Peter, over at Bayou Renaissance Man, has put up a post of links. Of the 14+ links he included, we are 3 of them, and Mosby is 1. Go on over there for the other 10 you haven't seen from either of us. RTWT.
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Some people have expressed the hope/belief/fond wish/delusional fairytale expectation that, like many outbreaks, this one will wane once Spring is sprung, and the sun comes out. Look at the John Hopkins map in Peter's post header, and mentally pencil in the equator in that picture.
To wit: Australia (Oz, affectionately) is in late summer. It isn't helping their outbreak a bit. Singapore is equatorial. It hasn't mattered there either.
YMMV, but were I you, I would abandon all hope of weather saving you, and rejoice if it does, which seems entirely unlikely.
Period.
Buckle in for the long haul: this is going to go on a world tour, and may last for a year or more, until it burns through everyone, or they develop a vaccine that's both effective, and can be produced in sufficient quantities.
For perhaps 97% of you, it'll be a minor inconvenience.
For the rest, time to set your affairs in order.
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| For those playing at home, the correct answer was "What is 'Get the f**k off the subway, and stay your @$$ home...' " |
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Responses to my Local Color post indicate that response is similar elsewhere. People are vaguely uneasy, and in some paces approaching full-blown panic, but unlike a hurricane or other problem, haven't yet sussed out that this isn't coming and going, it's coming and staying (see above), and it'll be, or is, everywhere.
At that point, in our humble editorial opinion, when that penny drops, you will begin to see some people lose their collective sh*t. I doubt my readers need advice about stocking their ammo larder for that day, but for those that do, get thee hence, now. And load up.
People are stupid, and some people only understand reason when both barrels of it are pointing them in the face, wrapped around a load of 00Buck. Be prepared to reason with some people, whether by explaining things to them ever so gently, or buy cutting to the chase, and pulling the triggers on both barrels, as appropriate.
And as Ol' Remus has told you oh so many times,
Avoid crowds.
We will post more on this specifically anon.
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Part of the penny dropping will be people living paycheck to paycheck, or hand to mouth, having the dawning epiphany that work, and income, has now ceased for them for some unknown period of time.
"Today, on the DUH! Channel: surprising new second- and third-order effects of a pandemic that you were too stupid to realize until they swam up and bit you in the ass..."
And it will do so, and they will thereupon freak out. This is because, as we noted in the above point, people are stupid. Even stupider in large groups, which explains most politics in general, btw.
IF (yuuuuuge if) TPTB have any wits, they will declare a force majeure, and halt all payments across the board, for rent, lease, etc., and suspend them for the duration.
Landlords and banks can suck it in the interim, and all your contracts (car payments, credit card balances, etc.) would/should be extended without penalty XX days or months, as necessary. You can pay them off later, when the economy re-starts, as originally planned.
That would be simple, relatively painless, and the most sensible option.
Government being government, it's therefore also the last thing I expect.
You should have a cash float (in your hand, or where you can lay your hands on it without assistance {mayonnaise jar in the flower garden, I'm looking at you}, not locked in a safe deposit box at a bank that may close its doors just when you need it not to) sufficient for between 3 and 12 months of all personal expenses. ALL. Don't have that? (I've been there, and it provided impetus to correct that deficiency, believe me.) Sux to be you, doesn't it? Work on it now, as possible. You should have that anyways, and since long before now. Get cracking.
BTW, part of an actual lockdown quarantine is that if you're infected, or possibly so, you must stay in your home, by order of the Great And Powerful Oz, until further notice.
Which means the only reason the local constables will be coming to your door is not to evict you, plague-ridden, into the street, but to tell you (and your landlord/lessor), to fuck right off, lock you in, and post notice to one and all to leave you be, because you've got much bigger fish to fry at the moment. I can't help you about your food costs or car payment, but the odds of you being tossed out, if you point out you've been coughing up a lung and feel like shit, is right around 0%. It's not like new tenants are going to be looking for your plague-infected digs as their new domicile amidst a pandemic. Just saying.
So relax about the little shit.
Survive WuFlu, and catch up the other payments when happier days dawn on us all.
Take this as a hint to mostly live within your means, and become a believer. I can understand a house and/or a car payment. But credit card debt is infantile, in 90% of all cases. Student loans too, unless you were a STEM major or going into the medical arts, where you'll earn it all back in a few years. Stop being a financial baby.
This is your wake-up call.
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Avoiding crowds:
If you don't have dead tree editions of 100 Deadly Skills by retired SEAL and former NSA spook Clint Emerson, and his companion book, 100 Deadly Skills: Survival Edition, you're simply wrong. Unf**k yourself.
Both of them are chock-a-block full of handy tips from someone who's BTDT and got the t-shirts, from any number of Turd World sh*tholes. All of which advice works just fine in your local area. They are two of the most useful books I've gotten hands on in the last decade.
We therefore advise you to consult the Survival Edition for
No. 082: Escape Social Unrest and Riots.
Risk the crowd to get a copy at Barnes and Noble, or order it online from Amazon.
TL;DR?
Understand the crowd.
Identify points of danger.
Avoid points of danger.
Avoid looters.
Avoid law enforcement.
Get inside.
Get to high ground.
Stay on the perimeter of the event.
Move perpendicular to the flow.
Put buildings between you and the mob.
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h/t WRSA and Silicon Graybeard
And from SiG, There's nothing bad that government can't make worse. Like Kung Flu in the U.S.
RTWT.
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Meet "Italian" Gilligan: Diversity Is Our Strength
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| Not his actual truck. Just his actual attitude. |
This is part of why Kung Flu has shut Italy down.
No, really.
They're still digging for Patient Zero there (good luck with that), but this is one potential Typhoid Mary there among several possibilities, at last reports.
Because some people in any crowd are this stupid.
Now, look around your neighborhood, your office, your kids' school, etc., and find the Special Bright Light geniuses.
Make your self-quarantine plans accordingly.
Maybe it's just me, but if someone so much as coughs uncovered in a store, I want to reach for a heavy bludgeon, to teach them current etiquette.
And yes, within a week or two, you'll have to assume it's everywhere.
Sincere best wishes after that point, especially if you do anything involving customer contact. I think you'll be getting some time off, without pay, in short order.
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