From Flu Wiki 2

Forum: Thinking Too Much About Bird Flu

12 May 2006

FriscoParentat 12:16

I am thinking way too much about bird flu. I went to bed last night and had a dream about bird flu being found in stagnant water? Go figure. I cant even sleep well. Need to find some balance. Anyone else having trouble finding balance? Live yet be prepared?. Take Care.

Jersey Girl – at 12:20

I found myself in your situation.I remedied that by getting out more enjoying camping trip, and taking up new hobbies.

Watching in Texas – at 12:21

I think most of us here have gone through this - I know I have and I have seen other postings saying the same thing. When the forum was down, while I did go through extreme wiki-withdrawals, I also was able to put my obsession on the back burner for long enough that I feel I have things more in perspective now. While I check the forum often, I don’t feel the need to do it like I did and I don’t worry as much. Hmmm…kinda sounds like “really, I don’t have a problem….I can quit anytime I want to….maybe we should start a local chapter of Fluwikians Anonymous?

Anonymous RN – at 12:29

FriscoParent,

I think what you are going through is a natural part of an adjustment reaction (there is an article (maybe articles?) on this on Main Wiki.) I think many Flu Wikians have gone through same processing as you are now. After getting more prepared, I find I still follow news closely, but am able to go back to “being here now.”

Hillbilly Bill – at 12:30

been there, done that, have the bags under my eyes to prove it. It gets better. Make a plan and follow it as resources allow. I thought this whole thing was going to break wide open 4 months ago. We may be waiting a long time, but we will be ready!

Lily – at 12:34

If you are busy with something enjoyable you won’t be thinking of this. It seems to get to some people harder and more difficult to digest than with others. If you are normally anxious or prone to worry it will be harder to shake than for someone like myself. I feel it has enriched my life, not deminished it, or given me sleepless nites. I sleep just fine, and wake up refreshed. Perhaps something herbal before you go to sleep might help. And most of all we are educating each other. There is something to learn from everyone here. Some more than others, Eccles is a font of information and shares it, as we all do. Who knows what will serve us in the future, what little nugget of information will save one of us.

cerydwyn – at 12:36

I went through this. Every waking moment was preoccupied with -what if? And the dreams answered that question. It was exhausting. I found that once I had accumulated enough preps for at least 3 months and probably 6- I could put it in the back of my mind quite a bit better. Make plans for the future like it will never happen and plan to follow through with those plans- it helps take the hoplessness away from it. It should be a back butner kind of thing except for the times when you are activly developing your plan or going over your lists. I have put aside 1/2 hour every night after dinner ( cause dinner conversation often brings up new ideas) to add to lists or check off accomplished preps. If I have nothing new to “report’- I use that time for something else. Thats’ how I got a grip on it. Not to say it won’t pop in when it’s not the right time- but for those moments I keep one of those mini digital recorders- If it’s a good idea I don’t want to forget -I tell it to the recorder and let it go till the time I have alloted for it

Lily – at 12:45

Get some gripping voice tapes of interesting books. While many of us can multi-task and think of a number of things at once, usually something interesting can obliterate the unwanted thoughts. Music you like can transport you. Anything that relaxes you before you go to bed. Thinking of it during your waking hours is one thing, but you really need to unwind before you sleep.

jon c – at 12:56

I think the closer we get to being ready ( as ready as one could hope to be) the more I relax. shure there is always something else on my list but I take the time to sit down with a good book and a glass of fine wine or maybe watch a herd of antelope cross the ranch or fly my kite.(after all I am nothing but a big kid)

ricewiki – at 12:58

Lily, you’re so balanced that’s great.

Hi, my name is ricewiki and I’m a FluWiki addict:)

I’m really gonna have to get a grip soon, though. :) Really, I went through another level of adjustment reaction last night when I realized that if I were being logical about this then I really do need to have all my preps in order NOW, including food, but more importantly water.

But I may be moving in the short-term, a couple times, so I’m reluctant to buy all this water and lug it around. Is anyone else in the same boat?

I am sure I’ll pass through the addiction in its own time. I’m probably mid-way through it. There’s still a lot I need to learn. Once I’ve got my own situation taken care of I’ll focus more on helping others - right now just working on getting the word out.

Our relatives came over for a visit today and started talking about BF, since they had sat down and had seen my books on the sidetable. So they asked about it. It’s good. Tip: put your bird flu books out in the open for visitors!:)

Psyberdoc – at 13:00

Jon, thanks for reminding everyone to think (and act) like a kid more often…

jon c – at 13:02

My pleasure….Plus I can’t help it. My wife can’t let me near the toy dept. Hehe

Eccles – at 13:03

Ricewiki- You don’t need to store water as much as you need to have sufficient storage capacity which you can fill if TSHTF. So in your case, perhaps empty collapsible water jugs or even just empty pop bottles can suffice. The water will still be operating normally when you decide to pull in, except under the most horrendous of possible attack scenarios.

Don’t waste effort and money hauling water around as you move, the pipe will bring it to you fresh when you need it. Just keep a couple of days on hand for other possible bad events unrelated to influenza. Like a broken water main or some such.

Medical Maven – at 13:03

You can only control so much, and for what you can’t control, you leave to God. If you can’t leave it up to God, you need to find a way to do that. If you are having difficulty now, how would it be during a pandemic?

You gain strength and endurance by accepting the worst that can happen to you and your family. That is hard to do, but that is what you have to do.

Be prepared for all eventualities and be ready to accept each and every one of them.

Eccles – at 13:05

Jon C- Especially in prepping mode, the toy store with the big Orange Signs is my solace. My wife is scared to let me go to one anymore.

AdirondackMountainManat 13:09

To place your “thinking too much about bird flu” in a context, and understand it as a process, read this excellent article by Peter Sandman at Rutgers:

Adjustment Reactions

DemFromCTat 13:22

Peter and his parter and wife, Jody Lanard are terrific. The wiki has links to more of their stuff here. And adjustment reaction comments are here.

BroncoBillat 13:26

Eccles – at 13:05 --- So that I don’t recognize one over the other, would that store be Lowe’s Depot? ;-)

ricewiki – at 13:46

Thanks again, Eccles. I’d overlooked that. Will do!

anonymous – at 15:21

I count the number of cans of mercury laced tuna under my bed and laugh at mysef as to why I am so guilble to what other people may say.

lauraB – at 15:34

I’ve certainly gone through highs and lows of stress over this. Fortuantely, it has not invaded my sleep yet, but that could also be driven by the fact that I my kids exhaust me physically and emotionally everyday! While I do check the site everyday (which probably doesn’t help my anxiety level) I have been tyring to have just one day/week be “prep day” either to add to my collection, input stuff onto my supply spreadsheet, whatever. But then sometimes I’ll be having a totally normal day, no prepping, no iste chekcing, and this thought will pop in my head! Like the other day at our local Agway to get plants my 3yo wanted to go see all the chickens they keep. The “what ifs” quickly invaded my head as I thought of what could happen.

So, not much advice, but we’re right there with you!

jon c – at 15:40

OTBS: on the bright side: If BF comes and you are even a little prepped you are better off than if you had done nothing. If nothing happens I don’t have to buy toilet paper for a year.whooo hooo! I will always have rice to take to weddings. My dog loves SPAM and my cats love tuna. If I want to quit my job I can as long as I don’t leave the ranch for three months. (could’nt afford the gas) If BF hits and I survive I bet I could get a better job without some young punk talking down to me. (sorry all you wipersnappers.) hehe

NJ. Preppie – at 16:01

Blame it on your ancestors!!! You know how people blame fatness on their forebear’s success during famines? Well, imagining danger in order to defend yourself is how your genes got here. You came from a long line of worriers that paid off. Someone had to think about predators, human attackers, surviving the coming winter, etc. and prepare all the stockpiling and defenses to survive. Your angst is the motivation it takes to do the planning and strategizing. Once you’ve got the goods lined up, tell yourself, “I’ve done good, we’ll be fine.” Appreciate this important human trait, in one sense. It feels a little nutty, but so is falling in love and having babies!!

jon c – at 16:12

Social Darwinism….. Only the prepared survive.

Sea Urchin – at 16:19

I’ve been watching bird flu since ‘97. While it worried me a little then, I put it on the back burner as one of those things I would check in on occasionally as I didn’t feel the threat was imminent. And so this is the way I’ve followed it over the years.

I didn’t actually begin preps to a great degree until Jan-Feb of this year. It seemed things were ramping up a bit, so rather than spend lots of time worrying about it, I decided to begin canning pork, chicken, rasberry and strawberry jam (I’m up to about 90 jars pork/chicken). I bought 50 lbs dry egg yolks {I’ll use the powdered eggs to make pudding mix and bread, cakes, custards, sauces and mayonnaise) and a bunch of dehydrated veggies, 50 lbs baby lima beans and many lbs other beans, 100 lbs rice, 100 lbs flour, lots of powdered milk and lots of other canned goods. I haven’t started yet on water and I don’t feel like I’m near done prepping, but I don’t worry as much anymore because I feel like there is something I can do about it - I can keep canning/prepping. Last minute I plan to buy lots more flour, tp and water as well as meds.

I haven’t done anything that won’t make my life easier if bf doesn’t come. It’s all stuff I like to use anyway. I’m planning to can more pork (pork loin in a light broth of tomato sauce) and also am canning tomato sauce with meat. I’ve got a garden started, and plan to can that stuff, too.

I even forget about bf most of the time now, and go out and listen to the birds sing.

Prepping helps to alleviate bf fears! The more you have put by, the less time you’ll spend worrying.

14 May 2006

FriscoParentat 23:05

Wow.. thanks everybody! I didnt expect so many responses. I sometimes feel so overwhelmed and I just cant go to work and talk about this stuff. People in my family already think I am crazy, and I dont want to have problems with the coworkers. It is nice to come here and talk about it. Just reading all the responses made me feel better about my anxiety on this issue. Everyday I think about it and everyday I try to do something to plan and store. I also try to spend quality time doing other things. Praying is helping too. Okay. Day by day. That is all I can do for now, right? Thanks so much!! God Bless.

Aachoo – at 23:20

>I’ve been watching bird flu since ‘97. While it worried me a little then, I put it on the back burner as one of those things I would check in on occasionally as I didn’t feel the threat was imminent. And so this is the way I’ve followed it over the years.

>I didn’t actually begin preps to a great degree until Jan-Feb of this year.

Wow! That’s me.

The evidence of increased H2H demonstrated in Turkey, got me on board. It appears that some group did a bang-up job in Turkey and we dodged the bullet this time… We might get a few more (I pray for a lot more) of these lucky breaks yet, but I wouldn’t count on them…

Love Texas – at 23:32

FriscoParent- I find the more I prep the better I feel, you know marking off that list. I have to say that I am really lucky that I have several people to talk to, but sometimes I talk about it too much, and that makes me think about it more. I find the list helps me the most. Yesterday I pulled out my orginal list and saw all the marks thru everything and it made me smile, I have come a long way. And I am sure you have too. Hang in there.

Many Cats – at 23:53

If it makes you feel any better, if people in San Francisco think you are crazy, that means everyone in the rest of the country thinks you are sane! :)

15 May 2006

lugon – at 04:03

I think we’re thinking too little.

What do you call “thinking”?

Ok, seriously, now, we may want to look at how to be productive while we use our minds about panflu and prepping, then connect our minds to other things. You know, like trained muscles.

How do you manage to do that? How do you think productively about panflu? How could we have more of that and less of the other? Please share.

Urdar-NO – at 06:37

The downperiod of fluwiki was good to get out of a mindloop on the subject. I just decided that my preps was good enough. (dryfood and tins for ca 3–4 months, pnaumowax, a package of tamiflu.. a few prescriptions on antibioticks, some masks, isopropanol and bleach, a kerosene cooker, batteries, and a plan ) The rest I will buy on the shoedrop day.. It is not healthy to focus on this subjeckt every day for months. Its a part of lifes risk, and it has to be dealt with. But dont stop living your life. It may take years before it happens, or even dont..

Get the overweiv, fix some preps, make a plan, and discuss the personal and public awarness with friends and relatives.

Dont worry abut the avian flu in birds. It did not enter scandinavia in the masses of migratory birds this season, and then it will probably not enter the US either. Only thing that is sad about that, is that the general public forget about the issue.. And therefore dont learn about the pandemic risk…

crfullmoon – at 07:22

That the general public is not being educated and properly warned, and that communities aren’t making contingency plans and buying preps for them now, is why I’m thinking about this issue too much; other are thinking about it too little or have incorrectly decided not to think of it at all.

They “can’t live their lives thinking” bad stuff could happen, so, they choose not to prepare - then, they’ve increased the chances they, or their family members, *won’t* get to outlive a pandemic.

How can people say, There’s only so much you can do (who have done nothing) who themselves are sitting in an unprepared city?

How can people in authority, who know better, keep “on message”; keep it quiet from the public, to prevent “panic”, knowing extra people around their communities, including children, will die if this happens, and the months of warning we’ve had will be wasted?

I’m taking some small steps to take better care of my self and find some balance, but I was stressed out before this issue; much of my current stress has come from watching the poor choices by those in charge.

Ruth – at 08:36

Friscoparent: I also spend way too much time on this website and others. This is my therapy. I can chat and listen to others who share my concerns. Very few people in my community care about bird flu. (I don’t discuss it, after being laughed at a few times.) Besides prepping, I have a job, kids, laundry etc. so it pulls me away. Thank goodness. The thing is, we are just more aware of what’s happening and we have reason to be concerned. As long as no one is neglecting anything, we should be ok. Go out with friends and laugh. We are planning a vacation. I try to put it out of my mind for a while.

Satago – at 08:49

Well, if Bird Flu turns out to be a major disaster, then no I haven’t been thinking too much about it. But if it “waters down” and we handle it well then yes I’ve been thinking way too much about it.

I’m in a tough spot, because I lost my job at about the same time I realized how bad (and inevitable) an influenza pandemic can be. So here I am today, barely able to make ends meet, way behind on bills, and I’m suposed to be buying *extra*? It’s horribly frustrating, because I can’t find a job (my work as a photographer is going the way of the telephone operator, thanks to the advent of digital cameras), and I really believe H5N1 is going to hit us fairly hard, but I can barely prepare my family for it. I couldn’t afford Tamiflu even if I could get it. I can’t even afford a stack of firewood. But I do force myself to get a can or two of condensed milk when I’m at the store, or a can of vegetables or beans or whatever is on sale for less than a few dollars. Over the past six months I’ve been able to get together a months worth of food (we’re all rather slight people, my whole family weighs less than 250 pounds!), and some basic meds, vitamins, and sanitizers.

So, in the face of having such a difficult time providing for my family, I can feel a little better about myself when I spend the change I find on a can of mixed vegetables. I guess that “thinking about Bird Flu” helps me feel I’m at least getting something done.

And yes, I’ve already thought about and somewhat pursued employment related to pandemic preparations, but it isn’t feasable (or the topic of this post, so I won’t go into it).

lugon – at 09:11

employment related to pandemic preparations … please do open another thread!

lbb – at 09:20

I’m sure this will not be a popular view, but I think (to paraphrase lugon) that it’s the quality of the thinking that counts more than the quantity. I really resist the notion that we all should think more more more about a possible pandemic; in the meantime, life has to go on, or what’s the point? A life well lived includes developing in ways that allow you to deal with problems; it doesn’t include a single focus on a single as-yet-unrealized disaster. 24/7 focus on a pandemic is not appropriate at this point, IMO. Add to that that a fair amount of preparation I see people doing could be characterized as stepping over a dollar to pick up a penny: a focus on acquiring stuff rather than learning skills, or making contingency plans that have built-in assumptions that are far from valid. IOW, I think most people who are thinking about pandemic a lot are probably simultaneously thinking too much, and not thinking well enough.

ricewiki – at 10:58

lbb

what do you suggest for thinking more strategically on an individual basis?

gharris – at 11:08

Ricewiki How about writing a paper or a book about the efficiency of collective thinking (as exemplified by the Fluwiki) in the face of adversity now as opposed to say 1918 - or even WW2? Would use your knowledge and interests from the wiki??!!

green Mom – at 11:43

Making up lists and some solid plans helped my anxiety decrease tremendously. At first, thinking about all the stuff we would need just sent my heart pounding! So I broke things down, Ok first get stuff you need for 72 hours, as per FEMA. then move to two weeks, then a month, then get the stuff on Dr.Woodsons list. I also broke it down into catagories-when I had all the laundry gear-clothesline, pins, handcrank washer, liquid soap, etc I could move on to cooking-Coleman stove, fuels etc. Now a lot of this stuff we allready had-we do a lot of camping also live in rural aea where power goes out.I also have my rock bottom basic stuff then add a few comforts/goodies, then get the rock bottom for the next month.

Doing stuff helps also-this morning I put some flyers in boxes at my kids school. Ive been cooking with the basic rice and beans stuff, and looking up some recipies. Tonight I’m trying Mac and cheese with canned cheese-a recipie I got on one of the other threads.

lugon – at 12:15

gharris - great idea!

We could look at how we think (“descriptive”, both content and quality/emotions, or whatever), and then ask ourselves what has worked best (gold-standard might be “preparedness”, which is all the virus cares about at the end of the day). Hey, we might even venture to go “normative” (tell others what to do, in light of our collective experience).

How would you organise such a paper? (I can’t think about a book yet, but people are ambitious!) What would the outline look like?

This is not silly at all, I think. Helping ourselves and others to think better might have some effect in general preparedness!

How do we think? We want to keep some control of what we ourselves do, but we may also use advice or comments from people who are outside our brains. What do they say or suggest? What’s the whole picture?

lugon – at 12:20

llb most people who are thinking about pandemic a lot are probably simultaneously thinking too much, and not thinking well enough

So we have a couple of things to ask ourselves: how many hours, and maybe how many different things (I find I tend to have the same thoughts several times a day, not very useful). Types of thoughts are an issue, too: do we focus on analysing what’s going on, do we focus on the dark side of the picture, do we focus on what we can do? Also, control: do we realise we’re thinking “too much” and take our own brain by the hand (or push it abruptly) so that it focuses on something else? Our reactions to bad thoughts: distractions, wine, friendship, humor?

crfullmoon – at 12:26

“You came from a long line of worriers that paid off.” Heh-heh, thanks for that one, NJ Preppie.

MaMaat 12:47

Maybe try focusing on one particular area at a time like Eccles has suggested in the past and lugon’s approach to the co-operative thread series. Trying to keep in mind not only what you need to have, but also what you already do have and what other ways these things can be utilized. Think of how you can build on the skills you have, look at classes in your community and on-line to fill gaps in your knowledge. These things would help whether you are thinking on a family or community scale.

gharris – at 13:05

My comment ws specifically meant for Fluwiki as I believe she is a grad student - just thought it might make an interesting academic thesis topic and ‘justify’ any obsessing she might think she is doing :-) But it is perhaps an interesting topic for fluwikians generally - if you believe in ‘survival of the fittest’theory - i.e. that all people alive at this moment in time have some special genes or grey matter that favoured their existence - and those now active in Fluwiki and how/whether that will determine who survives a pandemic (course we wont know the answer to that for a while!!) But the exercise of pooling information,knowledge,expertise in developing survival strategy would appear to be a highly developed collective social skill which favours (we hope) survival!! I am not an anthropologist/sociologist - but is interesting topic I think - wish I knew more about it!! The corollary might be that we all feel pretty impotent on our own? Any Comments??

gharris – at 13:38

bump

gharris – at 15:11

bump

gharris – at 15:50

bump

ricewiki – at 16:34

Lugon and gharris

We could collectively author an online essay/book.

We could pass it back and forth between ourselves on email for editing/writing.

Not sure how much time I have for this — it’s hard to say — but would be interested in staying informed about it… I might have more time come fall… but this isn’t stopping anyone else from doing it or getting started!

We could be responsible for individual sections and farm out ideas on the wiki.

The only problem: how will this “book” be better source of info than the wiki itself?

ricewiki – at 16:36

(BTW - the above post wassn’t meant to restrict who would/could be involved in the writing in any way.)

lugon – at 18:28

better write it as a wikiproper page? with “names” instead of names? link to it from adjustmentreactions?

Thordawggy – at 20:44

I took up bread making as a hobby away from Avian Influenza. A yummy and handy hobby it is! I now have TONS of everything needed to make bread, biscuits, tortillas, bagels, sweet rolls, crackers etc. Ok, so it really doesn’t get me away from prepping. Heheh.

gharris – at 21:39

What I meant was more a paper or thesis exploring the phenomenon of the emergence of the Fluwiki at this particular point in time -rather than a ‘diary’ or compilation of the info contained in Fluwiki - perhaps not making myself clear? We know the profiles of Fluwikians - and they are a very broad spectrum of the population - the concept would be perhaps how and amongst whom survivalism has evolved most efficiently over the aeons??

twoolf – at 21:52

I’m getting very close to my 12 month goal, and I find that the closer I get, the more relaxed I am. I’m a single dad, and am most concerned about my kids 24, 24 and 16 since they are in the high risk group. Now that I know I have them cared for, I am a lot more relaxed. But, I get wrapped up in preps like just about any one else. I take off 1 week a month and do no prepping. Watch a couple ball games, go to a race, read, etc. I think the whole idea behind prepping is to take the pressure off, not add to it. I to am a bread maker, and making a batch of bagels or english muffins is just the trick to relax and get the head screwed on straight. Relax, enjoy life!

Melanie – at 22:04

gharris,

<”http://www.psandman.com”>Jody and Peter</a> are watching the phenomenon and will be interested in your comments.

16 May 2006

lugon – at 03:46

gharris the concept would be perhaps how and amongst whom survivalism has evolved most efficiently over the aeons??

Please write more until I understand better. It does look interesting! I think being concious of what’s happening to us and to others, and also what works better to make things change ever so slightly (perhaps enzymatically), may be key in going collectively for the most adaptative behaviour. Which is what we want: resilient behaviour.

I’m deeply interested. Count me in at least for a “peer” (lower peer, listening peer) review, please. Melanie has my email etc.

I think part of the trick would be to look outside fluwikie. For example: How does denial work? There’s denial of the problem and there’s denial of our own capabilities. Blind-spots, noise, trust, “another story to be in” …

Please, make the paper freely sharable, translatable, etc. Check it first before you submit anything to publishers. Just my 2 cents.

green mom – at 10:05

Ok, this morning I found two dead mice in my garage and my FIRST thought was “Oh My God! Its an outbreak of Mouse Flu!!!!”

Did I think hey maybe they got into some poisonous car fluid from the car my husband has taken apart-Like antifreeze? we”ve cordoned off that section to keep the pets out for that very reason.

Did I stop to realize that one had drowned in the dogs water dish? Or that I have a mouse stalking kitty? No! Mouse flu. Geeez. Definatly thinking about flu too much.

Sea Urchin – at 14:36

Besides simply acquiring basic foods needed for long periods of self-quarantine, the second most important aspect of prepping is to gain or refresh useful skills that promote independence.

Learn to cook and bake from simple ingredients like flour, beans, and rice (pasta, bread, pizza, calzone, cakes, puddings, etc). Learn to preserve food using old methods which were around before refrigeration and supermarkets, such as smoking, salting, pickling, canning (store meats, soups and veggies, fruits, fruit juice and water - with little cooking required), dehyrdrating (beef jerky, dry veggies and fruit), root cellaring (potatoes, apples, onions, turnips).

Educate yourself about growing herbs and container vegetables (can be done in pots). Learn the medicinal value of herbs and obtain seeds to grow them, and learn how to save seeds for next year’s crop or which ones are perennial. Learn how to propagate plants from cuttings and division (useful when there’s no seeds). Find out what edible plants are indigenous to your area (dandelions, beach plums, berries etc), and what food plants grow well in your climate and local soil. Learn how to improve the soil you have and practice growing some of your own food, as a community or an individual venture. Plant fruit trees if you have space. Grow lettuce and cucumbers on your windowsill and vegetables in pots and grow-bags on your porch. Sprout beans in a jar (lentils, mung beans, alfalfa, etc).

Learn to make yogurt and cheese at home. Learn to make vinegar, wine, beer, booze (medicinal value), flavored liqueurs/extracts, fruits and herbs preserved in booze. Determine how you would distill water for drinking if the tap water went dry. Learn to cook with wood (wood stove, wood fire, etc). Learn to fish - find out what’s species are near you, what you need for bait and gear. Dig clams, find mussels, conches, quahogs, scallops, crabs, periwinkles and other shellfish and learn what seaweeds are edible if you live near the ocean.

Learn cooking from scratch (without processed foods) sewing, fishing, carpentry, knitting, canning, gardening and farming if you have the room. People knew these things before the age of consumerism and did just fine on their own. Hard work kept them busy and helped them sleep at night without Ambien. The information is still out there if you look; learning ways to provide for yourself by making things of value out of nothing (a plant from a seed, a sweater from yarn, a loaf of bread from flour) is a life-long pursuit and is a productive way to channel your thinking and energies (and can help you save money as well!) And it helps you feel confident that you could make do in a pinch if you had to.

lauraB – at 21:39

To add to Sea urchin’s post - try not to think about all the negative “what ifs”, in terms of “what if I get it? What if my kids get it?” Focus on the “what ifs” that will help you get through it. What if:

There is no power. No water. Schools are closed. My toilet breaks. I run out of cash. etc. Planning for contingencies, even if it is just a plan that never has to be executed, can go a long way in reducing anxiety. And by thinking and laying outa few options you’ll already be way ahead of the game vs 99.9% of the country. Just even having a well tought out shopping list and buying plan is far more than most have done.

gharris – at 23:53

Lugon at 3:46 I am much too old to be writing any papers!! But you youngsters should tackle it!! My thought about it was that each person arrived at this moment in the time of the world as a direct result of superior survival skill efficiency of all of his/her ancestors - whether they were slaying dinosaurs or in the trenches in WW1 or on the breadlines in the Great Depression - or farming or playing the stockmarkets, politics or whatever - so I wonder - the Fluwiki being our common denominator - what particular attributes Fluwikians possess and what the liklihood is that those skills/attributes will (or will not)serve us better than, say, people who dont use the Fluwiki - the premise doesnt need to be limited to whether or not these folks are prepping, but just as question of ‘more efficient survivor skills’ - it is kind of a ‘mind bender’ anthropological or sociological question - I thought Ricewiki, as a grad student, (or anybody) might find it to be an academic exercise that could take the mind off or rationalize any worry about ‘obsessing’abt bird flu!! Would make use of HOW we have learned here, not just what we have learned. Of course, we cant really know the answers to some of the questions until after this is all over!! But the exercise could keep us occupied and off the streets til after the ‘all clear’ sounds :-))

17 May 2006

lugon – at 05:37

Being a fluwikian is good, “normal”, adaptive. For self and for others. (I’m extremely interested in the “others” part.)

We could look at “what is” (a description of what makes people different from each other).

We could also look at “what can be” (a proposal of how we can change within in order to adapt better to the challenges, both problems and oportunities, brought to us by Time).

We can also look at “what is” with a “what can be” intention.

gharris: no need to write a full paper - just draft an outline! ;)

27 June 2006

Closed - Bronco Bill – at 01:20

Closed to increase Forum speed.

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