Is anyone else seeing more bare spots on grocery store shelves? I feel like this is ramping up again, and within the past week I've seen a FB friend in CO post about it as well, so I don't think it's just me.
No. All the workers in the Safeways near me are masked again, though. Also, some random drink things are missing dyes. One was a refresher I got from sbux.
Is anyone else seeing more bare spots on grocery store shelves? I feel like this is ramping up again, and within the past week I've seen a FB friend in CO post about it as well, so I don't think it's just me.
It's not the same things it was last year, like paper/cleaning products and meat. It seems really random, like the one that stuck with me from this past weekend is sparkling water even though there were several other items that I can't recall now. I thought it might be staffing/stocking issues rather than not having the actual product, but I've been back to the store a couple of times and it does seem like they just don't have the things that would normally fill those spots on the shelves.
I'm going to guess it's supply chain issues, rather than people hoarding like they were last year. I know a lot of restaurants have been limiting their menus because they can't reliably get certain ingredients right now.
90% of people in stores around me (customers and employees) are masked again, even though my area has a high vaccination rate. Don't get me wrong: I'm happy people want to protect the community, but I'm sad that we're not where I thought we'd be by summer's end and in fact heading the wrong direction.
Post by StrawberryBlondie on Aug 10, 2021 9:25:38 GMT -5
Rumor is my work is thinking about sending everyone home again for a while. This doesn't currently affect me since I'm home til after Labor Day anyway, but it seems like this would be a good decision.
Is anyone else seeing more bare spots on grocery store shelves? I feel like this is ramping up again, and within the past week I've seen a FB friend in CO post about it as well, so I don't think it's just me.
No. All the workers in the Safeways near me are masked again, though. Also, some random drink things are missing dyes. One was a refresher I got from sbux.
That reminds me, I was at the local Starbucks last week and they had an enormous list posted of all the things they were out of. Apparently they are having big supply chain issues nationally.
Post by SusanBAnthony on Aug 10, 2021 9:34:26 GMT -5
I can't speak to food specific stuff but supply chains in general remain a hot mess so I believe it.
It's all kinds of random stuff. For example, you can't get some certain kind of plastic resin, so the package you usually put food in just isn't available. Your machinery is designed to use a certain type of package so you can't just buy whatever on the open market, you need a size/shape that works with your processing equipment. You may literally not be able to get it at all, or you may pay 5-10x. For close margin industries, they may opt to just not make something rather than take a loss.
We had to attest to vaccination status this morning. So they aren’t asking for proof (fed agency), just attestation.
On the restaurant worker/food shortage thing… while I have seen and heard enough to know the food shortage does exist, due to supply chain issues. The worker shortage, IMHO, is a reaction to both wages and treatment. And then it becomes a vicious circle. Service quality goes down, entitled Americans get angry and ramp up their terrible treatment of service people. Who would blame them for not wanting to stay in that industry. I bet there are many who are at the “you can’t pay me enough to do that again.”
I’m on a really weird historical fiction kick, WWII and communism stories. And, it just gets me thinking more about how we don’t realize how good we have it. My friend complains his kids don’t appreciate what they have. And I get both sides there, He has given his kids a lot, and they have never know food shortages, rationing, foraging by nessecity. He grew up under communism, so going to a fully stocked store strikes him as something to appreciate. US people have never really had to deal with not being able to get what they want when they want it (since the depression, and not many of those left). And it’s hard to “appreciate” what you have never not had.
I can't speak to food specific stuff but supply chains in general remain a hot mess so I believe it.
It's all kinds of random stuff. For example, you can't get some certain kind of plastic resin, so the package you usually put food in just isn't available. Your machinery is designed to use a certain type of package so you can't just buy whatever on the open market, you need a size/shape that works with your processing equipment. You may literally not be able to get it at all, or you may pay 5-10x. For close margin industries, they may opt to just not make something rather than take a loss.
Yeah, there is a computer chip shortage so some of our locations can't get the computer upgrades they need. It's always parts, not necessarily the whole item. But, can't make a whole item without its parts!
I’ve noticed supply issues. We did good burger takeout last week and they were out of American cheese, chicken, and onion rings, so we got a call to modify 66% of our order. I still do grocery pickup and have random stuff OOS every time—if I can even add it to the list. This week’s “no real acceptable substitute” items were corn dogs and impossible burgers. Last week’s were full-sheet paper towels and buttermilk. (Both of those are common OOS items for us. Luckily, we go through under 12 rolls of paper towels a year—just checked my receipts—and that should drop now that the grandmas aren’t staying with us in the pod. They love paper towels. I’ve trained the kids on using rags. Buttermilk is an issue, but I can fake it for cooking if needed and save what I can for the 6 yo to drink).
I’ve noticed supply issues. We did good burger takeout last week and they were out of American cheese, chicken, and onion rings, so we got a call to modify 66% of our order. I still do grocery pickup and have random stuff OOS every time—if I can even add it to the list. This week’s “no real acceptable substitute” items were corn dogs and impossible burgers. Last week’s were full-sheet paper towels and buttermilk. (Both of those are common OOS items for us. Luckily, we go through under 12 rolls of paper towels a year—just checked my receipts—and that should drop now that the grandmas aren’t staying with us in the pod. They love paper towels. I’ve trained the kids on using rags. Buttermilk is an issue, but I can fake it for cooking if needed and save what I can for the 6 yo to drink).
Any tips on training the husband? I went through one roll of paper towels when I was by myself for 6 months. He comes back and we are back to sooooo many.
We had to attest to vaccination status this morning. So they aren’t asking for proof (fed agency), just attestation.
No one has asked us yet. I think the issue is how to address those that aren't as they should be sent for testing. I don't think they have a testing site setup yet.
Post by breezy8407 on Aug 10, 2021 10:21:54 GMT -5
Building materials continue to be an issue. At one point a certain type of insulation we need was 20 weeks out. I always get asked to approve alternates, but sometimes we can't due to building codes/UL approved tested products. It has to be that one particular material. The line I use often is "sorry, we can't design our way out of this."
Building materials continue to be an issue. At one point a certain type of insulation we need was 20 weeks out. I always get asked to approve alternates, but sometimes we can't due to building codes/UL approved tested products. It has to be that one particular material. The line I use often is "sorry, we can't design our way out of this."
We had to attest to vaccination status this morning. So they aren’t asking for proof (fed agency), just attestation.
No one has asked us yet. I think the issue is how to address those that aren't as they should be sent for testing. I don't think they have a testing site setup yet.
Hmmm. I think we are trying to figure out how many we have to have a testing program for, under the hope that we don’t need a testing program (small agency)
jennyparnassus, rubytue, my SO owns a restaurant in a major metropolitan area and the staffing shortage is real. He pays well over market, is willing to offer whatever kind of flexible schedules people need, and will take someone with zero experience and train them, and he still can't even get people to apply. If someone does apply, it's 50/50 on them showing up. If they get through the interview and he wants them to start, it's then again 50/50 on if they show up. Honestly, probably even less than 50/50. It's really, really tough for him as a small business owner and he ends up burning the candle at both ends to make up for the shortages. He's not alone either - we have a lot of industry friends who are seeing all the same things. So I don't begrudge any of the places that have to close for staffing shortages. They deserve a break if they can't find the staff.
Post by Velar Fricative on Aug 10, 2021 11:01:12 GMT -5
It's not a perfect estimation, but I took the top 10 most vaccinated states per the NYT and compared their recent case, hospitalization and death rates per capita to the 10 least vaccinated states. I averaged each state's rate per capita for the final averages of each group.
So for the least vaccinated states, they have per capita:
3.5x more cases 4.5x more hospitalizations 7.5x more deaths
There are some anomalies, I think, that I wonder if immunity from infection does play a role. For example, North Dakota is in the least vaccinated group but their case, hospitalization and death rates are much lower than the rest in that group, and they were hit really badly in the late fall. Among the most vaccinated states, Washington and New Mexico were glaringly higher than the rest and I wonder if that's because they weren't hit too widespread early on (I know WA was the country's first hotspot, but it seemed pretty well-contained after a bit). They were #9 and #10, with New York as #11 (all at 58% fully vaccinated), so New York wasn't included in the calculation but their rates are currently lower than WA and NM. And then there's the case of Florida which is pretty middle of the pack as far as vaccination rates so it wasn't included in either group, but they're the biggest hotspot in the country. Maybe county-level data will be more helpful. So, a lot to chew on but interesting nonetheless.
It's not a perfect estimation, but I took the top 10 most vaccinated states per the NYT and compared their recent case, hospitalization and death rates per capita to the 10 least vaccinated states. I averaged each state's rate per capita for the final averages of each group.
So for the least vaccinated states, they have per capita:
3.5x more cases 4.5x more hospitalizations 7.5x more deaths
There are some anomalies, I think, that I wonder if immunity from infection does play a role. For example, North Dakota is in the least vaccinated group but their case, hospitalization and death rates are much lower than the rest in that group, and they were hit really badly in the late fall. Among the most vaccinated states, Washington and New Mexico were glaringly higher than the rest and I wonder if that's because they weren't hit too widespread early on (I know WA was the country's first hotspot, but it seemed pretty well-contained after a bit). They were #9 and #10, with New York as #11 (all at 58% fully vaccinated), so New York wasn't included in the calculation but their rates are currently lower than WA and NM. And then there's the case of Florida which is pretty middle of the pack as far as vaccination rates so it wasn't included in either group, but they're the biggest hotspot in the country. Maybe county-level data will be more helpful. So, a lot to chew on but interesting nonetheless.
I can’t figure out Florida. Miami-Dade is particularly perplexing. Highly vaccinated but also one of the worst spots in the state. Is there a vaccine resistant variant? High rate of elderly people? All the summer travel? It doesn’t quite make sense.
It's not a perfect estimation, but I took the top 10 most vaccinated states per the NYT and compared their recent case, hospitalization and death rates per capita to the 10 least vaccinated states. I averaged each state's rate per capita for the final averages of each group.
So for the least vaccinated states, they have per capita:
3.5x more cases 4.5x more hospitalizations 7.5x more deaths
There are some anomalies, I think, that I wonder if immunity from infection does play a role. For example, North Dakota is in the least vaccinated group but their case, hospitalization and death rates are much lower than the rest in that group, and they were hit really badly in the late fall. Among the most vaccinated states, Washington and New Mexico were glaringly higher than the rest and I wonder if that's because they weren't hit too widespread early on (I know WA was the country's first hotspot, but it seemed pretty well-contained after a bit). They were #9 and #10, with New York as #11 (all at 58% fully vaccinated), so New York wasn't included in the calculation but their rates are currently lower than WA and NM. And then there's the case of Florida which is pretty middle of the pack as far as vaccination rates so it wasn't included in either group, but they're the biggest hotspot in the country. Maybe county-level data will be more helpful. So, a lot to chew on but interesting nonetheless.
I can’t figure out Florida. Miami-Dade is particularly perplexing. Highly vaccinated but also one of the worst spots in the state. Is there a vaccine resistant variant? High rate of elderly people? All the summer travel? It doesn’t quite make sense.
Is anyone else seeing more bare spots on grocery store shelves? I feel like this is ramping up again, and within the past week I've seen a FB friend in CO post about it as well, so I don't think it's just me.
It's not the same things it was last year, like paper/cleaning products and meat. It seems really random, like the one that stuck with me from this past weekend is sparkling water even though there were several other items that I can't recall now. I thought it might be staffing/stocking issues rather than not having the actual product, but I've been back to the store a couple of times and it does seem like they just don't have the things that would normally fill those spots on the shelves.
Yes - there are definitely supply chain issues more so then people hoarding like last year. H works at a grocery store and said their delivery trucks are coming in with half the product they order (or less).
It's not a perfect estimation, but I took the top 10 most vaccinated states per the NYT and compared their recent case, hospitalization and death rates per capita to the 10 least vaccinated states. I averaged each state's rate per capita for the final averages of each group.
So for the least vaccinated states, they have per capita:
3.5x more cases 4.5x more hospitalizations 7.5x more deaths
There are some anomalies, I think, that I wonder if immunity from infection does play a role. For example, North Dakota is in the least vaccinated group but their case, hospitalization and death rates are much lower than the rest in that group, and they were hit really badly in the late fall. Among the most vaccinated states, Washington and New Mexico were glaringly higher than the rest and I wonder if that's because they weren't hit too widespread early on (I know WA was the country's first hotspot, but it seemed pretty well-contained after a bit). They were #9 and #10, with New York as #11 (all at 58% fully vaccinated), so New York wasn't included in the calculation but their rates are currently lower than WA and NM. And then there's the case of Florida which is pretty middle of the pack as far as vaccination rates so it wasn't included in either group, but they're the biggest hotspot in the country. Maybe county-level data will be more helpful. So, a lot to chew on but interesting nonetheless.
I can’t figure out Florida. Miami-Dade is particularly perplexing. Highly vaccinated but also one of the worst spots in the state. Is there a vaccine resistant variant? High rate of elderly people? All the summer travel? It doesn’t quite make sense.
Yea. I’ve been trying to crunch the numbers, because something doesn’t seem right. our numbers are high but we’re not at where we were in our peak. Hospital beds seem to have filled up rapidly even though our numbers are lower than our peak. Unless we reduced our bed capacity, or maybe hospitals are now taking in anyone who has symptoms…I don’t know. What saved us last time was our massive hospital systems, yet they’re filling up faster now. I don’t get it. Granted, I haven’t checked the numbers in the last few days.
I can’t figure out Florida. Miami-Dade is particularly perplexing. Highly vaccinated but also one of the worst spots in the state. Is there a vaccine resistant variant? High rate of elderly people? All the summer travel? It doesn’t quite make sense.
Yea. I’ve been trying to crunch the numbers, because something doesn’t seem right. our numbers are high but we’re not at where we were in our peak. Hospital beds seem to have filled up rapidly even though our numbers are lower than our peak. Unless we reduced our bed capacity, or maybe hospitals are now taking in anyone who has symptoms…I don’t know. What saved us last time was our massive hospital systems, yet they’re filling up faster now. I don’t get it. Granted, I haven’t checked the numbers in the last few days.
Kind of similar story here. Our county is only 54% fully vaccinated though so it makes more sense. Still our numbers are entirely too high but not quite peak level. We can’t handle it at all. The difference seems to be staffing. A lot of nurses have quit for various reasons.
We were talking about the service industry with my H last Sunday as we waited 1 hour to get our food at a restaurant. There was only 1 cook and they had a ton of take-out orders on top of customers dining in. All the issues with the service industry (poor wages, no benefits, shitty hours, etc) resurfaced all at once with Covid. Everywhere we've been, including vacation out of state, there is a shortage of workers and ingredients. Some restaurants were closed 2 days a week during the high tourist season because they don't have enough workers. Their menu is also reduced as they can't get the food. Service takes longer.
One of my friends was also telling me that she needed to buy more flooring for her home renovation. Prices were up 40%+! The customer service person told her their container used to be $3K and is now $18K due to Covid.
I can’t figure out Florida. Miami-Dade is particularly perplexing. Highly vaccinated but also one of the worst spots in the state. Is there a vaccine resistant variant? High rate of elderly people? All the summer travel? It doesn’t quite make sense.
Yea. I’ve been trying to crunch the numbers, because something doesn’t seem right. our numbers are high but we’re not at where we were in our peak. Hospital beds seem to have filled up rapidly even though our numbers are lower than our peak. Unless we reduced our bed capacity, or maybe hospitals are now taking in anyone who has symptoms…I don’t know. What saved us last time was our massive hospital systems, yet they’re filling up faster now. I don’t get it. Granted, I haven’t checked the numbers in the last few days.
Maybe this is where prevalence of masking comes into play?
Also, the shading on the hotspot map shows worse hotspots in the northern part of the state, so maybe if there was less post-infection immunity up there, that would make some sense. But there's still Miami-Dade...
So many people from here have traveled or will travel to Florida, but I'm not sure these rates are heavily impacted by travel. I suppose if someone tests positive during their trip and then is hospitalized or dies during said trip, that would have an impact. But that seems like it would not be that common. I could see more people testing positive once they return home.
It's not a perfect estimation, but I took the top 10 most vaccinated states per the NYT and compared their recent case, hospitalization and death rates per capita to the 10 least vaccinated states. I averaged each state's rate per capita for the final averages of each group.
So for the least vaccinated states, they have per capita:
3.5x more cases 4.5x more hospitalizations 7.5x more deaths
There are some anomalies, I think, that I wonder if immunity from infection does play a role. For example, North Dakota is in the least vaccinated group but their case, hospitalization and death rates are much lower than the rest in that group, and they were hit really badly in the late fall. Among the most vaccinated states, Washington and New Mexico were glaringly higher than the rest and I wonder if that's because they weren't hit too widespread early on (I know WA was the country's first hotspot, but it seemed pretty well-contained after a bit). They were #9 and #10, with New York as #11 (all at 58% fully vaccinated), so New York wasn't included in the calculation but their rates are currently lower than WA and NM. And then there's the case of Florida which is pretty middle of the pack as far as vaccination rates so it wasn't included in either group, but they're the biggest hotspot in the country. Maybe county-level data will be more helpful. So, a lot to chew on but interesting nonetheless.
I can’t figure out Florida. Miami-Dade is particularly perplexing. Highly vaccinated but also one of the worst spots in the state. Is there a vaccine resistant variant? High rate of elderly people? All the summer travel? It doesn’t quite make sense.
I wonder if variants are an issue: both the one from Colombia in this WaPo article, and lambda, which began in Peru and may be more vaccine resistant.
sonrisa, that is sort of my gut feeling and also my worst fear. We are so screwed if that is the scenario playing out. Everyone everyone has been to Florida this summer.
I can’t figure out Florida. Miami-Dade is particularly perplexing. Highly vaccinated but also one of the worst spots in the state. Is there a vaccine resistant variant? High rate of elderly people? All the summer travel? It doesn’t quite make sense.
I wonder if variants are an issue: both the one from Colombia in this WaPo article, and lambda, which began in Peru and is vaccine resistant.
I haven’t read anything that indicates Lambda is any more vaccine resistant than Delta. Everything just says that there’s more resistance in labs than to the original strain. But, that’s not really telling us much.
I haven’t read anything that indicates Lambda is any more vaccine resistant than Delta. Everything just says that there’s more resistance in labs than to the original strain. But, that’s not really telling us much.
I read about it when trying to fall asleep so I must have misremembered. Thank you for clarifying.
jennyparnassus, rubytue, my SO owns a restaurant in a major metropolitan area and the staffing shortage is real. He pays well over market, is willing to offer whatever kind of flexible schedules people need, and will take someone with zero experience and train them, and he still can't even get people to apply. If someone does apply, it's 50/50 on them showing up. If they get through the interview and he wants them to start, it's then again 50/50 on if they show up. Honestly, probably even less than 50/50. It's really, really tough for him as a small business owner and he ends up burning the candle at both ends to make up for the shortages. He's not alone either - we have a lot of industry friends who are seeing all the same things. So I don't begrudge any of the places that have to close for staffing shortages. They deserve a break if they can't find the staff.
Yes. Small business owner here, too. Mine is retail. I, too, offer a living wage, bonuses, schedule flexibility, healthcare, and more.
It’s like pulling teeth to get applicants. Then, it’s a crapshoot if they’ll show for the interview let alone their first day.
I think there is a lot at play here and it’s not as simple as wages being too low. Anecdotally, from my mid sized college city POV, the labor pool is just much smaller this summer. Customer facing jobs are still high risk, many high school and college kids who don’t *have* to work want to have a fun, stress free summer after being pretty locked down last year, etc… Just these two factors shrink the pool for entry level jobs significantly.
With literally everywhere hiring, it’s incredibly tough to staff right now. And the staff we do have is working extra hard. Please, please be kind to service workers. They and the small business owners are doing everything they can to stay in business and help you.
I used to work in the service industry and there is no amount of money that would make me go back right now. Between the customers, exposure level, having to police mask wearing, lack of staff while also being super busy... It makes every day a really hard day. And even over market rate is only what $15-20? Not worth it. Plus these jobs don't have any type of sick leave so if you can't work you're not getting paid. I don't blame anyone for not taking them, although I do feel for small business owners. It's a tough industry.