Learning From The Coronavirus Situation

[outrider58]

"Going viral" got its meaning back...

 

[lazarus]

Man, apologize in advance. I've got too much time on my hands tonight, and I can be stupid wordy.

Lessons learned, and questions unanswered:

• It is not a secure feeling living in a row home. I don't want my neighbours too close. I don't want them knowing all my business. My options become somewhat limited. Security is uncertain. I need land.
  
• It's time to man up. Actually, way past time. Just because the wife doesn't think it is necessary to stack things deep in times of plenty, and actually gets angry when I've purchased extra, it doesn't mean it isn't necessary. Fill that pantry!
  
• I should have bought more guns and ammo when the prices were cheap. Wife said no. I should have asked forgiveness rather than permission. It's probably better to have a fight about it now, then not have them when necessary.
  
• I always thought it would be a good idea to have a bug out/vacation property in WV or PA. But from the stories I'm hearing it looks like locals don't always appreciate the part timers in times of trouble. There is a real possibility that just having the out of state property isn't enough. Perhaps buying some property further afield in-state would be better, though I suspect the full-time locals wouldn't necessarily be that welcoming even then. Best would be to just live in the right place to begin with; but the good paying jobs seem to be in the wrong place. <sigh>
  
• I have a sailboat and always figured if worse came to worst I could just sail away. But, the state fairly quickly stopped "recreational" boating on the Chesapeake. I don't know if it is being enforced (yet); but as a bug out vehicle, that is a complication that I hadn't fully thought about. Where would I go? In the case of a pandemic I'm really not sure. I guess I could hang out in the Intertropical convergence zone (ITCZ or doldrums) for a few months?
  
• I wonder if I should have enough plywood to board up the lower level windows of my row house. If this really stretches out (or, if not this one, the next big event), will there be a need to defend against mobs? If so, securing the first floor, and defending from the second floor seems advantageous.

Some things I did right:

• I recognized that the excrement was rapidly approaching the air moving device fairly early. I hit the stores early, and spent a lot stocking up. My wife thought I was over-reacting. I did it anyway. If things get bad, we can hole up for several months. We have enough food. We have enough toilet paper. And we even have enough hand sanitizer and cleaning supplies for awhile. Wife is happy now.
  
• While I don't have as big an armory as I'd like, I'm far from unarmed. Assuming this doesn't go all Mad Max on us I should have more than enough ammo to handle unpleasantness now, and to keep practising when things return more or less to normal even if ammo supplies remain scarce and expensive for awhile.
  
• I have no debt and a reasonable cash reserve.

The future:

• I hate to profit on the greater misfortune of others; but I am kind of expecting home prices to drop noticeably in the near future. I will hopefully be in a good position to buy some place a little less vulnerable than where I am now.
• I prepared OK for this event, assuming we get out of it in a reasonable amount of time; but I did it mostly at the last minute. Next time I will be ready before hand.

Miscellaneous thoughts:

• Someone mentioned above that they want more cash. I am a strong believer in keeping a healthy supply of cash at home. Not because I'm afraid of the banks folding or the FDIC going insolvent. Not because I think it is likely we will need it for this event. But because anything can happen in the future. This time it's a virus. Next time we could take a big infrastructure hit. If the internet goes down, credit cards and atm cards aren't too useful. I've been to plenty of stores where that went cash only when they were having technical problems. Imagine a whole city, or state, or country or world going cash only. Cash is king then! Well, at least until it's not. It also opens up the option of making some emergency person to person purchases. Or giving some flexibility if there is a reason to drop off the grid for awhile.
  
• I've heard mentioned several times something along the lines of "if this event turns into SHTF..." Well, while we haven't gone full Mad Max, given that the world is on freakin' lockdown, businesses are closed, people are dying, civil rights are being suspended, the economy is crashing and burning, and if things don't settle down soonish the future is looking to be pretty bleak for awhile, I'm willing to make the call. The shit has already hit the fan. The only questions are how much shit, and how far is it going to be blown.
  
• Friends and family may think you're a nut job; but it's better to be over prepared than under prepared. Actually, I'm guessing that those friends and family might be re-evaluating their opinions right about now.

My thought is if things go THAT bad that it isn't a temporary disruption to something like electronic banking, odds are good your cash is worthless. Sure, I keep a few hundred bucks in the safe in case of need, but not thousands.

In that event precious metals are worth more. However, even there they have limited utility. If things are BAD, most people are going to care a lot more about their immediate needs than future value of a shiny scarce thing.

Doesn't hurt to have some plywood on hand to board up windows. I won't even bother with my rancher. WAY too many windows, sliders, French doors. I have enough handy I could board up at least my basement French doors so I wouldn't need to worry about that entrance or side of my house.

Your point on locals not being fond of out-of-towners, even if the out-of-towners own the property is good and proper. Now, might not be as big an issue if you spend a lot of time at your out-of-town property. Especially if you've met your neighbors and gotten to be friendly with them. But my limited experience with rural WV, Northern Virginia and a lesser degree MD and PA is that the locals aren't real fond of non-residents (and often times even residents) who "come from the city" and don't particularly care about your property rights. They've been hunting and trespassing on your property long before you owned.

That is NOT the rule, but you can pretty easily find folks with that attitude. Now you might run in to angry mobs in a city, or even running in to the suburbs. But you are also probably just as likely to find someone more than happy to trespass on your 50 acres whether they are hunting or looking for something they need if times get desperate.

I'd rather be on the 50 acres than in a TH or half acre suburban single family, but just because you are on a big spread, doesn't mean your worries disappear.

 

[Blaster229]

What have I learned from the Corona virus?
That apparently my 3 favorite places are:

1. bars

2. restaurants

3. non essential businesses.

 

[Alea Jacta Est]

What have I learned from the Corona virus?
That apparently my 3 favorite places are:

1. bars

2. restaurants

3. non essential businesses.

You forgot CONFESSIONALS

 

[outrider58]

You forgot CONFESSIONALS

That's a hoot!

 

[6-Pack]

One thing I’m adding to my list is items that have quickly sold out: masks, gloves, TP, etc...

 

[rob]

I've learned that even rational people and critical thinkers will put aside their skepticism in a panic, and blindly accept anything if enough "experts" say it's true or necessary.

Rob.

Sent from my SM-G965U using Tapatalk

 

[Alea Jacta Est]

As lots of folks have mentioned...social, in person, greetings where touching previously was the norm. Gonna change.

Paying for stuff in a bricks and mortar establishment...cash money is going to go away faster and swiping/waving is going to become increasingly the norm.

Travel, leisure travel specifically, is going to see a marked decrease in the near future and likely a worldwide decrease that it may not ever recover from. Business travel will be impacted, not sure how.

TSA like Security is going to increasingly rely on technology and less on personal interaction. Profiling WILL become a thing in more places than it already is.

Policing will change. LEO interaction with citizens/people and suspects will change. This is going to be difficult. More and more petty crimes and misdemeanors will be ignored or handled differently. Hands on and face to face will be affected.

Grocery stores. Delivery and curbside pick up will increasingly become the norm. People will increasingly source their fruits and veggies much closer to home or grow their own. Meat and dairy industry will see greater changes. Fast food will stay about the same. Many sit down restaurants will build their take away or curbside business using fast food business and process models. Amazon is going to produce even more revenue in short order. As will UPS and FEDEX. USPS is headed to the scrap heap. No matter what, they just can’t seem to stay solvent.

Sporting events. The whole stadium or arena thing will change dramatically in the near future and some of those changes will endure. Can’t imagine packing thousands and thousands of folks that close together ...any time soon.

Movie theaters are toast unless they remove seats or figure out quickly how to enforce some social distancing. This will make Netflix like services grow even more.

Banking and specifically credit/debit cards are headed for big changes. With the hastened demise of cash money, personal finance will change.

Rent and mortgage contracts will change to reflect the possibility of extended periods of inability to pay. This won’t be in the consumers favor.

Pantries in homes across middle America will be better stocked.

Self sufficiency will see a comeback.

That’s enough for now...

Citizens across America will be better armed and will push for increased political support of 2A.

 

[Allen65]

USPS is headed to the scrap heap. No matter what, they just can’t seem to stay solvent.

Self sufficiency will see a comeback.

What business could stay solvent with its product pricing set by Congress but its costs set by the market? USPS is the most reliable delivery service in my neighborhood; it should be allowed to live or die by the choices of its customers, not Congress.

I'm not so sure about the self-sufficiency thing. Learned helplessness has become deeply ingrained in our culture, and not just as a result of government actions. Too many people are happy to be good little consumers, whereas people like me, and probably you, view the label "consumer" as an insult. My sense of self worth isn't derived from what I buy, but for a lot of people, that's what defines them and they'll never be self-sufficient, emotionally or materially.

 

[Alea Jacta Est]

Concur with both.

 

[lazarus]

What business could stay solvent with its product pricing set by Congress but its costs set by the market? USPS is the most reliable delivery service in my neighborhood; it should be allowed to live or die by the choices of its customers, not Congress.

I'm not so sure about the self-sufficiency thing. Learned helplessness has become deeply ingrained in our culture, and not just as a result of government actions. Too many people are happy to be good little consumers, whereas people like me, and probably you, view the label "consumer" as an insult. My sense of self worth isn't derived from what I buy, but for a lot of people, that's what defines them and they'll never be self-sufficient, emotionally or materially.

Yup. We either need to recognize the postal service is vital and they get tax payer support and congressional oversight. Or they aren’t, and congressional oversight and control stops.

Businesses don’t have to pre-pay pensions (and I am not aware of any that do in a meaningful way. UPS, FedEx and DHS don’t). Business can rely on supply and demand to set pricing. Not a congressional committee. UPS and Fedex aren’t required to deliver to all addresses in the US (and don’t).

I contend the postal service is vital and the requirements incumbent upon them are important. And also this should entitle them to tax payer support. I don’t believe they should be positioned to usurp UPS and Fedex for all market share (they certainly are not today).

 

[Melnic]

Next time there is a gun show, there will be the guy at the table selling bulk PPE including 100 pack boxes of N95 masks.
Then there will be the guy selling N95 mask making kits

 

[brucaru]

I've encountered a few small businesses that only wanted me to pay with my card, no cash. I guess they were afraid of infected money?? I fear a cashless society. Private sales of anything will be very difficult. Every business transaction will have an audit trail. Big brother will be in your wallet. A run on the bank? Nope. The .gov and the banks will have an even more control over your life you when you have no control over your earnings.

 

[lazarus]

I've encountered a few small businesses that only wanted me to pay with my card, no cash. I guess they were afraid of infected money?? I fear a cashless society. Private sales of anything will be very difficult. Every business transaction will have an audit trail. Big brother will be in your wallet. A run on the bank? Nope. The .gov and the banks will have an even more control over your life you when you have no control over your earnings.

Less handling of money means less chance to infect someone or become infected. Less/no cash handling also means they don't have to have an employee go to the bank to make deposits or have an armored car company come by to handle that. Less accounting needed on their part to ensure all of the cash stays accounted for and circle back on the deposit to the bank to make sure it is all accounted for.

 

[brucaru]

Once society gets use to not using cash the Government then controls every transaction. What type of transaction can be either permitted or denied. Also what happens during a power outage. The card is useless. We need to be very careful about what we allow the government to control

 

[Alea Jacta Est]

Once society gets use to not using cash the Government then controls every transaction. What type of transaction can be either permitted or denied. Also what happens during a power outage. The card is useless. We need to be very careful about what we allow the government to control

True dat.

 

[ground chuck]

Less handling of money means less chance to infect someone or become infected. Less/no cash handling also means they don't have to have an employee go to the bank to make deposits or have an armored car company come by to handle that. Less accounting needed on their part to ensure all of the cash stays accounted for and circle back on the deposit to the bank to make sure it is all accounted for.

This sounds ridiculous, but ive been spraying down any money I've received lately with a bleach mixture. Hold in one hand spray with the other. Place money in a drying bin. Wash hands thoroughly. Since wife is making masks, she's probably made over a 100 for our community. Guess who the errand boy is...luckily there's a church across the street i can walk to.

Sent from my SM-N960U using Tapatalk

 

[namrelio]

This sounds ridiculous, but ive been spraying down any money I've received lately with a bleach mixture. Hold in one hand spray with the other. Place money in a drying bin. Wash hands thoroughly. Since wife is making masks, she's probably made over a 100 for our community. Guess who the errand boy is...luckily there's a church across the street i can walk to.

Sent from my SM-N960U using Tapatalk

I've been putting my mail in the oven, 180 degrees for 20 minutes. I've been told it kills the virus. It don't hurt the paper any. Might work on money?

 

[Alea Jacta Est]

I've been putting my mail in the oven, 180 degrees for 20 minutes. I've been told it kills the virus. It don't hurt the paper any. Might work on money?

Kinda like cookin the books but you get right to the root of all evil..

Well done.

 

[namrelio]

Kinda like cookin the books but you get right to the root of all evil..

Well done.

You laugh, I didn't think of that phrase. The other week the wife got a book in the mail. It went in with the rest of the mail, even with her objections. Didn't hurt it any.