[FICTION]Tom & family go for their vaccines...

[CanadaSue]

Okay, it's closer to dawn then bedtime. I've read this new Vaccination Strategy Twice; which is about as much as I can do when it's this late & I've had a crazy couple of days. I have 6 pages of notes in point form with what I see, (initially), as both strengths & weaknesses of the Strategy as detailed. I could simply start a list of both good & bad aspects, but that's a bit 'dry', especially at this time of night. So I'm gonna "cheat" a bit. I'm gonna write a diary or about 2 weeks' duration. It's written by the head of an extended family - hey I SAID I was 'cheating'! That enables me to cover as much of the potential problems & some good stuff, as I can without boring myself to death.

I'm surprised to see no commentary yet on the ProMed mailsite. The 4 posts dealing with the VSN all talk about it gonna be handeed dout, then being handed out to the states. CNN has no commentary & I'm too bug eyed right now to go trolling through other media. Besides, I'm 2 Pepsis short of alert right now. I'm lousy with the fancy stuff; bolding, underlining & all, so anything I especially want to point out, I'll put in parentheses or something.

Gimme 10 minutes for Day One...

[CanadaSue]

Friday evening & I'm finished work until the 7th of January, thank goodness. That's one advantage of teaching grade 11 English, long days of work but decent holidays sometimes. Anne is excited. For the first time in 3 years, she doesn't have to work Xmas. In fact with 34 years seniority, she finally got the same holidays I did. With the kids coming home this weekend, we're both thrilled to not have to worry about working for 2 weeks. The family will only be here until late New Year's Day; that's when Andy goes back home, then it's a week to ourselves. If the weather co-operates, LOTS of skiing. I figure I'll need about 5 straight days to work off the turkey, ham & all the other goodies Anne already has made or has in the works.

I have to admit, I'm pretty excited. Jake & Cindy haven't been here for Christmas before & judging by the hints they've been dropping over the phone, I wonder if Cindy isn't pregnant? Man, that would be grandchild number four. I'm starting to feel like an old fart for sure! I can still outski Jake though, but I doubt we'll find time to go before he has to go home. He did say something about having to get back to work between Xmas & New Year's.

I doubt we'll see much of Andy. College kids haven't changed. He'll pile in tomorrow, dump his laundry in the basement, eat, take a shower, then go visit his buddies. Maxine & Sam will be fun to have around this year. Sam took a long time to get over that bout of hepatitis & I know Maxine was run off her feet with the 3 kids. Glad they're finally all in school but also glad they're still young enough to feel the magic of Christmas. I know Anne is dying to bake with them & I'm not too old to go out & do some sledding. That should give Sam & Max a break.

Oops, Anne just reminded me I'd better leave for the airport now if I want to meet Jake & Cindy's flight on time...

[CanadaSue]

Phew, what a day! Everybody is home safe, thank goodness & don't the kids look great. Poor Sammy, looks like he's got a dose of chickenpox alright & I'm just glad we've all had it. I just hope the little toad isn't too miserable on Christmas Day.

I guessed right! Cindy is 2 months pregnant & I couldn't be more thrilled. Be nice if she produces my first grand-daughter. She looks a bit pale & sure wasn't able to eat much today, but she figures a lot of that is just the excitement of travelling to Jake's parents for Christmas. Glad she was excited & not nervous.

I guess the only fly in the ointment today was Anne being called & being told, they might be short staffed these next 2 weeks & she might have to work a shift or 2; 12 hour ones at that. Not what we wanted to hear, but God willing, she won't have to work Xmas Day & we can pitch in to make sure everything gets done & she doesn't have to come home to a mess. I don't envy anyone having to work the emergency room over the holidays...

Looks like she's not the only one might be working these holidays; Erik next door was SUPPOSED to have the day off; he'd booked the several days before Xmas off, but there he was this morning, heading out to the precinct. Not sure what's going on, nothing much on the news, but he's not home yet. Ah, probably decided to finish some shopping after work. Hope he gets a comp day next week.

[night driver]

Sue,

This is unorthodox as hell but I am going to lock this thread and ask you to let a mod know when you have an addition. I want your WHOLE thread as a unified whole. Comentary, coments etc can be placed on the Commentary thread I have started at:

http://www.timebomb2000.com/vb/showt...threadid=43469


OK??


Sue, let me know if you have a problem with this.


Chuck

[night driver]

WHups here are sue's next posts:

CanadaSue
Scrawny news freak

Registered: May 2001
Location: Kingston, Ontario, Canada
Posts: 1533
Sunday, December 22nd

Well this started out as a peaceful Sunday. Andy volunteered to stay home with Sammy, while the rest of us went to church. When we came home, they were both sprawled out, sound asleep in front of the fireplace. Little guy has a bit of a fever, but no spots yet. Maxine says she's pretty sure it's chickenpox; his best buddy came down with a full blown case of it 4 days ago - anytime now, I guess.

We came home planning a quiet lunch, but Anne got called into work before we even had our coats & boots off. Hope she's not too late; there's some nasty weather coming in, upwards of a foot of snow. Makes me glad everyone is home safe. Went over to Erik's to invite him & Louise over for brunch tomorrow. Louise wasn't looking too happy. He'd been at work almost until midnight & was back at the precinct by 8 o'clock this morning. She doesn't have any idea why, either. He said he can't tell her yet, but to stay home. I know she HATES bheing treated like a dumb bunny & if he doesn't at least give her some hint soon, his life isn't going to be too comfortable, even if it is almost Christmas...

Had the TV on; they're repeating one of my favorite Civil War documentaries, one I've been hoping to tape. I just about froze when they interrupteed the show to announce the President & other members of the Cabinet would be addressing the nation around six o'clock tonight. Now what on earth can that be about? They can't have started the Ieraqi campaign now, could they? Just a few days before Christmas? Bad enough that all those troops went overseas in the past few months. I know their families are worried sick about them. God bless them if that's what's going on.


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09-26-2002 09:41 AM



CanadaSue
Scrawny news freak

Registered: May 2001
Location: Kingston, Ontario, Canada
Posts: 1533
late Sunday night, same date...

I hardly know where to start. Of all the tings I was expecting the President to say, this was hardly on my list. It seems Chicago, Atlanta & New York each have a couple of suspected cases of smallpox. Three cases are suspected in Los Angeles & Denver has a suspected case as well. Newark has 2 & several other cities are also reporting suspected cases.

I'm stunned. With Anne having been in the nursing business for so many years, I know a bit about this & this is NOT good. As the Presidne said, there can be no doubt that this is a deliberate attack. Smallpox was wiped out so long ago & there are too many suspected or confirmed cases in too many areas. Lord help us all; with most of these cities being areas people travel to or through, heaven knows where this has spread.

The Secretary of Health was looking pretty tired and pale; who can blame him. Never liked the man, but I don't envy the job he has to do now. Was it only 3 months ago the National Vaccination Smallpox Strategy was released? I've certainly had a chance to read it. Anne's on the implementation committee here & I've read her copy several times.I think we're in for a tough, tough time.

I did something last night, after everyone had their say on TV thast I haven't done in a while; took a good stiff drink. I neededd to try & calm down some before I could think straight. I'm not sure it helped much; didn't make me feel much better, but at least it stoppeedd me from shaking so badly.

I'm so grateful, whatever happens, that the whole family is here. I'd be worried sick if they weren't. Andy had gone out but bless his heart, went right to Anne's mother's place after he & his friends watched the announcement. He packed up her stuff, and brought her straight here. I'm just glad she finished her chemotherapy last month. She's still pale & tired, but her strength is picking up again.

I never thought I'd see so many significant things being announced at once. To say this is going to inconvenience many is putting it mildly. All air traffic is now grounded & in any event, as soon as the announcement was made, all foreign nations bannedd American flights from landing. A few had no choice, had to land for fuel, but they were fueled, serviced & turned right back. It will have been a very long day for those folks.

It will have been a long day for many. All fire, police, ambulance & other emergency personnel have been told to, if they're not at work, to pack up enough clothing & personal items for a week & to stand by, waiting for phone calls. Anne called; she souonds exhausted. She's spending the night at the hospital. She didn't have time to tell me what's going on, but it souonded pretty chaotic behind her. I don't think she'll be coming home for a while. I hope I'll be allowed to bring her a bag of things; clothes, her chamomile tea & her Bible. She's going to need all these things...

I'm not sure I'll be able to sleep tonight. This is just too big & there's so much to think about. Cindy just abiout lost it when she heard the announcement, hormones & raw fear. I don't blame her. Schools, places where the public gather, offices etc. will be allowed to open tomorrow, so people can gather up whatever they feel they need but after that, all these places will be closed. The local National Guard Units have been called up, "for the duration".

Funny, when Anne & I read through the policy a few months back, we both saw some pretty big problems, including the element of time. Sol much is left to local health & other authroities I can speak for our city when I say they've only begun the process of implementing then recommendations. Anne was able to bring up some good points in the early discussion meetings, but there was so much to prepare for, so much to arrange in so little time.

What scares me is... do we have enough vaccine for everybody? Do we have enough people ready to go? I fear not & I'll be spending some time praying tonight...


__________________
Trust me, I'm Canadian.

[CanadaSue]

Thanx, Chuck, I usually have multiple TB windows open, so I can be reasding 1, posting on another & refreshing a third...lol.
I AM tired, was up until almost 0600 & simply went to the wrong post.

Forgive me all, I'm churning this out in 'real time', so charactor development & all the other usual writing conventions are not exactly being followed. Not the point here anyway.

It's oh so convenient that Tom's family have 3 categories of people for which the vaccine is problematic; a elderly relative who just finished chemo, a kid with suspected chickenpox & a newly pregnant young lady. Of course Tom's a prepper; HAD to be, but there will be journal entries about those who aren't. Think of Tom as an older, thoughtful, interlligent observer whose wife is very experienced in the medical field. A relative who's a clinical psychologist, a healthy college aged son & as you'll see a son who's also Natgional Guard. Probably not realistic, but it's a quick & dirty way of covering all issues.

Okay, next...

[CanadaSue]

Monday, December 23rd/02

What a crazy 24 hours. I feel like I'm on a roller coaster that just won't quit. Thankfully, I'm not a drinking man; what 'good stuff' I have I'll keep for when things... get worse.

After we were sure the kids were asleep last night, the adults sat down & talked things through. Sam being a clinical psychologist was pretty handy. He kept us from losing it more than once & I'm not sure how he keeps it together. ((The policy mentions emotional support/mental health for health workers in this kind of scenario as having to ge addressed. I just wonder, considering the huge list of things to be addressed, how far down the priority list this will be?))

Cindy is terrified & I don't blame her. The vaccine is not a great idea for pregnant women, having up to a 75% possible miscarriage rate & she & Joe want this baby so badly. Sammy may be in trouble too; it's not recommended for those with chicken pox. I'm worried about Mother Thomas & hope we don't have cases here & that she hasn't come into contact with any if we have.

Thankfully, we've got enough food, medecines & supplies to go for a long time if we don't have to or can't leave the house. Anne & I had enough for the 2 of us for a good 3 years. With everyone here, we've got easily 6 months worth. Oh, we're going to run out of things early on, but nothing really necessary or nothing we can't work around. I spent part of the night updating my inventory of supplies & felt a bit calmer after that. I can't help but worry about those who scoffed at the idea of something like this coming down the pike though. They may be snookered.

I was out at about 5 am, lined up at the grocery store at the mall. I figured I'd better buy more skimmeed milk powder, horrible stuff, but with 3 kids & 1 pregnant lady in the house, I don't want to run out. I bought a dozen bottles of multivitamins too; I expect it may be hard to pick up fruit & vegetables if this gets bad. Funny, I thought I'd be the first person in line, but there must have been 50 people ahead of me; most of them looking pretty scared. Funny, there was no pushing or crowding. I guess folks are worried about catching it from anyoine they run into. The store had plenty of staff; they would have anyway what with it being so close to Christmas. Luckily, I had my list, so was able to get out pretty fast. I saw a lot of people with carts, grabbing anything they passedd by with no real thought as to what they were getting. I'm not sure what a young couple is going to do with 10 bottle of Tabasco Sauce, but there you go.

I stopped in at the hardware store too, right after I got my groceries. Picked up more batteries & was glad I already have a fair number. We were limited to a half dozen packages each. It was starting to get ugly in there; people screaming at the poor young clerks & a lot of items were getting cleared off the shelves pretty fast. I probably didn't even really need to go out, but in a way, I did. ((We see it beforfe EVERY hurricane; people who live in these areas & should know better hit the stores by the thousands, trying to frantically stock up on things they should already have. Imagine that in a smallpox situation where you possibly have the whole nation in an uproar, trying to pick up things at the last minute. It gets worse.))

The drive home, which usually takes me 20 minutes took almost an hour & a half. Can't remember the last time I saw so many people on the road. Traffic heading TO the malls was insane, bumper to bumper & not moving fast at all. The highway out to the superstore on the other side of the river wasn't moving at all. That storm is supposed to hit tonight & God help anyone still on the road; a real midwestern storm on the way; cold, high winds & upwards of a foot of snow. It will be a good feeling to be at home.

Maxine & Cindy will handle meals for the next little while. Maxine is used to cooking for a family & Cindy needs to keep busy. They're putting up spaghetti sauce now, gallons of it. Spaghetti tonight with fresh bread - that will be a treat. Sam is sitting in my dedn, working on how to tell the kids. Poor little mites, they know something's going on, but not what exactly yet. What can I say? They're 10, 8 & 5 & Sammy, even if he wasn't sick is too young to be much help. Sam has to somehow figure out a way to tell them what's happening without scaring them to death, yet at the same time making them realize how serious it is. I wish I'd thought to pick up coloring books & such. Well, we have enough crayons & colored pencils & Maxine says she has a number of websites she can go to & print out puzzles, games & things for the kids to color. She says the older 2 can handle a fair number of chores, as long as we don't get too fussy!

Joe & Andy are moving the firewood into the garage. I out the SUV outside & cleared out some other stuff. Joe thinks the firewood might be a target for theives if things get bad & I'm glad he though of that. I'm even happier that I have 2 strong, young men to shift all that wood in; I must have 8 cords of the stuff! Once they finish that, they're going to check all the door locks & make sure the windows are fairly secure. I'm going to go up into the attic & haul out the old CB equipment. That might come in handy to get a 'real' picture of what's going on out on the roads.

Maxine has Cindy chopping veggies for the sauce while she moniters the news. This has been THE story, obviously, since this broke... was it only last night. There's almost too much information out there & too much opinion. We decided to stick to CNN for major national coverage & WBVV for important local stuff. The mayor & local health department had a news conference around noon telling us that plans to open up vaccination clinics were well underway. The local paper put out an extra edition devoted entirely to smallpox, the vaccine program & local issues. They had all the vaccine information that the National Strategy Paper had & copies of the information & consent forms. ((I hope local papers would do this before the clinics open; might speed up processing time.)) Health care, fire police, military & transport personnel & their families will be vaccinated first. That means my family too. Hopefully, that will start getting underway buy noon tomorrow.

Anne was able to call earlier, could only talk for a few minutes but told us not to expedct her home for a while. One of the local department stores has already brought in clothing & personal items for the medical staff, so we don't have to worry about getting her things to her. ((Again, I'd like to think that would happen, but it has to be set up in advance if possible. You can't count on the stores volunteering such items, can you?))

Still not much detail about how the clinics are going to run. I remember Anne telling me several sites were under consideration, but some of the owners/managers were stonewalling. The state was trying to get legislation passed to allow for temporary 'confiscation' of the necessary places. That hasn't had time to happen, but the Emergency Laws should cover that.

I sat & watched the news for about 2 hours this afternoon. I probably could have been doing something mroe productive, but it was interesting to see who was saying what. Just about all programming on all stations has been pre-empted foir this crisis. The local channels are all providing fairly decent coverage. They're urging calm, repeating lists of symptoms for people to watch for. There's lots of talk about the vaccine too. Doctors saying it carries risks, but if we do get cases lcoally, the risk of getting sick will far outweigh the risk of the vaccine.

New York City opened up several clinics this morning. What a boondoggle that turned into! The idea was to have local clinics in every neighbourhood possible, but they were only able to open 7. People showed up well before they were opened & came from all over the city. Traffic weas absolutely chaotic, even with free public transport available & recommended. People interviewed while waiting in line said they didn't like the idea of crowding into busses with so many other people; what if they caught smallpoz that way? All the repeated reassurances that vaccination within 4 days of exposure would protect most people doesn't seem to be doing it in New York. There have been a number of fights in lines, some serious & people getting shot & stabbed. One clinic almost ground to a halt, when they discoveredd a goodly number of patients coming in were illiterate; couldn't read the information packets they were given & extra staff had to be rounded up to go over the forms & questionaires with these folks. Instead of vaccinating an expected 2000 people an hour, this clinic has only managed, since 7 this morning, to vaccinate a total of 9 thousand people.

Clinics opened in Chicago too this morning & because of the time gap, they were able to benefit somewhat from NYC's early problems. There was a much heavier police presence & a lot of roads leading to the clinic were turned into one way only roads, both coming & going. Of course, there aree always those who don't hear that & there were a few fatal headon collisions. One clinic had to close down for almost 2 hours to deal with an outbreak of mass hysteria. A patient being screened unfortunately had an asthma attack & didn't have her puffer. The clinic had arranged for soe sdimple, common medications to be held on site, but no one thought of ventilators for asthmatics. Many in line sawe her fall to the ground & promptly panicked thinking that somehow this was a new way for smallpox to strike people. There were a number of serious injuries which occurred when several hundred people tried to bolt for the exits & unfortunately, 2 doctors & a nurse were badly hurt.

Just saws a "breaking" news story from our local channel. They showed a number of semis coming into town, loaded with vaccine & supplies. Boy, talk about being well guarded. They still haven't released clinic locations yet, but it's a relief to know some vaccine is in town. The convoy commander wouldn't say how much had come in, just that: "It should be enough for now". He wasn't sure if any VIG had come in as well; kind of waffled when the newsie pressed him for an answer.

Haven't heard from Anne at all & we're all holding her close in our prayers. I tried to call my minister earlier, but can't get a phone line for love or money. There are already rumors flying that we have several cases in town but no official announcement. I pray that's just wild rumour. We're certainly close enough to Chicago for that to be a possibility, but one can hope...

[CanadaSue]

Tuesday December 24th/02: Christmas Eve...

This has been a long, harrowing day & I should really be in bed. I thought of putting this aside, but realized that my memories of these last several days, as well as upcoming ones, may alter with time. I'm not a writer, just a dedicated diarist & I don't think I have the talent to properly describe what's happening, both at home & in the country at large. But in my gloomier moments I fear this may be the only record of my existence left & it's better to leave some sign that I was here than to be totally forgotten. This probably sounds morbid, but I am very tired & a lot has happened today.

Joe suggested I try & keep a daily "case count". That too sounds morbid, but... why not. NYC now is confirming 17 caases with over 200 close contacts. If the health people know the nature of the exposure or contacts, they haven't told us yet. Chicago has 12 cases, with 150 plus contacts; Atlanta has 7, 95 probable contacts & over 500 possible. The last sounds to me like Hartsfield was involved; not surprising. LA suspected 5, they now have 23 confirmed with close to 1000 contacts. That's got to be the airport too. Denver doesn't have any yet; those 2 suspected cases were chickenpox, but Newark has 4 & Louisville is reporting 8. All told, the CDC is reporting natiuonwide a total of 115 confirmed cases, covering most states. There are thousands of probable contacts confirmed & Lord knows how many more we don't know about. That alone is depressing enough.

We had no trouble keeping busy today. We rearranged the house somewhat to make sure we all were as comfy as possible & didn't get in each other's faces. And to think we almost deecided to sell this place last year! I gave Joe & Cindy the master bedroom. She's having a hard time with morning sickness now & is so tired all the time. She hates that; says she feels next to useless. For a woman who's always had so much energy, that must be hard.

Anne's mom is a blessing. We sat the kids down last night & Sam explained the situation to them really well. Basically, that there's a disease going around the country that can be dangerous, that can kill people. The government is doing their best to get vaccine to every town & city to protect people. In the meantime, wE're all together, thank the Lord & as a family, could help each other out. If we were smart & careful, we wouldn't get sick. The kids had some pretty bright questions. The younger ones were concerned about the vaccine, but Annette at 10, is pretty much beyond fear of needles. She was worried about her friends back home geting sick & once she brought that up, the little ones admitted they were scared we'd get sick; what would they do then?

Sam handled it well & Mother Thomas was there with lots of hugs. Maxine had made some cookies & some right out of the oven along with milk went a long way to settling them down. There's lots ot tell them yet, but as Sam pointed out they're pretty young, can only absorb so much at once. I know exactly what he means! I feel like I'm being pounded with info, more than I want or need. Man, if I'm scared, knowing the bit I know, I cxan only imagine how scareded those are who don't know much about the disease or the strategy. Actually, maybe NOT knowing about the strategy eases fears.

It almost brings me to tears watching the news coverage. I think a lot of it is pretty irresponsible. Most of the major networks have "case counts" displayed right behind the talking heads. At first, they made a big production out of every new confirmed case & additions to the contact list, but most have stopped that now. Thankfully, no deaths are reportedd yet. I hope the clinics get rolling before that happens, as folks are so frightened now. What will they feel when deaths are reported?

With everything going on, it's difficult to remember that tomorrow is Christmas. It almost seems a travesty of the season, good will to men & all of that. We've seen almost anything but in the past few days. Boy, I'm rambling. I mentioned earlier we'd reorganized the house. We gave Mother Thomas Joe's old room. It's probably the quietest bedroom in the house. Maxine & Sam have Maxine's old room, it's plenty big enough. We put the kids in the old playroom over the garage; it's insulated & there's oplanty for them to do up there. It has a bathroom too & with a TV & video game system, they'll be fine. Sammy finally has pox, so he's pretty quiet. They're only coming out & not itchy yet. I'm bunking down in the den & we've turned the living room into a lounge for the adults. The dining room we're not even going to use to eat. I moved the computer & printer there & one of the bigger TVs. It gives us a quiet place to 'escape to' & if anyone really needs privacy, I've got that small room off the garage we don't really use.

There were 5 national level press conferences today, all of them packed with information & all seemingly displaying an increased mood of gravity & sense of urgency. The President was on early this morning; I think it was about 8. He didn't have much new to say, deferring that to those who came later with more expertise in various fields. The man looks exhausted & I wouldn't be in his shoes for anything. Obviously the alert level is at its highest. He stated unequivocally that this had been a multi-pronged attack & that the vaccination strategy was the nation's best bet. He did, FINALLY; state that it was in everybody's best interests to take an inventory of what food & supplies they had at home. The best personal strategy is for people to stay as close to home as possible & to limit any excursions they must make.

I think I'd better take a snooze for a few hours. We're going to try & have as normal a Christmas Eve supper as we can under the circumstances & forget this insanity for a few hours. There will no doubt be more news later tonight & right nows I don't have the stomach for it if I plan to enjoy the ham I can smell. The kids are excited, it IS Christmas & we don't want to spoil it for the kids. Joe will get up very early, make sure everything is ready for Christmas & catch any urgent news, before the kids get up. I disconnected their tv & they can only use it for videos & games. So I'll sleep, eat supper & do dishes, play with the kids, then once everyone is asleep, catch any late news & update this diary. Still a lot of news conferences to write about.

[CanadaSue]

Monday evening, Christmas Eve...

Well under the circumstances, that was a GREAT dinner. Maxine & Cindy outdid themselves & there's enough ham left to tide us over for a long time, even with everyone here. The kids are pretty excited. We got through baths & all, then I did my usual reading of T'Was The Night Before Christmas & the gospel. Funny, after all these years, still can't read that without my voice breaking & having to take a few breaths. It seems especially poignant this year. We did the ceremonial stocking hanging & put out cookies & carrots for Santa Claus. Even Annette still has fun with that. Everyone is asleep now, except Joe. He's walking around in the back yard; something obviously on his mind. Hope he comes in to talk before he goes to bed. Or if not, goes to bed soon. He's going to be up at 5 or so.

Now where was I earlier? Press conferences. Thompson was next & made me see red. The man does nothing to inspire confidence. He announced there had been some unforseen "hiccups" in the so called 5 day vaccination policy. Well no kidding! That idea was pie in the sky to start with. What SHOULD have been clearly stated was that everyone could be vaccinated in 5 days, assuming all clinics were set up, staffed, supplied, supported, the weather behaved & people didn't act like idiots. No, that's not fair. People are terrified because nothing is working perfectly. We don't have enough doses for everybody. Anne told me, in 'confidence' that there isn't enough Vaccine Immune Globulin to properly supply all clinics. After all, they don't know where bad reactions will show up & each clinic should have at least 10 doses.

Thompson made a canned speech, announcing that the case numbers were climbing, but not to worry (!); & that in spite of some initial logistics problems, things were progressing smoothly. I wish the man could at least lie smoothly. It's no real secret that there are insufficient doses. Some cities are only now identifying clinic locations & they're days from opening. Even so, they've learned not to make such announcements until they're ready to do business. Poughkeepsie announced where their clinics WOULD open, on Boxing Day & people are already camped out & getting very testy. They want the clinics opened NOW, in spite of the fact that the northeast is having quite a snowstorm & not all the needed supplies have arrived yet. Staff trying to set up with what supplies they have are feeling harrassed & in some cases, threatened.

Already opened clinics in some of the bigger cities, Chicago & New York especially are still ironing out problems. The videos lasting 30 minutes have gone by the wayside. Instead, local radio & TV stations are running them over & over. Cuts down the clinic backlogs. The papers have printed out the consent forms & check lists for possible contra-indications. A lot of people are showing up with these forms read, filled in & signed & that's really starting to speed things up. Rumor has it, some 2nd year journalism student on a work placement came up with that one. Must have been a lot of heads being thumped against the wall at various departments of health.

Traffic concerns are still being ironed out. The public collection spots for mass transit are not being used as well as they could be. Understandable; it's winter, it's cold & the PortaPotties on location keep freezing up. People are still nervous about gathering in crowds, especially with case counts climbing. 185 cases now, an increase of some 70 in 6 hours & plenty of warnings that this may climb rapidly. No doubt; clinics are still struggling to open.

The volunteers & medical staff departments of health were counting on just aren't materializing. I suspect a lot of them are struggling with their urge to help at the clinics versus family concerns. There are no guarantees when they could come home & many have dependants with no one else to help care for them. Under the present circumstances, I doubt many neighbours are going to volunteer to take in a neighbour's child in most major cities.

The Defence Department was next, telling us what we'd already figured out. This had to be a deliberate attack & it looks like 5/6 cities were targeted: Atlanta, Chicago, New York, Newark, LA & St. Louis. They tell us they're still working with intelligence agencies to figure out who, where, how, where form, etc. Frankly, at this point, that would be a nice to know, but do we have the resources we need to both fight this AND sort out who did what & when?

Justice chimed in too, lots of promises about solving this fast & more ominously: "Doing something about it & soon". None of the press conferences allowed any questions.

I also watched the state press conference; a combined effort by all first responders, National Guard, governer & Dept. Of Health. It seems most major towns will have clinics open by tomorrow lunch time; Merry Christmas! As for smaller towns & outlying rural areas, that's going to be more of a problem. They're still clearing roads from the snow yesterday - final total over much of the state was 14 inches & there's another storm, even bigger barreling in late tomorrow.

Parts of Decatur, all of Danfield & Peoria are without power. The state troopers are still trying to clear roads of overturned & jack knifed semis. Seems part of a vaccine convoy is in a ditch near Champaign. God knows when they'll be able to get trucks out there to take on the load. The governor ordered several construction companies with heavy equipment to go out & supplement the road crews trying to get the highways cleared. The wind is still strong & roads are drifting in again. We need those supplies here by dawn at the latest & my prayers go out to those desperately struggling to get them distributed.

Well, I hear Joe creeping into his & Cindy's room. I hope he gets some sleep. I should head off to bed too. Tomorrow is going to be a crazy day & I'm feeling tired & discouraged. I hope Anne calls soon. She might be able to do what the governor couldn't or wouldn't say; that is, how the clinics are going to work in terms of who goes where & when. With clinics opening the day tomorrow, there's so much yet that has to be announced.

I'll just look in on the kids & spend a bit of time on my knees before crawling into bed. Tiome spent praying is never wasted & we sure need all the prayer we can get right now...

[seraphima]

bump

[CanadaSue]

Christmas Day, 25 Dec/02

Just past noon on what is undoubtedly the strangest Christmas Day I've yet had in my life. It's a calm, cloudy day, warming up in advance of the storm expected later. We, the adults, all managed to keep smiles on our faces while presents & stockings were being opened. The kids sure seemed to enjoy the morning, although we adults are too worried for that. Christmas Dinner is all put together, the turkey in the oven & all vegetables & trimmings ready to be assembled, cooked & laid out. This is usually one of my favorite days of the year, although I'm hard pressed to get much enjoyment out of the season this year.

This has certainly been a day of mixed blessings so far. With the exception of Anne, all of us are here & GREAT news, Anne called this morning & told me she was coming home this afternoon. She gets to stay home with us until early the 27th when she has to return to work. She was only able to speak with us for 10 minutes, but seeing as we're about to go get our vaccines, I'm especially glad she called.

That's the big news of the day so far. The Governor was on very early this morning with a number of major announcements. First of all, a state of emergency for the entire state is now official & the state Emergency Powers Act is now in force. It has some pretty sweeping powers, but given what we now know, I must reluctantly agree that the Governor had no choice. I expect the President will enact the national Executive Orders & Emergency Measures legislation before too many more hours pass.

Here's how things stand right now. Nationally case numbers really soared overnight. We now stand at over 300 cases, covering 13 states. Worst of all, 17 deaths are already being reported & between confirmed & suspected cases, 31 states are now gearing up for large amounts of casualties. Our state has 14 confirmed & over 20 suspected cases with hundreds of known contacts so far. Considering 2 of the cases went through O'Hare, that contact list may be much larger. Anne told me there are 2 confirmed cases at the hospital here. That hasn't been announced yet, but I expect the mayor will do so any time.

Overseas, confirmed & suspected cases are beginning to show up in most major cities. Other nations have or are about to implement whatever national emergency powers they have. International travel has pretty much been suspended & some cruise ships due to dock at different ports have been turned away. One ship, with over 2,500 passengers & 1,200 cases is pleading to be allowed to come into any port & resupply. They have three suspected cases & not enough food or other supplies to last more than a week. So far, they have been refused by every nation they've applied to, close to their location. The Australian military is attempting to set up a supply drop, involving winching down pallets of supplies to the ship. The ship's doctor is pleading for medical help as well, but may not get that.

The initial vaccination clinics for our town were announced this morning. We may only have about 23 thousand residents, but the hospital serves a lot of rural communities, so a number of clinics in outlying shopping centers are being set up. Because Anne is a nurse & we're considered at a slightly higher risk, our family will be among the first to get their vaccines. We're to report to the hospital, the medical students' gymnasium; anytime after 2 o'clock. Hopefully, we can bring Anne home with us from there.

The governor announced the initial plans for the vaccine clinics across the state. First, they'll finish vaccinating all health care personnel & their families. First responders, infrastructure workers & their families will also be done today & tomorrow. Starting the 27th, all citizens will be able to come get their vaccines. Those who choose not to, don't have to get them but anyone who's a contact & refuses to get a vaccine will be told to remain in their homes or within an hour of home in case they become ill. They are to call the public health clinic twice a day to report on their state of health. Our hospital has designated 50 beds for cases & another 20 for anyone suffering frfom complications from the vaccine. Statewide, local authorities are detailing to the public clinic locations & hours, locations of clinics to go to if you feel you've been a contact or have other serious medical problems that need to be checked out first. Phone numbers were given out this morning for people to call to report symptoms, possible vaccine complications & anything relevant to the vaccine campaign.

Man, talk about a lot of problems beginning to crop up. The phone lines were swamped within 3 minutes of being announced. Many of the calls are from very irate members of the public who can't figure out why those who were listed to get their vaccines first are prioritized this way? They think it's grossly unfair. Others are calling in with "helpful" suggestions about the cause or cures for the outbreak. A lot of nuts too, unfortunately. Many calls are threats to medical people, unspecified as to who & medical researchers in general who "inflicted" this plague upon us.

Many are complaining about having to go to alternate locations if they suspect they're a contact or have other problems. Several very irate callers were furious that they couldn't "book" an appointment for themselves & their families - at their convenience of course! With a mandatory "stay at home unless you have legitimate busines outside" order in effect, it's not as if they have nothing else to do!

Phone service is becoming spotty at best. Lines are swamped & the phone companies are pleading with people to keep calls to a minimum. Internet Service Providers, especially those using the older, slower phone lines are breaking down through overuse.

Most state health departments, as well as the federal ones have opened many sites detailing smallpox & vaccination information, as well as clinic locations & everything else the public needs to know. It seems they're being overwhelmed as well & a call to those who operate websites has gone out, asking them to please help by providing mirror sites. Cindy's been online this morning. She tells me a rash of quickie websites offering "guaranteed" smallpox cures are springing up left, right & center. It's getting so bad & they have so many people handing over their credit card numbers, that both the Departments of Health & Departments of Justice are warning people to exercise caution in buying these products. They reminded one & all that there are no known cures & they'd be the first to talk about anything that works, especially given the nature of what we're facing.

The CDC & Secretary of Health were on TV & radio about 2 hours ago. Although they haven't had the time to do much contact tracing or obtain much detailed information from very many patients, they're extremely concerned about what we're facing. It MAY be that we're dealing with a weaponized version. Some patients swear their only possible exposure was a few days ago, yet they showed symptoms quickly. Those who are sick are almost uniformly very ill & many are deteriorating rapidly. Alarmingly, 10% so far are showing moderate to severe hemmorhagic symptoms & the majority of these are not expected to live. About 25% of the cases so far are those with immune system disorders. 10 of those who have died had unspecified immune disorders. God rest their souls.

There was a short question & answer session permitted after the announcements. The questions were not, to my mind, unusual. The first one was: did we have any idea who had visited this monstrosity upon us? Justice answered that it "had a pretty good idea" & expected to have definite answers to that by tomorrow. A very young reporter asked what the expected counts were for both those falling ill or dying. Obviously it's too soon to answer that one, but the silly girl would push. The Secretary refused to guess but answered with so many cases in so many areas & vaccination programs really just beginning, it was difficult to tell. There were questions about the vaccine. It seems up to 20% of those with pre-existing immune problems are having severe reactions. There are rumours floating about that many have died, but the Secretary said it was too soon to be sure. Personally I would have preferred a simple, honest: "We don't know yet."

Someone else asked if our troops currently deployed overseas were being returneed to deal with the situation. Thompson replied he was the wrong person to ask. Right. As a member of the Cabinet who is meeting twice daily, he should know that. Not a good sign, that he'd avoid that question & do it so badly. He may have provided more of an answer inb the way he waffled than by anything he could have said.

Well, Maxine & Sam have the kids ready, time to go to the clinic. I hope & pray this doesn't take too long.

[CanadaSue]

December 25/02, late evening...

I'll take a bit of time to update this diary, then join Anne in bed. Poor dear; absolutely exhausted. We convinced her to go to bed by 7 o'clock & if I have anything to say about it, she'll be in bed until mid-morning tomorrow. Christmas dinner was lovely; the girls absolutely outdid themselves. I don't know where Cindy got that chocolate log roll cake recipe, but it was a hit, especially with the kids. Nice touch to sprinkle powdered sugar over it & add a few tiny spruce twigs!

I sent Joe to bed early as well. Cindy will bear watching over the next few days & Andy will take the early morning news shift at about 6 o'clock. We try & keep the tv off in the livingroom between breakfast & mid morning, unless we know an important announcement is being made. It's plenty to have the one in the den on; someone is usually in there anyway & can give us a heads up if anything important is said. That usually gives us time to make sure the kids are in the playroom & occupied & we can all gather round & watch together, the adults that is.

The vaccination clinic visit didn't go as badly as it could have, although in concept, it was pretty depressing. Joe drove himself, Cindy & the kids in. Maxine went along with them to keep the kids in line & the rest of us took the bus. We were only at the bus stop a few minutes before it showed up. The driver & quite a few passengers were wearing masks, either medical masks or painters' masks. I feel like an idiot for not having thought of that myself! The bus ride should have taken about 10 minutes, but it was closer to half an hour. The driver stopped for anyone who flagged him down & by the time he'd made 5-6 stops, the bus was full. As we're only 4 'real' stops from the end of the line turning point, that was impressive. He did make a few more stops to reassure passengers that busses were running every few minutes. There are very few vehicles on the road & most of the ones we saw were police cars, taxis taking the elderly & infirm to a clinic & several transport trucks. A convoy of 4 trucks drew an impromptu cheer from the passengers. Guarded as it was by some humvees with armed troops, it was obviously a supply convoy bound for the hospital. Convenient for us - the driver just tucked in right behind it & as did the convoy, we ignored traffic lights. I noticed most major intersections have either a few troops or a squad car, alert for any problems.

Arriving at the hospital, I saw we were one of about a half dozen busses pulling in. We waited a few minutes to be able to pull up to the entrance. A nurse, (masked), came aboard & welcomed us to the clinic - as if anyone was really eager to be there! She explained that anyone on the bus not feeling well or with any current problems was invited to exit first. No one did. She then told us what would happen; in case anyone hadn't heard the multitude of public service announcements. She had us exit the bus into one big line. As soon as we entered the building we were all given a clipboard, plastic covered, holding a number of forms.

The first one explained, as if anyone didn't know, why we were there & gave a brief description of smallpox symptoms. It told anyone who thought they might have it to hold up their hand & wait until a member of the clinic staff came to escort them to a medical screening station. To my dismay, 3 people hesitantly put up their hand. I wish they'd gotten off the bus before the rest of us joined the line! Luckily 2 of them were wearing masks & I don't think we were sitting close to any of them on the bus. See, the fear is getting to me too. I KNOW you can't come down with symptoms that fast & in any case, getting the vaccination within an hour or 2 of any exposure almost guarantees you're safe.

The next piece of paper described what constituted a contact & told those people to head to the stations clearly labelled CONTACTS. Thankfully, no one headed that way, although I would expect any confirmed or strongly suspected cases in town has had their most serious contacts identified & they've been told not to show up at the general clinics. There are 2 in town, to handle anyone who thinks they either have the disease or have a strong possibility of contact.

The next several sheets were informed consent forms for various categories of people. The first was a general form for most people. There was also one for pregnant women, infants under 1, any child with chickenpox or other childhood disease & those with immune disorders. Those who didn't fit the criteria of "general population" were told to come to a separate area. That included Cindy, Mother Thomas & Maxine accompanying Sam, who was pretty whiny by then.

We all had to sit & watch the 30 minute video. Frankly, that was a waste of time for most. We've all been flooded with the same information with days. I don't think anyone learned anything new & many, especially children got restless. It was a relief to leave & sign the consent. The older kids were a bit apprehensive & I was glad the nurses didn't lie when a few kids asked if it hurt. It was explained that it scratched at first, there were a few little stings, but that this only lasted a very short time. I went first, so the kids could see everything was fine. Boy, I'd forgotten that from my vaccine as a child. The kids & other adults handled it well. After that it was simply a matter of waiting for Cindy, Sammy & Mother Thomas.

To my dismay, Mother Thomas elected not to take the vaccination. She's too concerneed about just recently having finished chemo & feels that she is at little risk. Should be true. She doesn't leave the house often in the winter as Anne & I manage to get to her place a fedw days a week & run most of her errands for her. Still, I'm not sure how Anne is going to feel about that & I dread telling her.

Cindy accepted the vaccine, but was in tears most of the evening. She's very worried about the risk of miscarriage. Granted it seems only 50 or women have been reported to miscarry during the history of the vaccine, but Cindy doesn't trust those numbers. However, smallpox does carry an extremely high rate of abortion/stillbirth & that is out of the question for her. Because she was so upset, she & Joe were taken aside & given some extra counselling. I was impressed. The clinic is very busy, yet the resident who spoke to them didn't appear rushed at all.
Maxine also had a few questions about Sammy & these were answered promptly. She, as well as Cindy & Joe were given numbers to call if any problems occurred.

Mother Thomas was a different story. I have to say I became rather annoyed. She was strongly pushed to get the vaccine, even after firmly & repeatedly telling the staff she felt her personal risk from the vaccine was too high. I could see her getting a bit riled, so I wandered over & was able to help out. I made it clear to the staff that she was living with us for the duration of this crisis & that with 5 other adults in the house, she wouldn't want for watching & care should anything happen. Even at that, the staff still pushed & I had to raise my voice a bit. It seems at this point they're concerned with the public getting agitated. As soon as I got forceful, they backed off.

There were no vaccine reactions that I could see, not that I judged as such, while we were at the clinic. Some children screeched fairly loudly, but that's not unexpected. A few adults who I think have dicky hearts did have to sit down & they were quickly checked over & encouraged to lie down & rest a bit. One young lady had a pretty good asthma attack. Thankfully she had her inhalers with her & she was seen to immediately.

While waiting for everyone to be finished, I had a chance to observe a bit of what was going on. The staff kept asking me, (politely), to leave, but let me be when I explained I was waiting for the remainder of my family. The busses just kept coming in, as did privately owned vehicles & taxis ferrying in those who either couldn't/wouldn't drive or have medical conditions which make it sensible for them to arrive quickly & with a minimum of fuss.

The entrance haad a number of wheelchairs available for those who have difficulty walking. Several 'emergency stations' were established all around the clinic for anyone experiencing medical difficulties, either due to pre-existing conditions or the tension brought on by the situation. They're using the medical students to do much of the initial screening & to circulate through the clinic, keeping an eye out for anyone who appears more frightened or close to panic or anyone who appears close to some sort of medical distress.

The change rooms are being used as seperate screening rooms for those with pre-existing conditions. Must be hot & crowded in there; they're not large to start with! The one real problem I saw, or rather 2, were lack of washrooms & something for the kids to do. Kids racing around did nothing for anyone's peace of mind. Several of the medical students were kept hopping trying to corral kids & keep them busy. No doubt, they'll find toys & other amusements for them. A few older people almost got mowed down by kids tearing through the room. I found it stuffy in there too, although wearing my overcoat probably contributed to that.

There were quite a few cleaning crew, doing their best to keep the floors dry - all those wet boots! It seemed too, that every 15 minutes or so, some cleaning person would disappear into one of the bathrooms to clean toilets & sinks. Slowed the use somewhat, but under the circumstances, I think it's a good idea.

The parking lot was jammed & this evening, I noticed that the local radio & TV stations are urging people to, as much as possible, use public transit.

We were lucky. I heard later through the media, that later in the afternoon, a young man compeltely lost it at the clinic; eded up in a state of complete panic. Unfortunately, he set off most of the kids & several other adults. It was bedlam until a police officer had the presence of mind to loudly blow his whistle into the public announcement system. That shut most of them up, but not until several people were badly hyperventilating & one man had a heart attack. Other clinics have also reported incidents; some serious, some relatively minor. The news said tonight that out of a town population of close to 23 thousand & outlying district population totals of another 17 thousand, roughly 9 thousand had been vaccinated today. That included most of the persons in the priority groups listed. Tomorrow, they'll be able to open the clinics to the population at learge & hope to have most of the rest of local residents done within 48 hours, assuming the storm isn't too bad. 2 clinics will remain open after that, to catch anyone who couldn't make it in on the designated days & anyone who initially refused the vaccine, then changed their minds.

Ominously, 2 of the clinic locations are being set up to recieve casualties. We now have 7 confirmed cases in town & 2 are said to be close to death. People are terrified & few are out & about. Anne tells me the hospital has been able to rearrange pateints so that an entrie wing of the hospital is set to recieve patients. All local cases will be transferred to University Hospital.

Anne & I had hoped to steal an hour or 2 to ourselves, but what she had to say about what she's seen so far was germane to all the adults, so we all listened to her before I packed her off to bed. Tomorrow after lunch, we'll find some time to ourselves.

She's pretty discouraged & upset. Much of what she told us she's not "supposed" to, but most staff who were sent home probably are venting to loved ones & the truth is no worse & in some cases better, than the rumors flying around.

The incubation period does appear to be quite short, 2-5 days & several of the local patients didn't appear to have been that closely exposed or exposed for a long time period. The progression of symptoms is classic but seems to be speeded up. The pox themselves are very bad & many patients have almost no skin integrity left. Secondary infections are expected to be quite high, especially if we get to the stage where hospitals fill up & people must be cared for elsewhere. Doctors are being urged to be very judicious in how they prescribe antibiotics. A national shortage is being anticipated. Anne is very worried about the VIG situation. Although this has not made the press yet, this town is already out of Immune Globulin. Chances of getting more are slim to none. People who SHOULD be given a concurrent shot of VIG because of pre-existing conditions can no longer get them as it seems stocks across the nation are rapidly lowering & most states haven't even begun their mass vaccine campaign, other than to vaccinate the initial identified groups requiring early vaccination. Anne is pretty upset about this. She maintains sufficient stocks could have been obtained a while ago, if the vacine program had been started among selected volunteers. She says this neglect alone will be responsible for many deaths.

In emerg, she's co-ordinating nursing efforts & initial basic triage. Increasingly, people are concerned they have the disease & are flooding the emergency department & every available health facility in town. University hospuital is now pre-screening patients who are reporting in with things as minor as a spot of acne that appeared over night. 3 town clinics have been designated as initial evaluation centers for patients with other medical problems. Anyone requiring treatment or further evaluation is being ferried by bus, taxi or ambulance to the appropriate location. That's not working as well as it should, but should get more efficient soon.

Anne is pessimistic, but perhaps she's tired. She expects a good percentage of the town to contract the disease, especially if they don't get vaccinated as quickly as possible. With the disease looking more & more as though it might be bio-engineered, she fears the vaccine may not work as well as it should - if at all.

She told us, there's a sense of grim urgency among the staff. Luckily, there's no shortage, for now, of available staff, either to work the floors, in the lab or as support personnel. The hospital has almost been overwhelmed with volunteers to help with work not requiring nursing or medical skills. The state haas waived most licencing & clearance procedures for the duration of the emergency. A number of restaurants had their entire staff volunteer to work in the hospital kitchens. There's no shortage of cleaners available either. Anne says other areas across the country are not so lucky. Many of the larger cities are pleading for help in the hospitals & clinics & some states may make participation mandatory - if they can enforce that. Makes me glad I live in a smaller community.

Well, the storm is really hitting now & the snow pelting down. Sammy is having a bad night, fever's up, poor little toad. I promised Sam I'd spell him off towards early morning. I do want some time with Anne tomorrow too & it will be a full day anyway.

I have no doubt these entries may need to get longer just as I start getting pressed for time. I hope not, but fear the worst. I don't like being this doubtful, but there you go. Time to read a chapter or two of the Gospel of Matthew, pray some then get between the sheets. God help us tonight & every night.

[ExitMisery]

I for one would like to see Canada Sue's Story thread generate a seperate discussion thread. Sue, you have me fascinated! (I have been following Odd's as well! Next chapter please!)

[CanadaSue]

Boxing Day, 26 Dec./02

Another very long day; the worst yet for a number of reasons. I hardly know where to begin. I should start first by saying, everyone here is doing fine healthwise, except for Sammy. who still has a fever. Luckily it seems no worse than before his vaccine. His spots have all erupted, we hope, & he should start feeling more like himself in a few days. In a way the fever is good as it's keeping him quiet.

We sat down today with the 2 older kids & gave them an abbreviated version of the current national situation. I'm not sure Alec really understands; he's only 8 after all but Annette is no dumb bunny. She asked some pretty sharp questions for a 10 year old. Of course the kids are concerned about getting smallpox but Anne was able to explain in a kid friendly way, how the vaccine works. It was also a great time to explain why scratching at or picking the vaccinated area wasn't a great idea.

Both kids were pretty solemn & scared; aren't we all? We explained what smallpox is exactly & why it's so dangerous right now. We skipped the bio-engineered part; too much information for kids of that age, I think. Anne gave them each a little index card with common symptoms & told them to tape it besides their beds & to check it off a few times a day - what a great idea! Anne also explained the concepts of quarantine & isolation & explained how that could stop smallpox in its tracks. The kids aren't happy about being cooped up inside the house, but may tolerate it a bit better now. We're seriously considering sending them outside 2 or 3 times a day, just for 20-30 minutes in the backyard. With only the field behind us & Louise & Joe on the one side, Anne judges it's safe enough. I think that's probably the best way of keeping them from getting cabin fever bad, as well as keeping them healthy.

We also explained to the kids that it's important families work together & be considerate of each other in these trying times. They are being assigned chores. Both kids are big enough to dry dishes & Alec is responsible for checking waste paper baskets daily & taking out the garbage. He really seems to have fixated on the hygiene part of smallpox prevention. He volunteered to keep the bathroom off the playroom clean & is going a little overboard. If a spritz of antibacterial Windex is good, he must figure a 1/4 of the container is even better! I thought Maxine would kill him. We managed to half convince him he didn't need that much, then Anne diluted some Lysol with water into a separate container & told him to use that "special" cleaner; without telling him it was fairly dilute. Right now he wants to sanitize the bathroom every hour or so. I'm sure he'll get bored of that soon. Both kids were reminded to pick up after themselves & asked to be patient with Sammy. Annette was secretly convinced he really had chickenpox. We were quick to reassure her that wasn't the case. She's also worried about Mother Thomas who refused the vaccine. Anne did her best to reassure her on that score.

We found several more chores the kids can help with over the course of the day; dusting, vacuuming & Annette was quite proud to learn how to sort & run laundry. Alecc thinks mathing socks is fun & that saves up precious minutes for the adults. Bless Sam & Maxine for never really having spoiled those kids. I'd hate to think of being stuck in the house for weeks, maybe longer, with obnoxious louts.

To national events. I needed to write about relatively mundane things to be able to face being able to put pen to paper about what has happened today. First, there was a large & long address to the nation this morning, with the President, Health, Justice, Defence, Treasury & several other Cabinet members speaking. FEMA, UDAMRIID & the CDC were also very much a presence.

The President went first. The national state of emergency is of course, in full force with the highest alert level in place. Executive Orders covering such emergencies are now in place. In short, ((folks, it's been a while since I looked at those EOs, so If I've gotten some wrong, call it literary licence. Hey, MY story, right?)), all transporttation other than what is deemed essential & personal movement anywhere is banned. People are going to be, locality by locality; given times when they are permitted to shop & take care of other absolutely crucial errands, including renewing medications. Stores will be open certain hours only & people will be allowed to shop, area by area; also to be determined by local authorities as best suits local conditions. Immediate rationing is being implemented. No one will be permitted to buy gasoline unless they can prove they are essential workers. Lists of who are considered essential will also be determined by locality. Usually those people will include all health personnel, first responders, transport workers & some in certain retail sectors. Utility & other infrastructure workers are also deemed essential nationwide & it goes without saying that the military & National Guard are included. Unfortunately, that also includes mortuary workers & grave diggers. Any workers in those manufacturing sectors which produce medical supplies, food & other essentials are also on that list. Food & the purchase of certain types of medical supplies will also be rationed. Also rationed will be linen - towels, sheets & the such.

In many communities, it seems that those workers needed to staff clinics & hospitals are just not present in the numbers needed. Those known to have such training are going to be 'drafted'. I'll have something to say on the public & press reaction to that & other things later.

If things get much worse, local authorities have the power to draft any individual they choose, for whatever job needs doing. I doubt that will be needed here in town, people may be frightened, but they're pretty community minded. We already have more volunteers than are needed & the city has simply put those not needed on a standby list.

The CDC spoke next. This is starting to get extremely worrisome. Since yesterday, confirmed cases now total over 1,000; at least that was the number given at the address. Last time I looked at one of the network's "clocks", the number was approaching 1200. Sadly, deaths are now increasingly being reported. Of the 1200 reported ill, close to 500 have died. The CDC reports that they're not sure if this number reflects the fact that many were immune suppressed or if it will prove to be an overall trend. With "only" 1200 ill, it's too early to tell. The trend towards higher case rates of hemmorhagic & flatpox continues. These poor patients have essentially zero chances of survival & we know there are least 200 of those nationwide. The only state not reporting cases right now is Wyoming but that will no doubt soon change; as they have several suspected cases.

It seems they're getting an idea of how the disease is hitting people. As of now, it would appear people begin to show symptoms with 2-5 days of exposure. Most are getting fevers, quickly followed by blinding headaches. The pox begins to appear within 4-8 hours of the fever & within 12 hours, has erupted over most of the body. Many, many patients have severe pox formation in their eyes & those who live will be blind. No minor cases have been reported yet. In the case of flatpox, the patients die within 6 hours of the pox appearing & as far as can be determined, those with hemorrhagic pox appear to be fine until the fever hits. Within a few hours, the hemorrhaging begins & they die very quickly, which must be a blessing. Unfortunately, it seems that they are infectious well before symptoms are apparent & it's suspected those with the more usual symptoms may be infectious for up to 48 hours before they show symptoms. The CDC spokesperson was quick to point out that under these circumstances, it was realistic to assume that most who had had any exposure were likely to develop the illness & before they were clearly identified as cases, would no doubt infect many others.

These facts were given clearly, simply & starkly & I don't think it takes much intelligence to figure out that the movement restrictions are our best weapon against the disease, until the vaccination program is thoroughly implemented...

rush of pox to the brain, my fingers fumbled & I hit Post"

I'll continue...

[CanadaSue]

continuation of last post...

The general comanding USAMRIID, the United States Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Disease; spoke next. He stated that some of his researchers were gene sequencing initial samples. It appears the virus HAS been bio-engineered & although they are not sure exactly what has been added or removed, as that will take far more time & researchers are needeed to help with lab work for the epidemic; it's clear that this is not a naturally occuring strain. He was blunt about the effectiveness of the vaccine, stating it couldn't be ascertained how effective the vaccine would be, given that the virus had been tampered with. Nevertheless, it was the informed, expert opinion of the best smallpox minds in the country that the vaccine had a strong possibilty of at least lessening symptoms & perhaps helping lower complication & death rates. He urged people to accept the vaccine, for their own safety & that of their families.

Justice spoke briefly, essentially saying that as many resources as possible had been marshalled in an attempt to determine who the perpetrators of this outrage were. It wasn't 100% sure yet, but the administration was almost certain who was responsible. Those involved would be dealt with appropriately, in a shortt time.

Defence, Rumsfeld himself spoke to answer a question asked yesterday. He bluntly stated that troops deployed overseas would not be returning home anytime soon, but instead would protect American citizens & American interests overseas. Even as he spoke, American citizens were being gathered up & brought to secure locations, when that was feasible and considered the best way to assure their safety.

Treasury announced that all market trading was suspended until further notice & that banks would remain closed. One or 2 bank branches in most communities would remain open to deal with those persons who were unable to use ATMs; the elderly & others who,for whatever reason, re unable to access funds through ATMs. He assured the public that ATMs would be regularly filled & that disposable gloves would be placed at ATM locations along with spray bottles of bleach. Those using the machines were encouraged to spray their hands, glove up, spray the keypad before & after using the machines, then dispose of their gloves in the containers to be provided.

There were other speakers covering the following points. All consumer prices are frozen. Those who have no money are to be granted credit, within rationed limits, for the purchase of essentials. Identification of those requiring credit was a matter to be dealt with by local & state authorities & such measures & how they were to be implemented were to be announced soon. Economic disruption, both at a local & national level would probably be extensive, but that can't be helped right now & in any case, the rest of the world is in similar straits. If necessary, food rations could & would be allocated to families & those who couldn't afford to pay would be "debited" in some way; perhaps as work owed their community or state later.

Overseas, upwards of 7,000 cases are reported with close to 4,000 deaths. Symptoms & disease progression appears to be similar. All nations are addressing, as best they can; how to deal with the beginning crisis & the inevitable consequences; both anticipated & unanticipated. That ship I mentioned, was it yesterday; has finally been able to obtain supplies via pallets being lowered by helicopter. The ship now has enough food & medicines aboard to remain at sea for another month, assuming the captain & crew successfully implement rationing. It was mentioned that a number of small arms & restraints were also lowered onto the ship. Unfortunately, one of the helicopters involved in the airlift developed a severe tail rotor problem & crashed into the sea. The co-pilot & loadmaster were killed, although the rest of the crew were successfully rescued, being winched aboard other helicopters which, thankfully, were still on scene.

Tension levels are rising across the nation. In a number of communities violence, especially family violence is reported to be rising very quickly. An unspecified number of people have been seriously wounded or killed this way. Many people with formerly borderline mental problems have gone over the edge & hotlines & crisis centers can't keep up with the calls being placed to their switchboards.

Hundreds of smallpox chat sites have sprung up online; if you can access the internet. Traffic is at an alltime high in terms of volume & hours logged. Most cities are increasing the amounts of various hotlines they're operating, but still can't keep up. Anyone who feels the least little bit unwell, is almost automatically assuming they've contracted smallpox.

TV & radio broadcasts are repeatedly urging the public to remain calm, to try & apply reason to their actions. In Tampa, neighbours suspecting a house had smallpox among household members, set it on fire. The family, who simply had chosen to remain in place with little or no sign of occupation found themselves escaping with only the clothing on their back. A number of people fearing they or their family either had smallpox or were infected committed suicide after "euthanizing" family members in various ways. Another aspect of this tragedy I hadn't anticipated.

Some people have made it clear they will NOT co-operate with the Executive Orders. Some have gone as far as to go nose to nose with those controlling access to roads. A number of these have either been arrested or in some cases, shot & killed. An LA tv station unfortunately chose to show one such confrontation live. It seems they were doing a face to face closeup of a furious man arguing with a soldier. The side of his head being blown off was, unfortunately, shown live across California. The tv station has been trying to deal with a number of very irate viewers.

Most media are being fairly reasonable. They constantly repeat the symptoms to watch for, of all types of pox. Anticipating that many communities will soon run out of hospital or alternative beds, some PBS stations are giving short lessons on home care of smallpox patients. I watched a few & it's nothing I'd like to have to do, believe me.

The pundits are all over this on this one. A great many are in full support of the President, realizing that in such an extreme emergency, extreme measures must be taken. Others are doing nothing short of rabble rousing. One idiot, having picked up stats from his town went on the air, furiously insisting this attack was targeted against African Americans, as 80% of the victims in his community were black. Thw wind was taken out of his sails when the news anchor pointed out the community is 87% black & thus, such numbers are well in line with the norms. It didn't stop the idiot from spouting off, but he sure lost any credibility he may have had. All sorts of theories are sprouting by way of the media, each more fantastic than the next. I'm not wasting much time on such nonsense, other than to try & get an idea of what's being said "out there".

There's no doubt in my mind this will get much worse before it gets better. After the general comanding USAMRIID had his say, I expected vaccination clinics to get busier. Instead, for several hours, they became anything but crowded. It seems many people chose to interpret his comments on the vaccine as meaning that as this appeared to be bio-engineered, the vaccine was of no use. People hear what they want to, I suppose, or mishear out of fear. Several experts from the CDC responded in a hastily organized press conference & each repeated the same thing, in their opinion, the vaccine probably would increase chances of survival for most. Not too long after that, the clinics got busy again.

It's tough for people here to get out. The storm is still with us & 16 inches of snow have fallen. The wind is getting stronger by the hour & we're approaching blizzard conditions. As it stands now, 15,000 people have been vaccinated. If the weather doesn't clear up fast, this is going to be bad. If the incubation period is that fast, people are running out of time. And the storm is expected to rage through the night & well into tomorrow morning.

As it stands, anyone who developeed symptoms within 12 hours of being vaccinated has a raging case of smallpox, although less flatbox & hemmorhagic forms are being seen among the vaccinated. There appears to be slightly less eye involvement too. The house has 17 cases now, with over 300 confirmed contacts. We also have 9 deaths, numbered among the cases.

It's my turn to take the "late" shift with Sammy. I'm going to try & nap for a few hours, if my thoughts permit me to. Lord bless us all...

[CanadaSue]

27 december, 02

Another long day, no idea when Anne will be home next. Looks like they're working 12 on, 12 off, but 'on call' within the hospital. That isn't suiting me or the family, but nobody asked us.

Case count nationally is up to 3,800, a huge overnight jump. Over 2,000 dead & they've stopped giving the number of contacts. Same symptoms, same case progression in terms of symptoms & speed. It looks like a lot of people, assuming they survive, might end up blind. Internationally, the best guess is at least 100,000 world wide infected with 60,000 dead. A number of large countries aren't even attempting to give numbers, mainly India & China. Many of the smaller, more remote nations have said nothing.

There have been some very serious civil disturbances in several countries. Few details making the news here, too much else going on, but it's speading as fear levels ramp up.

Nationally, it seems things are going slightly nuts, more than slightly in some cities. New York, New Orleans & LA are seething; much anger among the poor & that rage is growing & spreading. A number of health insurance companies & HMOs are whining about the costs of the outbreak; say they may consider this an act of God or some such nonsense. Some are flat out refusing to cover the costs of medical care if patients have adverse effects & need to be hospitalized. Several serious demonstrations were held, in spite of the curfew. It took police & National Guard busting some heads to get people to leave. Even though quite a number of demonstrators wore masks, I can't help but wonder how many will now fall ill?

Several smaller cities have announced their hospitals are full & they're in the process of opening alternative care centers for smallpox patients. People everywhere are trying to get themselves admitted for the least symptoms, figuring they'd "better get a bed now while they're available". There have been ugly scenes at a number of hospitals nationwide.

Eerie scenes on most tv news shows & they're almost all news shows, shots of empty downtowns; strange today with Wall Street not opening. The only shots of traffic being shown are what I think are supposed to reassuring shots of convoys of food & medical supplies going from food distribution centers to grocery stores, from pharmaceutical factories to drug stores, etc. I'm not reassured. I see far too few convoys for my liking.

A couple of canneries & drug plants couldn't staff their shifts, workers flat out refuseed to come in to work, stating risk was too high. Many are refusing to come in until they've had their vaccine. Several grocery stores & other stores considered to be selling essential supplies are stating the same; staff is refusing to work & saying laws or not, they will not be forced to work until & unless they've had their shots.

That's now the big issue. Clinics are simply not opening at the rate they were supposed to, in what would be considered ideal locations & support problems are proving to be a nightmare. Many clinics are shorrt of staff, both on the professional or volunteer sidee. Folks working the clinics are burning out & there's not nearly enough counselling help available.

Man, there's lots more I could comment on, but I'm tired & discouraged. I can't help but feel something even worse is about to happen. I must be more tired than I thought; I'm rarfely this pessimistic. Probably the best place for me to be right now is in bed.

Hopefully, I'll feel more like myself tomorrow.

[CanadaSue]

28 December, 02

A week now, since this crisis began. Thankfully, I slept 10 hours straight; I was tired & mentally worn out. I feel renewed this morning & although I'm no more hopeful than I was yesterday that we can easily limit this outbreak, or rather - pandemic, I woke up with a grim determination to do whatever I have to do to keep my family safe & well.

First, an update on the sitaution as it now stands locally, across the country & internationally. Numbers jumped dramatically overnight - again. Here in town, we have 43 confirmed cases, including 27 deaths. The nation as a whole reports 17 thousand cases including 8 thousand dead & internationally the total cases amount to about half a million with 300 thousand dead.

Third world countries are currently being hit disproportionately hard, as are areas of the nation here with a high percentage of the poor & ill. That seems to be due to poorer general states of health & immune disorders. With few countries having any amount of vaccine, the toll is going to be huge. Most countries have gone into total lockdown, no movement at all, strict curfews & the military in as full control as they can manage. That won't last, military members are falling ill just as quickly overseas. Many locations have little or no medical care available & others have already announced their medical facilities are overburdened now. It's only going to get worse.

International commerce has pretty much ground to a halt & strict rationing is being implemented almost everywhere. Again, I don't know how long such control measures can be maintained, albeit food & other essentials will probably run out before those guarding supplies become ill in too large numbers to properly guard essentials. Some nations have pleaded with the US to use American troops stationed in thosse countries to provide protection for vital infrastructure & supply warehouses, but have been refused.

Kobe had a major earthquake last night, 6.8 on the Richter scale. The pictures from helicopters are heartbreaking. An estimated 30 thousand dead, fires everywhere & very little real rescue efforts underway. I'm afraid any other disaster which occurs during this pandemic will not be effectively responded to; the resources just aren't there.

Here in the US, New York City is now opening alternative care centers, as are Chicago, LA & Miami. Hospitals are full or close to full. The military is today deploying several field hospitals to southern states, where the weather permits such tentage to used without inconveniencing staff or patients too badly. One major network is trying to keep a rough estimate of how many who do not have smallpox are dying as a direct result of this crisis, either by not receiving timely medical attention, accidents on their way to & from vaccine clinics or grocery stores, or fires & other such incidents not being replied to in a swift manner. Certain categories of crime are up, resulting in further deaths; especially domestic violence & alcohol/drug related crimes. In many areas, it's fairly easy to get around the curfew; just not enough policing available to make sure no one is on the streets.

All states now have vaccination clinics opened; today was the first day that can honestly be said, but only about 10% of the population has been vaccinated. So much for the 'everybody in 5 days' policy. There have just been too many problems. Many areas, especially larger centers, have run out of VIG. The other drug being used to fight bad reactions, Cidofovir is also close to running out at many locations. A disappointingly high percentage of people are having fairly serious reactions to the vaccine, especially those with multiple allergies, even if those allergies appear unrelated to anything in the vaccine. Immune suppressed people are being hit hard; maybe Mother Thomas made the right choice after all.

Medicare/Medicaid is warning the costs of this outbreak for their patients needing hospitalization, will be high. Some major insurance companies have told hospitals they'll pay for the treatments provided - but only after the crisis is over. That's leading many potential vaccine recipients to choose to NOT be vaccinated; they're more worried about having to deal with vaccine complications then they are smallpox. The current rate of confirmed cases in the country works out to a percentage of 0.000056; low enough that most people feel they'll be safe. With a week passed, I expect we've seen all the patients we're going to from the first wave of infection & most interviewed so far, did pass through major airports or other major transportation terminals. What remains to be seen is how many they infected before the first cases became obvious. We're getting into the second wave of cases & possibly the third in some instances.. Will this virus 'weaken' as it passages through subsequent waves of infection? I hope so.

Even in cities where most want the vaccine, logistics problems are really slowing things up. With a higher rate of complications, more people are asking for more detailed information before accepting the vaccine. That's taking up time. The medical staff; screeners, vaccinators & those there to moniter patients are very on edge & in some cases, exhausted already. Parking & access to clinics continues to be a huge problem. Several cab drivers have fallen ill & as a result, many others are refusing to drive people to clinics. Bus drivers are also "disappearing", prompting many communities to plead for retiredd drivers or anyone who's ever driven busses to call in, take a few hour refresher course & start driving shuttle routes to clinics. In many areas, they're not getting much response.

Lineups for clinics create their own problems. Many refuse to use public toilets, fearing that alone will give them smallpox. There has been little or no provision for food & water outside clinics with long lineups & many people have been seen to simply give up & go home. That's especially frightening considering other people in line may ALREADY have the disease & those closest to them in line are at risk of catching it.

Some supply convoys are having trouble getting through because of weather. It's been very stormy across great swathes of the nation in these early days of winter. There are rumors that many regular armed forces & NG personnel are going AWOL. A number of soldiers have fallen ill, heightening the tension among the military. It's known that many individuals & families have broken the curfews & movement restrictions & "bugged out". I hope they stay safe & even more so, I hope they haven't brought the infection with them into pockets of the country where little infection is present now. I doubt it, these folks tend to be pretty self reliant & I expect the last thing they want is to have any contact with other people.

Overall, the picture is pretty grim. I'm beginning to think this crisis is here with us for a long time, at least through the winter. We're having a family meeting this morning. We'll be telling the kids just how bad this is looking & discussing ways the family can conserve what resources we have.

Our neighborhood is on the list to shop tomorrow morning for groceries, sio we'll spend time going over my inventory & dedciding what we should supplement, as best we can under the rationing imposed. Thankfully, there's no ration card system in place yet. The way it will work is like this, a police or military vehicle will come down the street & announce through a loudspeaker that it's our turn. Oly adults coming from houses in sight will be permitted to either climb aboard busses or use vehicles of their own if they still have gas. This is selfish, but I'm going to recommend that at least 4 of the adults go, using our 3 vehicles & Andy on the bus. We're going to bring home as much as we can get away with. Once ration books or coupons are issued, it may become tougher to obtain stuff. I'd rather be a bit selfish now, then worry about real shortages later.

Time to gather everyone for the meeting...

[CanadaSue]

29 December/02

First things first, daily case counts. In town: 159 cases, 85 deaths, nationally: 39,000 cases including 27,000 dead. Internationally, 1 million cases almost 700,000 dead. I think the numbers are far higher than that. We're starting to hear reports of the sick & dead being found alone in their homes; not here in town, but the larger, more impersonal cities & isolated houses. A Sky News crew from Britain overflew the small town of Eldoret in Kenya. It lies alongside a river, the name of which I didn't catch, but it's a sizeable town & the video was gruesome. Obvious dead lying about with dogs & other scavengers worrying the bodies. A few people - they must have heard the helicopter, walked or staggered out of their huts. Several fell & others could only manage feeble waves. They must have thought help had arrived. I can't imagine their despair as the helicopter flew off.

The CDC announceed ths morning that roughly 23% of the population has been vaccinated. They also announced that 36%, roughly; of those vaccinated have come down with the disease. They didn't look too happy to be announcing that, but honesty is preferred. They added they couldn't be sure why. Perhaps these people had already been exposed & were too far along in the progression of the disease for the vaccine to have any perceptible effect. I wonder if some of these doctors, the REAL experts anyway, aren't being too blunt for the comfort of the government. This is the first press conference they've given alone & they allowed questions.

Was it possible those vaccinated who contracted smallpox got the disease while in line for their vaccines? The answer was: they sincerely hoped not but realistically, it was too early to rule that out. How were immune suppressed people handling the vaccine. Answer: not well at all - roughly 25% of them were suffering significant adverse reactions. However, of those immune suppressed people WITH smallpox, it looked like as many as 90% were dead or not going to make it. How were stocks of VIG & the other medication, Cidofovir; holding out? They weren't. Some areas had run out almost immediately & other areas which DID have some weren't "loaning" any to those communities without. Can't say I blame them. Seems some clinics can go a whole day with no problems, then the next; all hell breaks loose & they need enough to treat 10-20 people. Some clinics are considering, as part of the screening, sending the immune suppressed & some other risk groups right to hospital to get their vaccination. The hospitals are flat out refusing, saying they have enough to do. I know they do.

Anne called again this morning; could only speak for about 10 minutes, but says she should be off for 24 hours tomorrow at noon. Then it's another 24 hours on, followed by 48 hours. Bizarre in my opinion, but better than nothing at all. She's getting the 48 hours to rest up in order to be charge nurse on night shift for one of the smallpox wards. Mixed feelings about that on my part. I'm proud she's been chosen for such a responsible position, on a shift with really not enough backup, but I worry she'll wear herself out. I'm not worried too much about her getting sick - not with smallpox. After all these years of working emergency, with all these new diseases coming down the pike, she's really careful. I worry more about her emotional health. She'll be working with the children & I'm not sure how well she'll be able to handle that, especially with 75% of kids right now dead, dying or looking as though they won't make it.

Clinics here in town continue to go well. People are remaining calm, even as case counts climb. The local tv station has been superb. They still repeat lists of synmtoms & vaccine complications to look for, but are moving beyond that, finally & thank God for that. The local health department projects tghat as many as 75% of the town's population would eventually get sick with this, all in the next week or so. They've had some locally well known & trusted doctors & nurses on, many retired from active practice, telling people how to care for the sick at home, in anticipation of hospitals & other care centers becoming verwhelmed.

I taped a few for Anne, if she's inclined to watch any of it. I just want her take on it. What I watched & heard sounded pretty sensible to me. They didn't just talk about it, they provided demonstrations. How to change beds, handle laundry, keep patients clean & all that sort of stuff. Glad we have so much concentrated bleach pucks. And linen & easy to prepare/digest foods. Tons of other useful things too; too much to count when I'm this tired, but at some point, I'll staple a photocopy of the medical list in here; back cover or something.

Crime seems to be falling. Funny, many of those committing these crimes, then caught, have come down with the disease. The press was all over that one & it seems to have its intended effect. With fewer people on the streets, those moving about that shouldn't be are more easily noticed & dealt with. The police & military aren't fooling around. Looters & there are still some out there, are being shot after ONE warning.

Overseas, it's even worse. A number of countries have stopped allowing international, even national coverage of the crisis. Fools; that just adds to the fear. Border patrolling has become almost 'offensive' in nature. Many border incidents as people try to flee to "safe" areas. There are no safe areas. Wrong, no cases in Antarctica. There are 42 research stations operating there now; their summer. McMurdo has the ability to contact each one & most languages are understood well enough by somebody for information to get from station to station. Anyhow, they're fine down there, but the 2 supply ships heading down will not be permitted to land. They're not sure how to handle the supply situation. They would like to 'quarantine' the ship for a week, but with a lot of pack ice around & unsettled weather, that's never a good idea. The ship may sail offshore to a safer latitude, wait there, THEN bring in the supplies.

Ships - that cruise ship is in a bad way. They airlifted aboard vaccine & the ship's doctors, (2 of them), trained up a number of the ship's crew in vaccination technique. They vaccinated everyone within 9 hours, a superb effort, but in vain. Clost to half the passengers & crew are ill & the outlook isn't promising. Worse, the captain has flat out stated he'll have to dump bodies overboard; nowhere to put all the ones they'll probably end up with.

We held our family meeting yesterday, then got to work. Andy, Sam & Joe went out & banked snow up against the house - good insulation. The windows are in pretty good shape, but the ones in rooms which really don't need to be well lit, we covered with plastic & stuffed with some batts of insulation I had in the garage. We dropped the thermostat to 60 degrees; a bit nippy, but that's what long underwear, extra socks & sweaters are for. The women & I sat spent a few hours going over the supply list, assumed a duration of 9 months & worked out some rationing. Sam & I both need to lose a good 30 pounds & this is 1 way of accomplishing that. The kids & Cindy get priority on food. Maxine & Cindy have started cutting up what fresh vegetables we have left, putting together soups & stews to freeze. Tomorrow, I'm taking some wood I have & building an outdoor freezer, a container with locks on it in which to store frozen food. We'll fill it, cover it with snow & I'm making sure I have solid locks on it. That will act as a fourth freezer. As long as the weather holds & stays cold, it should; that works. I wish I had a guard dog or 2.

We're going to be more concerned with staying safe. The doors must be locked at all times & only the adults have keys. We men will take shifts at night, staying awake & making sure we don't have unwelcome 'visitors'. We're close enough to the bigger roads for that to be a risk, especially as we only have a few neighbors. Cindy offered, but she needs her rest right now. Otherwise, I'd welcome her help on shifts. She's a damned fine shot & not one to panic. Annette is in charge of keeping the 2 boys busy & I'm putting together some home schooling work for them. No sense in losing a school year.

We're all staying healthy. We've started sending the kids out, under close supervision, 3 times a day for half an hour. They'll have to keep snow banked up against the house & keep their eyes open for anything 'unusual - in the back yard. Call me nasty, but I iced up the driveway & most of the front walk - don't want access to be too easy for unwanted visitors.

We took up the carpets & put away most of the ornaments & clutter. No sense in adding more work for ourselves with cleaning that doesn't need doing. We went through the clothing as well; much of what we have will fit the adults & Anne has a ton of fabric she never did anything with. Cindy is teaching Annette to knit; she can make hats & scarves & Cindy is doing sweaters for the kids, all large.

Time for me to get to bed. I've got the 4 am to 8 am guard shift & I'm tired. More tomorrow.

[CanadaSue]

30 December, 02

The day before New Year's eve... it's bitterly cold, with a few more days of bitter weather ahead of us. The Pacific Coast is getting hit with a series of seemingly unending rain storms; blame El Nino. The usual scenarios; mudslides, flash flooding through canyons, cliff top homes on the verge of toppling over the edge on the beach or sea below. Local & state authorities are trying to open shelters & force evacuation into them. People are reluctant, fearing being crowded together with the outbreak occurring. One community group stated they refused to go to any shelter until the obtained their vaccines. They subsequently refused the vaccine because no doses of VIG were available to treat serious adverse effects. Many barricaded themselves in their homes & for the National Guard to have taken the actions necessary to get them out would have achieved what they were trying to prevent - harm to the home owners & their families.

The only parts of the country seemingly getting normal or decent weather are Alaska, Hawaii and the south west. Oh most of the rest is getting normal weather, but snow & cold can hardly be called decent, especially under the current crisis. More snow is expected in the east, a Cape Hatteras Low fueling a building major coastal storm.

Case counts again: locally over 300 cases now, with 200 plus dead. They're not sure about the totals; it's suspected some of the outlying rural homes & farms may have very ill & dead inside. Some locals have volunteered to drive by & see how livestock are doing. If it doesn't appear they're being fed or seen to, if there is no sign of movement, vaccinated volunteers will check the homes & call for ambulances or hearses if needed. Nationally, we're over 100 thousand cases, but deaths are 'only' at an estimated 43 thousand dead. Still higher than traditional death rates, but more encouraging than over the last few days. Internationally, approximately 3 million cases with 2 million dead & that's really a guess. Large areas simply have not been heard frfom or overflown. Who knows what the true toll has reached?

Here at home, we all remain well. The vaccine seems to have taken in everyone, thank God. Anne is a few days ahead of us & has a good scar too. We're reminding the kids frequently not to scratch when it itches & not to touch themselves should they 'accidently' touch their vaccine site. Everytime we think about it, we remind them to wash their hands. Sammy we have to watch espeecially carefully. His chickenpox are healing well, but he's feeling pretty whiney. Another day or so & he should feel better. We're "tossing" him outside for 10 or so minutes, 3 times a day. Hardly worth the effort of dressing him, but I figure the fresh air does him good.

Sam really laid a good spanking on Annette this morning. She'd not eaten much for breakfast & had done some vacuuming. She'd asked for a few cookies to tide her over until lunch. She was told she could have a few. Sam walked into the kids' room about 10 minutes later to ask her something & found her trying to hide a dozen or so cookies under the bed. She's been TOLD, over & over again why we must ration & Sam wasn't tolerating any excuses. None of us were happy about having to spank one of the kids, but this is just too important & I suppose it's a good reminder to the boys, who are more likely to try & sneak extra food. Oh we're not shorting them any, it's just we're trying to feed them nutritious & filling stuff. Chocolate chip cookies may provide "nutrition" to the soul, but we're trying to save such things for very special occasions.

Only about 35% of the population has been vacinated. By now, it's a question of supplies not arriving on time, being sent to the wrong locations & other mess ups. With a growing number of people being vaccinated & getting sick anyway, many unvacinated are waiting to see if the vaccine helps before bothering to go out & get it. They suspect they are still at higher risk waiting in line with many others, strangers, then they would be staying home.

Many travellers would have been home by now, if they went away for Christmas. This is causing a lot of problems in communities trying to establish rationing systems. Many are insisting a homeowner show up, with proper identification including a valid street address, before giving visitors ration cards. Oh yeah, many areas are refusing to give ration cards to anyone who can't show proof they've been vaccinated or have a valid exemption. It's not easy finding a doctor willing to provide a valid exemption; after all they're all busy either with the epidemic or all the other 'normal' sick. I fear a huge mistake is being madee in some states doing this & the federal government has yet to address this.

They're still not addressing a lot of things. National Addresses are now taking the form of pre-taped videos, which doesn't make people feel any more easy. Most understand the government is pretty darned busy, but when they can't take 15 minutes, even in their office in shirtsleevews to go live? People wonder what else is going on...

No official word yet on who is responsible for this although the rumors grow stranger by the day. It was the Russians, it was the Arabs, especially Al Quaida, it was the IRA(!), it was homegrown - not likely with overseas cases showing up almost right away. The only thing clear is that many locations were hit at once. There has been little mention of this in the media, but I can't help but wonder what, if anything, form a possible second strike will take? God forbid & forgvie me if I'm being unduly paranoid.

Medical staff are now starting to fall ill. No wonder, they must be exhausted. Some admit to having slipped up in barrier technique & more than one lab tedch has been stuck by contaminated needles drawing blood. I wonder... will some survive a smallpox attack only to discover they have other, long term conditions, such as hepatitis, AIDS, etc? We also have rumors of an outbreak of Legionnaire's Disease in Buffalo, in one of the voluntary isolation facilities of all places. Initially it was feared that the symptoms were smallpox, but the progression is different & it looks like pretty classic Legionnaire's. Unfortunately, the other residents, those NOT ill fled the shelter & most have yet to be located. Some may themselves be ill with Legionnaire's or even smallpox.

Anne is due home in a few minutes. The roads are clear, so I expect she'll be here on time. As a treat, we remade the bed & put in my grandmother's old warming oven. I took out her favorite old flannel nightie & Cindy has homemade turkey soup boiling on the stove. As a special treat, we're having an apple pie or three! for dessert. Then, I hope Anne will sleep for a few hours. I so badly want to talk to her, to have somed time alone with her. I undersatnd I have to share her now, both with the family & her patients, but I can't help being selfish. could lose her so easily, or die myself. Ah! She's just been dropped off.

I'll pick this up later...

[A.T.Hagan]

bttt

[CanadaSue]

Evening, 30 December/02

A nice supper to end a quiet afternoon. Anne is taking a good, relaxing hot bath & everyone else save Andy is asleep. He's taking the midnight to 4 am watch & I'm keeping an eye on things until midnight. Every 15-20 minutes, I 'make my rounds'. It's not too complicated. Before nightfall, 2 of the adults go around & together, make sure nothing is out of the ordinary outside. We brush fresh snow under the windows & near the doors/garage doors. Gives an extra way to check in the morning that no one has 'snuck by' undetected. We then move inside, making sure all external doors & windows are locked. We check that all water taps are properly turned off & make sure the heat is turned down to 55 degrees. We carefully check the fireplace & wood stove in the basement rec room. Tomorrow, Andy & Joe are going to clean out the wood stove chimney. I did it early in the fall, but we want to be sure there's no creosote building up. We keep buckets of sand near both the wood stove & fireplace & we also make sure all the fire extinguishers are in their proper locations. Sam & I walked the kids around & showed them where each of the fire extinguishers are kept. We have a big box of baking soda by the stove & an old, fairly heavy cast iron pot lid in case of a cooking fire. We also make sure the house is tidy & that all emergency exits are clear.

Then on 'night patrols', it's just a matter of making sure that everyone is asleep & seems well & that nothing out of the ordinary is occurring. I spend my shifts sitting in the livingroom, in view of the front door & with the tv on, monitering any developments. Good time to update this diary, once all are in bed or quietly occupied.

I keep hearing Maxine creeping into the children's room. She's making sure Sammy is doing well & tonight, a new source of worry. Annette has been sniffling & has a bit of a cough. I suspect she either has a cold or is still feeling sorry for herself. She howled enough after Sam spanked her; it wouldn't surprise me if that's why she's coughing. I suspect too, she wants to be darned sure we know how 'ill treated' she was. She tried that on favorite uncle Andy a couple of hours after Sam let her out of her room & broke into tears afresh when he was cool to her. He understands the need to ration & bless him, is being smart enough not to indulge the kids in any of their nonsense. Anyhow, Annette doesn't appear to Anne to have anything other than a plain old head cold, at worst, but mothers will worry.

Cindy seems to be getting past the first trimester symptoms. She was much encouraged today by NOT being nauseated at all. She also seems to be less inclined to have to go to the toilet & says she feels a bit of energy coming back. Sam & Joe, as well as Andy are all disgustingly healthy & other than my knees twinging a bit, I'm fine. Anne is tired, but the nap this afternoon did her good & I've told her she's not to even think about getting up early in the morning. Everything is in hand.

Mother Thomas is a bit miffed with us. She's not been allowed to do much & I think she's tired of being treated as helpless. I'm going to ask her to help the kids learn their school lessons; it will save me time for more active work. She offered to help more with meal preparation & that's a great idea. She's an old fashioned scratch cook & extra hands lighten the load. Maxine is looking more tired than I like to see. Between the cooking, seeing to the kids & worrying constantly, as do most mothers, I think she's asking too much of herself. I found her trying to wash the walls in the playroom this afternoon & told her Anne & I had done all of that during our fall cleaning. Maxine has enough to do without adding extra work for herself. She'll have to find more restful ways to deal with her worry!

There isn't much change in the news. Every passing hour brings more & more people falling ill. Internationally, it's now well into the millions & I suspect we'll only get updated numbers every 10 million new cases or so. Even at that rate, I expect the next few days will find the totals updated very frequently. Nationally, we're at about 150 thousand cases, with about 55 thousand dead. Locally, there have been no updates since this morning. In different parts of the country, mass graves are now being dug in fields. Some old, abandoned, small quarries have been commandeered for the purpose of burying the dead.

In Kyoto, fires broke out shortly after the earthquake & continue to burn almost unchecked. There were still far too many old ,wooden structures, even after changes made to building codes after their last major earthquake. Their port, which had escaped relatively unscathed last time was not so fortunate. Most docking facilities were destroyed as were oil tanks & pipes used to refuel container ships & tankers. All railways in the area have been either destroyed or so badly damaged, they're beyond the prospect of immeddiate repair. Local rescue crews have been working heroically, but daily, more & more fall ill with smallpox & many earthquake survivors are now succumbing to the outbreak.

Elsewhere, things remain discouraging. Israel is holding its own. They had vaccinated health care personnel & their military in September/October & immediately began a mass vaccination campaign among their citizens as soon as word got out that we'd had some initial cases in the US. They now claim to have vaccinated everyone they could find. Israel has always had a civil defence system up & running & their response has put ours to shame. Most citizens are hunkered down in their homes with at least a month's supply of food. It will get tough later on as that tiny nation does not have much in reserve in terms of food. They are not short of medical supplies however & survivors should be able to begin farming/gardening on a large scale once the illness rates stabilize. The kibbutzim & farmers are stating they'll take all the volunteers who present themselves for farm work & within a few months, they can hopefully feed most of the nation; those who survive.

There has been little news out of much of the middle east. Our largest allies in that part of the world, Egypt, Saudi Arabia & Jordan are being hit hard. They've offered outrageous sums of hard currency & equivalent value in oil for food & medical supplies but few nations have offered to sell or trade, being in a shortfall situation themselves. Iran, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon; very little information is coming out of these countries. Africa is falling apart; it's been tipped on the razor's edge for the better part of the last 50 years anyway.

Australia & New Zealand have cases, but imposed martial law, including isolating the population within their own homes. They can feed their people, it's just a question of transporting the food & supplies where they're most needed. The European countries are having mixed fortunes. Death rates are running high, especially among the poorer nations.

Russia & most former Russian republics are a real mess. Much of northern Russia uses central heating for towns & cities, everything is heated from 1 or 2 central heating plants. In a number of towns, breakdowns in these heating plants & a lack of replacement parts and/or personnel to effect repairs means everyone is cold. Deaths of exposure & hypothermia are very high & will no doubt, climb even further.

In order to enforce travel restrictions, most countries with a winter & snow have stopped keeping any routes but those essential to supply convoys cleared. Many factories, stores & other essential workplaces have made arrangements for their staff to live in, for some time to come. In some countries & some states here, that has been made mandatory, although it's hard to enforce.

Just came from my round of the house before Andy takes over. It's quiet & everyone appears to be sleeping soundly. I stood at the kitchen window & looked out into the field behind the house. It stretches about 10 acres & leads to a 100 or so acre stand of woods. There were 3 deer scraping at the snow, looking for browse I suppose. I also saw some jack rabbits. If things get much worse, I'm of the mind to get a doe or two. I'll have to wait for one of the freezers to empty out some first though. Or, if I can round up enough scrap wood, I'll build another wooden meat locker to keep out behind the house.

It's odd to hear so little noise frrom the direection of downtown. Once in a while the silence is punctuated by sirens, but they rarely sound for long. Just as well; they make us all jump. But... no traffic noises & when I go to the town square camera's web site, the camera is still running but showing an eerie stillness. Once in a while a small group of soldiers or police officers quickly & almost furtively walk by, but other than that, nothing for the most part of the time I watch.

The big local excitement for the day was the fire at Mr. Harris' pharmacy. Something shorted out. The firefighters responding spent the first 15 or so minutes getting all the medications & other stock out. Only then did they put out the fire. Different times, new priorities. Before the variola outbreak, the fire department, once they were sure everyone was out, would have concentrated on fighting the fire. Now, the new variant - save the supplies. Variola Varients? I must be tired. I'm starting to get a bit silly. I should join Anne in bed. We'll olnly have her a few, precious, short hours with her tomorrow before she returns for her last shifts in emergency.

I should mention first. The hospital is about full now & the library is being cleared to serve as an alternative care center. It may sound like a strange choice, but it's bracketed by 2 restaurants & is within a few storefronts of a laundry. Everyone knows where it is & surprisingly for a library, it has a decent number of washrooms. Anne tells me the city's public health department is planning three(!) more alternative hospitals. She'll find out tomorrow what locations are being used. She suspects the high school which serves quite a few rural counties as well as the city is probably being used first.

[Mrs. Peavey]

Bumping to the top.............

[CanadaSue]

New Year's Eve.../02

A quiet afternoon. Cindy is napping, Mother Thomas is helping Joe cut vegetables for supper & Maxine is making sure the ham is ready for basting. Andy is taking a nap; doing the 4 am to 8 am is tiring, I'm sure. We're going to double up tonight for 'guard duty'. It IS New Year's & in spite of or perhaps because of the curfew, we'd rather be safe than sorry. Sam is running some laundry & plans to clean my rifles for me later. The kids are doing some homework, some English work that I assigned them this morning. It's not too hard for Sammy. He had to pick a picture book & look through it. He has my old, small portable cassette tape recorder & is to 'tell' the story as best he can. After that, he's to practice printing his letters. Annette offered to help him with some letter sounds after she finished the novel questions I assigned her. I have her reading the Little House on the Prairie series. Funny, she'd never read them & loved the book once she started it this morning. She kept running in with new 'ideas' of how we could do things the old fashioned way. She was almost disappointed we didn't have a hog to butcher!

Mother Thomas is a God send. When Sammy & the kids get restless, she has all sorts of wonderful stories to tell them. She has clear recollections of visiting HER grandparents as a child. They ran a small, mixed farm & she remembers the plough horses being harnessed & learning to milk cows by hand. The kids are learning a new appreciation for our modern conveniences. I wonder how long we'll be able to keep most of them. We had a very short power failure this morning. Maxine was in a panic, afraid she wouldn't be able to get her ham in. Sam is going to spend part of tomorrow trying to cobble together an 'oven' out of whatever he can scrounge from the attic, garage & basement.

Maxine ended up putting the ham in earlier than she usually does, in case the power goes off again. Here's hoping it won't! Oh we can cook on the woodstove & fireplace if we have to, but a modern oven is easier.

Once morning chores were done, we all sat together & discussed the situation & talked about ways we can conserve what we have. Much to the boys' delight, baths are down to once a week for the kids. Adults will be limited to a 5 minute shower every other day, unless they get really filthy doing something related to keeping up the house. I'm concerneed we might be keeping the heat too low for Mother Thomas' comfort. The chemotherapy melted the weight off her & she's been slow to put any back on. She's not complained about being cold, but she obviously is. In spite of her protests, the most comfortable recliner was dragged nearer the fireplace, so she can stay warm. Cindy is crocheting her an afghan specifically for the chair & Anne made sure she had enough blankets on her bed. We'll make sure the warming pan spends some time in the bed before she goes down for the night. We've been trying to keep the bedroom doors closed to save on heat, but hers will stay open in hopes that more heat gets in there from the living room.

I'm concerned about water. I have enough containers I can fill in a pinch & may actually start doing that later today. Trouble is, where do I keep them? I suppose we'll simply put them anywhere there's room. I have a number of collapsible 10 gallon plastic water containers & some plastic barrels. Being as it's winter, there's no shortage of snow we can melt, but that's a lot of work & will rob the house of heat. If things get much worse, if we start losing water pressure & running out of snow, there's a pond in that back field. I think I can find it under the snow. Wish I still had my old ice auger...

I've been busy putting together lesson plans for the kids. Sammy won't be difficult as he's just in kindergarten, but Greg is in second grade & Annette, fifth. I worry about being able to teach them well enough. I'm used to scowling adolescents, not elementary aged kids! Still, I have the others to help me & everything about this crisis can be seen, sort of, as a learning situation. Local media ia also proving useful; more on that later. Maxine told the 2 older kids they were going to learn to help prepare meals; they can both peel vegetables & certainly Annette can learn some simple meals.

Funny, I'm used to having the house to myself in the evenings, as is Anne. Even though this is my own, beloved family, I find they're starting to get on my nerves. We spoke about that today; about how tough it is to be in "each other's face" everyday like this. I reminded everyone that the dining room is a "quiet corner" & anyone in there is looking for a peaceful bit of time. The kids haven't been great about letting the adults alone when they go in there! I think Maxine solved that. She took a couple of old blankets & my staple gun & sectioned off that dead space at the end of the hall. She put an old, plump cushion down & plugged in a lamp. That's the kids' 'quiet corner'. She even wrote a sign say: "occupied". I made sure the kids understood that they couldn't use needing the 'quiet corner' as an excuse for getting out of their chores! Right now, they're taking turns, 15 minutes at a time, getting 'needed' quiet time!!!

I have started building that second wooden box to use as frozen food storage. It is pretty much going to use up all my available plywood & 2 x 4s though. Thnak God I have lots of fire wood. Anne thought I was nuts last summer when I bought 4 full cords. It was a lot of splitting & stacking, but am I glad now. It nicely augments the 5 face cords I have & will keep us warm enough should the electricity go out. Wish we'd converted to oil, but if it's bad enough for electricity to go, I don't imagine they'd be able to deliver heating oil either.

When we went to the store the other morning, it was worrisome to see the store shelves. A lot of things were already running short. We stocked up on extra toilet paper, ketchup, my favorite steak sauce, (I put in on darned near everything) & as much pasta as we were allowed to take each. Anne had left a list of seasonings & Sam took care of picking up most of those. Joe picked up a case of infant formula. I know Cindy isn't due for 6 months & she's planning to breast feed, but you never know what's going to happen. I grabbed some packages of cheap socks on sale, as did Andy. We got rice, tomato paste & our limit of 2 pounds of butter each. We already have quite a stockpile of vegetable oil. We also grabbed powdered milk & powdered eggs; dreadful things but useful in cooking.

It was sad watching people who obviously had nothing at home, except for a few days' worth of food trying to get around the rationing. You could buy 10 pounds of potatoes for each household member & no more than 10 pounds of rice or pasta. Canned vegetables were rationed to 5 cans per family member. About the only things not rationed were pickles, pickled anything, some of the more unusual condiments & salad dressings. The store had imposed its own rationing on top of what the government was mandating. Early in the day, someone tried to clean them out of foil wrap, literally clearing the shelf. The store has limited quantities to 2 rolls per person shopping.

The bitterest arguments with store clerks occured over coffee, tea & sugar. One jar of coffee, one package of tea & a maximum of 5 pounds of sugar each. Thank the good Lord I have lots of that stores away. We picked up some boxed cereals, but the kids will soon have to get used to 'real' breakfasts. I've never bothered storing much of that sort of cereal. We have lots of oatmeal, the fixings for pancakes & scrambled eggs & that old 'favorite'; Red River cereal.

There were a few news conferences today. The President was on this morning; live for the first time in days. The man looks worn out, barely under control. He stated cases nationally were now approaching a million with no end in sight. That struck me as a huge jump, but he 'explained' that a number of states, especially those with larger populations, had been running behind in their reporting. Nationwide, vaccination is stumbling along with about 45% of the population having now been vaccinated. It's to be hoped that slows down the rate of transmission, as does mandated isolation. It seems too many are still leaving their homes unecessarily, especially in the inner cities. Some of the poorer areas of large cities, Baltimore, Washington, NWY, LA, Miami & others are doing badly. Huge numbers of cases & little co-operation with the authorities. Certain neighbourhoods of south LA are so bad, even the police are refusing to enter. National Guard troops & armored vehicles are being used to transport people needing to go to hospital, to deliver supplies to grocery stores & to pick up the sick & dead. Many cities have asked people to hang a white towel or sheet if a sick person needs to be taken in to a care center & a blue or green sheet or towel to have the dead picked up. A few helicopter camera shots from different towns show a lot of the latter hung from windows & on doors.

More fields are being dug up & the ominous sight of reefer trucks being loaded at the back of hospitals in now showing on the news. The Presidnet waffled over the count of dead, but from what I could gather, it's over 350 thousand. Not surprising to see it climbing. As more get sick, more of the first cases are losing the battle.

The CDC also spoke, encouraging public tv stations & local radio stations to put out programs teaching people how to care for themselves & families if need be. They have established yet more hot lines to report the ill, the dead & anyone with questions about symptoms. They discouraged people from using the hot lines to tote cures, preventatives or to harangue staffers for having somehow caused this outbreak.

Department of Defence spoke as well. They've been in touch with the states'governors & were passing the message to all citizens away from home, who were members of their states' national guard, to please contact the National Guard in the state where they were visiting. Many troops, both regular force, reserve & National Guard are ill & there's so man tasks they're needed for. Joe is still trying to get through to the armory here. Cindy is NOT happy, but the boy knows his duty. Hopefully, he'll be stationed here in town & can come home periodically; if they want him. Our local unit is an combat engineer brigade & Joe's home unit is military police. Still, I can't imagine them turning him away; there's more than enough policing work & guard duty to do.

I was hoping to hear our men & women overseas were coming home, but no questions wsere permitted & all that was said on that matter was that, they were being kept very busy 'looking after American interests". The types of contact families became used to after 9/11 when family members deployed; the satellite phones & e mail; isn't happening this time. There has been a deep, deep silence from those abroad. I hope & pray they're all well.

The stock markets, commodities exchanges & all livestock markets remain closed. Farmers with animals ready for the slaughterhouse have phone numbers to contact & have been told their stock will be picked up as soon as possible. The farmers, upon hearing payment would come at an unspecified "later date", are refusing to turn over their animals. Grain farmers with full silos are also insisting on payment, in cash, on the spot before their crops are removed. A small farming community in Kansas has barricaded their town, refusing entry to anyone except for a local ABC news crew. They don't trust that payment will be made & aren't happy with the amounts per pound of animal or bushel of grain they've been told to expect. It's getting ugly They've announced THEIR prices & have said they'll deal... at the barricades, wtih anyone who shows up with cash, a truck & a livestock carrier. Other than that, no deal. The governor is having fits & has threatened "imminent action" if the farmers don't "Start thinking of their civic duty". Ominously, several military trucks were filmed gathering a few miles away before the cameraman was hustled away from the site & his film seized. We'll have to take his word for what he saw... no film is available, obviously.

Some local tv stations have decided to leave outbreak coverage to the networks & are instead, offering childrens' programming & documentaries. One station is giving shortened lectures for high school students, covering the major topics of math, English & science. The school districts locally, as well as many others across the nation are putting lectures online. Another station is doing elementary school classes. They're only able to do an hour a day for each of the eight grades, but are repeating these lectures for parents to tape in the evening & suggesting activities to do at home to help children keep up to date. They explained it is the Christmas holidays, but the duration of this crisis was unknown & it's difficult to keep children entertained all day. They might as well be learning. In the evenings, The Learning Channel has been running programs for parents, giving good ideas on explaining the crisis to kids & giving parents suggestions for specific problems they may be running into. I'm impressed, as is Maxine.

A very chastened Annette askeed to speak to everyone after lunch. She had a tough time speaking, guess she's embarrassedd by the spanking & is feeling pretty humiliated. She apologized to everyone for trying to steal extra food & offered to not have any dessert at all for the next week to make up for it. As glad as I was to hear her apologize & make that offer, I put my foot down. It's important to eat & the women have been whipping up some pretty good treats with canned fruit. Annette is getting taller all the time & needs her food, as do we all. We're all working harder. Instead, I offered to give her a half hour's worth of extra chores for a week & we settled on that compromise.

I guedss it's hard to really get it through the kids' head what's going on. They're so used to seeing disasters on tv that I suspect it may not seem real to them. Disasters happen "elsewhere". The kids 'know' we have a lot of cases here, but they really don't know anyone here in town except us, Joe & Louise, so the illnesses & deaths have no personal meaning; there's no connection there. Annette wanted to call her best friend, but we're still being asked to limit phone calls to absolutely essential calls. Maxine is friends with the girl's mother & did have an e mail address. Annette had to be satsified with an e mail & is eagerly awaiting a reply.

Anne will be home tomorrow, for 48 hours. I hated seeing her head off to work late this morning. Everytime I talk to her now or kiss her good bye, I pray it isn't for the last time, for whatever reason. She's doing tough, tough work & I'm humbled by her strength. The kids, MY kids & their spouses are understanding about my need to spend time alone for her & have been outstanding about respecting our privacy. Bless them. They do a pretty good job of making sure grandma & grampa get their time alone too; no matter how badly the kids feel they need to speak to us!

We have a New Year's Eve tradition here that we've carried out every year since Anne & I were married. After dinner, once the dishes are cleared up & the kitchen cleaned up, we gather in the living room & every person in turn gets a chance to stand up, (or sit if they choose) & talk about the past year. They can tell us what was the most significant thing that happened to them that year; the best thing, the worst thing & any special blessings they recieved. They then tell us what they hope for the coming year, both personally & on a larger scale. The kids always managed to surprise us when they were younger. Mother Thomas had an excellent suggestion. She'd like me to set up the video camera & let everyone have their say "on tape". I think it's an excellent suggestion, although how significant these tapes could become causes a lump in my throat I can't get rid of.

On that note, time to get back to the family. It sounds as though dinner is almost ready & I want to make sure the kids are set to come to the table on time. It IS New Year's Eve & I have a special treat for everyone. Thank goodness Louise & Joe were able to help with this surprise.

[Mrs. Peavey]

Canadasue.......this is great, can't wait til the next chapter! Bumped to the top.

[A.T.Hagan]

bttt

The Feds are going to be needing to finger the culprit soon I think.

.....Alan.

[Carlyblue]

Bump to the top.

I have really enjoyed reading this. When's the next chapter?

Carly

[CanadaSue]

Life got in the way the last few days...

Gimme an hour.

I'll try to bash out 3-4 chapters today/this evening.

[CanadaSue]

New Year's Eve...

Great dinner & I'm thinking it might not be a bad idea in future years to eat a bit earlier. By 6 o'clock, we'd eaten, dealt with the leftovers, did the dishes & cleaned up the kitchen. We sat together after that & did our video taping of everyone's significant moments for this year & their expressed hopes for next year. That whole exercise raised too many lumps in my throat for me to want to write about it now. Maybe tomorrow or on the weekend.

I checked the networks before starting this, just to get the latest case counts: I haven't heard an update of local cases, but expect that & the number of deaths are climbing. Nationally, we're closing in on 2 million cases with 700 thousand dead. Internationally, into the tens of millions of cases. TV shots of mass burials, mass burnings... you name it. The international news about the outbreak is almost too much to try & keep up with. Enough to say for now that it's pretty much in every part of the world with no end in sight. Vaccine just isn't available & medical supplies of all sorts are simply not available in many countries.

I find myself very discouraged tonight. I can't see how or when this is going to end. Nobody, in spite of all the hoopla, was anywhere remotely close to ready for this. How could they be? I've made some attempts, over the past few days, to contact friends here in town & other parts of the country to see how they're doing. Almost everyone I know is either sick or thiks they've been in contact or; that applies to their family members. The numbers are such that this is close to personally touching almost everyone in the nation.

It's very difficult to evaluate some of the news we're getting from different parts of the country. Rumors are everywhere, but are hard to confirm. I've heard of riots, attacks on hospitals & clinics & many families are refusing to hand over bodies, insisting they want them buried 'properly' or dealt with properly according to the tenets of their faith. This is so surreal for so many, they can't understand why normal rules & guidelines don't apply.

Nothing has yet been formally announced but rumors have it that a number of members of the Congress are ill, as are many senior level bureaucrats on the front lines in the government trying to deal with this.

Power failures are happening more & more often & it seems to take longer to get the power up each time. I fear outbreaks of waterborne illnesses as some water treatment plants are desperately short staffed. Most utilities across the nation are reporting having trouble getting staff to carry out normal operations, never mind the repairs needed after storms, accidents & incidents.

A growing number of people, fearing meltdowns, are clamoring for nuclear power generation plants to be shut down. I have mixed feelings. I don't want to see a Chernobyl type incident here, yet I fear before too much longer, we'll be lucky to have power. The nights are long & cold & we're all reluctant to operate with absolutely minimal lighting & heating. Trying to carry out your business while you're cold, in dimply lit surroundings, doesn't make you feel any safer or more cheery. Nevertheless, we're all trying to minimize our use of electricity here.

We promised the kids, when we put them to bed, that we'd wake them up at about eleven thirty so they could see the New Year in. They wanted to try & stay up, but I feel it's more important they get their rest. Thankfully, Sammy is getting better by the hour & Annette's head cold seems fairly minor. The rest of us are feeling the increasing strain, but are basically healthy.

I re-inventoried our medical supplies today & spoke to the adults about judicious use of things such as ibuprofin, aspirin, acetaminophen, disinfectants, etc. These things, as well as other essentials, we must hang on to - just in case. I also locked up all our medecines & only Sam & I have the keys. It's not so much that I don't trust anybody, I simply don't want to take chances.

I'm hoping tomorrow will be a quiet day, everywhere. We've told the kids that tomorrow they can play as much as they'd like. I know several of the local tv stations are running kids movies all day. Andy & Joe are going to go through the garage, re-arranging the firewood & other things in there & trying to see if they can't strenghthen the garage door. Andy is surfng the net, looking for do it yourself alarm systems, the low tech kind of stuff that's easy to put together. We've already put 'trip wires' every 4 feet or so along the driveway & covered it in as much snow as we could scrape up. Anyone wanting to get into the garage will have to get there first! I might suggest to the boys that they squirt some water on the garage door, freeze it shut if they can.

I'm planning on finishing that wooden box for meat storage tomorrow & have already started filling my water barrels. The kids removed most of the bed side tables & other small tables in the house & we put them in the attic. The new fashion here is water barrels for occasional tables. Tomorrow night, Joe & I are thinking of trying to hunt deer in the field. As a kid, Joe used to run a snare line over in the woods & thinks he might try that again. IKt will be risky. We're not supposed to leave the house at all, unless we fit the criteria of essential workers or are transporting a sick person to hospital. We figure if we leave after dark & stay low & quiet, we should be fine. The woods are bordered by more farm fields, so we shouldn't be at much risk of being noticed. My concern is dressing deer in the woods. We'll have to make sure we cover any signs of our activity & pray we don't leave too many tracks. Ideally, we'd get snow and/or wind to cover our tracks if we're lucky enough to hit anything.

Vaccine clinics across the nation are open 24 hours a day now, even though an increasing number are short staffed. Supplies of VIG & Cidofovir are out, but with case rates climbing, people are willing to take that chance - the chance of a bad reaction. Many clinics have opened "complication wards", to save the time & manpower needed to transfer anyone having a really bad reaction to hospital. Clinic staff are falling ill too, although it's starting to look like the vaccine does lessen the chance of contracting smallpox. Unfortunately, it doesn't seem to be having a measureable effect - yet - on the intensity of symptoms. Way too early to tell about the duration. So far, people fall ill quickly & progress rapidly to full blown pox. It remains to be seen if the pox last longer or dry up in the usual 2-3 weeks.

Transport is beginning to break down. Many trucking companies are having trouble finding replacement parts for their fleets. Other vehicles are being cannibalized & any mechanic with any experience with large rigs is urged to call their local trucking company or local government. Some areas are experiencing difficulty with food & supply deliveries; weather again. In some areas, the drivers are exhausted & several accidents are being blamed on drivers falling asleep at the wheel. The escorts, once another truck is located, transfer the supplies, but things are slowing up badly.

Already, reports are coming in of people running out of food. That's no surprise; most households don't have much in the cupboards. People are being urged to limit their activities to try & reduce the amount of calories they neeed daily. A sorry incident in upstate New York. A food warehouse was 'attacked' by desperate locals eager to get fresh food. The attack failed, but not before a good dozen or so people were killed. Desperate times breed desperate acts.

It's getting on time to wake the kids. I hope they'll settle back down to bed easily. Andy & I are taking the midnight to 4 watch & I'm already feeling tired & cranky. I've also got a headache from using this lamp. Think I"ll put in a stronger bulb.

[Meemur]

Bump.

Cool story, Sue!

[CanadaSue]

New Year's Day, (very early)/03

I'd love to say Happy New Year, but that's hardly the case, is it? Andy & I finished our shift about half an hour ago. He headed straight for bed, but as tired as I am, I'm far from sleepy. This seems to be the only time I get some quiet, uninterrupted time to write & reflect upon what is happening.

How I long for Anne to come home tomorrow. She's my strength & I depend on her as much as the others seem to be depending on me. It's more than a bit frightening to be expected to have all the answers & yet that's how I feel the others are acting. Funny, here we are, 6 perfectly competent adults in the house, yet except for Mother Thomas, all the others hang on to my every word as if I had some magic source of knowledge. It's a huge responsability; it's tiring & it's frightening. I can't say how often I've felt like shouting at the top of my lungs: "I DON'T KNOW!!!". I DON'T know, yet the 'kids' are asking me the most bizarre questions & expecting me to answer at the snap of a finger. Even Andy, who's at the age where 'dad knows nothing' reminds me of a young boy.

Alright, I appreciate that this is a terribly frightening situation, unparalleled in our hisotry. I served in Korea, but that was decades ago & this is so completely different. I've never really known hard times. Anne & I have gone through tight times, but never what I'd call really hard times. I am feeling the strain of everyone looking to me. It would be a lot easier if Anne were home. Thankfully, she's home tomorrow for 48 hours. I'd love for her to come home & tell me she was no longer neededd, that she could stay home. I'm tempted to ask her NOT to return, but I'm being foolish. I'm sure she feels badly enough about being away from the family without me adding to the pressure she's surely putting on herself.

Andy & I watched the news several times, or rather allowed ourselves to be innundated with the onslaught of gloomy tidings. Clearly things are getting worse across the world. Let's just say for now that numbers are climbing dramatically as those who were exposed before countries knew what was happening, or before they could institute any kind of control measures. Of course some countries, or areas of some countries were completely unable to bring in any kind of controls. People who chose not to isolate themselves are falling sick in droves & unfortunately, will die in huge numbers.

The late local news gave the number of cases here at 500 plus. 300 of those are dead or moribund. The local health department is expecting these numbers to rise exponentially over the next week. Dr. Jonas refused to speculate on how many cases we'd end up. She explained with so many students having returned from college, visitors from out of town & a number of local farmers & farm equipment suppliers having recently to that convention in Chicago, case counts were likely to be high. NO one could be sure how many locations could have been exposure sites.

The regional high school is being turned into a hospital, as are three elementary schools. A number of local restaurants & diners have been 'drafted' into providing meal services for staff & patients. The regular staff will work, when at all possible, augmented by cooks trained in hospital cooking so as to provide the sort of easily digestible meals the patients will need. Already, half the high school is being used for patients. It seems they just get a classroom converted to a 'ward', when it's filled with patients. Laundry may be a problem. The town only has 3 laundromats & 2 dry cleaners, but if they work 24 hours a day, with staff shifts, the laundry should be kept up with.

Between the schools being prepared, the health department thinks 900 patients can be accomodated & have stated that won't be nearly enough. Other locations are being scouted out. Possibilities include our several churches & several malls. The good thing about the malls is that the stores within them can provide some supplies. I'm convinced in my mind that this will not prove to be enarly enough & I'm trying to think of what other locations could be used. Along those lines, 2 of the local stations are beginning to stress home nursing skills. Ominous. It suggests we may be reduced to caring for our own sick.

Supplies anticipated to be needed are fast running out. As a relatively small community, we're pretty far down the 'food chain' when it comes to being able to get supplies. Mattresses - we are going to need mattresses of all sorts for patients. A call has gone out for camp cots, air mattresses & inflatable beds & the Sears store as well as the furniture warehouse have been told their stocks of box springs & mattresses are being commandeered. Sheets, pillowcases, all sorts of linen are also in demand. Again, stores have been asked to make a list of their stock, then be prepared to hand it over. No one's happy about it, but no one is refusing either; not here.

Food is becoming a problem. A number of families have managed to get calls through the hotlines, not to report illness or death, but a lack of food. Vaccinated & well volunteers who normally work at the food bank have been sent to the superstore on the west side of town & are putting together basic food packages, roughly 5 days supply for each family needing food. I thank God that's not a concern here.

I don't even want to think about the horror stories I'm hearing from other parts of the country, but I must write some of it down. The inner cities are in dire straits. So many deaths being reported, not all due to disease. Authorities are going in to find the bodies of adults in some homes, adults who died of smallpox & also finding dead babies & infants; dead of dehydration. Sad, so sad. Millions sick now & over a million dead. It seems many peoples especially the children; their little bodies were just overwhelmed by the virus.

Of all things, some of the gangs in LA have decided this is a great time for turf wars. Idiots. I suppose I shouldn't get fussed about it. To be cynical, they're simply removing themselves from the food chain when food is short. It's just a shame that innocents are also being shot. Earlier this evening, a team of military had had enough of being sniped at & running into gangs exchanging shots. They warned the gangs to hand over their weapons or else. The 'or else' consisted of going in & taking out these idiots. Some were arrested, many others killed. Other than their families, I don't think anyone was too upset. We don't need this nonsense at any time, but least of all now.

This sort of thing was happening in other cities, but the military action in LA must have given them food for thought. Suddenly, this sort of behavior has ground to a near halt in most communities.

The weather continues to be a problem; what a stormy winter this is turning into; no doubt because of El Nino. The east has had storm after storm & this is not helping with supply delivery in the big cities. With imports completely cut off, we're starting to see shortages of some luxury items. Coffee is going to become a problem fairly soon. We're limiting ourselves here to 1 cup per day... 2 if it turns out to be a crisis ridden day. None of those yet, relatively speaking.

With shortages, disturbances & anticipated supply problems, I'm going to have to run a pretty tight ship. The adults spoke briefly once we had the kids settled in bed again. We figure we have enough to do & could end up with a lot more work. It makes sense to split it up into areas of responsability. I will handle the house's infrastructure; making sure everything works & works well. I've lived here 28 years & have handled most maintainence & improvement projects myself. I'll handle the inside anyway & save the outsided stuff for younger, stonger backs. I'll also keep the kids up with school work, writing out lesson plans & teaching them.

Maxine, being the chief cook has been handed my food inventory & will moniter food use. The kids are our main concern there & as their mother, she best knows how much they need to eat & when. She's also a pretty darned good cook. She'll be completely in charge of rationing & as far as the rest of us are concerned, what she says goes.

Sam will keep the kids in line & make sure our wood supply is being properly used. He'll keep the wood stove & fireplace cleaned out & do any heavy household jobs that need doing. He'll also make sure we keep a good supply of snow banked up against the house for insulation & make sure the outside of the house is secure.

Andy is spending a lot of time online, finding & printing out useful 'how to' information to supplement the many manuals I've collected over the years. He's also teaching himself home nursing skills, in case someone should fall ill. Being the youngest & with the least responsabilities, he's volunteered to keep the kids entertained when Sam reaches the point when he's ready to kill them - just joking, but Sam will need a break.

Cindy is in charge of housework & is free to draft the kids to help as necessary. She's not bad with a needle & will also keep our clothing repaired. She's not knitted for a long time & has started making some simple mufflers. The kids never seem to have enough scarves against the cold.

Jake is backfilling as needed, expecting the Guard to call him in for duty any time now. It's rumored & is probably true, that many of the police, fire & military personnel are falling ill. Drivers for supply runs & ambulance type runs are also in short supply. He'll surely be drafted for something of the sort. When he's not kept busy with other things, he's boning up on normal pregnancy, labor & delivery in case, God forbid, this extends past Cindy's due date.

Mother Thomas is going to help the kids with their homework & keep an eye on the adults. She's weathered some tough times herself & will let us know when she thinks we're too stressed out. Funny, some times you don't notice it yourself. I HAD to give her something to do, she needs to feel useful but she's still frail & I don't want to overtax her. She's also going to help with preparing meals & light work she can manage. I'm going to have to ask Anne how much I should let Mother Thomas do.

I'm restless tonight. It's very quiet outside, only the rare sound of a vehicle going by & thank God for a change, no sirens. Still, I can't help but feel I'm missing something. Maybe it's just an over accumulation of nerves & fear. The sun will be up in a few hours & judging by how everyone felt tonight, we'll all be fine tomorrow. We'll sit & talk again, as a family & make sure everyone understands what their jobs are. I'll write them down so there are no misunderstandings. It's especially important the kids understand who to go to for what they need. I think we should also decide on designated rest periods for the adults, times when the kids must leave them alone. We are all crammed in together & the house is a good size, but it's still too easy to feel like you're tripping over each other.

I must phone Louise tomorrow. I haven't noticed Joe home at all, except for a few hours several days ago. I'm not even sure Louise is still home. I haven't seen any sign of life at their house., come to think of it. I'll check in the monring. But now, I must lie down & get some rest. I need to finish that wooden food locker tomorrow & see what other spare wood I can acrounge up. I can't believe I don't have more squirreled away somewhere...

[CanadaSue]

New Years, early morning/03

God, God, God. This can't be happening. Please forgive me. watching tv as I write & just trying to scribble the basics. I'll clean it up later, once I calm down & stop shaking. Once I know what's really happening. It's... just past 6, sun's not even up yet. Joe just woke me up & told me to get to the livingroom, to the TV now. Oh God, how to say this.

We're all up & watching. Mother Thomas is pouring us brandies, big ones. Bagdhad has just had a big, big nuke dropped on it. I think we did it. CNN has cut into coverage by the BBC, straight feed. Oh Lord, showing scenes now from... not sure where but someone was filming a family celebration when the bomb went off. The sky behind a group of kids turned...wait the film is from Karbala, about 50 miles away. BBC was passing through to another story; grabbed the video cam & uplinked. Looks like the whole sky has blown up; strange colors...

My, it must have been big... reporter saying it only took a few minutes between seeing the explosion & the blast wave coming through. Wave was weak, but must have been a big one for it to get that far... said Karbala about 50 miles away. Reporter trying to give a 'play by play' & talk to her producer at the same time. Damn! The reception is gone, just static. Andy is flying through the remote looking for any station on air. Wait, he's got CNN now.

Nope, they're showing a shot of the studio with PLEASE STAND BY. People flying around the set & they're pretty worked up. Okay, here they go. yeah, big, big nuke right on top of Bagdhad... got picked up by some satellites whose ground stations got the word out. Who knows what happened to that reporter, probably just electromagnetic interference. CNN doesn't know who did it. Just happened, about 20 minutes ago. Israel, planes in the air, white ones on the rails. Wait, wait, oh God. what's going on here?

This is happening too fast. There! Someone's picked up some live camera feed, not sure where from, but it seems to be from another angle, right after the blast. You can see the cloud forming, it's HUGE. Now, seem to have gone to a live feed. The sky is still roiling, a bizarre haze of colors, dust & God only nows what. It looks as though someone tried to paint a storm & got the colors wrong.

There, we've got a talking head getting ready to say something, in Atlanta. I'd better drink that brandy, I'm shaking. Okay, all they know is that a large nuclear device appears to have gone off in or near Bagdhad. Israelis say not them. But they're in the air & have mobilized everything they've got. Saying the rest of the region is calling up everybody.

Looks like we're going to a higher DefCon, lights on all over the place at the White House. Shit, that was a fast call on the DefCon. Cops all over the place in DC, as well as Marines. Again, damned fast.

Okay, looks like the President will be addressing the nation at 0700. That's in about 20 minutes. Gives people time to wake loved ones up. I bet phones are ringing off the hook. I need my coffee now, I think. This is not good. This is the worst thing I could imagine. How in God's name does anyone justify THIS? Surely we had enough on our plate, collectively? Guess somebody way more important than me decided otherwise.

Okay, White House, no press there., just the President coming in & what appears to be most of the Cabinet. I'll have towrite fast; Andy can't get the blasted VCR recording...too shaky...okay

"Fellow Americans, yada, yada... Justice says Iraquis did it, the smallpox attack. Confirmed nineteen ways to the dozen by yesterday. reasponded as we always warned; with our own weapon of mass destruction. Apologies to neighbouring countries(!), but they'd been warned for years to do their bit to keep Hussein in line.

Too early to predict long term fallout, ouch!, bad pun. Warning other nations we're still ready with more to deploy if anyone gets stupid. Can't predict death toll, but said not to expect much left alive in & around Bgdhad. Euphrates flow will be messed up for a while, expect flooding, etc. I expect some weather guy at CNN will have expected fallout charts soon, hope so. A yield would be nice too...

Bush warning no other countries or UN interfere, they had chance to prevent this, didn't act strongly enough. He's talking tough. Hell he ordered the nuke, guess he has the wherewithall to talk tough right now.

Country under complete martial law; state of war against Iraq & any nation which tries to spring to the defence of what's left of that country. Martial law provisions to be detailedd by all media after address is over.

Immediate full rationing on everything. Curfew across nation now no longer up to states, but mandatory between dark & dawn, except for military, police & medical workers, for now. All must always carry ID & be prepared to explain movements.

Full deployment of all gummint resources to fight smallpox crisis & to watch for retribution. Warned other nations not to even think about it; he's in no mood to be considerate of other nations fears right now... exact words. Rounding up all ME males between 15-40... idiot. That will never happen. Not enough people or time to pull that off & most are probably hiding; can't blame them.

...more but nothing really significant, almost babbling now. Anchor trying to cut away, got more info from other sources... UN calling for emergency session, US declines to attend for now.

This is too much, I've got to go throw up, shower & calm down. Andy has finally got the VCR working; everyone else is glued to the TV. I need to stop now for a time...




Paula Whatshername is on, Zhan, that's it. Didn't even have time to get to makeup. looks like she's trying hard not to cry. Redcon from neighbouring countriesd not showing much yet, debris clouds still too dense & they don't dare get too close. Countries in thwe area with civil defence plans are puting them in place, if they can.

[rb.]

ARRRGGHH! Please don't leave us hanging long, Canada Sue.

[CanadaSue]

Noon, New Year's Day/03

It's been a long morning, precious litle sleep last night & no time to prepare for what's happening. never mind think it through. Things are happening too fast now, just swirling out of control. I've had time to take a hot shower & get dressed. The kids are upstairs watching videos - trying to keep them from this until I can figure out a way to tell them what's happening without completely freaking them out. I'm having a great deal of trouble thinking about this, never mind writing it down so I don't 'lose it'.

Our nation is at war, in the worst possible manner. According to the President undeniable proof that Iraq was responsible for the smallpox was confirmed early yesterday. He didn't reveal all the sources & proofs, but says it's direct proof & comes from multiple sources. For months now, since late summer, the US has leaned heavily on the UN & Iraq's neighbors to try to convince them that the time for resolutions, warnings & weak protests was over; that action was needed if Iraq did not respect the UN resolutions which have been in place for long. The President stated that in spite of heavy pressure diplomatically on a number of allies, little real support as promised or given.

The nation was willing to be patient for as much time as possible, but the smallpox attack removed that option as a reasonable approach. The attack did not only impact directly on the US, but almost immediately hit other nations & hit them hard. President Bush added, later, that he had no real idea what the motivation or thoughts behind the attack were, but that it didn't matter - the results did. The results were & are the following: millions upon millions are sick & dying. With so few doses of vaccine available world wide, only the US, Israel & to some extent Britain & Canada have been able to vaccinate any significant part of their population.

The disease had hit Iraq too & hit it hard. Over a decade of sanctions had left its people in a weakened state. What little information available from Iraq was indicating an extremely high casualty rate. Most people exposed & it's not clear how exactly the outbreak began there; had sickened & were dying. The military & Hussein's family & cronies appeared well but it's always been 'known' they had vaccine available. Internally, Saddam had been crowing that the outbreak hitting the world was revenge for unGodly living, a fit punishment for the Great satan & her allies.

Iraq, what's left of it & that's unclear this early, now has far greater issues to concern itself with; the main one being basic survival of whoever is left. Iraq had a population of some 22 million. After this morning, that appears to be down to some 18 million, just from the immediate effects of the bomb. God only knows how many will die as a result of fallout & long term radiation damage.

The radiation cloud is drifting over Iran who, needless to say are highly irate; not so much with Iraq but with us. Who can blame them in these first few hours. It is 'us' who are presenting them with the immediate problem. The cloud is expected to follow the jet stream into the 'stans'; many of the former Russian republics. They are also beside themselves with rage. It will enentually drift in Russia proper & parts of China. The President is downplaying that part, saying by the time it gets there, there will be 'little risk'. Excuse me, but I wasn't aware he was a specialist in fallout effects. Analysts quickly called up by major networks are painting quite a different pricture, stating that the countries most likely to be the most severely impacted are those least likely to be able to 'absorb' the blow. How, can someone tell me, do you 'absorb', so many deaths.

I cannot, will not accept the explanation that a blow to the US merits a response affecting so many how could not possibly have been involved. The pat answer: "we're at war, sometimes the innocent suffer", simply doesn't cut it for me, not here & now. Don't know, maybe I'll feel differently later. Right now, I'm still so shocked, so confused.

This action has resulted in a diplomatic slamming of the doors. A number of countries have already 'invited' American embassy staff & other American citizens to leave. Prime Minister Paul Martin of Canada has been in the media saying he finds the Presidents actions incomprehensible & immoral. While he will not force the embassy to close, nor will he insist Americans leave, he's made it clear how Canadians feel. I'm sure that wasn't easy; we did provide them with the vaccine they used & are using with their citizens.

Europe has been almost unanimous in its strong disapproval. Britain is, so far, not saying very much. Most European nations & a number of major Asian ones have called emergency Cabinet level meetings. We've heard nothing from China. That worries me. Australia & New Zealand; it's getting on to their late evening, have said little either.

Under normal circumstances, I expect we'd see widespread demonstrations, but smallpox is keeping most people within their homes. Jake & Andy have been monitering a few radio stations reporting on overseas reactions & it's generally bad news for us. Many within the country are very angry at this action we have taken.

It seems so... final? No, wrong word. So harsh, beyond the scope of discussion & reasoned debate. I appreciate that if Iraq were indeed the culprit, the situation has grown far beyond the realm of debate. But are our actions any more 'right' than what Iraq is accused of doing? I personally feel so confused. Has this put us among the ranks of rogue nations? It seems much of the world may see us that way.

God forbid, should there be another attack upon us, what sort of sympathy can we expect? Do we have the right to expect any? The next few days, the next few hours; will give us some indication. Right now, it's as though everyone is still trying to catch their breath, to restart their hearts. What do we do now? Where do we go from here? Ourselves, the rest of the world...

Everyone here is in shock. The kids know something is happening & I've promised them we'll discuss it soon. I suspect they have a fairly good idea anyway. Mother Thomas is sitting in the diningroom, reading her Bible & praying. Maxine is half listening to the TV, cutting carrots so fast I fear she'll cut herself. Cindy hasn't stopped throwing up since she woke with the rest of us. Jake has just convinced her to take a low dose of dramamine. Jake has been pacing around, putting together a kit to take with him. He expects the local National Guard unit to call soon. If not, he has his ID card from his unit & hopes that will allow him to travel to the armory. It's only a few miles away & he said he'll walk if he has to.

Sam keeps looking in on the kids; he's white as a sheet. He must be wondering what lies ahead for them. Don't we all? He's pacing, keeps looking outside, not sure why & wandering around the house. Nervous energy, I suppose. Andy is frantically surfing the net, or trying to. So many sites are overloaded. He managed to get to the Israeli Defence Force website about an hour ago. Generalized mobilization of all members of the military. In fact, it seems that over 95% of their active duty roops, as well as their reserves have already reported in. Units are preparing to mobilize & citiziens have been told to go into their shelters. Most citizens there either have in home shelters or community shelter close to where they live. Wish I could say the same for here.

Military headquarters here are locked down tight, but they've been pretty well that way since the outbreak began. I wish I knew how many of our troops are well enough to be able to fight. We've heard that many are ill, but have no real idea of the numbers. All I have to go on is what Jake & Andy have reported; people living near some of the larger military bases report a lot of action near base hospitals & the digging of burial pits. I can only hope enough got vaccinated in time to keep most healthy or, should they fall sick, let them recover quickly.

Citizens are urged to keep their eyes open, to report ANYTHING they think might be suspicious. That shouldn't be too hard; with the curfews, I would think anyone out after dark is suspicious. How folks are supposed to call in, I'm not sure. No phone lines have been established yet. The governments at all levels have had enough trouble opening enough phone lines to try & help people with suspected smallpox or vaccine problems.

That brings me to the outbreak. The President has asked anyone who has yet to get their vaccine to seriously consider getting it, for their own good. He said under the new circumstances, it was possible more would be released, perhaps a more dangerous variety. He added that the strain present now had most definitely been weaponized. It did make people sicker faster & killed more; it was now suspected up to 80% of afflicted citizens would die, including most children. That is, to say the least, terrible news & hearing it almost convinces me the President did the right thing ordering a nuclear device exploded over Baghdad. I'm REALLY having a hard time making up my mind. I doubt I'm the only one.

Vaccine clinics now have full security, both inside & out. Staff have been ordered to stay on site, to work out reasonable shifts, but to be prepared to vaccinate 24 hours a day. When the curfew is in effect, trucks will drive to designated neighborhoods & offer rides to nearby clinics to those who have yet to be vaccinated. The President's news conference for the first time, showed some horrendous video of people with the disease, including far too many shots of children. They had the gall to show a few children actually in the process of dying. I expect it will have its intended effect; get people to clinics. Already we're hearing reports of huge increases in the numbers of people going to get vaccinated.

Now, my big fear is... what comes next? We were attacked. We struck back. Does Iraq and any allies they have; do they have something else waiting for us? It's difficult to imagine what could possibly happen next, but I don't imagine our intelligence people have had anywhere nearly enough time to locate & pick up all terrorist cells. Rumors are always out there, but there's little obvious substantiation. When we didn't attack Iraq conventionally earlier this fall I was relieved. We still had no 'smoking gun' proof they had biological or chemical weapons & I hoped it gave our people a chance to identify, locate & neutralize as many in-country terrorists as possible. Impossible to know if that's happened.

With martial law comes complete rationing of everything. For now, everyone is to stay home. That is, everyone who is not military, not transport, first responder or other medical. The President expressed his regret at the 'problems' this would cause, but stated that a great deal still needed to be organized, planned & implemented. He reminded people that this could go on a while & that a great deal of privation would no doubt be suffered by many, over & above the hardships brought on by the smallpox crisis.

I suspect information is going to be the first thing tightly rationed. We know now that close to 10 million people have been hit with smallpox & 6 million are dead - that's just in the US where vaccine IS available. God only knows how bad it is elsewhere. If this disease does indeed kill 75% of those exposed, the world's population will probably drop to a billion or so. Some nations may be virtually wiped out.

So what happens then? Do we regress to a far more primitive lifestyle? The infrastructure is here, but can we keep it up & running? What about dams & power plants where few people are left, where perhaps no one is left who knows how these systems operate, how to maintain & repair them? What about medical care, education, even government? All these things are threatened & not just at home.

It may take the better part of a year for the epidemic to work through the world. Many enclaves of people, smaller communities, isolated themselves immediately & thus are safe - for now. What happens when they eventually have to leave their homes? They'll have to plant food, obtain water, even socialize. No man is an island & all. I can't bear to think of those who now or soon will find themselves alone, perhaps the sole survivors of their community. How does one stay sane under the circumstances? Yes, the immediate prospects for our world are grim, the situation brought to a new level, but we have to start thinking of after. All of us do.

Now, I must figure out what to tell the children. And how.

[CanadaSue]

New Year's day... evening, 2003

The end of a long, long day... possibly the longest of my life save for the day the smallpox outbreak was revealed. Who would have thought it would come to this? I'm only grateful it's the middle of the night in Europe. Governments there are in emergency session, either in person or by teleconference. I expect by very late our time, or perhaps later so as to attract as many American viewers as possible, we'll start seeing some pretty strongly worded positions put forth by the leaders of various nations. I'm hoping they'll take the opportunity to give a brief statement on how smallpox is hitting their nations & how they're able to respond.

My predictions, for what they're worth:

Britain will 'regret our actions', but understand our need to act so unilaterally. They will offer to be a 'broker' for peace. I can't see them offering direct physical aid to Iraq; no country can afford to do that right now. Britain would be very hard pressed to do so. As a small, very crowded island nation, they're being hit hard by smallpox.

France will completely condemn our actions, stating we didn't give diplomacy enough of a chance to work. They'll also probably say they're not convinced Iraq was responsible & will demand to see the proof. That response would obviously lead to a question - who ELSE might have had reasons to do this. Well, if any other country has proof positive it was someone else, this would be the time for that to come out. Especially for any nation not particularly fond of the US anyway. I suppose there are some reasonable candidates, but it's safe to assume most of those are in that region anyway & surely will be feeling the effects of this.

Russia will 'regret the need for this action'; neither condemning nor praising. In some ways this might help them, assuming there is enough of Russia left after the outbreak takes its course for that to matter. This will affect former republics that have been a thorn in their sides. On the other hand, just for the sake of appearing to be 'on side', they may condemn us anyway.

Most of the EU is likely to protest as strongly as they can without actually launching something at us. Bush made it clear he's keeping an eye on them. Australia & New Zealand... verbal protests, especially considering they have a large number of dedicated environmentalists. They seem to be weathering the outbreak reasonably well; they had legal provisions to enforce strong movement restrictions & people co-operated. Their case counts are still ramping up, but not as badly as many other nations. It's their early summer & they're concentrating on protecting their food production. Must be miserable, trying to work farms & fields in masks, gloves & gowns, but by God, they're doing it.

Asia is the question. Japan has the only experience to date with nukes & will no doubt offer Iraq all sorts of advice. If they were able to send over vaccinated people, no doubt they would offer physical help, I'm sure many countries would, but few are in a position to do that. The Koreas are a question mark. North Korea has lately been far more receptive to the US, but under these circumstances, I don't know. South Korea may be lukewarm in support. China has been hit hard, according to rumor, by the outbreak of smallpox & already we'd been hearing rumors of secondary outbreaks of other illnesses, principally cholera & a strain of flu that's really starting to work through the population there. I don't think they will say too much, other than the stock condemnation.

India, Pakistan; that part of the world will be officially horrified. They will no doubt see some refugees,although they'll do their best to keep them out. Not much point, smallpox is laying waste to this region.

Africa... well to be frank about it, it doesn't really matter what they say although they're bound to be accusatory in tone, especially the tyrannies. But they too are being hit hard & many nations are now leaderless, their current dictators, despots & other rulers stricken too.

Interesting guessing game I'm playing, but I might as well wait for the press coverage. I might be completely wrong. I have no doubt the UN will come up with a quick rsolution condemning us, locking the barn door too late, type of stuff. Don't know how they'd do that; they may all be foreign diplomats, but they're no more free to move around than we are. Not even sure they have dedicated phone lines & I doubt that's a high priority in NYC right now.

I'm hoping the news late tonight will give some indication of the damage in Iraq. Not sure how long it takes for radiation & debris clouds to blow over. I don't know if anyone will be willing to air sattelite photos, or how detailed they would be, but I would really appreciate seeing some right about now. The not knowing the extent of the damage is the worst, although I dread seeing what we might see. I expect a lot of the dessert 'glassified'. I'm curious to see what's happened to the Tigris & even the Euphrates. The oil fields too; what on earth will this do to well heads? I haven't taken time to pay attention, if they've spoken about it on tv. I can't see the oil being hurt, but it might be some time before anyone can easily get to it again.

Yesterday I couldn't imaginea story big enough to share the world stage with smallpox in such massive numbers, but this has to be one such story. I really don't like feeling like part of page 156 of a history book yet to be written. Especially when it may not be written, except in long hand, for a long time. Communications with other nations are tenuous right now. I'm not sure if they're simply avoiding opening a line of communication until they decide what their official position is. Maybe the nuke fried communications badly enough in many places; I don't know. I'll have to ask Andy to give me a quick & dirty rundown on effects on everything, both long & short term. I've forgotten too much too quickly. I don't know if it matters, except that we might be targeted next.

What comes next? At this point it's almost unbearable to try & guess. Can we justify another nuclear warhead? On anybody at this point? Don't we have a big enough mess to deal with at home? Even if Iraq did this & I'm at the point where I want that proof, was this really the time to take action? This smallpox crisis is bad enough; do we really need to have to deal with the rest of the world diplomatically? Mind you, they're not in any position to 'do' anything. Every nation on this planet is dealing with smallpox as best they can & for many, that's not very well at all.

Here, we're still in shock. No one is quite sure what to think. Absorbing what has happened is hard enough without considering what may happen next. Last night,all my thoughts were focused on keeping my family safe from disease. Now to that worry, I must add the chance of a nuclear exchange. I try to comfort myself with the thought that if that was going to happen, wouldn't it have happened by now? It hasn't & I pray to God it doesn't.

I'm ashamed to say if that had happened, we were gone. Not necessarily because we're in an immediate target area, but because the news shocked me so. I froze like a deer caught in the headlights. I forgot everything except what I was seeing on TV. We have a room in the basement where we could all squeeze in & hang on for a week or more. I didn't even think of it. The fact that no one else did either is no excuse. that is MY responsability & I let us down... even if nothing happened. I screwed up bad & it could have cost me my family.

Anne is home. I wish she were sleeping, but she's too scared. She's considering NOT going back 2 days from now but says they really need her. Case counts mounting terribly now, here in town & the outlying villages & farms. They're desperate to find places to look after them all. I suspect soon that will no longer be possible, people & families will be on their own. That's already the case in most of the major cities. She needs to rest before we make that decision.

Sam - calm, cool & collected right now. He did his pacing, then settled right down. I think the shock is wearing off. He asked me if he could have another look through the supply room; I'm holding one of the two keys & Maxine was already asleep. He spent about 30 minutes down there & came back looking much better. I think he just needed to see for himself that we ARE prepared, for as much as can possibly prepare for. He should be alright.

Maxine has been talking to her mom a lot, Mother Thomas. I think MT, (Mother Thomas), has managed to soothe enough of her fears to keep her holding it together. It must be weighing on Maxine's mind that the kids need to look at us for reassurance. We must try to appear as calm as possible in front of them.

Jake is gone. He packed up some personal supplies, made sure he had had identification & left. I gave him one of my blaze orange hunting wind breakers. He mustn't be percieved as trying to 'sneak around'. He said he'd approach the first military or police vehicle he finds & will ask for a lift, if possible. He promised to call when he could, if only to let us know he was safe.

Cindy has fallen apart. I was worried, she's going to make herself sick. MT & Maxine said to leave it to them; they'd know when to reassure, when to kick her butt. I'll have to trust them on that. I know she'd love to have Jake here, but she'll have to learn to deal with him not being here. It could be a lot worse for her, but obviously she's not in a position to appreciate that right now.

Mother Thomas has been a rock. She reminded us that no matter what, we were together & had as good a chance as anyone, if not a better one. She's right - it's just hard to see that right now. She spent some time with the kids after we told them & has been telling them stories of what life as like during WW2 when she was a child. She's stressing the 'making do' aspects & has been frank about the fears & worries people had back then. Why lie? We're living it again now in a way & we'd rather the kids express their fears & concerns to us instead of bottling them up.

Andy is getting a lot of good info & has just about used 500 sheets of paper printing it. He assures me he's not wasting paper or cartridges duplicating material. He's going to ask Cindy to help him organize the info, once she calms down. He's also going to explain the effects of nuclear bombs to the kids & to the adults. It's not something we used to spend a lot of time thinking about.

I think I should grab a nap for an hour or so. Even if I don't sleep, the rest will do me good. Maxine left a big pot of stew on the stove in case the men get hungry during the night. Funny how a full tummy cheers you up, especially in the middle of the night when all is still. I expect we'll have a lot of news to moniter between making the rounds of the house.

[CanadaSue]

2 January/03

Well, managed to get several hours of sleep after Andy & I did our shift. Sam is grabbing a nap; with Jake gone he's doing the late shift by himself.Nobdoy likes that much, but we're hoping anyone trying any form of idiocy wouold be most likely to try earlier in the night rather than before dawn. There has been next to no trouble locally anyway; not for the past 72 hours or so.

It's mid-afternoon now & we're all keeping busy, except Sam of course. I finished my meat locker & found some old sheets of plywood I'd forgotten I had in the attic. Now I KNOW I have 2 x 4s & 2 x 6s somewhere; wonder if they're not out in 1 of the 2 back sheds? I'll have to go have a look before supper. To be honest, I've half forgotten what's out there other than garden tools & other similar things. I should do a fast inventory. Must be some more useful stuff.

Maxine is preparing some fish for supper. The kids were whining about that, they hate fish; but tough. That fish needs to be used up in the next few weeks & after heavy eating over the holidays, a lighter meal won't hurt. Max told me she's going to try & use up all the older things in there - makes sense. Anyhow, the kids are starting to snarl at each other. It's snowing now & we sent them out, even Sammy, to shovel snow up against the 2 meat lockers. That should burn off some excess energy. Annette will run a bit of laundry after that & the kids will all put in an hour or 2 of school work. I've got about 2 weeks of lessons prepared for all of them.

Cindy is sitting beside a huge pile of mending to be done. At the same time, she's monitering the news & will call if anything breaks. She's a little concerned about the lack of underwear for the kids, but in a pinch, they can wear thin summer shorts as underwear. Not exactly a fashion statement, but it serves the purpose.

Mother Thomas is going through Anne's cookbooks with her & looking for alternative recipes for deer meat. I'm going to go out tonight & try to kill a doe or 2. Jake & Sam will take the early night shift together & Maxine will get up to help me at 4. She wants to start some bread anyway & says she can always nap later in the morning.

Jake called this morning. He didn't come across any police or military until he was about 5 blocks from the armory. He said authorities aren't messing around. He was told to freeze, (at gunpoint), then asked to lie face down, limbs spread while he was searched & his bag was searched. Things calmed down when he showed them his NG ID card. They escorted him over & he says he's being put to work today; wouldn't say doing what. Cindy was very relieved to know he's safe.

We've been getting news from Bagdhad all morning. A few sattelite photos were released to the press; not pretty. Bagdhad is gone, wiped out & a large part of the surrounding area doesn't appear to be too healthy. There's no way of knowing how many died or how many are dying. The radiation cloud is over Iraq & spreading east. Iranians have been told to take shelter as best they can; most were in their homes anyway desperately trying to avoid smallpox. Analysis indicates a large weapon, although our government isn't saying. Our government has said nothing about the bombing since yesterday, other than to repeat it was regrettable but necessary. Warnings to other nations about 'interfering' were also repeated early this morning. Personally, other then the risk of a nuclear response, I think this is posturing. No one is in a position to do anything & a number of nations made that clear in various speeches, statements & announcement this morning.

I was right about Britain... they also 'regret' the incident but understand the necessity of such actions. Easy in a sense, for them to say this. They will not suffer the effects of the radiation, except incidentally. However, Prime Minister Blair stated that approximately 9 million Britons are suffering from smallpox or have died from it. He expects nearly all the nation's people to have been in contact with it one way or another & the situation is grave for that nation. No one there is willing to accurately predict the final toll there. Just dealing with bodies, he said is proving a difficult undertaking.

France is in line with the entire EU, nothing but condemnation. Many of the more southern countries fear effects from the fallout, as well as possibly attempts by some people to flee to those nations. Border security, tight enough already after the outbreak began, has been heightened even further. All EU countries as well as most of the rest of Europe, are reportinghuge numbers of cases. Many were not able to implement any usueful sort of movement controls until the disease had already spread quite widely. Australia & New Nealand, stong condemnation of course. These 2 nations state they've got many cases, but are hoping to keep total numbers down.

China was a big surprise. They came out with a statement strongly condemning Iraq & offering 'full moral support' of US actions. I'm not sure who's more surprised at that, US officials & citizens or the rest of the world. The rest of their statement explains why they're so furious with Iraq. Understand, China is a nation which usually keeps internal matters to itself. It can be difficult to obtain accurate, timely information from this country. This is not the case now. China has a population of roughly 1.3 billion people, the most populous nation on earth & they're admitting to at least 300 million case, of which 200 million have died. They've given up trying to keep accurate caase counts & are relying on verbatim reports from various regions, when they can get them. The more isolated regions of the country are on their own & more urbanized regions are rapidly getting to that point. The Chinese military has been hit hard. To add insult to injury, they're now being hit with what they think is influenza. They've yet to test samples but are in the process of doing so. It looks & acts like, flu but is acting worryingly like the pandemic strain of 1918-19. They don't know if this is due to the presence of smallpox or if they're dealing with an entirely new strain. They fear the latter as many areas hit have NOT yet seen obvious smallpox cases. Time will tell.

Russia is in complete chaos from what we're hearing. Much of the senior leadership appears to be dead or ill. It's difficult to estimate how many there are ill, but it must also number in the millions. Government is only reporting on the major cities right now & count 15 million ill or dead. Infrastructure is falling apart & cholera, typhus & other food/water borne illnesses are starting to crop up. They too regret the bombing, but state that frankly, they have too many problems internally right now to involve themselves in the problems of others. There are internet news reports of mass desertions among their military.

South America; interesting reactions there. Panama has mobilized most of its military along the Panama Canal; not that this would serve as a real barrier, but it must serve as some sort of internal symbol. They've threatened to shoot to kill anyone/anything coming near. Brazil & Argentina are reporting sporadic cases & in spite of government please, a great many citizens have fled into the mountains. Rumors that mountain air will cure or prevent the disease is leading many to head for mountainous regions. Even without smallpox, that will be a major problem. Few understad the conditions they're facing, arid high pastures, little to eat & too many people with the same aim.

Smaller South American nations are pleading for help, but there's none forthcoming from any nation. No one can spare materiel or people.

Africa seems to be slowly retreating back to its 'heart of darkness' reputation from a centuries back. It's been hit hard, very hard, with no way to count the toll. I expect most HIV positive citizens of African nations are dead or dying & with so many in a malnourished state, the toll may be extreme.

I know I've left out many nations, many parts of the world, but it's hard to try & keep up with it all.

The vaccination clinics across the nation are very busy today. In spite of no longer having much capability to treat serious or life sthreatening adverse effects, most people seem to be willing to take their chances & get vaccinated. The CDC had SOME encouraging news. Those vaccinated, some of them, ARE coming down with the disease, but are not getting as sick. It's still early to know if the vaccine does much to prevent the illnes, but they suspect that's what's happening. Fewer medical personnel are contracting the virus, a great relief to most health authorities. They were beginning to see more & more halth care workers, possibly concerned about their own health; going "AWOL".

It's still a desperately serious situation though. Total case numbers in the US as of 11 o'clock this morning sit at 15 million cases with 7.5 or so million dead. That's expected to double over the next week & no one is making predictions for the following week.

All towns, cities, etc. have been told they're under rationing of all food & medical supplies & a great many other categories of items as well. Don't even think about buying mattresses, beds or bedding. That's all be commandeered in the effort to fight the outbreak. tentage, any temporary type shelters, portable sanitary facilities, all unavailable to the public. The federal government has given rationing guides to the states & that's perculating down to the local level. Looks like the entire country is going on a diet. I thought of NOT collecting our family's rations, but must think ahead. How long will this go on? Some extra food, especially fresh food may make a huge difference. We will get our rations.

With MT not having taken the vaccine, Andy & I are trying to figure out the best way to ensure no smallpox virus comes into the house. We'll have to decontaminate the outsides of containers somehow to lower the risk for her. That or convince her to take the vaccine. Local case numbers are high & Anne would feel better if her mom accepted vaccination. It's true that 1 in 5 post chemo patients, roughly, are having problems, but it's generally a question of them feeling rather ill for 3-4 days. I think we could help her cope with that without tiring ourselves out much. There are enough adults in the house to take shifts.

Back to the rations. I think a lot of people are going to find them tough to cope with. The state HAD a ration system worked out. The question is, how well it can be iplemented. It assumes people to manufacture food items & package them, transport capabilities & distibution ability. Vaccine uptake within the state is not bad, about 60% right now I understand from Anne, but is that enough to provide all the services needed, never mind food distribution? I suspect this may not work too well, certainly not in some of the smaller areas of the state. Or, it may initially work but as more & more people fall ill, as plants can't operate because of lack of staff, lack of materials, etc. I suspect that will break down. The question is, can we hang on for a time? How much time?

Rations announced so far are as follows: 1 pound of meat per person per week, half a pound for children aged 8 and under. 1 gallon of milk per person per week & 1/4 pound of butter. 5 pounds of potatoes per person per week, as well as 1 pound of either rice or pasta. 1/4 pound of sugar per week & that may drop. Cereal; a large box per person per week. 2 loaves of bread each or 1 pound of flour & 4 ounces of yeast. 10 14 ounce cans of vegetables per week and 6 of fruit; all per person. People will be able to, as long as they last, buy one 'treat' item per week. That can be chips, pretzels, a bottle of soda or bag of candy or a candy bar. Pregnant & ill persons will have these rations adjusted, details on that to follow. Multivitamins will be given out for everyone & pregnant/nursing women as well as the sick may get extra supplements.

Reaction across the nation is mixed. I feel sorry for those who depended on restaurants, fast food & easy to prepare stuff to feed themselves. Many honestly have no idea what to do in a kitchen & they're in for a crash course. Again tv stations are filling the breach, offering demonstrations of simple recipes. Radio stations are doing the same thing several times a day. If this crisis goes on for any amount of time, I expect a renewed interest in kitchen gardens. God forbid though, that we're still in this mess come planting time.

Fast food restaurants are closed for 'the duration'. Staff of these establishments are being told they will cook for hospitals, prisons & seniors residents; in fact, any residential institution. Police & fire stations are also being assigned persons to cook meals. Wonder how that will work out?

I'm glad I'm not the President or his staff & as much as I'm still undecided as to the wisdom of his actions yesterday, the man has my prayers. He's in a most dificult position with more problems on his plate than I can begin to imagine. Many among his staff are ill & I pray they recover fast or can quickly be replaced. We need solid hands at the helm right now.

Cindy is calling, somthing on the news...

[skinnycat6]

great story, I wait for installments with baited breath

[Bobga]

Good to see you spinning tales again Sue, I was recently browsing through one of your 1999 pieces I have filed away.

Bobga

[Carlyblue]

Bump to the top.

[Lei]

What a clliff hanger.

[Jenny]

I can't wait to find out what's on the news!

BTT . . .