Sunday, March 1, Beans, bullets, and bandaids 

Day 37. Three days until my quarantine party. That was a joke this morning, but a focus tested plan by evening. Today it is 21 degrees and sunny. It's a T-shirt kind of day, and the air is clean. 

"A Coronavirus Movie" (#coronavirusmovie, @still_a_nerd) on Twitter retweeted my blog today, I guess my role as the crazy journalist warning everyone to buy "beans, bullets, and bandaids" is official. I asked them to cast anyone but Jude Law to play me. He's too close to the fire, in my humble opinion.

Ben Ben looks at me, wondering why he can't go outside; why I don't go outside much or for long. He's happy we spend so much time together in his old age but doesn't get why we don't go out to play like we used to. I hope I can take him out soon when it's safe. 

Xiaolin's flowers are beautiful today. 

I make a tuna sandwich, using a custom handmade Damascus blade. The cucumber is crisp and delicious, the bread warm and toasty, and the tuna Xiaolin had delivered reminds me of weekend picnics when I was young. 

We have four hours of teaching today. I do my best to ignore my distractions. Although I'm not perfect, it goes a lot smoother than last week. This cements the idea that I am a horribly flawed person; but also able to improve, albeit slowly. Many writers in my circle are producing new novels. This quarantine has been great for creativity. 

I find an insane survival list of goods on Amazon. I would buy so much of this if Xiaolin wouldn't leave me for being a crazy hoarder. I wonder how much a storage shed goes for.

A solar and crank power charging box would guarantee music in my ears. A UV lightbox would clean my gear. 

If you're still using cash, stop, and don't touch pin pads. At least get gloves and a Victorian-style scratching fork.

We're starting a video class. Xiaolin calls out "Lucy, Lucy," as the children connect. I smile and close my eyes, I'm back in my class two years ago, calling out, "Lucy, Lucy, you got some 'splaining to do," and everyone laughs, especially Lucy. They never knew Ricky Ricardo, but it was funny anyway. Time is a Möbius strip. 

This year I finally changed from the hefty road-warrior MacBook adapter to the short, dainty cable. Then this happens. The world is too uncertain for dainty adapters.

China represents a third of global trade and production, a huge uptick from SARS in 2003. We hope to get back to full production soon. Economists all over the world wring their hands. We should have been saving for a rainy day. Now the storm is here. Whether you're a person or a company or a country, you can't live paycheck to paycheck. Economists call this a 'haircut,' aka "China will get a haircut, the USA might be looking at a haircut." Small haircuts are ok, but we hope to avoid large haircuts. I look in the mirror. It's been two months since I got a haircut. 

In California, one hundred front line workers are in self-isolation because the CDC gave them a patient on droplet protocol for four days before instructing that aerosol was needed. I find it shocking how from a bird's eye view, it looks like so balls are getting dropped.

Iran's former ambassador to the Vatican has died of COVID-19. Pope Francis has canceled three days of events because of a bad cold. There are unsubstantiated rumors he's got COVID-19. I'm waiting for an official confirmation or denial. 

During the classes, I move around, stretch my body, and add a few plates to my weight bar and do some off-camera reps. 

The CDC is discouraging us from buying masks, saying they will not help protect us. In an unrelated argument, they say they need to save the masks for frontline health care workers. 

This a black swan event. We must control ourselves, be stoic, and resolute, not panicked. It's all happening in slow motion on social media. It's surreal, bizarre. Nothing like this has ever happened before. Want investment tips? Sell your stocks, buy raw goods. I listen to a Peak Prosperity podcast with Government Preparedness Expert James Wesley Rawles. He's got lots of good advice, but one thing resonates: how retail level sellouts will work. First, we'll run out of basic masks, goggles, gloves, and sanitizer; then medications; next non-perishable foods, bottled water, toilet paper, essentials for the home, such as cleaning products; and finally, perishable foods to freeze. I've seen pictures all over the world of empty shelves in supermarkets and pharmacies. In China, the government and farmers are working super hard to keep groceries where we need them. 

My friends want advice. It's a good idea to get ahead of the curve. You don't want to be caught shopping in a cleaned out supermarket with a frenzied crowd that will make Black Friday look like Thanksgiving. This tip's about as fresh as a winter fart in the car.

Your stock portfolio? Cocooning up, travel down. Anything that involves online ordering will do well: Netflix, Amazon, etc.

In the short term, travel, tourism, and entertainment will tank. 

I'm restarting a private tutoring class. This gives a minimal weekly allowance for things my wife doesn't think are important: extra protective gear, immune boosters, heirloom seeds. This is the balance of married life, at least in China. 

Season two of Altered Carbon dropped. It looks so good (and produced in Canada). For now, I'm writing, and Xiaolin is watching a touching documentary on Chongqing porters, aka bang bang men. 

I've been drinking Golden Milk before bed. Traditionally known as Haldi Doodh, it's an Ayurvedic elixir, balancing to all doshas. It's easy to make, it's just warm milk, with turmeric, fresh ground pepper and a put in a small spoon of honey. Turmeric has some amazing antiseptic, anti-inflammatory, anti-microbial, anti-allergic properties. It helps in preventing as well as curing several diseases. The pepper lets the body absorb the turmeric 2000% more efficiently, so don't skip that. It helps me sleep and tastes great if you don't mind a yellow tongue. 

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PS. Today's PostScript is pretty substantial.

I've had a few friends ask me, what if the outbreak gets bad in an area, what's the worst that could happen? I say to hope for the best and prepare for the worst, so we have peace of mind. If you're reading from Canada, The UK, Europe of the USA, and are worried, ask your local MP/MPP/Congressman:

1. How can they ensure the district/city will maintain power? 
2. Does your local power company have the necessary replacement parts needed to fix problems (with current supply chain issues)?
3. If public utility workers stop coming to work, will the national guard fill in to keep the lights on?
4. If the power goes down, does your water treatment have an emergency solar power self-sustaining system, or will the water stop running? 
5. What can you do to help guarantee power and water to the public system? 

If you can't get a good answer, what are you doing to prepare for power out situations? Do you have a gas stove? Bbq? Extra gas? Solar power to charge phone and USB devices? Are you prepared for no water situations? You can buy water filters, a purifier system, etc. from many places such as Mountain Equipment Co-op for camping or emergency situations (grid down SHTF). How long can you be completely self-sufficient if need be? During a snowstorm, etc. you might be on your own for a week or so, and if quarantine gets bad and your area doesn't have China's infrastructure, you might need to have a month in your pantry to be ready. 

Prep and store! 

Two things that might make a difference if treating COVID-19 at home: 

1) A nebulizer (steamer for your face), can imbue with colloidal silver, or ginger. You can actually make one of these using a hot pot of boiling water with ginger. Take it off the fire, put a towel over your head, and breathe it in. It's good for bad colds too. 

2) If that's not enough, you'll need an oxygen concentrator. If you have older, sick relatives, they may have one at home. This can be very helpful for patients that need more oxygen but not sick enough to require hospitalized mechanical ventilation. 

It's impossible, try as I might, not to sound alarmist when trying to prepare my family and friends for a complete breakdown of society. At least I can look as calm and measured as possible. Get what you need, and a little extra for barter and (anonymous) charity. Get your "beans, bullets, and bandaids" in order.