"We will get through the next 14 days. We will get through whatever follows those 14 days. And we will come out of this better, smarter, and stronger. We have been caught with our pants down three times now. It won't happen to us again."
Tonight at midnight, starts the big "lock down". The essential employees who will be out and about in the next 14 days, will have letters, approved by the state, proving they are essential. And if you are out and about without one? and don't have a good excuse (like going to the grocery story)? Unknown. But tonight we enter the tunnel and start looking for light on the other end. And what exactly will that other end look like? Here are some ideas:
- Prediction # 1 - As I was out burning some brush and turkey excrement this afternoon, I was listening to Sean on the radio. He (as a native New Yorker), brought up a very good point. How in the world, could NYC, which is one of the top terror targets in the world, be caught flat footed by this virus? With not enough emergency supplies? Here it comes - that will never happen again. Not to New York, not to Minneapolis, not to Grand Island. Every city will have a stout and robust disaster plan, with the IMMEDIATE resources to back it up. Count on it.
- Prediction # 2 - We are close to some cures for some forms of cancer. We are also getting closer to better treatments for Alzheimer's, MS and MD. I fully expect those diseases to be all but tamed by the end of the decade. HOWEVER - we are still a mile away from a good vaccine for the common cold or common flu. The common flu, this bastard child of the Spanish Flu, still kills kills hundreds of thousands of humans annually. Like between 300,000 and 650,000. The work we are doing on COVID - 19, as well as the work we did on SARS, MERS as well as others, will lead to us finally getting rid of these two common viruses this decade.
- Prediction # 3 - Get used to being wanded by a thermometer every day before entering work or school. Temps, even very small ones, will be a disqualifier to being at work or at school that day. For those whose temps naturally run a bit higher, they will need a doctor's note with them at all times, which attests that fact.
- Prediction # 4 - What is the most common complaint most of us hear about all this washing of our hands? Raw hands. Cracked and bleeding hands. Look for major soap manufacturers to finally come up with soaps which will clean per FDA standards, and still not leave your hands looking like you just came out of a knife fight.
- Prediction # 5 - Right now, our mass transportation systems are all but dead. Fact. Look at the passenger loads on airplanes. Just in our little sleepy hollow alone, we have had 250 to over 300 flights cancelled each day this week. And it ain't because of the weather. Cruise ships, airplanes, trains, buses - all need a re-boot. I believe that companies such as Hepa will upgrade their filters for mass transportation which will make the air people breathe, about as pure as pure can get. Regardless if someone is sharing the ride, and has a contagious virus. When will this happen? Sooner rather than later. My guess? Maybe this year or early next. Without that confidence builder, that flight or cruise to Hawaii might be a long time coming.
- Prediction # 6 - "Hey - you are violating my space bubble, man!". Funny joke from the past. Not so funny today. Look for people's space bubbles to get much bigger, very fast. Six feet? Mine is ten feet right now, and I still feel violated. When will this happen? When new space bubbles are common? When we come out of the tunnel. And it will be painful for some.
We will get through the next 14 days. We will get through whatever follows those 14 days. And we will come out of this better, smarter, and stronger. We have been caught with our pants down three times now, starting on December 7, 1941. It won't happen to us again.
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