Preparedness - Let’s Chat

[kateelizabeth]

I'm north of Nashville. Stores, including Sam's, have empty shelves. They are getting toilet paper again, but it gets bought out (even with the limit of 1 per person) early in the morning. The stores have all given the elderly the first hour of the day, so they can shop in safety, then after that, the rest of us can shop. My pharmacist wears a mask and the pharmacy is closing several hours earlier every day. My husband had stocked up on some stuff beforehand, but he still does our everyday shopping as needed. I shopped for my grandparents the other day, but they were out of everything that Grandma wanted, except for fruit cocktail. I made what substitutions I could. I shopped for my parents yesterday, but all they wanted was more milk and bread. No problem there. All I've been doing is leaving the bags at their front doors.

My husband is still working at a dental supply company, which is considered necessary, but if need be, he can work from home. Our son works at Office Depot and he's been really busy with people buying office furniture. Our son-in-law is a soldier at Fort Campbell, and as of yesterday, he and my daughter and my granddaughter (as well as everyone else who doesn't live on post) are all self-quarantined for the next 14 days.

I have no sales or page reads at the moment, but that's normal for me with Amazon. In less than a month, I go wide again. In the meantime, I've been reading, exercising, and watching the last season of the Clone Wars and BritBox. I really should clean the house, but the bathrooms and kitchen have been getting all of the love. Actually, I really should be writing more, but I've been plotting and planning.

Stay safe and healthy everyone.

[Miss Terri Novelle]

Rumor is that essential letters are going out in my area soon which is a step toward shelter in place orders.

[Daniel]

I took a trip to the store yesterday and was able to get most of the stuff on my list. It was interesting to see what people are stocking up on. Oddly, the organic options were often still available even in sections where other brands were bought out. I suppose people are still being more cost-conscious than health-conscious even when panic buying.

The paper products aisle was seriously cleaned out. No TP, and I got the second-to-last package of paper towels. There were two sad boxes of Puffs tissues, but I have plenty of tissues (which is good news during allergy season).

The food items were stocked sufficiently for the most part. The clear winners for panic buying were convenience items. Good luck finding ramen noodles, instant stuffing mix, or any other highly-processed instant foods that I wouldn't buy on my worst day. Frozen veggies were pretty well picked over. The canned goods shelves were looking empty too, but I was able to get organic cans of corn, green beans, garbanzos, and diced tomatoes.

The flour was completely sold out. Sugar was down to spendy organic options. As a side note, I was shopping on Amazon a couple of days ago and noticed that they have also sold out of flour and sugar. Are people actually going to bake something with all that flour? They certainly don't need to bake bread. The bread aisle was perfectly well stocked.

I suspect that a lot of the panic buying is self fulfilling. Everyone hears that TP is in short supply, so they get all the TP they can when the opportunity arrives. Thus exacerbating the shortage. Our store finally limited certain products to two per customer, but it doesn't appear to have helped.

All in all, we did okay, and we're free to hunker down for at least a month before we have to get more supplies. I'm hoping things will be looking up by then.

[Miss Terri Novelle]

It's been a week since we ventured to the grocery store. We won't go again until probably Tues and then only for milk. When we were there last, the TP and paper towels were gone, but plenty of puffs and napkins. Bread was fairly well cleaned out and they were limiting chicken to one package per person. Otherwise, we could get everything else...well, they've been out of Belgian waffle mix (regular and organic versions) for the last five trips or so. But I can make my own anyway. I did buy a 5lb bag of flour early on because we were nearly out, and they had ham butts for a moderately decent price, so we grabbed one and have been picking away at it since we finished off the turkey I cooked.

I'm still working my way through the 2 packs of toilet paper I bought back at the beginning. We haven't even opened the 2nd one yet, so I suspect we're fine for the duration. I also bought a 6 pack of paper towels at the time because we were out of those then, too. In fact, I'd not really been for a stock up run for several months what with my dad's treatments, the holidays, and 3 book deadlines back to back.

We've done a bit more stocking up since then, but only because my cupboards were pretty bare at the start of it all. They're in decent shape now, though I probably will pick up a pack of egg noodles when we go in for milk. If they have any, and we're low on honey. Otherwise, I'm taking the opportunity to get the backlog of stuff out of the freezer which needs to be defrosted and reorganized anyway.

[ameliasmith]

Hello everyone! Just checking in.

I have been incredibly busy with general mom stuff in quarantine -- homeschooling plus my niece and nephew coming over all the time now that they're not allowed in the grandparents' house means much more cooking and cleaning, and lots more irritation. I can manage my own kids, but having two extra younger ones at random times has been more than I can handle. I had a bit of a meltdown about it on Sunday, and I think that their mom kind of got the message, but I expect they will slide back to the usual pattern before long. We are more or less out of toilet paper, so that's a drag, and I will have to go to the store soon, but I don't expect to find any more. Between going to a local farmstand (where we now order ahead and pick up the pre-packed bags) and getting school lunches, I can probably stretch it to a week and a half, maybe two weeks between trips to the bigger grocery stores. On this next trip I'm also going to hit the restaurant supply store to see if I can score some toilet paper.

We're also pretty rural here, but the Island has seen an influx of New Yorkers and other summer people, and our usual walking trail is about 5x busier than usual, which is weird. So traffic has actually increased on our road, but we don't notice it except when we go out.

I'm studying French a little for my long-term project, but haven't done any writing to speak of, and I don't really have the mental bandwidth for the serious history books I got for research purposes. On top of that, the local paper has stopped using freelancers for the duration of this shut-down, which is going at least until the beginning of May, so I don't have articles to write. It's probably just as well.

I'm stocked up on flour, for now, and bought a 25# bag of hard white wheat from Amazon a week ago, which I can turn into coarse-ish whole wheat flour. I have to restock sugar, though, so we'll see how that goes!

[Miss Terri Novelle]

Yeah, we have had an influx of people from NY who thought, hey...I have a camp in Maine. They don't have a lot of cases there, I should go wait this out at camp. Dumbasses...it might be spring in NYC, but it's still winter in many parts of Maine. Your camp is on a seasonal road so it hasn't been plowed out all winter, and if, by some chance it has because one of the owners kept it clear, we're in the midst of mud season.

Not only that, but we have a winter storm warning for tomorrow. Plus, you were told to stay the hell at home, so why didn't you stay the hell at home? Reception has been chilly from the locals, to say the least. And 40 degrees in the city is NOT the same as 40 degrees on lake Freeze Your Ass Off.

All that being said, we're still good for another month when it comes to toilet paper. I'd bought two packages of 6 and there's just the two of us here. We were in the grocery store on Sunday and they had individual rolls for .99. I didn't buy more, other people might need it and we don't, not yet.

We're keeping our store visits to once per week or once every 10 days as needed and even then, we're in and out in 10 minutes. The joys of small town living. I did have to go back right before closing on Sunday because when I went earlier in the day, there were too many people in there for my comfort. If necessary, I could go far longer right now without a trip to the store, and we'll evaluate that as things progress. We still live in the only county in Maine with 0 cases, but I know it's here, and I also know they're testing...so IDK. We're at 519 cases for the state, 12 deaths.

[djmills]

In my little country town of about 10K we now have one positive person. The grape vine (local gossip) said the person caught it while overseas. I have no idea whether that is true or not.

So I have made 6 material face masks, and carry one in my purse when I leave the house. If the police pull me up, I will put it on. If I hear someone cough while shopping I will put it on. Other than that, normal hand washing as soon as I get home is all I do. Not much else I can do, since there is no hand wash disinfectant anywhere to buy.

Still no raw sugar (or white or brown) or bread flour here. Was told some raw sugar was on the shelf in our local Woolworths on Sunday morning. I shopped there around midday and only 2 x 1kg packets of white sugar remained. And still no flour (strong or normal wheat). Anyway, I have enough bread flour to make 2 more loaves of bread for the next two weeks. Oh, and still no toilet paper on shelves. One store hands out a pack to whoever asks at the counter, mostly nursing staff.

I have come to the conclusion that every manager for every grocery store in my state, and probably the country, needs to be sacked. How hard is it to order more supplies. This just-in-time supply of goods is the most stupid part of economics I was taught at Uni. And this virus is showing how stupid the supply of goods is to the whole world.

What a wake up call. Hopefully, Australia will work to bring manufacturing back to our country some time in the future. :-)

And of course, with "shelter-in-place" working, everyone is using our internet to work from home, talk to relatives, etc. So of course, phone lines drop out all the time, the voice talking breaks up, and most of the conversation is guessed from the few words in each sentence I actually heard.

And now there is a class action happening because between border force, customs, port authority, medical experts and our state government, they all managed to allow a ship full of COVID19 passengers to disembark the ship in Sydney, travel to other states, or take flights back overseas, all while spreading the virus to everyone they came in contact with. Incredible! Most of the deaths in Australia are traced back to that ship.

So, as an introvert, I love being at home, writing, working in the garden, etc.
I am enjoying watching leaders around the world scramble to get control of the outbreaks. And watching the fall out of our "free trade" agreements now there is a shortage of food, medicine, etc, around the world.

So, everyone take care with washing hands when you all return home from shopping. Take care of your families, and neighbours. I hope there is a vaccine made in the next year or two. We just have to be patient. :-)

[Miss Terri Novelle]

I have discovered my tolerances on FB are decreasing by the day. I don't care which political side people are bitching about...anyone who bitches about politics more than once in a day gets snoozed. I'm over it.

Also, if I see five posts in a row about what quarantine doll you are... or whatever the hell flavor of pickle you are...snoozed. Three posts in a row telling me what it means to quarantine...snoooooooooze you. Conspiracy theories...snooze.

I may end up alone on my feed. I'm okay with that. LOL

[Daniel]

We're doing pretty well at this point. We made a decision to live rural and work from home about 25 years ago, and that lifestyle is paying off well right now. We're both still employed and the virus hasn't managed to establish a foothold in our low-population-density county. I'm sure it will spread over time, but due to low overall exposure (i.e. viral load), I'm guessing we'll have more mild cases than otherwise until herd immunity starts blocking it. Meanwhile, I have to hope my mother and step-father don't get it because they have about every possible risk factor.

Also, I thought I'd point out that this thread is not in the Snug, so anything we post here is publicly available. I don't think anyone has posted anything worth worrying about, but we're so used to communicating privately that I thought I should say something.

[elephantsbookshelf]

I haven't checked into this group in a while and I just wanted to see how everyone is doing.

In my area of New Jersey, things are getting a little too normal for my tastes, by which I mean too many people are moving around as though the problem is over. And now it seems to be thought of more along political lines than health lines -- a scary development.

A friend of ours passed away due to the virus -- younger and more healthy than me, but he worked as an occupational therapist -- and we've had several friends (and some family) who also caught it. One friend had to be hospitalized, but he's out now.

I hope and pray you're all doing as well as possible and that your writing has not suffered too much.

Stay safe, folks.

[Daniel]

In North Idaho, things are mixed. Some folks are wearing masks and taking precautions and others are acting like everything is back to normal. Granted, we have had only 7 cases total in a county of >30,000, but tourist season is upon us and some of those folks are looking for areas like this where the virus hasn't made headway. Until they bring it with them, that is.

I'm being cautious. I wear a mask when I go inside a building that has a lot of people in it. That doesn't happen very often. Most of the time, we are 15 miles from town (a town of 8,000 people) walking amongst the trees on our own private 40 acres. Nobody but us and the dogs.

[Miss Terri Novelle]

It's the same here. Some people wearing masks, some not. Our county hasn't had an actual case yet. There was one death and one recovered, but while both were county residents, neither were here at the time. But it's coming on for tourist season and I can't really see people coming here from other states and obeying the 14 day quarantine requirement.

Plus, even though we have good numbers statewide, even people from the southern part of the state where there were more cases could bring it here.

I'll be sewing a couple more masks this week so we have extras. We wear ours when we go into buildings which I only do to get groceries.

[carlos]

Our retirement home was tested yesterday--quite a scene of confusion as the old ladies squabbled over their place in line(not very good social distancing, but pretty good with the masks.)

I made a little joke to the nurse about the president's statement on testing, but she didn't find it funny. "I don't discuss politics when I'm working!"

Well... lah di dah! I thought. "Me either," I said, "Luckily I haven't worked in 15 years." Again, she was not amused.

Turns out the testing company was from Florida. What on earth were they doing all the way across the continent, in the land of 'no-trump and never-trump?' Must be a frightening place for them--and, to be fair, a kind of daunting job--testing hundreds of people in a high risk environment.

[djmills]

I sure hope the testing workers were tested negative before they entered your retirement home.

Don't want a repeat of what happened in Australia, where one aged-care nurse spread the virus in two aged care homes. Sadly, lots of deaths from that. And now there is a new outbreak in Victoria suburbs that the government is trying to contain.

You all stay safe until a vaccine is discovered and made for everyone.

[Suzy]

Sounds strange, Carlos. Masks are a good idea though. They are recommending them here in Ireland, and now it's mandatory on public transport. I always wear a mask in shops and other places where social distancing is difficult. I truly believe that if everyone wore masks the rate of infection would be much lower.

Ireland has done well so far and infection is now very low, as are deaths, only three today, and a few new cases. But every death is a sadness so it's awful to hear about them every day. A small island in the middle of the Atlantic is a good place to be right now, as it's easier to close borders and control infection generally.

Terrible times we're living through. It sometimes seems like a bad dream that you can't wake up from. I just read a letter from my mother's cousin, written in 1918, when the Spanish flu was rampant. Every family she knew was affected, she says. Must have been terrifying.

[elephantsbookshelf]

Checking in again from New Jersey, where we're finally starting to emerge from widespread power outages after the storm formerly known as Isaias swept through on Tuesday. It knocked over multiple trees in my neighborhood, which in turn took down multiple power lines.

We just got power back last night after a full five days.

Most of those days saw temperatures in the upper 80s and low 90s (Farenheit).

On the positive side, I've learned a lot more about running a generator.

But people still aren't using their masks regularly enough, even though NJ has been pretty good for the past several weeks.

Stay safe out there, folks.

[Daniel]

Here, COVID-19 is still a liberal hoax. Home Depot requires customers to wear a mask inside the store, but compliance is about 70% and none of the store isn't doing anything about customers who ignore the requirement. Things are worse at the grocery store. There are no mask recommendations and maybe 50% of people wear a mask. Humanity, certainly Americans anyway, are TSTL.

[Alan Petersen]

Checking in after a long time. Glad to see everyone doing alright despite everything that's going on. My wife and I are doing well. We got tired of the city (San Francisco) so we rented a a place in Wine Country. We've been here since June 27 and will be staying until the end of September.

It's rural but only ten miles from St. Helena and twenty some miles from downtown Napa so we can be in the woods and go walk the dogs without running into throngs of people. But close enough grocery stores and stuff. We've even gone to wine tastings since they're open as long as they can do it outdoors.

It won't be until 2021 until my wife can go back to the office so she's working from home along with myself since March. I was a homebody introvert since before the apocalypse so it's not that big of a difference for me but it's been a big change for her but she's doing great working from home.

Aside from the knuckleheads hoarding food and toilet paper back in March the stores in Northern California have been back to normal for awhile. Mask-wearing is required in the state and most people are compliant.

Cheers.

[Daniel]

Good to hear from you, Alan Petersen. Sounds like you have a nice situation going. It will be hard to go back after that!

[elephantsbookshelf]

Now, in late November, the predicted resurgence of the pandemic has begun -- catching an astonishing number of people by surprise.

The topic of this thread is preparedness, but I get the impression that few people outside of this writing community seem to be paying much attention to being prepared.

One of my daughters played a soccer game this past weekend (I'm one of her coaches), and an opposing player tested positive a couple days afterward. We were informed, and I had my daughter and me tested. Thankfully, the results came back negative. But so many schools, so many businesses are being closed again, and so many students, so many adults are being infected. I pray these highly touted vaccines are as good as the initial results seem to suggest.

Hope you're all safe and healthy.