And damn, that was a lot – I’ve *significantly* cut back on my news consumption, and it was still a firehose. But, I keep putting one foot in front of the other, because I don’t know what else to do.

Hat tip to Cobalt over on Mastodon for mentioning she was concerned about a full on economic crisis and feeling the need to stock up on some things. It had been rattling around in the back of my head as well, but she did bring it to the forefront, because even if the government does keep limping along (and I think it will) – I think Trump is still going to say or do something stupid and totally fuck up supply chains. (Plus, bird flu is not gonna help, no matter how much the administration pretends it doesn’t exist.)

So, yesterday I picked up some extra proteins for the freezer, topped off the “power outage cash stash”, and today was paper goods day. This weekend I’ll be going through the pantry to clear out any out of date stuff, take inventory and do a shop to fill in the blanks. Right now the preliminary list is rice, beans, spaghetti, tomato sauce, canned soups, peanut butter, flour, sugar, and yeast. (I bake a mean french bread.)

I’d also been thinking lately that it might be nice to have a little upright freezer for some extra frozen food storage, but they all say they should be on a dedicated circuit and I don’t think we have a spare circuit in the house, which is a bummer. But, I did have a bit of an “Oh, wait, what about this?” moment this morning. A countertop ice maker would a) be a nice thing to have anyway, b) would free up a good chunk of freezer space, and c) would be a fair amount cheaper. That plus better freezer tetris should be sufficient, I think.

I cannot tell you how pissed off I am that I have to do this. It took me a while to realize how fucking traumatized I was from the last time the shelves went empty, and how I felt real icky if I didn’t have a backup of everything. And it eventually went away, and dammit, here we are again.

I can’t help but think about how I kept hearing, “You should have 2 weeks of food on hand” during the Covid supply chain mess – and I still don’t really know what that looks like for me! Like, IDK, 14 Stouffers and 7 big cans of soup?

I know, I know – be ready so you don’t have to get ready – but when it comes to food shopping, I am a “get what I need when I need it” person and I am not great AT ALL with trying to plan more than a few days ahead. But I guess I’m gonna get better at it, and remember to take things out of the freezer the day before. (That is a fucking STRUGGLE for me.)

This afternoon I’m hitting up the hair salon, which feels extra selfish and indulgent right now, but my silver-purple hair has become a bit of armor for me. It’s the mildest of Fuck You’s I can give to the establishment, but it is a Fuck You nonetheless. Plus I want to do my part to keep food on the table for Sunnie & Micha who take such good care of me every six weeks. So, it’s kinda-sorta community care, too, right?

And I’m gonna leave all this on a good note with my ridiculous, wonderful, furry buddies. Sean has the t-shirt because he licked himself a hot spot on his shoulder and that’s healing up. (He had some naked time yesterday and was immediately, “IMMA GONNA LICK IT!”) Jorge is just adorable Jorge every day. Well, they’re both adorable, and I’m so glad we all found each other.