Festus Food Frustrations

 

I first saw the news on a CBS online report one morning last week:  people are starting to hoard toilet paper again. 

Seeing that headline and knowing Bill was in Coeur d'Alene and planning to go to Costco, I thought it wise to check on how our toilet paper supply was looking.

So, I went out into the garage and walked to the couch area where Bill always deposits the latest paper products from his Costco runs. 

The paper towel supply looked sufficient, as did the toilet paper inventory----maybe enough even for the next couple of months. 

That worry out of the way, I attended to some other projects and then headed to town, specifically to pick up some Festus food. 

Festus food is almost always on both of our shopping lists ever since I learned from a Yoke's checker this past summer--after three days of seeing empty shelves where his canned food sits---that the supply chain problem affects a lot of the food products we normally take for granted. 

I had already noticed other similar trends. 

For instance, during this past summer's intense heat, every time I went to the store looking for Gator Aid, the shelves were almost bare. 

To see this same phenomenon happening with Festus food was frustrating.  Our 18-year-old cat must eat a specific kind of food: Purina Beyond turkey, sweet potato and spinach. 

He can't eat other cat foods because he has been diabetic.  Even though Festus was declared cured of his diabetes a couple of years ago, we stick to his brand of cat food in hopes that he will stay diabetic free.

Plus, he refuses to eat other flavors. 

Ever since the beginning of the Pandemic, his brand has often been unavailable or in short supply.  Festus eats two cans a day, so having enough on hand is always important.

Therefore, both Bill and I have begun following a "keep fill" attitude when it comes to Festus food. If either of us goes to a store and finds a few cans on the shelf, they get added to the groceries. 

This system has worked well for the most part, but sometimes we may be down to the last couple of cans before one of us finds more at the grocery store. 

Well, the other day after learning about toilet paper hoarding and knowing we were doing okay, I headed to town for groceries, and, of course, for Festus food. 

What did I find?  An empty shelf!  Ugh!

Later at the stand, I asked the checker if she'd noticed people buying extra toilet paper. I told her about seeing the headline and that it was pretty recent, so she may notice more TP purchasing activity during the day. 

The more she thought about it she did say that maybe she had noticed more toilet paper in carts coming through her stand. 

As soon as I left the store, I texted Bill about the empty Festus food shelf, asking him to look around at some other stores on his way home from Coeur d'Alene. 

Several hours later, I received a text:  30 cans of Festus food found at Super 1 in Athol!  

Good job, Bill. 

Later, he told me he didn't even clear the shelf of that variety. Must be not so popular in Athol. 

And, so this morning I can report that Festus is covered for the next couple of weeks, especially because Bill picked up another four cans while doing some shopping yesterday. 

As far as toilet paper is concerned, we're not going to worry about that new development for a while cuz we're well stocked. 

And, I'm betting now that it's cooled off for a while there's plenty of Gatorade on the shelves. 

Bottled water?  

That may be another story. 

Meanwhile, it's Monday morning, and we've had rain.  This getting back to normal weather-wise is okay.  

I'm guessing that Mother Nature must have done some thorough research after our summer drought and found a supplier with a good inventory of raindrops to unload. 

Happy Monday.