No thanks to the Chi-coms (perhaps unwittingly) poisoning the world with the Kung Flu (or Covid-19, if you don't like making jokes about diseases and disasters), everyone's life is currently upside down. I won't comment on what I think of that because there's not enough data to form any worthwhile opinions on the subject.
That being said, I wouldn't be surprised if this did end up being some kind of bio weapon that escaped from the lab and infected the public. Communist regimes have been known to be that irresponsible before. For example, Aralsk-7 AKA Vozrozhideniya Island or the Sverdlovsk anthrax leak in 1979.
As for me, I am not overly worried about my health. I have been through far too many disasters. That, and my last post in the Army was Fort Detrick, the base where the military once developed/continues to test numerous chemical and biological weapons. The air, water and soil on that base are so polluted, that it would easily become a Superfund site if not for the fact that it's a military installation. So, the info that the VA sent to me via text message may not be all that necessary.
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| I have been through a LOT of disasters... |
Impact on New Orleans...
The local effects here in New Orleans (and Louisiana as a whole) have been 'economically devastating', to say the least. We have the second highest number of cases anywhere in America, second only to Seattle. As of this writing, there have been 240 cases of Covid-19 either confirmed or suspected and 5 deaths. All the deaths happened in Orleans Parish. Orleans also has the highest number of real/suspected cases with 176. Second to that is neighboring Jefferson Parish with 37. All 11 of the other affected parishes have 6 or less. You can keep track of the Covid-19 effects here in Louisiana with an interactive map from the local news outlet WWL-TV here.
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| Affected areas in Louisiana, as of 18 Mar 2020. |
All restaurants have been closed, except for takeout orders and drive-thru windows. Grocery stores are changing their hours. Some are setting up specific times only for senior citizens, to reduce the risk of those people being infected by younger people who may have Covid-19 and not know. Younger people seem to be largely immune to the effects, but older people tend to get hit hard. All 5 deaths in Louisiana so far were between 53 and 84 years old, several with pre-existing health issues.
So far, I haven't had too much trouble getting groceries. I did have to make a 2nd trip to get a loaf of bread and my preferred brand of milk. Other than that, stocking up on food has been easy. However, I did take a few photos of the empty aisles at my local grocery store a few days ago...
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| Toilet Paper & Paper Towel aisle |
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| Bread shelf in Bakery section |
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| Bread shelf in Bakery section |
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| I saw this in the bakery when I went to the grocery on March 14th. With everything that's going on, I thought it was sardonically hilarious. |
Bars, clubs, casinos, music venues and any other form of public entertainment are shut down. That means the economic hit from this epidemic is going to hit New Orleans harder than most other areas in the United States. Our economy depends on petroleum and tourism. With no one traveling or going out for fun at night, the town is now all but dead. I'm expecting the effects to be just as bad as Hurricane Katrina was for us, if not worse. This depresses me in ways I don't know how to explain with words. Thankfully though, we don't have lots of flooding, property destruction and dead bodies floating down the street like we did during/after that dreadful storm.
Impact on my schooling...
Like all the restaurants and entertainment venues, all schools have been effectively shut down. My school shut down classes after last week. All other colleges in the University of Louisiana system have also shut down classes on their campus. Fellow UNO students can get info from the school's website here and here. The rest of my semester will be done online. Most (if not all) K-12 schools are also closed for at least a month.
I don't care for online classes, but it's not the end of the world. I have done online classes at UNO before. I just prefer in-person classes because you get more out of them. I was also concerned about if and how the VA was going to handle my payments for the G.I. Bill living stipend. I've already recieved word from them via e-mail that nothing will change for this semester. However, if all the classes are online in the fall semester, the amount I'll get in the monthly living stipend will be significantly less. That's a pay cut that I just can't afford. I'll be writing a letter about this potential problem to my Senator, Congressman and President Trump just as soon as I can. With the current economic chaos going on, I don't know if I can find any kind of part-time job to supplement my income. (And I do need one.)
UPDATE 19 MAR 2020:
Just got an e-mail from the VA saying that Congress passed a bill authorizing them to continue G.I. Bill living stipend payments like normal during this crisis. (And any future crises that force a college to switch to online instruction.) It's been sent to POTUS and he'll be signing it ASAP.
This is quite a load off of my mind. I was wondering how that was going to be handled and was about to send a letter to my Congressman, Senator & President Trump on this very issue. TYVM Congress for doing your job well on this matter. I just wish it didn't take a global pandemic/national emergency to get you to fix a problem that we probably didn't even know existed before. :P
Entrepreneurial opportunities
Since any and all entertainment venues are shuttered because of this epidemic, my dream of opening an arcade/retro game store is not likely to happen anytime soon. Hopefully, this thing will blow over before I graduate from school and then (with luck) get loans to open up my business.
Considering that, I started thinking of other businesses I could open that would be much more resilient to these kind of disasters. And that is when it hit me: Disaster Prep.
A business that caters to people preparing for disasters would be extremely profitable in these times. Even during good times, it could still be successful marketing to Doomsday Preppers, Boogaloo Bois and people living in areas prone to disasters, especially New Orleans. We could do everything from putting together people's bug-out bags, hazmat suits, gas masks, medkits, MRE's (or something similar) and old-school 4x4 vehicles using carburetors & trailers. Why old-school 4x4 vehicles using carburetors? Because those vehicles are completely mechanical with their drive-train. This design makes those vehicles immune to the effects of an electromagnetic pulse or any kind of hacking/electronic attacks. They would be the only vehicles that are still running when/if there's a nuclear/radiological incident. I have 2 memes that explain what I mean...
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| That RamCharger would look good subdued in OD Green & Black trim... |
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| As a former contractor, I can vouch for how useful trailers are... |
Also, for those of you who do NOT know what a 'boogaloo' is, you can read more about it here.
- Lord Publius
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