Coronavirus prep

kshama2001

My OH keeps telling me to stock up on Fritos

I've been seeing stories like these, which are encouraging me to start stocking up for the eventuality of price increases or temporary shortages:

P&G Says 17,600 Products Could Be Affected By Coronavirus In China, Highlighting Supply Chain Risk
I heard stories about panic buying in New York and Washington states on the news, so I do not have the exact links.

I'm thinking about shelf stable milk. I think reconstituted powdered milk is gross, but have had some ascetic milk that wasn't bad. Don't remember the brand. Anyone have recommendations for brands and best place to buy for best prices?

I was in south Florida for the dreadful 2005 hurricane season, so I believe in preparing for times when stores are not available, although as time has passed, I've done less stocking up.

Replies

SuzySunshine99

AnnPT77 wrote: »

SuzySunshine99 wrote: »

I don't know if the state matters...everyone I know in Illinois who ordered them all on the same day had really different delivery schedules. Some got theirs a week ago, some still haven't. All the same state, all the same order day.

Either it's random, or has more to do with the speed of your local post office.

BTW, no one I know got a "shipping" notification...just a delivery notice on the day of arrival.

I wonder if that's related to having signed up for the emails that pre-notify a person what mail to expect? Are you signed up for those? I get notified of most (all?) USPS packages as part of that process, including separate emails about packages.

Informed delivery. Yes, my husband has that and he gets a daily email regarding what to expect in today's mail.

But, this notice came to my email, which I had used to order the tests, and don't use for any other USPS account.

It's strange, seems like everyone is having a different experience with it.

SModa61

SuzySunshine99 wrote: »

I don't know if the state matters...everyone I know in Illinois who ordered them all on the same day had really different delivery schedules. Some got theirs a week ago, some still haven't. All the same state, all the same order day.

Either it's random, or has more to do with the speed of your local post office.

BTW, no one I know got a "shipping" notification...just a delivery notice on the day of arrival.

My husband's email address was used for "our" set that was delivered to florida. He did get a shipping confirmation and he was able to track it, so we knew we needed to arrange for friends to help receive the package.

My email is for the family members in Mass and I have no email other than the original. Curious If I will get a shipping alert to convey like my husband, or no alert like you mentioned @suzysunshine99

ExistingFish

My in-laws ordered their tests then tested positive locally for covid. Two days left in my MIL's quarantine their tests came in....a little late to be of use!

I don't know when she ordered them, but it was before FIL was positive.

RetiredAndLovingIt

We ordered them as soon as we could, but haven’t received them yet. (Iowa)

lokihen

I ordered them the first day I read about the link on the news. Got an 'expected delivery date' email last week and an 'out for delivery' email on Monday. I'm in South Dakota. My Texan sister got hers the Saturday before.

missysippy930

ahoy_m8 wrote: »

Greetings, all. Anyone in the US who ordered government test hear anything about shipping? I ordered 1/12 and other than immediate confirmation email have not heard (or received) a thing.

Ordered and received confirmation on 1/20. No kits or any indication of being shipped yet. The email indicated kits would start being shipped late January. With shipping by the US postal service, not surprising because of the slowdown🤷🏼‍♀️

T1DCarnivoreRunner

Mine came yesterday 2/3 here in TX. They came from a distribution site in San Antonio. It seems like the location of the distribution site and the post office it goes through would make a difference.

For example, late 2020 when I lived in west TN, my packages were delayed going through the Memphis USPS. This was one of the facilities where mail sorting equipment was removed. One example is something I bought online in August. I saw it track from Texas to Memphis, then stop. Eventually the tracking detail changed to lost. But the package showed up in Jan 2021. There were other similar situations, just an example.

Athijade

I got an email yesterday that mine were to arrive that day, but we had a snow storm yesterday so I have no idea if they made it. I can't get to my mailbox yet either. So bad timing!

kshama2001

I'm in MA and placed my order 01/20/2022. I received an email confirmation at the time. It includes an order number, but I don't see anywhere to plug that in to check the status of the order. Anyone?

Luke_rabbit

Ordered test kits first day. Haven't heard anything since initial email. No kits have arrived (unless they are in my mailbox, which I'm not going to get to until some of the ice melts).

My spouse's employer has decided on 3/1 back to office "no matter what". My spouse is now (finally) trying to tackle pandemic weight gain in order to fit into "hard clothes". And, here I was, all ready to deal with the ice/snow/cold with mega-baking. 😁

SModa61

kshama2001 wrote: »

I'm in MA and placed my order 01/20/2022. I received an email confirmation at the time. It includes an order number, but I don't see anywhere to plug that in to check the status of the order. Anyone?

I ordered on the 18th, and have heard nothing either. I would love it if there was a status check somehow. I'll be watching the other responses to your post.

ahoy_m8

ExistingFish wrote: »

My in-laws ordered their tests then tested positive locally for covid. Two days left in my MIL's quarantine their tests came in....a little late to be of use!

I don't know when she ordered them, but it was before FIL was positive.

They are still useful! AFAIK, CDC recommends 5 days isolation or until symptoms abate, whichever is longest plus 5 days masking in public. BUT, if you have a test, it's helpful to test at 5 days to determine if it's safe to stop isolating.

I'm also in TX, and nothing since the confirmation email 1/12.

RetiredAndLovingIt

We got an “auto-reply” message at 12:36am today that our tests will be here Monday, Feb 7 by 9:00pm.

baconslave

Here in northeast TN, we got ours on Jan 27. There's always the component that large swaths of Tennesseans, including our state govt, have decided Covid is over, and have been doing this for some time, so that there weren't as many takers for the tests. Fewer sign-ups. I don't know this for sure of course, but no masking for over a year plus very low vaccination rate and testing rate...that's not difficult math, so to speak.

Athijade

So luckily the mail person was smart and took all the tests into the apartment office/package area instead of putting them in the mailboxes. So it wasn't sitting in the cold for 2 days! Yay!

RetiredAndLovingIt

We actually got the tests this morning, not Monday.

ReenieHJ

We haven't even seen our postal workers for the past 2 days. Lol Whatever happened to the 'through snow, through rain, blah blah'?
And my USPS account has been updating my account to let me know what we're getting in the mail. So far the tests haven't come through there.

kshama2001

ReenieHJ wrote: »

We haven't even seen our postal workers for the past 2 days. Lol Whatever happened to the 'through snow, through rain, blah blah'?
And my USPS account has been updating my account to let me know what we're getting in the mail. So far the tests haven't come through there.

How much snow did you get? Down here, south of Boston, we only got a dusting of snow from the second storm, but it is very icy. Got about 20 inches the weekend before, most of it melted, and then froze. Having a hard time finding environmentally friendly ice melt like Snow Joe's. Our first winter here - we were able to just use salt at the last place.

bold_rabbit wrote: »

Ordered test kits first day. Haven't heard anything since initial email. No kits have arrived (unless they are in my mailbox, which I'm not going to get to until some of the ice melts).

My spouse's employer has decided on 3/1 back to office "no matter what". My spouse is now (finally) trying to tackle pandemic weight gain in order to fit into "hard clothes". And, here I was, all ready to deal with the ice/snow/cold with mega-baking. 😁

That's how I like to deal with cold too! However, we have a new propane supplier, auto-delivery was not set up as promised, and we were very low on propane, so I decided to limit use of the oven. Good thing, as we were on fumes this AM. But we did get a delivery just now. Last I'd heard the delivery wasn't going to be until Monday.

Public service announcement to be kind to your propane people - my saleswoman has been in the business for 10 years and says the past three months have been the most stressful she has ever seen. Tanks and parts in short supply, ground is frozen so piping cannot be dug, etc., etc., and the people in the office keep getting yelled at by customers for issues over which they have no control.

ythannah

Cosmetics, tuna and soup stock. That's what seems to be in short supply here.

Back in 2020 I was seeing huge barren spots in the makeup racks and we're back to that again. I'm assuming a lot of these products are foreign made or with foreign-sourced ingredients/containers.

Soup stock has been an ongoing thing. I don't use it but my father frequently requested it when I was buying his groceries for him and I think he thought I was lying to him when I told him week after week that there was none. For some reason it's missing again these days, when he's doing his own shopping (with me), and now he sees it for himself.

Wanted to stock up on canned tuna the other day and not a can to be found. It wasn't even on sale. Not sure if that's a tuna shortage or another aluminum shortage.

ReenieHJ

@kshama2001 We didn't get the 1st storm like you guys did. But we got at least 12" starting last Thursday afternoon and ending Friday mid day. There's enough snow outside now to call it a winter.

SModa61

That friday storm in the Boston area, cancelled our flight to florida with the cats, so we got in the car Sat morning and drove 708 miles Sat and 736 miles Sun and we are at MIL in Jupiter Florida for the day, tomorrow we continue on. It was amazing how perfect the roads were Saturday morning despite how perilous they were on Friday.

kshama2001

SModa61 wrote: »

That friday storm in the Boston area, cancelled our flight to florida with the cats, so we got in the car Sat morning and drove 708 miles Sat and 736 miles Sun and we are at MIL in Jupiter Florida for the day, tomorrow we continue on. It was amazing how perfect the roads were Saturday morning despite how perilous they were on Friday.

I've driven from MA to FL a few times, but never with cats. Did they meow the whole time? My cat used to meow for the five hours from MA to upstate NY. When I brought a cat home from Okinawa I think he meowed for 36 hours, poor guy. At one point while changing planes I saw his cat carrier going by and his little mouth was moving.

kshama2001

The Whole Foods south of Boston usually has close to 100% mask wearing despite no mandate, but many more people were maskless yesterday. There were some bare spots on the shelves. Sliced cheese, certain types of pasta, and other things, but I can't remember what.

Luke_rabbit

Got an email this morning that our tests will be here Friday. So weird since we ordered immediately, and many neighbors/friends who ordered a few days later got theirs early last week.

Got out to the store yesterday and most things were well stocked even after our snow/ice storm. A little low in frozen food (especially fries section) and pasta. I've seen much worse in the past 2 months, so maybe supply chains and worker shortages* are easing here.

* I noticed several long-term workers in the store who I haven't seen in a while and thought may had left or retired or worse.

cwolfman13

We ordered our test kits the day that option became available...we received ours about 2 weeks ago. I guess they might come in handy, but myself and the whole family came down with COVID in early January so I think more likely than not, they'll just sit there in the medicine cabinet.

For myself, if I get sick, I can take one of those tests for my own purposes, but my work won't let me use it as an option to come to the office and they require my to take a PCR test...I have to do that if I have even so much as a sniffle...which kinda sucks because by the time I get an appointment scheduled and my test back, I've already missed about 1 week of work...there has to be a better way.

girlwithcurls2

Along the lines of supply chain issues and empty shelves, is anyone noticing the price increases at restaurants? We are still doing take out, or eating outdoors if it's open (no 4 walled tents). Some of our favorite places, like a pub with burgers, tots and good beer are now no longer options. What used to be a $7, then $10 burger is now $17. It is still a mediocre pub burger. At $7 or $10, it might be worth it for us to enjoy sitting outside in their beer garden on a lovely afternoon. At this point, for two people, we can grill our own burgers and buy our own beer. Of course, that means doing the work and being at home, which was the whole point of looking for somewhere to go. I just read in the Sunday NYT about the prices of everything that restaurants are dealing with. I'm not sure how they will survive if the food is the same, but prices increase 30%.

cwolfman13

girlwithcurls2 wrote: »

Along the lines of supply chain issues and empty shelves, is anyone noticing the price increases at restaurants? We are still doing take out, or eating outdoors if it's open (no 4 walled tents). Some of our favorite places, like a pub with burgers, tots and good beer are now no longer options. What used to be a $7, then $10 burger is now $17. It is still a mediocre pub burger. At $7 or $10, it might be worth it for us to enjoy sitting outside in their beer garden on a lovely afternoon. At this point, for two people, we can grill our own burgers and buy our own beer. Of course, that means doing the work and being at home, which was the whole point of looking for somewhere to go. I just read in the Sunday NYT about the prices of everything that restaurants are dealing with. I'm not sure how they will survive if the food is the same, but prices increase 30%.

I haven't noticed that big of a jump anywhere here yet, at least for our weekly take out pizza or the hole in the wall teriyaki chicken joint I like for lunch once per week...but we're still pretty backwards when it comes to wages for service people at restaurants. We're still at the federal minimum of $2.13/hr plus tips (except in Santa Fe where eating out is more expensive)...I'm 47, and that's the same rate as when I waited tables in my early 20s. I think a lot of places are increasing wages either on their own or by state law to keep employees...and then couple that with supply chain issues...

My wife and I really don't eat out much...date night once a month or two and we have 3 or 4 places we really like and they are on the pricier end of the spectrum as it is. We have one scheduled for next weekend so I'll be curious if I notice anything...but haven't noticed much change with our regulars like Village Pizza and Teriyaki Chicken in Foil.

kshama2001

girlwithcurls2 wrote: »

Along the lines of supply chain issues and empty shelves, is anyone noticing the price increases at restaurants? We are still doing take out, or eating outdoors if it's open (no 4 walled tents). Some of our favorite places, like a pub with burgers, tots and good beer are now no longer options. What used to be a $7, then $10 burger is now $17. It is still a mediocre pub burger. At $7 or $10, it might be worth it for us to enjoy sitting outside in their beer garden on a lovely afternoon. At this point, for two people, we can grill our own burgers and buy our own beer. Of course, that means doing the work and being at home, which was the whole point of looking for somewhere to go. I just read in the Sunday NYT about the prices of everything that restaurants are dealing with. I'm not sure how they will survive if the food is the same, but prices increase 30%.

Eating outside on a lovely afternoon is still months away from us here south of Boston

When I moved into the old place in 2016, we redid the back yard - removed two huge maple trees that pretty much made it unusable, graded and reseeded, put in a patio, and got nice patio furniture and a stereo. After that, we started eating out less and less.

We sold that place last fall and I am looking forward to transforming the backyard here.

There are tons of great restaurants in our new town, but I was not a fan of crowded, noisy restaurants even before the pandemic.

The pizza place is pricier than our old city but that could just be the new town. I'm alternating between take out pizza and home made crescent roll pizza roll ups.

missysippy930

kshama2001 wrote: »

girlwithcurls2 wrote: »

Along the lines of supply chain issues and empty shelves, is anyone noticing the price increases at restaurants? We are still doing take out, or eating outdoors if it's open (no 4 walled tents). Some of our favorite places, like a pub with burgers, tots and good beer are now no longer options. What used to be a $7, then $10 burger is now $17. It is still a mediocre pub burger. At $7 or $10, it might be worth it for us to enjoy sitting outside in their beer garden on a lovely afternoon. At this point, for two people, we can grill our own burgers and buy our own beer. Of course, that means doing the work and being at home, which was the whole point of looking for somewhere to go. I just read in the Sunday NYT about the prices of everything that restaurants are dealing with. I'm not sure how they will survive if the food is the same, but prices increase 30%.

Eating outside on a lovely afternoon is still months away from us here south of Boston

When I moved into the old place in 2016, we redid the back yard - removed two huge maple trees that pretty much made it unusable, graded and reseeded, put in a patio, and got nice patio furniture and a stereo. After that, we started eating out less and less.

We sold that place last fall and I am looking forward to transforming the backyard here.

There are tons of great restaurants in our new town, but I was not a fan of crowded, noisy restaurants even before the pandemic.

The pizza place is pricier than our old city but that could just be the new town. I'm alternating between take out pizza and home made crescent roll pizza roll ups.

It was + 42F here (TC metro area) yesterday. They showed people eating outside on the news. Snow is melting. After the coldest January since 2014, I guess, some are enjoying “the warm weather’.

lemurcat2

I haven't noticed restaurant costs being up that much, but I admit I'm not that cost conscious with restaurant food and I've actually decreased my restaurant food quite a bit in the past few months and also tend to vary restaurants enough that I wouldn't notice if a particular place increased.

Although the numbers you are talking about are much more significant, so this is not intended to be directed at you, the post about restaurant increases reminded me of this, which I found kind of funny (the quote from the Hinsdale man and the should-have-been-expected reaction, I mean):

https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/breaking/ct-food-insecurity-hinsdale-burrito-controversy-20220125-xkn56svzxvc6ppd5kodiiomdu4-story.html

Original piece: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/01/21/business/fast-food-prices-inflation.html

I seriously thought the quote from the NYT piece was a parody when I first saw it quoted (before confirming it was a real NYT piece).