Tips and considerations during this time of National Emergency

Hopefully we can keep this on track and help each other out.

I can start with-

It seems that there is a shortage of toilet paper. It also seems that it hasn’t been brought up (much) that many don’t know how or where the poop goes. Whether you are on a septic system or public sewer, it’s good to keep from putting toilet paper substitutes in the toilet.
Even if a “Personal Wipe” states that it is flushable, it’s really not a good idea. This is especially important if your living quarters has a sewage lift pump or station.
No one needs a poopie backup on top of all we have going on.

Good luck everyone.

OM

Omega Man said:

Hopefully we can keep this on track and help each other out.

I can start with-

It seems that there is a shortage of toilet paper. It also seems that it hasn’t been brought up (much) that many don’t know how or where the poop goes. Whether you are on a septic system or public sewer, it’s good to keep from putting toilet paper substitutes in the toilet.
Even if a “Personal Wipe” states that it is flushable, it’s really not a good idea. This is especially important if your living quarters has a sewage lift pump or station.
No one needs a poopie backup on top of all we have going on.

Good luck everyone.

OM

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Corn Cobbs? What's the limit?

36654 said:

Corn Cobbs? What's the limit?

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So much for keeping the thread on track
om

36654 said:

Corn Cobbs? What's the limit?

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Time to close the thread. Thanks 36654! 8*)

Omega Man said:

Hopefully we can keep this on track and help each other out.

I can start with-

It seems that there is a shortage of toilet paper. It also seems that it hasn’t been brought up (much) that many don’t know how or where the poop goes. Whether you are on a septic system or public sewer, it’s good to keep from putting toilet paper substitutes in the toilet.
Even if a “Personal Wipe” states that it is flushable, it’s really not a good idea. This is especially important if your living quarters has a sewage lift pump or station.
No one needs a poopie backup on top of all we have going on.

Good luck everyone.

OM

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there is no shortage of TP!!!! there is plenty in the supply chain. it is just that for some reason people have focused on it as their panic button and are hoarding it. there was no shortage before the virus, and people aren't using massively increased amounts of it, they are just hoarding it for no reason.

this whole "TP shortage" fake news is self inflicted pain. however, the internet jokes/memes about the hoarding are quite hilarious!

The toilet paper shortage thing started in Australia where toilet paper is imported from China. There was no reason for North Americans to have concerns.

Sent from my SM-T813 using Tapatalk

Prior to retirement, our city utility did tabletop exercises on pandemic planned response to keep the lights on. That was a laughable exercise for many...including me as no one really had any idea the potential impacts that are becoming realities. We had gone through the Y2K perceived panic of total electric grid loss a few years prior and were skeptical. We worked on it for a few months and actually had a good game plan...on paper.

We were a little different from investor owned being another city department, which for some issues was a help coordinating with other departments such as fire and police, as well as water and sewer plant operations which are critical operations. We had a team dedicated to health care facilities and power quality as well to prioritize outage response in case of a major issue during a pandemic...tornadoes, severe T-storms, ice event and such.

Any utility hopefully has plans for personnel, commodities, and transportation. We had set up remote material sites to access transformers and hardware, folks taking all sorts of vehicles home to respond directly to outages without having to go to central facilities and more people. Stockpiling commodities isn't a bad thing if the lead time on production is slow. And, consideration that those producers are also closed or impacted will make you ponder.

Staffing was always thought number one if we had even half the staff out it was going to be a rough road. Most larger utilities are contractor dependent as well, our line staff was cut many times as the decision to contract was made. One fail point was the contract approver's missed language allowing the contractor to Storm Chase and go where the money was....our yard was completely empty of contract trucks and equipment one Monday morning after a Florida hurricane...we were caught blindsided and unable to meet a lot of new customers timelines...what a mess. I raised my blinds...saw no vehicles, called the contract manager to ask what was up and he had zero clue what I was so excited about.
A big lesson learned and added to our planning!

My son-in-law is a FAA controller in LA area and kinda falls into essential services. There are thousands of folks who fall into these categories...wish them the best!

If you have a second home, perhaps with a fairly well stocked refrigerator, a good way to know if the power has been out is to put some ice cubes in a ziplock bag and check the “shape” of the cubes when you arrive.
If the cubes are now a frozen, flat pancake- food quality should be suspect.
OM

Steve I remember Y2K! Installed a lot of backup generators from 6/1999 to 12/1999.

My wife and I full time RV and haul the bikes with us. Right now we are on our way from Deming New Mexico to Kerrville, Tx. We are guaranteed that where we are going is open and will remain open. So for us let me see it I ca state this properly so the smart aleck but we have three rolls of TP left in the RV so we tend to us others unused TP, Campgrounds, RV parks, rest areas, etc.

We have tried everyday for the last week or so to buy some in different locations across the southwest and people just seem to buy as much as they can. Although today at the Wal-Mart in Deming they said that they were rationing one pack per customer. But Wal-Mart did say that the issues is the people not the supply chain, there is plenty of TP but they only get so much a day.

OK, I clearly upset people, but the TP thing is truly ludicrous.

We did our weekly grocery shopping today and there was the barren TP and paper towel shelves. However, down the aisle, there's fully stocked shelves diapers and baby wipes. Now, both tissue and absorbent pads (diapers, bed pads and hygiene products) use some similar machinery and processes but different materials. In some places, the tissue plant is fairly close to the absorbent material plant. Like in my old home area of north central PA. If there were no diapers or hygiene products (higher priced items), then there would be a reason to think there was a tissue shortage. As is, there appears to be plenty of diapers and hygiene products.

Tissue is simple bound paper fibers. Absorbent pads use materials that can hold more water than simple paper tissue That's why you don't flush diapers or hygiene products, if they don't plug the toilet, they'll likely plug your septic or sewer line. And, of course, your school janitor told you not to flush paper towels. They don't dissolve like TP or facial tissue.

So, with that as background...........what's the takeaway? If it ain't tissue, it doesn't get flushed. I assumed everyone had parents that informed them of that. At the outhouse, you can do whatever you want. Just sprinkle some lime, afterwards.........down the hole............not on you.

If you're afraid you wont have any when the need arises, perhaps you should research what people did before TP or what people do in countries where they don't use TP. I doubt Abe Lincoln ever saw a sheet of TP and we know Geo. Washington didn't, so they must have done something. In some places they use bidets or a squat toilet with a bucket of water.

So, no TP isn't a crisis.

grabcon said:

My wife and I full time RV and haul the bikes with us. Right now we are on our way from Deming New Mexico to Kerrville, Tx. We are guaranteed that where we are going is open and will remain open.

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I would be a little leery accepting a "guarantee" that any place of public accommodation can remain open. I live in Brewster County Texas, the home of Big Bend National Park. As I type this we are listening to a meeting of the Board of County Commissioners. They are currently considering an order that all hotels, motels, RV parks, and short term rental units be vacated and closed. There is debate as to what the end date for such closures should be. Already the City of Alpine has put in place such an order beginning Sunday, for at least a two week period.

It doesn't/won't matter what a place of accommodation may have said, nor the existence of reservations. If the legal order to close for the "health, safety and welfare of the public" is served the management and hosts will have no choice but to follow the order to close, their assurances provided to future customers notwithstanding.

Already all bars, restaurants, gyms, and other such places have been ordered closed except for take out food from the restaurants. And this is in a county which is a major tourist destination but in which there are no documented cases of Covid 19 yet.

Given statewide orders in California, New York and Illinois (that I am aware of) it is uncertain what Texas might do statewide, or what other counties or cities might do. I write all of this simply urging caution and wishing good luck.

Edit: Added: The Board of County Commissioners just approved the order here in Brewster County effective Monday noon. They listened to the testimony of the hospital folks and the doctors, and not to the hotel owners.

grabcon said:

. Although today at the Wal-Mart in Deming they said that they were rationing one pack per customer. But Wal-Mart did say that the issues is the people not the supply chain, there is plenty of TP but they only get so much a day.

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My wife works for Walmart and she said our store gets trucks 5 to 6 days a week.
The TP gets restocked and only lasts a couple hours because people are hording for some stupid reason.
It has been bad enough some of the employees were running low because they can't shop while on the clock or set things back to purchase latter.
By the time they have a lunch break the shelves are empty.
An except was made yesterday so the employees that were running low could purchase TP in the morning.

PGlaves, I understand your thoughts on the guarantee but we just spoke with them right before I wrote here and they have no intention of shutting down. I also heard the issues in Brewster county yesterday about closing everything. I am not going to hijack this thread but closing everything presents issue for those of us who are full time RVers.

PGlaves said:

I would be a little leery accepting a "guarantee" that any place of public accommodation can remain open. I live in Brewster County Texas, the home of Big Bend National Park. As I type this we are listening to a meeting of the Board of County Commissioners. They are currently considering an order that all hotels, motels, RV parks, and short term rental units be vacated and closed. There is debate as to what the end date for such closures should be. Already the City of Alpine has put in place such an order beginning Sunday, for at least a two week period.

It doesn't/won't matter what a place of accommodation may have said, nor the existence of reservations. If the legal order to close for the "health, safety and welfare of the public" is served the management and hosts will have no choice but to follow the order to close, their assurances provided to future customers notwithstanding.

Already all bars, restaurants, gyms, and other such places have been ordered closed except for take out food from the restaurants. And this is in a county which is a major tourist destination but in which there are no documented cases of Covid 19 yet.

Given statewide orders in California, New York and Illinois (that I am aware of) it is uncertain what Texas might do statewide, or what other counties or cities might do. I write all of this simply urging caution and wishing good luck.

Edit: Added: The Board of County Commissioners just approved the order here in Brewster County effective Monday noon. They listened to the testimony of the hospital folks and the doctors, and not to the hotel owners.

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In PA, we have a list of what's open and closed. IMHO, the city of Philly refusing shutdown the bars on St. Patrick's Day was what pushed the point. The eastern part of the state is where most of our confirmed cases are. Left to the locals, the bars and restaurants would still be operating.

https://www.governor.pa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/20200319-Life-Sustaining-Business.pdf

My store has a posting limiting the amount of TP an individual can buy.

What they didn't post was that if you exceed the posted limit, you get a free box of condoms.

TP should be the least of worries

1950's/// Never had a roll of toilet paper until I was 10 years old. My mom used to get and save all the magazines and news papers from her sister, who lived in town. We lived out in the country with no running water and no inside toilet of course. Our school ( two rooms) had running water in the lunch room but we had a separate girls and boys out house, a four holer in both; I peeped through a hole one time. There was no toilet paper at school either. Mom taught us how to use most any kind of paper or other materials to clean ourselves after going to the outhouse. We did shun away from the slick, shiny paper but most others were ok. You take the paper and holding with both hands, rub it vigorously together until it gets wrinkled and softer. It works pretty good but maybe we had tougher butts back then also. Anyway, the same thing could be done now but as the OP said, do not put down the commode.

I have a garden hose, a bathroom window and a bathtub.

I'm good.

Stay home. Stop it from spreading so our health care system can keep up. Be well, be awesome. We'll get through this by working together. This time, it means Netflix and chill.

Be civilized would be a great place to be. Assume leaders have a deeper understanding about unfolding events and follow directions. Cultivating some personal spiritual reflection is always of some use. Quiet time is good. Resist going off yer rails. Hoarding toilet paper, hoarding in general is fearing fear. If out and about act normal, there is no panic. Let's waste this crisis. Wipe the thousand yard stare from yer face and smile. (Hat tip Voni) Things that come to mind before coffee this morning. Two cents. FWIW.

8ninety8 said:

Be civilized would be a great place to be. Assume leaders have a deeper understanding about unfolding events and follow directions. Cultivating some personal spiritual reflection is always of some use. Quiet time is good. Resist going off yer rails. Hoarding toilet paper, hoarding in general is fearing fear. If out and about act normal, there is no panic. Let's waste this crisis. Wipe the thousand yard stare from yer face and smile. Things that come to mind before coffee this morning. Two cents. FWIW.

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perfect.