6 February 2003

Several years ago, maybe 10 or 15 now, we created an "Earthquake Box" full of supplies, just in case. We stuffed it with things like first aid kits, flashlights, extra batteries, cans of beef stew, fruit salad, cash, etc. It seemed like a good idea at the time. Susan was cleaning up in the garage today and opened it to find all of the cans open, with everything terribly corroded and covered with several inches of slushy mold. Apparently, at least one of the cans had exploded, its contents eating away at the other cans until they spilled their innards too. When she told me about it, I wondered if she had found any of the money we'd stowed in there. She said everything was too corroded to find anything recognizable at all. Later, she took another look and came up with this. I wonder if the U.S. Treasury will really accept these...We'll see. It's worth a try.

DWL