That of course is utter bushwa. A mystery writer named Charlotte Macleod - obviously extremely intelligent - got Alzheimer's. Terry Pratchett - a genius - has early onset Alheimers. (Or dementia, whatever.) And now Pat Summitt. Very intelligent people, minds like quicksilver, and they got it.
So brain activity doesn't matter, except that the tragedy is increased ten-thousand-fold when you see a genius gradually losing their memory, their ability to do the most basic things including feeding themselves or going to the bathroom on their own... Alzheimers and dementia are awful diseases and I urge everyone, if you do not already have charities that you support, or if you have more discretionary money than you know what to do with - contribute to Alzheimer's research. The life you save could be your own.
Anyway, here's my thoughts on another kind of disaster preparedness, after Hurricane Irene has been downgraded to a tropical storm. People should be breathing sighs of relief, not getting snarky on the folks that tried to ensure their safety.
A lot of experts (and no, I'm not going to qualify that by saying "experts" as if I think they don't deserve the title) thought that Hurricane Irene was going to be a lot worse than it was, and lots of folks were ordered to evacuate their homes, neighborhoods, etc.
Turns out that for the most part it wasn't necessary. Lots of property damage, but nothing on the scale of what they'd anticipated.
So are these experts to be faulted because "mother nature" weakened the storm?
No.
Everytime a hurricane comes through anywhere, there is a potential for serious damage. People need to have practice in evacuating - they need to have a plan and they need to have experience in carrying it out. Otherwise, when it's the real thing, it'll be an utter disaster, like Hurricane Katrina.
The problem with most people is that they don't believe in the "Cry Wolf" story. After one "unneccesary" evacuation, the next time government officials tell them to evacuate, they'll decide that it's just another false alarm and they won't move. And then the real thing hits, and you've got unnecessary death and suffering until the government comes in to rescue them.
Now, I'm not saying that everyone who refuses to evacuate does so because they're stupid. The problem is looters. All the law abiding folk do as they're told and head to safety, meanwhile a few thieves stroll in and help themselves to everyone's possessions.
There are few things worse than returning to your home to find that unknown people have made off with everything you own, and that you'll never be able to get it back.
Moral of the story - prepare yourself, and your business, for any disaster.
Know what kind of disasters can occur in your part of the world, of course. If you're in a dry state like Colorado or Wyoming, you probably don't have to worry about flooding. But there's always fire. Or just plain old robbery.
Hope for the best, but prepare for the worst.
Have a water and fire proof safe for your important papers - and have copies of those important papers in a completely separate location. Always have your computers backed up - and offsite is best, as if a fire rolls through your home and your computer is burned to a crisp, and so is the backup hard drive that was attached to it, you're SOL.
Carbonite is an offsite backup service that backs up everything automatically, and costs very little. Even if its your *third* backup, it's so cheap that there's no reason not to have it.
Have an inventory - and keep it current - of everything you own.
Make a note of everything you'd want to save should there be a fire or other reason for evacuating quickly, always bearing in mind that the most important things you have to save our family.
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