Report from the OP, 1/24/2022

Remember, collapse is a process, and that process can move slowly or swiftly. Right now, it feels like we’re picking up speed. I feel a faint but distinct breeze in my face as I sit in my comfy basket.

Let’s start with today’s stock market escapades. The S&P 500 was down over 1000 points this morning, but managed to gain almost 100 on the day – and they say the Plunge Protection Team is out of business. The Russell 2000 swung from 3% down to 3% up, and the VIX went off the charts. Nah, nothing to see here.

Locally, supply problems at grocery stores continue, and may be slowly getting worse. Last week, we could write it off as panicking over some nasty winter weather, but it seems to be more than that. Daughter went grocery shopping, and her report reads:

<chain grocery store> is decimated. Milk, bread, eggs, meat, canned goods and dry goods are all super slim. <different chain’s store> is well stocked. No holes on their shelves.

This seems to follow the pattern that the shortages are spotty but occurring on a regular basis. Normally they would be fully restocked by now.

Mrs. Freeholder and I went to our meat supplier, and I was surprised to find that ground beast is still $3.69/lb. We bought 10 pounds to top off the freezer, plus stew beef, some pork ribs for the slow cooker and a couple of T-bone steaks that, at $9/lb, were $5 less per pound than the last time we were there. Daughter wanted 20 pounds of ground beast to begin their topping off project. They had to pull down a bit when they were stuck at home for their bout with the Wuflu.

I will hopefully be hitting at least two grocery stores Wednesday when the sales change. I say hopefully because Mrs. Freeholder may have collected another case of the Wuflu. She has a couple of the symptoms of OMGnicron, sore throat and sniffles. Of course, it could be a cold, but she’s going to get tested Wednesday morning. This should be a test where she gets the results while she waits. Should be.

When we returned home, one of the local EMT “quick visit vehicles” (they have a real name, but I forget what it is) pulled up at the next door neighbors. It seems my neighbor also has the Wuflu.

So far, I continue to lead a charmed life, knock on wood. It’s all around me and I don’t seem to catch it. Strange, but I’ll take it.

I’m experimenting with a new-to-me amateur radio digital mode, JS8. JS8 is a derivative of FT8 that allows for slow RTTY-like communications using the FT8 weak signal methodology. It might be a way to get urgent communications through when band conditions are poor or when you’re transmitting with reduced power, either as a security measure or because you’re working on backup power and trying to conserve energy.

Speaking of energy, gas prices have nudged back up, averaging $3.10 for 87 octane.

I’d like to look “out there” a bit. There are those who think the Fourth Turning is proceeding apace. I’m not sure that I find that a comforting thought, given every Fourth Turning has been increasingly bloody, and this is our first full saeculum since we entered the Nuclear Age.

Hopefully, it doesn’t get all explodey, but you may want to bookmark NukeMap and print out Cresson Kearney’s Nuclear War Survival Skills, just in case.

On that happy note, I’m signing off. Out here.