Living in a high rise, there are multiple levels of security one has to get through to just stand in front of my door.
You live in a target rich environment. This means one only has to get through those (super easy) layers of perceived security one time and they've got all of you. Not to mention, it takes an entire grocery store just to feed your building for a couple days. That's the worst possible scenario imaginable to be in, real talk. If you're not gonna move, get at least 3 months of food and a very powerful gun to protect yourself with; something that would be powerful enough to defend against a group of 8 large meth-fueled men busting into your apartment with machetes to chop you up, because that's what's coming, eventually.
Don't want to be alone? Move to a suburb; suburbs are safer than super rural, as long as they aren't within bike riding distance to the big city or to any large African neighborhoods.
Oh shit I remember this now (your mention of people claiming it made them ill reminded me of it). OMG, I wanna see that so bad now. Tablespoon of salt for sure, but after seeing the Pfizer frog throat guy, it's a little less far fetched.
EDIT: just found this article about it:
https://mysteriousuniverse.org/2017/02/possible-reptilian-photo-allegedly-brings-down-4chan/
I wouldn't be so quick to jump on that wagon. There's a big difference between a compound that contains aluminum and elemental aluminum (or any other aluminum compound).
For example, potassium is perfectly healthy for you, in fact you'll die if you don't get enough of it, but you wouldn't eat potassium cyanide, would you? Likewise, dihydrogen peroxide (water) is absolutely essential, but you wouldn't breathe pure oxygen (we breath nitrogen and O2) or pure hydrogen, would you?
I hear you; just remember that these aren't mutually exclusive. If you have the means, prepare for all phases of collapse, not just the apocalyptic version. Aside from nuclear holocaust (if nukes are even real), a solar flare situation, or an actual deadly pandemic, an apocalyptic collapse scenario is the least likely. The in between phases, however, happen all the time throughout history.
Also, btw, stock up on practical first aid as well, vs only wartime / apocalyptic first aid. Right now I'm up in the middle of the night with a cold. I'll be back asleep once the Sudafed (the methy version) kicks in. I would be in trouble in SHTF, if I wasn't able to sleep because of a basic cold.
Good for you, I've done that twice in Bank of America, and I like to think that a cost of them at least one customer between both incidents (I haven't done business with them in five years, but used to for a decade). The first time was because they made a big fuss about me withdrawing $8,000. The second was because they try to stick me with $900 of fraudulent charges on my debit card that were from out of state, even though they were blatantly fraud.
Don't hold onto purely fiat, diversify in some physical gold and crypto (maybe 15% gold and 5% Monero, now that crypto is way down from its highs). I think most crypto is a huge scam, developed by the elite to get everybody used to digital currency, but it doesn't change the fact that privacy tokens like Manero can provide you a digital out after you get rated or robbed.
At least you've got a lot of like-minded peeps near-ish. For every one defenseless idiot in Texas there's another Texan like you (I just mean in general spirit, believes in freedom, probably has guns, 50/50 chance they're a prepper, etc.). Imagine being stuck in a place like New Jersey; might as well be on the set of 28 Days Later when SHTF.
Also, Austin is fairly small, and easy to get out of, as big cities go.
Holy shit this is some interesting stuff. Thanks for posting this. Reminds me of The Last President, and The marvelous Underground Journeys of Young Barron Trump, both by Ingersoll Lockwood, and both containing all kinds of Trump and current time related stuff, and then Trump's grandpa (I think grandpa) what is the person in charge of determining what scientific value the items left behind by Nikola Tesla had.
That's good man, do whatever you can to be prepped AF. Hopefully none of this hardcore level SHTF (civil war, long term blackout, etc.) really happens in our lives, but I promise you will never have a feeling of regret about being overly prepared (from experience, since I've been at it for over a decade and it's never been needed yet). It's easy to go overboard, but it sounds like you've got your mind right about it.
Also, I ain't gonna lie, moving to the boonies from a social and easily walkable situation is really tough on the psyche.