urdar-Norge – at 20:31
some of the answer may lay here, right on the forum. After spending time here for almost a year. I realise that newcomers have valubale information on what it took to get them interested.. Did someone new here hear it from friends, coleagues etc, then after some kind of proces started to investigate it or what? Please post if you feel like charing a self analysis on your learning.
urdar-Norge, I think is is a very valuable train of thought.
What got you thinking? What motivated you to read, to prep, to CONSIDER the possibilities?
As always, input is appreciated. This may help us find how to reach the (seemingly) unreachable.
For myself, as I’ve previously posted on other threads, I was a CDC junkie watching for signs of climate change via disease (disease being only one among many measurements I watch) Canada Sue’s brilliant novella focused my attention to the problem at hand. I continue to monitor climate change, but now with a primary focus on disease. What brought you here, friend?
Hi, Wolf. Good idea: we can learn from this. One of my kids told me he had heard about it maybe 2 years ago and asked what I knew about it. I did a google search and ended up here at the front door. I learned some facts. I became alarmed. I read Canada Sues’ amazing story. I was shocked to say the least. I stayed off my computer for 3 days and then crept back here to learn more. My ‘adjustment reaction’ had begun. Sometimes people need to be ‘shocked’ a bit to read on and learn what they can do.
Wolf. You are not alone. I believe that climate change and sunspots have a major impact on disease…as I believe we are now seeing the consequences of.
I am pretty sure that Medical Maven feels the same way. I keep my eye out for any posts of M.M.
Tom, when, how, did you learn that a pandemic might be coming?
Sorry, I was off topic as usual.
I have been following H5N1 seriously since Sept 2004. I thought I was alone in my concerns at the time but it turned out in the end that I wasn’t.
I was reading crofsblog H5N1 when I saw the connector or whatever to this thing called ‘flu wiki’. I had no idea what a wiki was but the name intrigued me…so I clicked on it.
I wasn’t really impressed the first couple of times until someone said something on the forum that was clearly wrong…or at least I thought it was…
…so I very tentatively made my first post…and then Clark from New Zealand and DemFromCt and the rest of the regulars encouraged me to keep posting.
We all have significant others and my wife has a bit of a love-hate relationship with my new internet interest…
…she calls you guys ‘flu icky’ by the way.
I’m a man…I can change…if I have to…I guess (Red Green TV Show)
I have to manage my time a little better /;0)
I have to do a better job of managing my time.
TomDVM - Remember? What a beauty!
Just as solar scientists were ready to start breathing normally again, active region 10486 blasted off yet another mega-flare, starting at 19:29 UT on 4 November 2003. This one saturated the X-ray detectors on the NOAA’s GOES satellites; the jury was therefore out for a while on the definitive classification of the flare. Based on the data found on the NOAA SEC’s space weather pages (and links therein), speculations ranged from simply well above X20, to X40 or even X50!
A day later, word came from the SEC that their best estimate was X28, with a peak around 19:50 UT. Although the exact number will likely be debated for some time, it is now official: We have a new #1 X-ray flare for the record books.
Aw, heck. Off topic. Pardon me, flu-icky
But not off topic, actually. It’s part of what fot me here.
Science Teacher. Let me put it this way…I am not enamoured with the powers to be in China…they are not enamoured with me…the feeling is mutual.
I became aware of some serious intentional food adulteration in Sept 1998 and have been intensively investigating a lot of things about China since that time.
My investigation involved health and disease and therefore incorporated first SARS and Foot and Mouth disease and H5N1 and strept suis infections in humans etc. etc. etc. etc. etc.
The food adulteration clearly indicated to me that there were some serious problems with ethics and good neighbourly considerations and H5N1 etc. has demonstrated that the defficiency is consistent across the board.
China needs to smarten up and be a good world citizen…a lot of short term gain for long term pain…I sometimes have had a hard time believing some of the stuff they have pulled.
I don’t expect an invitation to visit any time soon. /:0)
Last September, I somehow, accidentally, came across Tom Davis’ article and Michael Osterholm’s Financial Times article on the same day. A double-barreled shotgun right in the gut.
I still think I was “meant” to read those articles — I certainly wasnt looking for them. Since then I have had a couple of prophetic dreams, directing my next move in prepping. I take those dreams very seriously, and for a lot of reasons, my family members do too. Everyone is prepping except my parents who say they intend to come to my home when TSHTF.
read got for fot please.
Wolf. Trust me…watch for Medical Maven to post…when he does grab him and have a talk about this stuff…he knows a heck of a lot more than me…you will definitely learn from the discussion.
Thanks…everything about global warming and sunspots is true…and I for one would appreciate any updates you come up with.
CIDRAP and Osterholm had much weight with me also, Saddletramp. And the dreams! Good grief!!!
I write occasional articles for a local ‘lifestyle magazine’ (anybody eastern Ontario check out Watershed Magazine - it is fAB!!) (she said modestly blushing!) - I was given the assignment of writing about raising ‘backyard chickens’ - (this was around the time of the ‘Turkey cluster’ last winter) Sitting here at pc researching on the web for chicken coop designs etc and listening to CBC radio. Kept hearing the news abt the cluster of H5N1 and at the same time tripping over it when googling ‘chickens’. Suggested to my editor that perhaps we shouldnt be encouraging folks to raise backyard chickens just at the moment and that it might be a better idea to do a low key article on H5N1 instead. Was given the green light for that, which started me down the road of serious research on BF - lurked around CurEvents for a while - read Canada Sue’s book-let and was scared rigid - around the same time found FluWiki and now check in several times a day. I have begun prepping and have tried to spark initiatives with municipal govt to run preparedness info sessions etc - but get the ‘uh-oh looney’look from most officials, so now just try to get the info out to friends. DH has forbidden me to spend more than 5 minutes in any social situation talking about it!!! :-)
Received some paper written by a group of lawyers in Miami from my sister in law. (Note she is not a prepper) I though about it and did not think to much of it. Then I started getting things from my employer and did a lot more research. Started Prepping and then started to look for sites that where teach me more. Found some of the other sites and they all taked about the wikie. Found the site and lurked for a while then stated posting. Tom are we married to sisters?? My DW calls it “Flu icky” as well.
I’d been having dreams about something bad happening in this country for years but kept them to myself. In the past few years, the dreams have become more intense. I mentioned to the husband that I thought it would be wise to start planning in case we had to go to ground or to run. I thought he would laugh at me. He didn’t. He agreed and he has been an enthusiastic partner in prepping.
I stumbled across this board when I was following a story about the woman from South Africa who got sick while flying to England. It was reassuring to learn I wasn’t the only one who felt like time was growing short, even if we might not agree on the reasons why.
ANON 451. /:0)
←--Adult son has put the kibosh on anymore discussion of “The Pandemic”. NO MORE BIRD FLU, MOM! (But then, he knows mama’s preparing…) This, too, may be important. As SaddleTramp noted - there are those in her family who know she’s keeping up with this… they’ll just come to her for help. It’s not responsible to put the burden on those who are following this, but I’m experiencing it myself. Not a denial - a lack of personal responsibility. This need sto be emphasized I think. I want to scream! - Grow up!
Wolf
For what its worth, you will be right in the end…but I’m not sure any of us want to pay the price for being right…if you know what I mean.
I gave up trying to convince others over a year ago…sometimes it is too soon…we are ahead of our time…the timing isn’t right…unfortunately I believe it is going to happen in a hurry without a lot of time to react…better get prepping relatively soon.
I have more or less been a lifetime prepper, and I have always had people laffing at my cabinets and back room . but for the last three years that feeling has ramped up quite a bit and for the last two years I’ve been quietly reading here and elsewhere on the net. I have talked to family and gotten them to prep too but not much luck with friends . for that I have been made fun of and even today it happened when my new orders came in and a friend was here when I was unpacking it. I just smile and hope I have enough for her too if need be.
I am not sure what led me to the wiki initially back in February—it may have been a link noted on the worm on Fox News, or it may have been a google search. But I was seriously concerned about AF even before I got here. DH’s daughter (hence my stepdaughter) lived in Hong Kong during the ‘97 AF scare, and despite the the fact our political views could not differ more widely {{{dear stepdaughter!}}}, I take her concerns very seriously. She is the one who told us about the concerns that the poobahs at the UN had about AF. But with all this, she is still moving back to HK.
What I have learned here has turned me into a survivalist (in all the most positive senses of the word) and how to integrate that thinking into my life. It may be a false sense of security, but I am happy to have it knowing that there is a safety net if things truly do blow up in our faces.
biker lady - I think lifetime preppers may have an edge here - your dear-ones already know you mean business!
I’m off work and getting too yakky - have at it, all, ; we’re gonna figure out how to get these folks to help themselves, yet.
I think I stumbled across the “icky” because of a report on cnn or something like that online back in the winter - whilst I was searching for BF reports in the news. Didn’t really know how to search out the BF news till I got here. But now… prepping & the prepared life style… I think that is my calling. It was a missing piece in my life! Maybe it will help, maybe it won’t, but I can’t see that it can hurt anything!! Somedays it’s just my security blanket because that it is the only thing I can do - that I can control about BF - but so be it. Like I read somewhere earlier tonight, if TSHTF, & it’s my time to go down, it’ll be kicking and screaming and fighting for life. And probably throwing a few cans of beans at it too!!!
I guess I’d say a higher power must have led me here……I was prepping back in 1999, and was on a couple of excellent forums then, the main one was a forum where Canada Sue started writing and posting her ‘brilliant novella’ as someone above called it-we panted for each new chapter she ‘prepared’ for us! We were all enthralled, we learned from each other, we got scared with each other, we were curious with each other about martial law, executive orders, what would happen if all the convicts were released by accident, and about bean flour and solar power and spiritual fitness as well as physical fitness. We pushed handouts, gave lectures, designed t-shirts, and we survived. We even planned to get together after 2000 to celebrate our preparedness successes and we did. I was in charge of location & we rented a farm in Arkansas that catered to any level of comfort — campers, cottages, house with rooms, RV pads, etc., and we cooked together, laughed and played together and enjoyed our self-sufficiency.
I haven’t got a clue when or how I landed here, but honestly, I felt like I’d come home and that there was even more to learn, especially since in 1999 we all planned to go through Y2k with our health intact. Being sick puts whole new layers of preparedness obstacles in our way, and makes the whole future even more challenging.
In 1999, I changed our lifestyle in one basic way; I maintain a pantry that was started back then with short and long term foods & supplies of all sorts. Since then I’ve added camping gear, printed information, organized stuff, planned evac routes, etc., and just kept working on getting and staying more prepared every day. It’s just part of my life process now.
I’m interested in both science and history; I came to realize the point where these two interests intersect is invariably pandemic disease. It has changed the world repeatedly. Combined with family history — a dear grandmother’s tale of losing all her hair to the Spanish Flu, and seeing a mass burial weathering from a hillside in Alaska (from the flu) I developed an interest in the flu, particularly. I’ve been watching this one since the Hong Kong outbreak.
When it started popping up again, I followed the news reports. Sometime early last year I turned to my husband and said in a tone that brooked no discussion: It is time to start putting some food in the basement. He looked like he was going to say something but thought the better of it. After many moons, I became so frustrated with the slow pace of reporting from the WHO and CDC, that I started googling flu and stumbled across the Flu wiki. People with food in their basements! Kindred souls! I couldn’t believe my eyes. For so long I had felt like I was the only one, a Cassandra of the Canned Goods.
I hadn’t a clue in 99… in fact probably a year ago I had no clue. WHAT made me start scouring news on this BF.. no clue. Just one day I came across it, read something and BAM! Complete focus on it. I sometimes think like I’m workin on it said - some higher power had to have given me a push this way - cuz as a hobby, I certainly could have picked something more fun. I feel like I lead such a naive life before and I need to know how to do more to take care of my family.
The how I began in prepping actually goes back to a time when I was a young teenager. The learning experience that I obtained really came from a couple of sources, both fairly clost to each other a timeline. The first one that really got my attention (even at the ripe old age of 14 years old, was the “Cuban Missle Crisis” of 1962. The cold war was heating up big time, and the US placed a blockade onto Cuba and the Soviet Union and the USA came so close to a nuclear exchange it was not funny. As the crisis unfolded, even at my young age, I began storing water (at that time in glass jugs) and formed a group of kids around my age, to also prepare in storing things. Did not really accomplish much, but did get tons of information from Civil Defense at the time, on radiation fallout, storage of food etc, and the like, and how to be properly prepared in case of war. Luckily that crisis did end,,,,the Russions blinked,,,,,that time.
The 2nd crisis that I faced, a year later, was the October “Columbus Day Storm” of 1963, where 100 mph winds ramsacked Oregon. My family was without power for a couple of weeks, as we lived in a small town away from larger cities. And what we did to get thru that time, was a lesson for me in how to be prepared. My parents had gone thru the depression of the 1930s and really had some things stored etc, as most people did that went thru the depression.
At the age now that I am (just turned 60), and retired from the fire service for 10 years now, I have seen first hand the destruction of earthquakes, floods, tornatoes, fires, etc etc, on a population that does not prepare. When I was teaching classes when a Fire Marshal, would tell the audience that they would be on their own for a week or longer, if something big happened that covered the area all at once, such as an earthquake. So even at that time, I was into preparation and now retired and living near Death Valley, really into prep as I study the news worldwide, and what happens on the other side of the globe can affect us here in our living room. I got married about the time I retired and my bride was already into preparations and storage of items for ages, and in many ways had a more practical head on her shoulders than I did. So when we moved to the desert, we began in earnst to be prepped and now could easily not set a foot off our property for 2 years if needed. It does help to have two heads into preparations for sure.
If it wasn’t for an off-the-wall result while using an Internet search engine I wouldn’t be here. Prior to Y2K there was a now-defunct website that told how to fully stock a pantry in 52 weeks by buying something different every week. I tried all sorts of keywords to see if the list had been copied elsewhere. One of my searches led to wildlandfire.com, a site for wildland firefighters, where there was a link to a section called Bird Flu Watchout. Curious, I clicked and read. There were a couple of links to the Wiki and that’s what led me here. Up to that point I had minimal awareness of avian influenza and was so shocked by what I read that I immediately started prepping.
The Karo cluster tipped me over from “worried and taking pandemic seriously” to “OMG, it’s starting and I forgot to PREPARE.” Looking back, I’m shocked at the extent of the gap between my belief that there will be a pandemic (and/or other emergency situation) eventually, and the lack of any concerted action to prepare for it. Yes with brain and emotions on the one hand, and No with time and effort on the other = denial followed by sheer panic when I realized the disconnect.
As for how I got here, DH had pointed me here early last year but I only used the wiki side looking for news. I didn’t even think to check out the forum. Maybe I lead a sheltered life but most of the internet discussion sites I’ve seen are more like arguing forums, or else just plain boring. This one is different in the depth of knowledge, caring and community. You all do an unbelievable amount of good here — thank you all.
One thing.
Watching Katrina play out live on National TV.
Google did the rest.
BirdGuano – at 01:40
Yes
Avian Flu was not even on our radar until we read a grim and fascinating article in one of the January issues of New Scientist magazine. We took a day or two to absorb the information, gauge our reactions, and gather some more facts. We hit the ground running and have been seriously prepping ever since. Found the wiki early on in the research process and like someone else said, it felt like home.
Advid reader, sometime poster. What got me started was my DM actually, She posts here alot. One day she asked me what I knew about BF, which was very little. She then went to the site and showed it to me. What got me the most was that she’s never worried about much. She always said”I’ve yet found a way to get out of this world alive.” For her to worry about this caught my attention, and I’ve been prepping since(4 mths), and I’ve had that feeling of panic for the past month,feel like I wont have enough for everyone when it blows this way.
I was actually in Hong Kong the first time so I saw first hand the concerns in people’s faces (and masks in some cases - creepy). Eventhough that one was short lived, at first they didn’t really know what it was, which added more fear. Also, having seen live animals markets (there and elsewhere) poor sanitary conditions all over the world, lousy lousy medical care, rampant poverty, it makes it all to clear how quickly this thing could turn into a world crisis. I’ve been keeping an eye on AF for quite some time, but this January/February started becoming more owrried. Beileve me, I am no Oprah fan, but for some fateful reason I saw her show with Osterholm. I think I had seen it advertised and made a point to watch it since I’m not even normally home when her show is on here. His words were pretty chilling on a show known for fluff. There was a bit more media coverage then as well. I normally watch the BBC news and their coverage is far better than most in the US. I found this site, read Barry’s book, did research, and started prepping in earnest in March. What a relief that was.
I stated on another thread: if you trying to get others to prep, realize that for many of us it took time. For me there was no “ah-ha” moment really. Don’t push but prod gently. Assess what information sources are credible to your target (do they rely on news or valued friends and family?). Be ready to answer questions once the lightbulb goes off for them.
not enough coffee - should have said “once the lightbulb goes ON for them.”
bump
I don`t really remember when I first heard about AF. Afew years ago, I think. But, I did no more than think it was going to be horrid, when it hit. So, I started paying a bit more attention whenever I read or heard something. I never actually saw Oprah`s show. I usually work nights, and she`s on during my sleep time.But, I did see the trailers for it. That led me to her web site, and discussion groups, which eventually led me here, and to other AF sites. I still visit others, but this one feels more like “home”
So, now I know what to do, besides saying “It`s going to be bad” Thanks everyone here, and thanks to the brillant minds that started this place.
My husbands father (who just passed away last week) was an MD in volved with public health — in fact, he was the founder and dean for many years of a school for public health at a large university. On our last visit there, he pulled me aside and told me that he wanted me to pay attention to “bird flu” and also that although the official government recommendation was to try to store about 2 weeks of food and supplies at hand, that he and many others believed that at least 6 weeks was more likely. I asked him “what about masks” as I had read just a little about the use of N95 masks in the paper and he reacted emphatically, “It would be far better to just stay at home.”
I told my husband about his conversaion with me and we both kind of blew it off. The man was known for being a little bit cynical and suspicious. He also told me not to tell anyone, and I thought that was a bit odd, because I knew 99.99% of the people in my life would have the same reactino I just did — stay at home for 6 weeks? You have got to be kidding.
Anyhow, when I got back from vacation, I did just a little bit of reading and chacking into things, and found the fluwikie and other sites. Again, I discounted a lot of what I was reading, especially when people started sounding to Y2K. For comparison, I even found some Y2K sites that were still up, and it amazed me how quickly the advice for that threat went from “there may be a few days of disruption” to “Thus, stockpile at least a year’s worth of food!” It seemed to me that certain people just WANTED to have a year’s worth of food stored up, and the threat of “bird flu” gave them the justification they needed.
The next week, our county mailed an emeregency preparedness booklet to everyone, and it was a thick tome, filled with what to do in all sorts of emergencies… pandemic was never mentioned, but they sis stress they wanted us to have 2 weeks of fod AND WATER on hand for emergencies. That recommendation was interesting to me.
I emailed our local moms group to see if people in the area actually did this, and got many responses from people in the greater Washington DC area who do, indeed, stockpile food and water; and some of them mentioned pandemic as the reason why.
I then went BACK to Fluwikie and read even more. I did read Canada Sue’s story as well as The Great Influenza. I think it was May at this point, and Karo happened — I started freaking out a bit, ran up the credit card a bit, emailed my friends and family a bit. I was pretty sure something was going to start NOW! (-: I also watched just the end of the Oprah show and the Bird Flu movie. I have great respect for Oprah.
From everything I have been reading about how other people came here, I have a theory that people need to hear multiple sources of information about the possibility of a pandemic to take it seriously. If the information comes from an MD or a VERY respected emergency/preparedness expert or publication, they might not need so many sources to initially get involved.
But what also helps is a “story” Canada Sue’s novella seems to have helepd people (I think the Bird Flu movie could have helped people but most of us have a knee jeerk reaction against such “sensationalized” movies — we figure if they are making a movie out of it, it can’t possibly be serious — probably it would have much better effect if someone made a movie specifically about the Spanish Flu….) The book The Great Influenza also is a good “story” to put things into perspective. Also, I think the idea of asking people first “What do you know about Bird Flu” and actually LISTENING to the response, and only giving people the next step of the information they need, is a great strategy. I know I would have listened to my father in law, sooner, if he had done that.
Higher power definitely!
Attending a quarterly spiritual seminar in February, a paragraph mentioning the BF was spoken. At the May seminar, an entire hour was devoted to the subject. I was taken back because the physical plane is not the focus of this study. The day after the seminar Oprah rebroadcast the BF show!!! Prior to May 31 BF wasn’t on my radar screen in any sense…from that day til now it is full throttle ahead.
The overwhelming focus and drive to prepare is unlike anything I have experienced within myself. I am the ulitmate procrastinator in most things, but this sense of urgency is consuming me. I am surprised and amazed as I watch myself during this process.
I am very curious how all this will play out in the future.
The issue of pandemic flu came to my attention about 25 years ago when I chanced on a paragraph on the 1918 flu in a book by Doris Lessing. I was stunned to learn how many people died, more than in the war…and further stunned that such a huge global event was not spoken of, nor taught in schools as huge tragic episode of the 20th century. I am still puzzled by this, very puzzled.
Then 15 years ago I read a feature article on the theme of a pandemic will happen again, just not known when. I began watching for more information on this issue. Then my mother came so close to dying from influenza that it is a miracle she is alive. That was three years ago. I have been following bird flu since then, with preparation earnestness throughout this year.
Thanks for the question!
Well, believe it or not, what brought me to fluwiki was an accident. I was hunting the web for disaster fiction … yep, fiction … and ran across Canada Sue’s fic story on bird flu.
I’ve always been interested in prepping, the prepping lifestyle, survivalism, and disasters of various kinds my whole life. My first Steven King novel was “The Stand.” I also read a lot of disaster type fiction as a pre-teen and teenager.
I was mildly Y2K responsive, I enjoy the Urban Homestead lifestyle, and prep for hurricanes and power outages religiously. I also enjoy camping and hiking.
All of these interests kind of came to a point … a very sharp one … while I was reading CanadaSue’s account. I kind of lurked for a bit while I tried to determine if my imagination was running away with itself.
And here we are today … still here, still worried, and hopefully contributing things that others in my position might find useful.
No Name at 11:58….I also was at that seminar and was also affected to the point that I am now as fully prepped as I can be. Also, it was amazing to me how prepping became a spiritual exercise and affected everything. BTW, I found the wiki after the first mention you mentioned. I was searching and found it and thought….Oh wow. Here it is . It’s all here. I am a daily lurker, sometimes poster. Have been amazed at how urgency goes down when prepping is finished. Very interesting experience, wouldn’t you say?
“flu icky” I love it, my dh always asks me if “peak flu” happened yet, as I’m always reading peak oil sites too ;) now I tell white lies that “I’m just reading the news”
And reading the news is what got me here. Every once in a while I would see something about BF, and read it, but nothing further. Then one day I did a google news search, and it didn’t bring up the kind of info I wanted. So I did a regular search. I think the first site I went to was pandemicflu .gov What struck me the most was that despite the .gov telling us to prepare for “civil unrest” they didn’t give a time frame for anything.
It didn’t take long to find sites like the “icky” with real info. (and great people!)
But I’ve always been a prepper, at least for shorter term events. Now I’ve just added new scenarios
Feather Pillow @ 13:29
SMALL WORLD…Yes, the entire process is an exercise in detachment, balance(not there yet) and admiration for the “perfect being” that the virus represents for me. The BF virus is singluarly focused on evolving and expansion, I can only hope I am able to gain that focused intensity in my experience.
I can’t remember how I got to Fluwiki, but I was directed. I am grateful to the collective efforts of all sharing information and support. Sincerely grateful and humbled by the scope of giving I have experienced.
Take care…see you in September.
Osterholm on Oprah in Feb of this year. Watching the craze after Katrina and Rita in our own backyard…Attending the Mike Leavitt roadshow - I got sucked in F A S T…
As far as prepping, I am like Kathy in FL; it’s always been a ‘hobby’ of mine. As a kid I read the Foxfire books repeatedly. I’ve always wished for a self-sufficient place off in the woods somewhere and although we live in town now, we are working hard to be as ‘independent’ as possible, all the way down to homeschooling. So prepping is a natural for me anyway.
I have been actively, decisively, intensely prepping for the last 18–24 mo or so (you’d probably think I was crazy if I told you why, though I think someone else ~ TX Rose? ~ mentioned intense dreams which drove them to prepare) and was spurred on to even more serious prepping after watching the absolute insanity when Rita blew through here last fall, on top of BF concerns.
As to the flu, I grew up hearing stories of the 1918 pandemic and the impact that deaths among my grandmother’s siblings had on the family; it’s always been part of my conciousness and an interest of mine. I remember seeing a tv special 10–15 yrs ago on the social impacts of 1918 and it sparked a definite “What would happen today?” moment for me that has never gone away (especially now).
Add to that the input of my uncle on the other side of the family, now retired but for many years one of the big ‘cheezes’ at the Mayo Clinic (probably shouldn’t say which one w/o his permission; he’d be easy to identify). He has been saying for the past, oh, 10+ years that we are way overdue for a flu epidemic and each winter he has grown increasingly uneasy, always phoning my mother to make sure she got her flu shot, etc. When BF began to enter into the picture, his alert level jumped. His opinion is that if this hits like it could, it will dwarf 1918.
I found FW by accident in January, though, when I was searching for something else on BF/prepping. So very glad I did.
Closed to maintain Forum speed.