I Aten't Dead

I don't have a ton of time or energy to spend on this episode, and honestly I'm a little short of the spite and bile that's usually propelling me. I've got some links and some photographs, though, so here goes.

Panic buying

So the main experience of the pandemic for me so far is that the grocery stores and big-box stores are being stripped bare by panic-buying, and the fact that they rely on just-in-time lean logistics makes it worse.

Here's some scenes from my local Publix:

The rice aisle: bare.

The pasta aisle: bare.

Potatoes and onions: gone.

A lot of other aisles are empty, too, and of course, there's no toilet paper. Corona beer is on sale, though!

I'm not panic-buying, but I am stocking up on some staples in order to avoid trips to the store later, when I'm sick. I went to the local Indian grocery today to buy 10-pound bags of rice. They were fully stocked.

The rice aisle: bountiful.

I don't know what this says, but it's delicious.

The primary is still fucked-up and bullshit.

There are a few more states today – Arizona, Florida, and Illinois. Some of them probably have results out by now, but I haven't even checked. I'll cover that tomorrow. Both campaigns have been giving extremely mixed messaging over whether you should go and vote in person in the polls. Ideally, you should have sent in your absentee ballots last week. The Florida electorate and Biden's base are both extremely elderly, so I can see the Florida primary being a phyrric victory for Biden, as his supporters all get the Boomer Remover at the polls.

Someone I care about has COVID-19

So, gophernaut dgold, phlogging at Grey Area, has posted his experience of having COVID-19, and it scares the shit out of me. I'm Gen X, and I was pretty well resigned to the fact that I'm going to get the rona, it wouldn't hospitalize me, but I'd be knocked on my ass for two solid weeks. I think dgold is around my age, and he *was* hospitalized with it, but he's now recovering. Go read the article on his phlog.

Grey Area: Sick

We are damned for our sins

Being in the middle of a pandemic doesn't stop American culture from being tacky, vain, shallow, and hypocritical. The latest atrocity of our collective consciousness is former Alaska governor and vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin, in a fursuit, singing "Baby Got Back" on a reality show.

News story

Video (invidio.us)

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Music for this episode

This feels like the start of a pretty big downer.

Sword of Damocles – The Independents on the Rocky Horror Punk Rock Show