Sarah Palin dancing in a pink bear costume and singing “Baby Got Back” may just go down as my number one Harbinger of the Apocalypse.

I joke at times that everything interesting happens on a Wednesday, i.e. the day after I publish this weekly blog, so that by the time I get around to writing the next one whatever it was might be old news or I might have just plain forgotten about it. This… I don’t think I’ll ever forget.

And the dominos started falling fast after that. Trump’s speech where he went off prompt and caused a shaky Wall Street response, the NBA announcing they were canceling their entire Season… the next day a National Emergency officially declared, the day after that the Los Angeles Unified School District closed down, and over the weekend it just kept snowballing.

Across the globe, shelves are now empty not only of toilet paper but other essentials that make more sense to this particular scenario, such as canned and frozen goods. The end of last week saw panic buying ramp into high gear in the States and elsewhere and there were reports of angry confrontations and even fist fights sprouting up in packed parking lots and picked over store aisles. We tried to buy a new thermometer on Friday. No dice… unless we wanted to pay $500 to some price gouger on Amazon. Oh, and the bars here (and many other places) were shut down just before St. Patrick’s Day.

On the other hand, there are stories of compassion and communities pulling together in the face of crisis. People making sacrifices for what they hope is the greater good, taking the hardship hit up front in hopes of flattening the curve and preventing their own nations from getting hit as bad as Italy has.

Stay safe and healthy out there. This will probably get worse before it gets better.