Saturday, May 9, 2020

My Mental Gerbils control Me, I don't control Them

Been a while, other than just random short ranting comments as, well, mentally, I am a staunch Constitutionalist and I am about to go blow up some stuff for some strange reason. But I won't so, instead, I've been seething. A lot. Which makes Beans a grumpy early-old fart (well, I am younger than Old Air Force Sarge, but then again, so was Noah, Julius Caesar, and, well, not really, but I am younger, kind of an annoying very younger brother (which I was) to him.)

So… Thoughts on what has been going on.

Well, proved my preps could hold up for a month. Bad thing is now I have to replenish said preps. Which include toilet paper, rubbing alcohol and gluten-free flour (specifically so I can make pizza, but for other things, too.)



Toilet paper

Grrr.. Sure, I can blame those jackalopes and ne'er-do-wells who went around at the start of the paper-panic and bought huge amounts of said paper in order to profit using flea-bay and scamazon. Of which both notable entities said, after a week, that, nope, jerks ain’t gonna make money offa flea-bay-scamazon. Those who went and cleaned out local haunts of paper in order to profit, well, okay, more on rampant capitalism later, but much ire. And who really caused this all? The Media and the CDC and the NIH who screwed the pooch over this whole Covidiot thingy? Much nuggies are in their future. But, really, preying off one’s fellow man in a crisis because you’re and a-hole? Yeah…

But, back on to TP and why it is still in spotty supply. Simple. Nobody is pooping at work or at school. Because nobody (well, a lot of people) aren’t at work and no one is going to school. Now, all that bathroom usage is only occurring at home. Think about it. How many of you knew kids who were told to hold it till they got to school as it might dirty the bathroom? Or have cow-orkers who hold their own until they get to work and do the doo and drop the kids off at the pool? I do, both. Friends whose mothers didn’t want them doing their business because it would dirty the freshly cleaned bodily waste disposal room. And had several (okay, lots) of male co-workers who loved to come in and stink out the place, smelliest wins! And several female coworkers who didn’t like stinking their house and held their poops and poots until work time, and thus could justify not being at their desks or work stations for the first half hour or so, and the last half hour or so, of work (again, why take it home when you can leave it at work.)

So all that wipery is now being not done in the woods or at work, but at one’s very own casa, and thus the Company’s shite-sheets isn’t being utilized (and nobody is steeling work paper to take home, and, yes, it is a thing, swiping shite-sheets from work.)   Thusly, the normal load of toilet paper available for consumer usage would never cover the now greatly increased consumer usage.  Supply and demand.  More people supplying, more demand for paper for the post-supply cleanup.  Simple.  And yet so very disturbing.  Both talking about it and that I have spent 3 paragraphs on the subject and I am finally getting off the pot.  So to speak.



Rubbing alcohol (and other antiseptic things) 

Again, part of the missing store piles of rubbing alcohol, soap, hydrogen peroxide, Clorox, is because of pandemic-profiteers. But a lot of it is now due to, again, all those people now stuck at home or with a passel of kinder stuck at home and everyone knows that there’s nothing dirtier than a child, except maybe a male teenager. 

To top it off, all those Au-Naturale people who only used natural soaps and other natural cleaners suddenly discovered the magic of Dr. Lister’s Germ Theory (and how to stop spread of said germs.) So, firstly, asshats profiteering. Secondly, people stuck at home rather than at work or school and having janitorial services clean up after themselves. And Thirdly, because all the granola crunchers just had to have their bleach, rubbing alcohol, vinegar (apple vinegar or white vinegar used to be the Farmer’s Wife’s preferred kitchen cleanup, and still is amongst the Amish) and other modern cleaning agents. 

So once again, supply and demand.  Moms Demand... cleaning products, and the supply can't cover it.  Totally wiped out.  Scrubbed.  Dang-it.  Which sucks for those who need rubbing alcohol for finger-poking for to test for the diabetes and for cleaning skin for to poke the insulin or whatever legal drugs are to be injected.  And also great for certain skin conditions.  Which, the suggestion from a pharmacist is buy the strongest, cheapest vodka and just hope it is worthy (proof should be above 100.  And here I thought everclear was worthless...)
 
Though rubbing alcohol is available on the interwebs, it is available in either extremely jacked-up prices or in large volume containers, or both.  Which assures that once the RA is back in stock, I will have to double or triple my normal horde.  Dang it.  I live in an apartment.  I don't have rooooom for all the needed over-hording to cover the hording of other people...



Flour 

Coincidentally, flour and other baking products, like salt, baking soda, baking powder and yeast, went off the shelves about 10 minutes after bread was no longer available. Why? Again, because now everyone was eating at home for breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks, and other eating times. Faced with no pre-made bread, many suddenly remembered that most unused thingamabob from their wedding or divorce showers (yes, divorce showers, they do exist, along with divorce parties and such) or some impulse driven purchase during previous perilous times (like hurricanes, though one wonders about how one is supposed to use the thingamabob without electricity) also known as A BREAD MACHINE. Think about it. How many of you all have or have had a bread machine? So. Yep. Home baking has suddenly come into fashion again. And with the disappearance of the yeasts and flours, the jerks then started attempting profiteering, but too late, jerkwads. 

Because of this, I have had to search out on the internet for rubbing alcohol and flours and yeast. Managed to score an industrial 2lb bag of yeast for far cheaper than 2lbs worth of those little packets or jars. Yay. And new pizza-crust flour from the same maker of the bread flour that I can’t find (Pamela’s Products. Absolutely the best gluten-free flours available. Bread flour is currently unavailable, but their Pizza flour is, along with their Baking and Pancake mix (which makes the best pancakes and waffles ever, even better than any gluten flour mix I have ever tried.)

Food insecurity.  It is a thing.  Even here in the States.  Weird.  Don't like it.  Must find people who caused this and make them go swimming with those Brazilian stickle fish...



Capitalism 

Here is where I am probably gonna peeve some people. Capitalism, in utter raw form, during disasters and stupidities, I am all for it. A business marking up product during a rush or during a panic, I am all cool with. For it does restrict the over-purchasing by asshats and jerkwads trying to make a buck off of reselling. And it keeps people from hoarding, mostly. So ‘profiteering’ from a business standpoint is a good and okay thing. 

It is when, in a world of Just-In-Time delivery with stuff scheduled months to years ahead, some people going out and wiping a store of its supply of product in order to turn around and resell it at a huge profit, well, that’s when it sucks. 

Like the jerks who would go and buy all the .22LR ammo that they could find (oftentimes because they were the employees of the stores, or friends/relatives of store employees) and then selling that $10.00 a brick of 550 rounds at the new price of $60.00 while shamelessly leaving the price tag from the store on it. 

Or TP. 

Or whatever. 

Because of jerkiness. 

I’m not talking about, after a hurricane, a dude in Michigan buying 3-4 generators from his home depot and running down to a hurricane ravaged area and selling them at a reasonable markup. I find that to be a good thing. Taking material from place that doesn’t need it and selling it in a place that does need it. 

I’m talking about those jerks that bought all the local supply of arse-wipes and disinfectants and stuffs and loaded their houses and storage units up with thousands of dollars worth of stuff in order to mark it up 600% or more. Asshattery. Jerks. 

Jacking up prices to make you able to survive the troubled time? Okay. Gleefully profiteering because you are an a-hole? You suck. 

There’s a fine line between survival and sucking. 

There you have it. My mini-rantish on stuff. 



Now… 

Did you know Alan Parsons, the music producer and genius behind The Alan Parsons Project, did a fallen military flier song? Called “Brother up in Heaven” from the “On Air” album. The song is about Ian Bairnson's cousin Erik Mounsey who was killed by friendly fire above Iraq in 1994. An unfortunate event where two F-15s shot down two Blackhawks the F-15 pilots had identified as Hinds. 

Full details about the incident are found on the Wiki page, and basically it was a cosmic goat-rope of a mistake, with screwups on the part of way too many people. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1994_Black_Hawk_shootdown_incident 






Brother up in Heaven

A boy flies for freedom
But dies for the peace
In the clouds, he waits for an answer
But there's no release

It's strange here without you
And it's so hard to see
So brother up in heaven
Please wait up for me

Oh, brother up in heaven
Please wait up for me

I still see his shadow
His laugh lingers on
When I dream, we're all back together
When I wake, he's gone

It's strange here without you
This was not meant to be
So brother up in heaven
Please wait up for me

And though we try to change the world
A flower when it's cut will surely die
So why do men with so much hate
Destroy what they cannot create
While we all stand by

We look back in anger
But you helped us to see
So brother up in heaven
Please wait up for me

Oh, brother up in heaven
Please wait up for me

Source: LyricFind

Songwriters: Alan Parsons / Ian Bairnson / Stuart Elliott





And, don't forget.  Sunday is Mothra's Day!  Where we celebrate strange people in rubber monster suits stomping on model cities.  Right?

32 comments:

  1. Been a loooonng time and it took a pandemic to break the drought for an official post, welcome back Beans! It was only back late last fall that I saw one particular brick of .22LR selling for the same price as back in December of 2012, seven years after Sandy Hook. Mini-rant is 9/10 for timing, 8/10 for theme and 5/10 for words used(not enough cussing)............:) Hmmmmm.....might pull out Shin Godzilla and watch it tomorrow, ya know.... for Mom.

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    1. I am old and dignified and OldAFSarge doesn't allow cussing, much. Plus I have found that using almost-cussing words actually gets people's attention better than using cussing words.

      Do I cuss? Oh, let me bend one of my toes the wrong way and the local Navy recruiter shows up outside to take notes.

      Plus, I really did try to give it up for Lent and it mostly worked (especially working on not GDing or HCing or any profanity involving the Holy Family.) Mostly.

      Instead of ranting as actual blog posts, I have been mini-ranting all over the blogosphere, and when that doesn't work, I go rake. Yes, I live in an apartment, and for anger management I go rake the semi-unkept lawnish areas around the apartment block. Actually I've made it to around 12 of the small apartment buildings (3-5 single story apartments strung together - it's Florida and we don't have to live on top of each other like animals in New York City.) Rather therapeutic to restore the outlines of non-lawn areas and uncover grass and just neaten up the area. Because it's better than seething out loud next to Mrs. Andrew who can, yes, read my mental emissions like a book and too much politics bothers her (though she finally has stopped falling for the MSM/DEM stance on the Wu Pin Cough or the Kung Flu.

      And what says love more than dressing up in a rubber suit and stomping on cardboard Tokyo for Mom!

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  2. Your distaste for the ass hats, jerks, a-holes that buy up scarce items and resell for usorial prices, yes; distressing times brings out the worst in capitalism. Capitalism and benevolence seldom if ever intersect. BUT - capitalism is still the best system on the planet that allows distribution of scarce resources, better than any other. Not even arguable.

    Any other distribution method will always involve guns, coercion, injustice, unfairness, imprisonment and death.

    Pick your poison, Beans.

    Not that a good rant here doesn't feel pretty good. It does, I'm sure.

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    1. Oh, I really don't mind the hotel that jacks their price up during hurricanes or other storms, forcing people to cram in together, thus making more rooms available for everyone (after all, most places jack up their room rates by 500% during concerts or football games or the 'in season' rate, so why is it suddenly illegal and immoral to do so when a huge friggin storm that will shatter the economy for months does the same thing?)

      I don't mind, I actually applaud the local convenience store that charges $1.99 for a bottle of water, or $40.00 for a 24 case of water, during a storm, instead of the normal $1.99 per bottle or $12.00 per case. For the exact same reason. Local economy is gonna get thrashed, so why not make money while the storm is there. After all, I see nobody petitioning Congress or their local legislatures to get Arenas or Stadiums or Airlines to charge a sensible amount when you use their services (I remember... (sound of clacking dentures and smacking lips) in my youth a family of ordinary Joe-Schmucks could actually go to see a baseball game or a football game and not have to take a loan out or not eat for the rest of the year. In fact, I knew people who went to ball games all the time, and weren't uber-rich or corporate sleazeballs. You know, back in the time of dinosaurs and glaciers covering the earth, in the mid 1970's...)

      And I don't get peeved at said guy in Michigan who loads up local gensets and goes to Texas or Louisiana or any hurricane ravaged state to sell gensets marked up enough to cover shipping and a moderate profit. Now, going around in Texas or Louisiana or any hurricane ravaged state and buying up all the available gensets and marking them up 500% and selling them right back into the local market where you bought them from? Legal. But still massive aholery. Yer mama should spend the rest of her life wailing the tarnation out of your hide for being such a turd. And that's what the infected scrotums who bought all the local wipe and antiseptic in order to turn and sell back to the people did. Just like the ammo sellers during the great droughts of the previous administration (there were actually people who bribed Walmart employees to hold or notify when the ammo came in, bought it, and then sold it in the Walmart parking lot for 10 times what they paid for it. Very good rampant capitalism. but I consider it scummery. I prefer a more 'compassionate' capitalism, after all, you can make more money over the long term overcharging slightly than you can just once or twice.)

      It is a fine line. Too little capitalism and it's socialism. To much capitalism and it becomes predatory.

      And what really is interesting is most of the predatory capitalists I have known are actually leftists. Nothing creates a black market-screwyourneighbor situation like anything left of moderate. Especially socialism or downright communism.

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    2. I completely agree with you about general scummery. Their mommas didn't raise 'em right. But as economist Dr. Thomas Sowell would teach us all: imagine a hurricane hits your area, and you and hundreds of other families evacuate. All of you are looking for hotel rooms, and they all have jacked up their rates by double. Triple on some of the nicer digs. You grumble, gripe and hand over your credit card all the while giving the desk clerk the evil eye. Little Suzie and little Billy are whining that they don't get their own rooms, and daddy yells at them, "at THESE prices? Pipe down and sleep on the fold out, you'll live." And they all sleep like babies that night.

      Imagine that these hotels decided to do the 'right' thing and keep prices at the same rate, and the displaced hordes still head their way looking for shelter. The first families arrive, notice the outstandingly cheap prices and decide to get a separate room each for little Billy, little Suzie and a nice suite for mommie and daddy. Why not, the prices are right. And they hand over their credit card to the desk clerk, and everybody is happy. Except the late arriving hordes, who are out of luck because all the rooms are sold out, and wind up sleeping in their cars on the side of the road.

      Had those hotels done what capitalism dictates (supply and demand), and jacked up the rates, little Billy and little Suzie would have had to sleep on the fold outs, sofas, etc, since mom and dad had to fork over the big bucks during this time of scarcity. And the late arrivals would then have digs, too.

      Capitalism can be benevolent at times, although it doesn't seem like it up close and personal.

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    3. I find it funny that it's considered price gouging and predatory to hike rates during natural disasters, but it's A-Okay to really jump up the room rated during 'special events' like sports-money-ball events or conventions.

      So, yes, fair price gouging? Totally cool.

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  3. A fine rant, Beans. Only a suggestion and a sidenote to add.
    1. Had the same issue for the same reason with rubbing alcohol. Went to the store frequently and at different times as I got closer to actually running out. Finally, since the rubbing alcohol is in the pharmacy section of the store, I stopped at the counter and asked them when a good time to come in and get it was, explaining that I was diabetic and getting low. She smiled and said wait here, came back and handed my a box of the wipes and a bottle. She said they kept those in back for those who actually need them. Might give that a try. Course it also helps if the pharmacist had been one of your students back in the day. :-)
    2. I know Randy May, the flight lead in the shootdown. He was a member of the Juvats also. Let me just say, he pulled the trigger, but there were WAY more preventative rules broken that should have required corrective/punitive action and weren't. Launching prior to scheduled TO time which put them in the area while the pre-sweep was going on and not squawking the correct ID code being two of many. Gotta hang somebody and you can't hang Generals or the dead...

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    1. 1. Unfortunately, I live in an area with lots of old and diabetic people, so the very nice people behind the counter, who know me by sight and by voice, because I am nice to them (well, except for the one time they didn't fill a prescription because it cost too much and were waiting for approval and then had to order said meds and no, you can't wait 3 days for insulin to come in, ya jerks, but mostly they are great people,) were already out. I really expected the RA to come back into the store and it wasn't until two weeks ago that my preps started running low and we had to scamazon those little wipes thingies, and then turned around and bought another box (thanks stimulus money...) and are now waiting on stuff to show back up. Though there is this technique where you freeze cheap vodka or tequila where the water actually freezes and leaves the alcohol concentrated and we may be looking into that.

      2. Reading the goat rope report on wiki. Yes, he screwed up. So did the AWACS crew. So did everyone else. Goat Rope par Extraordinaire. And the Colonels and General in charge, as you said, were unhangable. It's the one thing the Navy usually gets right. in a major cock-up, the dingus who cocked-up gets hammered, and then it goes up the chain of command to the Captain of the ship. Kind of encourages Captains (who these days tend to be higher ranked than captain because admiral glut) to make sure cock-ups are weeded out early. Well, except for those two ships that had collisions a couple years ago, especially the second one where the acting bridge officer was in a snitty tiff with the person in charge of the CIC, and vice versa and they weren't talking to each other and weren't giving each other the time of day because pissy bitch games, literally. A good captain should have known what was going on and tossed both idiots overboard, preferably during a shark swarm. But no, and so people died because pissy people doing pissy things.

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    2. And, juvat, I wondered if you knew the F-15 pilots. And you answered it right away. Sucky thing.

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    3. Per your comment about bridge and CIC.
      It seems there's always been some distrust.
      Part of the issue, back in the day [dunno about now], is that once a junior officer qualified as a ship handler they didn't stand CIC watches any more.
      They were too important.

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    4. But the case I mention the CIC and Bridge Handler were literally having a hissy fit over something, so they weren't talking to each other. Weren't talking. Communicating. Which was their jobs.

      Ignoring someone because you're 'better than them'? Okay, you suck. But two standing heads having bitchy hissy fit fights openly to the point that one won't tell the other that a large skyscraper-sized ship is about to plow them over? What the fruck?

      Not to mention, a bridge commander not having people actually on the wing bridges looking for ships in crowded waters?

      Then there's the people not trained to handle equipment, which was okay because the equipment was kerbroken and not fixed because the bridge people wouldn't tell the engineering people that the bridge stuff didn't work because it might look bad on them for not having working equipment.

      And a host of other issues. That, quite frankly, after reading, I could make more sense out of a pack of sorority girls drunk and, sorry, on cycle all at the same time. I mean. WTF? This ain't 'Don't Give Up The Ship' Navy, nor 'Damn the Torpedoes, Full Speed Ahead' Navy, this is McHale's Navy if McHale and all the other people were replaced by the cast of 'Grey's Anatomy' and the original writers were replace by the writers of GA.

      GAAAAHHHHH!!!! This, this is not how you successfully navigate troubled waters. This is not the navy that is supposed to get 150% out of old ships, successfully, in worse weather than anyone has ever seen, repeatedly, until the other side gives up.

      AAAARRRRGGGHHHHHH!!!

      (Sorry, my mind is fried today. Talked to my mother, wonderful lady, but she thinks THE LIGHTBRINGER was/is a saint and seriously has a bad case of OrangeManBad. So I spent 30 minutes of my time that I could have been raking talking to my mom and getting no where.)

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    5. Beans:
      I went to see a "diabetologist" (an RN who specialized in helping new diabetics) who demonstrated that scrubbing the "poke area" with hot water and soap does quite well, if not better, than RA. Since then (~10 years), I've never had a problem (infection) with an area that I poke to obtain blood for a test or an area that I use to inject the insulin. I'm not recommending this without the patients first discussing the procedure with their physician.

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  4. And there you have it. Questions?

    (Nice rant, your situation isn't the same everywhere as to shortages and the like, but a sound explanation of how that happened. Well done, Sir Beans!)

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    1. Situations vary. As I wrote to juvat (above) there are lots of old peeps in the area (hey, it's Florida!) and thus the demand is extra heavy for medical supplies.

      Like, a few years ago, the recreational drug users were buying up all the insulin needles so you had to have a doctor's note to buy a box. Jerks causing problems for decent people. It's what trees and rope are for. Hang them by their ankles until enough blood finally flows to their brains that they can start thinking right. Or their head pops like a bloody zit. Don't care. People who recreate with drugs, well, another rant for another time.

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  5. Beans, it's good to hear from you but I'm sorry to say that it will be necessary to schedule you for the next Assertiveness course. You are obviously having difficulty articulating you true feelings.

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    1. Fine. I'll take an assertiveness course, maybe, if I get around to it.

      Just, whatever you do, don't make me take a diversity class ever again. The last one almost got me fired. And the one before that almost got me fired. Seriously. Like what was said 'in cofidentiality' got to my managers and the city manager and the mayor and... the EEOC office who really hated me.

      Hmmmm. Sounds like a good potential post. POCIR.

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  6. Nice rant.
    There’s a term for those folks who were instrumental in creating the shortages.
    Emmeffer is short for me firster.
    I believe it covers all the bases.

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    1. Yup. And really, the real people who cause shortages everywhere are those Masters of Business Administration who love 'Just-In-Time' inventories.

      Back when I was a wee sprout, about 1/3rd of any selling establishment like a drug store or grocery store was storage. Buy stuff, put it in storage, put it on the shelf when needed. Now? Most places use a trailer or cargo container as storage and really don't store anything on site. Which sucks. Thus things like TP and alcohol get ordered 3-6 months in advance of their expected sale date.

      Grrr.

      No flex in the system.

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  7. Hey Beans;

    I remember in Desert Storm an Airforce Air Jockey got an Air metal for refused to fire a missile at a target that an AWAC had designated as a "bad guy" because his gut told him that the profile didn't match an enemy helicopter and he flat out refused and went and closed for a visual and it was a pair of black hawks,and the pilot was really pissed he went up the chain of command raising hell pissed. I heard about the initial drama from the air liasion attached to my unit because he was getting stuff from the Airforce side of the house. The Airforce back then had always denigrated Army aviation as "unworthy" in their eyes, it was a cultural thing. After the shoot down in 1994, it forced the changes of protocols and procedures to prevent future "blue on blue" accidents.

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    1. That Black Hawk shoot-down was just the very thing that the phrase 'goat-rope' or 'cluster-copulation' was designed for. Complete screw up all across the board.

      Was the pilot at fault? Erm, yes. But so many others were also, and he was the sacrificial goat in this instance. Career executions should have been all across the board every where.

      And AWACS? Perfect example of GIGO, Garbage-In, Garbage-Out.

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  8. Amen.
    Go gators.
    JB

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    1. Ooooo. You said a bad word. We're 'Noles here. (Because, when wife was working 60 hours a week and trying to go to school the U of F wouldn't have undergraduate courses at night or on line, but FSU did, so wife, while living in Gainesville, got two degrees from FSU. Plus... Bobby Bowden!)

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  9. Good rant Beans!! I certainly agree with the majority of this rant!!
    So far as Rubbing Alcohol goes, yeah, STILL can't find it any where where it normally lives around here. However, folks with diabetes do NOT need to use it prior to pricking their fingers to check their blood sugars--per the American Diabetic Association like 25+ years ago...I know, I know, every time a new diabetic is instructed on how to use this new meter thingy, the nurse wipes your finger with an alcohol pad...She is a nurse and was taught to wipe EVERYTHING with alcohol waaay back in nursing school. It's an automatic reflex by this time. However, the ADA said it is just fine to go wash your hands with warm water and soap and pat dry. Alcohol is a constrictant, so it makes much more sense to use an alcohol pad AFTER you have stuck your finger to get the blood to stop, especially if you are on aspirin or blood thinners.

    And NEVER EVER use hand sanitizer to clean your hands before doing a finger stick--it has glycerin in it, which can mess with your readings, so go wash your hands. Or use an alcohol wipe, or a wet ones wipe. And, yes, ask at the Pharmacy...even if they were not a student of yours back in the day, they, many times, will have stuff set aside for diabetics. The worst they will say is no. Or that was my experience for 25+ years when I was a certified diabetes educator, not all that long ago.

    When work was having a very hard time getting alcohol, or sanitizer wipes (to be used only with gloves on when wiping down equipment so that the wiper doesn't have 3-headed children) I did stop into a local liquor store on my way home from my last patient's house. The nice young dude behind the counter said "Yup, we have Everclear. Just got some in. Just put it on the shelf over there." So I grabbed 2 nice big bottles and brought them home. To be used only if not able to get stuff from work. Which, thankfully, so far at least, hasn't happened, although the supply gal and the big boss's administrative assistant were doing a LOT of bartering, begging, general groveling and running out to pick up stuff. Masks, gowns, gloves, sanitizer, etc that as an agency caring for sick folks we need to have. I asked the supply gal about why, exactly, did we run out? After all, we had been using gloves, and hand sanitizer quite a bit BEFORE the Kung Flu hit, we used to be able to grab our own box of gloves, now we get a baggie of 25 gloves handed to us. I like large, as I have fat farmer's hands...but mediums seem to be the favorite size. I have gloves to squeeze my hands into, so I take what I am given and move along. Any way, she said that the supplier was the one running out of supplies, and the agency was trying to maintain their stocks they required to keep on hand in case of emergency. More recently though, things do seem to be loosening up. I went into a Stewart's shop (they have clean bathrooms, gas, and yummy ice cream) and there was a big barrel of hand sanitizer containers brewed up by a local distillery next to the cash register. I grabbed 2. Opened one up and sure enough, smells just slightly like whiskey. Capitalism is a wonderful concept.

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    1. Capitalism is, even in it's worse ways, still much better than any other system. Unless, of course, you are one of the people the other system is designed to support.

      I need to go to a real liquor store and purchase some redneck fuel.

      Thanks for the info on diabetic finger sticking. When wife was first put on the stuff, it was when she was still recovering from the brain bleed so memory and understanding were not there. So I begged and pleaded for help and got none. Like, how much insulin per points over 120 on the glucose meter? Where were the best places to stick? Standard or short needles? Best way to stick, cleanup, all that. Got... Bupkis. Nada. Zilch. And, no, Dr. Dr. and Nurse Nurse, food doesn't drive my wife's blood sugar nearly as much as infection, sickness or pain. A sickness that causes a fever and messes up her pain-med uptake so she's in pain? Drives the blood sugar up much farther than eating something sugary.

      Well, it took her being hospitalized for issues for someone to finally hear me over the issues we were having, like.. oh, living on $12k a year, both of us, with her meds costing $300 or more a month. And being yelled at by docs and nutritionists because we couldn't afford fresh veggies and lean meats. Heck, we couldn't afford crappy meats and starches. Fun times, fun times. Funny, when you actually need help, nobody will help you and you don't fit everyone's parameters for needing help. Good things those times are long past.

      I kinda have a love-hate relationship with the medical community. Like the last time my wife was hospitalized for a massive infection caused by a surgery gone wrong and was in pain because she is on long-term pain management and they wouldn't give her any pain pills because they said she was abusing them and addicted. Yeah, no. Jerks, jerks all. Or "Quit eating and lose weight." Said by a doctor treating her non-existent thyroid, so, yes, she has a metabolism rivaling a sloth. I could go on, but...

      Glad to hear from you, by the way. Was just wondering how life was treating you as I don't remember reading comments from "The SUZ" in a few days.

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    2. There are a lot of really clueless folks in the medical world. Who have never walked a mile in someone else's shoes, and can't make their imagination work enough to do so. I know. I work with them. Annnd do not get me started on medical folks who can only speak in Medical-ese, instead of English like the rest of the US, and then are all on about how non-compliant the patient is...well...gee...they didn't understand what you were talking about!! Duh!!!

      Talk about topics for rants! Lol. I used to tell my patients to go see the nutritionist, then come back to me, and I would show them how to cheat without getting into trouble. And yes, infections are waaay worse that a couple of pieces of pizza or a donut!!

      Life is treating me pretty well currently, just working a lot, and going to bed when I am exhausted tired. So not so much on the computer for fun as much during the week. But I am still here!! Yea!!

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    3. My wife ws forced to go to a nutritionist by one of her endocrinologists. So we (because I always go) sat for an hour being talked down to by said nutritionist, about what is fat, good fat, bad fat, yada yada. Finally we got the jerkette to shut up and listen to us, and we gave food charts and calorie counts to her, and got the point across that wife was inputting 600-900 calories per day, at which time the nutritionist said "Impossible! Only someone with a dead thyroid could do that!" At which time we opened the folder in front of her and showed her... Dead Thyroid. Wife made sure not to pay that bill, and made a ruckus at the front desk about how condenscending and ignorant their professional food person was. Neither Wife nor I are quiet people, once we get on a roll.

      So, yeah, really hate the medical profession and all their arrogance.

      I swear, that one time she was denied pain meds, that the nurses were 'issuing' them to themselves, as we sure got charged for them (well, the insurance company.)

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  10. Very on point post.
    I'm trying to figure out how to unseeth. Maybe it's cabin fever, or my decreasing ability to tolerate the idiocy all around.



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    1. Try raking. You can rake as hard as you can get away with. And doesn't get the cops called like blowing stuff up or taking a sledge hammer to the neighbor's loud car, or the neighbor. And God Forbid you actually shoot or play with your guns if you are even allowed to have said instruments of the Devil.

      It's hard to unseeth. And deal with idiocy all around. Like.. Face Masks. Made sense to use them at the start of all this kerfuffle, but now, as the lockdowns have proven to be less than useless and in warm weather that kills the virus quicker than someone with dirt on Hillary? Naw.

      Delete
    2. Gotta say, still think Masks make a difference. Since this stupid virus can only get into your system through a mucus membrane, by covering your mouth, and nose, and keeping your hands away from your face (wanna rub your eyeballs, go wash your hands first!) If both folks have a mask on, so they are keeping their cooties to them selves, instead of sharing with the rest of the universe, the chances of getting the other person's cooties is decreased to something like only 10% or so. And if the masks are real, useful ones, instead of just a bandana, the percentage is even better.

      Are they a pain--yup.

      Does wearing them make my glasses fog up--yup.

      Do I want the rest of the country to be able to get back to work so that driving around is only a pain in the butt first thing in the morning, and again about 4-5ish--yup.

      Do I want to get anyone else's cooties?? Hell NO!!!

      Am I wearing my mask?? You betcha!!! At least at work, we have a clue if someone is positive, or is having symptoms, or has been hanging someplace that is considered high risk--like hospitals, or god-forbid, nursing homes. And yes, I wear the duckbill version of the N95 plus the entire face shield---REALLY makes my glasses fog up!!! But I have NO clue when I stop into a Stewart's or go to the grocery store for Mom and Dad what is the condition of the other folks wandering up and down the isles is. And I do know that I do NOT want whatever it is that they are spewing into the air. So I wear the stupid mask, and wash my hands yet again. Thank goodness the hand cream folks are still in business. Go buy stock in Neutrogena. Just saying.

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    3. Masks for specific situations and specific people.

      But... in a garden center in fresh air? Where people normally have an increased personal space? Or in a park? Or driving?

      Now, on the subway or bus or in a doctor's office or in a public library (where one can usually find bums and homeless and dirty people, oh my) and other confined spaces where people are crammed in on each other? Yes.

      Common sense is the proper policy. You dealing as a nurse? Yes. Me walking to the dumpster? No.

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  11. Hadn't thought about TP use being up because everyone is at home, but sounds reasonable. However, the jerkiness is the primary culprit, with a heavy dose of idiocy. I heard a local news outlet interviewing a middle-aged couple leaving Costco with a cart full of TP. When asked why they were buying so much, their answer was "because everyone else is." The empty food shelves though is because of more use at home, vice people eating out, not because of hoarding. Fortunately we've been able to get the food we want, and the TP showed back up before we used up our pre-apocalypse purchase. You can even find hand sanitizer. The next shortage will be appointments of all types, dinner reservations in the social distancing restaurants, and patience in the DMV lines.

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    Replies
    1. DMV lines? What are those. We here in the backward inbred South use either mail-in renewals or on-line. Of course first DLs and those that match Safe-ID standards still require going into the DMV, but those weren't shut down either.

      Mrs. Andrew and I had family doc appointments last month, so when the lockdown came about, because Mrs. Andrew is pretty much square in the crosshairs, except for not being from New York City or having bloodtype A, we rescheduled to first of July.

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Just be polite... that's all I ask. (For Buck)
Can't be nice, go somewhere else...

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