Just in Case!

I keep one of my daughter's old school back packs in the trunk of my car. It contains several bottles of water, some granola bars, a mylar blanket, a lighter, a pocket knife, some over the counter medications, a little cash, some old sneakers, a flashlight, extra socks, hand wipes, pliers, a few screwdrivers, some floral wire, a note pad and pencil, a spare battery pack for my cell phone, a power inverter, extension cored, and a roll of duct tape. It's my "Just In Case" bag. Everyone who sees it laughs about it and thinks I'm crazy. But then most of them didn't grow up off the east end of Lake Ontario in the snow belt where getting stuck for hours, sometimes days, is a real thing from November to March. Here in Florida? I have never had to use it, thank goodness, but recently my daughter could have used one.

She works at a hospital. Her car blew a tire in the wee hours of the morning and she was stranded on the side of the road waiting for AAA for almost three hours. She was thirsty, hungry, and had a head ache. I know this because she called me every half hour to let me know that AAA had called again and again to say they were delayed. Luckily her car still started and ran, it was only a bad tire, so she could keep her cell phone charged. Still, a few things in my "Just In Case" bag would have come in handy during that long wait. And though I have never been in one, I have seen the three and four hour traffic back-ups on the bridges in and out of the Tampa area. I am prepared, just in case that ever happens to me.

When I have to fly I have a mini "Just In Case" bag that goes in my carry on. It too holds a few essentials like granola bars, chewing gum, some cash, a few over the counter medications and a spare battery for my phone. I have had to dip into my travel JIC bag on more than one occasion while sitting on an airplane waiting for a gate or to take off. Being stuck on an airplane is a real thing, it has happened to me twice in the last few years, and it's not fun if you are hungry and bored and your phone battery is about to die. Yes, I was a Girl Scout, I have learned to be prepared, in business as well as in real life.

Being prepared from a business standpoint seems like a no brainer, right? If you need to give a visual presentation you make sure you have all the materials to give said presentation and you are good to go. Or are you? What happens if the Power Point you planned to present ends up being a corrupt file and won't open? Do you have a 2nd back up copy of it on a thumb drive? I always do. Or a paper version of it to pass out if heaven forbid, your laptop won't boot? If you live long enough and do enough business to experience such mishaps you learn to prepare a back up plan. Just in case something goes wrong with my plan A, plan B is ready and waiting in my laptop case.

Just in case can be as simple as giving yourself an extra half hour or more of travel time. Check traffic on your phone as you are getting ready, and even if it seems clear sailing, one little fender bender at the traffic light in front of you can cause a big delay. Be prepared, just in case, leave early and give yourself a cushion of time. It should go without saying, but as I have learned, sometimes you need more than one pen in your pocket. Bring several, just in case that one pen you love runs out of ink just before your big meeting. In fact, bring a few pens with you, it can't hurt, right?

Recently I had to meet a client to do a real estate contract. I gave myself an extra half hour to make the one hour drive. The only road that accesses the office from my side of town was closed due to a car accident, it was a twenty mile detour. I made the appointment on time, only to find out the power was out at the office due to the traffic accident that took out a power pole. Not to worry, in my Just In Case bag in my trunk was a power inverter. I bought it from Home Depot for $69 to be able to use my laptop in the car when traveling and to get through the occasional summer storms that frequently knock the power out. I used it that day to power my laptop and my office printer. The power came back on just as we finished signing the contract.

I am a firm believer in Murphy's Law and do my best to outwit Mr. Murphy and his constant attempts to throw me off my game. I have a stash of canned foods and some cash in my home, just in case there is a hurricane or some other similar event that it makes it necessary. ATM's don't work without power. We live in the age of technology, my entire life is literally on my cell phone. Of course I have it backed up on my computer, but if the power is out I have no way to even access that. So I have a back up of my contacts list, in a printed spread sheet, just in case. It would be impossible to prepare for any and all mishaps in life, but a few simple things like hard copies, extra files on a flash drive, and an emergency Just In Case Bag will go a long way to helping you keep your cool. And speaking of keeping cool, I also carry a small battery operated fan in my car, you know, just in case. It gets really hot in Florida in the summer!