jgradyc

Evidence continues to mount that vitamin D deficiency strongly correlates to prevalence and severity of Covid 19 cases. Vitamin D deficiency is greater among the obese, the elderly, and Blacks, all of whom have been hit harder than other groups. I am stunned that Fauci and the WHO aren't suggesting that this *might* help. Please help spread the word on Facebook and other forums. People are dying while Fauci and the WHO drag their feet. Fauci seems more concerned about his legacy than saving lives. https://wattsupwiththat.com/2020/05/04/vitamin-d3-and-the-chinese-virus-coronavirus/

For what it's worth, I've seen a couple of studies now showing a strong correlation between vitamin D deficiency and the severity of Covid 19 symptoms. It seems that something like 60% of Americans are deficient in D, 98% of deaths are deficient in D, and 87% of hospitalizations are deficient in D. A doctor in Turkey is studying 100 people to see if vitamin D is also a preventive, but the study won't end until July 31. Since vitamin D has other health benefits, I take a 5,000 IU gel cap of D3 every day. There are some rare risks if you have certain preexisting conditions, but you can research that online.

I have a friend who wants to take the HCP class and a self defense class, but I think they're on hold in Davidson Country right now. Are these classes being taught in Williamson County anywhere? Who would you recommend? I'm aware that there are online classes, but she is a novice and needs face-to-face education. I'm doing the basics of firearms safety starting with an airsoft gun.

The one organization that failed miserably is the CDC. It has one primary mission... disease control. It failed miserably. This is a far bigger failure than FEMA during and after Katrina. The advances in treatment aren't coming from the CDC. They're coming from individual doctors who are willing to try things like IV vitamin C, or hydroxychloroquine plus zinc sulfate. I honestly don't see how Fauci still has a job. He doesn't seem to accept that this is a war. It's not peacetime medicine. He wants everything to be blessed by clinical trials with his Big Pharma buddies while people are dying who could possibly be saved by over the counter medicines. I explained this to a friend yesterday by saying that tampons or duct tape can be used to stop bleeding out. There haven't been any double-blind clinical trials with humans to prove this works, but it's saved lives. There are lots of things people should be doing right now to boost their immune systems and reduce the risk of a cytokine storm due to infection if they get this disease. You're hearing NOTHING about this from the CDC... or from anyone in government. For example, the average American is deficient in Vitamin D, which helps reduce inflammation. Vitamin D is sunshine or an inexpensive supplement you can take in the winter when you can't get sunshine.

In your price range, it's difficult to beat the BLF A6 at $16.99. As I said last year, I've had five; four are still working fine after maybe 5 years of use. The tailcap went out on one and I replaced the switch. It was... IIRC... maybe $4. I would suggest the 1A (6500k) bulb. I bought one 5A bulb and it's too yellow and too dim compared to the 1A. It is highly programmable. I set mine at in 5 mode increasing brightness with no strobe modes. So I have firefly, low, med, high, and turbo. I can long click and it will open in firefly or I can quick click and it will open in the last mode it was in when it was turned off. The instructions for programming are on Budget Light Forum. By the way, if you have any old laptops, you can break open the battery pack. It will have 4 or 6 18650 batteries. https://www.banggood.com/BLF-A6-XPL-1600Lumens-74modes-EDC-LED-Flashlight-18650-p-991823.html?rmmds=search&ID=518106&cur_warehouse=CN

It will happen, but I can limit the false alerts by placement of the sensor. I plan to set up one by my gated driveway to let me know if UPS or someone is just sitting in a car and checking out our house. Another sensor will go on the main steps leading up to the front door. Another will face the main downstairs door. My neighbor has a videocam security system, but my gate is too far from the house to transmit the signal. Maybe I should get a video security system for closer to the house. His system was about $600 so I'm not sure I want to pay that much.

The stock market seems to have turned the corner. I listen to CNBC on audio most of the day and you can gain some real insight into what's going on behind the scenes. Ammo has less short term value for the typical family than TP, rice, and canned goods... and all of those are returning to the shelves. I have enough 9mm but I would prefer to have a larger stock of 223. Anyway, 223 is a true SHTF ammo. It doesn't look like we'll need to be carrying our ARs in one point slings with this one.

We don't eat a lot of meat, but the one thing I would like to have for sheltering at home would be a freezer. I had always assumed that any disaster would include a lack of electricity so I had assumed that a freezer would just be spoiled food in a few days. The other thing is that I had planned to go shooting and then planned to replace my ammo afterwards. Now, I'm limited in how much ammo I can use in practice. I was surprised that our propane was so low. We've since topped it off. I haven't organized my offline survival ebooks. I do have them, but I really need to move them to a thumb drive and an old smartphone that I can recharge with my solar panel. I've been putting off surrounding the house with motion sensors. I've ordered some to arrive next week. I still don't have any night vision optics, but I just can't justify springing $2,000 for something that will depreciate as new generations of optics come out. Any suggestions for night vision?

No. I'm waiting 6 months or so to see what the results are. Then, I'll consider it. Note, I said "consider." I don't take the flu shot now at age 72 and I never plan to. Instead, I take steps to keep my immune system as strong as possible.

Great advice, thanks! I picked up some 20s, 10s, 5s, and 50 $1 bills. At this point, I'd rather have the bills than have it sitting in the bank. At this point, I don't have to leave home unless I want to for at least a month. EDITED: Oops, this was a follow up to Ronald_55's post suggesting I get some smaller bills when I went to the bank for cash. I thought I quoted his post, but I must have inadvertently deleted it when I posted.

If roosters only crowed at sunrise, I'd be okay with that. They start up about an hour earlier than sunrise out where I live.

Wow! Thanks! I just caught it as it was passing the moon/!

They told her at Vanderbilt that if she didn't have results after 14 days, she could call the test lab directly. I assume she will do that today. Of course, it's Sunday so she might not get a person today.

This is day 15... still no test results.

Here is my idea. Allow the low risk under-40 population to return to work. Depending on the industry, that could be up to half the workforce. Supervisors over the age of 40 could work from home via a combination of virtual and physical presence. First, you'd need a physical body with a body cam connected to a supervisor at home by audio and video. This surrogate could walk around, supervise, and provide instructions or OJT training to new employees. The surrogate could either be an unemployed worker or a person who the company wants to groom for a supervisory position. Businesses could reopen, provided no employees or customers over the age of 40 would be allowed. Obviously, this wouldn't work for all supervisory jobs and the approach might need to be modified. Meanwhile, the 40-60 group would be under stay at home orders and the 60+ population would be quarantined for the foreseeable future. Arrangements would be made to deliver essential goods to the 60+ population. Again, this could be done with unemployed workers.

We live in a nation where most people couldn't pass Critical Thinking 101 (including apparently our Surgeon General and head of CDC Fauci). We're told there is a critical shortage of masks for medical professionals and then we're told in the same talk that masks do nothing for the masses. So... a mask does nothing for me, but when a medical professional wears it, the MAGIC happens and they start working! Now, after tens of thousands of people have become infected, the Surgeon General and CDC head Fauci look at South Korea and Japan and figure, "Hey, maybe masks do work! Who knew?" I have surgical masks and a couple of N99 masks that I kept for painting so I've been wearing them when in the grocery store.

The Governor signed a stay at home order yesterday, but there are so many exceptions. So far, to my knowledge, there's been no increase in theft or violence. I'm reasonably prepped now. I ordered about a 1,000 rounds of ammo from BassPro, but it's on back order. Whether it actually arrives is another matter. I figured I'd rather have the ammo than the dollars in a bank account. One thing I'm doing that I would recommend... download survivalist and prepper books so we can access this information offline. I'm also spending less time reading fiction and more time reading prepper material.

Thanks for doing this! By the way, in a few days (?) those $1,200 checks will be going out. What can we expect? As someone posted earlier, I think there will be run on banks to get cash. That could cause a panic if banks aren't prepared with cash on hand. It seems like every other industry has been unprepared so far so this isn't too unrealistic. Ironically, the cash that no one wants to touch today could become very valuable in a couple of weeks. I mean, if I wanted to buy something from someone else, I wouldn't expect them to take a check in today's market. I might be totally wrong on this, but having some $20s and $100s stashed away would seem to be better than buying a $1,600 gold coin. No one is going to be able to make change for a $1,600 coin. EDITED TO ADD: I also think it's essential to be extra careful and vigilant now. A cut or broken arm or car accident could send you to the ER and potentially expose you to Covid 19. I'm also more careful about carrying when I'm outside the house. Also, a lot more people are going to parks. That means there are a lot more novices leaving valuables in cars. I anticipate more car break ins at parks.

Keep in mind that if the water goes out, there's several gallons of perfectly clean water in the back of each toilet. There's also 40 gallons in your hot water heater. We have a spring on the property so water is covered. We also have unscented Clorox to purify water and a filter bottle should we need to travel. I have pasta, but I'd forgotten to get extra spaghetti sauce. I'll pick up a few cans and some cornbread mix. Walmart and Aldis have granola bars 5 for $1.79 or so that are calorie dense. I have several boxes of these. The idea of getting cash before all those $1,200 checks hit the banks is a GREAT idea. I'm going tomorrow. Banks are probably stockpiling extra cash with a rush on banks on the horizon.

The Covid 19 crisis is unlike any TAOTWAWKI book I've read and it's unlikely to get that far, but it would be wise to learn from the situation. I realized that I was not as prepared as I thought I was. I had planned to go shooting and I'd planned to restock my ammo after. I should have done it before because now I can't find 9mm and 223. I'm redesigning my Get Home bag. I've put an adult push scooter in my van. If necessary, I could average 8-10 mph on it. I had sufficient calories for a month, but not enough variety to make "meals." I've fixed that. I've topped off both vehicles and my propane tank. I think I have sufficient disinfectant, alcohol, clorox, and hydrogen peroxide. I don't have any large wound first aid. I have a solar panel, a controller, a 12v battery, and an inverter so I can charge rechargeable batteries and run small 120v items. I'm going to the bank to get a wad of $20 bills and some $100 bills. Yeah, I know paper money can hold the virus, but I don't plan on spending them unless the banks close. I'm building up my cash on hand to buy any deals that pop up. Some people will be selling stuff they didn't need to raise money. I just bought a 2019 Macbook Air with a retail of $1,299 for $750... not exactly a steal, but a good deal. I've also stocked up on vitamins to boost my immune system. There has to a reason why this coronavirus doesn't affect most young people and since I'd take the vitamins over the next year anyway, I've stocked up What have you learned? What are you doing to be better prepared?

I think this deserves to be a separate thread. I'll start it.

Costco will open to seniors 60+ and disabled members from 8AM to 9AM Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. Mon-Friday, closing will change to 6:30PM.

UPDATE: My friend tested on Friday 0830 March 20. Today is March 28 and still no results back yet. All I can guess is that hospital admissions and ER testing is getting priority over walk-in clinics. My friend is almost back to normal... an occasional cough and a slight feeling of shortness of breath.

If you're a truck driver, you should be taking extreme measures to avoid getting this virus and urging other drivers and those who interact with drivers to do so as well. After medical professionals and first responders, no other profession is more important. If drivers start getting infected, interstate commerce stops. All that TP that's getting restocked overnight due to truckers... and the food... that supply chain stops. Driving a big rig isn't like retail or food service where you can pull any Joe or Jane off the street to do the job with some OJT. If any part of the supply chain breaks down, our situation would get a lot worse. Truckers are probably the most vulnerable group.

Some general comments... Costco, Walmart, and other businesses are now opening one hour early one day a week to seniors only. This is great for seniors because shelves will be restocked overnight and the crowds will be less. Check their websites or the stores for hours. I think Costco is Thursday at 9AM... not sure. Us seniors can shop for neighbors or other family members. What group is now essential to protect? Truckers. We're protecting medical professionals, but truckers move the goods. If this spreads among truckers, we have a very serious problem. People are ignoring the safer at home order. It started well on Monday, but Thursday I went to Beaman Park for my normal run, expecting the remote park to be empty as usual, but the crowd was the biggest I have ever seen. The parking lot was filled with parents who would rather risk a deadly disease than spend one more day inside with their 6-year-olds. Little human petri dishes were running around everywhere. I left without getting out of the car. The testing system is overwhelmed. My training partner tested Friday Mar 20 in the morning and STILL doesn't have test results back. Since she flew one of the last flights back from Europe and other crew members have tested positive, she very likely has the disease. She has subsequently recovered with only strong flu symptoms. The best approach now is to pretend you have the disease and dress accordingly if you must go out. I'm sure most of us have masks and gloves and some type of portable disinfectant. Since I do rental repairs, I had all this stuff in my van already. EDITED TO ADD Does anyone know if there has been a recent increase in robbery/burglary? I'm curious to see if we need to urge our normally clueless friends to get their noses out of their phones and be more vigilant.