Homestead mailing list

["Marie McHarry" <mmcharry AT dtnspeed.net>]

<<Lets get back to homesteading.>>

As has been shown time and time again, if you want homesteading information,
ask a question. There is still lots of knowledge amongst the list members,
and every time I've asked a question, I've gotten good to great feedback.
So, quit whining and ask good questions.

And speaking of getting some info, I live in a house that was built during
the Civil War, so it's stood through a fair bit of weather. It's made of
brick -- three-brick-thick outer walls with interior walls also brick (not
sure if they're two or 3 bricks thick). It's not easy to wire the place or
even hang a picture. 

Lately, with tornadoes getting more and more vicious locally, I've been
wondering what to do should I sight a funnel cloud headed straight at me. I
have a basement and the floor seems stout. If, however, a direct hit dumped
all the bricks on the floor I wonder if the floor would hold. There's the
question of whether the neighbors would care to remove the bricks and see if
I was dead yet, but that's another issue entirely.

Not that I worry about my personal safety all that much. I'm nearly 60 years
old and have lived a half way decent life and no other human beings would
suffer in any live-threatening way if I was buried in the rubble, so I'm not
too worried about clinging to this life (yes, I like it and have a whole lot
of plans for the garden this year, but it wouldn't be a great tragedy if I
wasn't here to carry them out). But, as a matter of curiosity (and in case I
should have guests who have more reason to have concern for their personal
safety), how safe do you think my basement would be in a direct hit?

Marie