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Virus shortages and your impressions.


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I haven’t seen any toilet paper on the shelves at either the grocery store or at Target in probably 6-7 weeks, though I have occasionally seen people on the street with bags that seem to include 2-3 four-packs now and then (that they’d clearly just bought).

When the virus hit Australia (I think it was), I saw there were runs on TP there — this was about 10-12 days before things got more serious here in the US. So I bought a couple 15-packs, which we’re only about halfway through using.

I haven’t (yet) gotten serious about hitting the grocery or Target earlier in the day (say around 9am), and all my grocery runs for the last 6+ weeks have been around 2pm or 3pm, so it could just be they sell out by Noon every day.

We live in the single densest zip code in Washington DC (population density), so the turn on store shelves here would have to be fairly high generally.

Sidenote: Another evidence of that is that (for years) the ATM’s right here give out $50 dollar bills automatically if you try and take out anything more than $100 - presumably so they don’t have to load $20’s so damn often. But any other ATM in the city I’ve ever used still gives $20’s (even if you get $200), which I did from time to time closer to where I used to work.

Anyway, I think next week I’m gonna have to hit the grocery and/or Target up much earlier in the day several times, until I can finally get some more TP for June (I think we’re good through the end of May).

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2 hours ago, Rooster_Ties said:

Sidenote: Another evidence of that is that (for years) the ATM’s right here give out $50 dollar bills automatically if you try and take out anything more than $100 - presumably so they don’t have to load $20’s so damn often. But any other ATM in the city I’ve ever used still gives $20’s (even if you get $200), which I did from time to time closer to where I used to work.

For a second there, I thought you were going to say using $20s would be cheaper than trying to find t.p. and paying the gougers/profiteers. ;)

Anyway, haven't had too much trouble with t.p. or paper towels here.  Disinfectant wipes still in short supply, but they turn up from time to time.  Eggs still being lightly rationed (2 cartons per family).  Flour and sugar sometimes pretty low on the shelves.

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We've yet to do without anything we've needed. Have had to explore multiple avenues for some things before finding them, but, you know, use your imagination and if you can't get one box of Sleepy Time Extra at Kroger, buy a "case" from Amazon and get it delivered before sundown the same day. And then you have something you use everyday on hand for the next 4 months instead of 10 days without the bother of Costco or some such.

I swear to gawd, I'm never going back to looking at online shopping for dry goods as a diversion or backup ever again, at least I hope not. This shit is just better for that, all the way around. And really, for groceries too, produce and meat, usually. So far anyway. If the pandemic moves that along, good for the pandemic. Silver lining of  this cloud, perhaps.

Then again, Brenda loves her them little bunches of flowers from Kroger, and I really don't like ordering those, those i need to see. But a fucking head of lettuce? The point where I need to see that before buying has not yet arrived.

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35 minutes ago, JSngry said:

Then again, Brenda loves her them little bunches of flowers from Kroger, and I really don't like ordering those, those i need to see. But a fucking head of lettuce? The point where I need to see that before buying has not yet arrived.

I'm kind of picky about fruit, not nearly as picky about vegetables, so I could see ordering those on-line.  As it happens, I have two groceries stores within a 5-10 minute walk and despite the lines and having to wear masks and all that, it just doesn't make any sense for me to start ordering on-line.

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What's not really making sense for me yet is having groceries delivered...although, I thought was gonna cop on Blueberry Acai Diet Coke by doing that from a chain I don't usually use, but to get the order up enough to qualify for delivery, I added two things of coffee and 4 jars of queso dip just for grins - and they ended up being the only things I got...grrrrrr.....but it was a good experience in terms of turnaround time and delivery experience, very prompt, items packaged well, driver just dropped, rang and booked (almost too quickly for me to give him his tip!). Good to know, just in case.

So apparently, quiet as its kept...there's a shortage of THIS stuff now? Hopefully just regionally?diet-coke-product-shoot-011019-363-e1547

Zesty Blood Orange I could go the rest of my life without, but those others...waiting for their return to circulation. That Strawberry Guava is a real sleeper!

1 hour ago, ejp626 said:

I'm kind of picky about fruit..

oh, I can be very picky about fruit, but it looks like farmer's markets and roadside stands are off the table right now, and once you go to settling for supermarket fruit, hey...

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Shopping for only two it hasn't been terrible. Both times TP became near-critical my wife was able to get to Walmart early enough in the AM to get two large packages (second one was for her aunt and uncle living in the apartment over the barn). But I have yet to see any available stock on TP whenever I have gotten to a Publix, and often only a small remainder of store-brand paper towels left, too, or just a completely empty paper goods aisle. 

I have to admit I am a little concerned for the future availability of meat; for that we go to Sam's and it hasn't been a total bust yet but who knows? Right now plenty on hand but I am thinking I need to plan a trip earlier than normal to avoid total supply failure.

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I don't mind grocery shopping. I like to pick the better head of lettuce or eggplants, I like to choose which bunch of basil I want to cook with. I want to look at the grandmother's rolls, before I put them in the basket. I don't want to sit at the computer or stick my face in the phone to order produce. 

Like Matthew, I also see the absence of certain produce at our town supermarket, which is kind on a ritzy and expensive side. They didn't have the eggplant when I was there a couple of days ago. Certain peppers were not in stock. Still no all-purpose flour. Yeast returned, and was scooped up fast. Wife got a jar!

I've seen the article titles on the upcoming meat shortages, and that is somewhat worrying, so we'll be stocking up on some beef and lamb. I don't like pork (aside from some good bacon), we usually don't cook it. I'd imagine there should be plenty of that, as pork is so popular in the USA.

The garlic my m-i-l has planted is coming along tremendously well. I'll share the photos. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for the padron peppers I've planted: would love to see these babies grow! Tomato seeds I've saved from the previous harvest have been disappointingly-cachectic, and probably won't bring fruit. The Spring has sucked so far...rainy and not inviting.

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1 hour ago, JSngry said:

We don't have to eat meat to live. So a "meat shortage" might happen, but any panic that results is an entirely self-inflicted wound.

And you think that enforced vegan-ism won't lead to a cascade of other shortages?

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1 hour ago, JSngry said:

We don't have to eat meat to live. So a "meat shortage" might happen, but any panic that results is an entirely self-inflicted wound.

Bingo! Same point I made on Facebook recently. And it’s not “enforced vegan-ism”... the only “enforcement” that’s happening is federal leadership ordering meatpacking plants to remain open despite the widespread outbreaks of Covid-19 among plant workers. Here in Indiana we’ve had a really bad outbreak at a plant in Logansport, with at least 50 percent of workers testing positive. 

Edited by ghost of miles
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Dmitry, if I remember, you moved to the East Bay. Here in the West Bay Dave’s Markets consistently have fewer shortages than Stop & Shop, albeit at a premium. Not so much as the prices at Whole Foods.

My wife won’t go shopping and tries to restrict me to once every 10 days or so. I’ve actually lost about 10 pounds since the start of lock down, more related to more walking than what I’m eating though.

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Mrs. Rooster and I just went to our regular Saturday farmers market, which is scaled down a bit (about half the regular number of vendors).

We’ve decided to pay extra for meat from a ‘local’ farm (south of Gettysburg, PA - about 60 miles from DC). We are NOT crazy worried about getting Covid, but we felt like it was better not to buy meat from the usual supply lines in the grocery store (we’re not in agreement with how meatpacking workers are being treated in all this, same with poultry). We also bought some super yummy vegetarian sausage, which is normally more expensive than we would buy - but I’ve had it before (in a hotdog bun), and it was crazy tasty - so we felt like the extra expense was more a matter of putting some money in the pocket of the vegi-sausages vendor.

We could certainly stand to go more vegetarian, and will probably cut our meat consumption in half during all this. We also like the boneless/skinless frozen fish options at Target, but we should look into how those industries are treating their people (workers) too.

We figure it doesn’t hurt to spend money in line with our values. Not being all sanctimonious about it, so for the record I’m NOT saying everyone has to do what we’re doing (or look how great we are). As Jim Sangrey Is fond of saying, the money gotta flow, and we’re gonna exercise our right to direct our spending to the vendors and businesses we want to.

Still haven’t seen more than literally *one* 6-pack of toilet paper on any store shelves in like 6-7 weeks!!  We’re good for probably the whole month of May, but I’m gonna have to start making my grocery runs in the morning in the next couple weeks, and see if I can find some TP for June.

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29 minutes ago, ghost of miles said:

Bingo! Same point I made on Facebook recently. And it’s not “enforced vegan-ism”... the only “enforcement” that’s happening is federal leadership ordering meatpacking plants to remain open despite the widespread outbreaks of Covid-19 among plant workers. Here in Indiana we’ve had a really bad outbreak at a plant in Logansport, with at least 50 percent of workers testing positive. 

This is what an enforced veganism is -  being forced not to eat meat or dairy...due to lack of it.

Edited by Dmitry
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33 minutes ago, Dan Gould said:

And you think that enforced vegan-ism won't lead to a cascade of other shortages?

Vegain-ism? Whoa, who's talking about going vegan? There's plenty of things in between eating a live cow while it moos and not even looking at one lest your stomach be stirred towards lust.

I'm not advocating enforced anything. I'm just noting that there are viable options at our disposal. Not all of them are necessarily pleasant, but they are viable.

Look - I come from a family where one side was pretty much the archetypes of that Hank Jr. song about a country boy can survive. So I know there's other ways to get things done than waiting for somebody to do something for you to be at the end of somebody else's distribution chain. There just are.

Just saying - I don't need Oscar-Meyer or Hormel or Smithfield or any of that. I use them, sure, but I don't need them.

They do need me, though. Therefore - advantage, me.

3 minutes ago, Dmitry said:

This is what an enforced veganism is -  being forced not to eat meat or dairy...due to lack of it.

Oh bullshit. Learn to hunt. Go out to the country and meet some farmers. Stop whining and start living.

Life is not here to give you what you want when you want it, that's some delusional Boomer-Based Bullshit.

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3 minutes ago, Dmitry said:

This is what an enforced veganism is -  being forced not to eat meat or dairy...due to lack of it.

OK, this is some sort of semantic disagreement, then. “Enforcement” connotes to me an authoritative/authoritarian body applying a decree—“Thou shalt not have any meat to eat!” Not a disruption of the market/supply chain because virus outbreaks have gotten so bad at plants that some have temporarily closed. They are now being forced to re-open by order of the federal govt. That to me is much closer to a definition of “enforced.” 

 

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Life is The Ultimate Enforcer.

54 minutes ago, Tom in RI said:

 I’ve actually lost about 10 pounds since the start of lock down, more related to more walking than what I’m eating though.

You're lucky. Kroger bakery is really good at what they do and that shit is never unavailable for curbside!

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1 hour ago, JSngry said:

Oh bullshit. Learn to hunt. Go out to the country and meet some farmers. Stop whining and start living.

Life is not here to give you what you want when you want it, that's some delusional Boomer-Based Bullshit.

So you presume all people have access to lands on which to hunt, the necessary skills with a firearm (or perhaps a bow and arrow) as well as the ability and willingness to skin/carve that which is dispatched.

Apparently a country boy will survive and thinks everybody else has gone country already.

No, no and no. And no.

I don't know exactly what is going thru these meat processing plants.  I'll do without the sliced ham or turkey products if necessary. But if our pork/chicken/beef options are going thru there and they shut and stay shut, then yeah, I will be a forced vegan.  

 

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But seriously, what I hear you saying is that you have an interest in eating meat, and a disruption of the ability to do so will make you unhappy. Fair enough, at least at this point in the 21st Century.

So the question now is simple - how do we best accomplish this on a manner that is sustainable? Gonna have to be some pivots from the current model in the current environment, right? We've had this problem of balancing safety and sustainability once before, right? It just has a different face this time.

btw - vegan and vegetarian are in no way the same thing. But you already know that. :g

17851368289.jpg

 

Just now, Dan Gould said:

JFC you just told me I should off my wife's horses? And no I ain't shooting or eating a damn squirrel.

Didn't say you should. I would hope you wouldn't! Horses, unlike cows and pigs and chickens are....horses!

Just pointing out that it is an option for meat. Option, as in you can't not do it.

As for squirrels, hey, they're very tasty, actually. Bony as fuck, though, but you know, if it's all there is...

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What's so wrong with being a vegetarian or a vegan anyway? Plenty of people manage, very happily and healthily.

If meat is unsafe or unavailable people will survive and may even begin to question the farming and production methods that make meat, especially the processed kind, so cheap and readily available. Wouldn't do any harm if folk thought more about the environmental sustainability of meat consumption or the impact on livestock either.

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