This is CBSI on the world. I'm John Baxter. Lancaster County, the best county in the Keystone State.

Jim McTag, former Washington editor for Barron's Magazine, now a novelist in Lancaster County.

We begin with Jim's trip to Costco, especially the eggs part of Costco, because last week we learned that they were selling flats but there was a

shortage at the end of the day eggs are very expensive everywhere they're compounded expensive

because of the bird flu that is now obliging the destruction of flocks.

Jim started the story about bird flu with snow geese, Canadian geese, dead in the Lehigh Valley.

Now, however, we're watching eggs.

Jim, a very good evening to you.

The shopping at Costco, was it relaxed, was it careful, and what about the eggs? Good evening to you, Jim. Hi, John. Well, the traffic,

this was a Thursday afternoon. Monday and Saturdays are the busiest days, but the people who work at

Costco told me it was a little bit slow, but it was steady. So they had a constant stream of shoppers, but not as many as they're used to.

The shoppers were very careful.

We didn't see impulse buying.

A lot of people only had a few items in their baskets, and I saw them handling and looking

at the pricing very carefully.

So it tells me the consumer is being squeezed.

And what about the price?

Oh, the price.

Well, I went right to the eggs, and there's some frank packaging.

Costco had been selling 24 eggs for $8.64, which is about what you get

a dozen eggs for in the supermarket.

But now Costco is selling, I think it's 16 eggs.

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