Coronavirus outbreak declared global emergency

[Jim]

For me, the largest revolution to come from the Corona virus mess, is that for the last 30 years, our government hasn't considered it a problem that 85% of our needs are being provided by a communist country. All that brain power and nobody considered that China could essentially defeat America by simply not providing us with the basics that keep us alive?

I know we're not at war with China (yet), but we're certainly not allies with each other either. Imagine fighting the WW2 and depending on Germany to provide us with drugs, medicines, computer parts, food, etc., etc..

This tidbit of knowledge scares me far more than a virus that can be defeated by washing our hands and applying a bit of common sense to the way we conduct our everyday lives.

 

[TJ&LadyDi]

Is that you, @Jim, sitting in a race car? There's nothing like going into a turn at 150 MPH to clear a fella's perspective, right!

TJ

 

[Jim]

Is that you, @Jim, sitting in a race car? There's nothing like going into a turn at 150 MPH to clear a fella's perspective, right!

TJ

lol, one of several. But when I retired, so did the race cars. My business was my sponsor, so no business, no racing. But it was a blast for about 13 years.

 

[Neal]

This whole thing is like 9/11 in a different way. I’m waiting to hear from some of my airline pilot buddies if they’ll have a job in a few weeks. This is like bio warfare and it shows our preparedness. Regardless we’re all going to learn some very important lessons from this. As with anything bad good can come from it. I think we will learn valuable lessons from this.

 

[TJ&LadyDi]

This is like bio warfare and it shows our preparedness.

Or, lack of it!

I believe you are correct, @Neal, in saying that "we are all going to learn some very important lessons" from this experience. That's almost always the case. The bigger question, however, is whether we, as a nation, will apply what we've learned or simply fall back into our old ways. Politicians of all stripes seem to have very short memories.

I learned about "preparedness" as a Boy Scout, practiced what I had learned as a wildlands firefighter for a couple years, polished it a bit more in the military, saw it in action as an on-call disaster response employee for FEMA and have further refined it in my personal life over the years. Practice may or may not make perfect, but it sure helps.

I think LadyDi and I are in a pretty good position to weather this current emergency, but I'm still learning how to do it better.

TJ

 

[Jim]

We are pretty well prepared but decided to run to Walmart for the things they sell for less than the local Ingles. Store itself wasn't busy, but the isles had pretty much been picked through. We picked up a couple bottles of wine and some paper plates. (Two mainstays at our house) The paper plates are in the same isle where the TP is, and there was absolutely -0- TP anywhere to be found. No paper towels either. The WM employee that was working in that area told me the TP had been sold out for days.

On the way out, I always walk through the RV section to see if there is something there that I can't live without and guess what I found? Yep, 2 8-pack of TP. We took one and left one.

Guess it's all in knowing where to look.

 

[TJ&LadyDi]

On the way out, I always walk through the RV section to see if there is something there that I can't live without and guess what I found? Yep, 2 8-pack of TP. We took one and left one.

Well done, @Jim! If we all just take what we really need and leave some for other folks, we'll get through this just fine.

What bothers me is the price gouging that is happening on Amazon. I looked online for some antacids rather than going into town to the local drug store. The best price I found on Amazon for the particular brand I was interested in was $9.95 for a bottle of 72 tablets. They sell in the local drug store for (or, at least, sold prior to the coronavirus) less than $4 for a similar bottle.

I am rethinking my use of Amazon!

TJ

 

[J&JD]

I am rethinking my use of Amazon!

No you’re not.....

 

[TJ&LadyDi]

No you’re not.....

?????

TJ

 

[J&JD]

?????

TJ

Just kidding TJ. We all seem so tied to Amazon.

 

[sheridany]

Things are happening fast today. We just got notice that non-customer facing locations are closing today and everyone should work from home for the next two weeks.

 

[Jim]

Well, this sucks. Today Macon County got our first confirmed case of Coronavirus. Not in our town, but in Highlands NC, which is about 30 miles from here.

 

[sheridany]

We are now hearing a shelter in place will be issued for several SF Bay Area counties until April 7th or earlier if possible.

 

[RKins]

I see a lot of price gouging on eBay also.

 

[Jim]

These are truly strange times we are living in.

COVID-19 fears (and the governor) have shut down all our bars, restaurants, cinema, and anywhere that people go to congregate. Even the courts are locked down. Our area was already having a job problem and now even the people with jobs won’t be able to go to work. I’m sure many local businesses are going to have difficulty surviving this.

I own a bunch of residential rentals and it's not going to be long before many of my tenants won't be able to pay their rent. Very few of them will ever be able to get caught up so it's going to be a loss on our end. Maybe some tax benefits? Who knows.

Wondering how this gift from China is going to affect the rest of you?