Are You Really Prepared for the Second Half of the Year 2020?

Introduction
The coronavirus, or COVID-19, has significantly changed things everywhere.

Nobody knows how the future will unfold and nobody can be certain that things will return to normal in one month, or three months, or six months, or one year, or two years, or five years, or never.

The purpose of this article is to very briefly recommend a few strategies that would be appropriate regardless of how the future may unfold.

Discussion
A lot of people are currently not working and they are receiving unemployment checks. Those checks are helping them to just barely survive.

A lot of companies, and especially small businesses, are having serious financial problems because they still have to pay their fixed costs, such as rent. Some of these businesses are closed, such as hair salons, theaters, nightclubs, and shopping mall stores. A large number of these companies will soon file for bankruptcy and they will go permanently out-of-business.

The shelter-in-place strategy has significantly reduced travel. This has significantly reduced gasoline sales, motel revenues, air travel revenues, and the revenues of tourist related businesses. However, all of these businesses still have to pay their fixed costs and this is creating serious financial problems for these businesses. Most of the people who worked for these businesses have been temporarily or permanently laid off and they are trying to survive on a trivial amount of unemployment benefits.

Several large companies are having labor union problems and if those problems are not resolved then their employees will go on strike and shut them down. This will cause significant supply chain problems everywhere.

Several large meat processors have been shut down due to the coronavirus infecting hundreds of their employees at several of their different facilities.

Consumers have not yet been seriously affected and they are eating and consuming almost as much as they did before the coronavirus shelter-in-place began. Grocery stores have been able to keep their shelves reasonably well stocked, except for some items, but this has being achieved by gradually using up their inventories at their central warehouses. When those central warehouses are exhausted then the grocery store shelves will not be restocked during the night shift.

China has control over what they ship to us and when those shipments stop then we will notice that new appliances, repair parts for appliances, repair parts for automobiles, clothing, shoes, foods, medicine, and a variety of other things will no longer be available. Although these things could be made in the USA it takes time to purchase and install equipment, hire and train employees, acquire reasonable supplies of good quality raw materials, and begin making things efficiently. And the cost of the things made in the USA will be a lot higher than the same things made in China because people in the USA demand a much higher wage than the people in China.

Some stores now have waiting lines outside the store and people have to wait several hours to enter the store.

Some stores are no longer accepting cash or checks and they will only accept debit cards and credit cards for payment.

Most stores now have limits on how much you can purchase of some items, such as toilet paper, paper products, cleaning supplies, some medical items, milk, bottled water, fresh meat, and a variety of other items. Some stores now have a limit of one-per-customer on everything they have in stock. This is very similar to what happened a few years ago in Venezuela before their country gradually and completely degenerated into anarchy.

The combined impact of all the above variables will be more money in circulation and a lot fewer things being available for sale. Therefore prices will skyrocket and this could easily lead to mass demonstrations and uncontrolled rioting.

Based on the above it would make good sense to seriously evaluate all of the following necessities from a perspective that you may not have considered before.

Since most of us have limited financial resources we should carefully consider how we can best invest the small amount of money that we do have.

If you have a little money set aside for a rainy day then perhaps you should consider using it right now because today might be the beginning of a deluge similar to the one in Noah's days when most people perished because they were not prepared for the world to change in a way that they had not previously experienced.

Water:
Without clean drinking water most people will die in about three days. I know that most websites are recommending that everyone keep a big stock of drinking water in their residence. There is nothing wrong with this advice but it does not address the issue of what you will drink after all your water is gone.
If you live in an area where there is an average amount of rainfall each month then you could collect rainwater and replenish your water supplies. The rainwater needs to be collected before it makes contact with anything except your clean water collection system, whatever that happens to be.
Everyone should also own at least one really good high-quality water filter. This is not the type of water filter that is sold in most stores.
It may become absolutely necessary for you to relocate somewhere else for some reason that you cannot foresee at this time. If this happens then you will not be able to take very much water with you because water is very heavy. It would be smarter to take whatever food you have with you instead of all your bottled water.
A lot of information about water is on my website at the following link.
Instructions on how to make a homemade water filter is at the following link.

Food:
Different websites discuss food from different perspective. Some websites recommend buying a lot of fresh food and freezing it, some recommend buying a lot of canned food, some recommend growing your own food, some recommend hunting and fishing, and some recommend some combination of these strategies.
I planted my first vegetable seeds 60 years ago when I was 11 years old. That was about the same age I learned how to fish and hunt. I lived on a small dairy farm for six months when I was 21 years old. I learned how to can vegetables using "glass Mason jars" when I was about 26. I am now 71 years old and I have been gardening, growing fruit and nut trees, growing grapes and berries, fishing, hunting with a rifle and bow and arrows, and trapping for a very long time. Although I am now too old to do most of these things, I learned through hands-on experience that it is not possible to feed your family for an extended period of time by gardening, hunting, and fishing.
Therefore I strongly recommend that you purchase canned food that has already been cooked inside the can and that food is ready to eat. At the beginning of May in the year 2020 Walmart sells their "Great Value Brand" canned vegetables for between 46 cents to 60 cents per can, and this includes corn, green peas, carrots, potatoes (whole, sliced, and diced), mixed vegetables, diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, and a variety of beans (pinto, kidney, black, navy, and great northern). They sell their "Great Value Brand" fruits, including fruit cocktail, for less than one-dollar per can. They also usually have a very low price on canned meats, such as roast beef, chicken, ham, tuna, salmon, chili, and beef stew.
Freeze-dried and dehydrated foods are also good options but now is not the time to be chasing after these types of foods.
However, it is okay to have a reasonable amount of frozen food in your freezer but most of your food dollars should be invested in canned food. Before you invest a lot of money in frozen foods you should consider the following:
1. What will you do if your freezer stops working and you can't get it fixed quickly because the part you need isn't available?
2. What will you do if you lose your electricity for several days?
3. What will you do with all your frozen food if you are forced to relocate to another location?
A lot of information about food is on my website at the following link.
A lot of information about gardening is on my website at the following link.
A lot of information about hunting and fishing is on my website at the following link.

Toilet Paper:
Toilet paper is not given very much thought until you don't have any and there is no toilet paper for sale in any store you visit.
An alternative to toilet paper is discussed on my website at the following link.

Electricity:
Life without electricity can be extremely difficult.
Gasoline generators are very nice but they require a continuous supply of gasoline.
Solar panels may be an option that you may wish to consider.
Solar panels are discussed on my website at the following link.
Solar battery chargers (AA, AAA, C, and D) are discussed on my website at the following link.
There are also small portable solar chargers available on Amazon that are designed to recharge your cell phone and tablet (ipad).

Trash:
If something happens to the routine pickup of our trash then each family will need to take care of their own trash.
If you have a fireplace then you can burn paper, cardboard, and some types of very thin plastic on a daily basis in your fireplace.
You can remove the top and the bottom from a metal can and then crush the can flat with your foot. A lot of empty metal cans can be stored in a very small space if you will do this.
Glass jars and lids can be washed and then used for something else at a future date.
If you live in an area where most people live in huge apartment buildings and for some reason the trash pickup services stop, then the accumulation of trash in the streets will result in a rapid increase in the number of rats and other pests, and in an extremely disgusting odor as the garbage gradually decays. If this happens then the rats, flies, and the smell could force you to relocate to another area.

Sewers:
If you are connected to a municipal sewer network and there is a long-term power failure, then you may experience a sewer nightmare that exceeds anything you ever imagined.
This could be one of those things that forces you to relocate somewhere else because you will not survive if you stay where you are.

Social Destabilization:
Anyone who has been shopping recently has probably noticed that most people are now more courteous than normal.
However, you may have also noticed that one or two people have become openly obnoxious.
As the shelter-in-place gradually drags on, and on, and on, you may notice an increase in hostile social behavior.
This may be another issue that eventually forces you to relocate somewhere else because it may not be safe to leave your home to do any type of shopping, depending on where you currently live and how social behavior deteriorates in your area.
Social problems are discussed on my website at the following link.

Firearms:
Firearms are discussed on my website at the following link.

Money, Automobiles, and Housing:
If money becomes a serious issue then you may wish to consider whether or not you need your automobile and your own residence.
If you are a member of a larger family unit, and your parents are still alive, then your parents may give you permission to return home.
If you cannot afford your car payment then giving your car back to the finance company may be a reasonable option.
If you cannot pay all your debts then bankruptcy may be a reasonable option.
Most of us do not consider the above options during normal times but the coronavirus may change our perspective on some of these issues.
Before you spend your last dollar trying to make one more payment on a car or an apartment, you may wish to consider the above options. That would allow you to use your last dollar in a more productive manner. A month from now you may be very pleased with your decision to "cut your losses" while you still had a little money you could salvage.

Relaxation:
If electrical power becomes unpredictable and undependable then we may need to find other ways to occupy our free time.
Some entertainment options are discussed on my website at the following link.
Some ancient board games and solitaire games are discussed on my website at the following link.
If you have a computer then you could use the free "https://librivox.org" website to download some free audio books onto a flash drive so you could listen to those books if the Wi-Fi networks become undependable. (Note: You may discover that "Internet Explorer" will allow you to "Save As" each of the books in a file that you specify and this is more convenient than trying to download the books using "Firefox" or "Google Chrome.")
If you have a tablet or cell phone then you can download free audio books and free "old time radio" broadcasts using the free "Librivox" app.
If you download these items now while the Wi-Fi networks are all working correctly then you would have a reasonable selection of entertainment options if the Wi-Fi networks become undependable.
A free download of the Holy Bible in more than 1,000 different languages, including a dramatized reading of the English Standard Version, is reviewed on my website at the following link.

Conclusion
Nobody knows how the future will actually unfold and that includes me.

However, since most of us currently have some extra free time on our hands then we should consider how we can best invest that time to enhance the chance of our future survival.

Respectfully,
Grandpappy.

Grandpappy's e-mail address is: RobertWayneAtkins@hotmail.com