Cool and wet, but hopefully not raining all day.\u00a0 Like yesterday.<\/p>\n
When I got nothing done.\u00a0 Well, did get the daughter safely to school and back for her class picture, and annual hearing and vision checkup.\u00a0 Talked to a couple of the moms while there.\u00a0 One was the volunteer coordinator for the science program I led.\u00a0 She’s working on getting something we can do remotely with the kids.\u00a0 I miss seeing the kids and doing the experiments.<\/p>\n
I miss doing all of my volunteer stuff.\u00a0 I miss my ham radio lunches, and my non-prepping hobby meetings.\u00a0 (Both of those are primarily composed of guys with a couple of decades on me and a laundry list of co-morbidities.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Wouldn’t be prudent.)\u00a0 I wonder where we’ll be in three weeks.<\/p>\n
It occurs to me I’ve been saying that for 9 months.\u00a0 We’ll see in a few weeks…\u00a0 and for the most part, what we saw was not as bad as we feared (but we did see the increases, and the deaths).\u00a0\u00a0 And we’ve gradually gotten used to it, and the overton window has moved dramatically.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 March – “FREAKING FOUR PEOPLE HAVE DIED IN WASHINGTON!!11!!\u00a0 December – “It’s barely 2000 dead a week, and most of them were ready to die anyway, I need a beer.”<\/p>\n
We got used to it.<\/p>\n
I don’t know where we’ll be in three weeks.\u00a0 I don’t know where we’ll be in three months.\u00a0 I don’t know where we’ll be in three years.\u00a0 I do know that what has been set in motion will continue in motion.<\/p>\n
In a state that was isolated from the worst of the .gov excesses, where we were never really locked in our homes, where businesses continued as much as possible to keep going, with the strongest economy in the country, I see the signs of the downward spiral.\u00a0 I was driving in different areas Wednesday, near to home but toward the kid’s school.\u00a0 Areas that I really haven’t been in much in the last few months.\u00a0 LOTS more bums.\u00a0 Lots more immigrants on the street in the rain.\u00a0 More vacant storefronts.\u00a0\u00a0 More ‘For Lease’ signs.\u00a0\u00a0 Projects that got started, but now haven’t progressed are everywhere.\u00a0 They cleared the lot and put up the fence, but no further work has been done, and the weeds are 4 foot high.\u00a0 They remodeled the restaurant or store but never opened.\u00a0 There is a LOT of newly vacant commercial property around me.<\/p>\n
There are some signs of life.\u00a0 Several big housing developments are still building houses- a block from one that is built out, but has a 20 foot sign “HUGE incentives to buyers” in front.\u00a0 The Aldi store a couple of blocks from my house is going to open this week.\u00a0 I can’t help but wonder though if that is just momentum.\u00a0\u00a0 Once the money is in motion, it sometimes costs more to stop than to continue, even if the deal no longer makes sense.<\/p>\n
We seem to be in the stage where things gradually get shirtier.\u00a0 More bums on the street.\u00a0\u00a0 More trash and litter.\u00a0 More illegal dumping.\u00a0\u00a0 More graffiti and tags, and they stay up longer.\u00a0\u00a0 McDonalds took 20 minutes to get me two large fries, and they both tasted like they’d been held too long, even though the drive thru girl said we were waiting while they cooked them.\u00a0 Limited menu and few customers too.\u00a0 AND over $5.<\/p>\n
Smaller sizes, and higher prices.\u00a0 Limited selections and more frequent shortages.\u00a0 Increasing frequency and duration of outages of basic services.\u00a0 We are ALREADY in this stage of collapse.\u00a0 Inertia will carry us further into it no matter what happens in the next two months.<\/p>\n
In the past we dealt with adversity.\u00a0 We rolled up our sleeves and we tightened our belts.\u00a0 We sacrificed because ‘we were all in it together’.\u00a0\u00a0 We’re not anymore.\u00a0 We can see the ‘elite’ and connected getting a better deal than us.\u00a0 They say ‘stay home’ while they fly on a private jet to a vacation resort.\u00a0 A jet they don’t own or pay for, that someone else in their network ‘shares’ with them.\u00a0\u00a0 They’re already laying out the new Soviet Union and Nazi Germany in their tweets.\u00a0 Oppose the party and be crushed.\u00a0\u00a0 Express any idea or hold a belief that isn’t approved, and the might of “the people” will be focused against you.<\/p>\n
It’s all going to get worse for at least a while too.\u00a0 There is still hope, but not for long.\u00a0 We’ll know in a few weeks….<\/p>\n
.<\/p>\n
.<\/p>\n
.<\/p>\n
And then it might get a lot worse.\u00a0 Possibly very quickly.\u00a0 And…….<\/p>\n
We’ll get used to it.<\/p>\n
Hard times are coming.\u00a0 Hell, for many they are already here, and just getting started.\u00a0 Use the time wisely.\u00a0 Keep stacking whatever you think you’ll need.\u00a0 Moxie and pretzels, if that’s your thing.\u00a0 But stack it high.<\/p>\n
nick <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Cool and wet, but hopefully not raining all day.\u00a0 Like yesterday.<\/p>\n
When I got nothing done.\u00a0 Well, did get the daughter safely to school and back for her class picture, and annual hearing and vision checkup.\u00a0 Talked to a couple of the moms while there.\u00a0 One was the volunteer coordinator for the science program I led.\u00a0 She’s working on getting something we can do remotely with the kids.\u00a0 I miss seeing the kids and doing the experiments.<\/p>\n