I have been sheltering in place on a former dairy farm in rural New Hampshire—surrounded by more Scotch Highland cattle than people—and relying on my iPhone and Microsoft Surface Pro to keep in touch with the office via email and Zoom video. I haven’t sat in a restaurant in six months, so my dining out costs are close to zero while my grocery bill is sharply higher. I venture out every 10 days or so to stock up on supplies (Hannaford supermarket, Walmart, Tractor Supply, Home Depot) and order frequently online. Judging by the traffic on my dead-end dirt road, I’m not the only one whose habits have changed. It’s only a small exaggeration to say every third vehicle going up or down the hill is a FedEx or UPS truck making another delivery, most likely from Amazon.
Is the stock market divorced from reality?