Episode 75: CAL Conversation: Ready for Anything

You're listening to Demand and Disrupt, the podcast for information about accessibility, advocacy, and all things disability.

Welcome to Demand and Disrupt, a disability podcast. I'm your host, Kimberly Parsley.

And I'm your co host, Sam Moore. And welcome to another Cal Conversation. I always enjoy these, Kimberly, and it is my second one.

Yep. And we're glad to have you on board with these. And of course, we're always glad to have our disruptor in chief, Carissa Johnson. Hey, Karissa.

Hello.

And also Keith Hosey up there in Louisville representing for Louisville. How are things, Keith?

Hello, Disruptors. Hello, Kimberly, Carissa and Sam. Things are going well.

I love how we've got four different corners of the state represented. We've got. We've got Louisville, which is like its own state, but it's like, I guess, north central Kentucky. And then you've got Bowling Green, which is south central, where Kimberly is. And you've got me, which is northwest in Henderson, and then southwest, where Carissa is in Murray.

I almost fall off the state.

You're almost in Tennessee, aren't you?

Pretty much, yeah.

It's not far. Kimberly's not far either.

No, no. How far is Murray from the Tennessee line?

About ten minutes.

Oh, wow. I did not realize it was that close. Wow.

From experience, I know that it is just a short drive to the state line because Murray used to be dry.

Oh, so you used to have to go in Tennessee to get your refreshment. That's right.

Yep. Bud across the border would hook you up,

but across the border,

that's so funny because. And. And I bet used to there were there, like, fireworks right across the border. Like, used to when you crossed into Tennessee from Bowling Green, it's like all of Interstate 65 was lined with places to sell fireworks.

I don't weird the fireworks as much as I do the liquor stores right across the border, they knew my husband by first name.

But we've got state line fireworks right up here across the bridge when you head into Evansville. So I. I kind of get what you're talking about there, Kimberly.

Right. Because where you are is always wet. And I'm sure everybody knows what we're talking about, but like, some of the Southern. Is it only Southern states? I think so. Where you counties in the state decide whether they're going to be dry, which is allow alcohol sales or no wet, which is allow alcohol sales or dry, which is. You don't.

And a big thing now, too, I've noticed over the last several years, is more and more counties are moist, meaning that they sell alcohol at the restaurants, but. But you still can't buy them at the grocery stores or gas stations or something like that.

No package liquor.

Right.

I wonder if now we're going to do the same thing with, like, gambling, or. Is gambling just legal everywhere?

They just opened up a new gambling casino in Marshall County. Like, yesterday was the grand opening.

Marshall county, of all places?

Yes, in Calvert City, called Marshall Yards. They're going to do game betting and horse race betting, and then they've got the casino and the slots and.

And if you win big, Carissa, make sure I get a cut.

I'm not a gambler. My husband is, but I'm not.

I'm not a big one either.

So do y'. All. Do y' all gamble? Deal. I mean, I. I don't.

I am a big gambler. Not, like. Not problematic gambler. Let me rephrase that. But I. I do enjoy. You know, generally speaking, we go to Churchill Downs a couple times a year here in Louisville, and. And generally, we go to the casino a couple times a year.

Yeah.

And stuff.

I used to go a fair amount with some buddies of mine that used to enjoy going. Then they got married, and I guess their wives kind of put their foot down on them, you know, going to casinos, and it's funny how that works, but, you know, occasionally I take out a, you know, a 10 or a 20 and. And, you know, no, not a ridiculous amount. When I got to the end of that, I just stopped enjoying.

I'm at the penny slots.

Oh, you stick with the penny slots.

I think the key is just showing up with a set amount of money and not going over that. You know that they put ATMs in the casino for a reason.

I see it. Yeah.

Yeah. Yeah. I mean, I've been to casinos, but honestly, I just, like, on vacation. Because, like, we went to vacation and, like, Beau Rivage down in Mississippi, and we don't. We don't gamble. It's just the casino's nice, you know, really nice pool and shopping and stuff. But I'm too cheap to gamble. I'm just like. I'm just a cheapskate. I don't gamble. Also, I think slots are. I think that's a visual thing. I think I've said this before. I think they're. I don't know. I think it's just noisy. If you're blind.

Yeah. You're just hearing a bunch of.

Yeah.

Different cha chings and random sounds and. Yeah. Yeah. I've never been without sighted assistance, and I guess you Know, in most casinos, it's probably hard to do any game, like, without sighted assistance, but.

But I also don't even do things like play games on my phone, so maybe I'm just not a gamer. Maybe I'm just.

Yeah, I may. I mainly just follow other people that are gamers, like basketball players and football players.

So. Do you do sports. Get sports betting, Keith?

No. Even though it's legal now, I've got a buddy that's really into it, but I've. No, I've not done that yet either. But you're right. DraftKings, and, you know, I do those.

Do you.

But I only do it. So basically, just the NFL season, I, you know, I. I have a Draft Kings, and they can sponsor this podcast if they'd like.

Yeah.

And so during football season, my wife and I usually pick out. You know, it's funny, Sam, I'm the opposite of your friends. I got married and then got into some of these. Gambling.

Oh, after you got married.

Activities. Yeah. Her. My wife's family, they're into horse racing and all that type of stuff, so. But, yeah, no, we'll pick four teams maybe, or, you know, get what they call a parlay going, and it just kind of makes Sunday more fun watching the NFL. But I. I don't. I. I don't open the app again until the next NFL season.

Oh.

So it's. It's. The app is dormant for about eight months.

Yeah, it is. I don't.

I don't see it.

I guess even though I like watching baseball and hockey and other sports, I just. I don't. I'm not that into it to bet the games.

Well, I've been trying to educate Kimberly on this little thing called the Super Bowl.

Yeah.

No, not.

Yeah, we're trying to get her through Super Bowl 101, because as far as she knows, that game doesn't even exist.

It doesn't. At my house.

So you. Kimberly.

I told him. All I knew, Carissa, is that All Creatures Great and Small came on later that evening. So I knew what I was doing.

It sure did. That's exactly what I was doing.

And mom was watching it, too. So there were. There were, you know, a definite hardcore group of people that were.

Carissa's the one who got me watching it, so.

Oh, Carissa got you hooked.

So now that this is not our topic, believe it or not to our listeners, gambling. But I do want to know, are. Are casinos and racetracks and things, are they mostly accessible or not?

Well, we were having this debate in the office yesterday. Really? Because we started talking about Marshall Yards and I was like, let, let's see if we can get a survey going. I would love to survey a casino. My co workers argument was that he bets that casinos and gambling places would be the most accessible places you could find because they want to cater to the older population. Now he said some other things, but

that's an interesting theory.

So they're all wanting to get on the charter bus, visit the buffet and go to casinos. Basically what he said.

Yeah, all in the name of work. Right?

I, I agree with that. I, yeah, the. Every casino I've been in has been very physically accessible because they want that market. They want retirees who have time on their hands and hopefully a little bit of money on their hands. You know, they want. I won't say that. I'm not saying target in a bad way, but target as a customer base. Additionally, people with disabilities who may want to come in and gamble a little bit. Every time I'm at the casino, I see plenty of people with mobility devices. Now, I don't know how accessible they are for other types of disabilities, but for physical access, they generally seem to be pretty wide open.

Well, and I'm sure they'll try to make it possible for you, you know, regardless of what your disability is, if, you know, if you need assistance and you ask for it, they're, you know, at least they should bend over backwards to, to try to make it possible for you considering, you know, they want them, but they want you to win. But at the same time they want their money if you don't.

And, and I'm going to bet, I'm going to bet. I say, there's my pun. I'm gonna bet that they aren't gonna whip out some braille poker cards.

Well, that, that's direction that they're. Kimberly, I wouldn't, I wouldn't expect that.

But shouldn't we though, shouldn't we though it'd be.

Yeah, we should advocate for it. Since we're all about advocacy around here. We should advocate for braille poker cards at the casinos there.

Yeah, exactly. That's our, that's our next campaign. Keith with Kentucky Adapt. That's what we need to do. We need to have a direct action.

We'll look into it.

So, but now I guess the big question is, is the casino accessible when there's 8 inches of snow on the ground? Because that's our topic today, talking about getting in and out of places and the weather and how that impacts those of us with disabilities. Because it impacts everybody. But, you know, when it impacts everybody, it impacts us more. And, Carissa, I think I'm gonna start with you because you said just your body has just not been being super accessible for you lately. Tell us about that.

Me and winter have a love hate relationship. I really should say hate hate relationship. Throw me love. Party's Christmas. Whenever the weather goes up and down in temperature or the barometric pressure drops or rises, I get more stiff, I have more spasms, there's more pain. And all the weather's been doing lately is yo, yo. It'll be 60s one day and 18 the next.

Welcome to Kentucky weather.

Welcome to Kentucky weather. I keep telling my husband we're going to fly south for the winter eventually. I can't talk him into it.

You're gonna be snowbirds later in life.

I want to. Yeah, my grandfather did that, actually. He came to Kentucky during the summer and had a house in Florida for the winter.

Yeah, it's not uncommon, but I don't

know if anybody else is like this, but it really hurts. It really puts me in a bad mood. So there's some seasonal stuff there with attitude stuff, because I hurt. So, yeah, I'm over it, really.

Well, I don't think any of us would be in a real great mood if we're hurting. So in your defense, you know, I

have always meant to and never have kept, like, a pain journal because I think it's a good idea when you're like me. And I thank you, Carissa. It's like pinpointing what is causing discomfort is often hard because. Lordy, there's so many things to pick from. Right. Is it a nerve thing, a muscle thing? So I've often wondered if I kept a journal. Like it was this temperature today, and this is how, you know, I felt, how my body felt, things like that. I wonder if that would lend some insights.

Well, I kind of do mentally. It's every winter, so I kind of have pinpoints. A lot of it's the weather for me, but.

Yeah, so you just know it's gonna. It's gonna happen. It's winter. It's coming.

I know I'm gonna kill more PTO in January and February than the rest of the year.

So what about you, Keith? Does it impact you?

You know, I've. I've kind of tried to track it to see. I. I really don't. As far as the temperature goes, I don't feel like I'm in more or less pain, depending on the temperature. What. What I do experience, you Know January when we had snow on the ground for 872 days?

No, there were that many dicings in January.

Yeah. That's only half of January. 872. It's harder for me. Not necessarily more pain, just, you know, because of the weather. But my ambulating around the ice and the snow takes more spoons. And so I do find myself, especially when there's uneven ground from snow or ice, that getting. Getting exhausted earlier and faster and, and having some higher pain because of that. But, but not, not necessarily the temperature.

We explained spoon theory on here. Before you mentioned spoons.

Have we explained spoon theory here?

I believe so, but we can, we can always do it again.

Not while I was in your presence.

Oh, okay. Go ahead, Keith.

You want me to. Okay. Oh, yeah. So spoon theory is basically this idea that we all wake up in the morning with X number of spoons, and as you go throughout your day, you're. You're spending spoons on activity. So it may take someone two spoons to take a shower, let's say. And, and the idea behind spoon theory is that people with disabilities end up expending more spoons than non disabled people. So let's say my wife, who is non disabled, gets 10 spoons a day. And so do I. It looks like we both have the same amount of energy. But it takes her one spoon to take a shower. It might take me two spoons to take a shower. You know, it takes her three spoons for an eight hour workday. It may take me five spoons for an eight hour workdaY. So the idea that people with disabilities may have this same base amount of energy to expend, but it takes us more to expend it to do some

of the things that are non disabled.

Non disabled. Yeah. Yeah.

And when you cover all those things that we have to do in a layer of ice, for example.

Yeah. Piled on top of snow.

Yeah, that. That can be. So how did everybody fare with that? Because I gotta be honest, I just didn't even leave the house. I mean, really, until it was better, I didn't leave the house. So how did you all fare with that?

Same here. Oh, go ahead, Chris. I'm sorry.

Oh, you're fine. I was with Kimberly. We didn't leave the house. Luckily we worked remote. And then until I got the parking lot cleaned off at the office, we didn't go back in.

Yeah. You know, luckily I had power, knock on wood the whole time because it was.

Yeah.

Mainly a snow event and not ice. So I was able to stay, you know, on track with my other podcast that I do, blabbing in the bluegrass and keep. Keep that thing afloat and do my regularly scheduled interview. So. Yeah, and luckily we stocked up, you know, with plenty of food and. And essentials before the storm, so we were. We were okay there. But, you know, we didn't get out, mom. And I didn't really either, until. Until that died down and. And it melted at least somewhat.

Keith, what about you?

Oh, I. I was out in it.

Oh,

I was out in it.

You are brave or foolish. I don't know which key.

Well, I. I'd probably say 25, 75, respectively, there. I. So I. I do drive a Jeep, so the roads are not an issue as far as me driving. It's just, you know, the sidewalks and everything else. I mean, I can tell you that driving down a major thoroughway here in Louisville, Dixie highway, you know that by the. Well, so by Monday, the main roads were fairly clear, but what the plows had done was push all of that snow over, off onto the sidewalks, which creates another problem, and onto the side streets. So I'll tell you, driving up and down this Dixie highway here, for. For that almost two weeks, we had snow laying around. I saw so many cars get stuck in piles of snow, trying to turn off onto smaller streets. I. I saw so many people trying to navigate unshoveled sidewalks, some with mobility devices, and I thought, man, I. You know, please don't fall.

I mean, I got a new pair of boots out of it. My mom was like, you cannot walk out of the house with Crocs on. That is not allowed. Here's. So she bought me some boots, so.

Oh, you got free boots. That's awesome.

I got new boots. Yep, I got boots.

So I used to enjoy going out ice.

Yeah, I used to. When we got as much snow as we did, which here in Henderson, I guess is about 10 inches, you know, I used to enjoy going out and playing in it. I guess I've outgrown that a bit. But, you know, I'd still stick my hand out there and see how hard it was. There wasn't snowing, and, you know, maybe bend down and feel it on the ground a little bit, but that's about all I need anymore, I guess.

You know, I was watching the. The reports and things from especially the urban areas, like in, like, D.C. and Boston and places like that, and same thing, like, they clear the streets, but in some cases, like, the sidewalks are completely, you know, piled up with snow, that curb cuts are covered with snow. So I guess what. What do people do? What. What is the thing to do in that regard in that instance, Keith, do you know.

You know, unfortunately, I think what. What a lot of people do is wait. Wait for it to get cleared by weather, by. By heat. I know there. Yeah, there's been that storm in January. You know, we had a lot of conversations, me, David Allgood, the center's advocate, and some other people, just about how, you know, here in Louisville, there's an ordinance that says you have to clear the sidewalk adjacent to your property. It's a law. It's a local law. But businesses don't do it. So many people don't do it. And there's no enforcement. And I don't really think, you know, someone who owns a home and maybe can't shovel that. Sidewalks should be punished monetarily. But major businesses in town didn't even bother to clear the sidewalks connected to their buildings. And it's a problem because people get. People get stuck. People get trapped. One of my friends, who's another board member on the center, last winter when we had all that weather in that January, he said he was stuck in his house for about a week because his ramp kept icing over. So, you know, it's just weather adds that extra difficulty on top of already.

Yeah. And if you're. If you're a major business, seems like to me you want to get your property cleared as quickly as possible, because even once the weather becomes respectable, if it doesn't get above freezing for over a week like it pretty much did here, that. That's going to impact your business. And if you wonder why your numbers are down, that might explain it.

You know, they. They might even clear their. Their parking lot or whatever. But a lot of times I've seen the big snow pile that they've cleared in an access aisle or over a disabled parking spot, and that's a problem, too.

Oh, yeah.

Where they clear all of the parking lot except for the row of accessible.

Conveniently.

Murray Hospital did that this time around.

Oh, gosh.

Middle school is across the street, so we. We park there and go over.

But I know there's not always grass available, but, you know, if there is, you, you know, I. I would definitely advise those in power to. To try to find grass to shovel the snow upon. Because even if you're like on a sidewalk and, and you're trying to navigate, you know, you might use the. A grass line for a shoreline if you're a cane user, you know what I'm talking about. But, but, and you know, if there's snow piled up in the grass, you, you may be shorelining against snow, and that's not that big a deal, but, you know, as long as it's not on the sidewalk. And again, I know there's not always grass available, depending on the structure of the parking lot or whatever, but if there is, that grass is the place for snow people.

So aside from, aside from waiting it out, you know, sometimes that's not possible. If you have, you know, dialysis, you know, for example, that, that's not a thing. You can just, oh, I won't do that today. I mean, so does anyone know. Who do people call if you need access and you, you need that snow going? I mean, do you call. Who. Who do you call?

I think, unfortunately, right now, the way our system is built is you call an ambulance if it's a medical appointment, you know, I, I don't know. I will tell you. Just as a. For example, my local city district, our council member, about a day after the storm hit, started a list. He had a list of people that needed shoveling and a list of people that were willing to shovel. And on a very local level, he was trying to handle that. So, you know, I think there are things people. I don't think there's anything really there, but there are things people can do or think about or try and do ahead of time to maybe plan for it.

Now, one thing. David. Sorry, go ahead, Chrissa.

That's what we try to do. We try to do the ice melt beforehand. We try to make sure we've got, you know, supplies ready and whatnot. And I saw a lot of people during the snow we got in January, reaching out on Facebook. Okay, who can shovel for this person that needs to get out here? They would get connected that way.

And so many discussions about help for people with disabilities goes back to community always. And one of the things David Allgood always says. David Allgood's the director of advocacy for the center for Accessible Living. One of the things he always says is get to know your representatives in local government, in state government, whatever. Get to know them. Tell them what your needs are. You know, don't just show up when you need something, but let them know that you're out there, that you're involved, who you are. You know, you may, if you call their office, you may not. You're not going to talk to them. I mean, eventually maybe you will secretary, but. But that secretary is important or the aid, you know, and they know who you are. So they get to know who you are, and that's how you get things done. And sometimes if it's, you know, I live in this area, I really need to get around in my neighborhood. Could we clear snow? I mean, I'm not saying it's a 100%. Yeah, this is how you absolutely get it done. But it's. It's something.

Yeah. It's a step.

It is a step. Just one step.

And I think he told me one time, Kimberly, you call your. You call your representative multiple times a week, don't you?

Oh, yeah, yeah. Every Friday I start calling.

Every Friday?

Yeah, every Friday I start calling people.

Yep.

So what were you gonna say, Keith?

I was just gonna say that, you know, the other thing, too, you know, make sure your representatives know who you are and what your issues are. Absolutely. I think also for emergency preparedness, it doesn't hurt to make sure that your local police precinct and your local fire district also know who you are and if you have disabilities that need to be accommodated. So, you know, for. As a. For example, luckily, I don't think any of it did any of us. I didn't lose power during that storm. It was a lot of snow.

I wasn't either.

No. No.

So luckily, you know, there wasn't a ton of power outages this time around. But, you know, people have machines on batteries. People have breathing machines. People have other equipment that needs electricity. And in Louisville, we're lucky enough that our electric company actually keeps. You can give them your name and address and let them know that you have a device that relies on power. But even in absence of that type of program, if you live in a small community and you go down to the firehouse and you talk to some of the firefighters and just, hey, here's where I live. You know, here's. Here's my situation. You know, if. If I need, you know, whatever, you know, can I call you? Can you check on me? Things like that, as well as neighbors checking on, you know, be a good neighbor.

And here in Bowling Green, I know the local library, the Warren County Public Library, was a warming center, and they were doing a lot to try to connect people with resources that they need. So your local. Local fire, local police, also your library may have resources. If you have a center for independent living around, those can connect you with resources. So what do y' all think? It's here the end of February, do you think? When we're recording this, of course, it'll probably be end of March when we're out. Do you think we're because we can have snow in April and stuff. Do you think we're out of winter?

I'm gonna see. Gosh. Well, I remember in 2015 we had like an 8 inch snowfall in March and, and that really stood out. But I'm gonna say we're, I'm gonna stick my neck out since I don't have any money on it. I'm not betting.

Are you gonna bet on this or would you?

I'm not gonna bet on it, but I'm gonna, I'm gonna go out all in here and say that we're, we're over the brunt of it. I think we've got a few more cold snaps left in us. But I, I think as far as

the, you know, I'm gonna disagree with Sam. I disagree with me. I'm gonna disagree with you. I've lived here long enough to know that Kentucky can hold throw curveballs action,

I'll give you that.

I tell you, I, I'm with Carissa. I, I, I. You know what? I want to be on team Sam, but I'm with. I think we're going to see a snow in April. I do. I think it maybe even. I know it's horrible, isn't it? It's horrible.

But you think, you think it's gonna be snowing during Thunder over Louisville?

I think I have seen too many snowy Easters. I don't even know what thunder over Louisville is. Is that a derby thing?

It is.

Okay, well, that's in May, right?

Well, Derby's in May, but yeah, Thunder

is in mid April. It's the kickoff to the celebration, but.

Oh, okay.

Well, yeah.

Didn't they have to postpone or cancel that last year because of flooding?

Yes, that's correct. They, last year they canceled it completely because of flooding of the Ohio River. The, the Ohio river crested so high at the time that it, they just couldn't do it. So you have. Yeah, I mean, hey, come to Kentucky. We have all the natural disasters. I remember when there was an earthquake in. What was that, 2008 or nine.

I was at Western and I didn't feel a thing, but some people in Bowling Green did. And, and in Henderson, mom and dad felt it pretty, pretty solidly. They felt that.

It woke them up really.

And I think it was like a, I don't, can't remember what the magnitude was exactly, but it was a three point something, I think in Henderson.

Carissa, did you feel it? Because isn't the fault line way out there in the western part of the state?

It is I don't remember it, to be quite honest. I can't tell you. Obviously it wasn't, wasn't that hard because if it was, I would have remembered it.

Right.

I was on the second floor of my, my 1900 house and that house shook like,

oh, gosh.

No damage. We were, of course, we were fine and, and there was no damage to the house, but I felt like I was in a cartoon, swaying back and forth. It was real surreal.

Oh, wow. I bet that was horrifying. Or did you like, not know what was happening and by the time you did, it was over?

Yeah, it didn't last very long and it was just kind of like what's, you know. Luckily, my wife, it was early. My wife and I were awake because we were traveling that day and we were finishing packing and the house started shaking and we kind of looked at each other's. Is that an earthquake? What? That's so weird. And so she, she says, let's run out of the house. I said, you're supposed to stand under a door frame. And by the time we were done arguing, it was over.

So do you have a plan now in case of an earthquake?

We're going to run out of the house.

You're going to. Okay, you have a plan now? Okay. Are you sure or did you just win a coin toss or something?

I just know that my wife's always right, so.

Okay.

Yeah, that's. At least, that's what she. At least that's what she wants you to.

Oh, no, I'm sure there's history to bear it out. Right.

And hope. But hopefully, you know, with any luck, you won't have to put that plan in motion.

Hopefully. Yeah, you know, it is, it's good to have a plan. You know, I guess we probably need to talk a little bit about planning. We've talked about kind of the woes of disasters and weather, but you know, it's important for, especially for people with disabilities to be prepared for natural disasters. I looked up online and the unfortunate statistic is people with disabilities are at least two times more likely to die in a natural disaster than non disabled citizens. So, you know, have a plan for sure. Have an emergency kit, you know, make sure you have extra medicine, make sure you have a list of your medications and doctors, make sure you have your identification papers. You know, I probably have to look at them inside the bags and update them, but I have two bags in our basement that I got years ago from the Red Cross that were basically what you call a go bag in an emergency. And, and so that's, that's important too. I, you know, everyone should have a red cross locally, even if you don't have a center for independent living. And they're able to help with some of that stuff.

Yeah. And if you, among your other stuff, if you have a service animal, make sure you have food for your dog.

Extra food for the extra.

Yeah, food for the dog. And, you know, you'll need to replace that regularly. You know, dog food keeps a long time, but, you know, you still might want to replace it. You know, I was on a similar call. Emergency preparedness call. Bottled water. Everybody, you know, is told to have, you know, bottled water in case something happens and you have to use, you know, there's drinkable water, but also you need water. So like flush toilets or things like that. And we've had this happen where we buy for our emergency stash, we just buy the water in like, jugs, like milk jugs, but the plastic breaks down. And we've had this happen so many times. The cabinet, you know, the bottom cabinet's leaking again, and it's where that water, the jug will have sprung leak from, from the plastic breaking down. But you can buy canned water. Did y' all know this?

I didn't, no.

I've heard about. I've heard of canned sparkle water. I've not heard of canned.

No, you can buy canned flat water, and you have to. That's a good point, Sam. You have to be care buy the non carbonated. Has to be canned flat water. And you can buy it in a can. And of course it keeps like forever and ever because it's a tin can or, you know, aluminum can. So it just keeps. Not forever, but a real long time. And so, I mean, Michael was like, well, yeah, but you could just put it in a jar. And I'm like, who wants to have like, like a mason jar? Those are heavy, full of water, you know, and they're breakable and stuff. So you, you don't want to use those. But I can. So you can buy it on Amazon. Oh, wow.

You can. Reasonable, right? I'm sure.

I mean, it's expensive for water.

Worth it when you need it, though.

Whatever.

I know, right? But it is called, and this is so bizarre. I, I, I kid you not. It is called liquid death. Yes. Death.

D E A T H. Liquid death.

Liquid death.

I thought it was a caffeine drink,

but they also do water. I, I've seen that now.

Have you? Have you? Like regular flat water, right? It's just water.

They do they do teas and everything else, but they do regular flat water. They also do carbonated. You're right. Yet to make sure you get the regular.

I would be worried if I were to drink it. It might be the death of me.

Weird name. We're weird. I mean, maybe there are other brands. I don't know. Krista, do you know if there are other brands of water that

I only got. I've only seen them recently because I. Actually, they were sponsored to another podcast. Somebody sponsor us.

Hey, some. We're gonna have to reach out. Somebody. Somebody reach out. We're gonna have to. We're gonna have to get Hannah on that.

That's right. That's two sponsors. Two sponsors in this episode already, right? Kings and liquid death.

DraftKings and liquid death. Yeah, we. We gotta.

We got free plugs.

Yes, exactly. You know, my. My caffeine addiction. I might need to get these. The. Some of the caffeinated water or drink or whatever.

Because I really like the tea. It has B12 and stuff in in it too. So also.

Oh, wow.

Get a little nutritional value there.

Wow. So, yeah. And of course, medications and things are always important. So how do y' all feel about alerting police and things that you. Is this. Is this best practice to alert authorities that you have a disabled person in your house? Yes, it is best practice.

I would say so.

I don't think it's a bad thing, especially if you're, you know, if you have other health complications besides your disability because you don't want to be stranded, you know, without assistance for an extended period of time. If you're. If you're particularly vulnerable, which you are in a way, if you have a disability, but even more if you're right, say older and you're. You struggle with other health complications. It's. I don't think it's a bad idea.

I don't know if they still do this, but when I was younger, not only did we. We know the fire department and they knew about me, but they also gave us a sticker to put in my bedroom window that identified that I had a disability and needed help out in case of an emergency.

That's a good option. So if you needed help, you could place that sticker on your window and that'd be a signal, like if there

was a fire, to alert someone that you could not get out. If your main accessible entrance was blocked by fire or whatever, then you wouldn't be able to get out.

Exactly.

Keith, do you have thoughts?

I agree. I think, you know, I can Tell you that when I worked for the center, and the first time we moved to a second floor in a building, we worked with the fire department and the police in that. That district. We did drills. We talked about, because we had multiple wheelchair users, and if the elevator went down during a fire, then how do we get our wheelchair users out safely? And so we invite. We just invited them. We said, hey, you know, here's our situation. We're a disability business. We'd love to have you come out, look at the place, make sure you know the layout, make sure you know where we're going to have people gather that need help evacuating. And so there's just less guessing there. And it's the same thing at your personal home. Like Karissa said, you know, the worst thing we want a first responder to do is have to guess where we are or how to. How to get us out in an emergency. So. Yeah, I agree. You know, getting to know your local fire, fire department make. Making sure they know who you are.

Yeah. And I guess having to guess what your disability is, too, that could be another somewhat complicated and time consuming thing. Even if they. Yeah, even if they know you have one, if they don't know what it is, they, you know, they have to solve that puzzle, too.

So, Carissa, what was on the sticker that was in your window? It just.

It just had a writing on it that said, there's someone here in this location that needs assistance.

So it didn't specify what your disability was?

No, it had like a. I think it had a big H on it so they could see it. And then. Then it's. They knew what that meant. They didn't specify what my disability was.

Okay. Okay.

But it identified my vendor, which is most likely where I would be.

Maybe the first step would be coming up with more. More descriptive stickers.

Well, I'm just wondering if you can, I mean, obviously get everyone out, but, you know, if they got you out and didn't get your chair out, and maybe if that was because they didn't know they. They could. They were supposed to, you know, that would be kind of a problem, you know?

Yeah. That's why I think talking to them first would be a great idea. Completely agree. Letting them know about you and what you need. Hey, you know, and could you check on me like you said earlier? Hey, I have a power wheelchair that I can't live without. You know, obviously I come first, but.

Right. Right.

I need equipment or I have a service animal.

Yeah. Yeah. And those statistics are stark and Unsettling how much more likely if you're disabled, you are, than a non disabled person to be killed or injured in a natural disaster.

That.

It is kind of terrifying, honestly.

Yeah. It's not something any of us want to think about.

It's not.

But it's not numbers that we want to, you know, most of us don't want to hear the, the specific numbers, but. No, but, you know, it just emphasizes the, the importance of preparation and.

Right, right. Yeah. So. Well, this has got cheery, huh?

It's thought provoking. You can't deny that.

You can't. And, you know, I think, I think the takeaway here from this conversation is that we do have a lot of weather events and they're all a little different, but be prepared as best you can. I know a lot of us want to stay away from news and things, but, you know, try not to completely unplug so that, you know, if there's a weather event coming or, or something like that. And then get to know people. Get. Get to know the people who can give you help. And that's your community, that's your elected officials, that's your first responders.

Sure.

Yeah. And March and April I've noticed. Well, and maybe always, but I seem to have especially noticed that last four or five years, March and April seem to be, you know, big severe weather, tornado months. And I'm guessing it's because, you know, in part because, you know, you get that temperature roller coaster, especially in March, up and down like a yo yo. And whenever that happens, there's always a possibility of storm. So even if there's not snow, which Carissa thinks there will be, I know, in, in March, even if there's not snow, you know, you got to be prepared for other systems on the warm side of things, like, like a severe thunderstorm or tornado, heavy winds, that sort of thing. So just be mindful. I'm not trying to scare anybody. Just be mindful.

Yep. Yep. Be aware. And Carissa's already dreading we talk about the temperature fluctuations. She knows what that means for her.

So I'm ready to throw out the yo yo.

You've had enough yo yoing.

I've had enough yo yoing.

I've had enough. Yeah.

Also has an emergency management kind of thought provoking sheet that I've done with consumers before. So if you don't know what to think about the sheet, help kind of walks you through. And you can kind of plan that way. So anybody's listening that wants help with a plan. I'm sure we can help you.

All right, gang, this has been fun as always.

Yes.

So thanks listeners, for sticking with us and joining us for another Cal conversation. Demand and Disrupt is a production of the Advocado Press with generous support from the center for Accessible Living, based in Louisville, Kentucky. Our executive producers are me, Kimberly Parsley, and Dave Mathis. Our sound engineer is Michael Parsley. Thanks to Chris Anken for the use of his song Change. Don't forget to follow or subscribe so you never miss an episode and please consider leaving a review. You can find links to our email and social media in the show. Notes Notes. Please reach out and let's keep the conversation going. Thanks everyone.

Difference We've had our curtain calling this time the writing's on the wall we can defend them Two damaged hearts refuse to mend Judge mis situations pointless with each and every day it's not a game we did in play. We try to make things better Repair and rearrange things but each and every letter spelled out the F Open up our minds and hearts to change. Roll the dice then what will be will be Disregard for good to set us free Free Church there's just no way of knowing if love lives anymore Turn out the light and close the door. We try to make things better Repair and rearrange things but each and every letter spelled out with me for us to open up our minds and hearts to change.