Last Updated on 8 months by Christopher G Mendla
Pandemic Tips #7 – Supplies especially toilet paper, Encroaching animals update, Driving when the lockdown is over, Kids in stores, Keep the change, Keep your gas tanks full,
Update Sept 2023
A lot of time has passed since the beginnings of the Covid ‘Epidemic’. My experiences lead me to believe that the situation was drastically over-hyped. The supply chain issues were real. However, the survival rate for most individuals was extremely high.
Shortly after I wrote this post, I realized that this was not Ebola or Anthrax. It was much more akin to the flu. My son and I both came down with Covid early. Both of us recovered after a couple of days and have been fine since. Sunlight, exercise, healthy eating, D3, Zinc, Quercetin seemed to offer much more protection than masks, gloves and paranoia.
I am leaving the sanitation portions in this article in the event that another pandemic emerges that is more serious than Covid.
Use your own judgement and act accordingly.
Toilet paper and other supplies
Given the possibility of at least 3 more weeks of a shutdown and my existing toilet paper supplies, I decided to try to order online. Both the supermarket and pharmacy were completely out of paper products.
I have a Costco membership so I went online. All the brands, including the commercial paper, were sold out except for a 30 roll package of Charmin. As much as Mr Whipple annoyed me as a kid, I ordered a package. They charge three dollars for shipping.
Now you see it, now you don’t
I put the paper in the cart and looked for some other things I wanted. Almost everything was sold out. Just for the heck of it, I checked about a half hour later and all the paper was sold out. My guess is that when a truck comes in with something, it is unloaded and entered into their inventory system. If you hit at exactly the right time, you win rolls of TP, or anything else you are trying to buy.
I checked Walmart and they had a 4 pack for a reasonable price. The moral is, try a couple of different online stores and try during different times of the day.
Animals encroaching.
I mentioned in a previous post about the possibility of animals encroaching in towns, suburbs and even cities. Two days after I wrote that, I saw a fox at 6 PM in our suburban Neighborhood.
Driving – It’s going to be a zoo
A lot of people have been cooped up. I’m seeing a lot of crazy drivers and clueless pedestrians. When we finally get the all clear, I’m going to try to hunker down for a week or so if possible to let Darwin take his course.
Let’s bring our kid to a possible biohazard site.
I needed to hit our local supermarket for supplies for my mom. I went in the evening at about 8 pm on a Thursday. That worked out pretty well. The employees told me that Friday, Saturday and Sunday are crazy. I suppose that people who are working are getting paid on Fridays so they head out during those days for supplies.
There weren’t many people and most were wearing masks. There was one family with two people in their late 30’s. He was wearing a mask but she wasn’t. They had a 10 year old girl with them who was jumping around. I saw her hands contact the floor a half dozen times. Then she was handling some of the products. PLEASE – DON’T BRING YOUR CHILDREN TO A POTENTIAL BIOHAZARD ZONE. If you do, then make sure they are well disciplined and know how to behave.
Keep the change
I wish I had more one dollar bills. I needed to pick something up at the Pharmacy drive through. The bill was something like $5.50. I had six dollars ready. I put the money in the tray and said “Please keep the change”. Covid-19 can live for many hours on linen currency and coins.
If you do need the change, have a clean plastic bag or box to put it in and either sterilize it or let it sit in the bag for a couple of days.
An alternative to paying at the window would be to pay in advance if possible. Many businesses are offering “Contactless pickup”
Fill ‘er up
I’m trying to keep the fuel level at about a half tank or better. Right now, gas is cheap and plentiful. Unexpected things could happen where you might need that gas. One of the reasons the Nazis lost the Bismarck was because the commander didn’t top off the fuel tanks at their last port stop before heading out to sea. Don’t be the Bismarck.
The same applies to gas for generators. A storm could result in all of your refrigerated and frozen food going to waste. Of course, you do have some type of generator, right?