Agreed. I thankfully have a hospital up against my back yard.
“We’ve traced the call. It came from INSIDE the house!”
Related, I’m remembering a movie or show where there was a person already in isolated treatment in a hospital when an infection kills off everyone. They eventually get out of their isolation, only to find everyone gone.
Anyone remember what that’s from?
28 Days ?
I feel like preppers want a reason to prep. Sort of a “finally, it paid off” moment.
Really, if you’re worried, fill up your bathtub and every pot and pan with water, and go get giant sacks of beans and rice. Maybe a propane tank or two for good measure. You won’t live like a king, but you’ll live, and be just fine for a long time. And you won’t spend hundreds or thousands of dollars on freeze dried foods and crazy custom bug-out bags to do it.
If you’re prepping for a year+ “in hiding” situation, get a boat. Anything that lasts longer than a year, you need to be on water, way, way far away from land.
I mean that said, I do have about 10 cans of Mountain House freeze dried horror food (10 servings each). Water is likely to be the bottleneck more than food out here.
Ahh crap, really? How on earth did I not remember that.
Can’t argue with that. Our goal is simply to be able to sustain 2 months without leaving the property. We have a water well, with a solar panel backup. No neighbors closer than 1/4 mile, and of course, enough supplies to last, even if we have to share with neighbors, we can make 2 months if we ration. Outside of that, it gets pretty hairy.
You know, you’re probably right, but I think most people really don’t want to see that day come. The feeling of satisfaction of being ready wouldn’t be much compared to the danger and uncertainty that would come with a disaster.
I have to work. No paycheck and sooner or later no electricity and gas, no internet, etc. It would take an emergency declaration to allow me to stay home, and it wouldn’t matter anyway. My company might go out of business if it closed for a month or two.
We probably have two to three weeks of food in the house, most of it frozen. We could stretch that and survive for awhile. I’ll assume plumbing will still work so tap water should be available. I do NOT have two weeks worth of beer, though. Um, I’ll be right back. Going to the store…
Does cat food count?
Did you mean do cats count as food? ;)
Yeah, I get that. You run your own business? May I ask what you do?
That choice confronts everyone, and it can be difficult to judge when the moment arrives that going to work is a bad idea vs loss of income, and having the boss be angry you’re not showing up and supporting the company. I had the same problem years back when I worked for Dow Chemical. Big company, running a polyethylene plant, shutting down the plant was not a light decision to make. So when hurricane Ike was bearing down on us, we have to come in until the LAST moment, and then the highways were packed with other people who decided to evacuate at the last minute. Not fun.
With a pandemic situation (which we may not have at this time), the question is, do you go in to work and become exposed to other people who may have the virus? Do you return home to your wife and kids, possibly infected but not showing symptoms? That’s where the question gets tricky.
Not my own business but we do theme cruises, six a year. If a couple got cancelled we would be in serious shape financially, since they represent 100% of our revenue.
I would follow the recommendations of the goverment. If they said I should stay home I’d attempt to do that.
I mean, you’d probably have other problems beyond just personally showing up to work. A cruise seems like almost worst-case scenario for a communicable disease / pandemic situation.
Had that happen to me as well. I was in the Navy based on a shore station in Virginia Beach. Fortunately the hurricane turned out and didn’t strike the area, but we were under orders to report as normal and if we had difficulty going in to report via our command chain. Meanwhile all the TVs were talking about evacuation and what to do, etc. I’m glad it didn’t come to the bad stuff.
I’m sure that drive out at the last minute was horrible. You’re left with, “do I want my job that bad or do I think me and my family are in imminent danger.”
Offer a cruise for members of the Trump administration, then make SURE the coronavirus is on board!
Oh wait, does this belong in P&R?
If the cruise line we use cancelled it, not sure how that would work. We’d have to refund everyone. I guess we have some kind of insurance. If it’s guest that wants to cancel but the cruise is still sailing, the guest will need to have travel insurance to get a refund.
That’s a tough spot, Mark. This reminds me of the mayor of Amity in Jaws, gotta keep the beaches open.
I made sure my family left early, it was just a nice vacation for them. I stayed at home, it was better imo that getting stuck out on the road with 200 million other cars.
After that, I would sign up for hurricane duty and stay in the plant 24 hours a day until the storm missed or blew through. That was great $$.
From a guy in Vietnam:
In HCMC, Vietnam. The panic is already happening since we share a border with China and here is my experience. Disinfecting alcohol and hand sanitizer is completely gone. Sold out - simply not available anywhere at any price. N95 masks gone. You aren’t getting any here if you didn’t already get (I did) . Simple surgery masks are somewhat available (as of yesterday and are being sold directly out of the master carton on the pharmacy floor. They are selling like hotcakes.) Food supply is definitely gapping - partly because we are at the end of Lunar New Year and partly because shoppers are stocking up. Personally witnessed at the local warehouse type store yesterday some gaps on store shelves - my favorite ramen for example and carts filled with bulk. Preppers recognize the purchase choices.
Everyone is already staying indoors. 99 percent are wearing masks in public settings. We wear masks pretty frequently here anyway due to air quality but it’s nearly 100 percent voluntary compliance at this point. People are aware and taking precautions. I have some alcohol which I’m glad for. Bleach is still available so I bought some. I also considered buying mouthwash due to the high alcohol content. You could also use vodka. The hivemind hasnt gone there yet mentally so both are readily available but yeah, hand sanitizer and rubbing / disinfecting alcohol. Completely wiped out. Not a trace available in a city of 11 million people.
Here in the States the spread seems to be contained, but keep in mind, all it takes is a breathless Wolf Blitzer announcing an “explosion” of new coronavirus cases to start the panic. Once the news cycle pivots to pandemic, it will be too late to get ready.
The spice must flow.
It’s weird that people who wear pink and green Polos and tie the arms of sweaters around their necks on their way to play tennis are the ones worrying about potential disasters.