Now that this is (almost) over

[Decoy of Fenris]

11. I'm afraid we're both probably correct. This is -far- worse than many consider.

Biologists have been almost idly speculating on the next great pandemic in our globalized world and how it would devastate us; idle speculation no longer, it seems. We're unprepared as a species, our medical practices are unequipped, our economy is built in precisely the worst possible way. We'll adapt as a species, as we always have, but our current way of life is going to have to change... at least for those not lucky enough to be outright naturally immune to this.

Good luck, mate. I'm only 34, soon-to-be-ex-wife is 30, but we're making out our wills. "Just in case". Although, paradoxically, being a smoker seems to hold at least some degree of protection, either by nature or by social practice... So I may have longer than some others, a fact that weighs heavy on me given my lack of self-care. Don't seem right that a lifetime smoker with poor life habits is outliving people who take care of themselves fastidiously.

Still. Time will tell. Hope you, and your parents, continue to live long and prosperous lives, mate.