First off I want to say thank you for the incredible response to my post a few days ago – “From the Desk of John Rourke“. I really appreciate it. Back to today’s post…….
So – the cases of COVID-19 are spiking and the United States sits in 3rd place for total in the world. This is not unexpected as testing has increased, thus, the number of reported cases should be going up. Luckily – thus far – the percentage of deaths compared to total cases remains fairly low(at least by Italy standards). New York is the epicenter with almost half the nation’s total cases.
The stock market has dropped nearly 30%, and rebounded back up around 8%. I suspect it will skyrocket once the stimulus package is fully passed – adding trillions of dollars to the Federal debt in the process.
Businesses all over the country are shut down and millions are out of a job. Grocery store shelves are empty of rice, beans, meat, and other essentials. Gun sales have skyrocketed and ammunition is flying off the shelves. Police departments across the country are refusing to enforce or investigate non-violent crimes. Some cities are releasing inmates to decrease the possibility of infection through the jail population. People are walking around in public with N95 masks on and hand sanitizer is the most popular perfume and cologne ever made.
It’s a $%&#storm for sure.
The nation will recover(to what extent is up for the debate). The economic impact of the COVID-19 virus will be longlasting and severe(for how long and to what extent is also up for debate).
When it’s all over – what then?
If this event does not wake people up to preparing for uncertain times nothing will. For those of a preparedness mindset, we should all learn from this experience what holes we have in our systems and provide perspective on what is truly needed. When things get “back to normal” – or at least to the new normal – what are YOU going to do differently to be better prepared for the next event?
Hey – it is still early in this situation and there are far too many variables involved to accurately predict exactly what will happen over the next 6 -12 months and beyond. I have my concerns. What I know is based on the assumption that we get back to some sense of normalcy I plan to do the following:
- Be completely debt free. Being that I just became unemployed I recognize that having very little debt would be of great benefit.
- Live in the country away from people. This has been a goal for quite some time and I will accomplish this ASAP. There are so many advantages to being “in the sticks”. No doubt there will be neighbors and a community that I’ll actively engage. Networking is important.
- Food. Food storage is so important and must be a priority. While I have been sitting in a decent position it is not nearly enough. This will be rectified once employment is gained.
- Medical. While difficult I would very much like to expand my medical preparedness to include some prescription meds that could be very handy in a variety of situations. It can be done.
- Emergency Savings. Building an emergency savings to deal with unexpected events is a must.
- Just enjoy life. Over the past year, I have been unbelievably busy. Life is too short. Going kayaking, fishing, looking at the night sky and all those stars, firepits, whooping my kids’ ass in basketball, and having a glass of whiskey with friends are just a few experiences that I need more of.
Those are a few of my thoughts for now, and no doubt the list will change over time as things change.
How about you? Leave your thoughts in the comments below.
Stay safe.
Rourke
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First thing I will do is take the wife out to a nice dinner and enjoy it! Then I’m going to do a massive inventory of all my stuff! Just make a list of what I need to do and plan for our survival when this sort of thing happens again and it will. Getting to a age where we won’t bug out. Which is fine. We are in a good place right now. Just really see how things go in the next few months to make any more adjustments in our preps. Crazy times we live in.
Kayaking, fishing, a glass of whiskey with friends, brother I definitely need more of that! I too have been following the situation and considering how my preps are sizing up to the situation and like any major event there found lacking in many areas, medical is a major weakness, it seams I’ve focused on major wound care thinking there would be many fights to survive in the coming years in doing this I’ve completely failed to have vitamins, probiotics, more antibiotics, and my disinfectant supplies are really week! I have no n95 mask put up rubber gloves, definitely putting up some hand sanitizer! Food is always on the list as of late, it’s one of those preps that just doesn’t have any glamour to it and that I’ve always avoided another reason is space, you can never have enough food and food takes a LOT of space, but I also have realized I must have a country retreat location, this has always been put off as in my mind it had to be “perfect” all those years I’ve spent dreaming about my bug out location, all those wonderful plans I’ve made as to how I’m going to make it perfect and everything had to be just right had really built this up so big in my head that I’ve continually thought I’m just not financially ready for that big of a bang yet, that I need to stay focused on planning my financial future in order to be secure enough to make such a transition without falling flat on my face financially and have to start all over again, that created fear in my mind as to how I really need to be patient and wait to buy this retreat property, but then during this event as I’m stuck working remotely and have really been thinking a lot about how I could be doing everything I’m doing now for the last 9 days from a bug out location and to have that peace of mind knowing I have a fall back place that’s safe to go in the country….. that’s priceless. With all that being said I’ve finally had a change of perspective on it all, I means why can’t I buy a couple cheap acres, hell I could get lucky and it be backed up to some protected land who knows, at least I would have that place to go, and that peace of mind, I’ve always thought that it had to be perfect, it had to be just right, but why can’t it be temporary, why couldn’t I sell it off later once I got a bigger place, it’s crazy how we set these limitations on ourselves in our own minds… sorry about being so long winded but that’s the changes I’m going to plan to accomplish over the next year, and that’s the lessons Corona has taught me… don’t wait, adapt and make it happen!
For me,
Nearly debt free again .
I have been planning and researching for the last couple of years, to buy a large parcel of land back in the country, for three purposes,
Firstly to always have somewhere to live, secondly to run three businesses from the property to cover the repayments. Lastly enough land zoned correctly that I can subdivide for my children’s future. Small communities and simple goals with like minded people and security. Especially in situations like this one.
Add to my food preps not nearly enough on hand , recently brought a pressure canner to can more of the foods my children eat. Contine preserving my excess garden into jams sauces .
Add chooks and extend our garden.
I had booked into an extensive first aid course before lock down, so that’s a must to follow up on and complete.
I had also booked to start a new kickboxing classes, so fitness is a must for health and self defence.
I would like to get a gun licence and learn how to use it safely and be comfortable shooting with practice.
Continue increasing my herbal medicine knowledge.
Lastly add to my ute, a more secure ute lid and more fuel on hand. And yes Crack open the whiskey I’ve had for four years,by the time I’ll get to it, it will be vintage like me.
Yes and more n95 masks for sure!!
For the future- I need to become debt free.
Sell items we no longer need.
Lose weight .
Get a ham radio and license
move to a smaller house
For now -I just read that one of the reasons that Italy got hit so hard is that they employ 300,000 Chinese workers in their garment industries.
We will get hit again with another pandemic.I have read extenssively on this subject
and I encourage you all to also read some of the following books:
Superbugs by Dr. Matt McCarthy
The Deadliest enemy
The Viral Storm by Dr. Nathan Wolfe
Influenza Dr . Jeremy Brown
Missing Microbes by Dr. Martin J. Blaser
Pandemic by Sonia Shah
How to prepare for a pandemic
Be careful. WE are all on this site a bit more prepared than most during this extreme event.
Yes it is awful but even with 20,000 deaths -that is still minute for a world population of 7 billion humans.
It is outrageous that Nancy Pelosi and Schumer and others are using this crises for their own political gain.
Prayers to you all. Arlene
time.
Arlene thanks for the advice on books already added to my wishlist. Yes ham radios seems a must,I looked into it before this all hit us hard and they were doing a review in Australia and had suspended issuing all licences from here. I wish you luck with it at your end . Blessings
The HAM radio license is a very good idea. I just hope I have enough mental faculties left to do it.
Well, I’d already started the Enjoy Life part. I’m not terminal or anything like that, but when my doctor looked me in the eye and said “You’ll never be any better than the way you are today, and you will continue to get worse”, I knew that “tomorrow” had already arrived for me. So, the dishes wait while I sit out back and watch the trees grow. I go barefoot all day long (at my age!) and have a swig of whiskey whenever I darn well feel like it. The dog and I play, and I’ve learned that a layer of dust doesn’t hurt the living room one bit.
My medical stores are low, too. I could patch your open wounds, but I’m already out of cold medicine and its related preventives. The herbal medicines that I was going to deal with “next year” are nearly gone. The medics laughed when I asked 6 months ago if I should buy face masks, so I made the mistake of not buying any because I thought there were other things that I needed more.
And the food will never be enough. Turns out the daughter has a lot more stashed away than I’d given her credit for. All those years of preaching actually paid off! The kids are moving closer to home (already in the works before this virus) and everyone’s in full agreement that we have to get the garden started NOW. The boy’s going to put together some raised beds near the house, and the girls have volunteered to turn over some small patches in the field. We’re going to focus this year on root vegetables and winter squash. I want to see how well we can store things over winter and try my hand at air drying foods like they did way back when. The dirt coal cellar’s going to be leveled out and turned into a root cellar. If it doesn’t look like we’ll get our own wood cut, we’re going to get some delivered and fill the spare shed. I’m going to have the water tested in our old well. We’re going to expand the wild raspberry patch and try to keep the deer out of the cherry trees. The girls (finally!) want me to teach them how to sew, and they’re concentrating on learning how to live debt free. They’ve also begun studying basic herbal medicine. I can’t work for a living any more, but with a little help from the rest of them I think we can pull this off!
Thank you JR, Arlene, and Single Mom, I intend to stick up on industrial size rolls of toilet paper and boxes of paper mechanic ‘s wipe cloths.
Go to Georgia Pacific, Bounty, Scotts etc. online and other sites to order a case( 80 rolls of tp) of TP and 24 of paper towels. Ar
I’ve already started on my to do list.
I’m opening up another area for the garden. My wife has been attempting to get me to scale back but I think that is the wrong thing to do. We have chickens and guineas. The only thing we eat of their effort are the eggs. No eating of the feathery pets. I wanted to raise rabbits. I could, but I’d end up with a lot of pets. My wife would never make a farmer. I am feeding the raccoons. Oh what the heck. They’re pets too.
So, expanding the garden. Rearranging some fruit trees to make more room.
Gotta finish blocking logs and splitting wood.
Other than the fowl, I guess I need to explore the meatless diet … again.
Get in more food stock and for Heaven’s sake, toilet paper to augment my supply. Go heirloom plants and save seed.
This brings back memories. My mother was the one who took care of the animals, and one time she accidentally made friends with the steer we were raising for meat. She had to cook him, but she refused to eat him. And part of her has never gotten over it. She was never able to get attached to an animal, even an actual house pet, after that. To this day, more than 50 years later, you mention his name and she gets sad.
I cried also when we sent our first steer to the butcher and it took me a long time before I could eat that meat-from then on we did not name our steers. At this stage of life I eat a lot less meat. Ar
Word to the wise folks…
I was at the local feed and seed yesterday. I left there somewhat disappointed. Seeds have gone up in price. In some cases, A LOT. The young lady in there told me she is seeing a big surge of first timer gardeners. Seems a lot of people are wanting to start gardens. Came home and checked out Burpee’s and also Park Seed Company. Quite a few items are already out of stock! My solution is to search the catalogs, find heirloom varieties and save the seeds for next year. I have #10 cans of “emergency” SHTF seeds, but I want to hang on to them.
It’s the same with Baker Creek. They actually shut down for a week or so (now reopened) to deal with the backlog of orders. I had my seed already, but I’d wanted to get more, and there’s not a whole lot left right now.
Thanks single Mom- I thought more people would start gardening but I did not realize it would hit that fast- up here it is a slow spring- other areas in full planting mode.
Some dollar stores sell seed cheaper but I do not know what the dates are .If you have any seeds from last year they may still be viable.
This week I will be planting seeds into peat pots with my grand daughters outdoors so we can still keep our safe distance while having fun.
Arlene
I don’t have any personal experience with Dollar store seeds, but I’m a big fan of Grandpappy (Robert Wayne Atkins), and his experience is that they’re no worse than any others.
Most of what I read above I’m already doing. While I had it planned I did not get it done.. expanding my fuel supply on the property. Enlarge the garden (I can still do that now). Add to critters and purchase more feed stores (done some of it). Since agriculture is listed as critical and I made my small place a farm, I can move around and the CO-OP still has most of what I can use, so I haven’t even hit MY store yet. The company I work for is listed as critical and they issued a letter I can use to go anywhere else I want to. According to them, they do not plan to reduce head count. Mind you, me an social distancing were already buddies. I’ve been working from home for over a year. I do need to spend time getting in better shape, which has slid badly in the last year.
I am fairly certain that some of what they have taken in liberties will not be given back, in the name of safety and security. RE: Text of H.R. 5717: Gun Violence Prevention and Community Safety Act of 2020 (Introduced version) – GovTrack.us https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__www.govtrack.us_congress_bills_116_hr5717_text_ih&d=DwMFaQ&c=fpIeS8RwmHkY2r_dFRL5tQ&r=kjNG-fY2PqShIs1F79zgFpJt7V0s–8A2vq3iq9m6Vc&m=FIyRLHuPddOwJSv37jKIlO7dkDect8FMJdV7STljJd0&s=J0R01lJDouhvC3_Va5tHRwG2lYOZPfyW7cZusFMFs_w&e=
I guess I think OpSec and PerSec will be VERY important moving forward. they’ve already made many noises about how to redistribute what other people have (that have more than is thier fair share, they said. Not in a book.. REAL WORDS.. That is concerning. “First Rule of Fight Club”, gang.
Stay safe folks..
GG58
It wasn’t a surprise, but the number of people who I work with and family members who are completely unprepared is truly astonishing. I work with a fellow who stops at the grocery store every evening on his way home from work to buy the day’s groceries. My sister-in-law (whom we have talked with and provided instruction on prepping several times) was completely flabbergasted when she couldn’t get bread, rice, dried beans and luncheon meat at the grocery store.
My wife and I consider this a good examination of our preps and are making copious notes to be better prepared for the next event.
Thanks you JR!!!!!!!!!!
As soon as I heard about this virus in China we put up extra items -severak masks,tp, hand sanitizer =froze bread etc.)as I just knew it was going to spread fast. Maybe this is a lesson for many to buy essentials – for needs not wants, Glad you are prepped. Arlene
Oren ,you sound like us -smile !! I feed the wildlife also-they are a joy to watch.
Our hens are pets also and we will be getting a rooster and more baby chicks soon .The chickens earn their keep providing eggs and eating ticks.
I do not have a ton of extra seed but some that I will mail to anyone who cannot get seed .I would need money for just the postage .Rourke has my address.
Arlene
Wake Up Call!! First, let me say how glad I am that 1776 is back up on a regular basis, I missed reading all of your ideas. JR, sorry about your misfortunes. Because of this website I was prepared to a certain extent. Food, water, hand sanitizer, N-95 masks, gloves, TP, guns & ammo, ham radio. Meds, debt free, savings, collection of non-GMO seeds, over 200 prepping books on my Kindle etc. Thanks, to all of you for the inspiration and tips.
I plan on replenishing my supplies when this is over, and will probably increase the amounts. I, too, would to like to move to more rural location, but I have a disabled son that needs to be near top flight medical facilities. I am considering buying a few acres & maybe a cabin of some sort in case things get really desperate. I need to increase my medical knowledge, fishing and target shooting with my grandkids, physical ability, gardening in pots, relaxing, & hunting for morels to name a few. Oh, I started fermenting my first quart of sauerkraut yesterday. I hope it turns out ok. Good source of probiotics.
I’m sure that many more people will begin prepping now. But, as things get better, will they stick with it? Time will tell.
Some months back, as the cabin that I built to be self sufficient was nearing completion, I moved in to try it on, and haven’t left. As I was pretty much prepped, I stood away and started my racing career in earnest. I’ve gotten a lot of enjoyment from that.
When China first burped, I restocked some used up items, staged the solar and bought a new duel fuel generator. I have had pandemic supplies for years so just filled in some stuff that I knew would vanish. Stocked feed for dog, cat and chicks early. Meds all covered personal and antibiotics.
Not many holes in my plans. My problem has been with the friends I had that I assumed had common sense, simple math skills and logical problem solving abilities. Not as many as I thought. Their insistence on being part of the problem rather than the solution has invested in me a simmering anger.
Until 3 days ago I was in an island of sterility and like to think that I had something to do with keeping it that way for as long as possible. (now 5 cases in the county). March 5th I hit my first lock down protocol trigger. Two days later I hit my level two trigger, and have been out once gloved and masked and sterilizing all incoming items. All that said, I am high risk: COPD, borderline diabetic, 71 yo, high BP and pulse…and still smoking until the stock runs out. The one friend that was to be my line to the outside has proven for the second time this week, that she just don’t get it? Caused me hours of cleaning, after side stepping my sterilization protocols and being yelled at. This after I managed to get her into gloves, mask and spraying down her stuff with disinfectant, out side the door on the porch airlock.
The holes in my preps and plans? People! Be careful and think/look .before you leap.
D I applaud your thoroughness. There is an old saying ” you can never save another from themselves” . Now we must protect ourselves from others.
Our household also gets angry with the lack of common sense and lack of consideration of others. Arlene
J.R……i am sorry for the past two years of hardship and that your readers didn’t know. We have been some of your biggest supporters and undoubtedly would have remained so through these tough times. Glad to hear more from you now!
Arlene, you continue to be the kind hearted neighbor…makes my heart smile!
Great comments from everyone…i have missed this!
Just to add a bit of info on the seed/gardening supply shortages…last November, a “truck farm” type operation said to be aware that the seed potato supply would be limited this spring. (They had put in their normal order for 40,000 pounds and were told the order was being cut back to 10,000 pounds due to a smaller potato harvest last fall.) So if you can, aquire your seed potatoes asap or at least do not put it off when they are available.
This year i plan to grow my potatoes in a fenced vertical pile. My garden is just not as big as i want but at this point, D.H. thinks mowing a yard of grass more preferable to growing more…sigh.
Here’s to timing the planting of all our garden seeds/plants at just the right time for the weather this year!!!
Joyce- great to hear from you .Thanks for the heads up re: the potatoes.
How is it going where you are re: Corona ? Our county just had its first two cases.
We have been staying home-sure miss seeing my grand girls .
Prayers to all – Arlene