Going to the supermarket yesterday was an ordinary enough affair in year four of the pandemic where the two major chains Albertsons and Kroger that squat atop the retail food pyramid like gorgons feature  constant shortages, limited selection (you can have the store brand or the Unilever/Nestle/Bimbo IP brand), and random price hikes.

Running the products through the self-checkout was an ordinary enough process until I scanned the eggs. A dozen eggs clocked in at… $9.99. At first, I thought it was a mistake, but nope. A dozen eggs were now $9.99 and the price of 18 eggs had gone up to $11.99.  In the interests of research,h I checked other markets and overnight this had become the new normal.

I didn’t take a picture of the eggs in the supermarket, but here’s a comparable price in the app.

Was Los Angeles crazier than usual?

Gov.  Newsom declared a bird flu emergency. Not because anything has happened per se, but to “ensure government agencies have the resources and flexibility they need to respond quickly to this outbreak”.

People across California are now having trouble getting eggs, but I’m guessing that the French Laundry is fully stocked.

It will take a lot to fix California.