What have you learned?

[TheGrey]

This isn't a doom-and-gloom thread. No conspiracies, no politics, and absolutely no condescending. It's time to remember we are real people, with real friends and families, and that we're all going through some difficulties to some degree or another. And it's not just us- by 'us', included are friends and families and complex extensions that are a part of our lives.

With that understanding, what are some things you've learned? What are some things you're changing, going forward? How have you coped, and how have you helped others cope?

I'll start.

1. I have family in another state; older family members that are in the "danger zone" of this virus. I'm very glad that I'm able to keep in touch with them through phone and video chats- I set things up for them the last time we visited.

2. It's amazing to see how many people are getting outside, taking families for walks, and just paying more attention to their kids.

3. We're getting to know our neighbors a bit more, and finding those people in the neighborhood that need help.

4. Things are GETTING DONE AROUND THE HOUSE. Some people may have been able to stay on top of their honey-do list; that sure wasn't us. Until the stay-at-home was issued, that is. Now, holy crap, this may be the year the garage gets cleaned!

5. We've been listening to more music. And playing epic games of dominos and board games.

6. I am planning on canning even more foodstuffs this year, and this is helping me focus and stay on my goals. There are fewer distractions (and I don't think I am alone in admitting that I had no idea how very many distractions there were in my life before this event.)

7. This has been a wake-up call for finances; revamping our budget and taking a look at what we'd spend without thinking is sobering, but also helpful.

8. This event has shifted the way I have viewed my storage uses and needs; I'll be doing things a little differently than the way things played out in my head vs. real life.

9. Our garden this year will actually happen. Go to rareseeds.com to order your seeds.

How about you? What have you learned, and what will you be doing this year to take your life back? What will you be continuing, and what will you be doing differently?

[Great-Kazoo]

not much differently, other than re-evaluate the storage inventory.
Having sold off a lot before the move. We restocked a minimum qty, not our normal amount. Probably due to the Lds store is a 4+ hour drive rt.

Adding a generator, as was the case in CO. Being on a well with no power can put a stop to supply.

Checking on family & friends more so than before. It has put me in touch with people we haven't talked to in years.

Garden wise, more of each item grown last year being planted for this one.



The up side to this virus.

FINALLY getting some people in the area to see the benefits of a network.

[ray1970]

Ha.

Lesson one- don?t wait until you?re almost out of something to buy more. I guess I?ve been spoiled always living in a big city with pretty much everything I need within a short drive. While I?ve always been the kind of person to buy necessities in somewhat large quantities, I?ve typically waited until those items were nearly depleted before deciding to replenish them. I won?t be doing this going forward.

Lesson two- food. With my wife and I both working full time and me usually working more hours than most, we don?t keep much food on hand or do much cooking at the house. We usually dined out at restaurants or at least picked up food to take home. When all of that convenience suddenly goes away it puts you in a position where you are suddenly making lifestyle changes just to feed yourself.

Lesson three- I need more hobbies that I can do at home to entertain myself.

Lesson four- this one is a positive. If you don?t have too many hobbies to entertain you at home and you suddenly find yourself home quite a bit, then finding time for all of the little projects around the house that you have been putting off is much easier.

Side notes- my parents and siblings are not close by. Communication by phone/text/email has been easy and fortunately my parents live in very small, rural communities so I feel they are in a good position to ride this out unscathed so worrying about them isn?t something that I am overly concerned with.

[Aloha_Shooter]

I already knew I could work from home but that my productivity was reduced when I did. Already knew that I had sufficient supplies to get me through a period like this (in part because I often go 2, 3, 4 weeks between grocery trips). In fact, haven't made much of a dent in my freezer/pantry because I'm still trying to order take-out as much as possible to assist some of the local restaurants.

I haven't been knocking as much out of my "to read" stack as I would have hoped -- probably because I have so much bandwidth available that I've been discovering new YouTube channels I like -- sources as diverse as car rebuilding/maintenance (VINwiki, Tavarish, DRIVETRIBE, Rich Rebuilds), music (BethRoars, RHINO, Patty Gurdy, TheHighwayMen, various Portuguese fado channels), locksport (LockpickingLawyer, Bosnianbill) comedy (Key & Peele, HonestTrailers, Translator Fails), cooking (The Bearded Butchers, SousVideEverything, Mad Scientist BBQ, Harry Soo), pop media (Clownfish TV, Nerdrotic, Overlord DVD), aviation (C.W. Lemoine), etc.

Who knew Disney's finances were so rocky that they'd need to take out over $6B in loans in addition to furloughing most of their employees or that the comic book industry would collapse after just a week of shop closures?

Two silver linings I'm hoping for coming out of this:
1. People practice better hygiene in general. Have been disgusted for years at how many people I see who use the lavatory and then don't bother washing their hands before leaving.
2. A lot of the SJWs in popular media get dumped as companies like Disney, Warner Brothers, etc. find out they actually need to make a profit and make movies/TV shows that people want and like.

[Skip]

Preps were solid, thinking could greatly improve.

I was prepared for "evolving thinking" on currency/value of money which we haven't seen (yet). I didn't fully think through "evolving thinking" on essentials. There were windows of opportunity where you might not have found TP at King's but could have gotten a few cans of soup.

Biz partners will screw you when they get scared. I have a medium-term money gap which is biz related but will hit the personal books. Like many, my healthcare is tied to the biz which is my employment. When that goes, my family loses access to care that is not financially catastrophic for us. In a pandemic!

[beast556]

Work as normal, wish I was able to stay at home. Been doing tons of reloading on the weekends.

[Erni]

1. Alergy season means I avoid gardening and landscaping as there is a chance the sinuses get infected and tend to then give me upper respitory issues. Dont want to provide a breeding ground for this.
2. Happy with my ammo supply as I have been proactive after the last drought. That said, I did not do the end of year huge order in 2019 and feel less inclined to burn ammo.
3. I am fine wirking from home, but with more people here productivity is on par with the office.
4. Wife is more receptive of setting up a larger larder.
5. Our pantry was ignored due to both of us working crazy hours since January. That won't do, no excuses.
6. I really want to get out of the HOA life and get a few more things on property including fuel. Yes it was not an issue this time.
7. I want to make an effort to meet more of this boards members. I know most of my neighbors around me. But I want to meet the folks here as its a good group and has kept their wits.

[TFOGGER]

1.Prepping now makes sense to my wife. We went through the bug out bags and 72 hour kit yesterday, and made significant changes.

2. Most office jobs can be shifted to work at home, meaning less traffic, less pollution, and more free time for the workers. As long as productivity remains high, employers should continue this.

3. Election choices are clearer than ever.

4. Connecting to family is 10X better over video than by phone. I had never used any video platform until about 2 weeks ago, now I have multiple options ready to go, depending on who and why.

[Irving]

I feel like the impression of "preppers," by non-preppers, is that they are always preparing to protect themselves and do everything alone. This could be the perfect opportunity to nuance that impression a bit by people openly preparing to be ready to help others in their community. Both prepping can be done simultaneously. I all finding things are still relatively on the helpful and pleasant side and I like to see that.

[CS1983]

I feel like the impression of "preppers," by non-preppers, is that they are always preparing to protect themselves and do everything alone. This could be the perfect opportunity to nuance that impression a bit by people openly preparing to be ready to help others in their community. Both prepping can be done simultaneously. I all finding things are still relatively on the helpful and pleasant side and I like to see that.

Indeed. The point of having now is so that others won't be without later. If someone has 6 months of food stored, that's 6 months of not consuming the food of those who could not, or did not, prepare at the time of its being needed.

The other thing is if there's say... a known "this will normalize in a month" situation. That's 6 people eating for a month.

Not being stressed due to being prepared assists the individual in helping others.