Three numbers on an index card, because nobody memorizes them anymore
Plus: why the propane truck gets hard to book after the first cold snap.
Issue #059 Saturday, October 17, 2026 Emergency Skills
Your phone holds every number you know, and it holds them for exactly as long as the battery lasts. When local towers jam, your plan has to live on paper.
Today’s Skill
One card, three lines, every pocket
Pick one contact who lives at least two states away. Everyone calls that person, not each other. Put three lines on an index card: that number, a meeting spot near home, and a second spot outside the area. Laminate it with packing tape. One card in every wallet, backpack, and glovebox. Text first, since short messages slip through when calls will not.
On The Radar
Fuel trucks get busy this month
Heating fuel demand turns on this month. Propane and heating oil suppliers book out after the first cold snap, and the wait grows with the line. Call now for a top off instead of waiting. At the store, add two shelf staples per trip: rice, oil, canned protein, coffee. Keep a few weeks of what you actually eat. Hold some small bills at home, because card readers die with the power.
The Drill
Four cards on the kitchen table tonight
Tonight, write the cards by hand. Out of state number, meeting spot near home, meeting spot outside the area, one neighbor’s number. Tape over both sides so sweat and rain do not wreck them. Hand one to every person in the house, kids included. Then have each person send that out of state contact a test text from their own phone before bed.
Ready beats lucky.
- Survival Rise
P.S. Forward this to the family member who would be hardest to reach tomorrow.