Costco-19

"HammerheadFistpunch" (hammerheadfistpunch) 03/02/2020 at 16:42 • Filed to: None

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Went to C ostco today to redeem my cash back coupon and pick up my annual all er g y pill supply . H oly damn its crazy in there. Want to know what they are almost out of? Toilet paper and bottled water. Granted I went in there also with the idea of picking up a few things that I was low on for my storage needs, vegetable oils and such, but people be going crazy. Granted it’ s still better than it will be once it’ s too late to prepa re.

Sidenote: M y wife, it turns out, is once again 2 steps ahead of me on this front with most of the things on my list already in storage and in greater amounts than I had planned for.

Not that Im worried we’ll need it, but it’ s a good excuse to refresh and build up the surplus that I already should have on han d. People are going nuts because we have a patient here at the hospital in an isolation unit and everyone is naturally assuming they are all going to die. Have a picture of another place I was at recently.

Can you guess where?

Textured Soy Protein > HammerheadFistpunch 03/02/2020 at 16:56

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For Sweden > HammerheadFistpunch 03/02/2020 at 16:58

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That is clearly Corvall is, OR

vondon302 > HammerheadFistpunch 03/02/2020 at 16:59

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Just came back from the grocery store. They had water and toilet paper and lysol wipes but hand sanitizer was gone.

AestheticsInMotion > HammerheadFistpunch 03/02/2020 at 16:59

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I ended up just ordering groceries from Amazon.

HammerheadFistpunch > Textured Soy Protein 03/02/2020 at 17:00

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close. not literally but figuratively .

For Sweden > AestheticsInMotion 03/02/2020 at 17:04

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When the world collapses, only we Disciples of Bezos will survive

Chariotoflove > HammerheadFistpunch 03/02/2020 at 17:12

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Yeah, I know someone who shops there all the time.

Chariotoflove > For Sweden 03/02/2020 at 17:12

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Ugh, I can’t stand those people.  They drone on endlessly.

Verdog ~ manual Bro, Bro - HellHawk Equipped > HammerheadFistpunch 03/02/2020 at 17:14

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Buc ees?

Nom De Plume > AestheticsInMotion 03/02/2020 at 17:17

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This is a spot on depiction of what it looked like last week when I went in for toilet cleaner.  Don’t ask me why.  

PowderHound > HammerheadFistpunch 03/02/2020 at 17:19

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Ski the Beav!

HammerheadFistpunch > PowderHound 03/02/2020 at 17:26

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Not that one. 

Kiltedpadre > HammerheadFistpunch 03/02/2020 at 17:31

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Dam, that’s a lot of beaver merch!

ttyymmnn > HammerheadFistpunch 03/02/2020 at 17:49

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Can confirm, was at Costco today for regular shopping. People were loading up on bottled water, toilet paper (it was soon to be sold out) and paper towels, for some reason. I don’t seem to recall hearing anything about public water supplies being shut down in China or anywhere else, so I’m a little mystified about the water. If you have to hunker down at home, I can understand a few extra cans of soup and beans. But paper towels?

ttyymmnn > vondon302 03/02/2020 at 17:50

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Does hand sanitizer even work against viruses? Or is it just bacteria?

ttyymmnn > HammerheadFistpunch 03/02/2020 at 17:53

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Also, in TX coronavirus news, the CDC released a patient from quarantine in San Antonio who was still sick. That person then went to a shopping mall and a hotel . Yay.

HammerheadFistpunch > ttyymmnn 03/02/2020 at 17:54

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Thats what I came to realize. I have about 100 gallons of stored water at home in barrels and wondered if that would be sufficient for any kind of potential sequestration. T hen I thought...of course it will, they aren’t turning off the water!

Im glad to have the water storage there, because it can be anything that causes a problem. For example the water supply thats just a few blocks north of me had a complete “do not drink” emergency for the entire supply are for a week due to a fluo ride contamination just this summer.

but this thing?  yeah nah.

Manwich - now Keto-Friendly > HammerheadFistpunch 03/02/2020 at 18:11

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I was at a Costco this weekend with my GF. It reminded me why I have no desire to get a Costco membership or shop there.

Yeah, the quantities are big, but outside a couple of loss-leaders (like their cheap hot dog and pop deal... both of which are too unhealthy for me to eat ) , the per-unit prices are nothing special compared to the stores I already shop at.

But that’s not the biggest issue.

The biggest issue is that it’s just an unpleasant place to shop at.

Everything from the chainlink fence separating the entrance from the exit sides, to the crowds (both in the store and in the parking lot), to the crappy warehouse ambiance, to the me-first-attitude of many who shop there, to the ridiculous checkout lines that remind me of the old Knob Hill Farms, to the treat-you-like-a-thief receipt checking when you leave (done in such a half-assed way and only serves to slow down the process of people leaving) was fairly off-putting to me.

And since it was a Saturday, there were various spots you can free samples. Sounds good right? Well it was just free samples of various processed food which I also don’t eat which caused more crowding and made it that much harder to navigate the isles.

The place just screams “Suburban hell” to me

I’d rather shop at Walmart and/or dine at Home Depot than visit Costco again.

ttyymmnn > HammerheadFistpunch 03/02/2020 at 18:16

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We had a weeklong boil water event in Austin a couple of years ago. People went apeshit buying bottled water. Costco was a madhouse. The governor announced severe penalties for anybody caught gouging on bottled water.

We boiled big pots water. 

facw > AestheticsInMotion 03/02/2020 at 18:17

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But:  Amazon warns shoppers that same-day grocery delivery may be limited

facw > ttyymmnn 03/02/2020 at 18:21

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It is effective against viruses. The strong alcohol breaks down the viruses protective coating.

It is less effective than actually washing your hands with soap and water though. It shouldn’t be your primary line of defense, but it’s better than nothing.

HammerheadFistpunch > Manwich - now Keto-Friendly 03/02/2020 at 18:23

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Yeah shopping at Costco sucks for all the reasons you mention and more.  The only reason we have the membership is because the CITI card that comes with it has great benefits for gas and travel.  4% on gas is great if your high mpg car doesn’t break out of the teens.

facw > ttyymmnn 03/02/2020 at 18:23

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I don’t exactly get a high- competence vibe from the response thus far...

ttyymmnn > facw 03/02/2020 at 18:25

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Nope. I’m still wondering why the feds brought sick people back to the US in the first place. 

facw > ttyymmnn 03/02/2020 at 18:32

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I’m ok with that part. They are US citizens and the government should be looking out for them (and I would want it to help me out had I been in Wuhan or whatever). But they don’t seem to have taken quarantine very seriously at all once people got back. You have this slip up in Texas and it seems to have gotten out in California as well. On top of that, this current outbreak in Washington seems to have stemmed from a known case clearly showing that whatever they did there was wildly insufficient , while also creating a false sense of security. Testing has been a mess. It just feels like you had people believing that it couldn’t happen here, and so not really acting as if it could.

ttyymmnn > facw 03/02/2020 at 18:33

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Well, when you have science deniers in charge, you get what you get. This isn’t exactly the time to hope for a miracle. 

Manwich - now Keto-Friendly > HammerheadFistpunch 03/02/2020 at 19:16

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Yeah... the cheaper gas thing isn’t an incentive either given that I drive a Fit.

That 4% gas discount translates to a savings of $6/month at best for me.... and that’s at higher Canadian fuel prices.

HammerheadFistpunch > Manwich - now Keto-Friendly 03/02/2020 at 19:21

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Oh I don’t buy their crap gas, that’s the cash back. I just deposited a $700 cash back check. (obviously not just gas) 

vondon302 > ttyymmnn 03/02/2020 at 19:38

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DOES IT MATTER JUST BUY IT!

Seriously though, I think it's got to be above a certain alcohol percentage.  If it's airborne I thought lysol would be flying off the shelfs but plenty of that.

ttyymmnn > vondon302 03/02/2020 at 20:25

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My wife went to Walgreens tonight for some other stuff, and figured she might grab some sanitizer.

Nope. 

vondon302 > ttyymmnn 03/02/2020 at 20:42

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For some reason I have 3 gallons of bleach so I figure I'm good;)

AestheticsInMotion > facw 03/02/2020 at 20:54

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It’s an interesting predicament. Due to virus worries a large number of people are staying home, whether self-quarantining or just playing it safe. These people have caused delivery demands to skyrocket, leading to Amazon, FedEx, UPS, and all the food delivery companies to see volume that is well past what it should be this time of year . D ue to the vast majority of all US delivery drivers being classified as independent contractors and as such having no sick pay regardless of local labor laws, these drivers aren’t going to stay home even if they’re sick. Even if they’re badly sick in many cases. The more people who are affected by the virus, the more demand will be placed on delivery drivers, many of whom will be carrying the virus themselves, knowingly or unknowingly.

Kind of a vicious cycle.

As a purely speculative interest, I’d be very curious to see how this relationship played out if the outbreak significantly worsened. At what point would the parent companies step in and do something vs when the local and federal government would get involved, etc.

AestheticsInMotion > Nom De Plume 03/02/2020 at 20:56

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People are strange. I may go back just out of curiosity.

ranwhenparked > Manwich - now Keto-Friendly 03/02/2020 at 22:48

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This is exactly how I feel venturing into Wal-Mart. The whole experience is stressful, unnerving, and just generally unpleasant. Something about the aisles clogged with makeshift displays, badly organized and overstocked merchandise, poor housekeeping, bad lighting, thoughtless merchandising, and the sound echoing off the concrete floors and unfinished ceilings just makes me want to get the hell out asap. 

ranwhenparked > ttyymmnn 03/02/2020 at 22:51

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Or toilet paper shortages, for that matter. Like, even if the Costco in your town closes for a few days because some employees get the virus (which is an unrealistic worse case scenario, big companies don't close their stores for shit, my boss wanted me to open when we lost water, sewer, and security systems for a day, and I work at a bank), you probably already have more than a few days toilet paper in the house all the time anyway, and, even if not, cars won't suddenly stop existing, just drive to a different store a town or two over.

gmporschenut also a fan of hondas > HammerheadFistpunch 03/02/2020 at 22:54

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https://toptiergas.com/licensed-brands/

why is their gas crap?

Manwich - now Keto-Friendly > ranwhenparked 03/02/2020 at 22:59

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Just to be clear, I find Walmart to be only *slightly* better.

But yeah... I hate how they often leave overstocked merchandise in the middle of some isles... sometimes right by the entrance. And yeah, sometimes they have “the lowest price” because it’s the lowest quality.

ranwhenparked > Manwich - now Keto-Friendly 03/02/2020 at 23:02

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We don't have a Costco in my town, Wal-Mart's the bottom of the barrel. Well, there's also Sam's Club and Family Dollar/Dollar General, but I don't go in there. 

ttyymmnn > ranwhenparked 03/02/2020 at 23:08

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Yes, but this thing is not localized, like a boil water notice. I went to two stores tonight and ALL the hand sanitizer was gone. I imagine it’s the same scenario in stores all across the country. I can’t just drive to the next town, because they’ll almost certainly be out too. 

ranwhenparked > ttyymmnn 03/03/2020 at 00:16

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Its not, I was in Target yesterday, everything was normal and fully stocked

ttyymmnn > ranwhenparked 03/03/2020 at 07:49

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We’ve got some corona virus down the road in San Antonio. That might be fueling the run on TP and sanitizer here. 

OPPOsaurus WRX > HammerheadFistpunch 03/03/2020 at 08:30

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not everyone is going to die, itsn’ t it just 2% if the infected?

zipfuel > HammerheadFistpunch 03/03/2020 at 19:52

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Yesterday I was planning on commenting to defend Costco as not a total hellscape, provided you go at lunchtime on a weekday.

But then I went today at lunch: busier than usual and completely cleaned out of toilet paper and bottled water.

This is all because some joker on the internet in Asia has claimed you can make something as effective as an N95 surgical mask out of TP!?!

The bottled water is completely irrational, we are not facing a hurricane, flooding or power outage event. We have a nice robust water treatment system which will continue to deliver pleasant tasting water to your taps even if in the worst possible case we all have to stay inside a bit more.

I overheard the same conversation from two separate groups “well they’ve still got Perrier, should we buy that?”