Food stockpile in case corona virus comes nearby

(charlie3) #162

I understand the stratagy. I wonder how many ICU ventilators are in SE Michigan.

So far the only food I’ve bought that I don’t normally eat is peanut butter. The jars will stay sealed except in the unlikely event other food gets scarce.

(Katie) #163

I read a bit of advice that I thought was valuable…

You need to act as if your entire world is covered over with wet paint. The goal is to not get any of it on your face.

(charlie3) #164

Once upon a time everybody carried a cotton hankerchief.

My freezer space is as full as it can be with beef and salmon with enough room left for ice and a mug of ice coffee chilling. The frig has aproximately twice what I would normally keep between shopping trips so that if something is out of stock I can wait until the next regular shopping trip to try again. The only exception is fresh vegetables.

I’m waiting for Trump to step out and make an announcement. Rumor is it’s to declare “state of emergency” which would give Feds the powers to make more things happen. Going to my produce shop this morning was sobering. In 10 days may be most of the employees will be home sick. How will they operate if that happens?

#165

Thanks for starting this thread in January @charlie3 Charlie. It helped my preparedness a lot while those around me were scoffing. I’ll be sharing a lot of my food and frozen meals with family and friends who will be caught short.

Other things to have on hand would be a thermometer to check for fever, cleaners, tissues etc.

What did you do in terms of those?

#166

I read an observation today; people are taking up the message to wash their hands. They go to the basin, put down their mobile phone, wash their hands for 20 seconds in soapy water, dry their hands, pick up their phone. When they answer their phone they bring it up to their face. Wipe your phone as often as you wash your hands.

(Ethan) #167

The man who started the spread in Washington state apparently had BOTH l and s types

(charlie3) #168

I have no portable hand sanitizer. Aside from no avaiability I’m thinking about that. Even if I make some still not sure how to use it in the field. Did I mention already, I might wear nitril gloves out and about and wash those frequently to reduce wear and tear on skin. I do that already in the kitchen. They last a long time.

At his moment I have enough of the food I normally eat to be free of shoping for at least 10 days. Without eating fresh veggies I could go twice that. 40% of daily calories are exercise. Cutting back on exercise would stretch the food supply a lot.

I may reduce exercise at some point if it might free up metabolic resiources for immune processes, my metabolic savings account.

I got a flu shot recently. Thinking may be go back and get the pneumonia shot, pricey.

May be this situation is similar to a tsunami. Can’t see it, can’t hear it, but we know it’s moving fast.

(Katie) #169

Back in January I start to prepare. I actually bought 10 N95 masks. I stocked up on bout 16 weeks of freeze dried food (I have a lot of experience with this because of all the many weeks I spend out in the desert).

I made plans to spend this spring and summer in stocks-n-bricks. (A house). So, I had shipments sent there while I was traveling back north…arrived about a week ago. Lots of 91% alcohol, disinfecting wipes, bleach, soap, etc. disposal groves. And even found eye goggles that seal to the eyes.

When I saw China building hospitals in a panic I knew this was going to be bad. Never mind what they say…actions done lie.

(Katie) #170

You can make a hand cleaner…use soap and soak paper towels in a very soapy liquid. Keep them in a zip lock baggy. Be sure to scrub you hand (back, between fingers, around wrist too)for 20 seconds.

Soap works very well…not as quick as alcohol… but just as effective when you take your time to be through. Get a fair amount of hand cream…wash8ng all the time is pure murder on your hands.

(Hyperbole- best thing in the universe!) #171

Soap and water work better than alcohol. Hand sanitizer is a convenient second best for when water isn’t available. But hand cream (or just a small container of oil) is a very good idea to prevent small cracks in the skin from frequent hand washing or sanitizing.

Many bathrooms here in China don’t have soap. So I got a small foaming dispenser to keep in my purse, along with a small bottle of sanitizer for when there is no water. Another thing to consider is that as long as your hands are damp, they pick up pathogens that much easier, so a hankie to dry your hands when nothing else is available is a good alternative to your trouser legs for drying your hands.

#172

25 cases in Hungary this far… People in the city definitely behaves differently now. The lady who sells dairy on the farmers’ market was shocked that people bought up nearly everything… Like milk. It doesn’t even have a long shelf life… There were signs about keeping 1 meter distance in the rows but of course people didn’t do anything like that… The stores were just a tad crazy when they opened. And we found NO whole-wheat flour anywhere (my SO needs it for his bread). The villages nearby have it but not the city stores. Everything else was fine, it seemed.
And my SO’s Mom gave us hand sanitizer to use. And we used it, wow, that’s something I never did. My SO said he practices for a time when it will be actually needed. He probably will use it every day when coming home from now on. I won’t as I don’t meet people and worrying about the cats, that would be a bit unrealistic (at least regarding the coronavirus).

And talking about the virus… It’s everywhere. Life changed a lot. Not extremely much this far but still.
The other son of my SO’s Mom works in some slightly more dangerous place coronavirus wise and he won’t visit his Mom for a while. And she obviously postponed her planned visit of Italy… She is a calm, collected person about all the time, it’s good but it’s good she is careful as she is older and obese with various health problems. She is in way more danger than we, younger healthy persons are. She almost didn’t kiss us but she thought it’s for our safety and we told her we feel perfectly safe even if we get infected though her and we pretty much surely aren’t at the moment so… :smiley: Stupid virus can’t keep us from our monthly welcome and goodbye kisses, we have so few beloved ones! Being a tad careful is one thing but a huge disruption without a very good reason, nope.

There are talks about closing schools here too. I guess it’s only just some possibility for the future but still, it’s there and it obviously affects people… If the schools get closed, some other workplaces get heavily affected too, even my SO’s…

Tomorrow is our national day. Celebrations are pretty much off, even in this tiny village (it would have been what, 50 people? celebrations in the middle of a workday, brilliant idea)…

We wanted to see some exhibition in the capital city but we won’t.

So yep. I can feel it now but it’s bearable at this point and the stores function pretty normally. So we didn’t start to buy more stuff than usual. If we suddenly couldn’t buy anything else (not likely), in the first 3 weeks probably nothing serious would happen as I have a little supply of my normal stuff with a not very long shelf life (I have more eggs since months) and I grow my own onions and garden cress now (raw vegetables are the first we run out of, normally. it is a tiny supply but WAY more than nothing). And we probably would survive half a year but I have no idea and hopefully it stays so. I didn’t calculate or thought long and hard, it’s just a vague but slightly educated guess. I don’t worry at all about dying of hunger or even having difficulties in a single month without buying anything.

(charlie3) #173

I realized something just now. I live next to a district with half a dozen establishments that serve alcohol. I don’t drink. I walk the neighborhood for exercise and encounter few people because they are indoors watching sports on TV, something I never do. While others are in restaurants eating crappy food I’m at home chopping vegetables. The sports events have been canceled. I expect soon the bars and restaurants will be ordered closed. I’ve always daydreamed about living in a world where nobody is interested in alcohol, recreational drugs, bad food, TV football, etc. May be now, for a while, I’ll get my wish.

#174

People surely will be still interested in those… Especially in alcohol, even people in countries where alcohol is banned are interested in it.
But as I read comments in this topic, I think maybe some people will benefit from being forced to behave slightly differently… Not very many but some. Getting out their comfort zone and realizing it’s not all bad… I don’t know, it’s just a thought but there are so many people, some must experience this.
But thinking about things, appreciate something we took granted this far, that surely happens too here and there… It surely made me think already.

(charlie3) #175

That’s what makes this so interesting. For the past two years I’ve been dedicated to doing all the things that seem appropriate to be as fit as possible with zero health compromises and to look the part. Based on what i know about the virus my timing was extremely good and may be my efforts will be put to a serious test. As a higher risk 71 year old, if I was in the same condition as a few years ago I’d be feeling great dread right now. May be this episode will terrorize a lot more people to clean up their acts.

#176

I am only 43 years old but my opinion about people and their attitude for their health is way less optimistic since long. People keep eating sugar when they get diabetes, obesity and extremely serious health problems… Some virus won’t make them better, probably.
But some people who already was vaguely aware they should do something and just needed a little push… I am much more hopeful about them. Or the ones who just took their baby steps, they may get more motivated to continue. And maybe the average person will think a tiny bit more about their health too but I doubt it will make a big difference. But a little one is better than nothing. But most people start panic or complain or taking various kinds of pills zillion times easier than actually doing something serious like a more than very subtle lifestyle change for their own health.

#177

I made a mistake and didn’t want to look like a fool and buy a bunch of hand sanitizer in January. I would go to the dollar tree and buy four or five bottles at a time, and should of bought ten. I stocked up on it and still don’t think I have enough for two months like our governor said it would probably take to beat this thing. The good thing is that from what I read that soap disrupts the lipid compound of the virus and deactivates everything that would make it harmful . This will more than likely be the craziest two month of my 45 years. I’ve spoken to a few people in their 80s the last couple of days and even they say the have encountered nothing like they are seeing today. I’m just thankful that Kentucky has a governor that seems to be taking this thing seriously.

(Eric - The patient needs to be patient!) #178

We started stocking up on food and supplies maybe 3 weeks ago. But even then the hand sanitizer was low. We do have a lot of 91% rubbing alcohol, bleach, and disinfected wipes.

I’m 66 yo and haven’t been sick at all for 19 months since strict keto and only 1 illness in 6+ years since going low carb (not keto). I used to get a lot of fall sicknesses. My wife is 63 yo and T2 but reversed her A1C with low carb many years ago. She is keto now for 2 weeks and her best BG level was 101 yesterday. But her BG is all over the map because of stress.

We have both adult kids with us at home now and are hunkered down. One girl works in a library that has not closed yet.

We live in Virginia, USA.

#179

I got 40 packs of Bacon, I’m good lol

#180

On preparedness…
Talking with one of my GF’s Friday night, we were recollecting how we’d both transitioned our households over to eating (mostly) our own homegrown or locally produced foods- much of which we had canned/preserved or frozen- ourselves. I had shared with her how my Mom used to load up when sales and coupons were in abundance, also. She had started doing the same thing about 10 yrs. ago. She asked me if I could think of ANYTHING I could think of that I needed in my house- anything. I sat and thought for a long time- and Nope. Nothing. …food- check. medicines…check. toiletries…check. fuel and batteries…check. pet foods/meds/litter…check. Both of our families have been doing this for YEARS. Our friends, families, co-workers, etc. used to make fun of us.

On our employee shopping day at my work a couple weeks ago, I had purchased a good amount paper goods- at an insanely discounted price. (I do this every 4-6 months, and load up.) This was way before the whole Wuhan-Virus panic buying had set in around here. The new cashier that rang me up was shocked at all I bought. And I’m like, “No biggy, I do this every time we have the employee sale.” (My asst. manager routinely makes fun of me whenever I do this- but they’re used to it.) So yesterday, the cashier says to me, “I bet you’re glad you bought all that stuff. It’s a good thing you did that, since we ran out of TP.”

To my shock, our delivery truck arrived yesterday, and we had a pretty substantial amount of TP, disinfectants, soaps, and even thermometers. The store put a limit of 1 on the packs of TP. A few customers were pissed, but, the majority of customers actually thanked us for imposing the limit- so there is enough to go around.

We decided to stay home today, rather than attend church. So, we are watching our son’s virtual church being streamed from A2 right now. This is pretty cool. =)

#181

Maybe I will buy more stuff than usual the next time, probably 3 weeks from now…? We didn’t even buy toilet paper and we are lower than usual but nothing too serious, I really see no craziness here and don’t even fully understand why I would buy so much toilet paper, actually… I probably didn’t get some memo about it.
We refused the whole bottle of disinfectant too (the thought to buy any obviously didn’t cross our mind but my SO’s Mom gave us a bit).
We aren’t typical ones, I guess. But it’s still not dangerous here anyway. But things get closer.
We have the first death, in the capital city of Hungary. I don’t even go near that place in the next months but that’s it, we will visit places (with as few people as possible as always), it’s spring, of course we do that. It’s not like we use public transport.

Even the funny little food group I frequent on FB writes almost only about the virus (well, the meatballs with tiny mushrooms were cute and very corona virus like at the same time)… It’s a tad much for me at this point. But I still look up fresh info on the site of the government now. I just hope things won’t get as bad as they could and the fight with this virus won’t be too long.

Best wishes, everyone.