# So what shortages are you personally seeing? **URL:** \ **Category:** The Quarantine Zone\ **Tags:** covid-quarantine\ **Created:** [July 24, 2020, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-shortages-are-you-personally-seeing/916268 "2020-07-24T23:28:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 45
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2021, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-shortages-are-you-personally-seeing/916268/881 "2021-10-15T16:56:13Z")
> [@Sam\_Stone](#): > > BTW, the landscaping company couldn’t find enough workers A lot of “service” type jobs are going unfilled, as I understand it. We’re having a bunch of outdoor repairs done and heaven only knows when they’ll slot us into the schedule. The house is 25+ years old now, so Things Need To Be Done. We did have to have a large tree removed recently and luckily the tree company came fairly quickly; the landscaping company’s designer can’t come out and look at the spot for replacement purposes until December! ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2021, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-shortages-are-you-personally-seeing/916268/882 "2021-10-17T17:39:27Z")
> [@Jasmine](#): > > I’m just irritated that I somehow couldn’t think of this simple solution. Don’t feel bad, I think it’s just human nature that occasionally we’ll totally fail to think of things that make life easier. My cats are both a little over a year old and still as active as kittens so I’m always looking for ways to entertain them while I’m working etc. I discovered this summer that they are totally in love with having one of their cat tunnels loosely stuffed with paper from shipping boxes. I don’t get much of it, though, given most people tend to use those air packs instead, so I’ve been setting it aside when I do get some. It took me a good two weeks after [buying a smaller size of this](https://www.homedepot.com/p/TRIMACO-Easy-Mask-12-in-x-180-ft-Brown-General-Purpose-Masking-Paper-12912/202040755) for a step of repainting the kitchen to realize it’s basically the same thing so I really don’t need to hoard the packing material. Oops. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2021, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-shortages-are-you-personally-seeing/916268/883 "2021-10-17T17:59:38Z")
Since The Missus moved in, we have bought toilet paper in packages of 12 double rolls. The last several times I’ve gone to Rite-Aid, they only had four-packs of our usual (cheap) Scott rolls. Once I bought three of them, but it felt like hoarding even though the total number of rolls was the same as we’ve always bought. Last time at Rite-Aid, I bought Cottonelle that was in smaller rolls but were the one brand in a 12-pack. Finally a week and a half ago I bought toilet paper at Costco. It’s sold in 30-packs! 😮 We’re set for toilet paper for a while. ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2021, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-shortages-are-you-personally-seeing/916268/884 "2021-10-17T18:40:41Z")
Industrial and not particularly relevant to your average Joe or Josephine: Apparently there is a national shortage of a particular major brand of inline pH probes, which became a real PITA when a critical one failed the other week. Had to cannibalize one from a less critical process. Meanwhile while my dad was getting his Honda Pilot serviced at a dealership recently, he inquired about vehicle inventory. He’s getting interested into downsizing into a plug-in hybrid like the now discontinued Honda Clarity. Apparently this large dealership that used to keep an average new car inventory of 120 vehicles on site, has six currently. **Six**. Their maintenance department is backed up trying to catch up on deferred maintenance, but their sales department remains gutted because there is very little to sell. ---
**Author:** ![purplehorseshoe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/purplehorseshoe/32/2996_2.png) [@purplehorseshoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purplehorseshoe)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2021, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-shortages-are-you-personally-seeing/916268/885 "2021-10-18T01:23:18Z")
Can’t buy chicken wings (raw, fresh) in any grocery store I checked here. Okay, all two of them, but they’re the only big-box stores around. Walmart and Meijer, if you’re getting specific. Plenty of thighs. Some drumsticks. One or two whole broilers per store. No wings. ---
**Author:** ![Lancia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lancia/32/17174_2.png) [@Lancia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lancia)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2021, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-shortages-are-you-personally-seeing/916268/886 "2021-10-18T03:49:28Z")
> [@Tamerlane](#): > > Their maintenance department is backed up trying to catch up on deferred maintenance, but their sales department remains gutted because there is very little to sell. This has been my experience as well. The local honda dealer is several weeks out with scheduled oil changes, God help you if you need something more involved. My son just earned his driver’s license and we decided to give him my wife’s car, which of course meant we needed a new rig for her. New inventory at all the local (with 100 miles or so) was basically non-existent unless we wanted to drive to Portland or even Seattle. Luckily we found a 7 year old GMC Terrain AWD with only 29k miles on it. We snatched it up immediately. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2021, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-shortages-are-you-personally-seeing/916268/887 "2021-10-18T03:55:28Z")
> [@Mama\_Zappa](#): > > A lot of “service” type jobs are going unfilled, as I understand it. One of my clients is one of the major U.S. residential window companies; we work specifically with two dozen of their “branches” – local offices which sell windows to local home builders, as well as selling (and installing) replacement windows to homeowners. As such, each branch employs a number of installation teams – carpenter-type people who remove the old windows and install the new ones. Most of the branches with which we work have a backlog of three to five months on installations: this is in part because there has just been a lot of demand for home improvements/renovations over the last year and a half. But, a number of branches have mentioned to us that they are having a very hard time finding people with the right skills and experience to work on installation teams, so that is just adding to the backlog. ---
**Author:** ![Jasmine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jasmine/32/2964_2.png) [@Jasmine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jasmine)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2021, 11:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-shortages-are-you-personally-seeing/916268/888 "2021-10-18T11:22:56Z")
> [@elfkin477](#): > > I discovered this summer that they are totally in love with having one of their cat tunnels loosely stuffed with paper from shipping boxes. My last cat, Misty, discovered the joy of popping bubble wrap with her claws! LOL ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2021, 11:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-shortages-are-you-personally-seeing/916268/889 "2021-10-18T11:42:31Z")
> [@purplehorseshoe](#): > > Can’t buy chicken wings (raw, fresh) in any grocery store I checked here. The price of chicken wings has been fluctuating like crazy here. A friend’s brewery has smoked wings night every Thursday. For the past year they’ve been charging “market rates” which vary weekly. ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2021, 5:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-shortages-are-you-personally-seeing/916268/890 "2021-10-19T05:43:31Z")
In the last few weeks, powerade has disappeared from the shelves of multiple stores I’ve been to. I can still find gatorade, but not powerade. Not sure why. ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2021, 11:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-shortages-are-you-personally-seeing/916268/891 "2021-10-19T11:34:04Z")
Good thing neither paper towels nor facial tissue were on my list yesterday. Empty shelves – well, there were around two boxes of facial tissue. Oddly, considering the lack of those, there was a fair amount of toilet paper, with only a few gaps. Other stuff seemed mostly well stocked; though as usual there’s things I wouldn’t notice missing because I wasn’t looking for them. I didn’t notice any other huge gaps on the shelves, though. ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2021, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-shortages-are-you-personally-seeing/916268/892 "2021-10-19T15:21:28Z")
We broke into our last case of Charmin this morning. 3 weeks until the next shipment from Amazon. I’m terrified 😃 ---
**Author:** ![WolfpackJeep](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpackjeep/32/2921_2.png) [@WolfpackJeep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WolfpackJeep)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2021, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-shortages-are-you-personally-seeing/916268/893 "2021-10-19T23:58:55Z")
The dealership where I take my Jeeps seems to have made progress on clearing their maintenance backlog, but you still have to schedule appointments (even for an oil change) at least a week and a half in advance. Bizarrely, they only had a single technician working this past Saturday, and I only saw a couple of service advisors on duty (they typically have 3 - 4, even on a Saturday). I need some minor work done on my '97, but the advisor I usually deal with hasn’t responded to messages in two weeks, so I’m guessing he’s gone. ---
**Author:** ![JaneDoe42](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/janedoe42/32/14104_2.png) [@JaneDoe42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JaneDoe42)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2021, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-shortages-are-you-personally-seeing/916268/894 "2021-10-20T02:04:35Z")
My dentist is open and available but only has one hygienist so my cleaning appointment isn’t until the middle of February. ---
**Author:** ![romansperson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/romansperson/32/17100_2.png) [@romansperson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/romansperson)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2021, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-shortages-are-you-personally-seeing/916268/895 "2021-10-20T20:34:50Z")
I just made an appointment for a cleaning too. First week of March was the next available! ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2021, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-shortages-are-you-personally-seeing/916268/896 "2021-10-20T20:42:03Z")
I initially thought it was odd that my dentist had the most rigorous COVID precautions of any medical establishment I’ve yet seen, but on reflection, it makes sense, since dental procedures expose the unfortunate practitioners to greater vulnerabilities than most other medical practices. I’m keeping my visits to an absolute minimum and only went there once during the COVID era, because I’d lost a filling in my front tooth. * * * As for shortages, it’s much like it was that last time I commented – no specific persistent shortages, but completely random things will be unpredictably unavailable. There are clearly supply chain issues, but they appear to be largely random. ---
**Author:** ![BippityBoppityBoo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bippityboppityboo/32/5745_2.png) [@BippityBoppityBoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BippityBoppityBoo)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2021, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-shortages-are-you-personally-seeing/916268/897 "2021-10-20T22:59:52Z")
Just needed to buy generic antihistamines at Target. Fair but only fair selection of brand name therefore more costly choices. The store brand choices are mostly bare shelves. ---
**Author:** ![Horatius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/horatius/32/3572_2.png) [@Horatius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatius)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2021, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-shortages-are-you-personally-seeing/916268/898 "2021-10-21T01:43:52Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > I initially thought it was odd that my dentist had the most rigorous COVID precautions of any medical establishment I’ve yet seen, but on reflection, it makes sense, since dental procedures expose the unfortunate practitioners to greater vulnerabilities than most other medical practices. **I’m keeping my visits to an absolute minimum and only went there once during the COVID era, because I’d lost a filling in my front tooth.** I can beat that! I had a temporary crown put in the week before COVID closures started happening, with an appointment to put the permanent one in the week _after_ the closures happened. I went about six months with the temporary, chewing very carefully the whole time. ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2021, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-shortages-are-you-personally-seeing/916268/899 "2021-10-21T01:52:03Z")
I could not say how all the supply chains work in Canada, but over the last year pretty much all items have been available at grocery stores. At the start of Covid there was a month or two where toilet paper, Lysol spray and yeast would sell out instantly. There was a period with expensive hand sanitizer and intermittent availability of masks. Still, stores like Starbucks have limited their selection, however, which they say is due to Covid. A lot of these stores have restricted their hours and like many restaurants are having difficulty getting regular waitstaff. So there is that shortage. As to how Canadian supply chains differ from those in the US I really do not know. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2021, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-shortages-are-you-personally-seeing/916268/900 "2021-10-21T01:57:58Z")
In my case, there were two factors prompting a sense of urgency. One was that the missing filling in a prominent front tooth considerably weakened the tooth. The other was that, due to the tooth in question being right at the front and now having a large hole in it, my speech tended to have a slight whistling sound **[somewhat reminiscent of the gopher in Winnie the Pooh](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E7KXgt5zOFM)**. 😃 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-shortages-are-you-personally-seeing/916268.md?page=44) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-shortages-are-you-personally-seeing/916268.md?page=46)