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Panic and Empty Shelves
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Am going shopping tomorrow. Rather looking forward to seeing what's in the shop. It'll be over a week since I've been there, so will be 'an outing.' (Except for work of course - I'm there 3 days a week.)
Hope you get everything you need. And good for you, Lizzie! I shopped yesterday and couldn't find bleach for my mom. Paper goods aisle also empty, but I stopped a store employee and asked her what would be a good time to find some toilet paper and she said she had two packs she was about to put on the shelf. I got one. Touchdown!!
I shopped this morning. Didn't really need much, but some essentials - like cat food if we are not to be murdered in our beds by the cats - fruit etc.There was pretty well everything back on the shelves - even toilet paper and hand sanitiser in teeny tiny bottles. There were a few gaps in places, but more brand gaps rather than complete lack of stock.
Cats will now eat for the next week or so. We can rest easy.
For what it is worth, I did take precautions and stacked up on cat food the day before lockdown, however it seems our supermarkets do have cat food.
Heard about a tiger, but now cats: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/22/he...Don't forget to let them out with a mask on and disinfect them upon return. Insist they adhere to social distancing
Saw TP for the first time on Sunday, which was convenient because I'm now down to my last roll...and the best part, it was the one I usually buy so I didn't even have to compromise. :)
Nik wrote: "Heard about a tiger, but now cats: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/22/he...Don't forget to let them out with a mask on and disinfect them upon return. Insist they adher..."
I am afraid denying cat lap time is going to lead to real trouble, at least in my household. As for masks, if I did that, how would he eat the rodents he catches?
As a total aside here, I'm outside listening to some cats yowl and fight. I'm a proponent of people who love cats keeping them inside where they're safe.
My cat is outside a lot. Otherwise there would be no rodent control. He beats any rodent baits or traps any day.
Scout wrote: "As a total aside here, I'm outside listening to some cats yowl and fight. I'm a proponent of people who love cats keeping them inside where they're safe."I'm a cat fan (we have three) but I agree with your thoughts about inside cats, Scout. Ours do a great job of removing any rodents if they make it inside.
We really like our native wildlife, and cats are dreadful predators. Ours get to watch 'Bird TV' through the windows.
In NZ our native bird life never had to defend against rats until humans brought them, and the net result was when I purchased my property, for a while rats were everywhere and birds weren't. Now, after several cats of good hunting stock, I have never seen so many birds around the place.
Yes, NZ really mostly has birds and reptiles, doesn't it? And imported marsupials...We, on the other hand, have all kinds of marsupials from teeny weeny ones to massive ones, not to mention the monotremes and birds. Cats have done dreadful things to bilbies, numbats, bandicoots and the smaller marsupials like pygmy possums and antechinuses.
Yes, NZ has been isolated since the breakup of Gondwanaland, and never had mammals, and the only significant predators were birds , (and small reptiles, including a rhynchosaur that survived from pre-jurassic that fed on insects) so when humans introduced possums deliberately, and rats, rabbits, and whatnot, environmental chaos broke out. Rats, in articular, have got cunning, you can trap them once, then the rest see and avoid, and seemingly learn about baits. They might learn about cats but cats learn about them too. Anytime I have been without a cat, it takes about five months for rodent infestation to arise. You see rats running around in the daylight!
Ian wrote: "Yes, NZ has been isolated since the breakup of Gondwanaland, and never had mammals, and the only significant predators were birds , (and small reptiles, including a rhynchosaur that survived from p..."I mistook the rats for politicians
I can see how that might happen, but these rats definitely belong to the rodent family, and chew through things. Maybe that is still not definitive??
Ian wrote: "I can see how that might happen, but these rats definitely belong to the rodent family, and chew through things. Maybe that is still not definitive??"Physical description will assist otherwise mistakes likely to be made based on behavioural analysis
These rats are brown, furry, and no more than about six inches long, not that I get to measure them because they all get eaten. Sorry for the confusion :-)
This thread went in a totally different direction as we went from empty grocery shelves to cats and rats! LOL But you know what, I do not care as all of you gave me a chuckle! :-)So I have decided to stay with the theme of things and add that I have an indoor cat - she never goes out. As far as rats - she would probably be ecstatic if I found her a fake one to play with! :)
I'll take that as an okay for continuing the cat discussion just a little further. My parents have a place at the lake, and there were always fox squirrels around. A neighbor moved and left her brood of cats behind, and that resulted in a feral cat colony. The fox squirrels disappeared, as did many of the birds. Cats are not a native species and if allowed to roam can decimate native wildlife. They should be kept inside.
Di8fferent places, different circumstances.
Growing up we always had cats, but they were outdoors or in the basement. They were pets, but mostly we had them to keep the rodents, snakes and wildlife at bay, living on the edge of the state forest.I have a mouse problem here in the wintertime. Eventually, I realized that when I had a dog, I didn't have mice. Both dogs I had were Australian Shepherds. It never occurred to me that dogs would result in mice not making their way into the house, until after I lost the 2nd one.
I still haven't been to the grocery store. But, my sister in Nashville texted looking for ideas on Mediterranean Chicken Patties. She said there was no chicken when she had gone shopping last week and she bought those because it was that or nothing.
Lizzie wrote: "Growing up we always had cats, but they were outdoors or in the basement. They were pets, but mostly we had them to keep the rodents, snakes and wildlife at bay, living on the edge of the state for..."My daughter has a dog and a cat, and lives in a semi-rural place. Her cat brings in rodents, and occasionally the dog steals them :-)
:-) Still not convinced that cats should roam the neighborhood. I have a neighbor who's collecting them, and they use my car for a slide, leaving scratch marks. They also leave "presents" in the flower beds for me to discover when I'm working. Not my cats, but my problem.
Finally, a month and half later, I actually walked through the aisles of a store rather than running in to get what I am out of spending less than $20. There really wasn't too many empty spots, aside from the paper aisle. I did notice no spray cleaners with or without bleach (the stuff you use to clean your kitchen or bathroom). Limited options on any bleach products for laundry.
There was fruit, veggies, milk, eggs, flour, sugar, pasta, bread, canned and frozen foods. I didn't go to the meat counter, so not sure where we stand here on that issue.
I still haven't replaced things I opened my last jar/bottle, such as mayo, catsup and the like. Although I live alone, I never learned to shop for a single person. I continued to buy things because they were on sale. It was actually a shock to realized I opened my last jars of condiments, pb&J, sugar, and such. My freezer still has shrimp, pork, bacon, and chicken. Only 1 lb. of hamburger, so no beef, but I haven't had the craving for a steak lately, so it's not an issue. I am likely to be looking for scallops or clams before I look for beef. Seafood risotto is starting to show up in my dreams. lol.
So, we will see how long this lasts. With the states opening up, I really expect there to be a resurgence of the virus and the resultant issued that is going to pass on to everyone in the process that gets our food from the farmer to the shelves.
Scout wrote: ":-) Still not convinced that cats should roam the neighborhood. I have a neighbor who's collecting them, and they use my car for a slide, leaving scratch marks. They also leave "presents" in the fl..."I don't like them in my yard. I have a sand section outside my bedroom between the back yard and the garden, fenced in, and cats leave deposits there too. Aside from my want to be able to sunbathe and read a book there, my granddaughter plays in the sand so I have to constantly clean it out. They wake me up to sometimes out there making noise.
I don't like the birds who poop out there on my fence and swing either.
Nothing to do about the birds, but cats can be kept inside where they're safe and not a nuisance to neighbors or native species. Owners don't want to clean a litter box, so they let them outside to roam. More than enough said from me about that and moving on. Hamburger in the store on Tuesday, but still no toilet paper. I'm told that if you stand in line on Fridays at Dollar General, you can get a couple of packs of it. Don't really want to get in the fray. Would magazines make a good substitute? Have my doubts.
If you get desperate, I can still use dhl or ups kind services to get it delivered in 3 biz days :)
I used the Target delivery for my cleaning/laundry supplies. No bleach and all but on item arrived which I did eventually receive = the Lysol Toilet bowl cleaner. Target delivers pretty quickly here, usually 1 to 2 days after I order.Then my account wouldn't accept my pin and I have been locked out since. Limited hours to call and I forgot again until now. Same thing with one of my credit unions that I tried to move money into. So either my brain is fried or the online stuff is not working correctly - this time, I suspect the latter.
Yesterday my gummie one a day vitamins arrived from Amazon. They packaged them in some kind of aluminum bubble bag with the ice pack (melted by receipt) included. I try to get in enough before the worst of the summer. This time it wasn't my fault since it has been unavailable until now. It gets confusing because I get emails from Amazon saying an item has been canceled and another one saying it's been shipped. Until I can actually track the shipping, I don't believe I will get it.
I ordered an oximeter three weeks ago from Amazon. I ordered because I read that many people were delaying going to the hospital until their oxygen level was at 50%, which resulted in complications and death. I keep getting notices that shipping has been delayed. When I ordered, the ship date was given as 10 days. I expect them to cancel the order any day now.
The only thing that seems to be missing on my supermarket shelves is bleach wipes and Lysol. Bleach is there as well as toilet bowl cleaner. Plenty of meat and chicken. there are still limits on the chicken, but not beef or fish or pork.
Found a bottle of no-name bleach today. Yay! Rice, no. Paper aisle empty. Glad I still have a few packs of tp, but I'm going to be there when Dollar General opens on Friday. That's the best bet. My neighbor went last week and said she filled up her buggy. Why in the world are they not limiting it to two packs per person? Then the shelves might not be empty for the rest of the week.
Scout,Maybe you should se if Amazon has TP. I order a 3 pack of Northern 8 rolls each which is advertised as equal to 99 regular rolls. It last me at least 3 months.
I got tired of shopping at the store, never knowing how many in a pack, standing in the aisle calculating 2 ply vs 3 ply vs double and giant rolls and their equivalencies in an attempt to figure out best price that week.
I stopped at Family Dollar today and found 3 packs of tp. I got 2 packs, left the other one, which a lady came in and picked up before I left. I felt like I had struck gold - and it was just toilet paper :-) A couple of weeks ago, I ordered a couple of packs of paper towels and some hand sanitizer from Amazon, so I'm set for now. I've been using cloth napkins, but sometimes you just need a paper towel.
Scout wrote: "Found a bottle of no-name bleach today. Yay! Rice, no. Paper aisle empty. Glad I still have a few packs of tp, but I'm going to be there when Dollar General opens on Friday. That's the best bet. My..."That's funny because I visited a Dollar General for the first time yesterday, and was surprised that they were more in-stock than just about everybody.
Someone mentioned yeast, I think. I've been making pizza to stretch out my meat supply, and found yeast is sorely lacking in stores. Flour, sugar, salt, and all that is still plentiful, so I have no idea why yeast is selling faster.
Could it be that yeast makes beer? And other alcoholic drinks?
We had a shortage of yeast for a while, but it's back now. The shortage corresponded with a flour shortage, however, which makes sense.Mind you, there was no shortage of fresh bread. 🤷♀️
My oximeter arrived today. I'll rest a little easier knowing that if my parents or I get sick, I'll know when the situation is critical enough to go to the hospital.
Scout, glad your order came in. I gave in and made my annual doctor appointment for next week, as I need new referrals to my specialists. Anyway, they require you wear a mask and they test you in the lobby before you can go up for the appointment. I am interested in knowing if I was exposed despite not being sick.My toothpaste arrived yesterday after being told it was delayed multiple times and then canceled. My honey from a foreign country and my jam from Britain arrived. I honestly don't know if they were in stock somewhere in an American warehouse or if they came from out of the country, since it's Amazon.
Still haven't gotten my bath salts that come from a company in California.
Shelves are full here and retailers raised prices and made a nice profit from the initial panic. The only panic now is about the only remaining deficit - dough (aka money). And they talk about raising taxes. The hungrier dudes may develop this strange interest when eyeing their better fed peers
Ian wrote: "Could it be that yeast makes beer? And other alcoholic drinks?"I thought so too, but not sure how easily you can get the other ingredients. And since alcohol has been deemed essential here, people don't exactly have to make their own to get their fix.
I tried my preserves from England this morning. I have never had black currants. The ingredients were black currants, sugar, and pectin. I will need more of it. Quite tasty and made me want to put it on brie and bake it in a crust. (But then I would have to face going to the grocery store and am still avoiding that trip.)Now I am tempted to try quince and loganberry, both also being something I have never tasted. Sadly, they are twice the price of black currants.
I was researching a particular buddleia plant online, one that is small enough to grow in a pot. I couldn't find an online nursery that had any in stock, so I visited a new nursery in town, and they had one. Bingo! Butterflies love it. When I found out that the virus was going to keep me practically confined at home, I decided to make my yard a little paradise I'd love spending time in. Mission accomplished!
I actually did real grocery shopping for the 1st time in since March. By that I mean, looking at ads, making a list, going up and down each aisle and according to my receipt, I purchased 96 items. I consistently save 30% or higher on my groceries with coupons and specials. This time it was only 22%, which is the least in many years. So not only are prices higher, but savings and discounts are lower.The cleaning items are still limited with a lot of empty shelves. I did get a bottle of clorox, half the size at almost 3x the price of before the hoarding.
There was plenty of fresh stuff, dairy products, and meats. They were out of some of the ones that were on special sales or coupons, such as feta cheese. They did have more imported cheeses, which seemed strange to me. Admittedly, I splurged and got 6 oz. of Le Gruyere Swiss cheese.
My Amazon monthly subscription came up today and advised me that the bounty paper towels are unavailable at this time. I didn't look for paper products in Safeway since I generally get them from Amazon on subscribe and save.
Our shopping appears to be completely back to normal now. No shortages of anything that I have noticed. It's a nice change.Beef prices are up, but I did expect that because of the drought we've had. Lots of farmers sold off everything up to, and in come cases including, their breeders.
I imagine the shortages here in the States, aside from bleach products, varies from town to town. Since our town is only a little over 40k population, I could drive to Tucson, which is a major city and find everything somewhere.When I moved here in the early 80s, it was much smaller and we had a lot less options for shopping. Going to Tucson for supplies for the office and stopping to buy stuff for at home was a monthly trip. Now we complain about the small things.
Our shops are more or less back to normal, although I could not get any rye flour this morning. However, I couldn't get that back before the virus problems. There just seems to be a shortage of rye flour.
The only thing I am now noticing is the lack of Lysol wipes. They are still hard to get, but I did get some. Everything else seems to be there, just a bit more expensive.
Still no one a day gummy women vitamins which have been put on the "delayed" list.
While avoiding grocery shopping, I did go into a few stores (Target, Dollar Store, Big Lots) at home and in a town on the other border of AZ, and no bleach or products with bleach in them.
Some time this week or next, I will need to face the grocery store again. Don't need rice, but I will look out of curiosity as someone mentioned it in an earlier post.