Now the Food Network, that is porn ?.
My daughter loves cooking creatively because of the Food Network. And she plates beautiful food dishes as well. She also made me awesome avocado toast this week. A lemon is her best friend...
? ?
@coyote. Actually, I was quite amused by your comments about HGTV. Now mind you, I’ve watched my share of HGTV, but my new obsession is the BBC series “Escape to the Country” on YouTube. The differences between American consumerism and English culture is quite apparent. Instead of the American drive to update every inch of their homes with the latest trends, the Brits value the history of their homes and quirks abound. The Brits are always polite. Plus there are about twenty seasons available to stream. Thanks to “Escape to the Country,” I’m well acquainted with the kitchen diner, inglenooks, chocolate box houses, historic home grades, English gardens, double aspect rooms, semi-attached houses and barn conversions. I’ve even seen a home built into an ancient piggery. “Escape to the Country” is my happy place when I need to escape American reality.
@coyote I enjoy watching HGTV too ... for inspiration and ideas...and public televisions This Old House ... not every show.. but some like Hometown with Ben and Erin ... saving and renovating older historic homes and making them viable choices... innovative ways to deal with preserving and renewing and bringing functionality back. I used to pore over and dream over the Sears Christmas catalog as a child too LOL Reality is a far cry from dreams - but its fun to dream...and .. get inspiration for oneself to create in ones own dwelling..using materials you have on hand. Many new industries are springing up over plastics recycling and more.. as we learning to recycle-repurpose-renew.
@bluebelle I think I would like that show,"Escape to the Country". I'll have to look for it. I, too, value "weirdness" in a house.
Update on the chip shortage, Intel says it could last YEARS.
I can't tell if it is a lack of product or a lack of personnel but while on vacation in Colorado I sure have notice empty shelves in grocery stores and at 2 different pharmacies. One was a Walgreens and the other an independent. Both had huge sections lacking inventory. I also couldn't find everything I was searching for so I am wondering what will be happening in the near future.
hmmm. Can't say I was looking for the products but this might explain some of the empty shelves I saw. Some, not half or all.
@lovendures Thank you for sharing that experience. Phew that it wasn't a global shortage, and I am so glad to have learned about the miserable working conditions of the employees that led to a strike. I don't see why anyone should have to endure that. I hope it improves for them and for all workers.
@bluebelle If you enjoy Escape to the Country you might also enjoy Location Location Location with Phil and Kirsty. Its been going on for years and they help people buy houses in England. Again it is all about beams, the snug etc. The small size of English homes compared to Australia and America is very striking. Character above everything. I am rather taken with the series The Great Pottery Throwdown also.
@matildagirl We watched another episode of “Escape to the Country” last evening. What a delight that is to visit our happy place. I will look for Location Location Location and see if it’s streaming in the US. Thanks for the tip!
Some new BIG shortages are on the near horizon.
Plan ahead now while you are able to plan.
Additionally there are continued major shipping delays on the West coast. Major.
If you need back to school supplies, get them now. Developing nations which make many products are shutting down again because of covid surges.
Also, many popular toys are expected to sell out and not be available for the holiday season.
If you need back to school supplies including backpacks and lunch boxes, get them now. If you can, think ahead to the holiday season for what your needs are also. Product including clothes might not be there when you want it.
Chronic shipping delays also are feeding inflation, just as consumers prepare to stock up for the coming school year. Spot shortages of clothing and footwear could appear within weeks, and popular toys may be scarce during the holiday season. Even as the U.S. economy is slated to enjoy its fastest growth since 1984, supply lines now are expected to remain snarled through the first half of next year or longer, according to corporate executives.
Also, prices are increasing. One CFO said shipping(container) had this to say about shipping costs.
(we were) paying $24,000 to ship containers from Asia that cost roughly $2,000 before the pandemic.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2021/07/27/supply-chains-freight-rail-ports/
@lovendures I wonder if these shortages--- which, let's face it, are mostly First-World problems--- are not meant to show people they can do without.
And a tip about back-to-school supplies: Estate sales can be great sources of office supplies. I've gotten reams of paper, unused packs of pens and pencils, staples, post-it notes, binders, spiral notebooks... and more from estate sales. While most customers are up front looking at the fancy furniture and crystal, I make a beeline to the back rooms where people keep their office stuff. The estate needs to get rid of mundane items as much as it needs to get rid of the jewelry and art, so I help them out.
Estate sales are better than yard sales for this because you can mine entire home offices for what you need. (I also search laundry rooms and garages for cleaning supplies and other consumables but only buy if I know I will actually use the stuff. And I don't care if it's half-used--- half a bottle of dishwashing liquid for 10 or 20 cents is a good deal.)
I have never actually shopped an estate sale and love the fact you make a point of shopping for the mundane. Great use of time and money!
I am sure we are being shown to use less, conserve and get our priorities straight. Figure out what is important.
Covid related toilet paper shortage again?
Well... yes, in some places. I seriously hope we're not going to be doing this again.
@lovendures our septic once backed up at the cottage we’d spend the summer at and after getting it replaced we spent the summer not using toilet paper (because my dad thought that was the solution - never mind he never had the darn thing pumped). Rags. Buckets of bleach water. Extra laundry loads. If it comes to it I know what to do.
But some people (these hoarders) would never survive an apocalypse and it shows ?
The Everything Shortage!
They are now calling it the "Everything Shortage" because there is a shortage on everything .
The following article from The Atlantic Journal is a very good read on our current shortage situation. It explains why the shortages are occurring, where they are occurring ( hint, see the title of this message) and what to expect in the future ( again ,see title of this message).
Like the author, I find myself needing to shop multiple places to locate items I am searching for now. My Walgreens is down to 5 days a week with an open pharmacy due to a lack of pharmacists. 2 weeks ago the entire pharmacy was closed for about 10 days because of a broken air conditioner. No parts available to fix it and it was too hot for the prescriptions and workers.
I rarely go down a grocery aisle without seeing empty shelves or full shelves with a whole lot of the same product taking up space.
Toy manufactures were telling everyone to make their toy purchases this summer as there will be empty shelves come the Christmas season.
I am aware that some people are so concerned about whether there will be meat readily available this holiday season, they are buying it now and freezing it, just in case.
I have found myself adjusting to shortages in the following ways:
I'm no longer expecting the product I actually desire to be available in the store I am shopping in. Instead I am hopeful it will be available. It is available more often than not at this point which is helpful.
I am buying multiple staple items I desire when I see things are on sale, at a good price point or simply available, because I have no idea how expensive or scarce the item will become. I am not doing major stock piling or hoarding, just buying extra for back up. I never take the last of any item, unless it is the only item.
Everything is getting much more expensive, I actually haven't adjusted to that yet. I am still shocked at times at how much prices have risen.
I am developing a "willow tree" mindset and have noticed I am doing a lot of bending. I understand I must keep the willow mindset because there's more bending to come and breaking will do no good.
So, overall I am shifting expectations and trying to be grateful when I find things I am searching for, especially if they are at a fair price. Gratitude is going to carry me through this upcoming season better than anything else. I choose gratitude.
So, what is everyone else noticing in their local stores right now? Perhaps you aren't experiencing a supply chain problem. I would love to know what it is like in your neighborhood.
@lovendures It's the same for me too...I've been going to multiple stores to find what I used to be able to get at Publix or Aldi. I almost feel a panic feeling when I go grocery shopping and see so much emptiness on the shelves....but I tell myself there's "still enough" and like you I concentrate on gratitude for what I can find. I'm not hoarding either...except for coffee....I don't think I'm completely human without coffee. ?
I just went to Aldi for the first time last month and have been 3 times since. The store is less than a year old and 8 minutes from my house. I really enjoyed my visits though I did notice some empty shelves for sure. They don't have everything I would need but they have some good deals on certain things I appreciated finding. They also had sliced gouda cheese in a package. Who knew that was a thing? That was a surprising find.
I am not a coffee drinker but if I were, I would likely want to stock pile that, just in case. I am a tea drinker and a month ago my Sprouts randomly put a variety of different tea boxes on clearance for 99 cents each. That was a great find.
As you said, there is "still enough", but things have changed.
One of my company's clients is a major grocery chain, and when I go into any of their stores to service them, like @lovendures and @pegesus, I have noticed a lot more empty shelving. Not row upon row or entire aisles, but definitely empty spaces. Where there are products, most of them no longer have full shelves, but are only a few items deep and wide with plenty of space behind and beside what's there. I'll admit it's a bit shocking for me to see, but it appears that it's becoming more commonplace.
As for less expensive stores, my mom has taken to "shopping adventures" of late; she goes to three different dollar stores, two Grocery Outlet stores, Big Lots, and various other discount stores just to see what she can find. She always comes home with massive bargains on things we use regularly in addition to a few to several interesting and different (and usually pretty good!) food items that we would never otherwise have come across.
So, what is everyone else noticing in their local stores right now? Perhaps you aren't experiencing a supply chain problem. I would love to know what it is like in your neighborhood.
I haven't noticed much. There were some delays in getting parts for a generator we were having repaired in case of hurricanes, that's about it lately. Last year, shortages and delays were more noticeable.
I actually think it is good for people to learn to live with less. Most of the rest of the world does so every day and depletes natural resources much less than we do in the massive over-consuming "first world".