Would anyone anywhere out there care to comment if you have noticed any unusual shortage of Y2K items in stores in your area? If there seems to be full shelves everywhere, then I guess we can assume that there IS no hurry in the average DGI's mind to buy/stock anything yet, if ever. The items could include ANYTHING that would make up a Y2K stockpile--guns, grub, gizmos, etc. Also, to remain semi-anonymous, repliers could state their present location generally e.g. large mid-west city, suburbs of a SW USA city, etc. Thamks.

-- profit_of_doom (doom@helltopay.ca), October 05, 1999

Answers

Plenty of condoms!!

(Location: somewhere in Europe.)

-- King of Spain (madrid@aol.cum), October 05, 1999.

What's a condom?

-- disguised (clinton@arkansas.net), October 05, 1999.

There seems to be a run on gold coins. Everywhere I go seems they only have one or two. Everything else the shelves are full. Midwest.

I ain't got nobody, nobody cares for me...nobody...

-- David Lee Roth (Diver Down@Van Halen.ou812), October 05, 1999.

A condom is a device that school teachers use to demonstrate to your little children on how to properly put on a condom when they are about to engage in sexual intercourse. Teachers often use cucumbers to demonstrate the proper placement of the condom. I think they are sexually abusing the cucumber and I wonder where the vegetable-right activists are! Cucumbers belong in salads, they were not made to wear condoms. I think cucumbers are being exploited and the Surgeon General should put a stop to this immediately. Condoms are made to fit on a penis, and in order to have the children fully understand the BIG picture a dildoe should be used in place of a cucumber.

-- nuff said (nuffsaid@nuffsaidd.xcom), October 05, 1999.

nuff said

what is really sad is what those teachers with the cucumbers are doing to the self-esteem of the boys in the class and raising the expectations of the girls.

Espeically if they buy really LARGE cukes!

-- David Lee Roth (Diver Down@Van Halen.ou812), October 05, 1999.

David, I know what you mean. I think those poor little boys go to the restroom after class and wonder why their "cucumber" isn't that size, and the girls wish they were.

-- nuff said (nuffsaid@nuffsaiddd.xcom), October 05, 1999.

No real shortages here...lots of pineapple, coconuts, SPAM, rice, and batteries. BUT there is no hurricane on the horizon! Kauai, Hawaii.

-- Mad Monk (madmonk@hawaiian.net), October 05, 1999.

Here in very western Nevada there appears to be NO shortage of survival items. OTOH, gas prices are sky high!!!!!! DH and I shopped 2 weeks ago for wood stoves and found no problem at all with availability or quick installation time. Just bought a 250 gallon water bag at the grocery store - still have more on the shelf and only $24.99. The prices on water barrels, however, have risen in the last month but they are still around and plentiful. I think there are very few GI's in my area.... sigh.

-- Pam (Pam1234@aol.com), October 05, 1999.

No SPAM at WalMart, and no distilled water. Safeway: Sold out on S&W canned fruits (12 for $6.00). Sold out on Staggs Chili (12 for $6.00). Sold out on Safeway canned chicken broth (12 for $4.80). They are handing out rain checks, but if you pressure them, they will substitute. Sale ended today. Asked WalMart when the next shipment of water comes in and the manager did not know. At Safeway, I noticed that a lot of canned goods were stacked in the very front of the shelves, but nothing behind them. I asked the checker about it and she said that as soon as they get the shelves stocked they empty right away. Safeway also had 24 cans of vegetables for $6.00. There wasn't a limit, and I saw one customer walk out with 10 cases of green beans, and corn.

-- a day at the market (dayatthemarket@dayatthemarkett.xcom), October 06, 1999.

It's interesting to read these posts w/ last fall's views about shortages in mind. I would guess that most forum-minded people expected way more stockpiling action by now--I certainly did.

Don't know of any shortages here in central Canada. Gas is expensive. At grocery stores there have been big sales on juice boxes and cereal since mid-summer.

Recently saw a huge bottled-water truck pull up at a house down the block. The crew unloaded enough 18-litre jugs to fill the house's basement. Saw a guy at the store last week loading the back of his van to the roof w/ cans of Heinz beans, must've been a skid's worth.

If I had to assess the current local climate of opinion, I'd say its idling in 'vague foreboding' mode. Local radio station is running a millennium-something-or-other contest--the jingle features a voice saying armageddon, armageddon, armageddon. A totally DGI friend of mine came over tonight to tell me she was booking her fireplace check and chimney cleaning this week "before everyone else does the same thing."

-- PH (ag3@interlog.com), October 06, 1999.

Lots of stuff on sale (normal around here) and lots available. Anything ya want, no limits. Cant say about coins though, we aint got no money to stash.

-- Art (artw@lancnews.infi.net), October 06, 1999.

West central NC. Shortages of bottled water and camping equipment. Most camping equip purchased in anticipation of Hurricane Floyd coming through here. Bottled water shortages are due to local efforts to assist those in the devastated areas of eastern NC. Some generators available. Plenty of stock for most other items.

-- (southeastern@my-deja.com), October 06, 1999.

"No SPAM at WalMart, and no distilled water. Safeway: Sold out on S&W canned fruits (12 for $6.00). Sold out on Staggs Chili (12 for $6.00). Sold out on Safeway canned chicken broth (12 for $4.80). They are handing out rain checks, but if you pressure them, they will substitute. Sale ended today."

Damn...thought it ran thru the 10th (Safeway). Added over 200 cans to my storage the past 3 weeks, Mainly Staggs and S&W stuff...Every time I visited them the sale items were in stock...

I haven't seen any shortages of anything I might want for preps....The neighbor just ordered an ES6500 Honda which is in stock and will be delivered in 10 days....gas here is much cheaper than it's been (low $1.30-ish)....Water and fuel drums are plentiful as are stick matches, K-1, lamp oil, food, supplements, etc....ammo is cheap too. Stores are selling some decent local red for $4 a bottle. I expect a month from now there may be some issues. Thats okay...basically have what I need.

DCK

-- Don Kulha (dkulha@vom.com), October 06, 1999.

If you walk through Home Base or Home Depot her in NM, there are loads of generators, fireplace inserts, kerosene heaters, and they don't seem to be moving. The grocery stores are business as usual, shelves fully stocked, and about an average number of people shopping... DGI's rule here...

scratchin'...

The Dog

-- Dog (Desert Dog@-sand.com), October 06, 1999.