Day 123: 2020 Pandemic. Record Number of Pandemic Cases in Florida. Disney World Opens.

That sums up the apocalypse that is the United States.

Betsy DeVos, Sec of Education, summed up this administration’s approach to the pandemic this morning by insisting schools re-open but when asked if there is a plan, she said schools were on their own to figure out how to do that. And how to support it. She offered no plan, no federal support. We have no federal plan for any aspect of this pandemic, here, almost midway into July. It’s stunning as we have record numbers of infections and will soon see record numbers of deaths.

We are short PPE. Still. We are short testing. Still. We are short meds. Still. But Jared Kushner did a helluva of a job, didn’t he?

One-third of rents/mortgages were not paid for July. One-third. Let that sink in.

I’ve gone back to basics in terms of preparation. I’m heading out this coming week to cache extra supplies at our BOHS (bug out hide site). I’m re-inventorying gear and equipment. Upping my solar battery capability.

A negative sign, but are other people noticing that soups and other long term food stuffs are in shorter supply in their groceries? The good news for those who see what’s happening is that, unlike when the pandemic first started, you can resupply a number of things. A small example: the Mountain House Classic Bucket is once more available. It’s made by the same company that made what we called LRRPs in Special Forces. You just add hot water to the pouch, stir, and eat. Yummy.

I remember field testing MREs back in the day. We went to field in the First Cav Division for three weeks to eat. And do other stuff. But eat. We weren’t thrilled with MREs. I actually missed the old C-rats. I was one of the weirdos who liked the ham-n-eggs in the can. And the small tins of cheese with the crackers? Packing your ruck by tearing the C-rats apart and putting them in socks so they wouldn’t rattle? When heading on a deployment where all we had was what we carried in Special Forces, we used to tear the MREs and LRRPs down to get rid of extra weight like that extra plastic spoon. You only need one damn spoon.

We’re in a slow rolling apocalypse right now and perhaps we will come out all right, but there aren’t many positive signs. I’ll be posting more on various longer term survival topics soon. I’ve been updating the over 30 free survival slideshows: Free Slideshows

The Green Beret Pocket-Sized Survival Guide (same as above, minus the preparation part in order to be smaller in print)

The Green Beret Preparation and Survival Guide. Also in Kindle Unlimited.