OT: Quarantine supplies

[Okie bipap]

We recently stocked up on distilled water (5 one gallon jugs). My nightstand will hold six gallons, so when we open the last jug of distilled water, we purchase five more. With two of us using it every night, we go through a jug about every two weeks. We have plenty of other CPAP supplies. We finally picked up two new masks last summer and they are still in the drawer as is one spare cushion. I gave one of the spare cushions away when I made up a mask for someone who needed it. It had been almost 18 months since we had gotten any supplies prior to that and will probably be another year before we need to get more. Our freezer is well stocked and we are staying away from crowds. No unnecessary shopping and they have canceled church services for now. I don't understand why people grabbed all of the toilet paper. I have not seen anything that says diarrhea is one of the symptoms of the caronavirus.

[Janknitz]

We haven't seen a roll of TP in the wild since the run on them began, and we were too slow. I was starting to get worried but my daughter sent us a care package of 18 rolls (she's actually come home and I told her she had to bring her own TP! ).

Since we mostly buy fresh veggies and meats, it hasn't been too difficult to find food (farm stands and farmer's markets are open here, thank goodness!) and grocery shelves tend to be more empty than meat and produce. Since we are old, many of the stores around are letting seniors shop first thing in the morning so that's helping a bit.

The worst impact in our house is on my kids. College freshman daughter is losing out on her independence and her on-campus job, medical school daughter's 3rd year clinical rotations have been put on hold. I'm sad for them.

[zorki1c]

We usually have our granddaughters come over from Hawaii for a month during the summer. Looks like it might not happen this year.We live in a great older neighborhood where everybody looks out for everybody. That’s nice of a time like this

[palerider]

We haven't seen a roll of TP in the wild since the run on them began, and we were too slow.

I was in Costco this morning for something else, saw they had a shipment of TP, remembered a friend said they were running low, so I got them one of the 'ought to have a tralier hitch' sizes of Charmin.. dropped that off at their house on the way home. I at first was going to stick it in the front seat, but figured hiding it in the trunk would be safer while I was in the clinic for several hours.

[Midwest_non_sleeper]

People make fun of the other people stockpiling TP, and they should to some extent, but everyone needs it. The bigger idea, besides the fact of needing it to clean your backside with, is the idea that you don't have to actually go anywhere and interact with anyone. A successful isolation period during a pandemic means than you shouldn't need to get out for any reason. People that have 300 rolls of TP, but no food...well, good luck to them. Assuming worst case scenario, that means:

Food (I keep 3 months on hand, but maybe I'm weird)
Water (also a good bit, but water services will likely outlast electricity)
Cleaning supplies (gloves, masks, cleaning or disinfecting solutions)
Medications (both prescribed and OTC)
Laundry stuff
Some form of power (after electricity goes out)
Fuel (for vehicle in case you absolutely have to leave a dangerous situation, and for generator, see above)
Things to decrease boredom (boardgames, books, etc)
A thick recipe book (because you may be able to make tasty dishes with what you have on hand)
Tools of my trade: firearms (not absolutely necessary depending on situation, but VERY necessary for me)

Those are the basics, you can easily go down the prepper rabbit hole though.

On a side note, because I saw someone ask, if you don't have any isopropyl alcohol (70% is best for viruses because it doesn't evaporate so quickly), then hydrogen peroxide will work, as it also deactivates the virus - in fact, hydrogen peroxide may be better than alcohol at sterilization, as it is a much better bactericidal than alcohol. Hydrogen peroxide, at a proper mixture >6%, it is a very good chemical sterilant. It is active against a wide range of microorganisms, including viruses, bacteria, spore and fungi. However, many store bought bottles are mixed at a 3% solution, so less effective.

By the way, I'm quarantined because I've been exposed. I'm not too concerned. Won't be the last time, considering my job. Might even be a bimonthly thing.

[palerider]

People make fun of the other people stockpiling TP, and they should to some extent, but everyone needs it. The bigger idea, besides the fact of needing it to clean your backside with, is the idea that you don't have to actually go anywhere and interact with anyone. A successful isolation period during a pandemic means than you shouldn't need to get out for any reason. People that have 300 rolls of TP, but no food...well, good luck to them.

A friend in Sweden sent me this.. (I have no idea where it came from)
https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/ ... 3568_n.jpg

Hydrogen peroxide, at a proper mixture >6%, it is a very good chemical sterilant. It is active against a wide range of microorganisms, including viruses, bacteria, spore and fungi. However, many store bought bottles are mixed at a 3% solution, so less effective.

I hesitate to mention this, but high %age hydrogen peroxide can be bought in the beauty supplies section... it's used for "bleaching" hair. You could dilute it down.

[babydinosnoreless]

People make fun of the other people stockpiling TP, and they should to some extent, but everyone needs it. The bigger idea, besides the fact of needing it to clean your backside with, is the idea that you don't have to actually go anywhere and interact with anyone. A successful isolation period during a pandemic means than you shouldn't need to get out for any reason. People that have 300 rolls of TP, but no food...well, good luck to them.

A friend in Sweden sent me this.. (I have no idea where it came from)
https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/ ... 3568_n.jpg

Hydrogen peroxide, at a proper mixture >6%, it is a very good chemical sterilant. It is active against a wide range of microorganisms, including viruses, bacteria, spore and fungi. However, many store bought bottles are mixed at a 3% solution, so less effective.

I hesitate to mention this, but high %age hydrogen peroxide can be bought in the beauty supplies section... it's used for "bleaching" hair. You could dilute it down.

Think I have some of that and now that you mention it I have a box of gloves too (for coloring my hair).

[Janknitz]

People make fun of the other people stockpiling TP, and they should to some extent, but everyone needs it. The bigger idea, besides the fact of needing it to clean your backside with, is the idea that you don't have to actually go anywhere and interact with anyone. A successful isolation period during a pandemic means than you shouldn't need to get out for any reason. People that have 300 rolls of TP, but no food...well, good luck to them.

That's difficult for us because we don't eat a lot of packaged foods. We eat meat, fish, dairy, eggs, and veggies, primarily, and husband eats grains and bread. We cook mostly from scratch. So except for the grains, most of it is not shelf stable, and we only have a small freezer. Even then, our small freezer was nicely stocked last fall when our electricity was turned off for days at a time because of Northern California wildfire danger, and we lost a lot of food. We have been leery about stocking the freezer so much anymore, and wildfire season is expected to start much earlier this year.

[chunkyfrog]

A while back I bought several BIG cans of freeze-dried mushrooms,
Because I was sick of paying too much for half-rotten "fresh" mushrooms.
Freeze-dried food can be expensive, but it is very shelf-stable.

[Pugsy]

I've now got enough alcohol to last me for a long, long, long time depending on what I do with it and mainly that's prep my nose for my Bleep adhesive right now.

Got a gallon of it from the local feed store. Stout stuff...for animals supposedly but it will work just fine for what I need....99%.

[chunkyfrog]

What distresses me is how many times we have had to return to stores for essentials
because there were no limits for so long; and what we needed was GONE.
Excessive stockpiling by some has no doubt forced others to expose themselves
and even more people to contagion unnecessarily.
I applaud Costco for refusing to accept returns of high demand items.
If hoarders can afford more than they need--they can afford to DONATE the excess.
They can count it on their taxes.

[palerider]

I applaud Costco for refusing to accept returns of high demand items.

They what? That's great!

[zonker]

we're looking pretty good here as far as supplies go. we could "easily" stay in place for three weeks. meals would get monotonous but they would be nutritious. i'm not a tp hoarder. just getting what we need along the same lines as we usually would.

out first born spotted last fall somewhere a table of 4 oz Purell hand sanitizer for forty cents a bottle! as she was raised right she bought close to fifty bottles. she was nervous sending some to us because she was afraid it would get stolen. nope, the three bottles made it.

the bad news is-

https://www.goskagit.com/news/skagit-co ... 3adc9.html

the town of mount vernon is about thirty miles south of where we are right now. this is both scary and "i kinda expected it" news. we are a part of the north bound I-5 corridor from seattle up to canada.

i'm also expecting gov inslee to call for statewide shelter in place soon. the state seems to be getting prepared for that. and california going that way will affect our thinking in that regard.

oh boy....

[Mr. Snorestoomuch]

I've got a lame pantry. Lots of shelf stable stuff that we regularly use over time and I don't want to be bothered with worrying about when I'm shopping (You feel like making chili? All we need is the meat). I walked one of the kids down there to show him that worst case, we won't starve- he and his sister will just have to get a lot less picky, is all. And I'm perfectly okay with that.

And the pantry is already well stocked with TP and paper towels. If I know there's room on the shelf and there happens to be room in the cart, I pick one up. It's not prepping, it's just one less thing to think about in my daily life. It's amazing how untreated sleep apnea makes you build habits like that.

I'm just glad I managed to get my new-to-me CPAP last Sunday. It was a CL fail and win all at once. I emailed one good one, asking if it was still available. He responded "Yup". I emailed asking when and where we could meet, then hit the road (it was about 80 miles). I got into town, grabbed lunch, and waited. Then checked CL again, considering my new location. I got two responses around the time the first guy replied that he didn't want to meet "because of the Covid-19 thing", but he would hold it for me until it all blows over. I bought one of the other ones 15 minutes later and came home.

Seriously, guy. I'm shopping for a used CPAP. How long do you think I can afford to wait? I (politely) replied not to hold it, that I'd look elsewhere.

[Pugsy]

I walked one of the kids down there to show him that worst case, we won't starve- he and his sister will just have to get a lot less picky, is all. And I'm perfectly okay with that.

I told hubby the same thing I have told him over the past months when he looks in the fridge or the pantry..."there's nothing in here to eat" and I told him that there indeed was stuff in there to eat it just might not be what he wants to eat.
Then I usually add in a not so nice tidbit about "we could both live off our fat deposits for a few days and it won't hurt us"
He got that speech long before this COVID thing hit us.
Thankfully we are past the age of having children at home that we need to please.

We won't starve. We might not have what we want right at that minute but we won't starve by a long shot.

We as a society have been spoiled for a long time. Now we are seeing just how bad we have been spoiled. It's a rather rude awakening to realize that other countries in other parts of the world have long had to deal with this sort of thing on a routine basis.

People need to start counting what they do have instead of what they don't have......and what we do have still far outnumbers what we don't have.