Friday the 13th

Of course it is.  How could we have not seen this coming?

I'm pretty well stocked on food and groceries, but I still needed kitty litter and cat food in case we get locked down by the authorities.  I thought I'd be smart this morning and hit the supermarket early to avoid the crowds stocking up for the weekend.  I was wrong - at 10:30, the parking lot was near capacity and the store was packed.  The entire toilet paper aisle was completely empty, there was no ground beef or other meat in the coolers, the soap and disinfectant shelves were pretty thoroughly picked through, and there was no more water.  

Even worse, everyone was in panic mode, rudely cutting each other off along the aisles as if they were on a Black Friday shopping spree and this was the last Walmart on earth.  As I was placing my groceries on the conveyor belt at the cashier, the "gentleman" behind me started loading his groceries before I was done so that there was no more room for mine on the belt.  When I looked back at him wistfully in silent protest, he coughed with his mouth open, not even attempting to cover his mouth with his sleeve.  

"You should be staying at  home, sir" I said, curtly.  He replied, "Sure, whatever you say, bro."  I terminated the exchange before it escalated any further, or before he had more chances to infect me.

Home, I showered immediately and have washed my hands at least three times with three different hand  soaps.

Natuarally, the rain is still continuing.  By now, and I mean this literally, all that they're forecasting from here on in is rain and more rain - eternal, endless, unceasing rain, rain that never stops.

The so-called "president" gave  a speech about the coronavirus earlier this week, and the stock market responded with the biggest collapse since the crash of 1987.  He's scheduled to speak again this afternoon - I shudder to think what might come in the aftermath of a second address on the Friday the 13th of March.