So, it having been a solid week since the Califrutopia lockdown order, and other than my work commutes, upon my first venture out and about, the following report:
Bank: Open. Reduced hours. No withdrawal limits. 6' tape marks on floor, lobby stripped to bare tile to make space. Traffic: light.
Gas station: Prices amazingly low. Under $3/gal., which hasn't been seen here since probably before 9/11. States with less confiscatory taxes added are at under $1/gal. in some places.
Sub shop: empty. Tables stacked up to make a 6' barricade between sandwich maker and customer line. I was the only one there, so I did my part to keep them open.
Supermarket: Welcome to the Soviet Union.
Chain store (not WalMart, Sam's, Costco, etc. - going there would be cray-cray.) and the staff is doing a herculean effort to maintain normalcy. BZ, shelf stockers and such.
Details:
Paper goods: stripped.
Milk: no problems.
Butter: raped.
Eggs: There, but raped, and limited to 1 carton/customer.
(A man with some laying chickens now is a future millionaire.)
Bread: No disruption.
Canned meat, tuna, soup: What canned meat, tuna, or soup??
Canned fruit: sparse. Big holes on every shelf.
Produce: thinned, but fresh, clean, and still plentiful.
Pasta: What?
Fresh meat: Abundant.
Packaged lunch meats: Gooooone.
Paper goods: We have no idea what you're talking about.
Frozen foods: Moderate amounts, with some notable bare spots.
Cleaning products: raped.
Crackers: gang raped. Got the last box of saltines.
Bottled water: available. Limited to one flat@.
Couldn't get the carbonated colored caffeine-free diet soda I drink (mainly from habit), but had no problems finding any of 300 other varieties. Grabbed a couple of cans of lemonade powder instead, and some straight 100% fruit juice jugs, both in plentiful supply.
Also grabbed two whole bags of potato chips, which I haven't had in months, and was my sole activity that might pass for "hoarding". Otherwise, just did my normal week's shopping. Which means another week I won't have to dip into the emergency reserve of canned goods.
In short, in the last week, people lost their minds, and tried to make up in one trip what they should have been doing every week, ever.
If/when they settle down, and realize this is going to be okay, the stores will fill up again.
And we'll finally have half or more of the population at least half-ass prepared for the next Big Earthquake.
The mall parking lot was a ghost town after the zombie apocalypse. Except for in front of the supermarket. It was like Charlton Heston driving his convertible Mustang through L.A. in Omega Man.
But there are still one helluva lot of swinging Richards out there at midday who seem to think whatever they're doing is essential. It was like Charlton Heston trying to get around town in L.A. in Soylent Green.
If otherwise-idiot L.A. Mayor Garcetti turns trash scoops loose to scoop up some of the idiots out and about during the misnamed "lockdown", I might move back to the town just long enough to vote for his re-election. And then scamper back to safety behind the Orange Curtain.
If things go sideways up there, that whole city is beyond f****d.
10 comments:
My beer, Sweetwater IPA that's brewed in Atlanta, is becoming more sparsely available. Bumming me out. Still, it's not a real hardship.
The Kung Flu, with exceptions in Democom controlled areas, isn't a serious issue yet. South Carolina has had two deaths, expecting more soon, but the regular annual flu is killing more still.
Governor Cuomo is requesting US government help to obtain respirators, yet numerous New York hospitals have surplus respirators sitting unused. New York is run by incompetents.
Petrol in the uk is now £1 a litre
80p of that is tax
Its mad, but theres just no demand for it
My wife and I jumped on this for tonight's supper. A little pricey, but with curbside service it's great. We get to cook it here at the bunker.
https://www.larkinsontheriver.com/
Here's my grocery store report from yesterday. I'm near the other coast from Aesop, I shop at a large (80 stores) regional chain.
Spam - 5 small cans, limit 4 (I'm shocked at how few cans there are)
Tuna - well stocked, limit 4
Sardines - King Oscar brand only, limit four (there was maybe 25-30 cans)
Dairy - well stocked, limit 4
Cereal aisle - Good stock but not at pre Kung Flu levels
Flour - NO stock
Rice - NO five or two pound bags, limited stock of packaged rice dishes
Spaghetti - Mostly bare shelves, limit 4 if you could find that many of any shape
Spaghetti Sauce - Mostly bare shelves, limit four, brands I've never seen
Canned Vegetables - mostly bare shelves, limit 4
Peanut Butter - some stock, limit 2
Crackers - Good stock most brands
TP - 4 and 8 roll packs, limit one of either size, i.e. take one 4 or 8 pack
PT - 4 roll packs limit 1
Cleaning supplies - mostly bare shelves
Bleach - NO stock
Windex - NO stock
Fresh beef - limited cut and quantity selection
Fresh Chicken - No whole birds, very limited parts selection and quantity
Fresh Pork - limited cut and quantity selection
Lots of bacon
Fresh Fruit - good stock and variety, prices of some things elevated
Fresh Vegetables - good stock
Frozen Vegetables good stock
Nemo
I saw that the L.A. County Sheriff tried to shut down gun stores until County Counsel breathed on his glasses. (I guess that is not what we think of Sheriff's in the free states.) It is amusing how citizens tolerate such. And, being in the state it is, he will probably be re-elected.
Out here in RFA (Radio Free America, getcher mind out of the gutter), the legislature and Governor of Idaho expanded liberties by changing the concealed carry law (which was no license required for Idaho residents) to no license required for U.S. citizens who are not otherwise prohibited by law (felons, etc).
https://legislature.idaho.gov/sessioninfo/2020/legislation/H0516/
Some observations from North Dallas.
Ghetto Kroger has about everything. They are sharply limiting purchases. There was water, paper products, etc. I had a funny conversation with a therapist about how Kroger tailors their inventory for the area. No shit they do. This is why there's never more than maybe 1/2 dozen whole chickens, ever, in ghetto kroger. All the wings and thighs you can cook though.
WallyWorld near me has nearly everything as well. I picked up more cans of corned beef hash. For whatever reason, vibrants don't care for hash. I often wonder if any of these fools that are buying spam have eaten it, ever. Because pre-crisis, that shit wasn't moving. I know, I like it. I have a friend that works in their distribution center. He's been unloading trucks non stop 14 hours a night. He finished a bunch, then looks out and there's six more waiting to unload.
My observation is people are loading up on shit that is easy to cook. FFS Ghetto kroger had a pile of frozen turkeys. I picked up one for $11.
Report from BFE. S Central Oregon, SE of Crater lake. I hit 4 stores (normal habit; we buy groceries once a week, and it's been 2 and a half.
Bread, Eggs, milk, fine, everywhere. Canned goods, a little thin, but not bad.
Surgical masks, nuthin' (That place has a pharmacy that's used by the old set. Like me. Get off my lawn.) Some gloves. Cold remedies, spotty. Saline spray, almost out.
Restaurant supply (open to the public, mix of private, institutions and small eateries. The latter are takeout or delivery only). Spot shortages, plenty of meat and produce. Didn't look at dairy.
Pinto beans, not too much. The 25 pound bags go for 60% of the out-of-stock 50 pounders. (Gimme a break, they were a donation to the only dirt-poor-people shelter in town.) Rice, running out, unless you like Calrose rice.
Both grocery stores (Big national chain and 4-store independent): short on paper, and yogurt was a little thin. Limits on eggs, but plenty of dozens and 18 count packages in stock. OTOH, a lot of our supply comes from Oregon coops, and those brands seemed fine. House brand from the national, not quite so good.
We did the plastic bag ban Jan 1. Bad move. One store (with the pharmacy and old clientele) bans reuseable bags. If you want a bag, they'll sell paper at 5 cents. Most people put stuff back in the cart.
The chain grocery: bag it yourself, or back in the cart. Indy was always pack it yourself.
None of these stores were packed. Highway traffic was light, but early on Friday might always be light. A bit light in town.
Dentist offices: I predict a lot of empty buildings where the surge of dental practices opened. They were trying to exploit O'care, and a county with a bit of a meth problem. Any elective procedures are off limits, and that seems to include routine dental. No idea how you handle a busted tooth. We'll see what my well-established practice looks like come May. If it's open.
I'm still a bit shocked that Gov Kate Brown didn't go full-potato with the closures. A lot of little businesses will get clobbered, but small restaurants have some business. The taco shop (their term) had a half-dozen people spread while waiting to order or to get food. I was wearing a surgical mask purchased from the last bad flu season, and was the only one so dressed. No comments from anybody.
I haven't really bought anything unusual. I've always got plenty of paper products. I do keto, so... I go in every couple days buy some fresh produce. Take a look around to see if there's anything around to replace what I've used. Beer/bourbon for me wine for the boss. I did score some sugar free chocolate jello pudding, I was getting low.
Other than that.I haven't changed my routine much.
Report from Olympic penninsula.
Went and did rounds, local Fred Meyer, Lowes, and Costco. Fred Meyer was totally out of TP, but had lots of paper towels. No soups, no macaroni. Eggs were all free range organic stuff. Plenty of butchered meat, beef and pork. Dairy was fine.
Lowes was totally out of chest freezers (reason why I was there,) and when I asked, the local appliance staff member said they are mostly made overseas, and those that aren't are back ordered for months. I got supplies for re-running electrical in my basement, in preparation for insulating. 12-2, 10-2 Romex, Romex staples, twist nuts of appropriate size, and some LED bulbs to replace burned out incandescents.
Wal-Mart was well stocked for the most part. Mac n Cheese was thin, and no TP, but I was able to find everything I was looking for. The attached Subway was out of all bread, no teriyaki meat for my favorite, and no large cups.
Hey hey Brother! Love that sweetwater, too! North of the brewhause by about 4 hours.
Ditto the NY comment. Thats why I left and moved down here where people have their head on straight!
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