Weird pandemic shortages

Other than the much discussed TP shortages, what are you seeing in short supply?

My little town has a Walmart and a Kroger. Both places are completely out of beef of every cut or variety. Did someone buy it all?

Also laundry detergent. I add it to every order and don't get it. I finally gave up and ordered it from Amazon. Speaking of Amazon, I have our phones with Metro, and they pay for Amazon Prime. It used to be another thing I never used but it's come in really handy this month.

Yeast and flour were both completely sold out for a month. I just barely got some. Now those are things I typically have because I love baking, but hadn't replaced yet because I've been too busy to bake up until quarantine. I just thought these things were odd.

FYI I was able to order TP from Amazon. They have a bunch of weird brands from places like Romania. The brands we are all used to appear briefly and then are sold out faster than you can click "buy now". But the weird brands have reviews so it's not the crap shoot it could be. tongue sticking out smiley

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On several different radio stations this morning, they announced a condom shortage.

I was in Aldi last week. Very expensive cuts of beef were on the shelf. They also had very cheap cuts of beef, which was what I needed for stew.

A regional market was out of SPAM and prepared dinners.

WaWa no longer sells any self serve drinks.

"I told myself to quit you; but I don't listen to drunks." -Chris Stapleton
Okay, I probably shouldn't mention this, as it will likely cause a stampede on farm stores, but my local farm and garden store is out of the usual tetracycline and penicillin type meds that they carry for animal health. Not saying it should be used for humans or that anyone should self-medicate, but it's the same stuff that is in the pills and capsules from the pharmacy, so someone swooped in and bought them out.
Antibiotics, that's a good idea. If I'm going to self medicate, it will be something with some kick and a glass of wine!

"I told myself to quit you; but I don't listen to drunks." -Chris Stapleton
Maybe they owned a lot of animals?

@Sandy Shopper wrote:

Okay, I probably shouldn't mention this, as it will likely cause a stampede on farm stores, but my local farm and garden store is out of the usual tetracycline and penicillin type meds that they carry for animal health. Not saying it should be used for humans or that anyone should self-medicate, but it's the same stuff that is in the pills and capsules from the pharmacy, so someone swooped in and bought them out.
Eggs. I had noticed last week (the last time I was in public) that one store was out of eggs and another was price gouging ($3.99 for a dozen eggs is rather high).
Frozen taquitos, sold out; both the beef and the chicken varieties, at 2 different stores.
Aldi near me had tons of TP, in "club sized" packages (30 rolls per package) yesterday and today. Go figure.

Based in MD, near DC
Shopping from the Carolinas to New York
Have video cam; will travel

Poor customer service? Don't get mad; get video.
Good lord. I don't need 30 rolls of TP! I don't need any until probably June since I bought a lot of it when it was on sale in January.
In central Indiana, it's been difficult to find fresh meat; eggs; milk; laundry detergent; paper towels; some fresh produce, such as lettuce and berries; and dish soap.
At Food52 they were talking that they had problem finding yeast, flour, and eggs all over the country. Meat flies off the shelves daily by midday, pasta is limited, cleaners, TP, no thermometers.
TP, bleach, detergent, tissues, paper towels, disinfecting wipes, canned veggies/beans and meat of any kind with exception of Costco were wiped out as of a few days ago. An earlier trip to our local supermarket revealed the same. I will not buy the huge quantities of meat at Costco. Way too much. Even though the bulk packaged packs of chicken cutlets were vacuumed packed separately into reasonable portions, I would not buy them. Way too much (I know I am repeating myself) and they looked totally gross to me; full of gristle and blood. I have not been able to find Tofu; I have two bricks left. Tofu is a staple in my house. I will need to drive to the Asian market but will call before I go.
We have hand soap that will last about 3 or 4 months. There is no soap in the market right now. So, we made some liquid soap from a bar and made a gallon. Turned out great.
Popcorn-the kernels that are popped at home. I have an air popper machine. I finally broke down after seeing so many empty shelves and bought a 10 lb. bag at top dollar because I eat popcorn almost nightly.
Supposidly my sister is having problems buying jigsaw puzzles because everyone else is ordering them online while staying home.
E.V.E.R.Y.T.H.I.N.G.

Butter, bread, syrup, cereal, snack bars, oatmeal, milk, cottage cheese, eggs, bagels and cream cheese, meat...every meat product incl deli and bologna types...but especially chicken, TP, paper towels, toys, coloring books, candy, canned goods, flour, sugar, hot cocoa. Tylenol, mucinex, vitamins, chloraseptic, rubbing alcohol, peroxide, cough drops, qtips...why, IDK...but haven't found them in over a month...

You literally go into a store and the shelves are wiped clean. Any store. When they get a shipment in, they have to block an area off so employees can re stock and customers are hovering. Employees have been getting hurt because of the restocking and having customers shove them. So they block the area off. Once it's stocked and opened, the customers congregate and an entire aisle of *whatever* is gone in five minutes

During the senior shopping hours, they have stationed state patrol cars in parking lots because when the seniors come out of the store, they are pushed and robbed

I've heard that the shelves are starting to be a little more stocked in the last couple days, but I haven't been out to check.

Also, since state patrol is less busy on the highways, most of them are working "in town," with the senior shopping hours and such. However, one or two remain on the highway and people are driving 120/145
Microwave popcorn.

Based in MD, near DC
Shopping from the Carolinas to New York
Have video cam; will travel

Poor customer service? Don't get mad; get video.
Walmart has had tons of eggs at .88/doz. But you can't find much meat anywhere and milk is spotty. Bread is a dice roll. And everywhere, on everything, the cheaper store brands fly off the shelves. For a while it was like an apocalypse movie, bare shelves everywhere. It's gotten better, but will probably get worse again.
I always drive the speed limit in a recession, when local jurisdictions get money-hungry. I am doing the same now, for the same reason.

@Jill_L wrote:


Also, since state patrol is less busy on the highways, most of them are working "in town," with the senior shopping hours and such. However, one or two remain on the highway and people are driving 120/145
Not our Walmart. No eggs, milk, bread, or meat last time my neighbor went (and I went over a week ago, same thing). But I am not going out. I have some eggs, I am sure they will get restocked again at some point, and we will do grocery curbside pickup. We really don't buy milk or sandwich bread anyway, and I have some frozen loaves that you thaw and let rise, then bake. I have plenty of meat in the freezer and creamer for my coffee. We are good.
I got a package from Amazon today and the tape on it was advertising 2 hour grocery delivery for prime members. FYI.

I wish my seeds would get here. At least there would be the prospect of a fresh tomato in my future. I typically go to the market 2-3 days a week for fresh vegetables and salad ingredients. I am missing them right now.

I read somewhere that Vitamin C is being looked at as helping with the effects of Covid19. Apparently people recover faster when taking it. That will be the next thing we can't find anywhere.
We have a family-owned and operated fresh market about four miles from my house. They have a drive up service (the inside part of the market is closed). You pull up and tell them what you want, they weigh everything inside and come out to your car. My husband gives them cash and tells them to keep the change.
I'm jealous. I finally found some masks so after they get here I can at least do a curbside grocery. With the mess the stores are in right now I don't want to get that close to anyone, especially since they seem to be oblivious to the 6 foot distancing rule. The last two times they came right up to my window.

@JASFLALMT wrote:

We have a family-owned and operated fresh market about four miles from my house. They have a drive up service (the inside part of the market is closed). You pull up and tell them what you want, they weigh everything inside and come out to your car. My husband gives them cash and tells them to keep the change.
My sister has it set up with the grocery store where she pays online. I am doing a pick up for her tomorrow where I will pop the trunk upon arrival at the store. I will call them when I arrive and give them the make/model of my car and verbal instructions. I will just keep my window rolled up when they come out.
The East coast has been hit harder that us on the West, according to my anecdotal evidence.I have FB acquaintances out of milk, flour and live yeast. We have all that here, so I mailed some yeast to a military wife in VA. Speaking of military, did you know all scheduled leave has been cancelled for a while and nobody can take any until May 1st. That may be extended too...
@afewcomments: You can do jigsaw puzzles (and other games & puzzles) online for free or a low cost, depending upon the site. If you can still get citrus fruit, you can use all of the pith that you can extract. This is where the bioflavanoids are (these are synergistic with Vitamin C).

Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished. - Lao-Tzu
@Shop-et-al. I like this one [www.jigsawexplorer.com]. This is free and gives you an option to upload your own pictures for puzzles.
Yesterday, I used orange peels and pith along with apple cores and peels to make a flavored syrup for my blueberry jam.
I noticed today I am low on liquid hand soap. There is none of the anti bacterial variety to be had. When this pandemic was still in China and supposedly hadn't made it here yet, on a hunch I bought a giant bottle of anti-bacterial Dawn. So I mixed some in the rest of the liquid hand soap that was left in the refill bottle and then refilled my bathroom and kitchen sink dispensers. If I can't find the anti bacterial variety in two weeks I"ll buy some regular and repeat the process.
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