A pithy comic strip about life, love, lust and puthy cats.

Est. 1985

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Widespread Panic

By Jimmy Johnson

March 13, 2012


Yes, it is true. Our household has stocked up on cat food, cat litter and cat bribes, aka “kitty treats.” These items were, in fact, near the top of the doomsday list. As noted before, circumstances change literally overnight these days. In the current A&J appearing today in newspapers and at GoComics, Arlo and Janis are discussing whether to go out for the evening or stay home. It would be embarrassing for me to admit how recently this particular comic strip was drawn, but suffice to say I hadn’t the slightest inkling that when it actually would appear, in the very near future, going out to eat would not be an option. I guess they stayed home. Truly interesting times.


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73 responses to “Widespread Panic”

  1. Llee Avatar
    Llee

    But maybe they have a nice “evening out” on the patio? You know…lantern, radio, something to drink…..talk and look at the sunset then the stars…..
    UNLESS it is raining, as it has done for about forever here. THanks again for the laughter!

  2. Craig Avatar
    Craig

    This is great. I think you should quarantine Arlo and Janis.

  3. MontanaPhil Avatar
    MontanaPhil

    People can still laugh about it. I saw a post offering a case of toilet paper and two cases of Purcell for a boat. At least I think it was supposed to be humorous. I think in about three weeks nothing is going to be funny. Sigh

  4. Steve From Royal Oak, MI Avatar

    It has to be hard to write anything topical. Who knew that we would have these conditions 2 weeks ago. What will two weeks from now bring. Better to just write cat jokes and “something about a peek” ones!

  5. Ghost Avatar
    Ghost

    At Hillcrest Med Center Main in Tulsa this morning for Jackie to have a bone density study. We went through two checkpoints with a locked door in between to travel about 150 feet to get to the study center. We’ve been here about 30 minutes and have seen only one person who was obviously not a hospital employee. We also have an oncology appointment later this morning at one of Hillcrest’s clinic buildings just down the street. Guessing we’ll have to be screened again and get another wrist band there.
    I’ve gotten into secure military sites with fewer checks. No doubt the Novel Coronavirus is being taken seriously here.

  6. TruckerRon Avatar

    Well, in addition to taking a scheduled day off (scheduled several weeks ago) and having it turn into a day of reduced hours for a few on campus because of the virus, things got totally shutdown by an earthquake this morning though few in the county could feel it.
     
    https://www.ksl.com/article/46731610/earthquake-updates-57-magnitude-shake-hits-utah-airport-evacuated
     
    It was centered near Magna, a community to the NW of SLC. No word yet on whether the earthquake or renovation workers had taken the trumpet from the angel’s hand.

  7. Ghost Avatar
    Ghost

    They seem to be screening pats and visitors prior to entry to each office in the physicians’ building

    So many folks wearing masks, I feel as though I’m caught up in the world’s largest Halloween party. Perhaps I am.

    1. MontanaPhil Avatar
      MontanaPhil

      The local minor league team here in Missoula were called the Osprey and in fact there is an osprey nest on a tall post just outside the outfield fence. Then the team got bought and the owners changed the name to The Paddleheads (local slang for a moose). The outrage was palpable around here.

  8. Mark in TTown Avatar
    Mark in TTown

    I don’t know about quarantine since I work from home, but the facility I work for in Tennessee has put strict access control into place for everyone trying to enter the hospital itself.

    And Facebook seems to have taken a dislike to me today. It took away my login photo and told me to log in using email and password. Then it claimed the password was wrong. When I used the code it sent me and set a new password I found they had assigned someone else’s FB account to my email address and I still can’t get to my own page.

    1. Ghost Avatar
      Ghost

      Last night, Jackie (and several friends) got dinged by FB for several posts being “spam”. Which they weren’t, by any standard. FB finally admitted it was a problem with their spam filter. Some thought it was because they had sent many employees home due to COVID-19 concerns and turned it all over to their filter, but FB denied that. My takeaway…AI isn’t always I.

  9. TruckerRon Avatar

    An amateur astronomer, Philip Smith, long ago established himself as one of the world’s best photographers of the International Space Station (ISS). Whenever the ISS zips over his backyard in Manorville, New York, he’s usually outside waiting to SNAP! a high-resolution image. On March 12th he outdid even his own high standards:
     
    https://spaceweathergallery.com/indiv_upload.php?upload_id=160013

    1. Llee Avatar
      Llee

      wow! How cool is that! Thanks for sharing 🙂

  10. Rick in Shermantown, Ohio Avatar
    Rick in Shermantown, Ohio

    Strange days have found us.

  11. Mark in TTown Avatar
    Mark in TTown

    Well, completed my online census. Took about 5 minutes total.

  12. Jerry in Fl Avatar
    Jerry in Fl

    Good songs for right now: Strange Brew., Season of the Witch, The Beat Goes On (Vanilla Fudge version), anything by Lead Zep.

  13. Mark in TTown Avatar
    Mark in TTown

    Jerry, my suggestions for a pandemic song list are all from The Wall, by Pink Floyd. Is There Anybody Out There?, Goodbye Cruel World, and Comfortably Numb.

    1. Rick in Shermantown, Ohio Avatar
      Rick in Shermantown, Ohio

      How about nearly every song on The Doors’ second album, “Strange Days”?

  14. Mark in TTown Avatar
    Mark in TTown

    A couple more songs, from John Fogerty. Change in the Weather, and Headlines.

  15. Llee Avatar
    Llee

    LOLlolol “…just make him move over” 🙂

    1. Llee Avatar
      Llee

      ok i messed up the quote, but you know!

  16. emb Avatar
    emb

    A chesapeake osprey is back. [This a pier near the nest structure.]
    https://explore.org/livecams/birds/osprey-cam-chesapeake-conservancy
    Peace,

  17. Ghost Avatar
    Ghost

    To all the (mostly) young knuckleheads (aka “disease vectors”) crowding onto resort-area beaches and into bars for Spring Break: What part of “social distancing” do you not understand? (Hint: The “distancing” part, obviously.)

    1. Hopless Hedon Avatar
      Hopless Hedon

      Knuckleheads gonna knuckle. I’ll spend the evening remembering all the straitlaced things I did from 19 to 23 years old. No underage drink, waiting until wedding vows to rub up against each other, always prudent about my money. Glory days, Never once did anything that might be harmful to myself or my friends. Thank God all my elders cautions had been absorbed so thoroughly. They never had any cause to doubt my actions.

      I figure I’ll allow these youngins the same level of freedom I took for myself. And then I’ll maintain my social distance from them. It may turn out we need the antibodies their young and fit systems will make available to the rest of us. Nature has a way of working that is often better than human intellect can stumble upon in a lab.

  18. Ghost Avatar
    Ghost

    In my neck of the Deep South woods, the Common Wisdom, prior to Hurricane Katrina, was that one should stockpile enough food, water, and supplies to be self-sufficient for 3 days. By Day 10, I had decided that CW wasn’t always wise.
    Just sayin’…

  19. Bryan Avatar
    Bryan

    When I went to do our bi-weekly shopping last Friday I had no idea that the hoarding mentality had struck our little town. There was no cat litter and no large bags of kibble, only a limited selection of 3# bags. That’s not to mention all of the human that were unavailable: canned goods, baking staples, paper goods, vinegar and olive oil (who hoards olive oil?), produce, chicken or pork (plenty of beef, though), granola bars, the list just goes on forever.
    Luckily our larder is fairly well stocked and my wife managed to find litter one town over so we’re in no danger of going hungry.
    The new theme song for U.S.A, maybe planet earth, is, “Am I Going Insane” by Black Sabbath!

  20. Ghost Avatar
    Ghost

    Oo! Oo! I forgot to hoard olive oil! Thanks, Bryan. 🙂

    Who hoards olive oil? Perhaps someone who has read the alternate history novel “The Years of Rice and Salt” by Kim Stanley Robinson, in which a character wards off starvation by drinking a huge jar of olive oil. I won’t get into the plot, which involves almost the entire population of Europe dying of the Black Death in the 14th Century.

  21. Old Bear Avatar
    Old Bear

    Went shopping at place with the round circles.
    No paper goods
    No Vitamin C – all the other ones
    No problem with “feminine” products – which I would think would
    have a run (unless they are already held at a reserve level.
    Pizza selection was minimal which I can understand.
    (No going to the Pizzeria, Kids home, no going out to eat)
    Other wise not too bad.
    .
    3 months reserve is CW here. Preppers go for a year.

  22. Ghost Avatar
    Ghost

    Stopped at a local market (the smaller of the two in town) on the way back this afternoon. Not many shoppers at that time, but several categories of product were sparsely stocked. Sliced bread, eggs, ground beef, potatoes, and paper products were the only ones I noticed being out of stock. The cashiers told me they had been busy but not swamped. They expect to be resupplied tomorrow (Friday) or Saturday.

    1. Ghost Avatar
      Ghost

      Effective tomorrow (Friday), our local bank (for personal and business) will close their lobby and all transactions will be via their drive-in lanes. Hate that; gonna be hard to flirt with the tellers from twenty feet away and with bullet-proof glass between us. 😉

      1. Ghost Avatar
        Ghost

        Of our local eateries, about 25% are voluntarily closed to dine-in, but offer some combination of carry-out, curbside pick-up, or local-area delivery. Most of the ones remaining open are also offering carry-out, curbside, or delivery. So far, the State seems be leaving closure orders for food places up to local authorities. We were in Tulsa Wednesday, and all dine-in, bars, and etc. have been shut down by the City.
        Life comes at you fast sometimes.

      2. Steve From Royal Oak, MI Avatar

        Except to refi my house, it has been years since I’ve been in my bank’s lobby.