Sports and Supermakets

LIVE SPORTS ALERT!  LIVE SPORTS ALERT!  Yes, I've found a live sport to watch.  The Australian football season started last night, and it's on.  There may be no crowds, but its better than nothing - and about the only thing being played at the moment.  The lack of sports is one of the worst things to happen out of all this - maybe not quite as important as something like the fatalities - but watching and following sports is a big part of my life and there is definitely a big hole left behind in its absence.  Of my selected favorite channels on my cable box, 5 of them are dedicated to sport - so they're now completely unwatchable.

In the wake of panic buying at supermarkets - which seems particularly prevalent in the UK at the moment, but also in parts of the US - let me mention my trip to the supermarket yesterday morning for comparison.  I went early - about 8 am - and yes, it does seem like certain items are particularly in demand.  Almost everyone in the store seemed to be buying toilet paper and/or bottled water - there was still some on the shelves when I was there, but I don't think it will last.  The only genuinely empty shelves I saw were for hand sanitizer and similar.  Other stuff that was available but you couldn't necessarily get the brand you wanted - bread, orange juice, pasta/pasta sauce.  Otherwise, it was perfectly fine - plenty of fruit and veg, and somewhat surprisingly plenty of frozen food.  Maybe my local supermarket is better than the norm - certainly compared to some other local places (I've got a clueless friend who apparently drove down to Olympia - about 75 miles away - just to get some toilet paper) - but the earlier you shop the better.  It's kind of ridiculous that this is happening when grocery stores are remaining open during the crisis, and people can still get carryout from restaurants (as I plan to do) - almost like certain Russian bots are promoting this kind of panic buying and hysteria - but I don't think it will take too long for sanity to resume and grocery shopping to get back to something like normal.  So just hang in there!