The book I have here free on FluWikie is also now available in print version on Amazon.com. I would appreciate any and all comments on that site by those of you who have read the book. Your feedback will help me understand whether or not I hit the mark.
I will try to read soon. Meanwhile,bump.
bump for BB.
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Go and read it and give Will a review, dammit.
I think it will be a great tool but I cannot for the life of me print it to read. can anyone help?
Birdie Kate – at 08:42
Good Morning Kate this tech support: What’s yer problem?
:)
Ah - yes - you cannot print it - there is a print lock on the document to prevent local printing.
:(
That’s too bad - it’ll prevent me from reading it completely.
(headaches from reading type fonts on a screen…)
:(
I have provided it free of charge here on fluwiki, though have taken the eBook step of having it as a non-printable online resource to avoid blackmarket abuses and to stay within my publisher’s agreements. I think you will find that very few authors let people read such works for free, but I felt this subject was too important to limit, especially to my fellow fluwikians.
If you find the book helpful in your preparations, then a word or two in an Amazon review would help others understand how they could take measures to improve their family’s situation in a pandemic.
Oh, hey - yea - I completely understand. I just have a real problem reading type text of crt screens… I’ll just have to buy the actual book. ;)
In any case, it seems VERY thorough. I especially find the formulas for heating ect very useful.
A good consolidation of most key necessities.
I just ordered a copy! Thanks to Will for producing such a terrific reference. I’ve skimmed it quickly online but it will be great to have it in hardcopy. I will post a review both here and on amazon once I’ve had time to look it over more thoroughly.
Will - I read your book before and I remembered it as being very good - full of well written, useful information. When I read your request for reviews yesterday, I decided to read it again, this time with ten months of research, planning and mental rehersing under my belt. This time, I found myself a bit confused. I just can’t quite understand WHO this is written for, and WHAT they were preparing for. If I didn’t know, I would guess that it was written for a rural person who does not work at a full-time job, preparing for the long-term demise of society, with a bout of pandemic flu thrown in.
I wouldn’t recommend this book for someone who was just learning about the possibility of a pandemic, and trying to figure out what to do to survive. I think it confuses surviving 18 months of pandemic waves with being more self-sufficient in the long term. While it would be great to have a substantial garden, and fruit trees, and small livestock, is that really necessary to survive pan-flu? Can’t I just have 3 months of canned food, a water filter and lots of batteries? After months of research I found the answer to this question to be a qualified “yes.” The book gives the impression that the answer to this question is “no,” but I can’t quite figure out why.
I might recommend this book to someone who has already learned about the possibility of pandemics, and has become more aware of emergency preparedness and self-sufficiency in general. It serves as sort of an expanded checklist of all the options a person would want to consider as they plan long-term changes in their way of life, in addition to planning for a pandemic.
Forgive me for not expressing this very well - I usually like to have several days to mull something over and distill it into coherent thought. I know you want to have a comprehensive guide to help people through a multitude of possible scenarios, but that is a different thing than surviving 18 months of pandemic and I found it confusing when the two were mixed. Perhaps the title led me to expect something different than you intended.
That said, I have nothing but admiration for the amount of well-presented information in the book. Even after 10 months of immersing myself in the topic, I learned some new things.
I think it will be a great resource to have on hand-especially if the internet is down. I’ll be ordering a copy.
It is well-written, but it might be confusing for a newbie. There is A LOT covered and due to trying to pack the most information in the fewest number of pages, this leads to a few areas where you might generate more questions than answer them.
Otherwise I think it is great. Sort of a resource for someone who is just over the hump of initially searching for information so they sort of know what to expect with regard to preparation … but yet need to have some of it reinforced. I didn’t find it as useful after being on fluwiki for a number of months except as a place to condense all my “head” knowledge.
Good work overall in my opinion.
Will, Is there someplace where I can pay to download and print a copy rather than wait for the hard copy to arrive in the mail?
Nimbus, Quartzman, lohrewok, Kathy, Birdie Kate, others;
Thanks for the positive feedback! Hopefully this will help to round out your preparations and help to communicate preparation to your friends.
Sahara: The book covers urban, suburban, and rural residents. It’s true that urban residents can’t plan fruit trees or have livestock, but suburban residents can (e.g., rabbits). Every little bit helps. 3 months worth of food may be enough, then again it may not. The National Defense University guidelines suggest that waves may be 8–12 weeks in length, with 3 or more waves total. Trying to restock between waves may prove to be impossible when supplies lines are struggling to restart simply to catch back up to feeding people day to day; attempting to surge up to double capacity to stockpile the population for the next wave will be a bridge too far. Having a few fruit/nut trees and a garden can help to fill in the gaps and provide fresh produce that will be a godsend to those of us unaccustomed to eating only canned and dehydrated foods for months at a time.
Edna: The eBook version was supposed to come out at the same time; I’ve reminded the publisher and they assure me that it is coming out shortly.
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Will,
I had a quick look at it and a couple of things come to mind.
First, you need a big WHY. Most people are either not sure/know nothing/ unconvinced about a pandemic. So an overview/intro chapter is very important, to help them make the link between what they see as BIRD flu, and their need to prepare for it.
After that, maybe add a FAQ so people can choose to read only those bits that they don’t understand - some of the points have been covered so often in the press that some people may get bored having to get through them, and bored people give up on books.
Anyway, congratulations and thanks for your efforts!
anon-22:
Thanks for your comments. I had identified a WHY section in the overview, but intentionally steered the content toward jarring quotes from medical heavyweights in the areas of probability and impact (severity), which would lead the reader to quickly surmise the ‘why’ on their own. I have been very close to this for so long that I redid this section several times, having new people read it each time, until the last two said basically, “Wow, why didn’t some tell me before? This is quite disturbing; what do I need to do to be ready for this?” I also didn’t want to recover ground that has been exhaustively covered before, so this would assume that a reader purchasing the book already has an idea of the ‘why’ and is looking for the what, when, where, and how.
As to the FAQ suggestion, that certainly has some merit, and would do quite well in a website setting. A print book is not as agile, so I’ll ponder how to address this in the next addition.
As to the FAQ suggestion, that certainly has some merit, and would do quite well in a website setting. A print book is not as agile, so I’ll ponder how to address this in the next addition.
Perhaps a page or two, with the FAQ list, a very short 10–15 word opening with … then “See page XX”. Place this FAQ page immediately facing the Table of Contents, so that as a reader sees “See page ??”, the can glance ove at the TOC and see other, similar chapters…
Something to address a reader’s questions, as a web page would:
“How did this happen?” … See page XX
“How can I prepare?” … See page YY
“What can I do to help my community prepare?” … See page ZZ
Choose maybe 20 questions, and call it something like “20 Questions About Bird Flu”. I think if you call it a “FAQ” page, those folks who don’t know ‘computerease’ (there are a few), may not know what FAQ is…
I read the first copy you posted here, and jumped around a lot in it. I found that as I did this, I got “curiouser and curiouser” about finding more information in the book, and finally, after getting some of my questions answered, went to the beginning and read straight through. That helped me understand, when I got to an area that I earlier had questions about, what I was reading about…
I’m no editor, so just my 5 cents…
Will, you’ve always impressed me as a real straight-shooter from your posts and the way you provide information to help others. Right now, I’m a bit too busy to read the 96 page PDF BUT, I can assure you when my Amazon order goes in this weekend, I’ll just order a copy. A momento of the times that are upon us, you might say. You didn’t, by chance, stick in a recipe or two on how to bake bread on hot rocks? No? Well, I didn’t think so, drat! ;-) lol!
BTW, fruit and nut trees can take about 6–8 years before they mature enough to produce fruit. That needs to be taken into account with the different varieties.
Will, you wrote: “The National Defense University guidelines suggest that waves may be 8–12 weeks in length, with 3 or more waves total.” I wonder how they arrived at that opinion? Any ideas?
I wish you the very best of success on your book publication. May you reap the rewards of your hard work and especially your generosity in providing it on fluwikie at no cost. I truly hope that someone who reads it sooner than I plan to will post a review on Amazon for Will.
Bronco Bill,
Thanks for the good tips on a secondary FAQ-like table of contents, I’ll accumulate people’s questions as they read the book and provide feedback. My original TOC was WHY, WHO, WHERE, WHAT, and WHEN, though these are so interrelated when you get down to the details that I fell back to the threat, WHO/WHERE, and WHAT/WHEN, with the WHAT being the largest piece of the pie by a long shot.
Ange D;
> You didn’t, by chance, stick in a recipe or two on how to bake bread on hot rocks? No? Well, I didn’t think so, drat! ;-) lol!
No :-), though you will find references to solar cooking and related cookbooks.
Standard fruit and nut trees do take 6–8 years to bear fruit, though dwarf apple varieties can fruit in 2-3 years, with some nut trees bearing in 3–4 years.
I don’t have the NDU/NSHPC study rationale for that estimation, though the CBO study came up with waves of 3–5 months in length in a given region.
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I still say EOD’s weapons list is WAY over the top. This seems like enough ammo to fight a small war. I know several people who were really spooked by this list. Hey, I’m all for a gun or two around for self defense (if you are comfortable and knowledgeable), but seriously, how much does all this ammo weigh? What sort of scenario can anyone imagind where you need, for example, 2000 rounds of .223 ammo?
WEAPONS:
* 1911 45 ACP Pistol w/ Laser Sight & assorted holsters, Clips (4) Glock 9mm Pistol w/ assorted holsters, Clips (4) 38 Special Revolver w/ Laser Sight & assorted holsters, Speed Loaders (2) High-Standard 22LR Pistol, Clips (2) AR-15 223 Rifle, 30r Clips (4), EOTech Holo Sight, Insite M6 Weapon Light & Laser Sight, 3x Night Vision Scope Ruger 22LR Rifle, Standard Clips (2), 25 round clip (2), 6x Scope Remington 870 12ga Military Spec. Shotgun with Holographic Sight & Weapon Light Fox labs Pepper Spray (2–3oz) Fox Labs Pepper Spray Grenades (6–6oz) Smoke Grenades (6–40,000 cu ft) Katana – Not an antique but the genuine thing
* Assorted Ammunition:
o (7) Ammo Containers 28 to 33 pounds each 22 Long Rifle: 2000 rounds CCI Mini-Mag
o 38 Special: 350 rounds Federal Hydra Shok JHP
o 9mm: 700 rounds FMJ
o 45Auto 1000 rounds 230gr FMJ 500 rounds Federal Hydra Shok
o 223: 2000 rounds FMJ 350 rounds BT Match Grade 200 rounds Tracer
o 12ga 150 rounds Federal Hydra Shok .75oz Slugs 100 rounds Remington 3” Mag. 00B 100 rounds Remington #4 Shot
PS. Will, overall the collection of information is fantastic. I just happened to stumble upon EOD’s list (I’ve seen it before) and thought its of place.
ColdClimatePrepper, where did you see that list of firearms in Will’s book? All I remember seeing was a 12ga shotgun and a .40 caliber handgun, each w/ 100 rounds of ammunition.
I realize that discussion of firearms has been a contentious issue here in the past so I will only say that Will’s suggestions match my own preparations very closely.
Will: very well done. I think the price may be a bit high at $17 for a 112-page book, but I wish you the best of success.
I think the listing of a bicycle as “crucial” in the Acquisition Priority List is excellent, though as a bicycle commuter I admit to a bias for that form of transporation (I’ve ridden to work in temperaturs as low as 9°F and ridden home in temps as high as 102°F; I reckon I can ride during almost any emergency situation).
I thought the book was excellent. It helped my to understand the need to “break left” on my home (to which I have become very attached). I need to find an appropriate rural residence - no easy task. Thank you, Will.
Good book.
regarding the power grid - there are 156 control areas and 10 NERC regional reliability areas.
Dennis: Yes, I too have been a bike commuter; it saves commuting $s, reduces our “addiction to oil”, my CO2 output, time going to a gym after work, etc.
stilearning: Thanks for the comments!
Jumping Jack Flash: you’re absolutely right, I condensed that section a little too hastily from its original size (which at one point included a map showing 140 control areas in North America a couple of years ago); thanks for the catch.
Does anyone feel it was helpful enough to them to write a short review at Amazon to give others a sense of what they might expect?
bump….Glad to be of service! Congratulations!
Will – at 07:47
I just ordered it on Amazon. I already have the Bird Flu Prepardenss Planner by Dr. Woodson & The Bird-Flu Primer. Those 2 books weren’t what I was looking for or needed, but they certainly were helpful to my children. I am looking forward to reading your book.
I highly recommend the Bird Flu Preparedness Planner in addition to my work. I include several other references, but the details of how to care for an influenza victim at home is invaluable, especially at $5 a copy.
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