New Preppers ?

[Snakester]

Anyone Prepping NOW , that wasn't Prepping two months ago. It's always good to hoard up a few items.....This morning Food Lion's shelves were quite empty. No eggs , cheese , paper products of any kind. Very little meats and no milk. Oh well , I'm glad we stocked up a little. Hope this ends soon , there's a lot of people that's not doing too good and won't make it with this "NEW NORMAL".

[SHMIV]

Well, I am making moves towards self-sufficiency.

I've spent the past couple of days doing gardening type stuff. That's a new thing for me. Though, this virus thing had nothing to do with it; the virus really got serious, around the same time that I came off the road, which was a fairly sudden decision that was centered around new family developments. I'd be doing the garden now, anyway, regardless of Wu Flu.

I also plan to set up for chickens, and my buddy and I are planning to go in on raising some pigs.

I don't know if I'd consider any of this "prepping"; it's just moving towards self-sufficiency, which has always struck me as wise and prudent.

I will say this: the Wu Flu threat, and the related nonsense that has come with it, has provided some... motivation... to move forward on existing plans.

The virus thing... it's been a very minor nuisance to me; I've barely noticed the effects. The stimulus check, however, was a positive thing (even if I do question the Constitutionality of it) that has been a great help in facilitating the acquisition of necessary gardening tools.

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[skeeterss00]

wife says after this is over and things return to normal prices, she is going to stock up some masks and gloves for the next time.

[allingeneral]

SHMIV is off the road? Interesting!

I'm not sure what the new normal will be, but I'm pretty certain that there will be some fairly significant changes from the past that we all knew.

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[SHMIV]

Yep, I'm off the road. Nothing bad happened to prompt that change; mainly, I wanted to spend more time with family, tend to my house, and pursue some other interests. OTR driving isn't a good permanent career choice if family is important to you (Though, it's a great way to build up some capital for better ventures, if you do it right.)

On the "New Normal"; that's the scariest part of this whole thing. I've observed a disturbing willingness to surrender Freedoms for Security. Or, more accurately, a false sense of security.

This virus, while a serious concern, isn't the plague that it's being hyped up to be. Recently, I was reading a couple of things that suggested that "normal" deaths (for example, a fatal heart attack) have been falsely reported as Covid-19 fatalities. If this is true, of course, then we really don't know how bad the virus really is, but it's probably not as bad as we've been led to believe. (Apologies; no links... can't remember the source)

Over the past few weeks, we've witnessed elected officials behave in predictable, but no less infuriating, ways to destroy our Constitution (anyone catch Tucker Carlson and his interview with the NJ governor? Or, how about the harrassment of Church Goers?)

Anyway, it's hard to predict where things will stand, once the dust settles. Whatever "normal" is, was, or will be, continues changing, anyway. In my adult life, I've noted a difference between pre-Columbine, and post-Columbine, pre-9/11 and post-9/11, pre-Obama and post-Obama, pro-Trump and now.

I've noticed that unscrupulous people have always found ways to obtain a bit of power and control over people and used their positions to manipulate circumstances in such a way that increases that power and control.

This is not new; our Founding Fathers observed the same, and warned us about it.

Back to the topic at hand... as I said originally, I'm just making moves towards self-sufficiency. But, I guess that's pretty close to prepping. In theory, if one is adequately self sufficient, one would be prepared for whatever comes along.

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[Ironbear]

This virus, while a serious concern, isn't the plague that it's being hyped up to be. Recently, I was reading a couple of things that suggested that "normal" deaths (for example, a fatal heart attack) have been falsely reported as Covid-19 fatalities. If this is true, of course, then we really don't know how bad the virus really is, but it's probably not as bad as we've been led to believe. (Apologies; no links... can't remember the source)

This link from Powerline Blog, in an interview with a gentleman who is both a Physician and MN senator, suggests there is an effort to maximize the blame for COVID-19. The reaction of the media talking head it interesting.
https://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/ ... -count.php

Back to the topic at hand... as I said originally, I'm just making moves towards self-sufficiency. But, I guess that's pretty close to prepping. In theory, if one is adequately self sufficient, one would be prepared for whatever comes along.

I recently bought Grant Cunningham's book on prepping (https://www.grantcunningham.com/informa ... -life-book) and really like it. It centers around assessing what your real "prep" needs are. It is common sense preparation and not zombie apocalypse stuff. (disclaimer: No affiliation with Grant. I bought this with my own money based on what I've read in his blog!)

[Snakester]

This day and time we all need to prep just a little. Carol and I have always hoarded up a few items , mainly household things . We seem to buy 2 of everything and more of some things. It goes beyond TP and Ammo. I've been glad the past month that we have prepped quite a bit.
H , I 'm glad to hear you are off the road. Being at home all the time now , you will find plenty to keep you busy. The gardening and chickens can be a lot of fun.....I would think twice about the pigs. We are looking into "Pig Shares" at a farm in Louisa....Pretty fair deal and a lot less work. Good Luck with whatever you do !

[SHMIV]

@Ironbear: Thanks for the links. I hadn't seen the Powerline piece, but it supports things that I have seen. I like that doctor; he seems just the kind of guy that our Founding Fathers intended to hold public office. And, I may go on and order that book, too. Seems to hold a lot of valuable information at a reasonable price.

@Snakester: You know, pigs eat people. And, I'm a small-sized people, lol; I'd be easily overpowered by one pig, so two or three pigs... a little scary. My buddy, on the other hand, is a pretty big guy, and is familiar with pig farming. So, we're doing pigs at his house. He wants to raise them, anyway, so I'll just be throwing money at him, and end up with a lot of pig meat in a few months. I guess that would be kind of like "pig shares", just a smaller scale. Also, he's been one of my closest friends, for most of my life. So, when things get dire and uncivilized, I trust that I'll still get my pigs. I probably will shoot down his way, periodically, to lend a hand, though.

I understand that things have gotten a little stressful, on the road. My wife is still driving, but she found a smaller local company that doesn't send her out as far. She reports that food is harder to come by, on the road, and things have just gotten "weird". She works for a farming enterprise, though, so I expect that the company will be safe, for a while.

Bonus, her boss is knowledgeable about market gardening, so he's willing to help us in growing organic crops for profit.

Anyway, exciting changes, plenty to keep me busy around the house and "socially distant". I just wish that I'd come home a few months sooner; I'd be a little better set up. But, that's ok. The lunacy level is nowhere near the reports that I hear from urban environments, so I'm still able to get stuff I need, and a few wants, too.

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[Reverenddel]

Who knew that our grandparents/great grandparents were correct in planning WAY far out ahead of time!

I've always been "keeping stock, just in case"... but dang. It's getting squirrelly out here.