Sometime in the Age of Pandemics

As I write this (Sept 22nd) we're exactly six weeks from election day.
Forty-two days. It's not a long time, by most standards. It's right about one
eighth of one percent of the average human lifespan. It's the length of combat
operations in Desert Storm, 2020's monsoon season, and the longest season of
the TV show Survivor. (Thanks, Google.)

It may also be how long The American Experiment has left.

I'm sorry if I sound really pessimistic and cynical of late, but there's no
virtue in pretending things don't look incredibly bleak.

I've started making preparations, should there be unrest. In a previous post I
talked about the cameras we've bought and installed, to improve situational
awareness, and to act as a sort of deterrent. I've posted about the handgun I
bought.

Much as I did before the pandemic broke out in the US, I've started squirreling
away a little extra food every time I get groceries. I'm maybe a little better
prepared this time, because of the experience with the first month or two of
the pandemic. We've got more in the freezer, notably.

I went through last week and took an inventory of all our first-aid kits, and
ordered fresh supplies. Yes, kits, plural. Main one upstairs, one in the
workshop in the basement, one in the garage, and one each of us carries when
bicycling. In addition to replacing boo-boo strips, tape, gauze, and various
wipes that have been used, I replaced all the trauma dressings, and added one
extra to each kit, just in case. I kept the old ones, which are a few months
"expired", but almost certainly still fine. In a pinch, they're better than
nothing.

I also picked up two extra splints, a set of finger splints, some extra elastic
and cohesive bandages, and a couple of emergency or "space" blankets. I did
this because one lesson I learned from the Floyd unrest earlier this year is
that, even though I live in a fair-sized city, we oughtn't expect to rely on
quick access to professional medical care. If there's unrest again, we might
well be on our own when dealing with non-life-threatening injuries.

For that reason, and the fact that, well, there is now a firearm in the house,
I also added more hemostatic bandages and powder, and bought a couple sets of
chest seals, to cover sucking chest wounds.

I've also bought a bunch of AA and AAA batteries. We honestly have very little
use for them; our power needs for lighting and communication can be sustained
basically indefinitely through small-scale solar setups that we have here. I
think we only maybe have one or two flashlights that even take AA batteries.
Still, they don't hurt to have, and if nothing else we can give/trade 'em to
neighbors.

One other weird thing I've done is bought a couple pairs of safety glasses. I
managed to find a couple pair that don't look like "safety glasses", just,
basically, normal prescription glasses. If I go outside, now, I wear them, if
it's not sunny enough to justify wearing my (safety) sunglasses. Why? Because
there are assholes going around squirting bleach at people from moving cars, or
shooting at people from moving cars with airsoft guns, and while safety glasses
aren't perfect protection, they're better than nothing, and reasonably
inconspicuous.

Hopefully all of this will prove completely unnecessary, and will be something
we'll laugh about in the future. Hopefully there'll be a future, honestly...
and one where we remember how to laugh. Hope for the best... plan for the
worst. It doesn't hurt to be prepared, right?

That's it for me, today. Stay safe.