Well, this can’t mean anything good.
This is one of the two cat food aisles at our local big box pet store. The missing brands are Friskies, Fancy Feast and Sheba. There may be others, but I don’t think so.
We were there because Mrs. Freeholder’s Monday trip to the grocery store to top up the groceries revealed no cat litter. We were out today for cat litter, just in case it’s the next thing in short supply. They had that, plus two bags of the dry food we feed. Given that we prep for our cats as well as for ourselves, we weren’t in trouble for either item, but we did go ahead and get ahead on cat litter and grabbed one of the two bags of food. Five cats go through a significant amount of both in a week.
I’m gratified that Mrs. Freeholder’s blinders are at least partially off. She’s starting to pay attention to the situation in which we all find ourselves.
Her report on the grocery store is that it appeared reasonably well stocked.
People, pay attention to news about the supply chain. We’ve been getting news stories for weeks. Today Moody’s is reporting that “it’s going to get worse” and that things might start to get better sometime in 2023. Read the first half of the article, but feel free to skip the second. It’s nothing more than the rantings of that deranged madman, *President Joe Biden.
The supply chain struck home this afternoon in a big way. About 3 years ago, we had gifted Son with Mrs. Freeholder’s 07 Toyota Camry Hybrid. When the hybrid battery in it finally died, he decided that rather than fix it, he would get rid of it. I told him to get rid of it back into my driveway. That always was Mrs. Freeholder’s favorite car.
I found a place in a nearby metro that could install a remanufactured battery-all new cells, connector plates and wiring harness. They do the work on site. Five year warranty. Reasonable-ish price. Let’s do it. Son and I delivered the car to them yesterday afternoon.
Today I get a phone call-they can’t reman the battery. They don’t have enough parts and can’t get more in any reasonable timeframe. They can, however, recondition the battery, replacing bad cells and equalizing the charge across cells. Two year warranty. Considerably less expensive.
I really wanted the reman battery as we plan on keeping the car. Besides, that was the original 13 year old battery when it failed. I can’t believe that the cells that aren’t outright bad are in great condition. But I’m taking my chances on the reconditioned battery. No one else around here has a remanned battery, so why waste the time and effort going somewhere else? Still, it’s just another symptom of a system that is breaking down.
We’re discussing the option of selling the car once we have it back. With what similar ones are going for, we would come very close to recouping our original investment plus the cost of the battery. That would make the supply chain issues work in our favor.
You may remember in the previous report the house I found for Son to check out. When he tried to look at it later the day I sent it, it was listed as “unavailable”. Apparently it had sold in the few hours between my messaging him and him having time to look. Even here in Bitty Burg the real estate market is insane.
Since the last report, I’ve seen another RV that is in a driveway, apparently being lived in. Son and I discussed to concept of buying a piece of land and planting an RV or some version of a tiny house on it as a way to get him out of his apartment. He’s not much on the idea, as he would have even less room than he has now. His thoughts are more toward a smaller single-wide mobile home. He’s about 3 months from re-signing his lease, so we’ll see what happens.
In good news, just in case you’ve missed it, ammo is once again available online, and the prices have retreated “some” from their heights of last year. If you need it and can afford it, you might not get a better chance any time soon.
Most of the folks who are going to decorate outside for Christmas seem to have done so. Our lights are up, although inside isn’t. It’s our turn to host Christmas, so I need to get on that. That means we’ve again reached our end, for now at least. Out here.
You’re right about ammo online. I have an antique 1880s .38S&W break-top revolver. This past year I bought beaucoup boxes of .38S&W ammo via an online auction sight and from another sight that had a very limited amount and would only sell 2 boxes at a time. All of it, including shipping, came to ~ $1.50+ per round. Whaaaaatttttt?! Yesterday was on another auction website where some dealers offered to sell boxes of same foreigh-made ammo that I’d previously purchased on that other website. This dealer only wanted $52.99 per 2 boxes of 100 rounds. And only a small amount of shipping cost. Where was this guy last year?! Have plenty to play with at the gun range now, so will hold off buying more.
I feel for your son. About a year and half ago I moved into a 55+ non-smoking apartment building here in PA. All they had available was a 365sqft efficiency. And I needed to get away from dope-smoking neighbors in the old apartment complex 50 miles distant. My old apartment was 557sqft and I had lots of bookshelves for my personal library. Had to move! Now half my efficiency is full of floor-to-ceiling boxes & bins. I’m still working on organization. Your son & you guys will figure it out somehow, I’m sure. Take care & stay safe! – GregD