Day 20: 2020 Pandemic. Still At the Beginning. Start a garden.
Pandemics don’t just come and then disappear. They come in waves; hopefully smaller and smaller waves, but until we have a vaccine, COVID-19 will be with us. China is having another wave of infections, the news of which they are trying to suppress. We have our own suppression of reality in this country as the […]
Day 19: 2020 Pandemic. Protocols To Follow.
I’m a big fan of SOPs—standing operating procedures. These are ones I received from a reader, Fred, and I think they make sense PROTOCOL WHEN RETURNING HOME When coming back home, try not to touch anything Take out your shoes Disinfect the legs of your pet, if you were taking it outside Take your clothes […]
Day 18: 2020 Pandemic. Trust science. In NYC someone dies every 6 minutes today from COVID-19.
Hard as it is to believe, we are still just in the early stages of the pandemic. The number above has been ticking down. Yesterday it was every 7 minutes. If you think NYC is far away, don’t worry, this will come to your town soon enough. We have a president doling out emergency supplies […]
Day 17: 2020 Pandemic. The Deniers
My surgery went well, did a follow up with doctor today and he said eye looks good, but I’m out of commission for a while. One eye for weeks and having to spend a lot of time horizontal on my left side. I apologize misspellings or mistakes– working with one eye is difficult. A West […]
Day 16: 2020 Pandemic. Shit Happens aka Murphy’s Law.
I’d mentioned this before. That the unexpected will occur. As we hunker down here, I have an unexpected medical emergency. I never had surgery for 60 years of and today I had my first as my right eye suffered a detached retina. So excuse my typing as I”m working with one eye and still woozy […]
Day 15: 2020 Pandemic. Long Term Planning
There are many who think we’ll be okay in two or three months. Wrong. Two things to consider: The fact we have no coordinated federal response to COVID-19 means it will ripple across the country. As New York City flattens its curve, the curve will be shooting upwards in places that are not social distancing […]
Day 14: 2020 Pandemic. The World Has Changed. We Need To Change to Adapt to the New Reality
Change is incredibly difficult. A little change brings discomfort. A lot of change brings fear. There is a very thin line between discomfort and fear. The more you are willing to face and conquer your fears, the further out you push that line and the more change you’ll bring about as you venture further into […]
Day 13: 2020 Pandemic. A five minute video worth watching on symptoms and what happens with COVID-19.
Saw this last night and passing it on. Very much worth watching. PLEASE! Take this virus seriously. If the government won’t do it, we must save ourselves. Lock down. Live. As importantly, keep others alive. This isn’t about just you or I. We’re all in this together. The Green Beret Preparation and Survival Guide. Also […]
Day 12: 2020 Pandemic. We’re STILL Underestimating Everything About COVID-19. Also, How Long Does It Last On Surface.
We canceled our home delivery of the NY Times 2 weeks ago. My morning ritual used to be to walk down to the mailbox with Scout, our rescue dog, and get the paper. Pull of the plastic bag it was in and then scan the front page as I walked back to the house, then […]
Day 11: 2020 Pandemic. Why Decisive Leadership is Key; A Tale of Two Adjacent States
Every training environment I was in, and every unit I served with in the Army emphasized leadership. From West Point, to Infantry Officer Basic and Advanced, Ranger, Special Forces Qualification, etcetera. Then in the Infantry and Special Forces as an Infantry platoon leader, Battalion scout platoon leader, Brigade recon platoon leader, Special Forces A-Team leader, […]
Day 10: 2020 Pandemic. Extreme Scenarios, Good and Bad because Stuff Doesn’t Just Happen
I’m not a glass half full; glass half empty guy. I’m a “what’s in the damn glass?” person. To understand my psyche, realize I’ve written a survival manual and also two books whose original titles were Shit Doesn’t Just Happen: The Gift of Failure. Because of Amazon rules, I amended Shit to Stuff, but it’s […]
Day 9: 2020 Pandemic. California Lock-Down; Get Self-Sufficient
My son just forwarded me the California lockdown order; which is probably a week late, or early, depending on your perspective. It’s a huge pain but when lives are on the line, we can suffer a bit. Remember those in the front lines—and it’s not just doctors and nurses. There are people you don’t think […]
Day 8: 2020 Pandemic. Better Late Then Never. Preparing. Some items to consider.
The less you have to go out, the better. Hopefully you’ve stocked up as much food and supplies as you can. Your freezer and fridge and cupboard are full. There are many other supplies we should have. I see people loading carts with toilet paper and cases of water and frankly, not a priority. Especially […]
Day 7: 2020 Pandemic. Hunkering Down for the Long Haul. 10 Things To Know
At one time in Special Forces, my team was given the mission to parachute into a certain place and conduct covert surveillance on various targets for a minimum of thirty days. The Army, which has acronyms for everything called it SICTA: Strategic Intelligence Collection and Target Acquisition. The plan was to build a ‘hide site’ […]
Day 6: 2020 Pandemic. Extremes either way? Priorities. What FOOD to get. What isn’t.
There are those who are still blowing SARS-CoV-2 off, comparing it to the flu or, because of the coronavirus label, to the strains of coronavirus that are colds. The only reason it’s called a coronavirus, which is a type, is because it has spikes on the virus. Beyond that it’s NOT the cold or comparable […]
Day 5: 2020 Pandemic. Getting Real; Busting Myths and Getting Smart. Coronavirus map as of this morning.
Lots of closures, some optional, many mandatory. Without clear Federal oversight, states and local governments are doing what they can. I drove to the woods yesterday for my hike with Scout and noticed a lot less traffic than normal. However, Univ of TN is on Spring Break, so that accounts for some of it. I […]
Day 4: 2020 Pandemic. A Sense of Disbelief. Symptoms. Testing so far by state and percent positive.
We “know” SARS-CoV-2 is well beyond containment. Schools are being closed, athletic events canceled, etc. In larger cities, more and more activities are being shuttered. There’s a ripple effect across the country. Here in Knoxville, I’m not getting much of a sense of panic. A low level of anxiety, perhaps. But life seems to be […]
Day 3: 2020 Pandemic. Why it’s key for the most vulnerable to isolate during . .
these next six weeks or so, even though it is likely almost all of us will eventually be exposed to the virus (ie it’s not going away)? Because there is going to be a peak period soon when hospitals will be overwhelmed, we won’t have enough respirators, and doctors will start triaging. You don’t want […]
Day 2: 2020 Pandemic. The Saddest Thing I Heard Today and a Free Survival Guide.
A woman said they were going to the store and someone yelled to them from a car. She went over and there was an older couple sitting inside. The eldrly woman cracked the window. It was obvious she was in great distress and had been crying. She said that they were afraid to go in […]
Day 1: 2020 Pandemic
CDC is reporting 1,215 cases of SARS-CoV-2/COVID-19/Coronavirus. Pick your name. The first is the technical one. The latter is what everyone is calling it, but its misleading because there are at least four other coronaviruses, that are rather different. Regardless. Deaths: 36 Does it seem silly to chronicle this? Perhaps. But things will get forgotten […]
Five Differences Between SARS-CoV-2 (Coronavirus) and the Flu
This is based on recent observations, mostly from China, and medical journals, and is ongoing, but these appear to be trends: Coronavirus spreads slower than the flu. Flu has a shorter incubation period and a shorter serial interval. Incubation period is the time it takes an infected person to show symptoms. Serial interval is the […]
The Difference Between Symptoms of Coronavirus, the common Cold and the Flu
According to the World Health Organization, the chart below shows the differences between all three. Remember, though, each can manifest differently in different people, but it’s a base to use. Wash your hands. Isolate as much as possible. Be smart. Be safe! The Green Beret Preparation and Survival Guide, now updated with an appendix specific […]
“Not Your Usual Survival Book.”
This is a review that was left on The Green Beret Preparation and Survival Guide on Amazon and it hits exactly what I was aiming for with the book. When I was surveying other books in the field (and my shelves are crammed with them) I realized they go from normal life to prepper life […]
Myths Busted and Truths about SARS-CoV-2/COVID-19/Coronavirus
Yes, SARS-CoV-2, is the official name of this form of Coronavirus. I think people don’t want to use the SARS term as it stands for Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome. Scary right? Well, there are reasons to be afraid of this virus, but fear should be tempered with knowledge. So, here are myths busted and truths […]
As of 4 March 2020. What is Coronavirus ? How does it spread? What should you do to prevent exposure? What about a vaccine?
There’s a Good Chance We Will Be Exposed to the Coronavirus. Caveat: I am not a doctor and just referring to the information I have researched. Why is it likely? Because the unique combination of how long a person can be infected before it manifests itself and the fact we have no vaccine for it […]
The Advantage of Indie Publishing: Speed & Coronavirus
I’ve had a new version of The Green Beret Preparation and Survival Guide out for some months now. But given recent events, I wanted to beef up the section I already had on Pandemics with information on the Coronavirus (COVID-19) So I wrote a section, added it to not only that book, but the Green […]
How To Deal With the Coronavirus (COVID-19) Outbreak.
What makes Special Forces elite is our training and, most importantly, our planning. Before going on a mission, we would conduct “Isolation” where we would be in a secure compound and plan our mission. We’d conduct an Area Study, which focused on the Area of Operations where we would be doing the mission. We’d plan […]