Open (More or Less) Post on Covid 6

[ecosophia]

The semi-open posts  I've hosted here on the Covid-19 narrative, the inadequately tested experimental drugs for it, and the whole cascading mess surrounding them have continued to field a gargantuan (and increasing) number of comments, so I'm opening another space for discussion. The rules are the same as before: 

1. If you plan on parroting the party line of the medical industry and its paid shills, please go away. This is a place for people to talk openly, honestly, and freely about their concerns that the party line in question is dangerously flawed and that actions being pushed by the medical industry et al. are causing injury and death. It is not a place for you to dismiss those concerns. Anyone who wants to hear the official story and the arguments in favor of it can find those on hundreds of thousands of websites.

2. If you plan on insisting that the current situation is the result of a deliberate plot by some villainous group of people or other, please go away. There are tens of thousands of websites currently rehashing various conspiracy theories about the Covid-19 outbreak and the vaccines. This is not one of them. What we're exploring is the likelihood that what's going on is the product of the same arrogance, incompetence, and corruption that the medical industry and its tame politicians have displayed so abundantly in recent decades. That possibility deserves a space of its own for discussion, and that's what we're doing here. 

3. If you don't believe in treating people with common courtesy, please go away. I have, and enforce, a strict courtesy policy on my blogs and online forums, and this is no exception. The sort of schoolyard bullying that takes place on so many other internet forums will get you deleted and banned here. No, I don't care if you disagree with that: my journal, my rules. 

With that said, the floor is open for discussion. 

Comments

Shortages on Shelves

[stcathalexandria]

If people can post unusual shortages of items and their general area, might help people prepare.

For me in PA, I can't get shocks for my Honda Civic going on four weeks. Took it in for inspection in August and I'm now driving with an expired inspection sticker :-( Bad shocks aren't dangerous, but they do need replaced.

Stopped at IKEA last week and the bottom half of the store with all the grab and go items had entire shelf units removed every 10-20 feet. There are now huge gaping areas on the selling floor. What is out is a lot less assortment of items and filling in with what they have more of. So for instance dish towels which used to be two sides of one shelf display with many varieties is now spread out over three shelf displays and all three display the same towels. Very weird!

(Not sure JMG if you want shelf shortages here in the Covid post and if not, please delete.)

Re: Shortages on Shelves

[(Anonymous)]

Three items related to shortages. In the same week my wife's alternator bit the dust, my catalytic converter was brazenly stolen overnight, on the street right in front of my house. Apparently this is happening so often the past year my insurance company has hired a third party to deal with it. Her car was in the shop for an extra week, on top of the usual repair time, because the mechanic couldn't get a hold of a replacement alternator. After waiting some time I finally told him to go with a more expensive OEM part, and took the price hit. Much more expensive than it should have been. Same with the catalytic converter. Took extra time to track down a replacement, and the mechanic said I lucked out with timing as it was. The week after part prices were due to go up by double digit percentages. I asked both mechanics about these shortages, and they said they were regular occurrences lately.

Unrelated to cars, I purchases a few ceramic hanging baskets for strawberries. I've used fiber baskets for years, but I'm tired of replacing them as the birds pull them apart for nests pretty quickly. The pots I got were glazed blue, but the bottoms were not. Nothing a bit of spray paint wouldn't fix. I went to lowes to pick up some cans, and the cage of paint was 85% empty. When I went to get a few new drip irrigation mister nozzles, the whole irrigation section had been rearranged and condensed and the selection was significantly smaller than even 2 months ago.

Re: Shortages on Shelves

[(Anonymous)]

I have a friend who is building a shop who can’t get roof trusses in anything resembling a timely manner. Apparently all the manufacturers have back orders extending to at least January. To get his shop built, he is having to hire an engineer to design them (he could do that himself, but the engineer’s stamp is required for permitting) and then build his own trusses.

Re: Shortages on Shelves

[(Anonymous)]

Shortages, and I must note that I'm an 'edges' shopper: I'd never notice a lack of, say, spaghettios.

Distilled water: none available. Limit 2 on bottled water. (Distilled is used in CPAPs, this shortage has lasted over a month.)
Paper products: on shelves, limits two per customer.
Canning lids and rings: haven't seen any for over a year. Jars gone the last month. Space filled with lunch boxes.
Corn tortillas: two brands gone, hole on shelf (implies a new shortage).
Bulk granola: half the bins empty (not a product I ever buy, but adjacent to other bulk products).
Brown long grain rice: I bought the last bag. Brown Jasmine was already gone. (Bulk bags, 20#-25#.)

BoysMom

Re: Shortages on Shelves

[(Anonymous)]

I've heard that there are big backups at the ports due to delays in offloading ships. I took the ferry to Seattle last month, and there were three full container ships anchored in open water, presumably waiting their turn. I've never seen that before.

Re: Shortages on Shelves

[methylethyl]

Deep South. Can no longer buy larger-than-single-serving packages of frozen veg, aside from spinach and turnip greens and peas. This has been on-and-off for months now, so doesn't really appear to be seasonal variation, but has become worse recently. If I want to buy cauliflower, broccoli, kale, or green beans for my family-of-five, I now have to buy three or four of the stupid tiny microwaveable (ack!) bags.

Re: Shortages on Shelves

[(Anonymous)]

Check out www.reddit.com/r/shortages, in case you are not already aware of it. People are trading tips on shortages in places all over USA. Bonus is you don't have to sign up or login to see the posts.