Font Size:     

Month: March 2020

Wed. Mar. 11, 2020 – scrambling

Warm and moist.

Yesterday got almost hot in the afternoon. Very light sprinkles just added to the moistness. I walked to my auto mechanic to pick up my truck and was sweating when I got there. $4350 in all, which included changing the trans fluid and filter. Runs smooth and quiet.

Found a place to sell my powered respirators (3m PAPR) so I’ll drop them off today. Absolutely have to move some stuff from secondary to home. That’s got some inbuilt challenges.

Hit Walgreens, Costco, and HEB yesterday. So glad I made my primary run before the others caught on. I haven’t seen toilet paper in days. I’ve got a ton of stuff to get put away.

The wuflu situation is changing so rapidly that most people I talk to have no idea how bad it’s gotten just in the last couple of days. And it is bad. Will it get bad enough fast enough to keep my wife home from WDW? I hope so, because otherwise I’m facing a pathetic post-apoc novel of a trip. As noted before, humans are bad at exponential growth. I’ve had to say the doubles out loud for people to believe me.

We’re heading into Spring Break this Friday, which was the impetus for our trip. My prediction is we don’t come out of Spring Break, ie. schools just stay closed. By any doubling rate, we should be well on the way to 10s of thousands of cases by then, maybe more. That’s why I don’t want to go, by the time we’re ready to come home, even if we’re not sick, I think things will be shutting down.

So little time left, and every trip outside increases the risk of bringing it home. If you’re set, start your isolation. I wish I could.

n

Read the comments: 44 Comments

Tues. Mar. 10, 2010 – Happens that my birthday will be this week

Cool and damp.

Rain threatened all day yesterday, and even came down in fits and starts in different parts of the city. If it was snow, I’d have said it fell but didn’t stick. Concrete showed the damp but nothing else did.

I was hoping for some actual rain overnight to water everything and save me the time. No such luck.

Today I’ve got a couple of errands to run. Maybe a haircut. Better now than almost every day hence. The odds get worse for casual contact with every passing day. It kills me to not be able to pull back and do what I know is the right thing.

Meanwhile, the laws of math are going to be teaching some people some hard truths. I REALLY wanted to avoid that.

Lots to do, and I’m feeling blue…

n

Stack, stack, and stack some more.

Read the comments: 51 Comments

Mon. Mar. 9, 2020 – one rough week ahead

Cooler, and possibility of rain.

Yesterday stayed dry. I got a lot of work done in the driveway and garage. Can’t really tell, but I did. Put a load in the truck to take to local auction. I hope it brings something, but mainly I need it gone. Believing in impending doom focuses the mind dramatically on issues of “do I need that?”

Speaking of which, we’re still set to leave on vacation at the end of this week. I should be packing, sorting, and getting ready. Instead I’m filled with dread. Last hurrah or foolish risk? Normalcy bias is VERY HARD to fight.

One thing I know, regardless of any numbers or discussion about WHO gets it or why, when it shows up, it spreads. NOTHING is actually being done to prevent the spread and increase.

All I can hope for is that the decision is made elsewhere, either by Disney or the airlines, or .gov. It doesn’t get much clearer than Fauchi saying stay home and don’t travel. But that’s not enough, I guess. I’m pretty sure I know what Bob would advise. Stay home. Avoid crowds.

Keep stacking.

nick

Wisdom in one line…

“Just in case things get much worse, don’t overlook security for when the redistribution warriors decide to go midnight shopping. ” –DiveMedic

Read the comments: 54 Comments

Sun. Mar. 8, 2020 – when they steal an hour from our lives…

Cooler, and hopefully rain free…

Yesterday never got as warm as predicted, and at least at the Ft Bend Fairgrounds, a gorgeous morning with a fantastic sunrise ended up a gloomy blustery overcast day.

I hope today is dry so that I can work on getting the driveway cleaned up and the hamfest stuff put away for another year. I need to clear space to bring home several tubs from my secondary location. They are far enough away that a local quarantine would put them out of reach.

I still am planning as if we weren’t going to WDW next week. Wife is still planning to go, as of Friday. Our school district sends an email every day that they are cleaning and following official state and city guidance. We’re so fukced. I didn’t prepare for the last 6 years to get this stupid bug now. If this were a book, no one would believe the prepper main character going to a swapmeet ahead of a trip to Disneyworld AT SPRING BREAK during a pandemic outbreak of a deadly disease. One of the most refreshing things about John Ringo’s Black Tide Rising is that when the family gets word, they ACT. Of course they then spend another month F’ing around in NYFC waiting for things to get untenable… unlike them, we don’t have a vaccine.

—

Please add hand lotion to your ‘last run’ if you don’t already have a good stock. My hands are RAW. All the wiping, hand washing, and bleach are brutal on hands.

Speaking of bleach, I literally washed my cash from the swapmeet in bleach solution. I’m waiting for it to dry to count it. It left the wash water tinged beige. Just saying. Wife is doing a cookie booth later today. FFS. And I’d like to wash that money too.

—

Aesop points out that it’s not just the number of sick people overwhelming the medical system, it’s the lost work time as 10s or 100s of thousands are unable to work for 3-5 weeks or more. That’s a BIG hit to the economy, as china will find out.

—

the common AB drug that is unavailable might be doxy… it fits the description. A little birdy told me they are working on getting production up in the US but it will be ‘a while’.

—

For some reason, the 5 extra deodorants I thought I had in the cabinet are AWOL. It’s always something you thought was covered.

—

Hospitals are already conserving PPEs, and NYFC is conserving firefighters by keeping them off possible Covid calls. EMS is F’d. I guess they hope to keep fighting fires, when they come, but have written off the EMS as a lost cause.

—

Consider hospital staffing levels when they lose a whole ER shift to quarantine every time some joker walks in with WuFlu unannounced. Rinse and repeat for a few weeks. Now break your arm in a fall…..

—

Did I mention I think we’re F’d? And we have more interlocking dependencies than China, so we have more breakable systems.

—

Keep stacking, and turn your clock forward for the time stealers.*

n

*the spring forward part is for real, the time stealing government flunkies part, not so much.

Read the comments: 38 Comments

Sat. Mar. 7, 2020 – Hamfest today, also regional convention…

Cool, sunny, and probably windy.

Yesterday was gorgeous. Cool, breezy and sunny. I’ve got a bit of sunburn or wind burn from being out all afternoon. I’ll probably have worse by the end of today.

Spent the morning getting ready, taking calls, and having the roof looked at. Spent the afternoon hitting two storage units and my secondary location to get a bunch of stuff together for the hamfest. I’ll spend today standing in a parking lot selling a bunch (hopefully) and trying not to get sick.

Speaking of getting sick… get prepped. It doesn’t matter whether you think this is nothing or the end of the world. YOUR NEIGHBOR can get sick, and then you are confined to your home with no warning. Get some food etc in and be ready. Make your last run to the store and then step back from the edge.

Lots of people are getting sick. Telling me that it’s just every adult in my life and the kids’ grandparents who are the only ones seriously at risk ISN’T comforting BTW. It smacks of the arrogance of youth. Just saying.

And with that, I’m headed out. Wife and second daughter are at away camp. First daughter is with friends. I’m gonna go hang with one of my tribes.

n

And KEEP STACKING.

added- Divemedic has a disturbing anecdote — http://street-pharmacy.blogspot.com/2020/03/flash-we-are-being-misled.html Ask yourself how many others like that are in FL. Where they have a HUGE incentive to keep the numbers down.

Also this- St Cecilia’s Church is about 3.5 miles away. We have one friend that attends there but not on Ash Wednesday.

“Important Message from St. Cecilia Regarding Coronavirus:

Today, late in the afternoon, Harris County Public Health made us aware that an individual who tested positive for the coronavirus, attended the 5:30 pm Ash Wednesday Mass on February 26th here at St. Cecilia. Harris County Public Health also told us this individual received ashes and had communion in the hand; the person did not receive communion from the cup. We were informed that the individual sat in the last pew on the left side of the Church at this service. If you sat in the last 3 rows on the left side of the Church at the 5:30 p.m. Ash Wednesday Mass, you are asked to contact Harris County Public Health at 713-439-6000. We also urge anyone experiencing symptoms of the coronavirus to seek medical attention immediately.

St. Cecilia has taken the following to help protect its parishioners:
• We drained and sanitized the baptismal fonts; it will not be filled for the remainder of the Lenten season
• We sanitized pews, door handles, and bathrooms
• We are providing hand sanitizers at all the church entrances

If you are unwell or uncomfortable coming to mass or in crowded places, please stay home and join us in prayer. In addition, please keep those who have been affected by the coronavirus in your prayers.”

Read the comments: 39 Comments

Fri. Mar. 6, 2020 – mad scramble today

Cool and clear. [65F]

Yesterday ended up beautiful and clear with a nice breeze to dry everything out and cool everything off.

I ended up not getting as much done as I wanted to. I was hoping to get at least one load of stuff for the hamfest to my house for loading. I’ll have to go get all of it today, and load up. Something will be slipping and I’m pretty sure it will be watching the news develop.

The hamfest is in Ft Bend county at the Rosenberg fairgrounds. I was very glad to hear that the cases there were travel related. UNhappy to think about all the people I’m going to interact with tomorrow. It’s outside which will help, I’ll keep my distance, and I’m not going to be shaking hands much. Since ebay killed my listing, I’ll probably bring at least a box or two of masks. I’ll ask less than my ebay price.

Another thing that will slip is putting a piece of test gear back together for sale. I’m the king of taking stuff apart, not so much putting it back together. It will sell well on ebay, so I’ll do that.

Tried to drop off 17 3m Breathe easy turbo PAPR forced air respirator units, only slightly moldy, at my local auction. Spent over 2 hours trying to do so, only to discover they won’t take anything that someone might breathe through. Sucks. I really wanted to quickly sell the lot and not ship anything. Maybe one of the other local auctions will take it. They are NOT ready to use, needing cleaning, batteries, and filters.

Between my unscheduled shopping trip, my unsuccessful auction trip, and checking on my truck, I am behind where I hoped to be getting ready for my swapmeet.

So, I’m gonna be off line most of today, once I get out of the house.

KEEP STACKING.

nick

Read the comments: 67 Comments

Thur. Mar. 5, 2020 – getting set for wuflu, and hamfest

Cool and damp. Windy too.

Yesterday was off and on rain in the morning which limited my outdoor work. As y’all know, I spent the time indoors on the computer. It finally dried out enough for me to get out in the driveway around noon.

I managed to get some stuff done. I got some shelves set up where I took a pallet of stuff apart, moved recent food there, and wrapped the whole thing in plastic to keep it dry. It’s less than ideal, but better than nothing. (I didn’t get the batteries replaced in my weather station. It’s not even waking up in the daylight. Today for sure.)

I found and went through the portable forced air respirators. Unfortunately due to moisture intrusion, they got moldy in storage. It sucks because there are spare canisters, and bunny suit hoods. No actual face masks, but I have a couple that would work, if I didn’t want to use the paper hoods. I even got the correct battery packs in another auction. Despite that I’m going to put them in the auction. I don’t have time or desire to clean them, and I can use the money for other things. I figure they should sell, given the state of things. Since there are about 20 I may keep two and two of the batteries just in case. They are awesome for woodworking at the lathe if things go back to normal.

This is not the first time moisture and mold got me. The Rubbermaid Cargo containers, black rotomolded tubs with grey lids and red latches, are absolutely NOT water tight. Every one I’ve had, in any size, had water inside after long enough. Even under a tarp, both big chest sized tubs were damp, and one had 1/2″ of water in it. FWIW, the black tubs from Costco or homedepot with the snap on yellow lids aren’t water tight either. Taping over the padlock holes helps, but if water gets on the lid it will get inside eventually. It’s possible that it is some sort of thermal pumping drawing in humid air which then condenses and can’t dry out, but I’m pretty sure there is direct intrusion through capillary action.

Hamfest is Saturday, and I’ll be in the parking lot swap meet selling a truck load of stuff. It’s a long but fun day, and I usually make good money and clear out a bunch of stuff. There are people I only see at the hamfest, once a year. Nice to touch base.

I’m a bit concerned about being around all the people, but it is outdoors and I won’t be closeted with anyone. I will be using hand wipes a lot more than in the past. I don’t think I’ll wear a mask, but I’m bringing some. Forecast says clear weather, which will be a nice change.

That gives me today and tomorrow to get all the stuff out of storage, unburied, organized, priced, and loaded on the truck. AND continue to monitor the Wuflu and get myself squared away here.

No rest for the wicked.

Keep stacking, it’s here and it will be doubling every 3-5 days. People will be losing their minds by next week.

Take this time as a gift, and get ready.

nick

Read the comments: 57 Comments

Wed. Mar. 4, 2020 – more to do, time is short

Warm and wet.

Yesterday started in the high 60s and warmed up throughout the day. No rain for me though.

I picked up some extra food, OTC meds, and cleaners. Hospital grade and they have that smell… I hope I never have to use them.

But I suspect I will.

My wife and I both try to avoid carbs as much as we can so we’ve gotten out of the habit of eating potatoes, with the occasional exception for the little colorful heirloom ones or tiny reds roasted. But some of you will have noted that I’ve bought over 100 pounds of potatoes in the last couple of days. I’ve bought a bunch of onions too. Other than rice, I can’t think of anything as cheap, versatile, durable, and tasty as the potato. Combined with onion and a fat, it can be cooked in dozens of ways from simple baked to fried, mashed, twice baked, with additives, or even raw. 100 pounds for $35. 100 meals for 35USD and it will store for 100 days if kept cool and dry. Go get you some!

As a taste of what’s to come, I thin sliced a few, and saute’d them in bacon fat with sweet onion and served them with dinner. Kids ate them up and oldest daughter complimented me and asked for more. Low carb prepping is hard. It can be done, but it’s expensive. The bulk of my “bulk” stored food is not low carb. It is what it is, and at the very least, I can give it away if not needed. If needed, I’ll enjoy the flavors of the forbidden carbs….

Keep stacking folks. If you don’t need it you can celebrate that it missed us… if you do need it you’ll be glad you had it. Remember Italy. They went to bed on a normal day and work up under quarantine. When it happens it will be sudden and unwelcome and probably completely unexpected.

nick

Read the comments: 68 Comments

Tues. Mar. 3, 2020 – here comes the rain again

Warmish and damp.

Forecast shows T-storms. We’ll see I guess.

It was mid 60s yesterday morning, and stayed there most of the day.

I did some auction pickups and shipping. Sold a speaker, and two hardware firewalls. Needed boxes for the firewalls, so that was another stop. I went through my ebay listings and dropped prices. That must have signaled to the watchers that I was willing to entertain offers… which I did, taking about half of my initial listing price. Gotta move this stuff out…

Kids asked if we were going to Disney or if it would be canceled. Wife insisted as of now that we are going. But we acknowledged that things might change and the decision might be out of our hands.

We are starting to get enough numbers to make some initial observations about the WuFlu. It’s really transmissible. Cases coming out of Italy and Spain have even less than ‘casual’ contact. If you are sick enough to be hospitalized, you have a 1 in 3 likelihood of dying. That’s much more in line with the chinese gov’t actions than the numbers they’ve released. It’s also bad news.

For everyone saying “it’s only killed a tiny number of people” I can only ask what they’re basing that on? Chinese fake numbers and wishful thinking? And you have to add the word “YET” to any statement about how many it’s killed. Wait til it burns through Africa and India. Or the Brazilian favelas…

“Bring out your dead…bring out your dead…”

“We’ve come for your liver lungs.”
“But I’m still using them!”
“You signed the card.”
“Oh, well ok then.”

Keep stacking.

nick

Read the comments: 67 Comments

Mon. Mar. 2, 2020 – here we go…

Warmer and damp. [64F and wet]

It got to be shirtsleeves comfortable out, despite the occasional misty drizzle and the overcast skies. It was nice to work in the garage and driveway at that temperature.

I’m hoping for dry but cool today. We’ll see.

There are still people out there that do not think we’ll have any great disruption from the WuFlu (and some right here) but ordinary people are starting to feel unease about the situation. Given that the news if full of quarantine and cities under lockdown, the more forward thinking can imagine that happening to them, and are rushing to get what they think they’ll need in their involuntary idleness. One guy had a gallon of coconut oil and several cases of condoms. I don’t even want to speculate.

The folks here that are not too concerned are also in better shape prep-wise than Johnny Paycheck to paycheck, so they don’t have much to lose by not upping their game. For the folks with nothing put aside, there is a long curve. It helps that this is hopefully just going to be a prolonged house arrest and not the fall of society. If China kept the lights on, we should be able to too.

Second order effects are going to reshape the world though, perhaps for a long time.

In any case, I’m going to keep getting ready, while at the same time continuing to make plans as if everything was normal and fine. That’s a bit harder, but kind of hedges my bet.

My advice, keep stacking. Assume you’ll be essentially homebound for a prolonged period, and that in the wider world, the disruptions to the global supply chain caused by even just what has happened in China so far, will have long lasting effects on our world.

nick

Read the comments: 64 Comments
// ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- // end of file archive.php // -------------------------------------------------------------------------------