Business, Food, Health, home, Mysteries, Uncategorized

The New Toilet Paper?

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Hand sanitizer, toilet paper, bleach…. I was lucky enough to have these items already in the house when shelter-in-place hit and people started to hoard.  I was surprised by the flour/yeast panic and the run on King Arthur bread mixes, but again, I had enough on hand to get through.  I was also surprised to not find garlic in the stores for a couple of weeks; the produce guy at Cub was stumped.   Garlic salt isn’t the greatest substitute for fresh garlic, but we managed.

But pectic?  This one brought me up short.  I headed out early one morning and picked a big flat of raspberries and as is my custom, I stopped at Kowalski’s on the way home.  There on the shelf where the pectin usually lives was a big hole.  I asked an employee… they said that they haven’t been able to keep canning supplies and pectin in stock.  Same story for a few other places I quickly called.

Unfortunately you can’t just keep fresh raspberries sitting around forever, so I kept calling and did find pectin at my local hardware store, although it was a different brand than I usually use to cook my jam.  Since beggars can’t be choosers, I bought it and headed home. (The hardware store shelves in the canning section were basically bare; I actually got the last jar of pectin!)  After a long search on the internet, I finally found a comparable low-sugar recipe that I could use.  Presumably the jam will be fine when I thaw the first jar – you wouldn’t think you could mess up berries and sugar with a different kind of pectin, right?

Have you run out of anything lately?

31 thoughts on “The New Toilet Paper?”

  1. There have been a few of our “usuals” that have been in short supply lately: a preferred cereal (I can only think it’s because of the cranberries in it as the two other varieties of it have been readily available – probably more a supply chain issue than a run on cranberries), once our preferred laundry soap, the bar soap we like. Early on we ran into the lack of baking supplies issue. The other day I ran out of patience for the cat… she had the good sense to hide in the basement until i had restocked.

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  2. We had a shortage of Siggi’s skyr lately. The shelf stocker in the organic dairy section told me the manufacturer couldn’t keep up with demand.

    I also couldn’t find the spinach seeds I wanted for fall planting. I wanted Regiment, a 37 day Dutch variety. I had to settle for a 53 day Italian vairiety.

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  3. Rise and Shine Baboons,

    I am with you, VS—pectin and other canning supplies. Early August I stocked up, but canning lids have vanished from the shelves, meaning I may not be able to can tomato soup.

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    1. There are no canning supplies here, either. I bought 24 qt jars a month ago, and I will use them up this week with the last of the tomatoes. I am in the process of finishing a post on that very topic.

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    2. I won’t be making more jam until next spring, so I have a handful of canning lids in the basement if you need them. Maybe eight?

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  4. With the increase in home offices, any kind of office equipment is in short supply. I was looking at laser printers to replace Robin’s inkjet printer, which goes through cartridges at a ridiculous rate and didn’t act quickly enough. The printers I had selected as good options suddenly went dramatically up in price and/or became altogether unavailable.

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  5. I know there’s something… meanwhile –
    OT, responding to mig’s early a.m. comment on yesterday’s blog:
    “I could really use a solid 15 minutes watching the fish (a screen will not do).”

    Yes, watching anything wild – squirrels are good but they don’t stay in one place for long enough.

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  7. Morning-
    Lumber has gone up in price. And evidently green treated is hard to get. I got some back in July and it wasn’t an issue, but one lumber yard told me if I wasn’t a regular customer they probably wouldn’t sell me any.
    Even regular lumber, I got an estimate on Monday, Called the following week to order and it had gone up 40 – 50% in that time. Dealer split the difference with me, but geez. They’re saying new homes, lumber prices could increase $14,000 +.
    And that too is more supply chain issue.

    Pexiglass is in short supply. The college has been buying everything Menards has and recently started ordering 3’x8′ sheets online. I think we’re caught up now. I have 3 sheets left in my shop; I’ll be selling on the black market later…

    A few years ago you couldn’t find .22 caliber bullets. I don’t use many in a year, but I always do want some around for the errant raccoon in the chicken coop or something like that. I wasn’t out, but was on the last box and wanted more. I think it was a couple years before I finally was able to get a box of 500. And I still haven’t opened it; still on that last box I was using before that. But I’ve got them now!
    Oddly, larger bullets, like what I need for coyotes, those were available. Not sure if they are today with the talk of guns and ammo shortage. Which is just crazy. I seriously pray we don’t get to that point.

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      1. Nothing drastic here, my favorite local cottage cheese for a while, but that’s back in stock. I didn’t see the free range Amish chickens recently, that seems to come and go now. There’s some image of an empty shelf in my mind, but I can’t recall what it was.

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  8. i am emptying my warehouse and i get reverse whammy
    i had a bunch of plates for weight lifting in the warehouse that i bought years ago when some mega sporting goods store was going out of business. 5,s, 10’s, 25,s and 50’s
    i never added them up bt there were over a thiusand pounds of them because i just took all they had at 5 cents a pound . i knew they were a good deal. i listed them at $2 a pounf and sold them all to a guy for a dollar a pound. they are in short supply with all the health clubs being of questionable security. i am selling desks very well. i have lots of lumber. plywood 2×6.s 2×8’s i just wouldnt throw away because why would you, well today im a genius. a storage room full of my collection will be worth something.
    i ordered yeast and licorice root tea (covid immunity tea) a coupe months ago and it was a challange. i got into the mask business because of the mask shortage. my first amazon shipment arrives air from china tomorrow. i am all over the factory to get me capability to produce christmas themed masks with santa , christmas tree, wreath etc instead of hospital blue to arrive november 1.

    raspberries and asparagus are my reminders of terrible planning in advance. linda gave me a couple raspberry stalks but they didnt make it to year 3. you have to plant trees and raspberries and asperagus that will be enjoyed after you’ve gone because it takes what 6 or 7 years to get s decent crop?

    my patience is tested because my lead pet peave is mouth noise crap. ice chewing, dog food chewing water bowl lapping up. if i dont appear to be tied up in knots about it please don’t ask if its bothering me when you are sitting next to me and its going on because i cant unhear it when its brought to my attention ,but like the seatbelt chime, i can go forever without ever noticing it.

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  9. I had a sudden urge to go out and buy a new dishpan and dish drainer recently, and found that they were in short supply. Went to several of the discount stores and came up empty. I wanted the standard old Rubbermaid dishpan and drainer, but the stores, if they had anything, would have an oversized Sterlite dishpan that wouldn’t fit in my sink, and a fancy brushed metal dish drainer that costs $20. Eventually found the traditional ones at my local hardware store. I think most manufacturers are just having trouble getting workers to come in and dealing with the logistics of distancing the workers they do have, and it’s slowing everything down. I don’t think it’s a matter of unusually high demand for dishpans. It is strange, though, to go to a store and find empty shelf space anywhere. Usually it’s all just packed in.

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