So what shortages are you personally seeing?

The Quarantine Zone
21

Bottled water.

I have fish tanks (one regular, one RO), and I buy RO water and distilled water (yes, I know a tankful of distilled water is not good for fish, but diluting my very hard, alkali tapwater with it 4:1 keeps the tank in good parameters, and does not hurt the fish with biweekly water changes of 5gal in a 40gal tank). The drinking water specifically at Walmart is perfect for an RO fish tank. It is extremely soft, because they don’t add anything back in, and the pH is right for my tank. The drinking water at other places doesn’t work. I have been having trouble getting water for my fish.

I bought a Britta filter, and have been running gallons of water from the RO tank through it, and using chemicals that are supposed to remove ammonia, using more distilled water, bought where and when I can find it, than I am really comfortable with, and occasional tapwater. So far, the RO tank is pretty well in parameters, and I have not lost a fish that I know of, but it’s the tank where my Panda Cories breed, and I have not had many babies. I don’t know if they have been breeding less or if the eggs or fry are not surviving. When they are about 1/2 grown, I take them to one of the stores in town, and get credit towards food and stuff. Apparently my Panda Cories are pretty hardy, and customers like them.

I tried buying an RO filter years ago, and could never get it to work properly. Paying ~$100 for a filter, and never buying RO water again seemed ideal, but I tried for weeks, getting various hoses and bottles and things at Home Depot, and could never get a rig that worked well.

I went to one of the Walmarts in town, and the water shelf had one, sad, misshapen bottle. I actually ordered from Walmart online, because the online service could get me water. I was limited to a certain number of bottles, but I got enough for next week’s water changes.

I’ve been stretching the changes-- instead of two per week, I started doing them every four days, then four days/five days. The tanks seem OK, and I haven’t lost a fish.

I still worry.

22

We have plenty of liverwurst & bottled water (ref shortages upthread).

Paper products are almost back to normal now; some stores still seem seem to get picked over a lot more than others but the shelves aren’t bare like they were. At our main groc store the canned bean shelves always seem to be about half-empty. Somehow they’re just not able to catch up to demand.

Sanitizing wipes of all sorts and ordinary rubbing alcohol are totally gone; haven’t been seen since COVID started. Hand sanitizer is readily available, but only in quart or bigger containers; the pocket-sized ones don’t exist.

23

Lumber. I had to go to 4 places to finally get deck boards. Nothing at Lowes, HD, or 84 lumber. Finally found some at the small local place.

24

Weird, I just successfully ordered a pepper spray from Amazon (Guard Dog brand) last week, and it arrived on time with no issues.

25

I’m for the most part only seeing the small containers of hand sanitizer (did find a restaurant/janitorial supply, Smart & Final, that had gallon jugs and bought one). One store I was in recently (think it was Winco) had good stock on rubbing alcohol, but we still have ample supplies of isopropyl 99% after an online purchase of a gallon in March.

26

Yeah, well, those are in short supply as well!

27

I stay away from Walmart, so I don’t know whether the one nearest me (in any case not in the villages I usually shop in) have had vinegar; but Tops and other local groceries have always seemed to have it, until covid. – there have also been intermittent shortages on various cooking oils.

I use cider for dill. I never make the bread-and-butter, I don’t like sugars in my pickles. I make cucumber dills, dilly beans, and quick refrigerator garlic scapes; not all of them every year, depends on what comes back from market and on how frantic for time I am and what the current supply is like. I use cider vinegar for all of them, I only use the white for cleaning fluid.

Might depend some on what you want your pickles to look like, as well as on your preferences in flavor.

28

Really, for the most part things are available in my part of Canada. Yeast and flour were hard to come by for a month or two. There are still a few random things of little significance.

29

Tried buying a gun lately? Shortages and bare shelves everywhere. Ditto for ammunition. Hunting rifles and ammunition are mostly available, but anything for defense (shotgun, AR/AK, or handguns) is often sold out. Personally not trying to buy anything, just getting some work done by the local smith. The supply line for parts is affected by this and causing long delays for repair work.

30

My sister went looking for a personal carry handgun a week or so ago; nothing available in that category locally. We live in the country and most everybody around here has at least one gun in the house for self defense and nuisance wildlife, so she’s not defenseless, just not finding quite what she wants.

31

Lysol spray cans are very difficult to find.

32

But pretty effective for self-defense!

33

Stop! Or you are going to smell like lemons! Or Persian Spice Market Potpourri! I’m not joking around here!

34

There were dire warnings of an impending garlic shortage a few months back … did it ever materialize anywhere? I’ve been picking up a bulb of garlic every time I go shopping just in case (it’ll get used, oh yes, it will get used), but so far, there’s always been lots of it like normal.

35

One of our rehab facilities needs a new fire and life-safety system but it’s going to take over a month before installation can begin because none of the suppliers have everything in stock. Prior to this crisis the same equipment could be sourced in a week.

36

Thanks, both of you, I needed that :smile:. That use hadn’t occurred to me, but I like it. The two big spray cans I have (untouched) just won’t fit in my nightstand drawer.

I now have a hankering to send them to The Wall of Moms in Portland but that is a whole ‘nother thread…

37

I’ve heard a bunch of people complaining about lunch meat; that section of the commissary was about half full the other day. The bacon section, on the other hand, was almost empty.

38

Where I live the toilet paper shortage is over. You can get the good stuff (charmin, cottonelle, etc) in bulk at grocery stores now.

Ramen tends to run low though. Its still available, but many times the shelves are fairly empty for it.

Also some sodas are harder to find. I like drinking caffeine free coke but almost nobody carries it anymore. It was hard to find before, now almost impossible. Regular coke is easy to get. Supposedly there is an aluminum shortage so they aren’t making the less popular stuff right now in the cans.

lysol spray and lysol wipes are still hard to find. Hand sanitizer is getting easier to find.

Kleenex was hard to find near my parents, but that seems ok now.

39

Sign at our local market said Coke and Pepsi were experiencing can shortages. I like caffeine free diet Coke and minute maid low sugar lemonade and punch, haven’t seen any since March.

40

Just checked two supermarkets and no yeast to be found.