Weird things you never thought would be scarce due to pandemic

[IThinkImTurningJapanese]

Apparently, Phoenix Rising posts are giving news outlets topics to write about. (Just kidding). This article was published today about all the missing “yeast”.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/foodanddr...l-the-yeast-is-sold-out-right-now/ar-BB11LnAn

Thank you for that, I'm gonna have to start a sourdough culture.

Those boxes at the bottom indicate that they're "Sold Out".

 

[Sarahloudobby]

You could consider this an opportunity to enjoy ignoring your appearance. Alternatively, it's an opportunity to experiment with appearance, knowing that no one will see your mistakes.

Exactly why I have ordered an exceptionally bright red one if not now, when

 

[Wishful]

Don't know of ANYONE who makes their own bread.

I think many of the food items cleared out were bought by people who never had used or eaten them before, but who panic and buy it before it's too late! Some people were probably expecting empty stores for months or years, and maybe bands of bandits roaming around. Too many 'end of civilization' movies.

I wonder if the web sites for 'how to bake bread' and other such tasks have gotten a lot more hits lately.

I'm expecting that when I do go back into town again, the shelves will be more or less stocked again.

 

[Wally]

I wonder if the web sites for 'how to bake bread' and other such tasks have gotten a lot more hits lately

I believe that bread making, dog walking and long visits to the bathroom to hide from others have become three of the top global past times since the arrival of the novel coronavirus and this could account for the the missing yeast, leashes and toilet paper for purchase in stores and online.

 

[ellie84]

Missing yeast has been covered in the Italian media a long time ago. There are also campaigns to encourage people to cook at home, media post recipes, famous chefs post video tutorials etc. Many people eat pizza once a week, now that pizzerias are closed they started baking pizza at home. Almost no one used to do it at home anymore.
I read that since yeast has to be cultivated it may take some time before we see it on the market again.

 

[Zebra]

I believe that bread making, dog walking and long visits to the bathroom to hide from others have become three of the top global past times since the arrival of the novel coronavirus

@Wally, love, love, love your clever response! Thank you for the much needed belly laugh!

 

[Wally]

But where did all the dog leashes go? Did a of lot dogs just start to be walked on a leash where before they would walk leash free or were they just confined to their home and yard? Or maybe there really has been an upsurge in dogs being rescued from the pound either permanently or on a temporary fostering adventure.

https://www.npr.org/2020/03/29/8229...ined-to-home-by-coronavirus-outbreak-to-adopt

Animal Shelters Urge Humans Confined To Home By Coronavirus Outbreak To Adopt

Animal shelters across the country have had to close their doors as part of the effort to slow the spread of the coronavirus. Fearing the arrival of new litters and abandoned animals with no one to adopt them, they are racing to empty kennels before they are forced to resort to euthanasia.

Many of these shelters have moved into crisis mode.Using social media, they've made pleas to their communities to foster pets until the pandemic is over.

Some are live-streaming adoptable animals. Skype meet-and-greets are growing in popularity. There are even drive-through pickups for foster families where staff bring out a pet, give the family a bag of food and then away they go.

Shelters are still caring for animals even though most have closed their doors to the public, . . . But as they lay off staff, much of the work — cleaning, feeding and walking — is falling to skeleton crews. Meanwhile, adoption events and fundraisers — the life blood of these non-profits — have been cancelled.

It couldn't have come at a worse time. . .

For others a new pet offers offers a way to help ease the isolation that comes with orders to shelter in place. Animals provide company and comfort during times of uncertainty. And being forced to stay home is not only optimal for house training, but it gives humans and their new animals plenty of time to bond. . . .

 

[Revel]

You may be onto something there @Wally, as one of the items I have found hard to come by in recent weeks is dog poop bags!

The other item is Rich Tea biscuits for my Mum. Honestly, with all the yummy biscuits and cookies available, who turns to Rich Tea in a crisis? They can barely redeem themselves with a coating of chocolate, but the original plain variety? Just. No.

 

[Mouse girl]

I do the walking and bathroom trips to hide from family members. lol Once again, makes me sooooooo, sooooooo glad I never got married.

I was talking to the woman in Florida about the dog leashes and we thought, perhaps it was parents of young children getting leashes so that if they have to go out or go for walks with young ones, they want to make sure the little ones don't run up close to others? Maybe they just aren't restocking because they are just concentrating on restocking the things that are flying off the shelves, like pet food and cat litter and treats etc. Or perhaps people have just bought up everything they can get their little paws on. I do feel that panic when I see that oh no, I gave away so much stuff in the last couple of years and now, I might need that stuff as the months or even beyond this goes on.

 

[Lieselotte]

I think the yeast has something to do with people just passing the time, finding a new hobby, a new project. "I'll finally have time to make that banana bread!"

A few able-bodied friends and family have said they can't find any weights (for working out) online or wherever they are looking for them. Also, another friend said that he was looking for a drill and he can't find one! So much for that woodworking hobby.

Oh, and a coworker said elastic (for making DIY face masks) is back-ordered. Strange times!

 

[Wally]

@Mouse girl -

I was talking to the woman in Florida about the dog leashes and we thought, perhaps it was parents of young children getting leashes so that if they have to go out or go for walks with young ones, they want to make sure the little ones don't run up close to others?

Love this theory for the reason dog leashes may be in short supply.

When my son was about two years old, we tried out the stretchy child harness style leashes because he was so lightening fast slipping out of our hands and then running through a crowd, We were terrified of losing sight of him and unfortunately did on several occasions. (I know many people are horrified that parents use these accessories, but perhaps they have not experienced trying to hold onto a two year old Houdini, who possesses the speed of a Cheetah, in a crowded, wide open location. Maybe retractable dog leashes were invented by one of those parents?

P.S. Our son gave up his Cheetah like running skills at age 13 when he decided that the sport of Track and Field was not fun because he got too hot from this activity. I thought he had just developed teen-ages laziness until he joined the water polo and swim teams, never having done either sport before. Guess he found a way to turn his cheetah skills into dolphin skills and he never had to get too hot speeding about while surrounded by cold water. I would have liked to have been able to use the leash on him through his teenage years, but it only lasted as a parenting accessory for a couple of outings before the look of disdain from more experienced parents made us ashamed of our parenting shortcomings.

 

[Strawberry]

before the look of disdain from more experienced parents made us ashamed of our parenting shortcomings.

My daughter used to LOVE her leash! I got "THE LOOK" also, but when my daughter enjoyed it so much I just ignored the looks. We used to go to gem shows a lot, and I could be talking to a vendor while my daughter would look in all their trays (she knew better than to touch).

One vendor I talked to became so enamored with my daughter as she was the same age as her 2 year old son she had to leave home in Poland with Grandma, that when I was done talking to her, she actually asked if she could babysit my daughter for a bit as she was so well behaved and this lady was so love sick for her son. I agreed and left them together for about 15-20 minutes. When I came back, she gave my daughter a piece of amber (they were Baltic amber vendors), and she felt a little better with her mommy time.

End of story, 23 years later, my daughter is 25 and a geologist. That lady would be so proud if she only knew. Maybe I will see if I can find her business card (I always kept cards with my purchases) and let her know!

Leashes are amazing, and those parents that give the knowing look should keep to themselves. My daughter to this day remembers having 6 feet of freedom at shows. She absolutely LOVED that thing.

 

[Wishful]

Oh, and a coworker said elastic (for making DIY face masks) is back-ordered. Strange times!

JIT: Just In Time manufacturing. With our interconnected world, lots of businesses no longer have inventory: feedstock comes in and finished goods go out. Disruptions are messy. The government is probably going to have to step in to deal with all the contractual issues. Otherwise the lawyers are going to own all the world's money.

 

[Wally]

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/funniest-things-left-grocery-store-shelves_l_5e850aacc5b692780506f6e7

Stroll the aisles of your local grocery store right now and you’re bound to get frustrated by all the things that aren’t in stock: Eggs? Good luck. Bread? Eh, maybe, though even then, it might only be something like Hawaiian sweet rolls. Pre-packaged romaine lettuce? You better grab the last one before it goes, my friend. . . .our readers share the funniest things they’ve seen left on the shelves of their local markets. . . .

 

[Wally]

https://www.getthegloss.com/article/the-best-banana-bread-recipes

BANANA BREAD IS EVERYWHERE ON INSTAGRAM. HERE ARE OUR FAVOURITE RECIPES

If you've been on Instagram lately (of course you have, what else is there to do in lockdown?), you might have noticed your feed is awash with banana bread recipes. Why? Probably something to do with us all having unprecedented (I've heard this word constantly on the news and now it's made its way into my vocab) free time. Or maybe because the bananas we bulk bought are now overripe. Either way, we're not the only ones who've noticed the bounty of banana breads online. . . .

Just don’t go looking for yeast for all those bananas just waiting in your freezer to bake the d@#n banana bread!

and

https://amp.independent.ie/life/foo...the-it-coronavirus-comfort-dish-39099685.html

The greatest banana bread of them all? Our food writers' recipes for the 'it' coronavirus comfort dish

It's become the ultimate coronavirus comfort food, here our top food writers give their ultimate banana bread recipes...

 

[Zebra]

Hey, Everyone!

I wanted to share something from my personal life on this thread for the sole purpose of giving folks a laugh.

Yesterday was my birthday, which I spent in self isolation. However, my dear sweet sister left a birthday gift on my front doorstep for me, because, well, she's the best!

It was round.
It was soft.
It had a hole in the middle.
It's now commonly referred to as "white gold."
....

It was a roll of toilet paper!

 

[IThinkImTurningJapanese]

Flour mills under pressure as new home bakers take to ‘COVID baking’ for comfort

Across the country, and around the world, people are baking. Stress baking, comfort baking, "COVID baking” – whatever you call or hashtag it, social distancing and self-isolation are inspiring batches of homemade cookies and muffins, breads and sourdough starters. And there are likely more cinnamon buns in the oven right now than on Easter and Christmas morning combined.

“I pulled out my husband’s Italian grandmother’s recipe for dinner buns the very first day we stayed home,” said Erica O’Donnell, a digital strategist in Calgary. “I guess there was something comforting in the thought of channelling her pioneering resilience.”

“People are hoarding flour because they think we’re going to run out, but we have no evidence of that,” Steve said. “If there was even a hint of a shortage for Canadian consumers, we’d divert supplies to the Canadian market. The reality is we produce so much wheat, there would have to be a catastrophe for us to not have enough to supply the mills.”

I'm prepared, and with only minimal stress on the Canadian supply.

 

[andyguitar]

Yesterday was my birthday, which I spent in self isolation.

Happy birthday!

 

[Hufsamor]

couldn't find a dog leash anywhere.

I read an article from one of the towns where people only was allowed to leave their apartment to walk their pet.
It was said people got desperate and walked teddybears and stuffed animals and pigs ( if you where lucky enough to have a pig to walk)
It was a photo with a well grown man with a dog leash and a stuffed dog, walking the empty streets.
I can't find that photo again, so I'll use this photo as an illustration

 

[Hufsamor]

....or a sheep