Hand sanitizer was already out at my normal store last week when I went shopping. And when I asked the pharmacist where it might be she knew she was out and replied with that retail “oh gawd, I’ve been asked this a hundred times already, but I still have to play nice” tone of voice.
I’ve had several local friends report that stores they went to were out of TP, and running low on food.
And last night I went to 3 different stores to get rubbing alcohol or hand sanitizer for Mom, all of them were out. The first had a sign saying “out of hand sanitizer and rubbing alcohol, but we do have TP”
We’ve had at least one case in Tarrant county, and several in Dallas. So when someone you know says that there isn’t a run on TP in their area, ask how far away the closest case of Covid19 is
The problem with that is sanitizer has to be a minimum of 70% alcohol to be effective. Rubbing alcohol is typically 70% or a bit less. Dilute that with the aloe vera and you’re below the threshold.
There is rubbing alcohol out there with a higher percentage – up to 90% – but you have to look for them.
This is probably the same type of thing which happens with popular toys at Christmas–flippers go around and buy them up at the mass merchandizers at retail price and flip them at two or three times the price at Amazon and eBay.
I haven’t been to a grocery store since the panic really set in, but both my mom and my sister have reported seeing folks buying bananas 4 or 5 big bunches at a time. Are these people completely unfamiliar with bananas? If you’re not picky, they might last four or five days. How many bananas per day are you planning on eating?
And my sister was trying to buy a tube of toothpaste (just one tube, because it happened that the tube she had at home was running low right around now). Someone swooped in ahead of her and grabbed five of them off the shelf. If this goes on so long that you’re going through five tubes of toothpaste, we’re all already dead.
Yes. If you’re planning on baking with bananas or making smoothies with them freezing them is a great option. I suspect at least some people are going that route.
You are talking about two different things. UHT milk, more common overseas, is indeed shelf stable until opened. European refrigerators are practically dorm-sized, and shelf-stable milk is almost mandatory. UHT does change the way the milk tastes, and it has never been very popular in the US.
HTST pasteurization does increase the refrigerated life of milk, marginally. It is a product which must be kept refrigerated.
~
If it’s not toilet paper or human waste, it’s not flushable. I did a little Googling on that this morning because I am not very well positioned for a toilet paper shortage. I am however sitting (heh) on a pretty hefty stash of facial tissue and paper towels. Both specifically listed as non-flushable. If it comes to that I guess I’ll be bagging it.
I used 7 squares this morning, shooting for 6 tomorrow.
If you are on a septic tank, then Kleenex is a no no. Municipal sewer systems can accommodate a few more goodies, but a private septic needs to be coddled.
~VOW
Indeed, we buy large hands of bananas and use them as they ripen. When they become fully ripe we peel and freeze what’s left. Smoothies, daiquiris, waffles, etc are great with frozen fruit.
If you are planning on freezing nanners, a little prep will make life a lot easier.
Use an ice cube tray. Smush the banana into the little open squares, then freeze. Once frozen, you can pop out the nana cubes and keep them in a sack in the freezer. The cubes easily fit in a blender jar, with no mess.
Freezing a whole banana in the peel is a gawdawful drippy mess when you try to use the damned thing. The curved bananas don’t cooperate when you keep them in the freezer, either. They block your normal rectangular packages, and they like to clatter to the floor when you want to pull out just one thing.
~VOW
Let’s consider panic buying vs. updating supplies based on stores and anticipated need vs. predatory clean-out with the intent to gouge.
Example:
ZMG!!!1!! Teh 45 haz declared an EMERGENCY!!! We’ll be trapped at home for a YEAR!!!1!!!
I have 3 children and both I and my father, who lives with us, are in risk categories. Better lay in extra supplies so that if we need them, we won’t have to risk going out during a community outbreak.
I think I’ll buy up all the sanitizer and N95 masks in Kentucky, then sell them at $75 each online. I’ll be rich! rich! rolls in pile of filthy lucre
