Wouldn’t you like to be a Prepper too?

Spoiler alert: this blog is a organic and unfiltered and what I’m writing today is about the Coronavirus and it is ALL TRUE. Please don’t judge me.

Last night as I was editing my poems and chatting with my online writing group thoughts about priorities kept itching my brain. M mentioned something about Coronavirus and let me tell you, that topic has moved in and dropped all its bags in the entryway and made itself comfortable in my living room.

Jim is a physician and has his finger on the pulse of all things coronavirus as it spreads its web across the earth. It’s an invisible invader creeping in the daylight and the night, stealthily getting on planes and trains and automobiles. It’s not picky. It will hitch a ride with anyone, apparently.

I don’t need to go further with any description or explanation as it’s in our face when we watch or listen to the news. It’s the main crisis du jour and it’s making itself comfortable in that spot.

In America we watch and wait. In the Midwest we are still holding our breath as stories from the coasts emerge. But what impact does that have on our daily lives? For us, plenty!

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been to Walmart and Costco in the last week and what myriad of supplies I’ve stocked up on. Jim and I have talked about a plan. We’ve agreed to how much to keep in storage, and also discussed what might happen if things get really bad.

Mindsets and triggers are emerging from these discussions and behaviors and actions are being condoned.

My go-to genre for literature is not comedy, or romance, or “beach reads”, or spy novels, or horror novels or even poetry, ironically. It’s dystopian fiction. Those are the books I pick up and can’t put down. Those linger in my brain and make me wonder, what if.

Now the wondering “what if?” has gotten kinda real. What if we were quarantined in our house? What if the city went rogue and you had to protect your loved ones, property, and supplies? Would you be ready? I can safely say, we are getting there. Each day is a new question and the question yesterday was about medicine.

With the food and water situation taken care of (mostly), I turn my attention to other household items for daily life. I mean, we can get along without vitamins etc, which is mostly what I take, but there are a few scripts in the mix and some otc allergy meds. Not just that but also soap and hand sanitizer and batteries and candles and yes, tampons and pads. I was having a particularly rough period day yesterday and probably went overboard on that.

But that shit lasts for like ever so it doesn’t hurt to stock up. The package for the batteries says it’s guaranteed to last 10 years, so that doesn’t hurt either. And all the food I did buy will last until at least 2021 and we can dip into it as the expiry dates approach. That’s my logical brain trying to justify these purchases when the irrational brain takes over and is preparing for EVERYTHING.

Yesterday Jim asked me how much cat food we have and when I told him he said, “we should probably buy a few more big bags”. Yeah, I’m not alone in this. I told him a week ago after he gave me permission to spend some money, that I’ve always fantasized about this sort of preparedness. He’s married a wannabe prepper and didn’t know it. These are the things you sometimes find out after you are married and then it’s… too late. 😜

As it turns out, he is too. So our biggest problem will be not going too far. But how far is too far? 🤔

We even talked about what we would do if it got really bad and our kids asked if their other parents could come here. Yes.. this is a real conversation we had. At the time we didn’t really come to a conclusion. The conversation just wandered off in another direction. In my head it’s a no brainer that we would invite them in (despite our seriously sour feelings toward them both and their historical lack of respect for us and our well being).

Then two days ago, my daughter comes home from her dads house and casually tells me in conversation that her future step sister (who she shares a bathroom with at her dads house) has coronavirus.

WUT??!!

I sat straight up on the chair I was sitting in, “what do you mean?”.

She proceeds to tell me that the girl (we’ll call her OP1) just got back from Seattle where she was in the area where there are known issues and confirmed cases AND OP1 has been sick since getting back home.

WHAT THE FUCK???!!!

She said (still very dismissively) “ it’s no big deal mom. She’s fine now and I had a headache and stomach ache yesterday but I’m fine today.”

UMMM… DETAILS PLEASE

“That’s all I know, mom. Dad said it, he was just joking”.

BUT WAS SHE IN SEATTLE AND WAS SHE SICK?

“Yes she was in Seattle and I dunno anything else. Why are you freaking out?”

IT’S IMPORTANT AND ITS A BIG DEAL!

“MOM, It’s not. Just forget I said anything.”

“NO CAN DO. I’m going to have to talk to Jim and I’m going to call your dad.”

“Ok. I’m hungry, what’s for dinner?”

GOOD GRIEF! I said “let me think about it,” and got up and walked away, “I’m gonna go talk to Jim a minute.”

We had that talk and the next hour and a half was a fuzzy scramble of conversation and calling Brian and consulting with another physician and deciding the next steps.

My ex is a serious idiot. We call him and let him know he is on speakerphone with Jim and I. He’s never met Jim before, in person or on the phone. He’s in route from the grocery store to home and is alone. We ask about OP1 and her travel and what she’s sick with. He said “I don’t know, she was there a month ago, and I’m not sure what she had, I will have to ask J (her mom)”.

I introduce Jim who is asking me to ask what symptoms OP1 has had.

Brian does not answer the question, just defects again saying he is not home yet but J is there and he’ll ask. Then Jim chimes in and let’s Brian know how serious this is and how important it is that we know all the details. Then Brian says “I think she’s been home for a month and she had flew like symptoms”.

That, my friends, is a serious red flag.

Jim instructs that he needs to take initiative and get himself and J and OP1 to the Med Center to be tested. He says he’s going to consult with another MD and has to get off the call, but stresses the seriousness of this as we don’t yet know how this thing can spread, even in people who don’t have symptoms and his children are now at risk. Jim then leaves the conversation and I stay on the line with Brian.

He arrives home and gets J on the phone. I repeat the questions and get different answers. OP1 arrived back from Seattle 10 days ago on February 21 and she was there for 3 days. She has not been sick, has had no symptoms and the only sick people in the household have been Brian and J who had stomach bugs for 24 to 48 hours last week. Yeah, completely different story (but more believable considering the source).

While I listen I look at the CDC website at their FAQ page. First thing you do when you suspect you have been exposed is get tested, but call the local ER/MD office first to get their recommendation. I copy and paste and send that whole page to Brian in text and then said “You just need to call the Med Center and explain the situation and get their recommendation”. I think we scared him. He agreed to do that.

Since then I have received several follow up texts letting me know they called and also that OP1 called too and the current recommendation is to only come down if you have certain symptoms. I have to be OK with that I guess. I mean, I would err on the side of better safe than sorry, but you also shouldn’t have every luny-tune who has a sore throat showing up, wasting resources. At least that part of my brain still functions normally.

Seriously though, my ex is such an ass-hat. Z said he jokes all the time about the virus and I know better than anyone that he’s so full of bullshit that most of his friends don’t believe him when he starts to tell stories. Now Jim has gotten a little taste of it too. He just says shit and doesn’t even care if it is true or not. He’s a habitual liar and when a person like that starts to talk, you can’t help but be dismissive. This is why Z dismissed it so easily. She knows him too. However, in this case, we needed to take it seriously just in case.

Like I said, that was Monday. Now we’ve backed off Defcon 2 and are back at 3— Prepared and alert.

I’m still thinking about what else we might need to stock up on, though with all the trips I have taken to the store in the last week, I really have zero desire to go back. If I do go out again, one of the things on my list is wine. That’s when I know I’ve tipped over the edge, when I start feeling like I might need to beef up my wine supply to get me through the “tough times”. That or it could just be I’m jonesing for a glass (though it is a wee bit early in the day for that yet).

Anyway.. I think that’s it for today. That’s enough really!!

Cheers to Being Prepared,

~Miss SugarCookie

PS. Today’s featured image was indeed taken in Kauai. I wonder if the current situation has damaged or boosted sales.