The Upcoming Week Should Be...Interesting

 So much is happening this week that preparedness should be top of mind.

• Tonight is Halloween.  If you will be out and about, watch out for kids in the streets (I'm assuming kids will still be trick or treating?) as well as drunk drivers.
• Also for people in most places in the US, set your clocks back an hour as Daylight Savings Time ends tomorrow.
• These days, random protests can break out anywhere.  The possibility of getting caught in the middle of such a situation should always be in the back of your mind.  The recent shooting and protest in Hazel Dell, a small town north of Portland, was pretty surprising.  Note, no one even knows what happened yet so the default was to riot and protest anyway just because the guy that got shot was black...go figure.  Needless to say many people in this town which used to be very rural, are far from supportive of the crap that is happening in Portland so you know there is going to be trouble because they don't want their town turning into the cesspool that is now Portland.  Anyway, the moral of the story is that anyone can be set off by anything (even if they don't even know what happened!) so avoiding such situations is probably the best alternative.
• We have also had an inordinate number of natural disasters happening this year.  I couldn't believe that Irvine, CA, of all places had to evacuate due to wildfires (it's a pretty urban area and I can't remember that place ever needing to evacuate before).  There have also been several hurricanes to hit the US (poor Louisiana, they have been hit several times over this year) and hurricane season isn't even over yet.  So again, always be prepared for natural disasters that are common to your area and always be prepared to evacuate even if your area has never had to evacuate in the past.
• Tuesday is Election Day.  Hopefully you have already voted (I prefer to vote by mail) and if not, you can still vote in person on Tuesday if you are registered to vote.  There have been few reports of trouble during early voting and Tuesday should be fine at polling locations as well.  The problems will come after the election.  I can't think of a good outcome, no matter who wins.  At minimum I see legal challenges, at worse--as many law enforcement agencies and commercial businesses are planning for--there could be rioting, looting, and a great deal of civil unrest.  As always, be prepared to shelter in place if necessary, bug out if necessary, and protect yourself and your loved ones always.
• Finally, covid is an ongoing thing.  These seems to be a resurgence of the virus happening in many places so protecting you and yours from the virus should remain a top priority.  The UK is going into lockdown again which means the US could follow if things get worse here.  We are stocked to the gills, as usual, but many people are even now starting to panic buy food and toilet paper again.

The next few weeks could be awful on so many levels.  Stay safe, be prepared, and keep your head on a swivel.