Public Show Notes for VFTWT S01E17: Season Finale, 2021 Recap, and 2022 Predictions

VFTWT S01E17: Season Finale, 2021 Recap, and 2022 Predictions

Air Date: 2022.01.02

Welcome to the public show notes for VFTWT season 1, episode 17

News:

Adam:
- Virtual family board game night courtesy of BoardGameArena.com – check them out, not a sponsor.
Steve:
- Wildfire in my neighborhood. 500+ houses known to be destroyed. Over 30k people under evacuation with at least 60k more currently on pre-evacuation as of the recording of this episode. I’ve got a bug out bag packed but wasn’t as prepared as I should have been. Realized that I needed to be better prepared with certain things in our bags so that if SHTF happens to us we have a plan.

Impromptu Discussion on Preparedness:

Apps discussed

Emergency Alerts (Apple or Android)
- Allows you to setup different locations to monitor and alerts you to emergencies in those areas.
Code Red (Apple or Android)
- Replaces the reverse-911 alerts for individuals that don’t have a landline telephone.

72-hr Emergency Kit Items (https://www.ready.gov/kit) – or get the printable version.

Water (one gallon per person per day for several days)
Food (three-day supply of non-perishable food)
Battery-powered or hand crank radio with NOAA Weather alert
Flashlight
First aid kit
Extra batteries
Whistle (to signal for help)
Dust mask (to help filter contaminated air)
Plastic sheeting and duct tape (to shelter in place)
Moist towelettes, garbage bags and plastic ties (for personal sanitation)
Wrench or pliers (to turn off utilities)
Manual can opener (for food)
Local maps
Cell phone with chargers and a backup battery

(Adam would like to note that the Leatherman Wave with Bit Kit can fulfill multiple items on that list.)

Main Topic: Season Finale, 2021 Recap, and 2022 Predictions

Highlights from season one
- Adam:
  - I really enjoyed a lot of the conspiracy theory episodes. So much fun to research and to think about life in a fun way.
  - Also loved any time we talked about preparedness, I like the thought that we’ve created some content and put information out into the world that could actually benefit people in some way.
- Steven:
  - My favorite episode has to be our winter survival episode. I felt that we had such an amazing discussion and the way the episode came together was a lot of fun to make/be a part of.
  - The launching of this podcast might be the highlight of the year for me. I have always enjoyed creating and loved the idea of being creative with my cousin and best friend. It turned out way better than I imagined, and I love that we have found a great way to create and share our strange ideas with the world.
Future episode ideas
Our predictions for 2022:
- Many folk magicians, pagans, and even Christian sects tend to try to gleam the future at the end of the year. To honor these traditions, we decided it would be fun to try and predict our own future for the year 2022.
- Steve:
  - Another bout of bad wildfires across the United States and Europe
  - Some sort of astrophysical event causes more people to leave a secular life path and look for answers from religious thoughts
  - China wins the medal count for the Winter Olympics in February with USA a very close second place
  - US wins gold in bobsleigh for the first time in a long time.
- Adam:
  - COVID-19 will continue to be aligned with Loki and the TVA and pumping out variants, hopefully they will be less and less serious as more people get vaccinated, but overall I see it playing out like a session of Plague, Inc.
  - Housing market will keep booming but I predict it will go bust at some point during the year and I will lose all the equity in my new house and move into a barrel under an overpass.
  - Inflation will get worse, then get better when the market corrects after the housing bust
  - Japan will eclipse China in manufacturing, due to China being more of a geopolitical bully every year, 2022 will be the year that the world has had enough of China’s shit.
  - A 2nd baby boom fueled by pandemic lockdown boredom
  - Invest in heavy metals and semiconductors – EVs will drive these like crazy.

Mindfulness Moment:

With all the bad in the world these days and after the recent celebration of Yule and the days getting longer this has been on my mind a lot.

Sam: It’s all wrong. By rights we shouldn’t even be here. But here we are. It’s like in the great stories, Mr. Frodo, the ones that really mattered. Full of darkness and danger they were, and sometimes you didn’t want to know the end; because how could the end be happy? How could the world go back to the way it was when so much bad happened?
But in the end, it’s only a passing thing, this shadow. Even darkness must pass. A new day will come, and when the sun shines it will shine out the clearer.
Those were the stories that stayed with you, that meant something; even if you were too small to understand why.
But I think, Mr. Frodo, I do understand. I know now. Folk in those stories had lots of chances of turning back only they didn’t, because they were holding on to something.

Frodo : What are we holding on to, Sam?

Sam : That there’s some good in this world, Mr. Frodo. And it’s worth fighting for.

Next Episode Sneak Peek:

Awoooooooooo! Pros and cons of the reintroduction of wolves into states like Wyoming, Colorado, and Montana.