Cashew milk is a top 10 item if you can’t tolerate dairy.
I went to a different store 4 or 5 days starting last week. I chose mostly canned stuff, thinking it would sit around for a long time. But I started feeling sick yesterday. I don’t know if it is The Thing or not. So, I am going to stay home until I can get tested, or for two weeks, whichever comes first.
So here I am, living off of my stash. I am glad I got a variety of things. Mostly I like hot stews because I kind of have chills. I did not get tomato soup and grilled cheese supplies, and now I wish I did. Should have got OJ too, but I did get a case of juice nectar.
Nuts, candy, beer and vodka, fruit and veggies, it’s ok. I especially like the tuna in olive oil (they make it seem fancy by calling it EVOO in all caps, but it is better than in water). I did not expect to be here so quickly. Now that it is real, I guess I give myself a B. I really should have got more Sudafed when I had the chance, maybe more soap and so on. Will just go ahead and take naps since I am more tired than usual anyway.
The crisis is going to last longer than that, but if farmers and truckers and grocers can keep working, the major shortages should go away after everyone HAS a stash at home.
Biotop, thank you and all the people like you who are actively making the world a better place today. I am extremely appreciative.
Me, too. Except I got sick last Tuesday. Started with a sore throat. It might be a bad chest cold. Or it might be the plague. I plan to stay hidden in my bedroom until 72 hours after I get better, unless I get clearer guidance before then. It takes me two weeks to throw off an ordinary cold, and that’s about how long a “mild” case of SARS2 lasts, so I figure I’m stuck here for another week or so, if all goes well.
I did stock up on cold remedies. Mostly, I’m taking the guaifenesin. And trying to get enough sleep.
I think that most people don’t know how to shop for long periods. Myself, I’ve been buying for around a month at a time for years so I know how much stuff I will need for that period. But lots of people are too stupid to do even basic math. (I’m not being too harsh–at a place I used to work, there were people that came to me when they needed to convert between yards and feet.)
I did my usual stocking last Saturday. I was worried I would run into panic buying, but at the two stores I visited, it hadn’t happened yet. (Probably a different story now.)
Try2B Comprehensive, feel better!
Just came back from the supermarket which wasn’t too bad when I went Thursday. Today, no eggs, no paper products of any kind, very little bread, and, surprisingly, the flowers had been wiped out.
From what I understand, diarrhea is also a symptom of the virus, which is why people with relatives in China and areas previously impacted by SARS started buying up TP before the rest of the population started taking the illness seriously. There’s the supply chain fear, but there’s also the fear you might be shitting more than normal and too weak to go from market to market looking for it.
But yeah, we’re at a point now where people are instinctively guided by herd behavior and fears of scarcity, which is now resulting in real scarcity.
As a cashier, let me second all this. MOST people are understanding and we’ve had dozens of customers help by bagging their groceries, holding to the limits we ask them to on times, helping other customers, and so on.
Then we have guys like the loud jackass today yelling “DON’T YOU IDIOTS KNOW HOW TO RUN A GROCERY STORE?”
Um… yes. Yes we do. Don’t you know how to act like a civilized human being?
At my store we’re still open 24/7. Extra people are being put on 3rd shift to accommodate the people coming in at 2 and 3 am to shop. We are being assigned minimum 6 day work weeks and 48 hours a week. Clearly, our corporate overlords are resolving to make hay while the sun shines. But we’re also trying to get food, toilet paper, and everything else to our customers.
I cut some forsythia the other day. We all need some little bit of brightness in our lives.
Thank you for your service!
Our local grocery store, Giant Eagle, has cut back from their usual 24/7 to give workers time for cleaning/sanitizing.
I just saw a story on ABC news where they were talking about bars and restaurants that are cutting back their service hours, and they showed the entire staff of a restaurant all huddled together, their arms around each other, before they started their work for the day. Kind of counterproductive.
My experience continues to be mostly positive with customers. Yes we have had thefts and complaints, but BY FAR people are showing their true decency by understanding, thanking, and generally having positive attitudes. One customer called me today because she did not understand why no one had called to talk to her about her out-of-stocks on a delivery order — something we normally do. I explained how the number of requests for online delivery shopping had risen dramatically over the past week, while at the same time stock is disappearing at a never before seen rate. We literally cannot take the time to call and discuss any substitutions on the 30% of her order that was unavailable. If we tried to do that with everyone we would need many more staff. And if we had more staff they would be stocking, cleaning and shopping orders. She was very understanding and appreciated my response.
This is uncharted territory. No one knows what next week will be like. But our abilities to work together during this crisis will likely reflect in just how severe this gets.
But I am also surprised by how many people still do not realize the gravity of the situation. That should be obvious by now.
It was to go to mum’s 80th birthday party. But we cancelled our trip - better safe than sorry.
There are many other non-dairy milks other than cashew. Some are shelf stable.
Or, buy the beans and a soymilk maker! Some soymilk makers can make milk from other beans or nuts.
~VOW
Yeah, I know. Cashew milk is what a member of my family can drink.
That’s a big ‘if’ given that while many states are being proactive about this, a fair number aren’t.
I think things should function fairly smoothly for a few more weeks, at least, but beyond that, I think it’s too soon to tell. If by the time May rolls around, we haven’t yet told Italy to hold our beer, things should keep on functioning for the duration. Again, big ‘if.’
From an article by a guy from Vanuatu who has dealt with many shortages-
Stocking up on toilet paper is stupid. Prepare for boredom. Get books and games.
I’m the volunteer shift supervisor at our local museum of natural history. My usual shift is Friday mornings but yesterday was our quarterly free day, normally a very crowded day, to the point of where we reach the fire marshal’s limit of people in the building had keep a cunt of who’s leaving so we can let some more in. I had signed up for the afternoon shift weeks ago in anticipation to handle the crowd.
Friday we closed the Exploration Station, a place where pre-schoolers on down can play, because of concerns the two volunteers normally staffing the place could not keep up with sanitizing. Friday evening I got an email stating that the free event was going to be pretty much cancelled and the morning people need not show up. There would be staffers there at 10am just in case someone didn’t get the word so they wouldn’t be turned away. I showed up at 1pm, the regular Sunday opening time, just in case.
Meanwhile, another email had arrived on Saturday detailing further steps. Normally, most of the volunteers are staffing small carts in the various areas with touchable items on them, fossils, mineral specimens and the like. The carts were not being put out and instead they were to hang around their area answering questions and talking up what is being exhibited in their area. They were also to be armed with Chlorox wipes and wipe down display cases and other things frequently handled. Rovers, those with no particular assigned area were to wipe down the ‘common’ things not associated with a particular area like stairway hand rails and elevator buttons.
At the regular opening time several families showed up, most of them surprised that there was no charge that day, but the crowd was much less than an ordinary Sunday, never mind the scheduled free day. I asked a staffer how many had shown up between 10am and 1pm; it was two families. We volunteers decided to do nothing but wiping down, answering such questions as came up rather than staffing a particular area.
About 3pm the director called us into the office and said we’d finish out the day but after that the museum was closing indefinitely. The expected reopening would be the end of April but it depended on ow things go for the next few weeks. The regular shift supervisor for Sundays teaches band in elementary school and she said she’d gotten an email about 10pm Saturday evening that the schools were closing for at least two weeks. She was quite happy as she’d been pondering how to sanitize the instruments. most of which are shared, and not coming up with a good solution.
More news from the UK. Mrs T reports that we too have had a run on eggs (shelves empty). Which prompts the question - why? Do these people not know how a chicken works? There will be be new stock on the way on a daily basis, guys, as sure as e… - well, you know what I mean.
Pasta shelves have been empty for days - but only now the jars of pasta sauces are gone too. What happened? Did they get home with their haul of pasta and suddenly realise something was missing?
Tonic water stocks are still very low, but she got a couple of bottles - whew! Bulk buying of low end beer seems to be going on as well.
Aside from that, all the usual stuff is missing.
j
Morning news showed lines outside of Irwindale (CA) Costco at 6:30 AM to be at least a quarter-mile long.
LA mayor Garcetti was giving a brief press conference at a warehouse store to tell peope water will still flow throgh the taps, no food or supplies shortages expected, just relax.
His little group of experts huddled around him, while I’m yelling at the TV, “Spread out! Social distance!”
I’m reminded of all the war movies I’ve watched throughout my life, first with my father, then with Mr VOW. In those movies, you see clumps of guys in the middle of battle, and Mr VOW always yells at the TV, “Spread out, dammit!”
~VOW