing a tree when she was about 75.
Between this and the “are you prepared for an emergency?” thread I’m really going to have to rethink how I store things, 'cause I should probably have answered “the insurance policy and important papers”.
Work and personal laptop, my cellphone, bail out bag. I would make sure that the cats are out safe.
People with pictures - for the love of ghu, SCAN THE DAMNED THINGS IN ASAP!
My parents house burned, lost every single picture from my childhood, and the negatives [other than the polaroids which had no negs]
if they are scanned in, you can never lose them as long as you take the precaution of storing the dvd in a safety deposit box, or online, or in a laptop/external back up HDD that you can grab, or keep in a bail out bag.
My School runs regular fire drills and we also have training on using fire extinguishers.
The firemen tell us “Don’t try to save any possessions. That’s one way people die in a fire.”
We had to evacuate last December because the apartment block right next to ours was on fire (and we’re on the end, so our apartment was about 30 feet from the flames). My husband grabbed the kids and the dog and I grabbed our little bag that has all of our passports and my husband’s immigration stuff.
We all got into our (only) car and drove it to a safer part of the parking lot. My youngest is a bit of a nudest, so he only had a t-shirt on. When the firemen got a headcount and the fire was fairly under control, they let us run back in and get some clothes for him and my kids’ blankies and teddy bears. We ended up waiting about five hours before they said we were clear to go back in.
Assuming all my pets are safe, I’d grab my photo discs. Actually, if it happened before the end of the semester I’d grab my notebooks. There’s too much work wrapped up in there at this point.
In the past two years I’ve suddenly acquired a lot of clutter like that, I suppose it would be valuable to hold onto it all, given how awkward it would be to get it all back.
But then my laptop is probably worth close to half of all my other possessions added together. And it contains all my photos from when my daughter was born onwards, so I’d probably take it for monetary and sentimental value.
Having said that, if I had all my photos safely backed up elsewhere and I was in my parent’s house, I’d probably like to save my great-grandfather’s leather writing case. Aside from the fact that it looks very nice and it has a button and badge from his old [Gardai](Garda Síochána) uniform, its a link to him given that he died a fortnight before I was to be brought down for my Mum’s grandparents to see him.
Been there, done that, although it wasn’t that urgent (and I didn’t need to actually leave, as it turns out). If I were home in Nova Scotia, my mother’s jewelry box. Suffice it to say that I don’t have much of significant emotional value myself (and a computer tower is difficult to carry when you’re in a hurry) and I want some of that stuff when she’s gone I also might grab the fire safe–yeah, it’s fireproof, but who wants to dig through the ashes to find it? Also, since I’ll probably be there with a suitcase, that too.
If I were here–probably my DS/purse/Zune (depending on which is closest). If I were in enough presence of mind, the box with most of our documents, but I know from experience that that’s not going to be a likely situation. Or my wedding ring, if I’m not wearing it.
That is a great question because I am surprised by my answer. I would grab my semi-acoustic guitar. I am a crap player but it is the only inanimate object, not in my trouser pockets, that I have any affection for. I assume I have my trousers on with all my cash, cards and keys in the pockets. Otherwise I would have to take the trousers.
If all the animals are out, there’s nothing else I really need (clothes on my back, I assume). Sure I have some antique furniture that I’d have to work to replace, but they’re not heirloom, in-the-family pieces, just stuff I’ve bought through the years. And it’s insured. I might grab my computer, just because I’d hate to be without.
Our laptop computers, family photo albums and crucial papers are all together in the study. One quick stop, then out the back door – I’ll take the pickup and the big dog, Razorette takes the car and the little dog, and we’re on our way down the road.
We’ve considered those things that might force evacuation. We figure the biggest threats would be flood (we’re less than a half-mile from the South Platte River, right down on the bottomland) and prairie fire, even though we have a fairly wide swath cleared around the house. In either case, we should have enough time to throw the laptops, photos, papers and dogs into the vehicles before bugging out. The only other real threat would be tornado, and we don’t evac for that – we hit the root cellar, hunker down, and hope for the best.
I would take my wallet, because I’m going to need somewhere to sleep and hotels don’t take promises 'round these parts.
My material possessions fall into two categories - those that can be easily replaced (tools, clothes, etc.) and those that are irreplaceable but to which I attach no sentimental value (photos, love notes, etc.). There’s not a single thing that I own that I would miss for even a second if everything burned up.
This gets me into trouble on a regular basis. I keep the aforementioned love notes only because my wife expects me to. I’ve read them. I remember what they say. I don’t need them taking up space. But my wife would be upset if I trashed them, so I keep them. A house fire would solve that problem nicely.
I also might grab the fire safe–yeah, it’s fireproof, but who wants to dig through the ashes to find it? Also, since I’ll probably be there with a suitcase, that too.