Some shortages starting Thursday? What will they be?

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Thanks to Drew Parkhill's earlier posting of the Knight-Ridder report re the Senate Y2K Committee's findings, we have a head's up on possible movement from the herd:

They [Bennett and Dodd and the other committee members] intend to trumpet their findings in Senate floor speeches, possibly as soon as Thursday, in an effort to rouse awareness to what they call ``one of the most serious and potentially devastating events this nation has ever encountered -- the Year 2000 computer program. ... It deserves our top priority.''

Anybody have any ideas what grocery store items will be first in short supply? My guess is toilet paper will top the list. I see coffee, sugar and powdered milk as being near the top too. (We already know about equipment, such as generators, oil lamps, and so on.)

-- Old Git (anon@spamproblems.com), February 24, 1999

Answers

IF the herd moves a bit (I seriously doubt it, unless the media specifically tells people to "panic", which they won't), the first area to see effects would be finances, in my opinion. I remember when I first "Got It". My first thought was "how do I avoid losing money". Gee, I better empty my bank-account and buy gold.

Another poster indicated that this was a typical first-phase of a recent GI - save the money.

-- Anonymous99 (Anonymous99@anonymous.com), February 24, 1999.


"Goodness, this could be a problem. Thank God it's only February! Come November, we better start stocking up!"

The GI's have plenty of time, in my humble opinion...

R.

-- Roland (nottelling@nowhere.com), February 24, 1999.


If the Senate report gets much coverage on TV news, we might actually see the start of widespread awareness. I believe most of the public is in a TV-induced stupor and cares more about what will be on the next Jerry Springer. Even if the Senate reaches any DGIs on Thursday (which I hope), there will be a period of time before even those people will take action.

Of course, if people see a news story of hurried buying in the stores, that would change everything. In that case, canned goods and bottled water would be the first to go.

If any case, it looks like we now have something we GIs can point to and say "See, this is serious. This is not a lunatic fringe thing."

-- Codejockey (codejockey@geek.com), February 24, 1999.


I've been expecting to have to dip into some of my stored items starting in late November especially for the standard panic items (t-paper, milk, eggs, bread, etc). I also expect canned foods to be on short supply by then. Consider a pressure canner so you can make your own canned goods. That way, when everyone else is stripping the shelves bare, you can continue to buy and grow fresh stuff and can/jar it yourself.

-- David (David@BankPacman.com), February 24, 1999.

I've noticed the canned foods section gets pretty thin when I pick up my soup -- although biweekly stocking fills it back up so far. Still a few generators available in my area of Wisconsin, no Aladdin lamps - a few other kinds. Hopefully the "food panic" won't start quite yet! But I would expect the remaining gens to be gone before the end of the week - favorites already backordered through June/July.

Senate report from the Knight Ridder Newspapers made FRONT PAGE TOP HEADLINE (full page column) in St. Paul Pioneer Press today. Also on front page was Senotor Bennets statement about "...lives could even be at stake." and the comments (which could be alarming) about currency and utilities.

Its still to early to see if many people are woken up by this - I still suspect NOT - but this is another BIG kick in the pants for me and hopefully for the rest of you slow pokes (like me) - Don't panic but GET MOVING! Very few people can prepare in a week or two - so NOW is the time to start or redouble your efforts.

-- Jon Johnson (narnia4@usa.net), February 24, 1999.



From the empty shelves I see every year as another hurricane is offshore..

water

tuna

canned corned beef

spam

dry milk

pampers

BATTERIES!

sterno

beer/alcohol

-- Bessie...errr Online2Much (planning@nother.trip_to_Sams_today), February 24, 1999.


When I get my IRS refund (?), I'm gonna finish the whole enchilada..

I think canned Tuna is going to be a good indicator, along with dried milk. Manual can-openers. Mac & cheese; Ramen.

Something new at Walmart, need to go back and see how pervasive: stockers not bothering to take merchandise out of boxes, just cutting boxes open & placing on shelves: some kind of turnover increase?

-- Lisa (lisa@broke.always), February 24, 1999.


The first shortage starting Thursday is "time." Then Patience, and Energy.

-- Robert A. Cook, P.E. (Kennesaw, GA) (cook.R@csaatl.com), February 24, 1999.

Did you know that Walmart will honor all coupons, inserts and flyers from any competition. Tuna this week is .39, bleach .69

-- Linda A. (adahi@muhlon.com), February 24, 1999.

Lisa:
http://goodbiz.com/tbks/

-- A (A@AisA.com), February 24, 1999.


I agree with Roland.

Time for sheeple-think: "It's only February and the government is talking about the problem. THEY will take care of things, after all they have ten months. When the tax refund gets here, we'll plan our vacation. After we get back from our Labor Day at Mickeyland, we might buy a generator if they're still saying the lights might go out."

The percentage of the population who'll realize what they're hearing and get GI will never exceed five percent before Thanksgiving. In fact I'll hold to my belief that only three percent will be well- prepared for Y2K. Maybe twenty-five percent will take some precautions, but the majority of Americans are going to make Y2K a "come as you are party". They'll win the booby prizes.

WW

-- Wildweasel (vtmldm@epix.net), February 24, 1999.


Just outside Washington at 5PM, the shelves at Sams were piled high and deep with Tuna, corned beef, dinty moore, rice, etc, etc. No sign of any change in perception.

-- dave (wootendave@hotmail.com), February 24, 1999.

Well, I doubt it will be soon, but when the time comes, I think fuel will be short.

(not y2k related) This past weekend hubby tried fueling up at the local Gas Station where the fuel was 67 cents a gallon (that is cheap here folks) twelve pumps = no gas. If too many people decide to fill up at once.....

BTW we've been here six years, they have never in that time been on E.

-- Deborah (fulltank@now.on), February 24, 1999.


to lisa who is stocking up on Ramen noodles(products)..I did that last April when I became a GI..I got the pakages 5 for 1.00..I called the company and they told me the shelf life was only six months.. so be careful and do your research before you shop..

-- rooster (logcabin@loggie.com), February 24, 1999.

Based on what we've seen so far, I suspect the herd will just raise it's head and then continue eating. Even if they're told it gonna be bad, that 10 month window to 'get it fixed' is going to make people wait.

I also suspect we're seeing a peak in news converage, too much movement by the masses will disrupt any covert preparations that might be ongoing. Better to let the herd sleep a little longer before the gates are closed...

Maybe we can watch the volumn of the lists/boards and get some indication as to the increase. I would expect the 'net to be either mentioned or meligned (sp..) as a source of y2k info.

But regardless, it's gonna get more interesting.

j

-- j (sandpine@juno.com), February 24, 1999.



Locally owned supermarkets for past two weeks have had Food Storage sales....45 lb buckets of wheat (hard and soft), beans (pinto, kidney, great northern and lima), 6-grain cereal mix and lentils; 50 lb sacks of oats. Not to mention canned-goods-by-the-case sales. One even has #10 cans of you-name-it freeze-dried food, and water barrels. I've lived here for 10 years now and while Food Storage sales are a regular event, cannot recall seeing 55 gal water storage barrels in the supermarket. The herd in Salt Lake City is moooooving. Quietly, but steadily. It's actually reassuring.

-- Victoria (vrcain@aol.com), February 25, 1999.

I've noticed that canning lids are going up in price, and are sometimes out of stock...any one else notice this?

-- Tim (pixmo@pixelquest.com), February 25, 1999.

No need to worry, honey. See, it's just the wind blowing the grass. Or, gee, if it is that old lion, he's WAY over there and we can leave before he could get here. Bill showed me this patch of tender grass and he's eating (oops) grazing right over there. If he's not afraid, why should we be concerned? Honey? Honey? (Just a thought, gang.) Lobo

-- Lobo (Hiding@woods.co), February 25, 1999.

Well, unless there's heavy news coverage and commentary on anything Sens. Bennett and Dodd say in the Senate today, I think you're all absolutely right: little or no movement.

A brand-new PetSmart opened in Durham yesterday and The Hungarian and I trekked over there to load up on pet food. Great store, good prices on regular brands of pet food--and lots of customers. Since we were right next door to Kroger, we decided grab our little bit of weekend shopping in case things start to move. Despite the draw of PetSmart, Kroger was just about empty. (This was getting-off-work time.) Shelves were abundantly filled, even of sale items.

To be fair, yesterday's Durham newspaper contained not even a sentence about the Senate Y2K report. But most people watch TV news or listen to the car radio anyway. It's going to take more than a report. Perhaps people are now so attuned (brainwashed?) to visual stimuli; whoever said it will take pictures of shoppers clearing shelves is on the mark, I think.

Kinda reminds me of the fast food registers with pictures of the items on the keys. It's easier for a clerk to press a picture than to actually think about which numbered or worded key to press. One picture worth thousand words.

-- Old Git (anon@spamproblems.com), February 25, 1999.


Dave W. -

I doubt there'll be any shortages here in the metro area until November - the yuppies always do things in a group...

Arlin

-- Arlin H. Adams (ahadams@ix.netcom.com), February 25, 1999.


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