Friday 6 March 2020

Done and dusted....

Getting food, medications, dog food etc, stored in the house that is.

Although the government is advising against stockpiling, I have taken my own advice and got enough things in the house for at least 3 weeks. However, I won’t be diving into the stockpile until/if/when the going gets tough.

Why you might add when their advice is the complete opposite? Have I gone mad or given into hype and peer pressure? The answer to that is no but you can feel free to think what you like!

My reasoning is this. If I or we both become quite ill, with COVID-19, the flu or some such, neither of us will feel like going shopping. The first and only time I have had the flu, I was ill for 6 weeks and still recovering for another 4. It is an illness not to be taken lightly. On top of that is this new virus.

The medical people in charge say they expect a week by week increase for the next 12 weeks at least, with peak increase between week 9 and 12. I don't know where we, as a nation, currently sit in that time frame.

If things get worse, quickly, who in their right mind would want to go out shopping, exposing yourself and your family to further risk. If shopworkers and delivery drivers become ill, who will deliver and serve you your food and anything else you need. It's no good having shops full of food if you are too ill or frightened to venture out or there is no-one to serve you, no-one to pay your money for your shopping to.

If the advice then changes to get things in and self isolate, it would be a bit late then wouldn't it? Then you really would be in a mass panic buying stage and find yourself in a right old bun fight.

No, I prefer to be ready. Like I and others have said, 'forearmed is forewarned'. Nothing will go to waste, I will simply be able to shop from home.




16 comments:

  1. Very sensible. At this time of year I always stock the caravan cupboards up with tinned and dried foods, the sort of foods that don't go off if we can't get to the Van for a few weeks. So this year I am just buying a few extras of everything that we eat regularly and a few more than usual of my long life Almond Milks. Like you say it pays to be prepared.

    You'll see from my post today I'm alright for toilet rolls ;-)

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    1. Yes I did notice, thought I had commented on how lovely the paper covers are! Guess thought and did are two different things:)

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  2. I have stocked up too while there are no shortages so I don’t have to go out or bother others.

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  3. I am in the U.S. and some people are going crazy. Our Costco put a limit on foods so everyone can buy some. I have been buying some extras so if we would need to stay home, I'm not out there trying to find food for my family. I read a British site called Mumsnet and a lot of these women don't seem concerned at all. Do you feel those around you are being proactive or ignoring things?

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    1. Ignoring if any of the overheard conversations are to go by! Like you, I try to be always prepared for most things, just in case, but am an exception, certainly with those I know.

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  4. We have done the same....I am always pretty well stocked but have added a bit to what we have. I have done my recent shopping at 6:30 am when the stores aren't busy. We are good to go now. I always say err on the side of caution. Stay calm and stay well.

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    1. My MiL taught me about storing food, preserving etc as up until then, I had no idea about it.

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  5. I so agree with you, we have done the same but have not gone overboard. I have also done the same for my 2 adult sons, both of whom have health problems but one of them is particularly at risk. When we go shopping I get a few more items, i have bought an extra bag of flour and baking powder and bicarb as it is so easy to make soda bread also some multi vitamins to make up for any shortfall if not having much fresh stuff, lentils and beans are great and different types of beans and rice.We are by no means rich but are lucky enough to be able to buy these extra things, it must be hard for people who are less fortunate.

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    1. Normally I buy yeast in a cardboard box (10 sachets inside) but yesterday, in two different supermarkets couldn’t find any. Just individual sachets pairs! We also need to think about carrying on donating to food banks as well.

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  6. I think you've been sensible without going crazy like some people. There's a difference between the panic buying and the stockpiling that's been taking place in some areas and getting in some extra as a precaution as you have done. And i said 'in some areas' because here in Dover there's still plenty of everything except hand sanitiser and liquid anti bacterial soaps in all the supermarkets here. No shortages of pasta, loo roll etc. and no sign that people are panic buying. I had run my freezer down during Jan and Feb so have stocked up a bit again, and I have my usual couple of extra packs of loo rolls. If we had to self isolate for a couple of months even there's no way we'd starve.

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    1. Thank you. I have tried to be sensible.

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  7. I completely agree with you. I always keep a well stocked pantry because of personal circumstances - instead of letting things run down a bit as I usually do at this time of year I have restocked bit by bit as I started paying attention to the news from China back in December. I remembered that SARS started the same way and Toronto was particularly hard hit by that. My additions to the norm would be more carbs (I normally eat fairly low carb but those are the things that keep) so - a bit more rice, pasta & crisp breads/crackers. But I'm only one person so don't need a ton. I have added a "treat" bin and I've got a couple of bottles of wine and this morning, some cans of tonic to add to my gin! :-)
    I have been diligent about meds - I have allergies so can only use certain OOTC items so have a few extras. I also take a few prescriptions so I've renewed all of them just in the past week so have about 4 months of everything plus two extra epi-pens. There have been shortages of epi-pens and of my antibiotic eye cream in the past year so I really try to keep on top of those things.
    Stores were very quiet this morning and while certain shelves are a wee bit barer than usual there aren't any shortages except for hand sanitizers (although my drugstore had a new stock this morning), masks and gloves. I have a few in my First Aid kit so that's all I'm buying.
    I did hear one woman asking the clerk if they had any larger bottles of sanitizer as she wanted it for her father who has health problems (what they had were the containers about the size of liquid soap pumps) - the clerk said that one person had come in and cleared them out of all the large bottles. Now I don't think that's right and didn't understand why they hadn't put a limit on them - they do that for other products. There is no need to go crazy and be completely selfish!

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    1. If selfish people are incapable of controlling their bulk buying, as seems to be the case, then the stores need to restrict. Yes, I had heard about the lack of epi pens. We can’t buy too much medication in advance.

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  8. Keeping a well stocked pantry on the prairies of Canada especially in winter is a must. I am not going crazy stocking, but I am trying to keep or get Kris stocked up as well.

    The CDC is now saying those 60 and over should try to stay inside and out od crowds as much as possible right now.

    God Bless.

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    1. Very interesting, thanks for that Jackie.

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