Have you had any less common hiccups due to Covid?

[Tap]

We all know about the food shortages, lack of socialization, jobs and education problems. But have you had a more uncommon issue?

DS26's car broke down over month ago. It took the mechanic a week to diagnose, then a few days for ds to decide on fixing it or buying a different car.  He decided to fix it, mechanic said it would be done by the end of the week....that was 3 weeks ago. The mechanic started the repairs, but can't get one vital part. So, his car is tore apart, taking up room at the shop, and there isn't anything that can be done. The mechanic has reached out to other shops and even the dealership to get the part, but it isn't being manufactured right now. We have no idea how long until it will be available. 😞   I have been sharing a car with him for 6 weeks (dh tried to fix it first) and I reallllllllly want my car back!!! He is very, very busy and while we have been making it work, I just want to have my car, when I want my car. LOL 

Vent over....how about you? Any odd Covid stories? 

[Ausmumof3]

I was literally reading this title as though covid had somehow made you less likely to get the hiccoughs.

i don’t know if my things are covid related or not.  There were no tennis shoes available for a couple of months so we ended up with normal sneakers - most likely covid.  And I’m having trouble getting my usual bird breeding food.  The fodder shop said they’re having trouble getting a lot of them.  The only thing I can think is most have some vitamins etc added that may be in short supply.

[Pawz4me]

It's not an uncommon issue, but currently vet care is driving me nuts. One of our dogs has developed a very weird sleep issue--she's gone 24+ hours without sleeping on two occasions, and just can't seem to sleep well in general. In three weeks we've only had two somewhat normal nights of sleep, and it's starting to get to all of us. She's had a full exam and lots of blood work done, and Monday she's going in for x-rays. Trying to communicate effectively with the vet about a puzzling issue without being there in person during exams and tests is getting to be frustrating.

[Guest]

Mostly just zero ability to buy things that, in years past, have never been an issue. Things like kayaks, fishing supplies, a chest freezer. And I noticed that, if I were going to buy a dog/puppy, I missed my window by about 8 months. Everyone wished they had a dog once lockdown happened and all the puppies/dogs cost thousands of dollars now. 

Also, I have never seen such crowds at my favorite hiking locations. 

[Jentrovert]

I think this is fairly common, but I didn't expect it until it happened. The lumberyard I use hasn't had fence pickets in months. I badly need to restain our fence, but need to replace some pickets. Also finish another section of fencing. It's aggravating to have the funds and decent weather, but no supplies.

[Spryte]

I think this falls under food shortage, but it feels like a tragedy here:  there are no ghost peeps this year!  (Not that I eat them, but they are a Thing at our house.)

Other than that, it’s all been food and medicines, some supplements, the chest freezer we ordered in March didn't arrive till August.  Oh, and gardening supplies, those were hard to get.
 

One more hiccup, not related to a shortage:  we need to sell my mom’s minivan, and instead we are just letting it sit.  I don’t want to deal with potentially unmasked people - meeting them or test driving it.  

[mommyoffive]

I read this too as physical hiccups. 

2 things that have really been irritating. 

We ordered new high end mountain bikes for 3 kids.  The website said they would ship on a certain date.  A month after that passed, lots of our calls and emails they finally shipped. 

Second we ordered apparel from a summer program that my kids went to.  We ordered 2 months ago and still haven't gotten it.  Even after lots of emails and calls. 

[AmandaVT]

We're in the middle of selling our house and one of the closing conditions is that our water heater needed to be inspected and determined to be in good shape. It needed a part which we're still waiting on. It's been two weeks and we're getting closer to closing, so it's stressful. It wasn't an unusual part either - the guys thought it would be in stock. When I called to check on it a week later, the customer service person said lots of parts are backordered and taking forever to come in. 

Also, smelly hand sanitizer!! My school bought big jugs of sanitizer to refill classroom supplies and it smells SO bad. I don't have a super sensitive sense of smell, but I used it once and needed to wash my hands multiple times to stop almost gagging. 

[Wheres Toto]

We're doing a bunch of home repairs right now - new heat/ac unit, new windows, new siding, new insulation.   Every step of the way there have been things that were hard to find and the decisions we made about where to get them/who to go with the install had as much to do with who could actually do the job/send the materials in the next couple months and less to do with best cost or best reviews.    It's added a bunch more hassles to an already complicated, hard to coordinate job.

[J-rap]

1 hour ago, AmandaVT said:

We're in the middle of selling our house and one of the closing conditions is that our water heater needed to be inspected and determined to be in good shape. It needed a part which we're still waiting on. It's been two weeks and we're getting closer to closing, so it's stressful. It wasn't an unusual part either - the guys thought it would be in stock. When I called to check on it a week later, the customer service person said lots of parts are backordered and taking forever to come in. 

Also, smelly hand sanitizer!! My school bought big jugs of sanitizer to refill classroom supplies and it smells SO bad. I don't have a super sensitive sense of smell, but I used it once and needed to wash my hands multiple times to stop almost gagging. 

I've heard that some of the really smelly sanitizers are being made at breweries that are temporarily making hand sanitizers -- which is great, but they often have a bad, yeasty smell.

[Zebra]

I ordered a fridge 3 months ago, and it's been delayed twice already.

My fridge is old and not doing well, and we have a tiny kitchen with only 1 possible smaller spot for it so we don't have many options in normal times.

I've heard stories of people having their fridge die and having to go months without one.

[Selkie]

Re. the shortage of building supplies: Way back in the early spring, a local builder foresaw that there was going to be a shortage. He bought every single thing he needed to build five new houses, put it all in storage, and has been using it as he needs it. Pretty smart move!

[Tap]

4 hours ago, Quill said:

Mostly just zero ability to buy things that, in years past, have never been an issue. Things like kayaks, fishing supplies, a chest freezer. And I noticed that, if I were going to buy a dog/puppy, I missed my window by about 8 months. Everyone wished they had a dog once lockdown happened and all the puppies/dogs cost thousands of dollars now. 

Also, I have never seen such crowds at my favorite hiking locations. 

We ran into this as well. Even puppies that were listed by breeders in future litters, are double or triple the price.  I was looking in Feb/March and the shelters/rescues were starting to close and the few dogs that were posted on-line, were gone in the blink of an eye. I put in so many inquires about pups which were listed, but never even got replies. This is understandable if they are buried with requests for information, but then take the posting down!.  We lucked out and got a rehomed dog this summer. Even that almost fell thru, when the owners had 2nd thoughts. When she became available the second time, I jumped on the chance to get her and picked her up 2 hours later. LOL I didn't want to allow them to reconsider again. Haha. Good luck finding a pup! Especially an affordable one!

[Guest]

1 minute ago, Tap said:

We ran into this as well. Even puppies that were listed by breeders in future litters, are double or triple the price.  I was looking in Feb/March and the shelters/rescues were starting to close and the few dogs that were posted on-line, were gone in the blink of an eye. I put in so many inquires about pups which were listed, but never even got replies. This is understandable if they are buried with requests for information, but then take the posting down!.  We lucked out and got a rehomed dog this summer. Even that almost fell thru, when the owners had 2nd thoughts. When she became available the second time, I jumped on the chance to get her and picked her up 2 hours later. LOL I didn't want to allow them to reconsider again. Haha. Good luck finding a pup! Especially an affordable one!

Thank you. Admittedly, part of my problem is dh, who is on the fence about getting a dog and I am not going to pursue it if he is reluctant, because I know how that will go in the future if I have any issues with the dog. (“I told you so...”) I also flat-out need his assistance because our fence has to be completed for a dog. (So, he truly is “on the fence”...)

Another part of the problem is which breed or type of dog because the dog-of-my-heart was a mix and I don’t know how to repeat that unless we were committed, both of us, to definitely getting this type of dog. And ds wants a different kind of dog, which I am not against, but which probably wouldn’t be the dog of my heart. And they are more than $2,000 dollars now. 

Summary: me - a medium-sized sheltie or shepherding mx; intelligent, calm, pretty, preferably female

dh - a German Shepherd or mix, large, male, handsome

ds - a yellow lab or mis, large, most likely male, playful

 

[kbutton]

Shipping delays have affected a few things, including taking forever to get my son's glasses once they were ordered. He has a fussy Rx, so it's not like them come fast to begin with.

Intermittent troubles ordering the Iodine I use (I don't use iodized salt).

Cement tubes! Everyone built decks this year. We built a shed and had to go with smaller tubes for the piers (don't worry, the entire shed is over-engineered). 

[Pawz4me]

50 minutes ago, Zebra said:

I ordered a fridge 3 months ago, and it's been delayed twice already.

My fridge is old and not doing well, and we have a tiny kitchen with only 1 possible smaller spot for it so we don't have many options in normal times.

I've heard stories of people having their fridge die and having to go months without one.

We bought a new fridge a couple of months ago, to proactively replace our 14 yo one. We did NOT want it to die during the pandemic and have to wait weeks or months to get a new one. Thankfully the one I ordered only got delayed once. Good luck getting yours soon.

[Tap]

14 minutes ago, Quill said:

Thank you. Admittedly, part of my problem is dh, who is on the fence about getting a dog and I am not going to pursue it if he is reluctant, because I know how that will go in the future if I have any issues with the dog. (“I told you so...”) I also flat-out need his assistance because our fence has to be completed for a dog. (So, he truly is “on the fence”...)

Another part of the problem is which breed or type of dog because the dog-of-my-heart was a mix and I don’t know how to repeat that unless we were committed, both of us, to definitely getting this type of dog. And ds wants a different kind of dog, which I am not against, but which probably wouldn’t be the dog of my heart. And they are more than $2,000 dollars now. 

Summary: me - a medium-sized sheltie or shepherding mx; intelligent, calm, pretty, preferably female

dh - a German Shepherd or mix, large, male, handsome

ds - a yellow lab or mis, large, most likely male, playful

 

LOL that is why I took so long to decide too. I wanted  a young dog and  and  specific traits and that limited my breeds. Add in the breeds I will never buy and it was really hard to find one that fit. Once the pandemic hit, we finally had time for a puppy, so I could open the age window a bit, but then they rapidly increased out of my price range! 

I started putting the word out with friends for what I was looking for and got very, very lucky. The nice thing was, is that if she wasn't a good fit once we brought her home, we had a clause that we could return her to the prior-owners. This allowed me the chance to bring her home for everyone to get attached, before completely committing. LOL After a week, all the nay-sayers were happily in love. 

[mommyoffive]

56 minutes ago, Quill said:

Thank you. Admittedly, part of my problem is dh, who is on the fence about getting a dog and I am not going to pursue it if he is reluctant, because I know how that will go in the future if I have any issues with the dog. (“I told you so...”) I also flat-out need his assistance because our fence has to be completed for a dog. (So, he truly is “on the fence”...)

Another part of the problem is which breed or type of dog because the dog-of-my-heart was a mix and I don’t know how to repeat that unless we were committed, both of us, to definitely getting this type of dog. And ds wants a different kind of dog, which I am not against, but which probably wouldn’t be the dog of my heart. And they are more than $2,000 dollars now. 

Summary: me - a medium-sized sheltie or shepherding mx; intelligent, calm, pretty, preferably female

dh - a German Shepherd or mix, large, male, handsome

ds - a yellow lab or mis, large, most likely male, playful

 

Looks like you need to get 3 dogs.  😉

You guys don't want a resuce right?

[mommyoffive]

1 hour ago, Zebra said:

I ordered a fridge 3 months ago, and it's been delayed twice already.

My fridge is old and not doing well, and we have a tiny kitchen with only 1 possible smaller spot for it so we don't have many options in normal times.

I've heard stories of people having their fridge die and having to go months without one.

I am so scared about that.  I thought of just buying one and using our old one in the garage. 

[mommyoffive]

46 minutes ago, Pawz4me said:

We bought a new fridge a couple of months ago, to proactively replace our 14 yo one. We did NOT want it to die during the pandemic and have to wait weeks or months to get a new one. Thankfully the one I ordered only got delayed once. Good luck getting yours soon.

Ahhhhhh.  Maybe I should  do that.  Ours is 14 years old too.

[Guest]

3 minutes ago, mommyoffive said:

Looks like you need to get 3 dogs.  😉

You guys don't want a resuce right?

No I don’t think the rescue route is right for us, in part because I can’t apply for any rescue while dh is not on board. Also, if we did go the German Shepherd route, I am sorry but I refuse to get that breed second hand. Too many GSD are relinquished for aggression and that is a hard no for me. Even Labs second hand make me nervous because relinquished Labs are often due to destructive behavior a là Marley & Me. 

[Not_a_Number]

We left our old car's title back in Texas and had to apply for a new one in order to sell it, and it's taking forever. Also, we got a new car, and we STILL haven't gotten the license plates for it two months later... 

[Pawz4me]

35 minutes ago, mommyoffive said:

I am so scared about that.  I thought of just buying one and using our old one in the garage. 

That's exactly what we did. It's nice having the extra space.

[Selkie]

43 minutes ago, Not_a_Number said:

We left our old car's title back in Texas and had to apply for a new one in order to sell it, and it's taking forever. Also, we got a new car, and we STILL haven't gotten the license plates for it two months later... 

Same here. I bought a car two months ago and am still waiting. The guy at the dealership said our state is 3+ months behind.

[mommyoffive]

1 hour ago, Quill said:

No I don’t think the rescue route is right for us, in part because I can’t apply for any rescue while dh is not on board. Also, if we did go the German Shepherd route, I am sorry but I refuse to get that breed second hand. Too many GSD are relinquished for aggression and that is a hard no for me. Even Labs second hand make me nervous because relinquished Labs are often due to destructive behavior a là Marley & Me. 

Hmmm, I haven't ever heard that with labs.  We only rescue and have never had any trouble with labs.  We are on our 3rd lab.  Can you rescue a puppy instead?  Then you can train it the way you want.

Our shelters let you bring back the dog for 30 days and get a different one for no additional charge if it isn't working for you. 

[Not_a_Number]

13 minutes ago, Selkie said:

Same here. I bought a car two months ago and am still waiting. The guy at the dealership said our state is 3+ months behind.

Same. 

[Loowit]

We had trouble getting siding for our shed project.  We thought we only needed to replace the front panels, but when we were cleaning to prep for painting we found more rot and needed to replace all the siding.  We had already bought panels for the front, but they were out when we went to get the others.  We ended up having to go out of town to get the last ones available in the area.

Most of our building repair projects and gardening projects have been hard to find materials.  We went to get a replacement sprinkler a few weeks ago and the whole section in the store was sold out.

[Frosch]

2 hours ago, Quill said:

No I don’t think the rescue route is right for us, in part because I can’t apply for any rescue while dh is not on board. Also, if we did go the German Shepherd route, I am sorry but I refuse to get that breed second hand. Too many GSD are relinquished for aggression and that is a hard no for me. Even Labs second hand make me nervous because relinquished Labs are often due to destructive behavior a là Marley & Me. 

Two rescued GSD's at our house. One was a puppy that we failure to thrive. (a beautiful old girl now) and the other an old neglected fellow who is the most adoring and appreciative dog I have ever known.  They both have their own issues but aggression isn't on the list.

Our COVID-based issues have been dryer parts on back order, allergy shots for one itchy GSD on limited availability, and hunting down my kid's limited menu items due to his allergy testing.     Oh, and I had to wait for 3 months to get recalls done for my vehicle.  (sigh)

Edited October 11, 2020 by Frosch

[Guest]

53 minutes ago, mommyoffive said:

Hmmm, I haven't ever heard that with labs.  We only rescue and have never had any trouble with labs.  We are on our 3rd lab.  Can you rescue a puppy instead?  Then you can train it the way you want.

Our shelters let you bring back the dog for 30 days and get a different one for no additional charge if it isn't working for you. 

I can’t get any dog or puppy with dh not committed to the venture. I have learned my lesson in this respect and I don’t want whatever issues arise with the dog/puppy to fall solely on me because, “Well, that’s why I *said* I didn’t want another dog...” 

The 30-day guarantee is nice enough but I would really, really hope I never need to do that. I think sending a dog back to a rescue is pretty awful for all involved. Ds would be heartbroken if we finally got a dog and it went back. That would also “prove” to dh the whole, “Well, I *said* I didn’t want a dog and you see?...” again. 

5 minutes ago, Frosch said:

Two rescued GSD's at our house. One was a puppy that we failure to thrive. (a beautiful old girl now) and the other an old neglected fellow who is the most adoring and appreciative dog I have ever known.  They both have their own issues but aggression isn't on the list.

Our COVID-based issues have been dryer parts on back order, allergy shots for one itchy GSD on limited availability, and hunting down my kid's limited menu items due to his allergy testing.     Oh, and I had to wait for 3 months to get recalls done for my vehicle.  (sigh)

I’m glad you didn’t have issues with your GSDs. But some do. There was a poster on here in this situation before. Her new GSD rescue horribly injured her existing dog. Statistically, German Shepherds are at the top of the list for dog bites. We had a wonderful GSD named Sarge for 12 years, so I’m not saying they are a bad breed. But we got Sarge as a puppy from a breeder. Rescues for GSDs is not the route I would go. 

[lewelma]

I had to put my US ballot in the diplomatic bag at the embassy because first class mail to the USA is taking 2 to 3 months.  There are just not any flights happening, so the mail is not flowing internationally. 

[mommyoffive]

13 minutes ago, Quill said:

I can’t get any dog or puppy with dh not committed to the venture. I have learned my lesson in this respect and I don’t want whatever issues arise with the dog/puppy to fall solely on me because, “Well, that’s why I *said* I didn’t want another dog...” 

The 30-day guarantee is nice enough but I would really, really hope I never need to do that. I think sending a dog back to a rescue is pretty awful for all involved. Ds would be heartbroken if we finally got a dog and it went back. That would also “prove” to dh the whole, “Well, I *said* I didn’t want a dog and you see?...” again. 

I’m glad you didn’t have issues with your GSDs. But some do. There was a poster on here in this situation before. Her new GSD rescue horribly injured her existing dog. Statistically, German Shepherds are at the top of the list for dog bites. We had a wonderful GSD named Sarge for 12 years, so I’m not saying they are a bad breed. But we got Sarge as a puppy from a breeder. Rescues for GSDs is not the route I would go. 

Oh for sure you need your dh on board.   I was just saying if your dh is on board maybe you could rescue a puppy.   Oh yes I think 30 guarantee is sad, I had no idea they even did it.

[lewelma]

It is going to cost me $3300 plus the plane flight to see my ds over christmas.  We have to pay for quarantine because he is coming back for a holiday, not to live. 

[Frances]

5 hours ago, Margaret in CO said:

Interesting thing--we're seeing an increase in rescue horses right now. I guess because of the economy and the Midwest floods, people do not have hay to feed. Hay prices are nice and strong right now (yay, as we're going to be feeding some of last year's and selling more of this year's crop), but we've been offered two rescues (took one, and turned one down) in the last few months. We have a horse on consignment right now that I think we might keep and move the one rescue on out after fixing some behavior problems. Using horse prices are coming down. 

Didn’t this happen during the Great Recession? At least here people couldn’t even give away many horses for free.

[Frances]

4 hours ago, mommyoffive said:

Ahhhhhh.  Maybe I should  do that.  Ours is 14 years old too.

Ours is 20+ years old and we’re hoping it and the dishwasher (same age) last until our kitchen remodel is complete. Our stove died early in the pandemic and we just got a hot plate and convection toaster oven to get us through until we buy all new appliances.

[Frances]

2 hours ago, lewelma said:

I had to put my US ballot in the diplomatic bag at the embassy because first class mail to the USA is taking 2 to 3 months.  There are just not any flights happening, so the mail is not flowing internationally. 

My niece inJapan had to do the same. Her fall primary ballot did not make it back in time, so she was very relieved to have this option for the general election. She’s a WI resident, so her presidential vote really matters.

[Violet Crown]

@Tap, I was shocked at the prescience of your thread title: Yes, thanks to Covid, I literally have hiccups less often. Supply chain interruptions have deprived me of the hot sauce I really, really like, but which alas gives me hiccups (so worth it). Yes I know life is hard, but soothing the pain is the continued availability of my favorite salsa.

On a sadder note, I had to sit in the parking lot of a nearby animal hospital and beg them over the phone to take in Wee Girl's badly injured guinea pig for examination and (as it turned out) euthanasia, because the only vets in town who treated guinea pigs were closed. Fortunately the vet overheard the tech refusing the appointment and interrupted to say she'd see the poor creature.

On the bright side, I guess, of cuddly rodent mortality, is that the other guinea pig, who had always been shy and non-affectionate, blossomed in her late sister's absence and has become outgoing and friendly. Which has helped.

Our refrigerator did in fact die right at the beginning of lockdown: still early enough that we were able to get one of the last ones in inventory. The guys who brought it said they'd been delivering fridges and freezers non-stop.

[Frances]

3 hours ago, mommyoffive said:

Hmmm, I haven't ever heard that with labs.  We only rescue and have never had any trouble with labs.  We are on our 3rd lab.  Can you rescue a puppy instead?  Then you can train it the way you want.

Our shelters let you bring back the dog for 30 days and get a different one for no additional charge if it isn't working for you. 

We’re on our second rescue lab and have never had any destruction issues, not even any chewing. But then again they were both 5+ years old. We also only rescue.

On the other hand, I would personally never get a GermanShepherd, rescue or otherwise.

Edited October 11, 2020 by Frances

[Selkie]

16 minutes ago, Frances said:

Didn’t this happen during the Great Recession? At least here people couldn’t even give away many horses for free.

Honestly, that's the way it is all the time - although the situation definitely gets worse when the economy is bad. That's why so many horses who are sent to auction get bought by kill buyers, who then ship them to slaughter in Mexico or Canada. It is extremely sad.

[lewelma]

1 hour ago, Frances said:

My niece inJapan had to do the same. Her fall primary ballot did not make it back in time, so she was very relieved to have this option for the general election. She’s a WI resident, so her presidential vote really matters.

We are in Ohio. Also a swing state.

[rebcoola]

Well our bathroom had leaking issues in January the leak was found and fixed.  The bathroom was torn apart along with drywall in adjoining places that was scheduled to be fixed in March.  Than covid hit since we have two other bathrooms  and the actual problem and mold mitigation were done, it was deemed non-essential.  Unfortunately it was our only tub so bathing the baby was interesting.  Finally got it done in July.

 

Access to the doctor if you had COVID symptoms was terrible.  The big girls got so terribly sick.  MDD wound up with pneomonia partially because she couldn't be seen until they were very sick. Since all kids with COVID types symptoms could only be seen at one urgent care place.

The third annoyance is that we are still waiting to get our new dog fixed.  They are so backed up. 

[Moonhawk]

Mason jars!! Can't find them anywhere. I bought all that was left at the few stores I saw them at back in June and July. It's going to take me 3x the time to can things because these are half or quarter pints (!!), but at least I have something! But after this last batch of salsa I don't think I can do anything else. 

I'd normally give these as Christmas gifts but I'm oddly wanting to hoard all this food I won't eat just to keep the jars, lol. I'll be calling people up on January 3rd, "How are you doing? Did you like the jam? Oh you haven't had it yet? When were you thinking of eating it? Do you need me to bring crackers, or bread? Did you know that gifts taste best within the first 2 weeks of receiving them? Scientific fact. It will take you approximately 16 servings before the jar is empty, do you think you could commit to that by January 20th?" 

[prairiewindmomma]

1. Our state is not offering in person driving tests currently. Ds has not been able to move from permit to license.  (We found a work around in going through a private driving school, but the wait list is months long.)

2. My fridge died three times. We were able to scrape together parts each time, but now we're waiting for delivery on a new fridge.  There were several that were not orderable.  Home Depot in person had a list of what was actually in stock/available for order that is different than the website.

3. Lumber and other home building/repair supplies are still in scarcity.  A family member has been unable to make much needed repairs.

4. Covid put air purifiers into scarcity, which scarcity has been compounded by wildfires. Filters are in the same boat here.

5. Cotton bedsheets are hard to find in lower to mid price points. I just spent $150 on sheets because the high end stuff is still in stock. 

 

Edited October 12, 2020 by prairiewindmomma

[ktgrok]

23 hours ago, AmandaVT said:

 

Also, smelly hand sanitizer!! My school bought big jugs of sanitizer to refill classroom supplies and it smells SO bad. I don't have a super sensitive sense of smell, but I used it once and needed to wash my hands multiple times to stop almost gagging. 

 

21 hours ago, J-rap said:

I've heard that some of the really smelly sanitizers are being made at breweries that are temporarily making hand sanitizers -- which is great, but they often have a bad, yeasty smell.

This may explain it! I can't handle the smell of most of them - I was thinking it was maybe the type of oils they used. So many have hemp oil and such now...but I hate that smell. It's like rubbing bong water on your hands or something...but I don't actually know what bong water smells like, lol. So maybe it's stale beer smell...something gross. 

And most other people have no idea what I'm talking about. But to me, it's gross. 

[wathe]

Part of the stinky hand sanitizer issue is from the type of alcohol used.  Because of shortages and increased demand, manufacturers have switched to cheaper and easier to source  industrial "techinical" grade ethanol instead of using pharmaceutical or food-grade ethanol.  The technical grade EtOH has more contaminants, including acetaldehyde which has a very pungent smell.  We had a problem with a batch of extremely stinky (smelled like vomit to me, other people thought it smelled like tequila) hand sanitizer at our hospital.  It was literally unusable because of the smell.  Reminded me of my organic chemistry labs from university days - so very stinky.  The hospital batch was eventually recalled, because acetaldehyde in high enough concentrations is a carcinogen, and as HCP we are practically bathing in the stuff.

I don't buy hand sanitizer that has "technical" grade EtOH listed on the label because of potential stink.  Also, cancer.

[rebcoola]

Stinky hand sanitizer issues are real.  A friend had alcohol aversion therapy a few years ago.  If seems strong alcohol he gags, occasionally even throws up.  Some of the new sanitizers really bother him.  It's of course also bad to look like you're going to throw up in public right now.

Edited October 12, 2020 by rebcoola

[teachermom2834]

We haven’t had many issues. Our community has kind of just kept on keeping on in most ways. Places are just shutting down when the virus directly impacts them. So it is more of rolling shutdowns. So while most of everything is operating normally, on any given day, a particular business might be shut down. Like today there was an announcement that our vet is operating only for emergencies as they are dealing with virus amongst the staff. In two weeks they will be back to normal but a gym might be closed or a hair salon.  And so on. 
 

Personally, it has been okay this way. Minor inconveniences but as a whole everything is operating. And if Great Clips is closed then Super Cuts is still open. 
 

We are playing whack-a-mole here as the virus moves through. Who knows what will be impacted on any given day but it is nothing like a shutdown. 

[Selkie]

On 10/11/2020 at 5:05 AM, Pawz4me said:

It's not an uncommon issue, but currently vet care is driving me nuts. One of our dogs has developed a very weird sleep issue--she's gone 24+ hours without sleeping on two occasions, and just can't seem to sleep well in general. In three weeks we've only had two somewhat normal nights of sleep, and it's starting to get to all of us. She's had a full exam and lots of blood work done, and Monday she's going in for x-rays. Trying to communicate effectively with the vet about a puzzling issue without being there in person during exams and tests is getting to be frustrating.

Oh, can I ever relate to this. One of my dogs just went through a puzzling medical problem and I was feeling the same frustration as you. I wanted to have a thorough discussion with one of the vets (the oldest, most experienced, BTDT-and-seen-everything vet), but that was hard to do because he was so booked. We kept having to see one of the other vets, and the appointments felt rushed, with just a short conversation in the parking lot afterwards. We weren't getting anywhere with a diagnosis. 

Here's what worked for me: I decided to send Experienced Vet an email. I wrote a detailed timeline with dates and descriptions of symptoms, plus a synopsis of our appointments and what meds had been tried. Then I ended it with a list of the questions I had and asked him to call me at his convenience. He did, and was able to diagnose my dog accurately over the phone and recommend a treatment plan that works and has solved the problem. It was such a relief!

I hope you're able to get some answers soon, and your pup is able to get some sleep!

[AmandaVT]

On 10/11/2020 at 11:03 AM, J-rap said:

I've heard that some of the really smelly sanitizers are being made at breweries that are temporarily making hand sanitizers -- which is great, but they often have a bad, yeasty smell.

We bought some of those early on - this is a different smell, unfortunately.

5 hours ago, wathe said:

Part of the stinky hand sanitizer issue is from the type of alcohol used.  Because of shortages and increased demand, manufacturers have switched to cheaper and easier to source  industrial "techinical" grade ethanol instead of using pharmaceutical or food-grade ethanol.  The technical grade EtOH has more contaminants, including acetaldehyde which has a very pungent smell.  We had a problem with a batch of extremely stinky (smelled like vomit to me, other people thought it smelled like tequila) hand sanitizer at our hospital.  It was literally unusable because of the smell.  Reminded me of my organic chemistry labs from university days - so very stinky.  The hospital batch was eventually recalled, because acetaldehyde in high enough concentrations is a carcinogen, and as HCP we are practically bathing in the stuff.

I don't buy hand sanitizer that has "technical" grade EtOH listed on the label because of potential stink.  Also, cancer.

Yep! I bet this is it. It is not just bad smelling, it is toxic smelling. I'm going to check the big bottle tomorrow and see if it has "technical grade ethanol." 

[prairiewindmomma]

I tried to buy supportive slippers this weekend.  I had to call and call and call around to find my particular size on stuff.  Apparently a number of shoes are backordered, some indefinitely across a variety of brands...  I had stuff in my Zappos cart disappear on availability overnight.  😞

[Shoeless]

I'm having trouble keeping track of time. It feels like time has sped up for me.  I would have expected the opposite, that time would feel like it's moving slower these days, but it's the opposite. 

A weird side effect of this is that I'm forgetting to drink enough water and I got pretty dehydrated.  I felt really awful (tired, headache, bad muscle and joint pain), and had almost convinced myself that I caught covid, but realized that I wasn't drinking nearly enough. It took a full day of setting reminders to drink some water and eat some soup before I felt better.