The Great Beer Virus War, Idaho Front:
Your intrepid reporter informing you from the Idaho Front. 17MAR20, 16:59 Zulu:
Costco: Got there at 0950 local, turned around, drove back home. While the parking lot was only 90% full, there were at least 200 people lined up to get in. I hadn't planned on buying any "popular panic supplies (PPS)" other than potatoes and some meat (but was going to go high end on the meat, which seems to remain stocked). I was hoping to get some more frozen meals from them as they usually have better quality than the "Acme" frozen stuff at the grocery store. I'm kinda wondering if the thing to do with Costco is to hit it mid-afternoon, after they've sold out of the PPS. Maybe less crowded, and they'll still have what I want. I'm going to Boise in the next day or two, so might time it to be driving by Costco on the way home around 1400 or so.
Smalltown USA Dollar Store: I usually don't stop here, but the Mrs Dash salt-free seasoning I like for my eggs is $40 on Amazon right now, and the Mrs Dash website said the Dollar store carried it. I got the last one, $3. Surprisingly though, they had a decent stock of what I would consider "emergency food". Well-stocked on canned stuff, cereals, even pasta. Maybe people don't think of them for food? Low inventory to sold out of the paper products, cleaning supplies, soaps.
Smalltown USA grocery store: Today was the first day I saw bare shelves at my store. From the beginning of my route to the end (note that EVERY product in the store for the first time had a limit of either 1 or 2): Lots of donuts. Plenty of onions. Zero potatoes. Almost all the fresh veggies were gone with the exception of asparagus. Small town, so I expect price to factor on that. I bought some since it's what I usually buy. Lots of chips. Lots of frozen pizzas, etc. Lots of cereal. Pretty bare in the disinfectant/soap/TP sections. Plenty of yogurt, half and half, and buttermilk, but zero regular milk of any kind. A few containers of almond and other hippie milk, but they always only have a few of those. Plenty of butter. I usually buy Kerrygold at Costco and I was out, so I settled for some Tillamook here. Bread shelves were empty, but the bread truck (regional bakery) had just rolled in and was filling them. Lots of lunch meat, and surprisingly, still a decent selection of regular cow meat in various cuts. Chicken was wiped out.
At the counter, I asked the checker about the potatoes and the milk. She told me the potatoes were just bought out this morning like every morning the past few days, but with the milk, their supplier canceled delivery as they had no product to deliver. Again, maybe the smaller mom and pops are getting screwed so the big guys with the money can get theirs?
With the milk, this will be my first dip into my emergency supplies. I'm out, so will be using the carnation instant milk. I have plenty of that for drinking or having with cereal, and a case of evaporated milk to use for cooking and stuff. I'm almost out of potatoes, so that was poor planning on my part. I'm still going to look for some before I break open my Auguson Farms tin of potatoes.
Oh, edit: My store was out of eggs too. More poor planning on my part. I still have a dozen and a half, and lots of powdered egg, but I've put off getting chickens. Had I gotten them last year, I'd be sitting pretty for eggs. I'm getting the coup (a nice one the previous owners left) in order in the next week or so and getting chicks.