Timing Is Everything -- But It's All Luck -- Planning Has Become Impossible -- March 15, 2020

Who would have thought a respiratory pandemic would have resulted in a toilet paper shortage pandemic? Impossible to plan.

This reminds me of the 50's when everyone in America was building a fallout shelter in their basements or root cellars.

Highly recommend folks start hoarding (one assumes water and electricity will not be interrupted):

• charcoal briquets, environmentally-friendly starter cubes/flats
• frozen steaks (one may want to purchase a second freezer for essentials)
• liquor, mixers, olives
• chocolate (liquor is quicker, but candy is dandy, or is the other way around?)
• batteries, chargers, extension cords
• ammo
• paper products (if you have not already started, it's too late)
• air freshener
• Raid

This is why folks are hoarding: retail stores will start to close. First to announce nationwide closing: Nike.

Big winner in all this? Amazon. Amazon has run out of some essentials already but if you order now, you will be on the "list" when "stuff" starts to become available. For some items I've ordered, first available delivery, for example, is April 15, 2020.

Best analogy for this panic? A massive hurricane. But instead of a regional panic, it's nationwide. Have to think that way. Plan accordingly. If so, indicator to watch? Waffle House. If Waffle House closes down, double down on your stockpiling. The good news? You won't need to worry about gasoline -- there will be no reason to drive anywhere. You won't need to worry about gasoline? Something tells me I'm wrong on that one.

Starbucks: starting tomorrow -- no more "sit-down" in Starbucks. Drive-through only and pick-up at the counter -- and then get out. Pretty funny.

Ski resorts: shut down. Sophia got her year of skiing in just in time! Wow.

Camping out at home. This is beginning to feel more and more like camping out at home. I'm lovin' it.

Question: why are there still toilet paper ads on television? TP is selling itself, to coin a phrase.

Me? Breakfast at home. From this:

              To this:

President with emergency powers. Low hanging fruit, one example:

• if you have nothing but W-2s and "1099s" -- you have the option of filing this year. The IRS already had that information. Simply send in a postcard with name, age, dependents, and whether you want to donate $1 to President Trump's re-election campaign.
• My hunch: 75% of Americans have only W-2s and 1099s. Refunds? That's really the only reason 75% of Americans file in the first place -- other than it's the law. 

Crisis: this is really the opportunity for Americans to change some of their habits. I'm lovin' it.