Thread Number: 82334  /  Tag: Other Home Products or Autos
Tried going shopping
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Post# 1063495   3/17/2020 at 07:16 (1,472 days old) by vacerator (Macomb, Michigan)        

for some Lysol cleaner, bleach, etc. The store shelves are gutted of all except Tide laundry detergent. How is everyone else fairing? These non perishable items are usually restocked overnight if stores recieve delivery trucks. Meat, seafood and deli depts. are closed. Plenty of milk, butter, cheeses looking a bit thin. Bread also light. Store was already busy at 7a.m. I imagine that some with cottages and second homes up north are prepping to "bug out". Whats the point if you don't have enough essentials.? Perhaps those living on farms who have cows, chickens, etc. will fair better, or am I overthinking this?




Post# 1063503 , Reply# 1   3/17/2020 at 08:51 (1,472 days old) by chachp (North Little Rock, AR)        
Pretty much the same here....

chachp's profile picture

 

I will say I went to the store as soon as it opened on Sunday morning and shelves were stocked better than the night before.  From what they say on the news the food is out there it's just a matter of the stores stocking shelves overnight.  I guess we'll see how it goes.


Post# 1063506 , Reply# 2   3/17/2020 at 09:23 (1,472 days old) by DaveAMKrayoGuy (Oak Park, MI)        

daveamkrayoguy's profile picture
It’s only because policies limiting quantities on these goods just wasn’t instituted or enforced right from the get...

A public that makes return visits and demonstrates such uncooperative behavior is also to blame, to which I cannot be a policeman...

Again, a little calming down is all that can be done to resume things being normal, though still largely unforeseen, so a pain and a pity what’s endlessly put up with by the shoppers buying the regular quantities...



— Dave


Post# 1063512 , Reply# 3   3/17/2020 at 10:32 (1,472 days old) by philcobendixduo (San Jose)        
I just returned.....

philcobendixduo's profile picture
.....from my local grocery store (Nob Hill) and found no bread and no pasta but other than that, I was able to pick up everything else I needed including milk, butter, frozen vegetables and fresh fruit. I went at 7:15 and it was pretty quiet but by the time I left at 7:45, lines were forming at the checkouts. Hopefully, what I picked up today will keep me in the house for the next 2+ weeks as my county has asked everyone to stay at home if at all possible for the next 2-3 weeks. I did buy some fresh-baked wheat French bread so at least I got SOME bread!

Post# 1063541 , Reply# 4   3/17/2020 at 13:27 (1,472 days old) by RP2813 (Sannazay)        

rp2813's profile picture

I'm in the same boat with Bill, but have a freezer full of stuff that I need to use up anyway.  As long as I can get milk and eggs, I should be OK for the next three weeks.

 

Locally, a family owned chain, Zanotto's, is opening early every day until further notice, and allowing only shoppers age 60 and over inside for that first hour.  Their prices are ridiculously inflated, but at least they're doing something.  The Smart & Final Express near me wasn't bad last Thursday, so I'll give them a try for the basics.

 

I see no point in going to Costco until the panic buying is over.  I think that the shelter-in-place order would preclude allowing crowds to storm Costco anyway, but until they get a system down, I'm staying away.


Post# 1063542 , Reply# 5   3/17/2020 at 13:32 (1,472 days old) by petek (Ontari ari ari O )        

petek's profile picture
I avoided the grocery stores today but did stop in at the convenience store on the corner and they had loads of milk and quite a few cartons of eggs so I grabbed one of both. Where a problem may "crop up" excuse the pun,, as I saw on last nights news, is what is going to happen to farm laborers coming up from Mexico to pick crops.. Canadians won't do it anymore than Americans and we also rely on thousands of seasonal Mexican migrants to work in our fields as well. THey are not illegal farm workers, they are permitted seasonal workers. As of yesterday they are banned from entering the country.

Post# 1063569 , Reply# 6   3/17/2020 at 16:39 (1,472 days old) by Michael (London /England)        
Sainsburys ,Balham London

I got the shock of my life today!..Shelves were totally empty for All detergents, fabric conditioners, bleach, household bits etc, meat, dairy,bread, apart from some rolls, flour cat/dog food, fruit and veg, tinned goods...it really looked like the store had been looted

Post# 1063587 , Reply# 7   3/17/2020 at 18:48 (1,472 days old) by countryguy (Astorville, ON, Canada)        

countryguy's profile picture
I finally went to the grocery store in the city this afternoon. It was slim pickings. There was no flour, eggs, chicken, red meat, not much fruit or vegetables, no potatoes. There were a few loaves of bred. I managed to get flour and eggs from the small grocery store in the little town where I live. I went to Walmart and it was pretty much the same there - no meat or chicken.

Gary


Post# 1063596 , Reply# 8   3/17/2020 at 19:49 (1,472 days old) by Frigilux (The Minnesota Prairie)        

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Similar situation at the one grocery store here: No paper products, bleach, disinfecting wipes, diapers, ground beef, eggs, or pasta. Only a few bags of frozen vegetables, a few gallons of ice cream, a few loaves of bread.

They're finally initiating a "one item per family" limit on the basics--and one pound of ground beef--which should help restore some sanity. We were getting people from as far as Mankato, MN (about 70 miles away) looking for toilet paper, etc..

They've also reduced store hours from 8:00 am to 8:00 pm for purposes of disinfecting and restocking. They're expecting a truck in tonight, so will venture out tomorrow morning. Could use some ground beef and some fresh vegetables.

Restaurants, schools, churches and most other businesses are closed for 2 weeks. Confirmed cases of coronavirus now as close as 50 miles from here, so will be self-isolating very soon since I'm in the high risk group (chronic bronchitis, kidney function issues, 61 years of age).


Post# 1063607 , Reply# 9   3/17/2020 at 22:14 (1,472 days old) by countryford (Phoenix, AZ)        

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I work at the state prison here in Arizona. They just announced today that all staff can order a case (96 rolls) of toilet paper, at their cost ($38.44). Each staff can order 1 case. They will order it tomorrow and will be here by Friday. It is only 1 ply toilet paper, but it is better than nothing. Not that I am running short, but I might grab a case to help out anyone else who might run out, due to the panic buying. 


Post# 1063608 , Reply# 10   3/17/2020 at 22:29 (1,472 days old) by ea56 (Cotati, Calif.)        

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I was almost out of TP the week before last when I went on my regular weekly shopping trip, so I bought a 24 roll pak of Target 1 ply, which we use all the time anyway, so we’re OK in that dept.

 

Coincidentally, had always insisted upon 2 ply TP too.  But when I had my last hip replacement in June 2016 I sent David to do the shopping for the first 2 weeks after surgery and he came home with Scott 1 ply.  I said, “Why’d ya buy THAT!”  He said he couldn’t remember what brand we usually used.  

 

Well, turns out it was a happy accident, and we have used either Scott or Target 1 ply since.  You just need to use a couple sheets more, but in the end its just as good as the 2 ply, you use less paper in total and the toilets flush better too.  I’d be very wary of using even small squares of paper towels for very long, in and emergency OK, but you could end up with a big fat mess in your sewer pipes.

 

Eddie


Post# 1063609 , Reply# 11   3/17/2020 at 23:02 (1,472 days old) by MattL (Flushing, MI)        

Interesting times.  My cousin who lives in Augusta went to Costco yesterday,  She said they had stanchions set up and made sure folks were at least 6' apart in line.  As the line progressed they wiped down each cart top to bottom before allowing a person in.  They waited until someone left before allowing another in.  She like veggies and picked up a couple of bags of bell peppers and avocados, at checkout they took one of each away, limit was one.

 

Another cousin  works at Herbrucks eggs in Grand Rapids - they supply eggs to much  of the mid west including McDonalds, and they are running short of eggs.  They are buying from other suppliers.

 

Onward is the only option.


Post# 1063617 , Reply# 12   3/17/2020 at 23:30 (1,472 days old) by warmsecondrinse (Fort Lee, NJ)        

I went into my local Walgreen's to pick up meds and they seemed to be better stocked than supermarket.
Tomorrow I pick up my car and will stop by Acme to see what they have. I've ordered some plain cotton cleaning cloths I can wash with bleach in lieu of being so dependent on paper towels.

Eventually the insane demands will trickle off when people feel secure. Then supply will start to catch up. I hope.


Post# 1063618 , Reply# 13   3/17/2020 at 23:33 (1,472 days old) by DADoES (TX, U.S. of A.)        

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Still no paper products (unless perhaps there are some *early* in the day), although I still haven't hazarded the $-stores.  Eggs all gone @ WM 10:15p, although sufficient breads.  No milk except some organic and almond, etc. choices.  I noted a 1% organic variety had a 5/2/2020 expiration date so took one.  All meats sparse, and various other items.  I found what I was after, except for what I knew of which there was none that I didn't bother to czech.

Paper-towels-as-TP should *not* be flushed ... toss to the trash.


Post# 1063626 , Reply# 14   3/18/2020 at 00:28 (1,472 days old) by ea56 (Cotati, Calif.)        
Paper-towels-as-TP should *not* be flushed ... toss to the

ea56's profile picture

trash.

 

 Oh, Hell No!  Things are bad enough without a basket of “dookie” encrusted paper towel next to the toilet.

 

 Just one jump away from an outhouse.

 

Eddie


Post# 1063643 , Reply# 15   3/18/2020 at 06:44 (1,471 days old) by appnut (TX)        

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Curbside & Home delivery at HEB are scheduled out full to Friday the 27th as of yesterday evening.  I'm working from home as of yesterday.  


Post# 1063700 , Reply# 16   3/18/2020 at 16:42 (1,471 days old) by twintubdexter (Palm Springs)        

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I really wish I would have saved these from 65 years ago.. They'd come in handy for grocery shopping today.


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Post# 1063704 , Reply# 17   3/18/2020 at 17:35 (1,471 days old) by ea56 (Cotati, Calif.)        

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The stores in my area seem to calming down.  David bought some lettuce and bananas today on the way back from his walk.  I couldn’t go today because I injured my right calf yesterday while running to confront an interloper that was throwing a pickup truck load of garbage in our dumpster, that was just emptied on Monday.  

 

My leg hurt like hell right after I blew out my calf, but is much better today but still sore.  I’m taking it easy today and put some pain patches on it which help a lot. I think I injured the tendon, did this about 6 months ago and it took about 3 days to recover.  

 

Now all 20 units here at our HOA are going to be taxed for garbage space until the next pickup on Monday.   I truly despise the selfishness of people.  This jackass took off before I could get the plate number of the new U haul pickup he was driving, so my chase was all for naught.

 

I’m going to wait another few days before I venture out to a store.  We have plenty of what we need  to carry us thru another week easily.  Maybe by that time the frenzy will have subsided.

 

Just got thru making a Shepard’s Pie for the next couple of days dinners, and a Yellow sheet cake with Mocha Frosting that should last thru the weekend.  It helps to keep busy.

 

Eddie




This post was last edited 03/18/2020 at 18:48
Post# 1063721 , Reply# 18   3/18/2020 at 18:44 (1,471 days old) by RP2813 (Sannazay)        
Toilet Tissue Conservation

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I introduced psyllium husk into my daily routine several months ago and as a result, my use of toilet paper has been cut in half at the very least.  There are times when TP isn't even necessary, but I don't find out until after the fact.  Better safe than sorry.  As they say in the advertising world, "Cleanup's a breeze!"

 

I doubt there's a shortage of psyllium husk yet or if there will even be one (I get mine in bulk at Whole Foods -- the only place I've found it in bulk which, at $7.50/lb. is way cheaper than packaged versions found elsewhere -- including Amazon), so now would be a good time for anyone who is interested in economizing on TP use to give it a try.  

 

One well-rounded to heaping tablespoon mixed with about 8 oz. of water once per day, either one hour before or after eating.  I've mixed it with apple juice a few times, which makes it less boring to chug down, but have become used to mixing it with water.  Drink another 8 oz. of water afterward, or within about 20 minutes, and "enjoy the go" tomorrow.


Post# 1063772 , Reply# 19   3/19/2020 at 09:14 (1,470 days old) by olivia_davis (Clifton,NJ)        
I was not lucky.

At the peak of all this madness, the time has come to replenish supplies of cleaners, toilet paper, etc. Firstly, I didn’t want to look like those crazy people who're tearing everything down from the shelves, and secondly, I didn’t buy more than half of what I needed. I hope soon everything will be as usual.

Post# 1063773 , Reply# 20   3/19/2020 at 09:28 (1,470 days old) by vacerator (Macomb, Michigan)        
re; fiber, stores;

Fiber is very important. I use mainly water soluable as a supliment, as I eat oatmeal, almonds, brasica genus produce, etc. as well. I go once per day usually, twice tops. I drink at least a gallon of water per day also, including with 6 tbsp. of fiber total.
Local produce wholesalers are selling for pennies on the dollar what restaurants don't need in parking lots of churches, local municipal farm mkts, etc. Check local town websites.


Post# 1063804 , Reply# 21   3/19/2020 at 15:02 (1,470 days old) by RP2813 (Sannazay)        

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Yes, the local grocery chain here has all types of bread from the bakery in town that supplies most of the area restaurants and has no retail outlet of their own.  It's a better assortment than what they usually offer from their regular vendors. 


Post# 1063807 , Reply# 22   3/19/2020 at 15:27 (1,470 days old) by mark_wpduet (Lexington KY)        
It's the same everywhere

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No hand sanitizers, alcohol, wipes, Lysol, bleach. Frozen veggies were sparse. Absolutely no lunch meat. The deli was open.

The good thing for us is that we buy things at costco that won't go bad, like toilet paper, paper towels, bleach, detergent, etc. We have plenty of that.

There is NO rush hour! What would be slow-moving or bumper to bumper this time of day is like smooth flowing.

I'm sure no one is laughing at the preppers now. Twilight Zone!


Post# 1063839 , Reply# 23   3/19/2020 at 19:44 (1,470 days old) by CircleW (NE Cincinnati OH area)        
Just returned!

A short time ago.

Went first to my favorite bakery, as it was "crazy Thursday". Unfortunately, they had sold out of the special, which was a loaf of bread, 4 cupcakes, and a coffee cake - all for $9.00. They still had bread and cupcakes, so got some of those, plus a pecan cinnamon elephant ear. Wanted cinnamon bread, but they were out - told me to call early to reserve some.

My next stop was Gordon Food Service, where I picked up the case of soup I ordered the week before last. Also got some plastic cups. The had some paper towels, but no toilet tissue. Plenty of dispenser towels and napkins, though.

Afterwards I stopped at McAlister's Deli for a sandwich and sweet tea. A few other customers were there, all waiting about 10 or more feet from each other. Got my order and ate it in my vehicle.

Next was Target, where I got a few things such as Allegra, and an Easter card for a friend. Avoided going down an aisle if someone else was in it. No PT, TP or bottled water.

My last stop was the gas station, and I filled my tank for $1.66/gal.

Traffic was actually heavier than I had expected.

I probably won't go out again for several days. Today we had heavy rain, but I hope the sun will come out soon. Everyone should feel better when they can be outside in warm sunshine.






Post# 1063850 , Reply# 24   3/19/2020 at 22:16 (1,470 days old) by Tomturbomatic (Beltsville, MD)        

I went to the Kosher Grocer this afternoon. Calm, full of stuff and nice people, both staff and customers. I got into a discussion with a lady while I was picking out macaroons. She loved them when younger, but does not like cocomut now. She shared my love for Peter Paul Mounds bars when we were both younger. It never occurred to me that we were maybe a little too close to each other while talking. Oh Well. It was a very pleasant experience. The only thing I did not find was sunflower seeds. They are not in good supply on Amazon, either and dealers who used to offer them on Prime with free shipping are not doing so now.

Post# 1063854 , Reply# 25   3/19/2020 at 23:20 (1,470 days old) by whirlykenmore78 (Prior Lake MN (GMT-0500 CDT.))        
Was at Target today:

whirlykenmore78's profile picture
Most Items in stock except fresh meat, canned goods, dishwashing detergent(no problem as I just ordered a case of Cascade fryer boil out) and pasta. Guy stocking said they were restocking as trucks could get there. Did not look at the paper goods aisle as I do not need any. Bought Paper towels and toilet paper at Costco 3 weeks ago before the whole world went off the rails.
People WAKE THE F&CK UP Hoarding 6 years of food does not stop COVID-19 One month is the most you need! Quit F&cking it up for the rest of us.
WK78


Post# 1063856 , Reply# 26   3/19/2020 at 23:45 (1,470 days old) by RP2813 (Sannazay)        

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$1.66/gallon for gas?  We're thrilled around these parts to find it below $3, which is becoming more and more commonplace even among the major brands.


Post# 1063882 , Reply# 27   3/20/2020 at 08:02 (1,469 days old) by vacerator (Macomb, Michigan)        
Economic impact;

could be severe. Hope not. As for a Govt. rescue check, I doubt we'll get one, and if we do, won't cash it unless we absolutely need it, or our kids do. It won't be tax free, and nobody is buying my vote with their pied piper wartime savior, scare the flock rhetoric. At least now has no option but to try acting like a proper leader without deflection.
Either there can be bailouts again, or allow the economy to reset via deflation.
Ceo's and top executives should have to take compensation, and bonus concessions before workers. They should not be allowed to scoop up shares at devalued amounts wether in the corporate names, or personally either.


Post# 1063890 , Reply# 28   3/20/2020 at 09:59 (1,469 days old) by Logixx (Germany)        

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Paid $4.85/gal. Can't remember the last time it was that cheap. Now, if there only were places to drive to... 😅

Post# 1063929 , Reply# 29   3/20/2020 at 21:10 (1,469 days old) by warmsecondrinse (Fort Lee, NJ)        

I went to a 7/11 today and found they had the usual amount of toilet paper and paper towels.

Re: #24 Kosher Grocer

I read an article on the NY Daily News website (routed there from New York 1) about how Asian grocers are better stocked than mainstream supermarkets. The link is below. I have an H Mart (Korean chain) nearby. I might check them out if I need anything. Also on the same website I saw a headline about how neighbourhood stores in the Bronx have full shelves while big box stores have empty ones. I looked for the article to post here but couldn't find it, sorry.

So maybe small neighborhood stores catering to a specific demographic group might provide a better shopping experience?

OTOH, it might not be a good idea to go to a grocer catering to your OWN ethnicity. I used to live near Brach's Glatt on Main Street in Kew Garden Hills and did a good bit of shopping there. If I ate now like I did back then I'd double my weight and have cholesterol through the roof! But, man.... they had the BEST! Chicken liver, rye bread that you could use for a door stop, leben ... and don't get me started on their baked goods!



CLICK HERE TO GO TO warmsecondrinse's LINK


Post# 1063985 , Reply# 30   3/21/2020 at 10:30 (1,468 days old) by Tomturbomatic (Beltsville, MD)        

I have been shopping at this family's store since January, 1976. I avoid the richest of the deli/bakery items and only buy the whitefish salad when it is on sale.

Post# 1063992 , Reply# 31   3/21/2020 at 10:44 (1,468 days old) by ea56 (Cotati, Calif.)        
Well So Much For Social Distancing

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I’m appalled at what I’m witnessing on our local news showing hoards of people flocking to beaches, parks and stores, most much closer than 6 feet apart.  But a story in todays newspaper really takes the cake.  There are several accounts of entire families going on shopping outings, especially with small children, wandering the aisles aimlessly, touching everything in sight, because the kids don’t like being cooped up, WTH!   

 

These fools are endangering all of us.  The closure of schools and keeping everyone at home, and away from the workplace wasn’t meant to be a GD vacation, it was meant to protect the health of everyone.  Clearly American’s refuse to practice good common sense.  Only ONE person from each household should be venturing out on a shopping expedition, and only when absolutely necessary, and get in and out ASAP.  One Home Depot employee was quoted as saying that the store is filled with people and families just browsing around as if there was nothing to worry about, no real need to be there for something essential that may have broke down!

 

We have a premium local grocery store that I only shop at for incidentals due to their higher prices that is opening daily from 6am to 7am for seniors only.  For the duration of this crisis I think that I’m just going to limit our shopping to this store.  

 

And I hope that our local officials are going to begin sternly warning these families that their recreational outings to the store are against the law during the COVID-19 crisis.  For crying out loud people wake up!

 

I also hope that Target and Amazon will begin to get their collective acts together and start making online ordering and shipping of essentials something that we can depend upon during the pandemic, it makes the most sense of all.  I’m more than willing to wait a few days for my items to arrive to avoid going to the store right now.  But when I check online nothings available due to high demand!  

 

I’m suffering from the worst sprained leg in my life right now, trying to take care of it at home to avoid taking medical staff away from people that may be seriously ill, and to avoid any potential exposure to COVID-19 so  when I see this blatant disregard for public safety it pisses me off.

 

Eddie


Post# 1064015 , Reply# 32   3/21/2020 at 14:32 (1,468 days old) by Good-Shepherd (New Jersey)        
hoards of people flocking to beaches, parks These fools

Actually, a beach or park is one the healthiest place to be.

Solar UV rays and fresh air are powerful anti-microbials.
Plus, the sun exposure increases Vitamin D levels which boosts the immune system. Thats why viruses go away in the spring and summer.

In fact, during the 1918 Spanish flu Boston set up outdoor field hospitals which increased recovery times .


Post# 1064016 , Reply# 33   3/21/2020 at 14:34 (1,468 days old) by ea56 (Cotati, Calif.)        

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I have an idea that may curtail people from violating the shelter in place orders by taking the family on unnecessary shopping expeditions, ect.  If they are issued a citation, send that info to the Feds, and no economic stimulus check for you!  

 

After all, the only reason for having everyone out of school and work was to protect the public health.  If you choose to violate this order and jeopardize your fellow citizens, then you must be prepared to pay the price for your reckless behavior.

 

That may get peoples attention.  But then again, law enforcement already has their hands full, especially since they are now emptying the jails to prevent the spread of COVID-19 among the incarcerated.   Just another damned if you do and damned if you don’t situation.

 

Eddie


Post# 1064017 , Reply# 34   3/21/2020 at 14:38 (1,468 days old) by ea56 (Cotati, Calif.)        

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Yes, parks and beaches are healthy places to be, out in the sunshine, just keep at least 6 feet of distance to protect everyone.  Thats not too much to ask and easily accomplished.

 

Everyone, use your heads and stay safe, this is going to last for months and the sooner we all alter our behaviors, the better off we will all be for it.

 

Eddie


Post# 1064022 , Reply# 35   3/21/2020 at 15:13 (1,468 days old) by cuffs054 (MONTICELLO, GA)        

Loved that CostCo is not taking returns on T paper, baby wipes, etc. Hoarders can eat them!


Post# 1064146 , Reply# 36   3/22/2020 at 13:13 (1,467 days old) by twintubdexter (Palm Springs)        

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I usually try and post things that are uplifting and humorous. If this Facebook link will open for you it will make you feel sick...sorry



CLICK HERE TO GO TO twintubdexter's LINK

Post# 1064160 , Reply# 37   3/22/2020 at 16:52 (1,467 days old) by Logixx (Germany)        
Huh?

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How was she allowed to do this?!

I was recently sent a video via WhatsApp where the cashier in a drugstore threatened to call the police on some woman who wanted to buy a full shopping cart of toilet paper. She eventually left getting none. Same happened to a man who wanted to buy 100 lbs. of flour.

Then there's also this sign put up by a supermarket owner that made the news. It reminds people to be responsible and lists the new price of toilet paper at that store. 1 package = regular price. 2 packages = 5 Euros extra. 3 and more packages = 10 Euros extra each. The extra money made was donated to fight Corona.


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Post# 1064170 , Reply# 38   3/22/2020 at 18:04 (1,467 days old) by RP2813 (Sannazay)        

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Two things:

 

1)  That Dollar Tree should be reported. 

2)  The license plates on both vehicles should have been reported to the police.  People are getting arrested for this sort of thing.

 

OK, three things, because I will absolutely judge this trash pulp book by its cover:

 

3) Why am I not surprised that this happened in Florida?  This cracker bitch is even wearing the official Trumpist uniform, so her political leanings were already a dead give-away.

 


Post# 1064179 , Reply# 39   3/22/2020 at 18:37 (1,467 days old) by perc-o-prince (Southboro, Mass)        
Solar UV rays and fresh air are powerful anti-microbials.

Remember there's a difference between anti-microbial and anti-viral.

Stores here are hit and miss. Some have 90% of their pasta gone while others have at least 50% present. Same with the bread aisles. The only thing universally missing unless you catch them at just the right time is TP, hand sanitizer and sanitizing wipes.

If people would just get a clue.... stop panic shopping for a week, let the stores even out, then go back to buying normal quantities.

And keep those brats home! I've passed an elementary school baseball field and town soccer field several times in the past week, while they're closed, and there are groups using them. Yes, I called them in and the popo evacuated them. UGH!!!

Best of luck to all,

Chuck (heading out to wash my hands!)


Post# 1064189 , Reply# 40   3/22/2020 at 19:58 (1,467 days old) by Lorainfurniture (Cleveland )        

People are definitely losing their minds over this. It’s slightly annoying because my cleaners are now out of stock, and I have to be conservative about bleach. I sold almost 100 freezers last week. It was fucking insane. The only reason there is any sort of shortage is because people are hoarding.

Whatever makes you feel comfortable I guess, but it’s kind of a dick move.

The population did not dramatically increase overnight.
Humans are not suddenly eating 3x as much as normal.
Cows are still producing milk, chickens are laying eggs.


The only thing that has changed is that people are hoarding.


Post# 1064233 , Reply# 41   3/23/2020 at 00:15 (1,467 days old) by tolivac (greenville nc)        

This scene is ridiculous-that woman bought enough potty roll to last for YEARS!!!Dhr shouldn't be ALLOWED to buy ANYMORE from any store!Look,other people need it besides you-and this bug DOESN'T cause digestive issues.A good thought use the potty paper instead of usual tissues to wipe your nose if infected and FLUSH it-don't put the used tissue in the trash where it could more easily contaminate others.A dozen roll pack lasts me a couple months-that's all I need-figure in that time this mess will be long over.

Post# 1064266 , Reply# 42   3/23/2020 at 08:57 (1,466 days old) by vacerator (Macomb, Michigan)        
Our local store

is limiting TWO packs of toilet tissue per customer. If we can't get it, I'll install one of those seats with a built in bidet. It's easy enough to launder face or butt towels.
I'm glad my folks are now in a better place, and not living during this. They had it rough growing up in the great depression. My dad grew up in a 2 bedroom house with 5 older sisters and two younger brothers. Thye had nothing, but always managed to eat. They had no inside bathrooms until after WW2, nor gas heat. The house and water were heated on the kitchen wood stove, and a small parlor stove one in the front room.


Post# 1064329 , Reply# 43   3/23/2020 at 16:05 (1,466 days old) by MattL (Flushing, MI)        

When out this afternoon, hit a few stores.  Got pretty well stocked up on stuff EXCEPT paper products.  Got red skin potatoes at Sam's  Club, would have preferred Idaho,  but not quibbling.  Oranges, grapefruit green grapes, sardines, condensed milk, baking stuff at Aldi,  25# flour, noodles, and lemons at Gordon's.  Stopped at Kroger but nothing I needed. 

Got lots of fresh produce and frozen stuff, so I can hunker down for a couple of weeks easily.

 

Hope others fared as well.


Post# 1064334 , Reply# 44   3/23/2020 at 16:22 (1,466 days old) by petek (Ontari ari ari O )        
Wore my mask and

petek's profile picture
I popped into the smaller (circa 1950s) grocery store up the street today rather than hit the megasizers and they had plenty of food items. The stockboys were busy filling up some empty spaces.. No TP and yeast though, thankfully I have enough, plus I started my sourdough starter this morning,, just in case My mask is the proper N whatever it is. I keep it in the car along with a bottle of hand san.

Post# 1064342 , Reply# 45   3/23/2020 at 17:12 (1,466 days old) by Steved (Guilderland, New York)        
Grocery pick up woes

Our local markets offer online ordering with pick up to save going inside. Thinking this might be a good idea, I placed an order last Friday for pickup today. I made the mistake of not checking “no substitutes “ on some of the things we are particular about. Big mistake! They must leave interpretation to the person picking the order. We ordered chicken sausage (don’t eat pork) and got pork sausage. Ordered low sodium organic canned tomatoes and got regular Rotel tomatoes with chilies. My message is to be sure to check the “no substitutes” box on anything you care about before you submit your order. Side note though. Snaps to these folks who are doing these services for the rest of us! 🤩🤩

Post# 1064364 , Reply# 46   3/23/2020 at 22:42 (1,466 days old) by CircleW (NE Cincinnati OH area)        

Went to Menard's today, hoping to find more of the Hormel Completes dinners. Absolutely none left in either of the locations I visited. About half the grocery area was empty. Plenty of candy, though.

Also was in Meijer, hoping to find the above dinners, but no luck. They were also out of Velveta Shells & Cheese. They were low on canned vegetables, but had plenty of pickled beets, so got a couple jars. Also got tuna, and some pickle relish. They had plenty of bread, so got a loaf. Also got a bottle of vitamin D3.

My last stop was Kroger, where I found they had bottled water, so got a gallon. Also got a frozen dinner and carton of pop. Again, no Hormel dinners.


Post# 1064366 , Reply# 47   3/23/2020 at 22:53 (1,466 days old) by ea56 (Cotati, Calif.)        

ea56's profile picture

I plan on trying to shop on maybe Wednesday.  I’d like to be able to buy at least 5 lbs, of flour, but with people buying 25 lbs at a time, stores around here have NONE.  Oh, well.

 

I’ve given up on finding any hand sanitizer.  Stores really need to start enforcing buying limits. They’ll sell it all no matter what anyway and won’t be losing any money, so at least give everyone a fair shot at  meeting their needs.  Not everyone is in a position to spend large amounts at a time, they should still be able to get what they need too.

 

Still hoping that I’ll be able to order online soon and just stay the hell out of this frenzy.  

 

Eddie


Post# 1064380 , Reply# 48   3/24/2020 at 05:31 (1,465 days old) by thomasortega (El Pueblo de Nuestra Señora de Los Angeles de Porciúncula)        
regarding the video above.

Yes, it's disturbing. Nobody that has at least 2 neurones would 1) Hoard all that toilet paper and 2) Hoard all that toilet paper right during this emergency situation.

HOWEVER (note a giant however in capital letters)

1) Was she really hoarding the toilet paper? Nobody knows. What if she was, for example, buying all that toilet paper to donate to charity?
2) Even if she was buying all the toilet paper to hoard and have enough to wipe her butt until 2095. We have to remind that (LUCKILY) we're a capitalist country, not a socialist country.
I totally agree she was doing something "immoral", being selfish and even irrational (if she was really buying to hoard) but, even if she was buying to hoard, it's not "illegal". If the retail store didn't limit how many units a customer can buy, she was just using her RIGHT and FREEDOM to buy as many as she wants.

Never let our country loose the best thing we have: FREEDOM! We are all free to go to a store and buy anything we want, as soon as we respect the rules and limitations. Be thankful that we are not limited by the government like "this month you'll buy 1 soap bar, 4 TP rolls but as you have a diarrhea, the president authorizes you to use your money to buy an additional roll this month."


If she was REALLY buying only to stock up (hoard), then she wasn't different than MILLIONS of people all over the world.

I can now say I live immediately over a historical TP Bunker. My neighbor (front house, same lot) that lives alone and probably has 10 butts and follow a very strict and weird diet told me other day "Thomas, I cleaned the nuclear shelter and put some things there just in case. If you need something, feel free to grab some".

Bored, I decided to go to the shelter (it's one of those cold war bunkers built under the basement that is under his house) only to discover it is halfway full up to the ceiling with probably more toilet paper than shown in the video above.

I even made a joke... If the soviets decide to bomb Los Angeles, we will die, but at least the toilet paper will be safe.

By the way, my neighbor is a very nice guy but he doesn't know much about emergency preparedness shopping list.

Good thing is.... I'll probably spend the next 10 years not worrying about running out of TP... well.... considering the absurdly high moisture down there, specially now that it's raining almost every day... I'm not exactly sure that TP will last more than a few weeks. Didn't he think that it can be the reason why that shelter is abandoned for 60+ years? Well... he bought all that TP, so maybe he didn't really use his brain.

By the way... Don't those people know how cheap and easy to install those "bidet" hand showers are? They can save money, protect the environment (reduce TP usage), protect the pipes (no clogs) and the old school "water + soap, rinse, repeat, pat dry" is WAY BETTER than TP alone or those nasty toilet clogging flushable wipes.


Post# 1064433 , Reply# 49   3/24/2020 at 15:20 (1,465 days old) by cuffs054 (MONTICELLO, GA)        

Just hit the local "Super". Zero dishwasher detergent. What are people doing with that?


Post# 1064518 , Reply# 50   3/25/2020 at 03:56 (1,464 days old) by askolover (South of Nash Vegas, TN)        

askolover's profile picture

I got out of work late today around 7:30am so I figured I'd stop by the Walmart in Franklin, Tn since it would just be opening.  Surprisingly enough, they had just about everything restocked.  I was able to get all meds, home cleaning goods, and food that I had on my shopping list.  They had limits on quantity but that's ok.  Got another container of GV sanitizing wipes, a two pack of lysol surface cleaning spray, and fabric softener.  I'm keeping a pkg of lysol wipes in the car to wipe off ATM buttons before and after I touch them. 

 

One of my coworkers just tested positive over the past 36 hours.  At least I haven't worked right beside him over the weekend.  Now he's off on quarantine along with the 3 other nurses he shares an apartment with.  This could actually take out a hospital's entire nursing workforce in a short time.


Post# 1064519 , Reply# 51   3/25/2020 at 04:37 (1,464 days old) by DaveAMKrayoGuy (Oak Park, MI)        

daveamkrayoguy's profile picture
Whoops, I’m gonna have to post this in Shopper’s Square:

Just like that, an obscurity written by the late-Walt Becker and Donald Fagen that their group Steely Dan never recorded, “Giles Of The River” (just like “I Mean To Shine” recorded by Barbra Streisand, making its debut on her album BARBRA JOAN STREISAND, that Fagen played organ on and saw a couple other versions by Diahann Carroll and Barbara MNair) which John Kay of Steppenwolf did record, of which I should have kept my copy of JK’s MY SPORTIN’ LIFE for...

That is: ALL THE RECORD STORES CLOSED, so it’s too late to go and see if I can find near me...



— Dave


CLICK HERE TO GO TO DaveAMKrayoGuy's LINK


Post# 1064529 , Reply# 52   3/25/2020 at 07:07 (1,464 days old) by appnut (TX)        

appnut's profile picture

I went yesterday morning to Walmart with my neighbor for the 60+ crowd opening early at 6:00 am.  I got most everything I needed.  But no dried beans, rice, pasta,or whole wheat pasta.  And the cereal I eat--Total or Cheerios Multigrain weren't available.  Didn't have the Fiber One I usually snack on either.  Also no ultra filtured, ultra pasteurized milk to make yogurt.  


Post# 1064530 , Reply# 53   3/25/2020 at 07:10 (1,464 days old) by retro-man (- boston,ma)        

Went grocery shopping yesterday. I would say about 2/3 of the store looked normal. Stocked shelves all over. Some isles were almost empty like pasta, tomato sauces, but the meat isles were looking pretty stock along with paper towels and toilet paper. They even had ice cream in some brands back in stock. Went about 9:30 in the morning wasn't crowded, parking was great. Got to the checkout line and no one in front of me was in and out in half an hour. At both entrances they had employees wiping down carts with disinfectant and spraying them all over with a cleaner. The bread isle was completely filled and faced. Looked like I had remembered it. lol

Jon


Post# 1064540 , Reply# 54   3/25/2020 at 09:36 (1,464 days old) by vacerator (Macomb, Michigan)        
Doing less laundry

as working out at home. Do miss the gym.

Post# 1064549 , Reply# 55   3/25/2020 at 10:06 (1,464 days old) by petek (Ontari ari ari O )        

petek's profile picture
The gym is what I'm missing the most ... arrrgghhhh
Geeze I wish it would hurry and warm up.
Not looking forward to having to trim, or let Larry trim, my hair.That might be scary


Post# 1064553 , Reply# 56   3/25/2020 at 11:14 (1,464 days old) by appnut (TX)        

appnut's profile picture

My other half has found a big bag of pinto beans; the cereal I eat; and whole wheat pasta near him in Alabama and will be mailing a package to me.  


Post# 1064578 , Reply# 57   3/25/2020 at 13:54 (1,464 days old) by wayupnorth (On a lake between Bangor and Bar Harbor, Maine)        

wayupnorth's profile picture
Just returned from town and my local IGA was well stocked and had a big meat sale so I bought several packages to freeze. Walmart was so-so stocked but had the remaining things on my list. Finally the 8" of snow from night before last is melting so I could get my truck right to my door to unload.

Post# 1064629 , Reply# 58   3/25/2020 at 22:28 (1,464 days old) by warmsecondrinse (Fort Lee, NJ)        

#54:

Yes, I'm definitely doing less laundry. That's probably because the only time I put on a shirt is when I'm working on camera and the only time I add pants is when I go check the mail :-)

#55:

Haircut: That'll be interesting. The last few years I've had ridiculous breakouts from every gel I've tried. If it happens again I'll just shave it all off!


Post# 1064634 , Reply# 59   3/25/2020 at 22:46 (1,464 days old) by twintubdexter (Palm Springs)        
I'd much rather go shopping...

twintubdexter's profile picture

Didn't go shopping, but did have an appointment at Eisenhower Medical Center with the surgeon that will be performing my cancer surgery on 4/7. The normally crowded parking  lots were very empty. No need to use my handicap placard. No masks on attendants, nurses or the doctor. The surgeon even went to shake my hand but I opted for a bump. I won't be allowed any visitors unless they're there to make an end-of-life decision...so please stay away. I'm very nervous about facing this alone. At least I'll bring my tablet so I can stay in touch here. Stay healthy laughing


Post# 1064637 , Reply# 60   3/25/2020 at 22:50 (1,464 days old) by CircleW (NE Cincinnati OH area)        
Joe,

Wishing you the best with your surgery.

Post# 1064638 , Reply# 61   3/25/2020 at 22:53 (1,464 days old) by ea56 (Cotati, Calif.)        
Joe,

ea56's profile picture

I’m so sorry that you have to face this alone, especially at this time.  I really hope that it all goes well and you can come home soon.  You have my very best wishes for a complete and speedy recovery.

Best,

Eddie


Post# 1064644 , Reply# 62   3/25/2020 at 23:51 (1,464 days old) by gansky1 (Omaha, The Home of the TV Dinner!)        

gansky1's profile picture
Dishwasher detergent - people are staying home, a family can easily run the dishwasher twice a day if they're eating 3 meals, snacks, glasses, utensils. Dishwasher sales will probably spike in the late-summer and fall.

Haven't been to the grocery store for a couple of weeks, Costco/Sams for nearly a month. I need to put dishwasher det. on my list, have only 10 or so pods left. Definitely have run a few more loads than the norm here. The Anti-Bacterial cycle and the sani-rinse option, also a new norm.


Post# 1064652 , Reply# 63   3/26/2020 at 00:56 (1,464 days old) by Tomturbomatic (Beltsville, MD)        

Joe, wishing you the best. Tom

Post# 1064662 , Reply# 64   3/26/2020 at 07:15 (1,463 days old) by appnut (TX)        

appnut's profile picture

My partner was able find some things I need, that cannot be found here,  in Alabama.  Hopefully the package will arrive on Saturday.  


Post# 1064681 , Reply# 65   3/26/2020 at 10:37 (1,463 days old) by vacerator (Macomb, Michigan)        
Either folks are

calming down, or Thursday mornings are usually slow because those still getting paid often do today. I usually shop early Fri. afternoons. It's much busier. Thats why I went this morning. T.P. still limited, only paper plates on the shelf. I got one of the two jugs of Persil, and some liquid dish soap. Still no Lysol cleaner.

Post# 1064687 , Reply# 66   3/26/2020 at 12:24 (1,463 days old) by foraloysius (Leeuwarden, Friesland, the Netherlands)        

foraloysius's profile picture
Overhere in the NL we are in almost total lock down. Going for a walk, a drive or a bike ride is ok as long as you keep distance from others. No groups of people are allowed, fines are serious. So far the policy seems to work, the curve flattens a little, but it's too early to draw conclusions.

I'm locked inside, I don't want to risk anything with my asthma. I'm having problems with allergies anyway, don't want to scare of people when sneezing. I decided to stop cooking, so shopping is not as much as an issue. I get meals delivered from a meal service, sort of like a meals on wheels thing. I ordered 5 meals per week for the next four weeks. They get delivered once a week. I still have enough in the freezer and enough things in stock to cook simple meals on the other two days. I order other groceries online at the supermarket next door and get them delivered. Just like bread from a baker and medication from the pharmacy. So far so good. Most things are available here, even toilet paper. People started buying that, but after a report on TV that we would never run out of TP, that settled down.

Only thing that is hard to get to is hand desinfection. Fortunately I had bought some already, I have enough to get through the coming months. I ventured outside once this week to get rid of the garbage bag and have a look in the letter box. Two neighbour ladies on the same floor of my apartment building started a Whatsapp group for people who need help. So far I didn't have to ask them.

I realise I am blessed with my apartment and living alone there, having people around me who want to help and our very advanced internet shopping and payment systems.

Hang in there!


Post# 1064691 , Reply# 67   3/26/2020 at 14:12 (1,463 days old) by petek (Ontari ari ari O )        

petek's profile picture
I'm incensed that Walmart Superstore, Giant Tiger, and others are being allowed to remain open because they sell food and drugs which only takes less than 1/2 of their total retail floorspace. I just drove over to Walmart to see (not go in) and the parking lot is about as full as it is on a normal day, people walking out with tv's, bicycles etc. Yet all the otehr stores have to be closed. They're profiting off the backs of other stores and their employees and ultimately everyone elses health. They should be required to section off the non essential areas of the store and just sell food and drugs.

Post# 1064692 , Reply# 68   3/26/2020 at 14:20 (1,463 days old) by ea56 (Cotati, Calif.)        

ea56's profile picture

I went out today and after checking online it appeared that the Target 6 miles north of here had more in stock, so I went there first.  I hadn’t driven the car for 2 weeks, but it started right up.  The traffic was about 50% of normal.

 

The young lady in front of the store gave me a freshly sanitized cart.  No paper products at all, NADA! But this is OK for now, we have enough to last for about 3-4 weeks.  This Target only has iceberg lettuce and precut romaine, I passed.  No whole carrots, no tangerines, no green peppers, no butter, no bacon, pasta, rice, beans, no hand sanitizer, no Clorox wipes, only a few small bottles of dish soap.  But I did manage to get 2 lbs of ground sirloin,1 lb Italian sausage, 1 lb boneless pork chops,  4 lbs of boneless chicken breasts, 8 bananas, two bags of Gala apples, 10 lbs of potatoes, 3 lbs. onions, 5 bags of frozen vegetables, a package of Oscar Mayer beef hot dogs, cheddar cheese, two 1 lb. containers of lunchmeat, one turkey and one honey ham and juice boxes of David, Cheerios and Shredded wheat and 2 bags of dark brown sugar, no white sugar,  I have a bag already and that will be enough.

 

Stopped at the Target near home on the way back and got romaine lettuce, 4 green peppers, 3 lbs carrots, 4 avocados, 2 bags of Clementines, flour tortillas, enchillada sauce, 4 cans of pinto beans and a big bottle dish soap and 120 oz of Gain liquid.

 

I last put gas in the car 3 weeks ago and when I left home there were 30 miles on the trio odometer, upon return 44 miles.  I’ve never driven less in my life.

 

So, now if it really gets bad we will be set for a very long time without needing to go out except for milk, 1/2&1/2, butter, eggs and bananas.

 

Everyone was very nice and the store staff were all cheerful.  I thanked each of them that I saw for working and keeping the store open for us.

 

I got around OK on my bad right leg, limping thru the store like Grandpa McCoy on the Real McCoy’s. LOL

 

I was dreading this shopping trip, and I’m glad I was able to get what we will need for along time and glad the chore is over, after putting it all away, including cutting each of those huge chicken breasts in half horizontally and putting them in individual freezer bags for latter use.

Eddie


Post# 1064696 , Reply# 69   3/26/2020 at 15:52 (1,463 days old) by appnut (TX)        

appnut's profile picture
Eddie, I'm so glad your leg has healed enough you were able to run that errand.

Post# 1064700 , Reply# 70   3/26/2020 at 16:01 (1,463 days old) by ea56 (Cotati, Calif.)        

ea56's profile picture

Thanks Bob for the well wishes.  It still has a ways to go and I’m being careful.  I was going to take another short walk today, but after todays shopping expedition I’m going to call it a day, and try again tomorrow.

 

 I’m not an especially religious person, but the phrase, “God doesn’t give you more than you can handle” keeps running thru my mind, and I believe this is true.

 

I do appreciate yours and all the other members kind words.  And as I’ve said before, I’m thankful that due to several prior serious sprains like this in the past I’m equipped to go all Marcus Welby and manage the recovery on my own this time.

 

Hope you and everyone else out there are managing well too.  This one helluva challenge, injury or not.

 

Eddie


Post# 1064705 , Reply# 71   3/26/2020 at 16:14 (1,463 days old) by ea56 (Cotati, Calif.)        
RE: Reply #66

ea56's profile picture

Louis, I’m glad you are being careful and taking this seriously in light of your asthma.  I have mild asthma and severe allergies myself.  I received allergy shots every other week from 1991 until the end of last year.  The new allergy doctor at Kaiser advised me that the newest train of thought is that after many years of allergy shot treatment one eventually gets no further benefit from these shots and suggested I try going off the shots and see if I can manage OK without them.  So far I’m fine without them, taking 10mg of Claritin in the morning and just using Flonase in the morning and Alvesco inhaler 1 puff in the morning and 1 in the evening and my lungs are clearer than they’ve been in years, which is a good thing with COVID-19 out there.

 

It’s good that you live in an apartment building with neighbors that are helpful.   The good side in the human nature of good people will pull us thru this terrible crisis.  Please keep staying safe my friend.

 

Eddie


Post# 1064708 , Reply# 72   3/26/2020 at 16:45 (1,463 days old) by perc-o-prince (Southboro, Mass)        

I happened to stop at a Walmart I was near yesterday because my cousin said her daughter called and said they had TP in the Walmart near her (2 towns over). Voila- I grabbed a 12 pack of my usual brand to restock at about the usual time I would restock. I still had 8 rolls, but I always keep the hamper stocked as we draw on that for the other bathrooms in the house.

 

Tried to buy Everclear (or similar) at Total Wine so I could put some in a small spritz bottle, but they were out. Apparently someone posted a vid of how to make sanitizer with it- I may raid the limoncello I have brewing! It'll be the tastiest and best-smelling hand sanitizer out there! LOL!

 

All-in-all, I've been able to get anything we've needed. Even found yeast at Wegman's yesterday (stopped on a whim as I was near it delivering a typewriter we sold) only to find Rich found some at Roche Bros but didn't tell me! Glad I took a 3-pack to a friend who had lamented on Facebook that he didn't have any!

 

People need to calm the F down. Everything will be restocked if we allow the time for it!

 

Stores aren't allowing returns for good reason. I'm hoping when the open that back up they ban or limit returns on the HTF goods people hoarded! I spoke to a manager at one of the supermarkets we frequent, and they're hoping it's no returns or one unit per receipt. I hope all these hoarders get stuck with their TP, paper towels, flour, et cetera!

 

Hope you're all being safe,

 

Chuck


Post# 1064713 , Reply# 73   3/26/2020 at 17:24 (1,463 days old) by gansky1 (Omaha, The Home of the TV Dinner!)        

gansky1's profile picture
Stopped at Costco today on the way home to get fresh fruit for us, my sister and mom. We'll split the box of oranges, honeycrisp apples and I got each of us a kale salad kit and a box of strawberries. Probably should have bought more berries as my son and I can nibble a whole box completely gone as I clean them.

Costco changed their entry to a door at the far end of the cart hall and while not limiting entry numbers today, they seemed to be monitoring customer population pretty closely between entering and exiting attendants. They're out of many things, posted on a board as you come up to the entrance. Sanitized carts are waiting near the door. I got everything I needed, little interest in shopping the hard-lines and clothing.

The checkouts are every-other lane open, new plexiglas guards between customer and cashier and at all stations in customer service. All employees are gloved and it's asked to put as little as possible on the belt, they scan and double count items in the cart. The exit attendant doesn't take your receipt to mark as checked any longer, just matched a few items in the cart against the receipt you hold up and sends you on your way.

I have to say, some of the changes and adjustments we are all making will hopefully carry forward as they are good practice, generally. At least for now, it's hard to escape the nagging feeling of vulnerability at being in stores and in close proximity to others. I was glad to get back to my truck and hand sanitizer, even though logic still tells me that's a teensy bit irrational. I wonder how long it will be before we let our guard down again?


Post# 1064721 , Reply# 74   3/26/2020 at 19:20 (1,463 days old) by petek (Ontari ari ari O )        

petek's profile picture
It isn't irrational. THings are going to get worse.

Post# 1064725 , Reply# 75   3/26/2020 at 20:36 (1,463 days old) by ea56 (Cotati, Calif.)        

ea56's profile picture

You’re right Petek, things are going to get much worse before they begin to get better.  It’s not unreasonable for some to try and have 30 days supplies, especially the immune compromised, other preexisting conditions and seniors.  Some of us may be unable to leave our homes at all due either to increased rates of infected persons, or being quarantined yourself.

 

This doesn’t mean though that households of 4 or less need to have pallets of TP and non perishable foods.  The trouble is most people don’t cook at home anymore regularly, and don’t shop for a weeks worth of groceries at a time, so they don’t know how to reasonably estimate what they may need for a possible 3 to 4 weeks of necessities, therefore they panic and buy everything that isn’t nailed down so someone else doesn’t get some.  This is a mindset that I hope people can learn to change by adapting to the current crisis, some may, but many won’t.  That’s life.

 

 I shopped today ( a regular shopping trip) for the first time in 2 wks, and bought twice the quantities that I would have usually purchased for 2 wks.  I figure that we can go 3 - 4 wks without needing to shop.  It gave me a sigh of relief knowing I don’t have to be around any strangers and possibly be infected.

 

Eddie


Post# 1064728 , Reply# 76   3/26/2020 at 21:01 (1,463 days old) by petek (Ontari ari ari O )        

petek's profile picture
I've been posting my rant locally on different pages about Walmart etc being fully open for everything, not just food/drugs and the pushback from the ignorant masses is unbelievable. They seem to think that just because grocery stores are exempt from closing that it's perfectly okay for them to just continue to shop in there as usual.. They can't seem to comprehend that what they are doing is worsening the situation.

Post# 1064733 , Reply# 77   3/26/2020 at 21:58 (1,463 days old) by ea56 (Cotati, Calif.)        

ea56's profile picture

In both the Targets I was in this morning I only saw people in the grocery, cleaning supplies and OTC medicine depts.  At least around here people now seem to be getting that this isn’t the time to be browsing and shopping for anything non essential.  I’m planning on staying the hell home now.

 

Eddie


Post# 1064742 , Reply# 78   3/26/2020 at 23:31 (1,463 days old) by warmsecondrinse (Fort Lee, NJ)        

First, #58:

Best of luck with your surgery. Please keep us posted.

---------

Australia apparently is going to have a total lockdown. I haven't actually checked but AussieBum let me know they're having a storewide pre-lockdown 50% sale! I've bought a few things from them over the years and must say that the quality is good for the price. Given how little I'm going out, clothes are one thing I don't need!

---------

Like Louis and a lot of you I'm pretty well-stocked. I get as much as I can delivered. I hate to think it but you're probably right. Things will get worse before they get better.

I've a dear friend in Manhattan who has an even more dire outlook. He's a poster boy for Covid response in all ways except for stocking up on food. Like most Manhattanites, he drives but sold his car years ago as he never used it. He's pretty much limited to what he can comfortably carry. I try to avoid nagging and encourage him to buy just ONE more of whatever he buys anyway, but I don't think it's sinking in. He walks a lot and I think doing daily shopping is part of his routine. I'm just afraid there'll come a day when he gets to a store and finds it closed or the shelves bare.

Anyone else know a city dweller who has this mentality?

Jim


Post# 1064779 , Reply# 79   3/27/2020 at 10:06 (1,462 days old) by vacerator (Macomb, Michigan)        
Yes Jim.

A cousin lives in Brooklyn, not far from the bridge. Her boyfriend does have a vehicle though.
I Can't say I blame A New Yorker for not having a car. Parking is a pain, etc.
Was there in June 1985, and didn't use the car for entire visit. We only took a cab once all week. Everything else there is so expensive, not paying insurance or a car payment is a plus.


Post# 1064855 , Reply# 80   3/27/2020 at 21:29 (1,462 days old) by arbilab (Ft Worth TX (Ridglea))        
Hoarding

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I have a very strong suspect for the root cause of mass hoarding:  Professional shoppers.  I run into them A LOT at Kroger.  Standing in front of what I'm looking for, trying to decide what compromise best suits what their client ordered.  I know they are prof'l shoppers because they tell me.

 

And since shopping is all they do, item limits don't really apply to them.  They can cart the limit out to their truck and go right back in for more at a different-- or the self-- checkout until the shelves are empty.  Then hoard known-demand items at home with the only limit being space and refrigeration for perishables.  How many 30-packs of toilet paper could you find room for in your house, if that was your "job"?

 

Then, seeing mostly-bare shelves, EVERYone grabs all they can because they perceive a shortage.

 

Memo to retailers:  Here's a DANDY motive to add facial recognition to your ubiquitous shoplifting cameras.  If the same schmow walks in and out more than twice in the same half hour, they are hoarding.  Set off that security alarm you put by the door and have them escorted out and greylisted for scrutiny in times of exceptional demand.  "One per customer" means ONE PER DAY, not one as many times as you can get away with, SCHMUCK.

 

Memo to Kroger:  One truck twice a week really doesn't cut it as far as inventory.  I have to stash a month worth of EVERYthing at home because you are chronically out of it when I need it.  Not just now, but for the LAST FOUR YEARS.  I've been buying groceries for 56 years and I know this is a new invention of yours because it never happened before.  You copied it from Walmart, they were like this 10 years before you were.  Why do you think I was shopping at Kroger instead of Walmart? 

For the highclass clientele??


Post# 1064859 , Reply# 81   3/27/2020 at 22:40 (1,462 days old) by twintubdexter (Palm Springs)        

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Thanks for the kind words concerning my fast-approaching cancer surgery. I haven't been to the market since this "restricted" shopping thing started. I may venture out to a Gelson's store very near me next week. Never been but I understand it's pricey. Like many stores, they have special hours for us oldsters. I guess I assume there'd be more of a sense of "shopping decorum" than at Walmart or Food 4 Less. 


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Post# 1064869 , Reply# 82   3/28/2020 at 00:32 (1,462 days old) by tolivac (greenville nc)        

The way things are "pro" shoppers NEED to be under the same restrictions as everyone else.If you are a "pro" "shopper" WHY are you buying the things at a retail store???Shouldn't you buy them from a wholesaler???The laws should apply to ALL!!!!We have TOO MANY numbskulls out there hoarding stuff they will likely NEVER use!!And if these dummies try to sell on eBay or whatever-they need to be informed price gouging is ILLEGAL!!eBay should shut those auctions down right away.-Then ban the seller from using eBay.

Post# 1064878 , Reply# 83   3/28/2020 at 09:10 (1,461 days old) by appnut (TX)        

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The exception should be shopper buy as part of a service.  HEB has set up an arrangement with Favor Delivery for people 60+, you can call a special phone number for seniors and can order up to 20 items and will be delivered the same day.  I'm going to investigate to find out just how restrictive it is.  A $10 fee for the person doing the shopping and it's delivered to your front door.  Then the person inside can retrieve from front door once they leave.


Post# 1064881 , Reply# 84   3/28/2020 at 09:29 (1,461 days old) by arbilab (Ft Worth TX (Ridglea))        

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It should be noted that HEB has had a pandemic protocol in place since 2005.

 

HEB is ahead of the game in so many ways.  In all their markets (Houston, Austin, San Antonio and neighboring) they kick Walmart's butt.  Wish we had them here.  HOW I wish.


Post# 1064889 , Reply# 85   3/28/2020 at 10:54 (1,461 days old) by perc-o-prince (Southboro, Mass)        
eBay should shut those auctions down right away.-

eBay, Amazon, Kijiji and many others have already shut down many thousands of postings for price gouging.

 

I was speaking with a manager at one store nearby and they're debating on what to do about returns once the store starts taking returns again... 1 per item per receipt, or none at all. This is for things lie TP, paper towels, sanitizer.... I hope they don't take returns on these things and the hoarders get to keep it all!

 

Chuck


Post# 1064902 , Reply# 86   3/28/2020 at 12:03 (1,461 days old) by DADoES (TX, U.S. of A.)        

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HEB here does not deliver (nor does WM) ... and I've not heard of delivery being newly-available under the current circumstances.


Post# 1064951 , Reply# 87   3/28/2020 at 16:37 (1,461 days old) by vacerator (Macomb, Michigan)        
Nice to see

a family owned grocery chain still around besides Wegmans'. Not to mention one since 1914. The one I worked for for 31 years had been for 86 years. At least after 1987, A&P did keep us afloat for twenty more.

Post# 1064952 , Reply# 88   3/28/2020 at 16:40 (1,461 days old) by perc-o-prince (Southboro, Mass)        
Glenn,

What about Whole Foods? Amazon hires shoppers for them and they deliver. Not optimal ($$) but if needed.....

Are you friendly with any of your neighbors? I'm lucky that we have family nearby and when I go out I call our cousin to see if she needs anything. She does the same with us. Works out well.

I remember in the blizzard of '78 we had to walk to the grocery store. My roomie and I would do that, but always asked the older (50's or '60's... she was "older" when we were in our 20's!) neighbor if she needed anything. Only ever had us pick up milk for her cat- otherwise she was well-stocked.

Best of luck,
Chuck


Post# 1064999 , Reply# 89   3/29/2020 at 00:13 (1,461 days old) by appnut (TX)        

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Rick, the "closest" to Ft. Worth is Ennis, Waxahachie, and Burleson.  


Post# 1065009 , Reply# 90   3/29/2020 at 03:34 (1,460 days old) by SudsMaster (SF Bay Area, California)        
UV vs. viruses

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Actually UV light can be quite effective against viruses.

 

However, the most effective UV light is UV-C, which is the type that germicidal lamps emit. Unfortunately while the sun emits UV-C, very little of it gets to the earth's surface. UV-B, which does get down, is much less germicidal/antiviral but is far more abundant than UV-C so it may have some protective effect. Perhaps more important is that outdoors a cough or sneeze quickly dissipates, whereas inside a building, the aerosols and droplets may linger far longer in the still air.

 

It's long been observed that people who go outdoors in general are healthier than those who stay inside all the time. This may be from a combination of factors, but I would think that UV light exposure, as well as fresher, less contaminated air, play a large part. Balancing that out is that those who are obliged to stay inside often may have health problems already.

 

The link below is to a NCBI publication that discusses face masks, UV light, and other factors affecting viral (flu) transmission.

 

 



CLICK HERE TO GO TO SudsMaster's LINK

Post# 1065011 , Reply# 91   3/29/2020 at 03:54 (1,460 days old) by SudsMaster (SF Bay Area, California)        

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Last time I went shopping it was to the local Costco on March 19. I got there shortly after 10 am (it opens at 9 am) and it wasn't too bad. However, when I left at 11 am it was getting a bit frantic. I had trouble exiting the building because of the continuous line of anxious shoppers pushing their carts toward the relocated entrance. I finally had to snarl at them, "You gotta let people out of the store if you want to get into the store!"... LOL...

 

No TP of course but I bought a 30 roll pack back in December and still haven't had to open it. In fact I gave six rolls to an elderly couple next door who mentioned they were running low.

 

Like Ralph said, I also have a lot of frozen food in the chest freezer that I could do well to start going through. For fresh veggies I generally go to a Cardenas Mexican style grocery in the next town. They have the best prices and selection. In fact I may pay them a visit tomorrow morning, and then Costco to get some eggs.

 

I pack hand sanitizer and disinfecting wipes when I go out shopping. Luckily I had some set aside long before this crisis.

 


Post# 1065015 , Reply# 92   3/29/2020 at 06:30 (1,460 days old) by tolivac (greenville nc)        

There are air purifiers out there that have UVC bulbs in them.The old UV bulbs used in dryers and some washers generate UVC.These lamps are very effective in destroying airborn viruses,spores,and bacteria.And if they are on surfaces the light can strike as well.The bulbs have to be shielded from eyes and skin.And plastics can be weakened from the radiation of these lamps.Some commercial HVAC systems have large UV bulbs in a duct unit that air can pass over the bulbs.Same with water sterilizers at water plants.The UV can destroy bad bugs in water,too.I have three purifiers in my place running all the time.So far since I have used those purifiers haven't gotten sick.Your results can vary.

Post# 1065016 , Reply# 93   3/29/2020 at 07:05 (1,460 days old) by arbilab (Ft Worth TX (Ridglea))        
Thanks Bob

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Rick, the "closest" to Ft. Worth is Ennis, Waxahachie, and Burleson.

I knew they were encroaching on the metro.  Might even be one in Mansfield.  Or is that 'the other' Central Market?  There is one of those I know of but my income bracket doesn't qualify.

 

Kroger is 2mi away, without crossing I-30.  Those are the only reasons I tolerate them.


Post# 1065052 , Reply# 94   3/29/2020 at 11:52 (1,460 days old) by SudsMaster (SF Bay Area, California)        

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One word about germicidal UV lights. They don't last forever. When I worked doing sterile work in research labs, I remember being told that over time the efficacy of the germicidal lamps decreased. However I never did see any data on that, so I was never sure how one could tell. When I asked, I was told that someone would check the lights from time to time. ?

 

From this video, UV-C lamps last about a year of continuous use.

 





Post# 1065619 , Reply# 95   4/2/2020 at 13:46 (1,456 days old) by twintubdexter (Palm Springs)        

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Surgery on Tuesday. I only have a few laughs left.


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Post# 1065636 , Reply# 96   4/2/2020 at 15:52 (1,456 days old) by wayupnorth (On a lake between Bangor and Bar Harbor, Maine)        

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Our governor put more new restrictions on the amount of people that can be in a store from 5 for a convenience store to 100 for Walmart. Went to Walmart today and there were about 20 people standing out in the rain waiting to get in when I left. Our governor is scared and rightly so as Maine has only received 5% of the medical supplies requested and has got zero response from Washington.

Post# 1065640 , Reply# 97   4/2/2020 at 16:08 (1,456 days old) by ea56 (Cotati, Calif.)        

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We just got back from a walk, having stopped at the premium grocery store, Oliver’s about a mile from home.  The carts and hand baskets were all sanitized, they have plexiglas shields up at the registers, everyone was carefully following the social distancing guidelines.  We bought 2 large green peppers, a 2 lb, bag of rice, quart of 1/2&1/2 , 8 bananas and a bag of  jelly beans.

 

I’m confident that we will be able to get thru this now.  We can get what we need, when we need it, most importantly SAFELY!  

 

Sonoma County started the shelter in place and social distancing orders 3 days before the state did.  It’s paying off!  Any community/state that isn’t doing so is really going to pay the price in needless deaths that could have been avoided.  I know we still aren’t out of the water yet, and there are darker  days ahead, but at least we are doing the very best we can to flatten the curve, and that’s all we can do for now.

 

Now be sure to WASH YOUR HANDS, wear a mask when around strangers and stay the hell at home as much as possible.

 

Eddie


Post# 1065645 , Reply# 98   4/2/2020 at 16:34 (1,456 days old) by turquoisedude (.)        
Meanwhile in Canada...

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Today was the first time in over a month that I ventured out to one of the bigger grocery stores in St-Hyacinthe - I have been managing on frozen foods and cans of veggies and fruit but it was wearing thin... Plus we were out of dog chews!

 

The new rules here have customers lining up to enter stores to limit the number of people congregating in them; on entry, you are advised to wash hands and maintain a 2 metre (6 foot) distance between yourself and others.  The store where I went had someone who asked each customer if they had  been outside of the country in the past 14 days, if they had experienced any symptoms of the novel corona virus, and if anyone the customer lived with had them.   Customers are encouraged to shop alone and to paraphrase Apu, "Get in, get out, and come again!"

 

Once inside, I was happy to see that there was ample fresh fruits, vegetables, meats, and fish.  The bakery department had plenty of breads, rolls, bagels, english muffins, etc.  Flour seems to be the new unobtainium here - I think the nationwide rail disruptions prior to the covid pandemic may be responsible for this more than hoarders.  There was still plenty of loo roll (but there were signs warning that a limit of 2 packs per shopper would be enforced).  The only packages of toilet paper were large 12-roll ones so that should not be a huge issue. 

 

I got just about everything I needed fortunately and am hoping I won't need to shop again for another 10 to 14 days. 

 


Post# 1065665 , Reply# 99   4/2/2020 at 19:06 (1,456 days old) by DADoES (TX, U.S. of A.)        

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Went to WM ~1p.  Moderate amt of cars in the lot, people in the store seemed sparse.  Mostly keeping apart except when passing in the aisles.  There was a group of girlies visiting in the grassy area front of the lot.

Stock was good, although I didn't check everything.  Noticed rice was sparse except for some micro-packaged products.  NO TOILET PAPER.  Plenty bread (didn't get any).

NO SHIELDS AT THE CASHIERS.


Post# 1065666 , Reply# 100   4/2/2020 at 19:07 (1,456 days old) by arbilab (Ft Worth TX (Ridglea))        

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Kroger Thursday had everything I was looking for Tuesday.  Pallet of TP.  Most dairy.  I got the last of the 93% ground steak but plenty of 80%.  Water gallons; I'm offering the 16oz bottles to anyone who runs out.  A whole wall of bread. 

Beanie Weenie.

 

Still no pasta.  Can't figure out where it's going.  The jars of sauce were there the whole time. 

Mean people are so desperado they're eating plain boiled pasta?


Post# 1065670 , Reply# 101   4/2/2020 at 19:26 (1,456 days old) by ea56 (Cotati, Calif.)        
Mean people are so desperado they're eating plain boiled

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pasta.

 

They’re makin their own sauce.  Not everyone uses jarred or canned spaghetti sauce.

 

 Plus, you don't necessarily have to use a tomato based sauce.  I often make a Primavera with either small pieces of chicken or ham, some peas, carrots and onions, sautéed in a little butter or oil with some heavy cream, béchamel or sour cream.  I often just add a tbl or so of flour to the sautéed vegetables and use milk for the liquid to make an in pan sauce, rather than use heavy cream or sour cream , it depends upon what I have and my mood.  Sometimes some green beans, and always a generous amount of pepper and garlic to taste.  This works with any pasta really.  Just toss the cooked pasta into the pan with the sauce.  Buon Appetito.

 

We’re going to need to get creative and vary things in our meals to accommodate for shortages and to help the boredom.  You tend to eat less of food that has some variety and tastes good.  This could help to stave off the COVID-19 bulge.

 

Eddie

 

 

 


Post# 1065715 , Reply# 102   4/3/2020 at 06:19 (1,455 days old) by arbilab (Ft Worth TX (Ridglea))        

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Not a cook, certainly not a chef, just a kitchen engineer.  My food imagination leaves room for..... imagination.  The only thing I do with pasta besides regular old red (tomato-plus) sauce is toss some spaghetti in a can of beef stew.  Oh wait, I can make scratch lasagna but it's too much bother for only me so I heat a Stouffers with xtra chz.


Post# 1065733 , Reply# 103   4/3/2020 at 10:07 (1,455 days old) by vacerator (Macomb, Michigan)        
To each their own;

Anyone can cook who gives it a try. I's your health though. Frozen and pre packaged/prepared foods are generally higher in sodium, fats and sugars. I almost bought prepared macarinoi and cheese yesterday as I am really Jonez'n for some. 950 mg. of sodium per serving, so I put it back, and bought a half gallon of whole milk. 2 cups, added to a rue browned lightly of 2 tbsp. unsalted butter, and 2 tbsp. flour. Bring to the boil, and simmer untl velvelty thick. Add 2 c. of any cheese(s) you like. melt, and pour into 1 lb. of pasta. You can freeze, and or refrigerate left overs. Add Chicken breast, or broccoli for a great meal. You control the salt. I add a tbsp. of grey poupon dijon mustard, a pich of ceyenne pepper, and some paprika.

Post# 1065734 , Reply# 104   4/3/2020 at 10:14 (1,455 days old) by chachp (North Little Rock, AR)        
Mac n' Cheese sounds good

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That sounds really good and who doesn't like some good old fashioned comfort food at a time like this.  Thanks for sharing.


Post# 1065738 , Reply# 105   4/3/2020 at 10:58 (1,455 days old) by ea56 (Cotati, Calif.)        
Re: Reply #103

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I agree Mike, Macaroni and Cheese is a perfect dish for these time and your recipe sounds a lot like the one I posted a while back in thread #77737.  The recipe I always use uses canned evaporated milk, so if you are running low on fresh milk this could be a real plus.  Of course you could also substitute the evap milk in your recipe too.  A 12 oz. can of evap milk reconstituted with 1 can of water would equal 3 cups fresh milk, ideal for any cooking, and in a pinch you could use it on cereal like my parents had to do during the Depression.

 

And in the interest of full disclosure, about 4 weeks ago when I saw this whole COVID-19 nightmare begin to unfold I bought a jar of Market Pantry Pasta sauce and  bag of Market Pantry Frozen Beef Meatballs at Target, just to have some non perishable staples on hand.  These are items I seldom buy, but it seemed prudent.  Well last night thats what we had for dinner, using 1/2 the jar of sauce that I added about a 1 tsp. of dried basil to and about 2 tbls of dry vermouth, and  12 of the meatballs and served it with spaghetti.  It was really not bad at all, and tonight we’ll have the other 1/2 jar and 12 more of the meatballs and spaghetti.

 

This is a perfect time to practice our cooking skills, we’ve all got plenty of time on our hands, waiting for the sand in the hourglass to tell us the crisis is over.

 

I added the link for the Easy Baked Macaroni and Cheese recipe in post #1017636

 

Eddie

 



CLICK HERE TO GO TO ea56's LINK



This post was last edited 04/03/2020 at 13:59
Post# 1065897 , Reply# 106   4/4/2020 at 15:01 (1,454 days old) by sfh074 ( )        
Went to Walmart ...

this morning, northern Atlanta area, and most everything that was not available couple of weeks ago are now back. The TP aisle looked 3/4 full. Paper towels were back as well. Was able to buy some bleach, clorox wipes, rubbing alcohol, and Tylenol. Why the hell do people hoard Advil and Tylenol? Haven't seen it on shelves for weeks, but today was refreshing to see most of this stuff in fairly good supply. And the ammo cabinet in sporting goods was pretty much full again. 3 weeks ago it was stripped bare. However signs remain stating only one package of each type of paper product could be purchased. Most of the stores in the last week here have closed all doors except for one and herd people in and out ..... with lines or x's spaced 6 feet apart at the entrances and at the registers. Some stores are only allowing a certain number of people to go in and as people come out will allow you to go in.



This post was last edited 04/04/2020 at 18:40
Post# 1066673 , Reply# 107   4/9/2020 at 17:40 (1,449 days old) by MattL (Flushing, MI)        

Had kind of the opposite issue here in MI, went out this afternoon and the stores stock was in worse condition than in previous weeks, lots of holes in the shelves. Still no paper products and I''m down to my last mega roll.  No sugar, flour or yeast either.

 

Just saw this scary -- 1 used offer...

 




This post was last edited 04/09/2020 at 18:47
Post# 1066698 , Reply# 108   4/9/2020 at 19:31 (1,449 days old) by DADoES (TX, U.S. of A.)        

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Sister had TP shipped to parents, myself, & other sister via Sam's.  Arrived today, sooner than expected.

FAVOR delivery apparently is available now, per newspaper story.  Delivery is $6 (altho local grocery is free for age 60+) plus a required tip for the runner.  RJ got the app, said it offers only broad categories of items such as "rice" or "frozen chicken" with no apparent selection for specifics.  Other local shopper/delivery services are available, one charges $25 per run.


Post# 1066706 , Reply# 109   4/9/2020 at 20:43 (1,449 days old) by Frigilux (The Minnesota Prairie)        

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Prior to cases of COVID-19 being confirmed in our area, I found that if I made a quick trip to the grocery store at 7:00 a.m. nearly every day, almost all products were on offer at some point during the week. The trick was to shop very early in the day, because if pasta was available in the morning on, say, Monday, it would be gone by Monday afternoon or early evening.

Now that the demon virus has infiltrated our little town, I, with chronic lung issues, no longer want to risk even a weekly trip to the store, much less a daily one.

The manager of our town's lone grocery store said it has become increasingly difficult to predict what will be included in any given shipment. One used to know that fresh produce arrived on the Tuesday truck; bread products on the Wednesday truck, etc. Now it's a crap shoot.

Fortunately, my pulmonologist told me to start stockpiling back in early February. He accurately predicted that stores would, without warning, be short of everything we now find difficult to procure. I didn't buy six packages of toilet paper at once, but instead picked up one pack 2-3 times a week. Ditto Clorox Disinfecting Wipes, napkins, Kleenex, toiletries, meat, cheese, flour and other baking-related products, pasta, and canned goods. Applying that strategy means I have a buffer in the pantry. When I finish a package of toilet paper, I replace it, knowing that I still have a couple of packages in the pantry as back-up. That means I'm not exacerbating the problems brought on by purchasing 5-6 items of a particular product in one go, but am still able to maintain an inventory.


Post# 1066721 , Reply# 110   4/10/2020 at 01:26 (1,448 days old) by DaveAMKrayoGuy (Oak Park, MI)        

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Well, found—mail order, although still relentlessly producing endless debt, was the way to go:

(Good news, my collection is (Honestly!) near--complete, despite invested in the way a prez. spends money)



— Dave


CLICK HERE TO GO TO DaveAMKrayoGuy's LINK


Post# 1066729 , Reply# 111   4/10/2020 at 06:50 (1,448 days old) by vacerator (Macomb, Michigan)        
Wegamans also

delivers!

Post# 1066795 , Reply# 112   4/10/2020 at 16:21 (1,448 days old) by MattL (Flushing, MI)        

Yeah! scored TP just now.  Not my first choice but at least I'm relieved that I can be relieved... I was down to 1/2 a mega roll. 12 pack of Charmin Everyday for $5 @ Dollar General.


Post# 1066829 , Reply# 113   4/10/2020 at 21:03 (1,448 days old) by askolover (South of Nash Vegas, TN)        

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Had to venture into Walmart today for a few necessities.  The entire TP/PT aisle was filled with.....Easter baskets!  Still no disinfectant wipes or Lysol type spray cans.  But I got what we needed for now.  I may venture out when they first open in the morning.  The fabric department was empty of fat quarters and every sewing machine was sold out!  I have a stash of remnants that I'll be using to make a few mask for us...of course I have N95's left over from fit testing at work over the years.




This post was last edited 04/10/2020 at 21:21
Post# 1071293 , Reply# 114   5/8/2020 at 06:18 (1,420 days old) by vacerator (Macomb, Michigan)        
No toilet paper at

our store yesterday still! Glad we didn't need it yet.
At a local gourmet Italian store the other day, a customer who refused to wear a face mask was asked to leave their store in violation of our states executive order to wear them. She spat at the clerk, and is now in jail. She was a candidiate for mayor in that cities last election.
Another suburbs city manager was removed from her job for protesting at the state capitol against the executive stay home mandate two weeks ago. Wednesday, she was arrested for shoplifting.
Is it Ethics, or Politics?


Post# 1071299 , Reply# 115   5/8/2020 at 08:01 (1,420 days old) by Frigilux (The Minnesota Prairie)        

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I shop at the local Hy-Vee every Tuesday morning at 7:00 a.m. Am usually the first person in the store. There are maybe 10 people in the whole place by the time I leave 20 minutes later.

 

Toilet paper/paper products aisle is always fully stocked on Tuesday, so assumed the hoarding was over for those products. No Clorox Wipes or hand sanitizer on Tuesday. Soup is nearly always wiped out, as well.

 

So, decided to try Thursday this week.  Snagged a container of disinfecting wipes (store brand), a bottle of hand sanitizer and cream of-soups.  However, not a package of toilet paper in sight.  

 

I'm getting a handle on which day to shop for particular products.  

 

Unfortunately, COVID cases in Worthington (home to closed JBS pork plant) have spiked in a major way--over 1,200 cases, most active, in a town of 13,000--and people scared to shop there are making the 28-mile drive to Windom to shop at our only grocery store.

 

With chronic lung issues, I guess this is my new normal until the virus either recedes or an effective vaccine becomes available.


Post# 1071320 , Reply# 116   5/8/2020 at 09:17 (1,420 days old) by perc-o-prince (Southboro, Mass)        

Luckily the TP shortage seems to be over here, depending on where you shop. Walmart to the north has it where at the one to the east is more scarce. PT were in stock before the TP.

Still haven't found hand-sanitizer, but because of Rich's work and a purchase of 1/2 gal industrial 99% isopropyl alcohol, we're set there. I should elaborate a little... there IS hand sanitizer available, even at Home Depot. However, it's not alcohol-based and thought to be somewhat ineffective against CV. Many contain benzalkonium chloride which, while anti-bacterial, has less reliable results against CV than isopropyl alcohol or ethanol.

Someone we know purchased a number of bottles (small) of this stuff through a home shopping network for $35 a pop. The "doctor" that was the spokesperson said it would provide a 2-hour window of protection from CV! Well, after looking up the effectiveness of BC against CV, Rich looked the doctor up and it turns out he was a plastic surgeon with a 2 out of 5 star rating from patients and a number of complaints lodged against him. This is obviously how he makes $ now. The shopping network gladly accepted the return and provided a refund.

Be careful out there!

Chuck


Post# 1072039 , Reply# 117   5/11/2020 at 22:31 (1,417 days old) by warmsecondrinse (Fort Lee, NJ)        
El Regio Ha Llegado!

My local Acme hasn't had toilet paper in over a month.

I went in yesterday to pick up a rx bec I'd received a text saying it was ready (It was not only not ready, the pharmacy was closed as usual Sundays). However, I did find toilet paper for the first time. There was ONE brand in a 4-pack. nearly the entire T.P. section was filled with it. Although there was a limit of 1 or 2 per person.

The only thing I'm stuck on is "Rinde". The only way I can make it work in my head is if that which the toilet paper is supposed to clean sees the Regio approaching and surrenders without a fight. So I'm pretty sure I'm wrong. Could someone help?

For the record, it's single ply and does the job just fine.



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Post# 1072082 , Reply# 118   5/12/2020 at 06:38 (1,416 days old) by vacerator (Macomb, Michigan)        
Jim, Is Regio T.P. from Mejico?

Who owns Acme now that A&P is defunct?

Post# 1072084 , Reply# 119   5/12/2020 at 06:45 (1,416 days old) by vacerator (Macomb, Michigan)        
Never mind Jim,

I jumped the gun on that. Don't know why I thought A&P owned Acme in the 90's. Thye're lucky Cerberus didn't destroy them, and good that Albertosn's is the owner now.

Post# 1072978 , Reply# 120   5/17/2020 at 12:48 (1,411 days old) by mrsalvo (New Braunfels Texas)        

Went grocery shopping earlier in the week for a few items. Was going to buy a package of fajita meat and the price was $18.00. I set it back down and decided to fix a big pot of spaghetti. I can't believe the prices of meats, and some dairy. This week I'll fix a pot of red & pinto beans with cubed ham and a skillet of cornbread.

It's ridiculous!!!!

Barry


Post# 1073036 , Reply# 121   5/17/2020 at 19:35 (1,411 days old) by seedub (South Texas Hill Country)        

seedub's profile picture
It took three different tries at five different stores over the period of one week before I finally got the bottle of Lysol Antibacterial cleaner that I, myself, wanted.

Barry: I'm guessing that your meat woes were at H-E-B? Guess in spite of their TV ads touting local sourcing of most of their foods *including beef* even they are having trouble. The missus wanted beef ribs for Mother's Day; not a rack to be had (shopped at the Schertz location). That was when the amazing sale on Atlantic salmon was happening, and she loves a good chunk of salmon. So, I got that and did not drop in any other locations.


Post# 1073042 , Reply# 122   5/17/2020 at 20:17 (1,411 days old) by DADoES (TX, U.S. of A.)        

dadoes's profile picture
 
At HEB 8am yesterday morn.  Seemed good stock of meats.  I was seeking lemon-pepper seasoned chicken breast, of which there was plenty.  Sign advised limit 5 of a list of items incl chicken.  I bought three, one for self (already had one pkg and two pkgs regular in freezer), two for RJ.

At WM 8pm (30 mins before closing) Fri, specifically for A/C filters but fetched a few other items.  They had some meat-market choices, although also some empty space.  Plenty ground beef both 90/10 and 85/15.


Post# 1073044 , Reply# 123   5/17/2020 at 20:20 (1,411 days old) by whirlykenmore78 (Prior Lake MN (GMT-0500 CDT.))        
Latest Shopping;

whirlykenmore78's profile picture

Was in Costco in Burnsville MN yesterday.  Most Items in stock and plentiful.  Plenty of beef but fewer cuts to choose from and the price was up.  Decent amount of pork roasts and ribs.  There was some Lamb and Chicken to be had but variety was limited.  I was able to score a 3 slab pack of fresh all natural St. Louis ribs to smoke on Memorial day.  Fresh and frozen fish/seafood was plentiful.  

All other areas well stocked. 

 

Today at Hy-Vee in Savage MN much the same although ground beef was a bit short and all the meats were expensive although much more poultry than Costco.  Thank God I have a lot of meat in the freezer that I vacuum sealed.  Some canned goods were still a bit light and the Campbells soup section was pretty wiped out.  They had no bleach and very little Tide (Costco had pallets of both).  Otherwise plenty of everything including TP at both stores. 

WK78


Post# 1073046 , Reply# 124   5/17/2020 at 20:29 (1,411 days old) by warmsecondrinse (Fort Lee, NJ)        

Re: 119

Sorry, I didn't see this until today.

My local Acme store was an A&P until they collapsed. I LOVED that store. It was open 24/7, had a full liquor license, had two kinds of shopping carts: the regular and a larger one designed for full-sized adults. It had everything I wanted.

Acme took over: 24/7 was dropped, liquor licence was dropped, & the adult sized carts vanished within a week. Mother's quick cook barley was gone two. It really doesn't matter much what you're looking for; there's half the variety A&P had.

The one thing the changed that I liked was that they added self checkout. The only problem was that, like the shopping carts, they were designed for people of much smaller stature. So I always went to a cashier (still do).
One time I had a full cart and went to check out only to find there was so cashier, just self checkout. So I left the cart and started to walk out. The front end manager asked me what's wrong and I just said I have vertebrae fusing and discs dissolving and I'm not a masochist. That's why I always go to a cashier. I told him I understood he was not involved in the process, but there really should be at least one self checkout at an appropriate height for an adult. He said no problem and checked out my order himself.

What really pisses me off is that I'm only 6'1", and that's only if I'm doing a lot of yoga. So if something is too low or I don't fit into it, there's a design problem. Period.

That's my position and I am unanimous in that :-)

Jim



Post# 1073047 , Reply# 125   5/17/2020 at 20:30 (1,411 days old) by Ultramatic (New York City)        

ultramatic's profile picture

 

 

Jim, Rinde + in this case means that it lasts longer. It may be because the rolls contain more sheets, or the sheets are 2ply or both. I have been noticing all these "new" brands at the supermarkets. Seems they are scrambling to get anything to fill the void (no pun intended).


Post# 1073056 , Reply# 126   5/17/2020 at 21:21 (1,411 days old) by luxflairguy (Wilmington NC)        

I was in my local Lowes Foods on Thursday and was wandering down the various isles. The rice and pasta areas were sparse, but low and behold in the rice section were boxes of Sysco rice! Sysco! Desperate to fill space, I guess!
G


Post# 1073060 , Reply# 127   5/17/2020 at 21:36 (1,411 days old) by mrsalvo (New Braunfels Texas)        

Chris,
Yes, the H-E-B in LaVernia. Have been shopping there, away from the I-35 corridor, less people and small town atmosphere. It's a little further for me to drive but I don't mind it.

I'm seeing new brands as well on the shelves. Brands that I'm not familiar with. They are trying to fill space.

Barry


Post# 1073067 , Reply# 128   5/17/2020 at 21:55 (1,411 days old) by Ultramatic (New York City)        
Just a heads up.

ultramatic's profile picture

 

 

Instacart is up and running normally again, at least in NYC. Most stores have delivery slots.


Post# 1073161 , Reply# 129   5/18/2020 at 14:24 (1,410 days old) by SudsMaster (SF Bay Area, California)        

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I was very pleasantly surprised this Monday morning shortly after 9 am when I got to our local Costco. Plenty of parking, and NO LINE of carts outside the front door. Sure, there were plenty of meandering geezers inside, but I should talk. Altogether a refreshing change from the jammed parking lot and blocks-long lines of seniors with carts waiting their turn to enter the warehouse of a few weeks ago.

Now, it may be that not all the geezers have caught onto the fact that Costco expanded the geezer hour days from Tues-Thurs to Mon-Fri. Shhh. Don't tell them!

Baby steps.

Oh, and plenty of TP and paper towels inside. I didn't get any, I'm already full up. I did notice the produce section was a bit light. No garlic, for example. But I get most of my veggies at local Mexican or Chinese markets anyway. And I grow my own oranges and avocados.


Post# 1073165 , Reply# 130   5/18/2020 at 14:37 (1,410 days old) by sfh074 ( )        
WTH .....

Been going to multiple stores here in north Atlanta and still no rubbing alcohol. WHY?? What the hell are people doing with all the rubbing alcohol? I can understand not finding clorox wipes, but rubbing alcohol?!

Post# 1073168 , Reply# 131   5/18/2020 at 14:58 (1,410 days old) by luxflairguy (Wilmington NC)        

Here in Wilmington NC, our WalMart has no fresh beef. The only beef was ground beef, and still No TP or paper towels! Glad I have 60 some rolls!

Post# 1073174 , Reply# 132   5/18/2020 at 15:48 (1,410 days old) by CircleW (NE Cincinnati OH area)        

Last week I went to Kroger, Menard's, and Meijer. I still couldn't find Citrus Peak soda at Kroger, but got everything else I wanted there. Menard's had everything except the Herr's Baby Back Ribs potato chips, so got Cheddar & Horseradish. Meijer had all I went for except Bush's baked beans in individual size cans, and Velveeta Shells & White Cheese. All of the above had paper towels and toilet paper.


Post# 1073176 , Reply# 133   5/18/2020 at 16:02 (1,410 days old) by ea56 (Cotati, Calif.)        
What the hell are people doing with all the rubbing alcohol?

ea56's profile picture

They’re making homemade hand sanitizer.  

 

Also, 70% isopropyl or ethyl alcohol kills the COVID-19 virus on contact.  Therefore, its great to use for the sanitizing of anything that may be potentially contaminated, as long as the item won’t be damaged by alcohol  and isn’t an edible food.  

 

I couldn’t buy any hand sanitizer until 2 weeks ago, so I carried a small plastic bottle of 70% alcohol in my pocket at all times.  And I keep a small squeeze bottle of it in my car console to sanitize the steering wheel and gearshift if they may be potentially contaminated. 

 

My sister keeps a spray bottle of 70% alcohol near her front door and sprays any package that is delivered with it and lets it dry before she will touch it.

 

Eddie


Post# 1073195 , Reply# 134   5/18/2020 at 18:59 (1,410 days old) by bradfordwhite (central U.S.)        

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Errands today.  

Lowes, Aldi's , Walmart among other places.

 

I usually get just a 4 pack of t.p. at Aldis' and it' like $2.19 +/-, but they haven't had it for the last 2 months.  They have had the 12 roll for like the last month but that's a lot of paper so I didn't buy.  I'm gettig down to 1 roll left so I splurged.  It was $6.50 +/-

 

Though Aldi's appeared fully stocked..... no baking soda.  They've never been out of baking soda.  They are still limiting the store occupancy to 20 people at a time, which is great.  

 

I'm seeing more signs on stores that state masks are required.  

 

Walmart- no greeters- YIPPEE.  there usually isn't there.  They do have at least 5 people outside the store at the one and only entrance that is unlocked to control the number of people in the store.

 

Lowes, no controlled entry but mask required.  Also they changed the returns desk when you come in the store so there is more room around it.  Plus they put up a plexiglass shield there and they did at all the cashier stations and for that matter at Aldi's too.  It's a good idea.

 

I don't know why but I was noticing lic. plates today.  Saw Maine, New York, Wisconsin, Illinois, S. Carolina, Georgia, New Jersey, Texas, and Ohio.  Just in going to 5 places. 


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Post# 1073235 , Reply# 135   5/18/2020 at 21:18 (1,410 days old) by DADoES (TX, U.S. of A.)        

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There was plenty TP at WM or HEB, either or both, last Fri eve or Sat morn but I don't need any.  Still have a 12pack not opened, and sister had a 45pack shipped from Sam's in late March or early April when she caught it available.  I'm set for months, maybe a couple years, barring a GI catastrophe.


Post# 1073247 , Reply# 136   5/18/2020 at 22:22 (1,410 days old) by SudsMaster (SF Bay Area, California)        

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I was fortunate in that I had a small supply of rubbing alcohol before all this pandemic stuff started. I also had a supply of hand sanitizer, but it was past its use by date, so initially I added some rubbing alcohol to it to make sure it would still deactivate the virus.

Then on a chance trip to a local Costco, they had a bunch of one pint hand sanitizers for sale (six for less than $10) so I got those as well.

AFAIK, both ethanol and isopropanol (rubbing alcohol) have similar antiseptic properties, but ethanol is less toxic to humans and perhaps preferable for applying to skin. Both need to be 70% or greater to be effective (but not 100%). '

From my past work in biomed labs, I have some 95% lab ethanol - had it for about 35 years. But it may no longer be at that strength. LOL. Vodka is generally not enough, it's at most about 43% ethanol. Although there may be some liquors that are higher (consume at own risk). Oh, and since 100% lab ethanol is contaminated with toxic benzene, one should never use it to make punch).



Post# 1073300 , Reply# 137   5/19/2020 at 08:24 (1,409 days old) by Frigilux (The Minnesota Prairie)        

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Report from rural southwest Minnesota: Our HyVee grocery store was fairly well-stocked this morning except for beef--as in there was none--and the usual--no Clorox Disinfecting Wipes, Lysol spray, etc,. All paper product shelves were full. That truck must come in on Monday. Tried shopping on Thursday a couple of weeks ago and there wasn't a roll of toilet paper or box of Kleenex to be found.

Plenty of pork and chicken. Soups were a little picked over, but managed to snag four cans of Campbell's Cream of Mushroom. Pastas and their sauces were getting low. I'm sure it'll all be gone by 8:30 tonight when they close.

A few bags each of all-purpose, bread, whole wheat and rye flours and a couple dozen 1-lb. packages of SAF Instant Yeast on the shelves. Sugars of all kinds were plentiful.

Also managed to grab a lone bottle of hand sanitizer. This is an example in which the packaging and labeling links in the chain are the problem. The bottle has what appears to be a back-of-product label; there is nothing on the front. Have also never seen hand sanitizer in this type of container. But, hey, it's hand sanitizer!

Photo 2: A 1.5 liter water bottle filled with pink lemonade? Nope. It's the only foaming soap refill I could find online last week. Obviously made for a commercial soap dispenser. The top unscrews so I can pour it into my kitchen and bathroom bottles of Dial Foaming Antibacterial Soap. Not concerned that the two odd-looking refills aren't antibacterial. It's the aggressive 20 seconds of rubbing that destroys the coronavirus, not any antibacterial properties.

Came home, threw clothes in washer, took a Silkwood scrub of a shower and am now settling in to begin reading the diaries of playwright Joe Orton. Gotta love $2.99 used books on Amazon.

Kattywampus Photos: These two wanted to post sideways. Opened them in Preview (on a MacBook Pro), then rotated each completely around 'til they were correctly oriented again. They posted correctly. Don't know why that bit of protocol made a difference, but it worked.


  Photos...       <              >      Photo 1 of 2         View Full Size


This post was last edited 05/19/2020 at 10:08
Post# 1073303 , Reply# 138   5/19/2020 at 08:34 (1,409 days old) by Ultramatic (New York City)        

ultramatic's profile picture

 

 

That hand sanitizer bottle looks like it was originally intended for honey.


Post# 1073304 , Reply# 139   5/19/2020 at 08:57 (1,409 days old) by Frigilux (The Minnesota Prairie)        

frigilux's profile picture
Oh, my God, Louie; I was trying to put my finger on what that familiar container was usually used for. You're right. It's a honey bottle.

Good eye, man.🥇


Post# 1073319 , Reply# 140   5/19/2020 at 12:25 (1,409 days old) by MattL (Flushing, MI)        

Funny, I see Scott TP pretty much everywhere but most are not buying it, I'd have to be pretty desperate to do so.  I'm on the lookout for Blue Charmin Ultra Mega rolls, very hard to find.


Post# 1073322 , Reply# 141   5/19/2020 at 12:58 (1,409 days old) by bradfordwhite (central U.S.)        

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It does look like a honey bottle.  I've heard the weak point in our grocery delivery system right now has been the PACKAGING shortage.

 

--

MattL-  Scott or its generics work well.   That other multi-layered stuff is so loose it disintegrates when you use it.  I don't know why people would want to use it.

 

--

Hand sanitizer- don't over due it. You'll strip needed nutrients from your skin.  Rubbing alcohol is not something you want on your skin continuously.  

 

--

I need more of those handi-wipe things in the a single packs.  I had some from Dollartree bud am running out and I haven't seen any there in a while.  

 

I wish retailers would install a simple sink at the door just so people could wash their hands after shopping or even before without having to go seek out the bathroom.   Every time I go to Lowes or Habitat and other stores.... stuff is dusty you need to wash after shopping or wash hands in the car.  At times I've even brought along a pre-moisted sponge in a sandwich bag for this.


Post# 1073323 , Reply# 142   5/19/2020 at 13:05 (1,409 days old) by ea56 (Cotati, Calif.)        
Matt,

ea56's profile picture

if you haven’t tried Scott 1 ply TP in a while you might want to buy a roll a see if you like it.  I was raised on 2ply, and always bought nothing but 2 ply.  Then 4 years ago when I had my right hip replaced David did the grocery shopping for a few weeks while I recovered. 

 

He came home with a 12 pak of Scott 1 ply.  I said WHY did you but that!  He said, well I thought thats what we used.  Since we had it, we used it.  And wonder of wonders, we both like it better!  

 

It seems to be less harsh, lasts longer and we haven’t had a problem with it being too thin.  You just use a few more sheets than with 2 ply, but even so in the end we use less paper than with 2 ply.  It’s also easier on the plumbing too.

 

 The first week of March I bought at 24 roll pak, even though we still had about 9 rolls left, anticipating the possible shortage.  We just broke into the 24 roll pak last week.  Its much more economical and lasts much longer.  We have two bathrooms and usually only change the roll in each bathroom once a week.

 

We’ll never go back to 2 ply.  

 

Eddie


Post# 1073343 , Reply# 143   5/19/2020 at 14:58 (1,409 days old) by SudsMaster (SF Bay Area, California)        
Honey Hand Sanitizer

sudsmaster's profile picture
Plus the label is a little less informative than the law probably allows, as far as I can see.

It lists as the active ingredient "alcohol" without specifying what type of alcohol. Ethanol or Isopropanol? I would want to know that.


Post# 1073344 , Reply# 144   5/19/2020 at 15:21 (1,409 days old) by CircleW (NE Cincinnati OH area)        
Just returned from Meijer

and it was way busier than I expected. This location didn't have any small cans of Bush's baked beans either. I needed some more WetOnes, and looked in both the grocery and seasonal areas, but none to be found. I was also hoping they had Mountain Dew made with sugar, but didn't see any; got some Stewart's Cream Soda instead.

 

I got food and tea from McAlister's for lunch, and ate in my truck. Outside seating was open, but it was raining hard. Inside seating scheduled to open on Thursday. I may go back over in mid afternoon in a couple weeks.


Post# 1073345 , Reply# 145   5/19/2020 at 15:29 (1,409 days old) by perc-o-prince (Southboro, Mass)        

Eddie-

Scott 1-ply fan here (1000 sheets/roll) as well. In fact, I just saw the Wegman's version at Weg's today for the first time. Walmart has had it on and off throughout. Rich grabbed a couple of 2-ply 4-packs of something or other when the shortage started, just in case, but we've never broken into them. They'll be used for the guest baths.

The 1-ply is certainly strong enough for the "business at hand" and definitely much easier on the septic system.

Chuck


Post# 1073351 , Reply# 146   5/19/2020 at 16:10 (1,409 days old) by Frigilux (The Minnesota Prairie)        

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Reply #137: I just opened the honey bottle of hand sanitizer that doesn’t specify the type of alcohol used in the product. It smells like nail polish remover; not at all like rubbing alcohol (which is isopropyl, right?). I’m not even sure I should use it.

Thoughts, anyone?


Post# 1073356 , Reply# 147   5/19/2020 at 16:31 (1,409 days old) by ea56 (Cotati, Calif.)        
Eugene,

ea56's profile picture

nail polish remover is made with acetone, so it probably won’t hurt you with occasional use.  But I’d have passed on this product just because of the disclaimer that its a non sterile solution?  WTF, its supposed to be a hand sanitizer, so one would expect that it would be sterile, and not potentially contaminated.  

 

Whether its made with isopropyl alcohol or ethanol is immaterial as long as its at least 70%.  Occasional use of 70% alcohol as a sanitizer isn’t harmful.  Its meant to be an alternative to hand washing when soap and water aren’t available.  

 

Constant use would be drying and potentially cause skin cracks that could be an avenue for infection, but it won’t kill you if used on the skin occasionally.  After all, what do they use in doctors office, hospitals and labs when they are going to give an injection?  Cotton balls and isopropyl alcohol, or now wipes that use alcohol as the active ingredient.

 

 

Eddie


Post# 1073376 , Reply# 148   5/19/2020 at 18:49 (1,409 days old) by bradfordwhite (central U.S.)        

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The good news is now you have just the solution for that little cosmetic experiment your boss has suggested is rather unprofessional.


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Post# 1073423 , Reply# 149   5/20/2020 at 02:11 (1,408 days old) by mrsalvo (New Braunfels Texas)        

Was on the news tonight, BBQ Brisket just hit $21.00 / lb this week in the area. Many BBQ houses are removing brisket from their menu's. Wow. Just. Wow!!
South central Texas.


Post# 1073424 , Reply# 150   5/20/2020 at 02:18 (1,408 days old) by MattL (Flushing, MI)        

Sorry folks there is no way I'll ever use Scott tissue.  1st I like my rear end too much to subject it to that and a big 2nd it's Koch product.  If I want single ply I find I'm pretty happy with Charmin Everyday, with that I can still use my standard 4 squares...

 

That said I scored today. Stumbled across a freshly loaded cart of Charmin Ultra mega rolls at Kroger, they didn't even make it to the shelf before they were in my basket, it's a 12 pack  good shape for a few months. 

 

I addition to that I picked up about 10 lbs of assorted pasta products, 4 lbs of lentils, 4 lb of Navy beans,  50 lbs of bread flour, couple of pounds of uncooked shrimp plus some sardines. Also picked up a 10 lb box of Kogel's  natural casing hot dogs. I think I'm good for  quite a while now.  I am worried about supply chain down the road and prices seem to be going up rapidly.

 

So in addition to the bread flour I still have about 20 lbs of AP flour and 2 lbs of yeast from previous outings, baking won't be an issue.  My freezer is fully stocked now and still have room for a bit more if I come across a deal.

 

One thing stunned me today - I was in Kroger and they had a 3 pack of steaks, family pack pricing, and it was $44.89!!!  Insane.


Post# 1073455 , Reply# 151   5/20/2020 at 09:18 (1,408 days old) by ea56 (Cotati, Calif.)        

ea56's profile picture

Hoarding Much?

 

 No wonder the rest of us can’t buy what we need.  Fifty lbs of flour, 10 lbs. of hot dogs?  Are you feeding a Summer Camp?  No single person needs this much food, shortages or not.  I’d be ashamed to broadcast this.

 

Eddie


Post# 1073471 , Reply# 152   5/20/2020 at 11:40 (1,408 days old) by MattL (Flushing, MI)        

Not at all.  Gordon's had 10 or 12 50 lb bags of flour on the shelf, I've learned to buy it when I see it. Growing up we always bought the 10 lb box of hot dogs, I buy it for my cousin in GA too and ship it to her from time to time, not unusual.  Buying in bulk the hot dogs are $3.90 a lb vs $5.49 in individual packages, good cost savings. Gordon's had 2 LB bags of pasta so I bought 2, Krogers had pasta 10, for $10 so I bought some.

 

I typically buy 25 lbs of flour every 4 months or so, so I'm stocked for the rest of the year.  Don't see it hording see it as being pro active.  This is stuff I will use at some point.  After hunting for flour and other stuff for weeks early on, I"m not going to pass it up.

 

Growing up we always had a well stocked pantry, my mother always believed in -can't type the Polish words - but it translates to "Just in case".  I got away from that but the current situation brought it all back.  I'm used to going to store and just picking up what I need, not so any more. Quite honestly, I see a dark fall and winter coming up with lots of shortages.  I'm also planting a "victory garden" I've expanded my tiny home garden a moderate amount. Not sure I'll be able  to get stuff from the farmer's market this year  - or at what cost.

 

Was talking to a cousin on Monday, she initially was excited to see a farm in Ohio was selling whole hogs since they can't be processed at this point, was going to drive down and get one until she discovered that you had to buy 10 and they were live.  She was going to buy another freezer until I told her "good luck" finding one.


Post# 1073481 , Reply# 153   5/20/2020 at 13:34 (1,408 days old) by wayupnorth (On a lake between Bangor and Bar Harbor, Maine)        

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I went to my local IGA earlier but there were a few things I wanted they were sold out of. So I thought I'd try Hannaford, nope, hour long wait line. Off to Walmart and another hour long line. No way am I going to wait in a line to spend my money. This foolishness of only 50 or 100 allowed at any one time in a big grocery store has to stop.

Post# 1073484 , Reply# 154   5/20/2020 at 13:54 (1,408 days old) by ea56 (Cotati, Calif.)        
We Went to Target

ea56's profile picture

this morning for their Wednesday morning “geezer hour” every week from 8 to 9 am.  Got there at 7:50, there were only about 8 people ahead of us and the store opened promptly at 8.  

 

The shelves weren’t stocked too well, but I was able to get enough fresh fruit, vegetables and dairy to last for the next two weeks.  No flour or yeast, lots of sugar.  I too have always kept a fully stocked pantry, and was raised to do this.  

 

But I’ll be damned if I’ll succumb to the idea that I have to get every last thing on the shelves.  There are plenty of unfortunate people that can only buy what they can afford and aren’t able to buy large quantities of essentials.  These people have a right to eat too.

 

We were home and had everything put away by 9:15 am, and this was taking the back way, longer route so I could try to charge up the battery.  Since the shelter in place I hardly drive at all.  Last fill up was on 3-5, still have 2/3’s of a tank  and have only driven 108 miles.

 

Personally, I won’t shop at any store that doesn’t limit the number of shoppers in the store.  Crowding people in will only contribute to a higher rate of infections and make it more likely that WE may become infected.  I’ll wait patiently if I need to, even if it is an inconvenience.  It’s just one more of the many we have to endure during this pandemic if we want to come out of it alive.  The longest I’ve had to wait in any line to shop was less than 10 mins.

 

Eddie




This post was last edited 05/20/2020 at 16:57
Post# 1073494 , Reply# 155   5/20/2020 at 14:47 (1,408 days old) by wayupnorth (On a lake between Bangor and Bar Harbor, Maine)        

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The store has to abide by the state rule on limiting people. But last time I went in Walmart was a 1 hour and 10 minutes wait. I will not be patient waiting to get in and watching people exiting with big screen tv's, lawnmowers etc. when they are only allowed to sell items deemed necessary, like groceries, period.

Post# 1073514 , Reply# 156   5/20/2020 at 18:14 (1,408 days old) by SudsMaster (SF Bay Area, California)        
Guilty as charged...

sudsmaster's profile picture
A month or two ago I picked up a 15 lb carton of luscious bacon at the local Costco business center. Per lb it's more reasonably priced than the usual 1 or 2 lb packages, plus it comes in extra long lengths and different thicknesses. I chose the thickest one.

Now before someone gets on my case for hoarding, this carton was obviously designed for restaurant use. But since restaurants are in a sort of recession now, this is probably why the product showed up at the business center (I'd never noticed it before). IMHO the quality is excellent, perhaps even better than the smaller packaged/thinner sliced stuff. I vacuum packed most of it and stuck it in my freezer, and have been working through it as time goes on. Bacon heaven! LOL.

Do I feel guilty of hoarding? Not really. I figure I was doing someone a favor by not buying an equivalent amount of smaller packages. This carton came all in one big slab, in a bag with some waxed paper separating the sections. BFD!




Post# 1073516 , Reply# 157   5/20/2020 at 18:47 (1,408 days old) by ea56 (Cotati, Calif.)        

ea56's profile picture

I wasn’t aware that Matt bought the 50 lbs of flour in one 50 lb. sack from his original post.  

 

I’ve never shopped in a store that has 50 lb. bags of flour for sale, so I was under the impression that he purchased either ten 5 lb. bags or five 10 lbs bags, that to me would be akin to hoarding during these times of scarcity when for the past two months there hasn’t been a 5 lb bag of flour at Target, the flour shelves have been bare.  

 

So good for you that you have the room to store this 50 lb. bag of flour, I don’t have the room for this quantity.  

 

Now the purchase of one 50 lb. sack of flour if its offered in the way is certainly NOT hoarding and I apologize for my inference.  

 

And Rich, the same would apply for the purchase of a 15 lb. carton of bacon, if its offered in this packaging that would also not be hoarding.  So calm down.  

 

I don’t shop at warehouse stores like Costco, so excuse me, I haven’t a clue how that works.  I’m coming from the perspective of the average shopper who can’t find squat in the normal  stores, because people ARE grabbing up everything in sight.  

 

Eddie

 


Post# 1073522 , Reply# 158   5/20/2020 at 19:02 (1,408 days old) by appnut (TX)        

appnut's profile picture

I'm having difficulty even being able to buy whole wheat pasta online.  And this is something I need for my diet.  I grew up with a very well-stocked pantry and brought that tradition in my home as I went out on my own.  The last couple of years I began to get lax.  I'm like Matt, no more.  I will revert to my previous ways when that ever happens again.  


Post# 1073530 , Reply# 159   5/20/2020 at 20:11 (1,408 days old) by bradfordwhite (central U.S.)        

bradfordwhite's profile picture

Anyone buying and using that much flour for themselves is going to be looking at some serious weight issues.

 

I buy 2 loaves of cheap wheat bread a month, if that, and put them in the freezer. Then take out 6 pieces at a time so the loaf doesn't go bad before I use it all.

 

 

-----

 

I wish people would realize the world isn't coming to an end and if it were, would filling an electricity consuming frig or freezer with food only for the electricity to go out when "the end times" arrive really be a good idea?

 

This bulk buying also screws up suppliers because if several people do this, the supply chain gets messed up.  Next month there will be fewer people buying those items and likely more waste.

 

The people paying big bucks for meat is awesome.  The stores wringing easy money out of the fools.   LOL

 

Believe it or not there is a HUGE industrial complex set up to provide food so people don't starve.  Especially in the U.S. we waste 1/3 of our food in one way or another.  The idea that people would PAY over the top prices is foolish.



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Post# 1073537 , Reply# 160   5/20/2020 at 20:30 (1,408 days old) by MattL (Flushing, MI)        

Eddie, no worries.  As I mentioned I do use a fair amount of flour, I do give bread to a few people and it goes.  Gordon's is a restaurant supply house open to the general public, and everything is in bulk. They had an assortment of 25 and 50 lb bags  of flour and it took me a bit to decide between them.  I will say historically I was paying about $7 for 25 lbs of bread flour, I paid $20 for 50 lbs so that is a substantial price increase.

 

Overall the shelves in the various stores were spottily filled, Aldi had two or thee cases of beans, but limit two. Kroger had a lot of pasta but not a limit if you bought a variety.  The thing I'm concerned with is something similar happening to various plants that happened to the meat plants.  Ford reopened Monday but shut down 2 plants today.  Will there be farm labor to plant and harvest?  A cousin told me of a story where farmers were leaving potatoes along the road vs. plowing them under.   I've seen stories of plants smashing eggs in fields due to over supply or no one to process them.  This all bodes poorly for the fall, food insecurity is a very real possibility.


Post# 1073539 , Reply# 161   5/20/2020 at 20:44 (1,408 days old) by ea56 (Cotati, Calif.)        
Matt

ea56's profile picture

you’re a gent!  I too am very alarmed and concerned with whats happening with the food supply and especially the labor force.  They are being taken for granted and being considered to be disposable and that ain’t right!

 

I like the observation of the farmer leaving the potatoes on the roadside vs ploughing them under.  You are also so right that the fall and winter are going to be worse.

 

I grew up in the country, my teen years anyway,  and we always kept 2 or more of everything, just in case, and it was also driven home by both parents having lived through the deprivation of the Depression, so it was always, plan for the worst.

 

I’ve done this too, always have at least one extra on hand of all staples.  Now I try to keep at least 2, but only buy the items one at a time as a rule when they are on sale, or now when they are available. I don’t believe its bad to have extra of what you’ll use and won’t spoil.

 

 It’s the people that sweep into the regular stores and clean off a shelf of pasta or flour, or whatever.  Buy a couple, or what your family needs, but not a shed full for later sale on ebay, or wherever.  That’s not who you are. 

 

Eddie


Post# 1073556 , Reply# 162   5/20/2020 at 21:54 (1,408 days old) by petek (Ontari ari ari O )        

petek's profile picture
I was having a hard time finding yeast a couple of weeks ago and went to a restaurant supply biz about 30 miles away that is now open to the public because their business is down.. They had yeast in 2lb packages but a limit of one.. lots of 50lb sacks of flour.. Most people don't buy that size.. and then the other day I was in the smaller size grocery store up the road from us and lo and behold,, they've been out of flour for a few weeks, and what do I see.. 50 lb commercial size bags of all purpose. Why people who normally don't bake bread keep buying flour is odd seeing as here there hasn't been any bread shortages on the shelves. Maybe they found that after making home made bread for the first time they enjoy doing it.

Post# 1073558 , Reply# 163   5/20/2020 at 22:10 (1,408 days old) by bradfordwhite (central U.S.)        

bradfordwhite's profile picture

I really think there are people in the world who get bored and need things to fill their time.

 

Baking bread, taking care of pets, whatever......

 

I can not imagine what that is like.  I have never been bored.


Post# 1073656 , Reply# 164   5/21/2020 at 14:52 (1,407 days old) by perc-o-prince (Southboro, Mass)        

I swore I wasn't going to buy more freezer meat, but listening to the woes from others, I went to Market Basket and grabbed 2 medium packs of chix thighs (6 in each @ $1.29/#) and an 8 pack of boneless skinless thighs @ $2.49/#. I grabbed a 7.5# pork shoulder and had them strip and grind it for me- I'm freezing it in 1# packs and freezing the bone for sauce in the fall. No beef on sale- I think they're suspending their meat sales. The rump strips I bought a couple of weeks ago for $4.99/# were now $7.99.

I see Price Chopper has T-bones for $6.99/#- maybe I'll check them out. Chick lobsters are $6.77/# and Rich has been jonesin' for lobster so maybe this weekend.

Here's an oddity- For those who don't know, Market Basket is a family-owned chain in New England, and probably the cheapest full-sized, full-service market here (excludes places like Aldi). Stop and Shop is known as one of the more expensive chain markets. I saw a S & S semi pulling up into the plaza where MB is. Sure enough it went around back to the loading dock area! I wonder if they were sharing a load? MB providing S & S with something? It was an odd sight, that's for sure.

Chuck


Post# 1073658 , Reply# 165   5/21/2020 at 15:51 (1,407 days old) by warmsecondrinse (Fort Lee, NJ)        

A lot of stores have been carrying brands they usually don't; apparently they're stocking whatever they can get.

As I was taught you should have enough at home for 2 weeks without grocery shopping. As for stocking up it was "If you normally buy 2, but 3 instead".

I'm good for about a month, I think...... except for yogurt

As for non-food..... I have a sterno stove and a half dozen cans, a fold out solar panel to keep my phone charged, and a bunch of candles..... somewhere....

"Just in case" ..... I looked it up and the only thing that sounded vaguely familiar was "tylko w przypadku". "Przypadek" is something that crops up, except it's in the opposite direction; it arrives by falling (like rain). Wow, that sounds dramatic in English but it's not in Polish.


Post# 1073661 , Reply# 166   5/21/2020 at 16:32 (1,407 days old) by bradfordwhite (central U.S.)        

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I like Price Choppers.  I used to shop at the Brattleboro, VT store.  Good bakery.  It's a mid tier store.  Prices are better at Aldi.

 

I think Albertson's is trying to change the names of all or most of the stores to "Market 32".... don't really care for but whatever. 


Post# 1073682 , Reply# 167   5/21/2020 at 17:55 (1,407 days old) by perc-o-prince (Southboro, Mass)        

Market 32 is a Price Chopper brand, FYI.

Chuck


Post# 1073707 , Reply# 168   5/21/2020 at 21:12 (1,407 days old) by bradfordwhite (central U.S.)        

bradfordwhite's profile picture

In 2016 Albertsons was going to buy PriceChoppers but now I see that didn't happen.  So the owners of PC, which want to sell the chain, are looking at alternatives apparently.



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Post# 1073737 , Reply# 169   5/22/2020 at 00:42 (1,407 days old) by tolivac (greenville nc)        

If the hand cleaner has Methanol or denatured alcohol in it---DON'T use it.DA is TOXIC!!!!!Don't want that on my hands for long times.Ethanol or Isopropyl are less toxic and safer to use.

Post# 1073741 , Reply# 170   5/22/2020 at 01:37 (1,406 days old) by askolover (South of Nash Vegas, TN)        

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Took MIL to Walmart today.  Hardly anyone was following the rules.  We had on N95 masks.  Had most things, bleach back in stock, a few paper towels, but no TP!  The ham I take to work was completely out, but I have a fresh pack in the fridge ready for this week.  Still need to go to Kroger for some items only they have.


Post# 1073781 , Reply# 171   5/22/2020 at 11:04 (1,406 days old) by vacerator (Macomb, Michigan)        
Mask's required per

retailer discretion only. Still at meijer, not at Home Depot. We only have painter's masks, but we wear them.

Post# 1073789 , Reply# 172   5/22/2020 at 13:18 (1,406 days old) by mrsalvo (New Braunfels Texas)        

Was notified by the neighbors yesterday price of beef went up again in less than a week, they went grocery shopping yesterday morning and said they saw a beef brisket for $135.00 at H-E-B. I kind of second guessed that when they told me. So decided to go pick up some milk and a few things, and indeed, beef did go up just from last week. Pic below is a brisket, $90.00. Who was saying brisket was a poor mans meat??!??!
Decided to fix a big pot of ham & beans with a skillet of cornbread, side of onion to eat on this next week. Bought SOME chopped ham, they didn't give that away either. Bacon is getting expensive also. I'm trying to think of good food to fix that isn't priced in the orbit. Maybe I'll start a thread on foods to fix that is reasonable price wise for those of us on a budget.

Barry


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This post was last edited 05/22/2020 at 13:41
Post# 1073790 , Reply# 173   5/22/2020 at 13:34 (1,406 days old) by ea56 (Cotati, Calif.)        

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I bought 2 lbs. of 93% lean ground beef at Target on Tues. for $10.99.  I’ve been stretching lean ground beef with recipes that I can get 6 servings, or 3 nights of meals for two from 1 lb. of GB.  We have no aversion to eating leftovers.  If its good on the first night its good on the 3rd night too.

 

We are all going to need to think and cook like this is WWII and rationing is on.  It can be done.

 

 Sunday I made Salisbury Steak with 1 lb. of lean GB and used a cup of stale bread crumbs that I made a panade with using a bit of milk, a beaten egg and Worcestershire sauce, along with very finely chopped onion, some thyme and lots of black pepper.  It was really good with the gravy and mashed potatoes.  

 

We ate this Sun. thru Tues., with freshly mashed potatoes and cooked vegetables each night, along with a salad, so it didn’t seem like leftovers at all.

 

No way am I going to spend ninety bucks on a brisket.  But in fairness, that was an 18 lb. brisket and $4.99 and lb. is about what I’ve been seeing for cuts of beef like this for a few months.

 

Eddie


Post# 1073793 , Reply# 174   5/22/2020 at 13:45 (1,406 days old) by perc-o-prince (Southboro, Mass)        

Eddie- I was gonna ask- is $5/# for Angus brisket high?

As for poor man's meat, chicken wings and flank steak used to be the dregs of the animal. Now they're pricey! Wings here are routinely more expensive than boneless/skinless breast or thighs!

Chuck


Post# 1073794 , Reply# 175   5/22/2020 at 13:47 (1,406 days old) by mrsalvo (New Braunfels Texas)        

Eddie,
You are right! When I picked up that package it seemed small to me. When I think of a brisket, I think of something that takes up most of the oven. Family always bought huge ones. Thank-you for pointing that out. But still, no way could I afford that.

While at the store I saw a mother & daughter going through the meat section trying to decide what to get. They were picking various packages up and then putting them back. They were obviously on a tight budget, and shopping for a family. I felt sorry for them, my heart ached. Food bank lines are long these days and there are many families one step away from going there.

Barry


Post# 1073795 , Reply# 176   5/22/2020 at 13:50 (1,406 days old) by CircleW (NE Cincinnati OH area)        

Yeah, that brisket will make like 72 1/4 lb. sandwiches. That would come out to $1.25/serving for the meat.


Post# 1073796 , Reply# 177   5/22/2020 at 13:54 (1,406 days old) by ea56 (Cotati, Calif.)        
Chuck,

ea56's profile picture

$4.99 for brisket is about the going rate here for at least the past 6 mo.  I guess its all relative whether or not one would consider it to be a high price.  

 

With lean GB being $5.49 to $5.79 an lb., $4.99 for brisket isn’t so high. But for someone my age on a fixed income spending $20.00 or more on a decent sized roast is high.  So I just don’t buy it.

 

Now I do like to buy the 1.5 lb. Hormel Pork Loin Roasts for $4.99 on sale, $6.99 reg price.  They are all nice lean meat, no waste and I get 6 servings from these.  They are easy to cook and delicious. 

 

Eddie


Post# 1073800 , Reply# 178   5/22/2020 at 14:03 (1,406 days old) by ea56 (Cotati, Calif.)        
Tom,

ea56's profile picture

By the time that 18 lb. brisket is cooked and allowing for the shrinkage and loss of weight from the fat cooking out of it if you get 72 sandwiches they aren’t going to be 1/4 lbs.of meat in each.  The way most people are so lavish with meat I’ll bet the average cook would only get about 25 to 35 sandwiches out of this roast.

 

I know I’m a skin flint, but I come from the old school of watching the pennies and the dollars will take care of themselves. If I hadn’t lived my life this way I wouldn’t have a paid for home and car and a secure retirement. Life is all about making choices.

 

Eddie


Post# 1073817 , Reply# 179   5/22/2020 at 17:59 (1,406 days old) by CircleW (NE Cincinnati OH area)        
That's true Eddie,

Had forgot to consider shrinkage in cooking. I've never cooked one of these, but sure know Hamburgers with a high fat content shrink down a lot when cooked!


Post# 1073836 , Reply# 180   5/22/2020 at 20:22 (1,406 days old) by bradfordwhite (central U.S.)        

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Errands  today.

Aldi's, pepBoys, Advance Auto., Dollartree. Goodwill for the first time in several months.

 

All places have signs on doors for people to wear masks.  It's rare to see people not wearing them.

 

Advance auto actually the air inside was tolerable.  It didn't have the high toxic petroleum smell that Auto parts and tire dealers often have.  I really don't know how people can work in that.   But pepboys was stinky inside and they didn't have the part I was looking for.

 

---

Aldis I had to wait 10- 15 minutes outside in 95 degree full sun which was OK for getting my vit D.  Everything for the most part was stocked. 

Still no Baking Soda.  Limits on some things like those 12 packs of t.p. from last week, only can buy 1.  There were only a few left and there were no other t.p. products.

Prices for some things actually were reduced.  The Kiwi which is typically 3.99 for 6 was 3.50.  The package of pre-sliced sandwich "Black Forest" ham which is typically $3.19 was $2.95

 

Other stuff like raspberries, green onions, and bananas seem to be unchanged.

 

Got a bag of frozen onion rings for $2.19   and 4 lb.s sugar $1.73

 

One thing I've noticed that's gone up over the last month are green peppers.  I'm growing my own so, whateve...

 

 

----

Dollartree- They are limiting how many people in the store, but i didn't have to wait.  Noticed that the Marshall's (don't know what they sell) next door was open and relatively busy.

Spent like $10 on various things.   

 

Got a newly REDUCED size  Clorox bleach?  Really?  It was already small before.  It went from 16 oz to 11 oz.  This will typically last for me 6 months.

It still uses the same cap.  Am I the only one thinking this toxic chemical is in an adorable mini-bottle size?   lol

 

They did have the single rolls of t.p. that are Scott equiv.  Didn't buy any.   Got a mini bottle of Gain detergent.

Bought cough syrup which I use sparingly and it usually lasts 6 months.  I swear by this stuff for keeping me from ever getting sick.  When I went through the check out the computer has the cashier ask if the purchaser is at least 18, which is a new thing.  I was like 'yeah, I'm just a smidge past 18'. 

 

The women behind me was like there are some people buying that to use in making meth.  

What?   ugggh.  disgusting.  I guess it's better than the anti-freeze, and radio active isotopes, and gasoline I heard they used.   .... disgusting.

 

---

Goodwill- There was a woman inside the door ready to limit how many could enter the store but I didn't have to wait. There weren't that many people there.

 

Found a lamp and a Eureka vacuum.

 

 


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Post# 1073838 , Reply# 181   5/22/2020 at 20:54 (1,406 days old) by SudsMaster (SF Bay Area, California)        
It's not just the fat...

sudsmaster's profile picture
The proteins in raw meat are relaxed. When they are cooked, they tighten up and this is a major reason why even a lean cut of meat will shrink when cooked, along with loss of both fat and water based fluids.


Post# 1073847 , Reply# 182   5/22/2020 at 22:20 (1,406 days old) by Frigilux (The Minnesota Prairie)        

frigilux's profile picture
Keith— So is the recommended dose for the concentrated formula in the smaller bottle less than the dose for regular Clorox in the larger bottle?

I use only Clorox, as well, but have never tried the concentrated version.


Post# 1073872 , Reply# 183   5/23/2020 at 04:14 (1,405 days old) by bradfordwhite (central U.S.)        

bradfordwhite's profile picture

 

 

I've just never heard of condensed bleach. 

I remember when they condensed the detergents in the 80s.  There was a time they recommended 2 cups of Tide for a large load of laundry in a top loader.


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Post# 1074379 , Reply# 184   5/26/2020 at 12:37 (1,402 days old) by vacerator (Macomb, Michigan)        
Ground

Sirloin was $12.99/lb. the other day at one market. $10.99 if you bought tat least 5 lbs.

Post# 1074443 , Reply# 185   5/26/2020 at 20:56 (1,402 days old) by MattL (Flushing, MI)        

Went to my local Kroger tonight, left quite angry.  I'd say more than 50% of the customers were mask-less, and 1/4 of the staff, this should not be happening at this point.


Post# 1074462 , Reply# 186   5/27/2020 at 03:09 (1,401 days old) by MattL (Flushing, MI)        

I dug the receipt out of the trash and did the survey.  Told them I'd feel very uncomfortable shopping there in the future and will shop elsewhere for the time being.  I'll be curious to see if I get a response, I was quite detailed on what I saw.


Post# 1076181 , Reply# 187   6/7/2020 at 11:06 (1,390 days old) by perc-o-prince (Southboro, Mass)        

WOW!

I ventured out to get my hair cut Friday and stopped in at the supermarket in the same plaza; Hannaford. Generally the only time I go there is for corned beef briskets around St Pat's Day because for some reason they're the cheapest, and if I need to run in for 1 or 2 items. They're on the expensive side... same or maybe a little more so than Roche Bros. and Stop and Shop.

I thought to see what was going on in the meat area. Lo and behold... pork for $0.99/#!!! They had sirloin chops, rib end chops, and country-style ribs all for that price! With the current climate I couldn't believe it! You bet I grabbed some for the freezer! I thought of it later- I could have grabbed some, stripped the bones and had ground pork for a little more than $1/# and had bones for a slow-simmered sauce!

As a comparison for Hannaford's pricing, boneless rib-eyes were $19/# there where everyone else seems to be in the $11-14 range.

Chuck


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Post# 1076210 , Reply# 188   6/7/2020 at 15:10 (1,390 days old) by twintubdexter (Palm Springs)        

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$12.99 for a pound of sirloin, and ground at that. Lucy & Ethyl were selling sirloin steak for 79 cents a pound, and at a profit. Talk about inflation...


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Post# 1076351 , Reply# 189   6/8/2020 at 14:01 (1,389 days old) by vacerator (Macomb, Michigan)        
Glad you're

feeling good Joe! I happened accross Sean A806 on instagram. He lives near Palm Springs. I said thats near twintub dexter. He replied he hadn't heard crickets in here from you. He posts lots of classic car pics. He doen't chime here often lately.
Our kids bought ten pounds of ground round from a gourmet market week before last at the high dollar. Upon opening it up to divide into smaller freezer bags, it smelled foul, like horse manure. The store was reluctant to exchange it. Unbeleivable. Some Italian's make ashamed I am one.


Post# 1079956 , Reply# 190   7/5/2020 at 18:46 (1,362 days old) by Tomturbomatic (Beltsville, MD)        
Instacart Anyone?

I was looking for Kemp's Frozen Yogurt (because where I buy it does not have it anymore) on Google and Instacart came up. I have never used before but am trying this time for 4 cartons to be delivered between 9 and 10 tomorrow morning. A friend a year older than I uses it for all of her grocery shopping.

Post# 1080193 , Reply# 191   7/7/2020 at 13:00 (1,360 days old) by DADoES (TX, U.S. of A.)        

dadoes's profile picture
 
Advisory signs at grocery of aluminum shortage for soft drink cans.


Post# 1080208 , Reply# 192   7/7/2020 at 15:20 (1,360 days old) by Tomturbomatic (Beltsville, MD)        

Insta Cart called. Only two containers of the yogurt. Did I want something else? "No, please cancel the order."

Post# 1080293 , Reply# 193   7/8/2020 at 08:07 (1,359 days old) by Ultramatic (New York City)        

ultramatic's profile picture

 

 

Most of my shopping is from Instacart and Amazon Fresh. Instacart has issues. Some of the shoppers are rude and incompetent. Amazon fresh is much better but variety is far limited.


Post# 1080316 , Reply# 194   7/8/2020 at 11:10 (1,359 days old) by ea56 (Cotati, Calif.)        
I Just Got Thru Putting Away the Groceries

ea56's profile picture

and its 8:54am as I begin to write this.  I left the house at 7:45am and drove the 5 miles to Target going the back way to help charge the battery.  

 

The store opened at 8:00 am and I had all my groceries checked out and in the trunk by 8:21 am.  I had a full shopping cart too.  The score of the day was the purchase of three 1 lb pkgs of extra lean ground beef for .69 cents each and they had $5.00 off coupons.  The expiration date for use or freezing is 7-9, so in the freezer they went.  For $2.07 I got 3 lbs of 93% lean ground beef, and Target’s lean ground beef is the best I’ve ever purchased anywhere, consistently fresh, lean and tastes good too.

 

I haven’t filled up with gas since 3-5-20, over 4 mo ago and when I got back home the trip odometer had 219 miles showing and I still have 1/3 of a tank left.  This is unbelievable!  I may even make it to the 5 mo. mark on one tankful at this rate!

 

Target has discontinued the Senior hour on Wednesdays, but the checker told me that if I come any day at 8:00 am the store isn’t crowded.  What a blessing!  And they had just about everything stocked too.  I can make it thru this pandemic OK if this keeps up.  I strive to stay away from people as much as possible to remain uninfected.

 

Eddie


Post# 1080321 , Reply# 195   7/8/2020 at 11:15 (1,359 days old) by appnut (TX)        

appnut's profile picture

What a difference a week makes.  Last week, HEB's web site had a tremendous variety of whole wheat pasta and I could order as much as I wanted.  This morning, only one option for WW pasta.  The runner even called me and told me almost all pasta of any kind was gone and the same with dried beans.  And he said they are continuing to intensely restock the shelves.  


Post# 1080332 , Reply# 196   7/8/2020 at 11:40 (1,359 days old) by Ultramatic (New York City)        

ultramatic's profile picture

 

 

Unreliable restocking. Yes, that is certainly an issue. Today's order from Instacart (Stop&Shop), out of 25 items ordered, 8 were "of of stock".

It happens a lot on Amazon Fresh as well but at least it shows you when an item is not available before you order. And these are common, everyday items. Here we are 7 months later and this crap is still going on. Just goes to show how fragile our food distribution system really is.


Post# 1080339 , Reply# 197   7/8/2020 at 12:23 (1,359 days old) by ea56 (Cotati, Calif.)        

ea56's profile picture

I’ve never found online grocery shopping to be reliable.  Fifteen years ago I tried doing online shopping at Safeway three times in a row.  It was very time consuming going thru screen after screen, specifying the size and amounts of meat and produce I wanted and checking to be sure the items were in stock.

 

Each and every time I received my order there was always at least one or two items that weren’t there, stating they were out of stock.  And the expiration dates on the dairy products were always close to their final sale date.  The weight of the meat packages was always over what I’d specified and the produce was always a higher weight than I’d requested.

 

So, I still had to go to the store anyway, and guess what, those items that they claimed were out of stock were always there when I arrived about 30 mins after I’d received my order.  I think that the store shoppers just didn’t give a sh*t, if it took too much time to locate an item they just said it was out of stock.

 

After these experiences I gave up on online grocery shopping.  Four months ago when this mess all began I tried to order online from many different sources.  Each one never had most of what I wanted, so the hell with them.  I’ll just go to the store either during Senior Hour or the first hour of opening, with a list in hand and get the hell out ASAP.

 

Eddie


Post# 1080342 , Reply# 198   7/8/2020 at 12:58 (1,359 days old) by appnut (TX)        

appnut's profile picture

I do my selections via the HEB web site.  When I put a selected item in my "list", the system will notify me if there is none in stock.  I'm very methodical, I don't select generic item descriptions, I go through and enter the item description as it states item by item because I have specific items I need.  Also, HEB is very good about removing items from their web site when items are no longer in stock.  


Post# 1080343 , Reply# 199   7/8/2020 at 13:23 (1,359 days old) by chachp (North Little Rock, AR)        
Pickup at Kroger

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I have been doing my shopping on line and picking them up at the drive thru.  My experience is mixed.  Some weeks a complete order and other weeks many things are "out of stock."  I turned off the option to substitute because they have to be on some kind of drugs to pick the subs they pick.

 

I would go in the store and shop but these people are f'ing crazy.  Everyone ignores the signs on the floor and at the registers and to add insult to injury no one enforces it.  The aisles are too close and I just don't feel safe.  I feel like I'd have to wear a hazmat suit to feel safe.  I'm too old to take the chance.  So if I have a few missing items I deal with it.

 

I will say that as I had been working on a project to redo our laundry room, I used the curbside pickup multiple times at Homo Depot and Lowe's.  I had great experiences every time.


Post# 1080345 , Reply# 200   7/8/2020 at 14:16 (1,359 days old) by MattL (Flushing, MI)        
Little things to celebrate....

Was in Kroger yesterday and came across a 6 pack of Bounty paper towels --The Full Size Sheets!  You can bet that found it's way into my cart.  I've seen lots of Select-a-Size Bounty but I hate that with a passion and would do without rather than buy. I was down to the last 1/4 of a roll from the 18 pack I bought last year at Sams.  Debated for a few seconds since I really prefer the Mega Roll vs the double but at this point there really wasn't a question.

 

Now I'm on the hunt for a 3 pack of  Puffs Plus at a reasonable price.  Usually get it for $3.99 -4.99 but have only seen it at Walgreens for $7.99, not paying that price...


Post# 1080355 , Reply# 201   7/8/2020 at 15:51 (1,359 days old) by twintubdexter (Palm Springs)        

twintubdexter's profile picture

I like this chart. You have to start somewhere. Notice that grocery shopping is near the top. 


  View Full Size
Post# 1080358 , Reply# 202   7/8/2020 at 16:02 (1,359 days old) by ea56 (Cotati, Calif.)        

ea56's profile picture

Matt, I’m just the opposite as far as the paper towels go.  I prefer the select a size as there is less waste.  Many times a half of a paper towel is just enough.  If I want a full size paper towel I can easily just tear off two half towels.  Cutting a full size paper towel in half is a PITA, but I will do so to conserve on the unnecessary of the waste of paper.

 

Joe, thanks for posting the chart of the scale of risk for everyday activities.  Its a great reference resource.  BTW, I hope that your recovery is continuing to progress well.

 

Eddie


Post# 1080360 , Reply# 203   7/8/2020 at 16:06 (1,359 days old) by vacerator (Macomb, Michigan)        
As of Monday

Texas medical cemter Houston had no ICU beds available. All were filled by Covid patients. It's one of my hubby's project hospitals. Those being ignorant and not wearing masks or taking precautions are putting otheres at risk. It's selfish. Our gym is open illegally 24/7. Members posting on Instagram were unmasked. A local Red Robin closed last week when employees were working sick. All it takes is for one of them to be in a gym, etc. and infect others. Many young people here live with their immigrant parents and elderly grand parents. Our grnadaughter said the other day she doesn't want to wear a mask to school. Betsy DeVoss announced today that schools will lose funding if they are not 100% open, and enrolled in September with zero online virtual teaching. She's a dinwitt too!

Post# 1080378 , Reply# 204   7/8/2020 at 20:55 (1,359 days old) by appnut (TX)        

appnut's profile picture

Eddie, just like you.  I prefer the select-o-size paper towels.  I use cloth cleaning rags 99%  of the time.  A roll of paper towels can last me over 1/2 a year.  


Post# 1080384 , Reply# 205   7/8/2020 at 22:57 (1,359 days old) by MattL (Flushing, MI)        

I don't know, it's rare for me to  ever need just a half sheet of paper toweling.  I use them as a napkin with my dinner and hate nothing more than having select a size splitting in my lap or wiping my face. A half sheet just does not fit my hand well when cleaning.

 

I don't use a massive amount, a mega roll will last 6-8 weeks if not more.


Post# 1080493 , Reply# 206   7/10/2020 at 11:05 (1,357 days old) by warmsecondrinse (Fort Lee, NJ)        

I ran a couple of errands in and around Fort Lee & Englewood yesterday. First time doing so during business hours in at least a month. Fort Lee is the NJ side of the George Washington Bridge. I can walk from my building across the bridge to the subway in less than a half hour.

Anyway.....

Dentist: Called office from my car when I arrived. Receptionist in full gown, gloves, & face shield. Temperature taken and was given a squirt of hand sanitizer. Dentist and hygienist in gown, gloves, & mask. Oh, yeah. Tooth has to come out and was given antibiotics for infection.

CVS: Garage was about 1/3 full. Store not crowded. All in masks.

Acme supermarket: Store not crowded. Every person I saw had a mask. Random empty spots on shelves. Ample stocks of Regio toilet paper and one brand of paper towels. Picked up Boars Head chocolate hummus* 50% off with 7/13 expiration. SCORE!

Realized I'd forgotten pseudophed and batteries at CVS so...

Walgreens: Few people, no crowds. had what I wanted but noticed several 'button' sizes out of stock.

NJ law mandates masks in all businesses. I saw 100% compliance. I saw a few people walking outside with masks off but dangling around neck. Everyone I saw outside not social distancing had a mask on, including teens.

Traffic was definitely up since I last drove around during business hours. I'd guess about 1/2 pre-Covid volume.

*Chocolate hummus is not terribly unusual. The Boars Head I bought is a somewhat less sweet version of the filling used in mini-calzone popular around Christmas. The internet says it's "southern" but I can tell you it runs at least as far north as Abruzzo. Traditionally the sweetener is not sugar, but 'black' grape syrup (name forgotten). Sugar used to be very expensive. During wine making gallons of the raw juice 'black' and 'white' were separately boiled down to a syrup. They'd be used instead of sugar for pretty much all baking. As an aside, Abruzzo is far enough south that butter was not commonly used. There is/was a particular type of olive oil used for cakes, cookies, etc. I'm afraid I've forgotten the details over the past 30 years.

Here're two links with recipes for the chocolate filling:

www.shelovesbiscotti.com/...


CLICK HERE TO GO TO warmsecondrinse's LINK


Post# 1086538 , Reply# 207   8/25/2020 at 17:42 (1,311 days old) by MattL (Flushing, MI)        
Since this is sort of related....

Got a text today from a cousin, she alerted me to the fact you cannot find canning supplies!  Was out so stopped at 2 or 3 stores and it's true, shelves are stripped bare.  As she said all the "Preppers" are out in full force.  Not sure how much I'll can this year, and do have some lids from last year so I might be ok.  But will be on the lookout for supplies just in case.


Post# 1086562 , Reply# 208   8/25/2020 at 20:00 (1,311 days old) by vacerator (Macomb, Michigan)        
Oh well aint that just

PEACHY?? Or beany, corny, tomatoey, etc. Is the alternative to blanch and freeze?

Post# 1086638 , Reply# 209   8/26/2020 at 08:42 (1,310 days old) by philcobendixduo (San Jose)        
No Salt

philcobendixduo's profile picture
I went to my local Nob Hill (Raley's) Monday morning.
No iodized salt.
No "name brand" dishwashing liquid
No isopropyl alcohol (haven't seen that on the shelf since March).

On the flip side, I also went to Total Wines & More during their "60 & over" hour Monday.
No one but me (and employees) in the store.
In and out in 5 minutes with everything I came for.


Post# 1086640 , Reply# 210   8/26/2020 at 08:48 (1,310 days old) by chachp (North Little Rock, AR)        
My niece does a lot of canning..

chachp's profile picture

 

She reached out to the family a couple of weeks ago asking us all to look for canning lids.  She couldn't find any where she is.  We found some on Amazon but the prices seemed high to her.  I don't know if they are always that price or jacked up given the demand.


Post# 1086641 , Reply# 211   8/26/2020 at 09:16 (1,310 days old) by perc-o-prince (Southboro, Mass)        

I found a very small selection of lids and rings at Walmart, then Ace hardware. I don't do much in the way of canning, but with the success of the tomatoes last year I'm repeating this year. I also do refrigerator pickles but I can re-use cleaned lids for those since they're not processed.

Eddie, Bob, We bought a pack of Brawny select-a-size at Lowes maybe 2 months ago because they had it. Not only does it allow the 1/2 sheet as all select-a-size, but each half-sheet is perforated in half the other way so you can just use a 1/4 sheet! Might be something to look into where you use so little already!

Chuck


Post# 1086642 , Reply# 212   8/26/2020 at 09:23 (1,310 days old) by ea56 (Cotati, Calif.)        
Chuck

ea56's profile picture

thats good to know about the new Brawny Select a size paper towels.  Thanks for the heads up on this.  I hate to waste paper or anything else.  If we all conserve more of everything maybe we can get a handle on reversing Climate Change that is causing all the natural disasters we are currently experiencing.

 

Eddie


Post# 1086940 , Reply# 213   8/28/2020 at 10:24 (1,308 days old) by vacerator (Macomb, Michigan)        
Our store

had plenty of jars and lids yesterday.

Post# 1089818 , Reply# 214   9/18/2020 at 15:42 (1,287 days old) by sfh074 ( )        
Went to ....

Walmart yesterday. Everything back to normal now. No signs placed by certain items saying you can only purchase one of the items. All TP and paper towels fully stocked, clorox wipes back and to capacity. Only thing different ...... hand sanitizer can be found in multiple parts of the store and in every checkout isle now. Face masks, the same way. Can be purchased by the single or the box, and if you are fashion conscious, they have them in all different colors ..... even in your favorite college football logos. Well except for Ohio, LOL

Post# 1089844 , Reply# 215   9/18/2020 at 21:45 (1,287 days old) by Tomturbomatic (Beltsville, MD)        

I was in our local Shoppers Food Warehouse and a gallon of off-brand bleach was $7 which I consider gouging, but it was there if you had to have it. Also saw for the first time ever Clorox bleach packets, little square packets of dry chlorine bleach. I don't know how well that would work with he machines using so little water; seems like you could get fabric damage. Seems like it would be better to put them in the dispenser to give the stuff a chance to get diluted during fill, except like with the tablets they introduced in the 90s, the fill was too short to dissolve the tablet and there was not enough water in the drum to dissolve it either. I had to smush them up to use them.

Post# 1094911 , Reply# 216   10/28/2020 at 10:17 (1,247 days old) by Frigilux (The Minnesota Prairie)        

frigilux's profile picture
HyVee Grocery

Oddest Item Not Available: Jars of sliced green olives. There'd been a big gap where the tall, slender jars of sliced olives should have been for the past two weeks. When shopping today, they'd filled in the gap with additional jars of pimiento-stuffed olives. Asked the day manager and he said they've ordered them several times, but no luck.

No gel-style hand sanitizer. I do not like the watery stuff that comes in plastic honey jars and smells like nail polish remover.

Out of stock for months: Lysol Pro Kitchen Disinfecting Cleaner. Finally just ordered a gallon of concentrated sanitizer from Sam's Club which is COVID-rated. Two tablespoons of sanitizer, 30-oz. of water. Also ordered a gallon of their glass cleaner, since that seems to be hard to get at Hy-Vee lately.

On the upside, they'd just loaded the shelf with HyVee-brand disinfecting wipes, so was able to score two big containers of those.

Made my day: PERSIL PRO-CLEAN + STAIN FIGHTER!! Bought two big jugs of that. They also had regular Persil ProClean. Haven't seen Persil on the shelf for ages. Our detergent section is basically just 20 variations of Tide
and the super-cheap crap. Think I saw some jugs of Purex, as well. Pods seem to be making a comeback.

Bought my Thanksgiving turkey, a box of Stove-Top Stuffing and a little bag of Idahoan Buttery Homestyle instant mashed potatoes--they're really quite good.

Our small family has decided not to gather for Thanksgiving. No final decision on Christmas at this point, but quite honestly I don't see it happening, either.

We've seen a steady increase in cases here in the rural, southwest part of the state. My doctor is in isolation, but don't know whether he tested positive or was contact-traced from an exposure.

My sister and brother-in-law live in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, which has seen a very dramatic rise in cases hospitalizations. Minnehaha County had consistently hovered around 55-75 hospitalizations until about a month after the Sturgis Bike Rally, surprise, surprise. They were at 395 yesterday.


Post# 1094929 , Reply# 217   10/28/2020 at 13:02 (1,247 days old) by perc-o-prince (Southboro, Mass)        
Who'd-a-thunkit...

a shortage of sliced green olives?

 

As discussed in another thread, it seems we'll be seeing shortages again with the surge in CV cases. With that in mind I did pick up 1 additional bag of each frozen veg that I was buying anyway, one extra pack of TP and one of paper towels. If we each just stock a little extra and don't panic, maybe the supply chain will be able to keep up.

 

The store I went to was Market Basket, a locally owned discount chain. All the frozen stuff was very full. The TP and PT areas were fully stocked, but with limited brands. 

 

We split a gallon of 99% isopropyl with another friend back in April when nothing else was available. We use it, diluted to aprox 75% in small spray bottles, for cleaning groceries mostly as we have plenty of gel sanitizer (thank you Dollar Tree!). I do also use the spray to disinfect the microphones as needed during backyard social-distancing karaoke, but I don't think it'll be warm enough to do that again this year. It was a bit chilly a week ago Saturday when we did it last.

 

Hoping for the best,

Chuck


Post# 1094936 , Reply# 218   10/28/2020 at 13:36 (1,247 days old) by ea56 (Cotati, Calif.)        
I Went to the Target Geezer Hour

ea56's profile picture

this morning at 8 am as I now do every week.  Most everything is back to normal.  However, I did notice that there were empty shelves in the paper towel aisle, but there were still paper towel available.  And they were out of the Target brand of butter, but I have 5 lbs in the freezer, so I’m good.

 

 I was the first customer in the store when the doors opened and armed with my list I was at the checkout in 15 mins flat with my whole weeks groceries, out to the car by 8:22am and home by 8:29 am.

 

 I’m SO grateful that Target still has this special concession for the elderly and otherwise compromised.  Its a real public service.  And the staff at my local Target are just simply the nicest people around, always helpful and with a smile on their faces too.

 

I also bought our turkey last week, a 9.75 lb. Butterball.  I thought I was getting the largest frozen Butterball Turkey Breast, but thats OK, I’ll just have to make some turkey chili with the dark meat.  If I can snag a frozen turkey breast before Thanksgiving I’ll get one of those too.  We like LOTS of white meat turkey at Thanksgiving time for sandwiches, yum.

 

And Chuck, I also have been buying an extra bag or two of frozen vegetables every week too.  I always have at least one backup of every item that we use regularly.  I like to have a well stocked pantry.

 

Eddie


Post# 1094966 , Reply# 219   10/28/2020 at 16:20 (1,247 days old) by Frigilux (The Minnesota Prairie)        

frigilux's profile picture
Eddie— The opposite turkey issue almost happened to me this morning. I was digging around and found what I thought was a 9-lb. whole turkey, only to find it was a frozen breast. Wound up with a 14-lb. turkey and since I’m on my own and prefer dark meat, I’ll make Hot Cheesy Turkey Sandwiches with the breasts. There’s a 2-lb. box of Velveeta in the pantry that needs to be used, so it works out perfectly. I portion the mixture so each container will make four sandwiches using standard hamburger buns—and into the freezer they go. We see a lot of the Cheesy Turkey in Crock-Pots at graduation receptions around here. Back when we had graduation receptions to go to, anyway.

Chuck— I actually questioned picking up two jugs of Persil, but hadn’t seen it for so long that I went for it. I really hope our Hy-Vee puts limits on items much sooner than they did back in March-April. They let a lot of people walk out with a cart overflowing with packages of toilet paper or thirty 1-lb. rolls of ground beef while the rest of us stood empty-handed going WTF?! Your backyard Karaoke sounds like fun. The temps have dropped a lot here the past three weeks, marking the end of outdoor activities.



Post# 1094970 , Reply# 220   10/28/2020 at 17:40 (1,247 days old) by Ultramatic (New York City)        

ultramatic's profile picture

 

 

The only store I go to personally is Trader Joe's since they don't have delivery. The one I go to is at Essex Crossing in Manhattan. Parking can be an issue but I always find a metered spot eventually. This Trader Joe's is huge, wide aisles, always nearly empty. Nirvana. As far as I can tell, everything is in abundance. Of course it doesn't have the variety as say Shop-Rite or ACME, but the quality of it's offering's is quite good and the prices excellent.

 

I recently signed up for Fresh Direct, and they were OK. I found their prices a bit higher and their selection meh. Delivery was fast though. A little over an hour. I am signing up for as many grocery delivery apps as I can. I remember how awful it was trying to get groceries back in March. Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners will be immediate family affairs. I'm already stocked up with paper products until the spring of next year. Plus 5 gallons of bleach. Disinfectant wipes are again in short supply. Only Home Depot seems to have them, and all off brand. Disinfectant sprays are still MIA. I am down to my last can from the supply I bought back in January. N95 masks are available, but they're China brands. Anything 3M is a distant memory.


Post# 1095041 , Reply# 221   10/29/2020 at 09:19 (1,246 days old) by Davey7 (Chicago)        
Paper towels in short supply? But not TP?

Last weekend I tried to stock up on paper towels at a Chicago area Woodman's (Wisconsin based chain with massive stores and low prices). They only had one brand in individual roll packaging with a limit of four per customer per day, yet their toilet paper aisle was stocked completely, although it still had odd brands such as from Mexico (which I've seen in other stores - even with full Spanish packaging, in non-Latino areas too).

Post# 1095099 , Reply# 222   10/29/2020 at 17:35 (1,246 days old) by imperial70 (MA USA)        
napkins shortage

Some of the stores in the greater Boston area are having napkins shortage. The shaws next door has none for weeks.  The stop and shop has limited supply.


Post# 1095130 , Reply# 223   10/30/2020 at 00:55 (1,246 days old) by tolivac (greenville nc)        

Napkin shortage-Is the paper being used to make potty rolls instead?

Post# 1095132 , Reply# 224   10/30/2020 at 02:09 (1,245 days old) by Ultramatic (New York City)        

ultramatic's profile picture

 

 

Costco has paper towels in stock. They seem to be doing better in restocking than BJ's.


Post# 1095152 , Reply# 225   10/30/2020 at 09:35 (1,245 days old) by perc-o-prince (Southboro, Mass)        
UGH!

Rich told me that on the news yesterday they were talking about a possible lockdown and about "stocking the pantry." It's just like when it's supposed to snow; "Milk & bread! Milk & bread!"

 

Chuck


Post# 1095168 , Reply# 226   10/30/2020 at 11:00 (1,245 days old) by vacerator (Macomb, Michigan)        
Soluable clear fiber

has been in short supply for a couple months. I take 6 tbs. per day.

Post# 1095230 , Reply# 227   10/30/2020 at 21:54 (1,245 days old) by Davey7 (Chicago)        

Doing my marketing (and for my mom) tomorrow - will report back on Chicago area shortages, if any. We're probably going to Caputo's though, which isn't quite a "normal" grocery store in the sense it favors the, what's the word, Italian side of the food triangle (or kitchen if you prefer).

Post# 1095248 , Reply# 228   10/31/2020 at 03:44 (1,244 days old) by neptunebob (Pittsburgh, PA)        
Vacerator

neptunebob's profile picture

Have you tried Metamucil? Today I went to Sams Club and they still have the Club Size!


Post# 1095276 , Reply# 229   10/31/2020 at 08:43 (1,244 days old) by luxflairguy (Wilmington NC)        

Just went to Walmart near me. Very little bacon, sausage or lunchmeat, spices decimated as reported in newspaper. Only paper towels were the multi- type which I hate! And no carrots-just bags and bags of mini type. And no one could say when they'd be getting more! Cleaning isle decimated as well, even the cleansers. Got 99% of what was on list! Greg

Post# 1095317 , Reply# 230   10/31/2020 at 16:21 (1,244 days old) by DaveAMKrayoGuy (Oak Park, MI)        

daveamkrayoguy's profile picture
Back to the game of pay more get less:

Luckily no limit of two or one on toilet paper, but for what lot I paid and say how much cost of the product I passed up, this won't last...



-- Dave


  View Full Size
Post# 1095770 , Reply# 231   11/4/2020 at 11:30 (1,240 days old) by Davey7 (Chicago)        

Ended up getting paper products at Menard's - no shortage or limits.

Grocery's at Pete's which was pretty much normal, no shortages of anything in particular that I could tell.


Post# 1096044 , Reply# 232   11/6/2020 at 06:22 (1,238 days old) by vacerator (Macomb, Michigan)        
Now a shortage of

organic and free range chicken form Ormand Indiana. Miller poultry, Katie's, etc. We don't eat the corn fed, or broth injected. Hope I can find some today, or Bell & Evans at the gourmet market. It all costs around $6.60/lb. You are what ya eat!

Post# 1096643 , Reply# 233   11/10/2020 at 08:47 (1,234 days old) by vacerator (Macomb, Michigan)        
Here we go again!

Our daughter couldn't get any T.P. at the store over the weekend. So for a laugh, I spotted this on the Walthers model trains website yesterday; You can have a look if you want. Just go there and type in the search box: Busch HO COVID toilet paper transport
It's a blue Mercedes Benz Vito van with a guy carrying it with signs for safety and testing.
This state has the highest infection rate since June 4th., but peaked on Nov. 5th.
A friend from our gym (we havn't been there) is quarantined now. She doesn't wear a mask, and flew to Nashville 2 weeks ago for a wedding. She isn't sick, but was exposed. A neighbor's boss and sister have it. He is hospitalized with blood gasses of only 80. They were at a 50th. birthday party last week in a small banquet room.
Guests were wearing masks at first, but you know things go after drinking starts. The lady who is 50 was the spreader. Stay safe all!


Post# 1096697 , Reply# 234   11/10/2020 at 22:19 (1,234 days old) by iej (.... )        

We'd some odd items missing back in March, during the first lockdowns here but since then everything's been normal and I haven't really seen any item run short, even though we're currently in a 2nd 'shelter at home' type situation, although it's no where near as weird as the first time around.

 

Most of the issues here were driven by panic buying, which didn't last all that long here anyway. People calmed down pretty rapidly.

 

Supermarkets all operate to a just-in-time supply system, with extensive modelling of normal demand. If you suddenly have large numbers of people buying very strange quantities of specific items, shelf stock will run low quite rapidly and that then just drives more panic as people see empty shelves.

 

They countered it by really emphasising that stock wasn't low and actually explaining their stock planning algorithms in quite some depth and the government also stepped up to the plate, guaranteeing supply chain integrity.

 

Supermarkets also ran in-store announcements with messages like: "Our supply chains are strong. This store receives multiple deliveries every day. Please, only buy what you need. There is no need to bulk buy"

 

and they stocked large displays of the items that were being panic bought, like toilet rolls. So when you walked into my local supermarket, there was a huge pyramid of toilet paper - the logic was to get people to stop freaking out.

 

There were definitely some tight lines though, for example hand sanitiser was a niche product until March 2020. Most places had it in stock, but I mean who bought large quantities of hand santiser?  It's everywhere now and quite easy to find anywhere, and some of the big cosmetics brands like Garnier now sell it.

 

Masks etc are all quite easy to get now - almost every supermarket, pharmacy, convenience store, gas station etc etc stock a lot of that stuff now.

 

There were some really odd shortages in March though like you'd normally get a fairly wide range of hand washes, and for a few weeks you could only get strange versions that were clearly odd stock - like vast amounts of cherry scented Carex and weird seasonal variations that were clearly stuff they couldn't shift before.

 

Then some odd product lines where people were clearly panic buying went out of stock like a whole load of different pastas went short, one day I went in and they'd no canned tomatoes, yet they'd hundreds of other canned goods - various cooking sauces for curries, stir fries, pasta etc went a bit low for a while but then rapidly replenished and I think it was just entirely down to people buying them up and stockpiling them.

 

My local supermarket also briefly couldn't get various disinfectant sprays but started stocking quite cool professional versions - like they'd a very good Cif professional spray that both disinfected and polished. They sourced some really excellent professional 70% isopropyl alcohol wipes in very large drums and so on that proved really useful.

 

We went form that to this HUGE oversupply of all those products like you had endless disinfectants of every scent imaginable appearing and increasingly products started being approved as effective against coronavirus.

 

The other odd one was flour. The entire country decided they'd need to take up home baking and cleared out a years worth of flour in a week. Again, my local supermarket started selling catering packs which were by brands that would normally sell only to food services / restaurants etc.

 

There was actually no shortage of flour, it's just that home baking is more of a hobby than a staple these days and the mad rush to buy flour (most of which I would suspect is still sitting in cupboards) cleared the supply chains out.

 

Everything seems 100% normal now and we definitely didn't have any period where you couldn't get stuff - more just that you might have had a bit of a shortage of specific brands or less choice of brands back in March, but overall it was far from any kind of scary panic.

 


Post# 1096890 , Reply# 235   11/12/2020 at 21:09 (1,232 days old) by iej (.... )        

Oh .. one item I did struggle to get in March: Miele Twin Dos detergent cartridges.

 

They stopped taking online orders for quite a while during the first wave in Europe and I almost had to resort to using Persil or Ariel Liquid (the horror!)

 

I'd say one risk faced now is, even if most countries get this back under control again, there could still be supply chains disrupted, particularly with things coming from parts of the world that might not have the best public health infrastructure for dealing with it.

 

I wouldn't be surprised, for example, if teas, coffees, chocolates, certain spices and so on come under pressure at some stage if there's a really big outbreak, but I suspect you could also see issues with supply chain disruption of other products that might be depending on key ingredients made in some less developed parts of the world - and that would probably include bulk chemicals in some cases, so you could yet see problems for a whole range of products if anything does go really out of hand.

 

That being said, the whole thing is about public health and basic cooperation to deal with sanitary measures, rather than necessarily being about access to ultra high tech medicine, and in many respects its some of the wealthiest parts of the world (and not just the US, but lots of European countries too) that appear to be mishandling it most spectacularly. 

 

Hopefully we'll have technical solutions to this in the next few months and we can finally begin to put this awful period behind us and it will just be a story we bore people with at over Xmas dinner: "Did I tell you kids about the Coronavirus back in 2020!"


Post# 1096985 , Reply# 236   11/13/2020 at 20:40 (1,231 days old) by whirlykenmore78 (Prior Lake MN (GMT-0500 CDT.))        
Went to Lund's & Byerly's in Prior Lake 2 weeks ago:

whirlykenmore78's profile picture
Found them not to be out of anything except one special item that was selling out as soon as they got it in. Plenty of meat, produce, dairy, frozen, Deli and grocery items to be had. The cleaning/laundry and paper goods sections were fully stocked.

Last week @ Hy-Vee in Savage MN I found most things in stock with very few holes in the shelves. Have not been to Costco in a month or more. Have to go Monday. I will report what I see.
WK78


Post# 1097039 , Reply# 237   11/14/2020 at 11:56 (1,230 days old) by MattL (Flushing, MI)        

Went to Kroger yesterday, Friday.  Spotty  outages, but paper isle was 90 bare where it had been well stocked just last week.  Wanted 1 more package of my preferred TP, no luck.  Had to go to Walgreen's next they  had a decent selection, bought their last package of my preferred TP, but they had more of other size packages.  I think I'm good for the time being.

Post# 1097065 , Reply# 238   11/14/2020 at 17:02 (1,230 days old) by perc-o-prince (Southboro, Mass)        

With Covid caes on the rise they're expecting shut-downs again. Hopefully everyone just gets one extra of what they need. Of course, those idiots who filled a shopping cart with TP back in March have enough 'till 2022!!!

 

Our freezer's at its normal level... 6' tall and probably 75% capacity, for just 2 of us and entertaining, which is scarce these days! Thank goodness for vac sealing!!!

 

Chuck


Post# 1097073 , Reply# 239   11/14/2020 at 19:30 (1,230 days old) by MattL (Flushing, MI)        

Stopped into Kroger's again today for odds and ends and paper isle was half stocked. So, not so bad -yet.

Post# 1097076 , Reply# 240   11/14/2020 at 19:41 (1,230 days old) by whirlykenmore78 (Prior Lake MN (GMT-0500 CDT.))        
Went to Lund's & Byerly's Today:

whirlykenmore78's profile picture
Found mostly everything to be in stock. Pretty much all departments were fairly well stocked. In some isolated cases selection of brands/varieties was limited but very few if any items were not available. Tom the Meat and Seafood Manager told me that Turkeys will be an issue this year as most want the 10-12# birds and those are in short supply and most of what he gets will be the bigger ones. He is confident that he will have enough turkeys that everyone who wants one can get one though.
WK78


Post# 1097249 , Reply# 241   11/16/2020 at 11:34 (1,228 days old) by vacerator (Macomb, Michigan)        
Meijer had

Butterball turkeys yesterday, so I'm happy! I've done Honeysuckle white, fresh natural, Amish (supposedly), brined them in cider, whole allspice, oranges, cloves, cinnamon sticks, ginger, and two years ago tried a B.b for the first time. I used a roasting bag. It was delicious.

Post# 1097291 , Reply# 242   11/16/2020 at 15:31 (1,228 days old) by Davey7 (Chicago)        
Shortages are starting in Chicago area....

Stopped in at a Meijer in suburban Chicago (Boringbrook) Saturday. Cleaning products aisle bombing out - very little in stock. Paper products similar (however, fair amount of napkins available). Also frozen chicken products limited to 2 per customer. Their produce and meat was well stocked (or certainly, in produce, as well as Meijer ever is - there are far better local options for produce in Chicago area) and some dairy was out of stock. This was mid-afternoon Saturday, so I don't know if they stocked more later - lots of employee's out on the floor stocking and checking stock.

Post# 1097293 , Reply# 243   11/16/2020 at 15:43 (1,228 days old) by vacerator (Macomb, Michigan)        
Davey!!!!!

HaHaha!! Is taht Bollingbrook? Not a nice area? The Loop, and Clark/Halstead aren't that far away for some exitement.
I like Chicagoland! I usually am able to find something nice about most locales though. Even Cleveland. Brook Park, Shaker Hts, Wiloughby for example. Even the flats. Toledo has Ottawa Hills.


Post# 1097481 , Reply# 244   11/18/2020 at 06:49 (1,226 days old) by chachp (North Little Rock, AR)        
Sam's

chachp's profile picture

 

I was at Sam’s on Saturday.  I was there when they opened.  They were bringing out pallets of toilet paper and one pallet of Clorox wipes.  I was able to get 1 pack of wipes as there was a limit of 1.  We are good on toilet paper at the moment.

 

What surprised me is as I rounded the corner where they were bringing out the pallets of TP, people were trying to grab them off the pallet before the guy even had then unwrapped.  He was practically screaming at people to wait for him to unwrap them.

 

We went back a couple of hours later for something I forgot and literally every roll of TP was gone.  All brands.  The shelves were bare.  No TP, Wipes, Paper Towels, Nothing.  They were stocked when I was there a few hours earlier.


Post# 1097498 , Reply# 245   11/18/2020 at 09:21 (1,226 days old) by liamy1 (-)        
March was very weird

Yeah very weird in March. As I am in the UK my experience was very similar to a lot of what IEJ said.

Of course hand washes and hand sanitisers, and yes toilet roll was a very big one and as he says that pasta was almost impossible to get.

And exactly the same with flour, it was really strange. The entire country decided that they were going to take up home breadmaking - I think possibly driven by fear of not being able to get prepacked bread in the supermarket; So much so that two of the main chains here actually started manually bagging up flour from their instore bakeries to sell.

The very last Friday before lockdown in March (we went down on a Monday) I was in a Asda (Walmart) for around two hours doing some shopping, it was very busy - height of the panic buying (we knew almost definitely lockdown was coming and we didn't know what it was going to look like), and for the first time in my life I watched a supermarket literally empty of its stock, it was quite well stocked when I walked in the door about two hours earlier, but then minute by minute it was emptied.

As is customary for me when shopping, I went onto the laundry aisle and for the first time ever, I found completely empty shelves. Was a really strange feeling.

It did right itself quite quickly, but in Feb and March we did have around 4/6 weeks of odd looking stores right from convenience type places through to supercentres . But the supermarkets for the first time ever were allowed to share information on stock and pricing and could even share staff between the chains, the fair competition/collusion rules were relaxed and you could really feel that supermarkets had gone from empires of money making to just purely concentrating on getting the nation fed (I think some chains have feeding the nation as a slogan at the moment).


Post# 1097499 , Reply# 246   11/18/2020 at 09:24 (1,226 days old) by DaveAMKrayoGuy (Oak Park, MI)        

daveamkrayoguy's profile picture

I wonder why you all of a sudden can't get packaged bread crumbs that come in a can...

 

I used to see them go by me, then I now get asked if w carry them at my store and where we keep them, however, I just thought of a pretty good substitution: 

Just buy STUFFING (we're promoting it for the Thanksgiving turkey) and crush it...

 

 

 

-- Dave


Post# 1097520 , Reply# 247   11/18/2020 at 12:46 (1,226 days old) by Ultramatic (New York City)        

ultramatic's profile picture

 

 

BJ's and Costco have run out of toilet paper. This hasn't happened since back in the darkest days here in April. And our infection rate is 2.7%. Disinfectant wipes are gone too. I can't believe this shit is happening again. You'd think by now manufactures and distributors would had figured this out already.


Post# 1097529 , Reply# 248   11/18/2020 at 13:38 (1,226 days old) by CircleW (NE Cincinnati OH area)        
Possible trucking strike

Target had no paper towels when I was there last night. But they had paper bowls again, which had been out of stock for many months. I then stopped at GFS, where they had plenty of towels and other paper products.

I think the shortage this time is related to talk of a possible trucker strike in the next couple weeks.


Post# 1097542 , Reply# 249   11/18/2020 at 16:06 (1,226 days old) by kd12 (Arkansas)        
Chinese Trucker Virus War Coming

Yeah, get ready for more insanity in the coming months. It would actually be reasonable to start stocking up this time, as oppose to the idiotic panic buying of the past Spring. Strangely enough, SPAM is not in short supply, though it's the perfect thing to stick in your cargo pocket. I agree with Eddie about Target. They still have everything from TP to Clorox wipes in stock today, unlike some other chains, and the "old timers" hour is a blessing for those in that age. I don't think any other major chain is doing that. Good time to get as much as you can of bottled water, TP, ammo, MREs, medications, disinfecting supplies, coffee, oh and frozen donuts because, you know, the Great Donut Shortage coming next.

Post# 1097566 , Reply# 250   11/18/2020 at 22:04 (1,226 days old) by Davey7 (Chicago)        
Yes, it's Bolingbrook

Ha, yes, that's what it's called (many burbs have snarky names) - Bolingbrook and the burbs right there are uppity but cracker box cookie cutter.

I actually live in a 606 zip code (I'm a 773 and former 312 - we used to call suburnites 708's when they originally split 312 into 312 & 708, but there are too many area codes in the metro area plus the overlays to do that now). My corona bubble and I go hiking/exploring and do our, plus for my mom, grocery shopping in the suburbs every Saturday, so we're really learning a lot about the region.

One of my friends who works in Market Research/Consulting, so she has good info, said this morning that Wal-Mart (or however they spell it now, I just saw an interesting thread by a worker there and someone posted the logo history there) is warning about toilet paper shortages.


Post# 1097599 , Reply# 251   11/19/2020 at 08:50 (1,225 days old) by Frigilux (The Minnesota Prairie)        

frigilux's profile picture
Local Hy-Vee: For the first time since March, my beloved Lysol Pro Kitchen Cleaner was on the shelf yesterday!! Almost couldn’t believe my eyes.

However, still no sliced green olives (well over a month) nor cans of chili without beans (also well over a month).

And what’s the issue with chili powder? Several recipes I make regularly use a lot of chili powder, so I buy the big 20-oz. size from Sam’s Club. They were out when I last visited the Sam’s in Mankato, MN, back in early March, and they’ve been consistently out-of-stock online. Independent sellers are charging outrageous prices for a 20-oz. (or similar) size on Amazon.



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Post# 1097605 , Reply# 252   11/19/2020 at 09:53 (1,225 days old) by perc-o-prince (Southboro, Mass)        
Chili powder

We have Ocean State Job Lot here and they carry all the "Spice Supreme" spices for $1. The chili powder is 4.37oz. Seems to me I've seen it at Dollar tree in a similar size or maybe slightly smaller. I'm guessing the shipping cost would make it unreasonable?

 

Chuck


Post# 1097607 , Reply# 253   11/19/2020 at 09:55 (1,225 days old) by appnut (TX)        

appnut's profile picture
Eugene, I got a 16 oz bottle of Fiesta (a brand) of Chili Powder online from Walmart yesterday for $5.95. I like very much the Fiesta brand.

Post# 1097610 , Reply# 254   11/19/2020 at 11:11 (1,225 days old) by Frigilux (The Minnesota Prairie)        

frigilux's profile picture
Thanks for the tips, guys. I'm sure there are small containers (1-3 ozs.) of it on the shelf at HyVee; I just normally don't bother with them.

I wound up ordering a pricey 16-oz. size of Watkins organic chili powder from Amazon. Let's just say the price was the same as the net weight of the container, lol.

Is--or was--Watkins kind of an Amway sort of business? Seems like I recall a neighbor who sold Watkins products when I was a kid.

I'll definitely check out the Fiesta brand at Walmart next time.


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Post# 1097695 , Reply# 255   11/20/2020 at 08:14 (1,224 days old) by Frigilux (The Minnesota Prairie)        

frigilux's profile picture
Bob- I found this 16-oz. container of Fiesta chili powder online at Walmart, but it's over $28! I didn't see anything indicating it was a 2-pack or something like that. There is also a Fiesta dark chili powder for around $32.

The least expensive way I found to get 16 oz. of chili powder was to buy five or six 3-oz. jars of the Walmart brand, which are $.95 each online.


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Post# 1097698 , Reply# 256   11/20/2020 at 08:59 (1,224 days old) by appnut (TX)        

appnut's profile picture
Oh good grief. That was not what I paid. The amount I stated above was what I paid for one 16 oz container.

Post# 1097717 , Reply# 257   11/20/2020 at 13:39 (1,224 days old) by Frigilux (The Minnesota Prairie)        

frigilux's profile picture
Bob- As far as I can tell, $28.70 is the price for one 16-oz. container. Nothing indicates that you get several containers of it for the price indicated. In those those instances, it usually says something like "pack of 2" or "case of 4".

I certainly believe that you paid $5.95 for your 16-oz. container; I'm just trying to figure out the reason for the huge price discrepancy.

I should order it and see if it arrives with multiple 16-oz. containers. If it's only one container for $28.70, I suppose I can just return it.

The 20-oz. Member's Mark brand from Sam's Club costs $7.98.


Post# 1097722 , Reply# 258   11/20/2020 at 14:53 (1,224 days old) by appnut (TX)        

appnut's profile picture
Eugene, I'm sorry this is creating confusion. I cannot believe there'd be such a price difference between different regions of the country for Walmart. PM your zip code to me. I want to change my store location to that zip code and see if the price is different.

Post# 1098147 , Reply# 259   11/23/2020 at 22:41 (1,221 days old) by whirlykenmore78 (Prior Lake MN (GMT-0500 CDT.))        
Lund's and Byerly's Prior Lake MN 11/22/20

whirlykenmore78's profile picture
Fully stocked for mostly all items. No Chili Powder shortage here as plenty of McCormick and the house brand were available. They also had plenty of paper goods and turkeys of all sizes.
WK78


Post# 1098159 , Reply# 260   11/24/2020 at 06:56 (1,220 days old) by estesguy (kansas)        
Chili powder

Eugene and Bob, I checked Walmart online here, and they show 2 listings of the exact same product. It appears if you can find it, and pick it up in the store, its $6.98 here, BUT if you order the other listing, its sold and shipped from a company called DC Brands for $28.98. Go figure...

Post# 1098162 , Reply# 261   11/24/2020 at 07:21 (1,220 days old) by gansky1 (Omaha, The Home of the TV Dinner!)        

gansky1's profile picture

From a friend - this was the paper aisle at Target, Saturday afternoon. 

 

I haven't had any trouble finding various grocery items, I did an online order for pick-up with HyVee on Friday night.  Picked up Saturday morning and all the items I'd ordered were in stock.  The pick-up routine was well executed and quick.  Will probably try to keep my list organized and do this going forward.  It was nice to have the shopping quick and done.  

 

 


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Post# 1098185 , Reply# 262   11/24/2020 at 10:28 (1,220 days old) by jamiel (Detroit, Michigan and Palm Springs, CA)        

jamiel's profile picture
Re: Chili Powder---perhaps a temporary supply issue or a supplier change--I had a similar problem with saffron--Costco has Spanish saffron usually quite reasonably, but was out in September, and they claimed it had been deleted from their system when I went to customer service. Lo and behold 2 weeks ago they got it back in stock...

Post# 1098194 , Reply# 263   11/24/2020 at 11:18 (1,220 days old) by vacerator (Macomb, Michigan)        
re; chili powder

is ceyene pepper, cumin, and paprika. Thats it! You can make it. When I cook Mexican, I also add some oregano to the dish. For nachos, I also add a bit of garlic. We like the Herdez brand salsa roja, verde, chipotle crema salsa, and cilantro verde lime crema salsas too. I always add lime juice to guacamole'.


Post# 1098207 , Reply# 264   11/24/2020 at 13:18 (1,220 days old) by foraloysius (Leeuwarden, Friesland, the Netherlands)        

foraloysius's profile picture
I order groceries every week, they get delivered. Most things come in a crate. The delivery man takes an empty crate with him and I get another crate with the groceries. I have a cart where the crate fits onto. The delivery man puts the crate on the cart and I can take the cart into the kitchen. No hassle with carrying the stuff to the kitchen.



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Post# 1098222 , Reply# 265   11/24/2020 at 15:59 (1,220 days old) by perc-o-prince (Southboro, Mass)        
When I cook Mexican

Just made Carne Asada Sunday. Marinated the flank steak overnight in lime juice, chili powder, granulated garlic, cumin and oregano. Yum!

 

Went to Market Basket yesterday and didn't notice any shortages, including the paper aisle. Plenty of people going the wrong way in the one-way aisles though! LOL!

 

Chuck


Post# 1098229 , Reply# 266   11/24/2020 at 16:36 (1,220 days old) by Ultramatic (New York City)        

ultramatic's profile picture

 

 

Haagen-Dazs Vanilla Swiss Almond ice cream. 7 stores via Instacart. Zilch.


Post# 1098248 , Reply# 267   11/24/2020 at 21:50 (1,220 days old) by neptunebob (Pittsburgh, PA)        

neptunebob's profile picture

At Sam's club, I have always been able to get the box of cheap Pom tissue.  It's very thin, meant for commercial use, but is cheaper than the thick ones and I don't ever have to worry about the main sewer being clogged.  


Post# 1098289 , Reply# 268   11/25/2020 at 10:39 (1,219 days old) by vacerator (Macomb, Michigan)        
Louis, looks as if you have

a larger fridge than many europeans do. Most are under worktop.

Post# 1098309 , Reply# 269   11/25/2020 at 12:51 (1,219 days old) by frigidareu (Brunswick, Ohio)        
Chili Powder

There are a bunch of recipes on YouTube for making your own chili powder.

Post# 1098319 , Reply# 270   11/25/2020 at 16:05 (1,219 days old) by foraloysius (Leeuwarden, Friesland, the Netherlands)        
"Most are under worktop"

foraloysius's profile picture
Mike,

I don't know where you got the idea that most fridges are under the counter in Europe, but that is certainly not my impression. Perhaps in the United Kingdom, I don't know that, but certainly not in the Netherlands. The best sold fridges here are the bottom mount models in silver or white. At least when it comes to freestanding fridges. In most kitchens the fridges are built in, I think in those kitchens the bottom mount models are very popular too.


Post# 1098329 , Reply# 271   11/25/2020 at 18:18 (1,219 days old) by iej (.... )        

Undercounter fridges are not very common here. Even if you'd a small apartment, they'd be avoided like the plague as they're just too small.

I get the impression American views of Europe are from cheap holiday rentals with 'landlord specials' or tiny Parisian apartments.

The default fridge is something like one of these : www.harveynorman.ie/home-... - They're taller (up to 2m (about 6ft6) and occupy similar floor space to a standard European washing machine, usually with the freezer at the bottom and the fridge at eye level.

Something like this Bosch Serie 6 would be fairly typical: www.harveynorman.ie/home-...

-- full brochure www.bosch-home.ie/product...

Plenty of similar size and layout fridges at lower prices too - Bosch is an upper mid level brand and the stainless steel finish puts the price up considerably.

Side-by-Side US-ish style are pretty popular and would tend to dominate the display space in most appliance stores these days:

www.harveynorman.ie/home-...

If you want to seriously max, something like this Smeg is a European side-by-side (with ice dispenser internal) www.harveynorman.ie/home-...

You can see they're quite different to US designs, but they're not exactly what you'd call petite.

Then you've tall full height larder fridges: www.harveynorman.ie/home-...

Larder freezers: www.harveynorman.ie/home-...

If you're into storing a lot of frozen food chest freezers are also still fairly common. They were a huge thing in the 1970s, but you'll often find one chugging away in someone's garage, utility room etc.

www.harveynorman.ie/home-...

You've got under-counter models, but they''re not exactly popular: www.harveynorman.ie/home-...


Post# 1098577 , Reply# 272   11/28/2020 at 17:35 (1,216 days old) by vacerator (Macomb, Michigan)        
I guess I

see them a lot in films. Usually a small kitchen. Even Mrs. Bucket in Keeping up appearances had one, and she had a suburban home. Otherwise if it's a larger or a country house, then yes they have large column style counter depth or American type SxS refrigerators. Here many have a second refrigerator or freezer in the basement or garage. Same for cooking ranges with ovens. Middle eastern backgrond families especially. Even upholstered furniture in the garage, with a nice cocktail table.
They like to smoke the hooka out there. Many are profusely spotless. Sealed epoxied floors, and the shoes all lined up on the step into the house, or on shelves where they remove them before going inside.


Post# 1098600 , Reply# 273   11/28/2020 at 21:02 (1,216 days old) by foraloysius (Leeuwarden, Friesland, the Netherlands)        
It's Bouquet!

foraloysius's profile picture
That series is from 30 years ago, so you can't judge our kitchens today by a tv series from an era long gone. Besides that, it wasn't a very modern kitchen to begin with. And a fridge freezer would have been in the way anyway.

Post# 1098603 , Reply# 274   11/28/2020 at 21:25 (1,216 days old) by whirlykenmore78 (Prior Lake MN (GMT-0500 CDT.))        
Went to both Hy-Vee Savage and Lund's/Byerly's PL to

whirlykenmore78's profile picture
Found most everything to be in stock with few exceptions. Of course that changes on a daily basis depending on what shows up on the trucks.
Both stores had their salad bars and dining areas shut down in accordance with the lockdown. L&B was better stocked overall. I saw a large number of staff in both stores filling orders for pick up and delivery.
Hy-Vee is limiting paper goods and cleaning supplies to one each. I did not go down that aisle @ Lund's and Byerly's but at a glance theirs looked better stocked.
WK78


Post# 1098619 , Reply# 275   11/28/2020 at 23:28 (1,216 days old) by Ultramatic (New York City)        
Sorry for being off-topic.

ultramatic's profile picture

 

 

Back in the '80's undercounter refrigerators were pretty common in West Germany. I remember being so surprised when I saw one for the first time. That along with solid disk electric elements on stoves. I thought those were so cool, until I had to cook on them. They took forever to heat up. Back then, people were still mostly buying food for just a few days or a week at most. Frozen food was still in it's infancy. Towards 1989 I started going into appliance stores in Germany and indeed, the switch was on towards larger refrigerators. The ubiquitous narrow, tall, units with the freezer on the bottom. I also remember seeing American General Electric side by side refrigerators for sale. Funny, they were considered luxury status appliances back then. Fast forward to the 2000's in Spain and I have not seen one undercounter refrigerator. Everyone has the tall slim models and American style freezer on the top models are also pretty popular. Large, side by sides are still considered premium refrigerators, but now most of the brands are European. My sister-in-law has an American Whirlpool side by side with water and ice through the door. A feature never used because water tastes awful in Barcelona. My husband grew up with a Frigidaire in Spain, but it was an European model manufactured in France.

 

Here's a fun fact. Because of the tall, slim refrigerators, most of the bottles are tall and slim too.




This post was last edited 11/29/2020 at 02:01
Post# 1098634 , Reply# 276   11/29/2020 at 06:25 (1,215 days old) by Frigilux (The Minnesota Prairie)        

frigilux's profile picture
Nick— I notice the same thing at our small HyVee in Windom whenever I’m there early in the morning (7:00-8:30): most workers are racing through the store with carts filling orders for pickup.

My nephew’s daughter (in her mid 20s) found herself temporarily unemployed when Ciao Bella had to shut down again due to no inside dining. She found work almost immediately as a personal shopper/delivery person. The small business—don’t recall the name—allowed her to choose the area of Mpls. she wanted to work in, so she chose what she knew to be a rather upscale neighborhood and is making great money in tips.




This post was last edited 11/29/2020 at 07:28
Post# 1098635 , Reply# 277   11/29/2020 at 06:36 (1,215 days old) by Ultramatic (New York City)        

ultramatic's profile picture

 

 

I've notice Amazon Prime's Fresh has been out of 2 liter Diet Pepsi for months now. Clorox wipes are back.


Post# 1098687 , Reply# 278   11/29/2020 at 16:05 (1,215 days old) by iej (.... )        
@Ultramatic

The one thing I would say though Europe isn't as homogenous as the US, particularly when it comes to food and cooking. We've many of the same appliances and manufacturers but things get configured differently in different kitchens and countries.

Also the % in apartments vs houses is a national variation. For example only 4% of Irish households are apartment/condo based compared to quite high % in say Spain or parts of Germany and much higher the further east you go.

Frozen food was a big deal here probably peaking in the 1970s when it was all the range. You'd freezer centre stores selling frozen food, supermarkets had very extensive frozen food sections and home freezing was all the range. There were even books about it.

It wasn't unusual to find huge chest or larder freezers tucked away in garages, ends of kitchens or even in the garden shed.

As things moved towards a foodier outlook frozen food became a lot more about french and chilled in the 90s and onwards and you start to see the growth of 2/3 fridge 1/3 freezer space either top and bottom or side by side.

As for Mrs Bucket, part of the joke was that her house was "in fill" between the much larger home owned by Liz and her brother - it's probable that Liz had a far bigger fridge which she never even thought twicw about as opposed to Hyasinth's high quality, bespoke, bijoux model, deluxe and far superior model, as approved by the best chefs.

Hyasinth's in-fill home:


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Post# 1098785 , Reply# 279   11/30/2020 at 08:47 (1,214 days old) by vacerator (Macomb, Michigan)        
James,

do you know where the Bouquet house actually is? I think filmnmg was mainly done near Birmingham.
I have found the Harry Potter house in Bracknell at 212 Picketpost close. Vauxhall Vectra wagon in the driveway and all.


Post# 1098801 , Reply# 280   11/30/2020 at 11:13 (1,214 days old) by iej (.... )        

It's actually in Binley Woods which is basically on the outskirts of Coventry, which is the second city of the English West Midlands. It's a much smaller city than Birmingham, only about 375,000 people or so, but it's an ideal spot for filming something like that.

The interior shots are all studio based and the exterior shots were real houses that were privately owned and used for the show.

Her fictional address is

"Waney Edge,"
Blossom Avenue,
Fuddleton
England

She's a well known pillar of the community. The postal code is unnecessary! The Royal Mail knows exactly where to find her!


Post# 1098928 , Reply# 281   12/1/2020 at 12:03 (1,213 days old) by vacerator (Macomb, Michigan)        
Thank's James!

We shoud all know where Coventry is, if we are car fans at all. Home of Jaguar. A large plant also is in Castle Bromwich. The Land/Range Rover plant also nearby.

Post# 1098935 , Reply# 282   12/1/2020 at 13:02 (1,213 days old) by perc-o-prince (Southboro, Mass)        
Coventry?

@ 26:08

 




?t=1566

 



CLICK HERE TO GO TO perc-o-prince's LINK

Post# 1099144 , Reply# 283   12/3/2020 at 08:07 (1,211 days old) by vacerator (Macomb, Michigan)        
Yes,

and Sulihill too!

Post# 1100276 , Reply# 284   12/11/2020 at 19:54 (1,203 days old) by SudsMaster (SF Bay Area, California)        

This post has been removed by the member who posted it.



Post# 1101142 , Reply# 285   12/19/2020 at 08:41 (1,195 days old) by DADoES (TX, U.S. of A.)        

dadoes's profile picture
 
Disinfectant spray @ WM this morning.  Choice of Lysol Crisp Linen 12.5 oz. $5.33 or GV Morning Meadow 19 oz. $2.98.

Also buncha disinfectant wipes of some brand.


Post# 1105120 , Reply# 286   1/19/2021 at 14:24 (1,164 days old) by ea56 (Cotati, Calif.)        
I Tried Something Different Today

ea56's profile picture

I’ve been going to Target for the first hour of business every week for months now to grocery shop.  It’s always been just me and maybe 2-3 other shoppers.  Last week there were already 18 in line when I arrived at 7:57 am.

 

Since the pandemic is now raging out of control in California and the numbers are rising at lightening speed in Sonoma Co. and we are being told that the very worst month so far will be in March.  On top of this there is no vaccine for even the front line health care workers or those in nursing homes, let alone those 75+, and it looks like the 65+ age group may not get vaccinated until April or later at this rate.

 

So, long story short I gave the Target Shipit app a try today for same day 2 hour window delivery.  I placed the order last night at about 9:30 pm and had a guaranteed delivery window between 10-11 am, the guy arrived at 10:45 am with everything I ordered, except only 1 dental floss instead of 2 and a smaller package of chicken breasts.  The ordering process gives the customer the option to give special instructions for the shopper and he followed them to the tee!  I asked for bananas more green than ripe and thats just what I received!  

 

I am very pleased and plan on doing the grocery shopping this way until I’ve been fully vaccinated and at least 4 weeks have elapsed after the final shot.  I want to be certain that I’m as protected as I can be before I go back into any store, except maybe a quick dash into the gas station store across the street if we run out of milk.

 

The first 4 weeks if the Shipit app is a trial period, after that its $99 per year for the service and every order over $35 is delivered without additional delivery fee.  Otherwise, without the membership its $9.99 per order over $35.  This seems like a good way to spend some the last stimulus payment.

 

Eddie


Post# 1105122 , Reply# 287   1/19/2021 at 14:38 (1,164 days old) by MattL (Flushing, MI)        

That is wise Eddie. From what I've been reading experts are telling folks to only go out if it's an absolute must, and get basics delivered due to the arrival of the new C variation.

Stay safe.


Post# 1105123 , Reply# 288   1/19/2021 at 14:44 (1,164 days old) by ea56 (Cotati, Calif.)        

ea56's profile picture

Thanks Matt!  You stay safe too, we’ve got a long way to go before we reach the light at the end of this Covid tunnel.

 

Eddie


Post# 1105124 , Reply# 289   1/19/2021 at 14:48 (1,164 days old) by Ultramatic (New York City)        

ultramatic's profile picture

 

 

I shop at Target through Instacart. Not often though. Target is a bit more expensive than Shoprite or Aldi. Even when I get my second dose of the vaccine, I don't plan to return to the stores. The worst is yet to come, so I guess it's best to wait until late summer. The only store I go to is Trader Joe's. It's always empty and alas they don't deliver. I wish we had Walmart and ACME with delivery options. But NYC won't allow Walmart to open here and my closest ACME is in New Jersey. Disinfectant spray remains difficult to find but everything else seems to be in abundance.


Post# 1105143 , Reply# 290   1/19/2021 at 18:16 (1,164 days old) by vacerator (Macomb, Michigan)        
So the "C" variant is

for real! I saw it on Google news but didn't recognize the source as relaible.
Just what we don't need. I saw so many small shops and eateries closed up for good today while out. I've also learned that once vaccinated we still should wear masks to protect those not immunized yet.



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