BS: Whats your shortage- is it hype? Supply chain

Subject: BS: Whats your shortage or is it hype?
From: Donuel
Date: 13 Oct 21 - 09:29 AM

I haven't noticed a shortage but there is supply chain talk.
My list of essentials might just be small since I don't have a business. It is said that the shortage of truckers and earlier cutbacks are at fault.

Subject: RE: BS: Whats your shortage or is it hype?
From: Rain Dog
Date: 13 Oct 21 - 09:36 AM

Common sense is in short supply.

Subject: RE: BS: Whats your shortage or is it hype?
From: Sol
Date: 13 Oct 21 - 09:37 AM

There's been a shortage of common sense for a while now.
It seems to be a rare commodity these days.

Subject: RE: BS: Whats your shortage or is it hype?
From: Sol
Date: 13 Oct 21 - 09:38 AM

Sorry, RD. That was a 'Snap'.

Subject: RE: BS: Whats your shortage or is it hype?
From: Rain Dog
Date: 13 Oct 21 - 09:49 AM

No need to apologise. I would imagine that quite a lot of people think the same.

Subject: RE: BS: Whats your shortage or is it hype?
From: punkfolkrocker
Date: 13 Oct 21 - 10:30 AM

My shortage is money..

.. and yes it would buy me happiness.. lot's more of it...


[I've already got love, that came free - so the Beatles can eff off..]

Subject: RE: BS: Whats your shortage- is it hype? Supply chain
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 13 Oct 21 - 10:47 AM

There aren't many handbags and there are fewer shoes at DSW, where I usually enjoy taking a look at the clearance area.

Nearly half a million shipping containers are stuck off the coast of Southern California as the ports operate below capacity

Wall Street Journal (may hit a paywall): Biggest U.S. Retailers Charter Private Cargo Ships to Sail Around Port Delays
Home Depot, Costco and Walmart resort to private charters in push to stock shelves for holiday shoppers

Just for starters. None of these are the article I read yesterday about an east coast port that is full of extra shipping containers, I'm not sure where I saw that. But it is a growing problem.

The heart of this shortage is not enough truck drivers.

Subject: RE: BS: Whats your shortage or is it hype?
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 13 Oct 21 - 10:51 AM

recently someone here said/wrote 'We don't have enough villages for the idiots we are producing.'

Going back to the original shortage - I don't know where I read/heard this - toilet paper apparently run out in some city, well before covid arrived, but the idea led to supermarket stampedes all over the world. Google doesn't confirm or deny it, snopes has nothing either, but there are zillions of articles about the world world shortages, & the toilet paper industries.

What Everyone’s Getting Wrong About the Toilet Paper Shortage

Subject: RE: BS: Whats your shortage- is it hype? Supply chain
From: Rain Dog
Date: 13 Oct 21 - 10:53 AM

Quite a few of us would be happier with more money. At least quite a few of us would be happy to know that we had enough money to cover our costs for the remainder of our lives.

One of my more favourite sayings is : If you want to make God laugh just tell him your plans.

Subject: RE: BS: Whats your shortage- is it hype? Supply chain
From: Rain Dog
Date: 13 Oct 21 - 10:58 AM

Nothing new under the sun

Toilet paper shortage 1973

Subject: RE: BS: Whats your shortage- is it hype? Supply chain
From: gillymor
Date: 13 Oct 21 - 10:59 AM

Haven't been able to get vegetable pad thai at Trader Joe's for almost 2 months now, but I'll get by. Some folks have real problems.

Subject: RE: BS: Whats your shortage- is it hype? Supply chain
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 13 Oct 21 - 11:11 AM

I'm short. Does that count?

Subject: RE: BS: Whats your shortage- is it hype? Supply chain
From: Donuel
Date: 13 Oct 21 - 11:39 AM

Raindog, God's laughter made me laugh.

The politicians doing the misleading away from common sense are NOT doing it for more money, THEY ARE DOING IT FOR A SHITLOAD OF MONEY.
BLOOD $

Subject: RE: BS: Whats your shortage- is it hype? Supply chain
From: Raggytash
Date: 13 Oct 21 - 06:00 PM

I think you may find Donuel that the current news coverage (certainly on this side of the pond) is about shortages that relate primarily to concerns in the UK and to an extent Europe.

Subject: RE: BS: Whats your shortage- is it hype? Supply chain
From: Raggytash
Date: 13 Oct 21 - 06:01 PM

I should also have added that I wasn't aware of shortages in the USA.

Subject: RE: BS: Whats your shortage- is it hype? Supply chain
From: Donuel
Date: 13 Oct 21 - 07:36 PM

Our version of BBC/BBC America mentions gas shortages due to manufactures cutting back on supply and now facing a large demand.
There is no one cause for the tie up of goods. No regulations of the process of imports is possibly one reason. The transportation theory of better quicker faster was replaced with 'just in time' shipping which seems stupid and contributory to the problems. I can list many more possible causes but just speeding up could break the system more. I guess its a real sticky wicket.

Subject: RE: BS: Whats your shortage- is it hype? Supply chain
From: Donuel
Date: 14 Oct 21 - 08:46 AM

There are massive strikes as well in Striketober

Screen writers have even joined the strike

Subject: RE: BS: Whats your shortage- is it hype? Supply chain
From: leeneia
Date: 14 Oct 21 - 01:49 PM

There was no distilled water in the large supermarket I usually shop at. In fact, the entire area of various kinds of water in gallon bottles was over half empty.

Subject: RE: BS: Whats your shortage- is it hype? Supply chain
From: Jeri
Date: 14 Oct 21 - 02:31 PM

The supermarket is usually out of something I want, unless it's a local thing. Consistently, it's been the antacids I've been getting there for years. I asked, and the stocker said she orders that type, and they send something else. I'm so used to getting what I want, when I want it.

Subject: RE: BS: Whats your shortage- is it hype? Supply chain
From: Donuel
Date: 14 Oct 21 - 02:58 PM

Plain popcorn works like an antacid

Subject: RE: BS: Whats your shortage- is it hype? Supply chain
From: gillymor
Date: 14 Oct 21 - 03:34 PM

My favorite anti-acid is a couple of multi-grain toaster waffles from Van's, Eggo or Trader Joe, all good. 6 or 7 oz. of ginger ale works well also but, of course, everyone's got different chemistry.

Subject: RE: BS: Whats your shortage- is it hype? Supply chain
From: Jeri
Date: 14 Oct 21 - 03:40 PM

Plain popcorn doesn't work like that for me. Plus, I have to get out of bed, and pop it, and that involves oil, which is one thing that sets off my heartburn. Another thing is having to get out of bed in the middle of the night.

Why is it I complain about a shortage, and get medical advice? I think y'all have been watching too many doctor shows on TV or sumpthin.

Subject: RE: BS: Whats your shortage- is it hype? Supply chain
From: gillymor
Date: 14 Oct 21 - 03:54 PM

Wait til you get my bill.

Subject: RE: BS: Whats your shortage- is it hype? Supply chain
From: Jeri
Date: 14 Oct 21 - 04:40 PM

Just bill Medicare.
Seriously, it was toilet paper, then aluminum foil, then liquid smoke, and cocoa, and bleach. I'm also still pissed at Kettle brand potato chips for discontinuing their maple bacon flavor, which was the best in the history of potato chips, but that wasn't a supply issue, or related to the pandemic, and probably kept me for being enormous, but... (I didn't get enormous, but my sentences apparently have.)

Subject: RE: BS: Whats your shortage- is it hype? Supply chain
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 14 Oct 21 - 05:17 PM

Then you must be getting Kettle Chips cooked in fresh oil which is then shipped here. Kettle Chips this end are greasy and rancid. Tyrrell's, on the other hand, are great. As a fellow heartburn victim (though I have it under control), I sympathise with you.

Subject: RE: BS: Whats your shortage- is it hype? Supply chain
From: Jeri
Date: 14 Oct 21 - 06:49 PM

"Kettle" is, in this case, the brand, and they're the best, IMO. We don't have Tyrell's here. There's a Canadian brand, "Miss Vickie's", but the only kind I've ever seen here are vinegar an salt. I love vinegar and salt on chips, but not the potato chips (crisps).

For some reason, this past summer, July and August, when we had a heat wave, I lost my appetite. Lost some weight, and my heartburn cut way back. I didn't enjoy the heat, but I enjoyed the weight loss.

Subject: RE: BS: Whats your shortage- is it hype? Supply chain
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 14 Oct 21 - 07:13 PM

A good few years ago we could buy the best crisps ever. They were called Cape Cod. They suddenly disappeared.

Subject: RE: BS: Whats your shortage- is it hype? Supply chain
From: Jeri
Date: 14 Oct 21 - 08:07 PM

We get Cape Cod crisps. I really like them, and they ARE great. If there were a way to send you a case, I would. (I could probably send them, but I don't know if they'd be crumbs when they arrived.)

I'm not off-topic, am I? ;-)

Subject: RE: BS: Whats your shortage- is it hype? Supply chain
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 14 Oct 21 - 08:48 PM

Definitely not! I'm suffering from a shortage!

Subject: RE: BS: Whats your shortage- is it hype? Supply chain
From: Rapparee
Date: 14 Oct 21 - 09:13 PM

We bought a new dishwasher in early February. It was finally installed in late August.

Plastics shortage in US.

Subject: RE: BS: Whats your shortage- is it hype? Supply chain
From: Jeri
Date: 14 Oct 21 - 09:36 PM

I'm waiting for a door. Doors - main door and screen door. Ordered in Aug, was supposed to be here in Oct. The latest is, they figure December. I'm hoping the current one doesn't just go "plop" one day. I have plastic sheeting, but I'd rather have a door.

Subject: RE: BS: Whats your shortage- is it hype? Supply chain
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 14 Oct 21 - 10:46 PM

Apple is destined to make millions fewer of it's newest iPhone because of chip shortages.

Aldi's sells Clancy's kettle chips and a couple of years ago they discontinued the salt and cracked black pepper flavor that was fabulous. I've tried the Winco brand and they don't have enough big chunks of pepper in them. So there is a pepper shortage and a good chip shortage.

The UK may have a petrol shortage because of too few truck drivers; the US has a general distribution problem from ports where the shipping containers are offloaded because of too few truckers. What we have in common is too few truckers. In the UK instance that is a self-inflicted wound.

Subject: RE: BS: Whats your shortage- is it hype? Supply chain
From: Rain Dog
Date: 15 Oct 21 - 02:18 AM

"What we have in common is too few truckers. In the UK instance that is a self-inflicted wound."

Not quite true. Here in the UK Brexit has played a part in the problem. There was no testing of HGV drivers for over a year, so we lost out on new drivers entering the industry. We have also had the problem of fewer people wanting to be drivers, along with older drivers retiring earlier. The poor conditions and low wages are mainly to play for that.

In the USA you don't have our Brexit problem. You didn't have our nationwide lack of issuing new HGV licences. I assume your licences are issued on a state by state basis. Yet you have a shortage of drivers along with problems at your west coast ports.

Subject: RE: BS: Whats your shortage- is it hype? Supply chain
From: Mr Red
Date: 15 Oct 21 - 09:51 AM

I guess its a real sticky wicket.
Oi, Donuel, You lot fought a war to not be British. Now you want our catch phrases. It just ain't cricket. Don't ya know?
No shortage of trite soundbites though.

We are running short of bangers - dare I say not a sausage? But it looks like we are well supplied with potatoes. Less bangers and mash - more of a whimper.

So, send Johnny foreigner back home, and! Well! Who'ldathoughtit?

Woulds anyone care to speculate the next UK domino to fall?

Subject: RE: BS: Whats your shortage- is it hype? Supply chain
From: Rain Dog
Date: 15 Oct 21 - 11:17 AM

No pigs in blankets for Christmas?

What is the world coming to?

Subject: RE: BS: Whats your shortage- is it hype? Supply chain
From: Mr Red
Date: 16 Oct 21 - 01:16 PM

It's beginning to look a lot like Brexshit

Subject: RE: BS: Whats your shortage- is it hype? Supply chain
From: Mrrzy
Date: 16 Oct 21 - 04:21 PM

I thought y'all were on about *shrinkage* - oops.

Subject: RE: BS: Whats your shortage- is it hype? Supply chain
From: gillymor
Date: 16 Oct 21 - 04:28 PM

I was in the pool, I was in the pool!

Subject: RE: BS: Whats your shortage- is it hype? Supply chain
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 16 Oct 21 - 07:29 PM

Not just the west coast, also the east and other secondary ports. COVID-19 seems to have been a culprit in the shortage of drivers (though they spend their time alone in the truck, and I would think could manage to avoid much close contact with people at gas stations and get meals takeout.) I expect there is an analysis somewhere.

Subject: RE: BS: Whats your shortage- is it hype? Supply chain
From: Donuel
Date: 16 Oct 21 - 09:37 PM

The English channel is backed up with ships as well as Asian ports. Its going to take 6 months to a year to sort it out providing there are no submarine wolfpack attacks on container ships. In the meantime this constipation of goods will eventually end with a painful push. All the new QLED TVs will be new but a year old to start. I hope to watch the Marx brothers on the new old TVs, you know Harpo, Cheeto, Plato and Groucho. The higher resolution will make them look much the same.

Subject: RE: BS: Whats your shortage- is it hype? Supply chain
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 17 Oct 21 - 04:23 PM

I just bought an ink jet printer from Dell for printing photos. If you scan the offerings in printers at Dell, you'll find half-to three quarters of some categories are "temporarily out of stock." That's the supply chain gummed up for Dell. The printer I wanted was a little less typical and a bit more expensive than most of them (I wanted more ink colors and the "eco-tank" large capacity - so I paid full price for the printer because I won't be buying expensive little ink cartridges. When you buy cheap printers with cartridges you pay for the printer several times over via expensive ink). Amazon had it listed also, it isn't out of stock. Yet. But I decided this wasn't the year to wait and put it on my xmas wish list. By December they are liable to be out of stock.

Subject: RE: BS: Whats your shortage- is it hype? Supply chain
From: Charmion
Date: 17 Oct 21 - 05:01 PM

Supply chain problems have emptied car lots across southern Ontario and put off thousands of construction and renovation projects, including my damnable bathroom. Large stretches of shelving at Canadian Tire lie empty or stacked with bulky, low-value local goods, such as garden waste bags, paper towels and pet litter, that would normally be in bins blocking the gangway.

Verily, verily, I say unto you, COVID is the thief that keeps on taking.

Subject: RE: BS: Whats your shortage- is it hype? Supply chain
From: Joe_F
Date: 17 Oct 21 - 05:43 PM

The Stop & Shop in Malden, MA has been out of jumbo eggs for a week now. I don't imagine they are all in a container ship off Los Angeles. Actually, it might be kind of fun to imagine it.

Subject: RE: BS: Whats your shortage- is it hype? Supply chain
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 17 Oct 21 - 06:19 PM

There are also the parcels lost in the large rolling carts at the post office in the US. Louis DeJoy is STILL the Postmaster General (I thought having appointed enough new members Biden's folks could oust him but not so far.) Now they're saying first class postage will slow down. Many of the broken or demolished sorters haven't been repaired or replaced.

It's a mess. Keeping the labor force going was something Trump was paying no attention to during his term in office and Biden has his hands full fixing so much stuff that Trump broke that it isn't all going to happen at once.

Subject: RE: BS: Whats your shortage- is it hype? Supply chain
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 17 Oct 21 - 07:02 PM

I was just reading a local article (campus newspaper from my employing university) and the local restaurants are reporting beef shortages (not enough workers to process the animals) and vegetables (delivery drivers to markets.) Let's hope there is a huge driver education push to train new truck drivers.

Subject: RE: BS: Whats your shortage- is it hype? Supply chain
From: Rain Dog
Date: 18 Oct 21 - 04:36 AM

Is there any explanation for the shortage of those workers? Is it due to unsafe working conditions due to covid or is it self inflicted?

Meat processing is hard work in unpleasant conditions.

Here in the UK, The Guardian has reported on the exploitation of workers across the EU and the UK in this industry.

EU ‘failing to stop meat industry exploiting agency workers’

Revealed: exploitation of meat plant workers rife across UK and Europe

Subject: RE: BS: Whats your shortage- is it hype? Supply chain
From: Donuel
Date: 18 Oct 21 - 08:29 AM

Would you continue an unsatisfying job with added dangers? Many don't and quit. Then without child care women are compelled to quit their job. Irrational reasons to quit includes not getting vaccinated, yet some choose that reason.
I wonder how the crews of container ships are doing, especially if not vaccinated.

Subject: RE: BS: Whats your shortage- is it hype? Supply chain
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 18 Oct 21 - 10:38 AM

There is a shift in employment at many levels of the working world. As reported in The Atlantic, since spring of 2020 a number of industries are seeing not just people leave because they become ill from COVID-19, but because they have better offers with conditions and wages improved. The Great Resignation Is Accelerating

“Quits,” as the Bureau of Labor Statistics calls them, are rising in almost every industry. For those in leisure and hospitality, especially, the workplace must feel like one giant revolving door. Nearly 7 percent of employees in the “accommodations and food services” sector left their job in August. That means one in 14 hotel clerks, restaurant servers, and barbacks said sayonara in a single month. Thanks to several pandemic-relief checks, a rent moratorium, and student-loan forgiveness, everybody, particularly if they are young and have a low income, has more freedom to quit jobs they hate and hop to something else.

Subject: RE: BS: Whats your shortage- is it hype? Supply chain
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 18 Oct 21 - 11:40 AM

"Irrational reasons to quit includes not getting vaccinated, yet some choose that reason."

Unless your unvaccinated employee or potential employee works in a hospital or care home it's irrational to regard them as not employable. If they are already in your employ, it's irrational to sack them. We live in democracies. Persuasion, not compulsion.

Subject: RE: BS: Whats your shortage- is it hype? Supply chain
From: gillymor
Date: 18 Oct 21 - 12:20 PM

If I were still in business today I would require all my employees to get vaccinated against COVID19. I would not allow a selfish numbskull to jeopardize my health and livelihood and the health and livelihood of my employees who'd done the right thing for themselves and each other by getting vaccinated. I only employed carpenters and laborers so there was no question of working from home.