[MD]

Smaller shelves, lower stacks, wider aisles, and empty raceways. Lack of inventory is easily hidden from shopper perception, and that is clearly happening throughout retail around here. Our local kroger stores are just the opposite though. They are jammed to the gills. Raceways (definition: the wide aisle ways at the front of the stores perpendicular to the aisles) so jammed you can hardly pass a cart.

Hard to figure. But if you go into wally world, target, kohls, best buy, etc.? They echo

[vision-master]

When Trucks Stop, America Stops
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'T')he Food Industry: Every day, Americans purchase billions of dollars of groceries. Most of these goods are brought to market via daily truck deliveries. Significant shortages will occur in as little as three days, especially for perishable items following a national emergency and a ban on truck traffic. Minor shortages will occur within one to two days. At convenience stores and other small retailers with less inventory, shortages will occur much sooner.

Consumer fear and panic will exacerbate shortages. The forecast of a winter storm quickly exhausts basic commodities at grocery stores and supermarkets. It takes retailers up to three days to recover from these runs on supplies. News of a truck stoppage-whether on the local level, state or regional level, or nationwide- will spur hoarding and drastic increases in consumer purchases of essential goods. Shortages will materialize quickly and could lead to civil unrest.

Supplies of clean drinking water will run dry in two to four weeks. According to the American Water Works Association, Americans drink more than one billion glasses of tap water per day. For safety and security reasons, most water supply plants maintain a larger inventory of supplies than the typical business. However, the amount of chemical storage varies significantly and is site specific. According to the Chlorine Institute, most water treatment facilities receive chlorine in cylinders (150 pounds and one ton cylinders) that are delivered by motor carriers. On average, trucks deliver purification chemicals to water supply plants every seven to 14 days. Without these chemicals, water cannot be purified and made safe for drinking. Without truck deliveries of purification chemicals, water supply plants will run out of drinkable water in 14 to 28 days. Once the water supply is drained, water will be deemed safe for drinking only when boiled. Lack of clean drinking water will lead to increased gastrointestinal and other illnesses, further taxing an already weakened healthcare system.

[RedStateGreen]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('cbxer55', 'D')o you know anything about the Oklahoma Farmers Co-op out in Yukon and Piedmont. I used to deliver to them when I drove. Now the one in Yukon is a beauty shop, and the one in Piedmont appears closed. I find that totally strange for these times. You would think they would thrive in an an area like this at a time like this. It cannot be a good sign if they closed. That would mean farmers are having a rough go of it. Maybe make food a bit more scarce later this year!

[the48thronin]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'N')EW YORK - Looking for signs of economic recovery? Try counting the number of trucks on the road.

Trucks carry almost all the manufactured and retail goods in the country — from refrigerators to lumber, detergents to toys. Many economists gauge how fast assembly lines are running, and how much consumers are buying, by the volume of goods hauled by trucks. But the most recent earnings reports show trucks are not carrying enough yet to indicate recovery is near.

Slow consumer spending and stalled manufacturing activity took its toll on truckers in the first three months of the year. Nearly all major trucking companies reported lower first-quarter revenue and falling profits as the recession continued and shipping demand slid. Many cut back their fleets because of soft demand. Werner Enterprises Inc., for example, said it trimmed an additional 4 percent of its fleet of over 8,000 trucks in the first quarter. Many companies said more cuts will come.

[ki11ercane]

Spoke to come of the QuikX drivers here in Winnipeg a week ago. They just had 50 truckers laid off in May.

Their warehouse here in the city was maybe 50% capacity with freight.

[the48thronin]

Wednesday afternoon my wife stopped at the Wal-Mart in Fernley Nevada on her way to Reno.



$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'T')he D C for Wal-mart northern Nevada and Northern California is in Fernley. I myself stopped at a wal-mart in Sydney, Nebraska but did not take pictures because i could not decide without waiting if what I was seeing represented what I thought it did.
To explain, I saw pallets of canned goods, paper and sundry supplies piled in all the aisles of the store near the dairy and meat departments. I saw much dressing of and over stocking of shelves ( 12 feet of nothing but Quaker oatmeal for instance). The converse side of the breakdown in JIT will be over stocking of stores that are on the ends of the D C area of responsibility. Sydney would sure be in that class of store. However they were in fact restocking at 11 pm when I was in the store, so without returning at a better time I decided a mention was all it was worth.
Fernley however was at mid afternoon and the signs of failure of suppliers to meet JIT requirements were there.. The Bananas and other produce, meat counters and some of the cereal goods were very thin.

[Caffeine]

Nice blog

[the48thronin]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Caffeine', 'N')ice blog

[the48thronin]

suppliers are dropping like flies over seas.. the result..

from http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/13/business/global/13ship.html?pagewanted=2&_r=2&ref=todayspaper;

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'S')INGAPORE — To go out in a small boat along Singapore’s coast now is to feel like a mouse tiptoeing through an endless herd of slumbering elephants.
One of the largest fleets of ships ever gathered idles here just outside one of the world’s busiest ports, marooned by the receding tide of global trade. There may be tentative signs of economic recovery in spots around the globe, but few here.

Hundreds of cargo ships — some up to 300,000 tons, with many weighing more than the entire 130-ship Spanish Armada — seem to perch on top of the water rather than in it, their red rudders and bulbous noses, submerged when the vessels are loaded, sticking a dozen feet out of the water.

So many ships have congregated here — 735, according to AIS Live ship tracking service of Lloyd’s Register-Fairplay in Redhill, Britain — that shipping lines are becoming concerned about near misses and collisions in one of the world’s most congested waterways, the straits that separate Malaysia and Singapore from Indonesia.

The root of the problem lies in an unusually steep slump in global trade, confirmed by trade statistics announced on Tuesday.

China said that its exports nose-dived 22.6 percent in April from a year earlier, while the Philippines said that its exports in March were down 30.9 percent from a year earlier. The United States announced on Tuesday that its exports had declined 2.4 percent in March.

[vision-master]

Events Priming for Apocalyptic Food Shortages

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'M')ay 16, 2009
Name Withheld

We have the perfect storm brewing:

(1) No bridge credit for farmers to get their crops in this year due to the credit crisis, resulting in many farmers not planting this season;

(2) Farmers in Colorado, Texas, and possibly other states not planting this season because they cannot get as much for their crops as it costs to produce them;

(3) Foreign countries shutting down exports of food to the U.S. (which is a net 15% food importer as of today) due to crop failures and food shortages in their own countries;

(4) A daily devaluing dollar that will not buy as much foreign food as it used to, with the high probability of runaway inflation once foreign countries are no longer willing or able to subsidize our debt, which will further decrease purchasing power and increase food prices;

(5) No export restrictions on American farmers, who can and do sell their crops to foreigners who will pay more for them than Americans will, with the result that our production goes overseas and not to us;

(6) Pending legislation that may soon may make it much more difficult to farm and/or will shut down organic farms, farmer's markets and possibly home gardens in the near future;

(7) The potential of a flu pandemic with potential quarantines and consequent cessation of shipping and ability to shop; and, now, for the piece de resistance,

(8) California shutting down irrigation to farmers in the Central Valley, thereby killing off the source of much of our fruit and vegetables, to save the allegedly endangered smelt! All of these circumstances, documented in mainstream media, point to very little food being available this fall, and with what will be available being very expensive.

[ki11ercane]

I say "yea" to all points. I call "shens" on this one:
(6) Pending legislation that may soon may make it much more difficult to farm and/or will shut down organic farms, farmer's markets and possibly home gardens in the near future; Will never happen ever. I have read the same articles.
I grow all heirloom seeds and plants anyways, some 500 years old. Monsanto wasn't around when the Dutch settled here.
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('vision-master', '[')b]Events Priming for Apocalyptic Food Shortages$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'M')ay 16, 2009--Name Withheld: We have the perfect storm brewing:
(1) No bridge credit for farmers to get their crops in this year due to the credit crisis, resulting in many farmers not planting this season;

(2) Farmers in Colorado, Texas, and possibly other states not planting this season because they cannot get as much for their crops as it costs to produce them;

(3) Foreign countries shutting down exports of food to the U.S. (which is a net 15% food importer as of today) due to crop failures and food shortages in their own countries;

(4) A daily devaluing dollar that will not buy as much foreign food as it used to, with the high probability of runaway inflation once foreign countries are no longer willing or able to subsidize our debt, which will further decrease purchasing power and increase food prices;

(5) No export restrictions on American farmers, who can and do sell their crops to foreigners who will pay more for them than Americans will, with the result that our production goes overseas and not to us;

(6) Pending legislation that may soon may make it much more difficult to farm and/or will shut down organic farms, farmer's markets and possibly home gardens in the near future;

(7) The potential of a flu pandemic with potential quarantines and consequent cessation of shipping and ability to shop; and, now, for the piece de resistance,

(8) California shutting down irrigation to farmers in the Central Valley, thereby killing off the source of much of our fruit and vegetables, to save the allegedly endangered smelt! All of these circumstances, documented in mainstream media, point to very little food being available this fall, and with what will be available being very expensive.

[the48thronin]

A friend of mine visited a Wal-mart to prove to me that I was wrong about the systemic failure of JIT. I told him to take a look at the produce, freezers, and meats.

He talked to the produce stocker and was told that what was out was everything they had. The stocker said they had been waiting for Bananas for over a week. he also said that the prepared deli items had been back ordered for several weeks.


from mywebsite

[the48thronin]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('vision-master', '[')b]Events Priming for Apocalyptic Food Shortages

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'M')ay 16, 2009
Name Withheld

<snip>

(7) The potential of a flu pandemic with potential quarantines and consequent cessation of shipping and ability to shop; and, now, for the piece de resistance,

[MD]

I wear a size 14 eeee. In my youth I had a very difficult time finding shoes. In fact when I did find a pair of anything that fit, I had to buy it. It didn't matter what the style. If they were hideous, I wore them, because I had no choice.

In the last ten tears or so however, I had no difficulty. I could walk into just about any major retailer or shoe-store chain and find a suitable pair of shoes.

Yesterday I went shopping. Nothing. Not even close. Closest fit was a 13-W at Kohl's. I got my feet into the things. The "W" designation was a myth though. It was cut like a 12 M. It was "just like old times".

Another anecdotal bit for your list.

[vision-master]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('MD', 'I') wear a size 14 eeee. In my youth I had a very difficult time finding shoes. In fact when I did find a pair of anything that fit, I had to buy it. It didn't matter what the style. If they were hideous, I wore them, because I had no choice.

In the last ten tears or so however, I had no difficulty. I could walk into just about any major retailer or shoe-store chain and find a suitable pair of shoes.

Yesterday I went shopping. Nothing. Not even close. Closest fit was a 13-W at Kohl's. I got my feet into the things. The "W" designation was a myth though. It was cut like a 12 M. It was "just like old times".

Another anecdotal bit for your list.

[Caffeine]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('MD', 'I') wear a size 14 eeee. In my youth I had a very difficult time finding shoes. In fact when I did find a pair of anything that fit, I had to buy it. It didn't matter what the style. If they were hideous, I wore them, because I had no choice. In the last ten tears or so however, I had no difficulty. I could walk into just about any major retailer or shoe-store chain and find a suitable pair of shoes.
Yesterday I went shopping. Nothing. Not even close. Closest fit was a 13-W at Kohl's. I got my feet into the things. The "W" designation was a myth though. It was cut like a 12 M. It was "just like old times".

[Jotapay]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('MD', 'I') wear a size 14 eeee. In my youth I had a very difficult time finding shoes. In fact when I did find a pair of anything that fit, I had to buy it. It didn't matter what the style. If they were hideous, I wore them, because I had no choice. In the last ten tears or so however, I had no difficulty. I could walk into just about any major retailer or shoe-store chain and find a suitable pair of shoes.

Yesterday I went shopping. Nothing. Not even close. Closest fit was a 13-W at Kohl's. I got my feet into the things. The "W" designation was a myth though. It was cut like a 12 M. It was "just like old times". Another anecdotal bit for your list.

[MD]

Thanks all for your kind advice. Yes, I can and do order online, and I keep plenty of spares on hand.

Next topic: 38 inseams. Same issues.

And no, I do not play basketball.

[ki11ercane]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('the48thronin', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('vision-master', '[')b]Events Priming for Apocalyptic Food Shortages

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'M')ay 16, 2009
Name Withheld

<snip>

(7) The potential of a flu pandemic with potential quarantines and consequent cessation of shipping and ability to shop; and, now, for the piece de resistance,

[the48thronin]

from my website today

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'W')hen Wal-Mart did away with the local butcher to sell prepackaged meat, they put the meat department into the JIT system. The results are becoming clearer that JIT is not working while Wal-Mart is in their transition to do away with 1/2 of the different articles in their store.

The meat departments of BOTH Wal-Marts I visited today were similar so I only took picture at the first. I visited the south side Wal-Mart at 8am. They had finished restocking what meat they had, they were still restocking the canned goods with what remnants they had from their Sunday truck. There were 3 associates dressing shelves behind the stockers.