Flupocolypse, day 2

I'm counting days from the point (ish) the world around me starting paying attention.  Today is the 2nd day of schools closed, including mine, and just a couple days after it began to get ... weird.  Hell, the state closed liquor stores!

I'm watching the numbers on This site, and This site.  The news?  Usually Fox... for the first time ever.  Some CNN and a sprinkling of other outlets, but Fox seems the least loaded with polita-crap bias.  Other than that, anecdotal from the friends network carries more real weight than anything else.

So, anywho, I made a quick BJ's run for a couple things this morning. Nothing drastic, didn't HAVE to go, and probably won't again for quite a while.

It seemed surreal.  The parking lot was 3/4 full, and people were moving with a will, yet leaving each other room. Lot's of room. The usual brain donor parked his cart in the doorway while he checked his receipt, but people reacted different than they normally do. Nobody crowded past the idiot.  Maybe eight people pushing carts stopped dead, and just waited for the genius to get a clue. 

Inside the store, lot's of weirdly spaced empty shelves, but still plenty of stuff.  Yes, they had toilet paper and bottled water, which almost everyone had at least one unit of in their cart.  Maybe someone could not choose their favorite brand, but supplies were there.

The empty shelves seemed most prevalent in frozen foods, meat, and dairy.  The things that people don't keep large amounts of I guess.

I picked up some bottled drinks, a few snacks herself requested, a sack of potatoes (loves me some mashers!), and some extra meat to freeze.  Meh.... I found what I came in for, and was happy to make the trip a short one.

Now, getting OUT of the store was different.   Every register was open, which I've never seen before.  The line of people waiting to check out extended down a main aisle, and BJ's had people stationed to direct traffic and keep everything moving efficiently.  I'll say I was rung up and out of the store easily twice as fast as would normally happen.

Home to put stuff away, and start on the chore list.  Yay. 

Thoughts entertaining my mind?  How long will this go on... and will we financially make it?  I've been watching this unfold since January, and preparing as I could.  I figured a few weeks out of work, and holed up with the family in the house. Three weeks, maybe.  I prepared for that.

Well.... the CDC, the Chinese experience, and the Italian experience are pointing towards more like eight to twelve weeks.  That is right off the scale I financially prepared for.  I'll be waiting to see what my employer says regarding the situation, but there's no way I can plan on any help from them.  It would be nice, but plan on it?  A resounding no.