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Category: prepping

Tues. Mar. 17, 2020 – I’m trying to take my own advice

Wet, and a bit cooler.

Happy St. Patrick’s Day. DON’T kiss a stranger.

Got light misty drizzle a couple of times in the afternoon, and then again in the evening, but hadn’t gotten any real rain before I went to bed.

Traffic was light in the afternoon, but still slowed down in the usual places. Commuter traffic patterns were VERY light though.

The world continues to sicken, with south and central America, and africa all growing cases. Despite that, I keep finding reasons why I HAVE to go out. I’m taking precautions. I’m wearing gloves, avoiding touching stuff and people, even wearing shoe covers in high traffic areas. I hope it’s enough.

I’m also whacked out on Tamiflu, and Flagyl and Cipro for my other issue, the one that drove the Dr visit in the first place. I am seeing improvement there so that’s a plus. High power antibiotics will make me a bit goofy and a bit lightheaded. I’m drinking Airborne (yes some people believe it’s worthless, I disagree) and taking my normal everyday stuff too, allergy and anti-inflammatory drugs.

I don’t trust myself to evaluate how I’m actually feeling with all that on board, but I do feel pretty good. No coughing. The kids are both feeling better too. Tree pollen and leaf mold are contributing to my lack of perfect wellness on top of all the rest though as I clean and move stuff in the driveway.

I’ve decided where to put the shelves for all the piled up food- under the roof on the back patio. It’s coolest, dark-ish, and close to the door. Way better than under a tarp in the driveway in the sun. That’s in addition to the food and supplies in the garage. As a testament to my wife coming around, she nodded along while I described what I wanted to do. That’s a huge improvement from a week ago. SteveF, I feel for you. It’s been a great burden removed from me when my wife committed to this course of action.

Throughout all of this, part of me can’t help but acknowledge that civil liberties are being ignored, draconian and tyrannical measures are being put into place, and all without any reference to supporting law and authority. I am nervous about it all, but I believe the math. The math says the only way to save lives it to do this, and even harder and faster than currently. We are unlikely to be the same as people or nation when we get through to the other side. In the words of Yoda, “Save you what can…”

nick

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Mon. Mar. 16, 2020 – plague continues to grow, avoid people

Warm and wet.

Yesterday turned into a fine day in the late afternoon. OC and grey for most of the day, the breeze finally cleared the air for a little while.

I got a whole pallet of scrap loaded and delivered to my secondary location, where I stacked it on a pallet behind the dumpster and wrote “Free” on it. If it’s still there when this burns out, I’ll take it to the scrapyard myself. At the moment, my time is worth way more than scrap value to break it down, and more than being close to the guys at the yard for only a few bucks in ‘breakage’ if I don’t separate it. This is another case of “should have done it long ago, before China tanked.”

Getting rid of that pallet opened up a nice spot for a metal shelf unit to hold food and supplies. Going to the secondary also let me pick up two black tubs of food. I’m concerned about bringing everything home, but I’m also concerned about theft while it’s there, and not being able to access it if things continue to get restricted. Right now, I’m leaning toward bringing most of it home.

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Trump and the others trying to manage this crisis are handicapped by their privilege. Yes, I’m using the SJW word, and in mostly the same way they do. US leaders are trying to calm the public down, which is a knee jerk reaction. People get excited, you try to calm them down. In this case, I think it’s entirely appropriate to buy enough food and supplies to stay the flock indoors and avoid people for a couple of months. Others disagree. Trump and TPTB have privilege that they don’t see– they won’t be going out next week to shop. They won’t be taking their lives and the lives of their loved ones into their hands and exposing themselves to a hundred potential infecteds, or touching the same surfaces 100s of dirty sick people have also touched.

I don’t care if the stores have food in a week. Or two weeks. Or if they’ll stay open somehow. I won’t be going there, and neither will Trump, Fauci, or any of the other stiffs on TV.

I won’t be going because I don’t want to get sick. I UNDERSTAND WHAT QUARANTINE MEANS. Clearly they don’t. It certainly doesn’t mean, after a week home with your sick kids, and a day after YOU start coughing, head to the Kroger for some lunchmeat and ramen. The folks at Kroger don’t want your virus shedding butt in there either.

I won’t be going out into ‘the community’ because that’s where ‘community transmission’ happens. FFS people lockdown means LOCKED DOWN. No way the queues will maintain enough separation between people. No way they’ll be wiping down surfaces and waiting 10 minutes for the virus to die before the next person touches it. YES, 10 minutes of wet time. For almost all the disinfectants.

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My wife and others have said the same things, this feels weird, wrong somehow. I figure it’s because we are experienced and prepared. We’ve had PRACTICE and we have routines even — but for hurricanes, storms, earthquakes, etc NOT pandemic. We’re trained to head out for one last thing before the storm gets here. We’re used to working through a list and getting a few more things done before the storm. We’re used to checking on neighbors, making sure they have what they need and are getting ready. We’re used to cracking a bottle and grilling the freezer meat when the power is out, or sharing a meal with neighbors while the aftershocks shake. We know that there is backup out there and eventually help will arrive. We pride ourselves on not needing help, but providing it.

All that experience is WRONG for this disaster. You need to stop going to the store. Stop touching all the things. No get togethers. No casual contact. No more ‘one last thing’ if it involves people. My neighbor was out in the yard so I asked him what their plans were. He said “I’m going to hockey practice.” No, I meant for the next few weeks. “OH, I’ve been to the store 3 times, we’re good to stay home.” Then he jumped in the truck and went to join a group of people potential infecteds and play hockey. He’ll need a store to be open next week, and he’ll be walking right into what will feel like an overnight increase in infection.

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Take precautions and finish up! Recognize that this IS different than all the other disasters, and don’t get caught out because of your own habits and expectations.

If you aren’t done yet, keep stacking, but do it by remote control. Don’t go out and play in it.

nick

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Sun. Mar. 15, 2020 – 3 months, not 3 weeks

Warm and wet.

Light rain started last night, after a damp and overcast day. Some moments of clear sky and nice breeze, but generally threatening all day.

My AC is working again. It took several pounds of R22 to bring the system pressure back up. I’m hoping it holds for the season.

If you haven’t been reading comments, I encourage you to do so as that’s where the good stuff is. I think of the day’s post as a topic sentence for the day, but it often ends up something completely different. It’s always interesting and civil.

Also, please check out Aesop at https://raconteurreport.blogspot.com/ He’s on the front line of this in CA. I’m active in the comments over there too (if you’re interested).

After consideration, and some thought, PLEASE STOP GOING TO STORES. The curiosity factor will get you killed or sickened. All over the web I’m seeing people check in and admit they didn’t really need anything but were just curious. I admit I did it too, last week. But now, the freaking stores are full of people from the community. That’s where “community transmission” comes from! Read the Italian ICU report I linked late last night. The ONLY thing that will help when the ICU inundation starts is slowing the rate of contagion. The only thing that slows the spread is isolation.

Don’t even think about ‘get it now, while there are still beds’. Between the time to show symptoms and the normal time until it gets bad, you won’t beat the rush. Everyone with it NOW will beat you there.

I commented last night why you need at least 3 months of supplies, please take a moment and consider my timeline. If it doesn’t make sense, let me know. No need to tell me it’s overreaction, but do please keep sharing your honest thoughts. We all need to avoid any mania (beyond what some of you already believe we’re infected with, and if we are, we need to slow the spiral. If you change your mind, I’m not going to judge, I’m going to celebrate.) Getting your stock up to the three month level is about the only reason I can think of to risk going into a store at this point.

I’m also sure we are about to get some internal domestic travel restrictions. It’s already been mentioned in at least two official places. The Governor of Florida is calling for it. They will ground most of the planes at some point, the math insists on it. I expect one or both of my siblings to be stuck in FL but at least my mom will have company. No resources, but company. I don’t want to consider what that means for my family long term. No matter what YOUR belief about the validity and necessity of the measures is, this now has a life of its own, and shutting down air travel is the next step. They will likely wait until they have something they can point to for such a drastic seeming decision, so watch for that. It may be a ‘magic number’ of infected, dead, or occupied ICU beds, or it might be something external to the USA. There won’t be much if any warning, we’ve already BEEN warned. One, maybe two weeks minimum would be my guess, but it’s coming.

This sort of disaster is about the worst kind. It’s everywhere. There won’t be help coming in from outside the region, like most natural disasters. What help might be available because it won’t happen everywhere at the same time, will be held in reserve for what the outsiders know is coming to them. You are on your own. No one is coming to save you. The ONLY thing that will help is if you get immunity after having the virus. If that happens, the people with mild cases will be able to keep everything going and we’ll only lose those with acute symptoms. If you don’t get lasting immunity, or worse, get it bad the second time, better start praying for effective drugs. And soon.

With that in mind, start praying for an antibody blood test, so we can confirm who’s had it and is possibly immune. There are an increasing number of people sharing stories of having been sick in the last month, but not having the flu. Heck, I have been coughing for the last month. I don’t think I got the flu, as I never had any real fever, but I felt pretty bad for a while. It’s important to remember that there might already be, and certainly will be, a large pool of people recovered from the mild symptoms. As long as they have immunity we’ll get through this. Until we can identify them though, we need to keep everyone isolated. (and there was an article about the virus being present in lungs for 30 something days after recovery, that would be bad news if true.)

So, if you aren’t stocked up, get there. Stop going out. Time to pull it all in and hope for the best.

nick

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Fri. Mar. 13, 2020 – Friday the Thirteenth falls on a Friday this month….

Warm and damp.

Yesterday was too. Sunny and hot even. None of the threatened rain showed. Which is good. I can water the garden. I’d prefer a bit less rain so I can work outside. I’ve got a ton of stuff to reorganize and put away.

I think we’re in for the duration. Gasoline, potting soil, and some lumber are about all that is left on my list. Hitting up my secondary for more stuff might happen, but I’ll try mightily to avoid any interaction with people. I don’t think they’ll impose local lockdown or curfew for another week at least.

Speaking of which… This is not a vacation. The whole purpose of these economy destroying measures is to stop or slow the spread of the virus. It won’t do that if people keep getting together. This is the time to bunker up. Shelter in place. Hunker down. However you say it, pick a spot and go to ground.

Those soon to be 20000 cases in Italy are just ordinary folks. Community transmission is just plain folks, going about their business and then getting sick. Some desperately sick. You are ordinary folks. STOP GOING ABOUT YOUR BUSINESS. Stop exposing yourself to other people. (He says, but see below.)

It will be very hard. I’ve already listed the things I’d still like to pick up, and didn’t mention the AC coil froze over again. Wife is not excited to have that keep happening while we’re locked down for weeks. So she wants to rip and replace it NOW. FFS. I’m trying to keep that from happening. SHOULD have addressed it immediately after the last problem. SHOULD HAVE. Didn’t. I would like to get the big gennie turned on and connected. STILL haven’t done that. I think maybe one more day or two max with any outside contact, and anything after that is foolhardy. It’s already later than I’d like.

Speaking of too late, I’m pretty sure both of my local auctions will be a bust. Too bad, but timing is everything. We didn’t get the week I was hoping for.

FWIW, kids are feeling better, and we’ve all started the Tamiflu. Daughter doesn’t like the taste and doesn’t want to continue. Too bad. We really don’t want to be sick or weakened now.

I hope you have all completed your preparations. We’re all about to be tested. I’m hoping we all pass… (the test, not “on”).

nick

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Thur. Mar. 12, 2020 – for some people, sh!t just got real…

Warm and damp.

Yesterday stayed overcast most of the day but then did have a bit of sunshine later.

I spent the am getting blood drawn and ‘wasting time on the internet with my friends’ and the pm running errands. I dropped off some respirators for an auction, went by my rent house and blocked up some holes where the possum was getting in, and went by my secondary location and brought some TP home. Also hid the paper products still there, and covered up some of the food and materiel as well. I don’t want it all here right now. It’s far enough away that if there were severe travel restrictions locally, I might be blocked from getting to it. That’s balanced by its purpose as a backup and offsite storage. Always tradeoffs.

Between the Houston Rodeo cancellation, Trump’s travel restrictions, and the WHO finally declaring the pandemic, some people got a very rude shock today. Add in the later celebrity and sports stars that declared they have WuFlu, and you’ve got a very upset and angry populace.

I’m thinking 5 stages of Grief for some of them.

Some of us think it’s too little too late.

Today I’m taking the kids to get swabbed for ordinary flu, just in case. I don’t usually take them to the Dr, but it’s early enough that the Tamiflu might work. School sent the oldest home with a fever, the youngest came home too. The fever is worrying. Without it, no wuflu. With it, and the cough, and the other symptoms, there’s a possibility. Neither had fever when I sent them yesterday morning. So I’ve got them at home today. I’ve got lots of groceries to put away and stuff to do. I’m going to hunker down if I can. With the kids still in school, there wasn’t a benefit to me isolating, now there is. I’ll try to keep them home Friday too, and then for Spring Break. I just hope I didn’t pick it up somewhere.

Keep stacking. Start your isolation if you think it’s time. I think it’s past time, but we finally hit my trigger- confirmed person to person in town.

nick

(oh and for anyone crying about the Rodeo, the stupid F’ers were using VINEGAR to disinfect because they were told it does a better job on BACTERIA than bleach. I almost don’t believe it, but then the whole place is staffed with third worlders with no germ theory experience. So much fail in one place.)

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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

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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’.

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

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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.

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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…..

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

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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.

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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

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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

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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

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