Covid-19 Discussions and Stories

[BakerAunt]

Thanks for posting the link, Aaron. It's that kind of out of the box thinking that will get all of us through this pandemic, both in terms of health and economics.

We went to an environmental talk today, and so were in the town where we usually shop and took the opportunity to pick up more of our usual. It was very crowded, maybe because it is Friday, and a lot of people get paid on the second Friday, but there were a lot of people at 10:30. I noted that Aldi's was running low on canned goods--something I've not seen before. Produce was fine. Kroger was equally crowded when we got there. I needed a roll of wide parchment paper, so we went down the paper aisle, and yes, there were a lot of empty shelves in the toilet paper section, (It's a TP apocalypse.)

Walgreens is limiting how much people can buy of certain items: hand sanitizer, masks, etc.

My sister in California called last night, and she couldn't find hand sanitizer, so she asked a worker in CVS, who told her that they are keeping it behind the counter, and only selling one per customer.

[Joan Simpson]

We also went shopping today and at Target they were limiting toilet paper to 4 packs and other things also.I couldn't get any bleach but found some at Publix,breads and canned goods were getting cleaned out as well.I like bleach for cleaning counter tops etc.Have any of you ever used hydrogen peroxide for cleaning?I was reading a post about that somewhere.We should be OK for awhile with what we have.My prayers to each of you to stay well and praying "this too shall pass".One of my mother in laws favorite saying.

[Mike Nolan]

There wasn't any toilet paper at the store when we went this evening, and not many loaves of bread either, though they still had hamburger and hot dog buns, and, it seemed, a lot of rye breads.

The ground beef area was emptied out, too, and I saw a lot of empty shelves in other areas, like dog food. But everything on our list was still available.

[skeptic7]

Here is the article about low tech hand washer mainly for places without running water. What I like about it is that its foot operated and doesn't require putting dirty hands on the unit. Chocomouse could you set up something like this in your booth?

https://www.permaculturenews.org/2014/06/10/tippy-tap-an-outdoor-hand-washing-device/

[Mike Nolan]

I've seen those used at RibFest in Lincoln. When you have thousands of people eating messy ribs, you really need hand washing stations. Sadly, RibFest has been discontinued.

[chocomouse]

Skeptic, very interesting, and I suppose it would be possible. It would require hauling many gourds/bottles of water from the restroom up the hill, and some kind of tub or bucket to catch the waste water. With thousands of attendees, and only a 10 x 12 booth, we wouldn't have space or time to manage that kind of operation. There is a large, multi-station, hand-washing station not far away, outside our building. I now have acquired a large bottle of hand sanitizer! Also, at this point, we would not be surprised to have the festival cancelled. Everything scheduled during the month of April seems to be cancelled, and this one is the first weekend in May.

[skeptic7]

Chocomouse; I wasn't being as public minded as you. I was just thinking of a tiny handwashing station for you and your sister. All you would have to do is bring a gallon of clean water in, and drag a gallon of dirty water outside or to the restrooms after your booth closes.

[chocomouse]

Ha! You're right, Skeptic! And I have a lovely large bird house gourd I grew a number of years ago that would be perfect, and within the parameters of "fiber" or agriculture. I was thinking of myself first, but also that I would be passing the virus from one person to another. I think we'll just use the hand sanitizer now that I have it, as much as I hate using it.

[RiversideLen]

Things are getting crazy, I wonder when it will end. My sister texted me and said she can't get toilet paper, paper towels or napkins and asked me if could send her some her some toilet paper. She doesn't have a computer and lives in a small town. I went on Amazon and the only thing I could find was some paper towels, the kind you find in a public bathroom in a dispenser. So I ordered some of those for her. Amazon Fresh (grocery delivery) time slots are almost impossible to get. I hope this passes soon.

[BakerAunt]

Some years back, I discovered that Walgreens and CVS have periodic good deals on toilet paper, so I stock up when there is a sale. The same goes for paper towels. My husband always rolled his eyes at me. He's not rolling his eyes now.

Len--Your sister should be careful about flushing paper towels. A lot of plumbing systems cannot handle them.

One of my friends went to our local CVS to try to get hand sanitizer. She was told to come back later that day, after their truck arrives. She did so, but it turns out that the truck had only two containers of wipes and no hand sanitizer. We may be looking at breakdowns in supply and delivery now.

I don't expect the emergency to end before May.

[aaronatthedoublef]

It's interesting.. Many of you are in the Midwest and when I am in Minneapolis this does not seem to be a big deal. A few more people are working from home and a few more people are staying home when they feel sick but life was (as of Thursday) proceeding pretty normally.

Home in CT things are a lot more amped up. I think first with the NBA shutting down, then colleges, then public schools this has become suddenly serious for a lot of people. If I look at the map the NY Times sent this is heavily concentrated on the coasts and from New York to Washington is a big hot zone.

I have some flours coming from KAF and Bob's to supplement what I already have. I cannot find KAF bread flour anywhere although I can find the organic online. Costco had no paper towels or toilet paper but plenty of napkins. I had lots of toilet paper because I'd stocked up when it was on sale. I was waiting to do the same with paper towels but then the corona virus hit and Costco was wiped out. I still have about 18 rolls and Whole Foods had them yesterday and customers are limited to one package (three rolls).

My flights to Birmingham were cancelled and Delta was trying to rebook me but I decided to skip travel, at least this week.

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[Italiancook]

Just read it hasn't peaked yet. We're practicing social distancing by staying home until the schools reopen. We're rationing what we have. Eggs are going to be the biggest challenge. Hubby is now using one egg per breakfast. I just ordered powdered eggs, but the crisis will, hopefully, be over by the time they arrive. Hubby didn't buy olive oil, so we're rationing that, too. We're trying to use fewer paper towels. No KAF AP in stores.

[BakerAunt]

I checked the Bob's Red Mill site: They are sold out of almost everything, except for 25 pound bags in some items--and those do not qualify for the free shipping at $59 or more. I probably have steel-cut oats for another month, then if I cannot find them locally, I'll be eating up my supply of oat bran, which will not be bad, just different. Maybe I need to start alternating it in a few times a week now.

[BakerAunt]

I was at the King Arthur website, as I needed to use a bonus bucks that was going to expire. They are temporarily out of a lot of flours as well. I was able to find steel-cut oats and thick-cut oats there, and use my coupon, so that was good for me.

I wonder if the issue is supply chain or people stocking up? Maybe there are more home bakers than we thought?

[Mike Nolan]

I went to Costco today, the only wheat flour they had was 50 pound bags of bleached flour.

They were out of a lot of things, but had done an interesting job of spreading what they had around so there weren't very many empty spots.

Retail sales will probably look OK for a while, because people are buying ANYTHING they think they might run short of or could eat if they had to, but the supply channels appear to be emptying out, and it'll take time for them to get resupplied.

Restaurant traffic is said to be down 20% nearly everywhere and some high-end places are reporting 70% declines.

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