What is the craziest thing you have seen during the Covid-19 hysteria?

THParent

Founder - Service Academy Bacon Forums (SABF)
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Today, I saw a guy driving alone in his car this very morning, wearing surgical gloves and what looked a lot like an East German surplus gas mask.
Limited visibility and intelligence, all rolled into one nice package, ready to crash into someone.

Here's what he looked like, minus the uniform, helmet and AK :

1589897102274.png

I wish I was a LEO, so I could pull him over and write him a ticket. Surely there's a law against driving with tunnel vision, right?
I know, I know, don't call me Shirley.
 
During the initial wave of crazy grocery store shopping back in March, the person in front of me in the checkout line had a cart full of frozen pizza, every kind, at least 25 (yes, I counted), and a six-pack of small apple juice bottles.

🤔
 
"And then there was this shopper and I'll assume her husband...in April...she had (and yes, I counted) two shopping carts: cart one held 19, yes nineteen, 12-packs of Charmin TP. The second cart had three 30-packs of beer and six one gallon jugs of water."

I didn't even know what to think...

Steve
USAFA ALO
USAFA '83
 
"And then there was this shopper and I'll assume her husband...in April...she had (and yes, I counted) two shopping carts: cart one held 19, yes nineteen, 12-packs of Charmin TP. The second cart had three 30-packs of beer and six one gallon jugs of water."

I didn't even know what to think...

Steve
USAFA ALO
USAFA '83
Well, doesn’t consuming the one directly lead to consuming the other? Why bother with food at all...
 
DH reports that at the Home Depot, where he was on a tactical strike mission as soon as it opened to get in and get out with a plumbing part, he saw a guy with a mask made out of duct tape and blue painter’s tape, sticky side out. He could tell it was sticky side out because the guy’s hair was stuck to it.

😷
 
I just never understood how crowded Lowe’s and WalMart were every day as the small stores were forced to shut down. The small stores usually have the proper spacing better normally.

Also - I bought like three huge beef tenderloins for a lower price than hamburger. Apparently there was a period where filet mignon supply was greater than demand. So I have a freezer full of huge filet mignon steaks.
 
I just never understood how crowded Lowe’s and WalMart were every day as the small stores were forced to shut down. The small stores usually have the proper spacing better normally.

Also - I bought like three huge beef tenderloins for a lower price than hamburger. Apparently there was a period where filet mignon supply was greater than demand. So I have a freezer full of huge filet mignon steaks.

That is so true. During one of my visits to the Ft. Meade Commissary, with budget and volume cuts such as brisket, eye of round, London broil, chuck roast and ground beef on my list, I found the shelves stripped, so I came home with rib eyes, New York strips, tenderloin butt ends, lamb chops, veal cutlets, racks of pork ribs (no other cut of any kind available). We ate very well, but leftovers were slim.

Things have evened out a bit.

That reminds me - the Commissary had signs out last week asking patrons to limit to 2 pieces of fresh beef, same for pork and poultry. Of course, the person who came and stood right next to me (our sense of personal space seems to have shrunk these days) piled 8 packages of ground beef into his cart. I had stepped away quickly to yield the field, and had the satisfaction of seeing a meat section employee point out the signs right in front of him.
 
Same here (2 packages of fresh beef, pork, or poultry) and "face-covering required". Plus, ours says no guests now, with a 100% ID check.
The civilian grocery stores are different altogether. Buy all the meat you want. No shortage whatsoever. Shelves are loaded at any time of day or night.
It is a strange juxtaposition.
 
We just bought a 488# half of a Charolais beef. The farmer was looking to get rid of them since the packing plants are closed. No meat shortage in my chest freezer. It Is good company for all the bacon and venison sausage in there.

Stealth_81
 
We just bought a 488# half of a Charolais beef. The farmer was looking to get rid of them since the packing plants are closed. No meat shortage in my chest freezer. It Is good company for all the bacon and venison sausage in there.

Stealth_81
As our resident BDP (Bacon Doomsday Prepper), surely you’re going to have a separate dedicated freezer for bacon? You will need it when some of us re-trench to the cots in your bunker when the Zombie Covid Apocalypse descends upon us.
 
It pays to own a grinder. My family has been making sausages for ourselves for generations. I felt a bit guilty when I initially saw the ground beef sections so bare, so I offered to grind up any cuts of beef or pork my neighbors had.

I find that we are wasting nothing, which I'll admit we were a bit guilty of in the past. We had a pork roast a few weeks ago. Ended up grinding the leftovers with some onions. Added some egg to it. Used it as a filling for pierogi. Got over 100 pierogi from that leftover pork.

The only thing I can be considered guilty of hoarding is booze. When my governor decided to close all of our state stores, I went on a bit of a 'spree...' It ended up being a very wise decision.
 
We just bought a 488# half of a Charolais beef. The farmer was looking to get rid of them since the packing plants are closed. No meat shortage in my chest freezer. It Is good company for all the bacon and venison sausage in there.

Stealth_81
A number of the commercial pork production facilities were closing and farmers were struggling with alternatives to euthanizing their pigs, so we bought a hog. 290 lb hog = 180 lbs meat. BACON!
 
A number of the commercial pork production facilities were closing and farmers were struggling with alternatives to euthanizing their pigs, so we bought a hog. 290 lb hog = 180 lbs meat. BACON!
What does something like that cost, if I may ask...

Steve
 
Hog - $180 paid to the family farm includes transport to butcher. Meat processing costs $150-200 depending on which local butcher I selected (some shrink wrap meat, etc.)

It hasn't been processed yet, so I have not selected my preferred cuts to know if there was much of a price advantage. My primary driver was helping a local farmer and reducing the waste. I am a Reduce Reuse Recycle person and it has been disturbing to see milk and eggs dumped, and meat sent directly to compost because of the disruption in the food supply. I hope plans are being developed to flex from food service/restaurant demand to direct consumer packaging should we ever have a situation like this again. Unprecedented times.
 
$2.11 per pound doesn't sound too bad, but bacon isn't bacon until it has been cured and smoked. Is that included?
 
Hog - $180 paid to the family farm includes transport to butcher. Meat processing costs $150-200 depending on which local butcher I selected (some shrink wrap meat, etc.)

Just yesterday, I spoke to the meat locker. My pig was delivered yesterday and will be on the hook today and stay in the locker a few day before processing. In 7-10 days, following the curing, we'll pick it up. Some will be cryovaced, some not. The total came up to $400 or $200 for our half. Don't waste your time costing it out.

Your motivation is correct. Livestock producers are getting killed and our efforts really don't amount to much in the supply/demand balance. We were hooked up with a farmer through a mutual friend. She found 10 people to split 5 pigs. The farmer typically sells about 250 per month. Although it's just a drop in the bucket, it's good to connect with folks, at a time like this, and think about someone other than oneself.

BTW My wife, who was born and raised in Poland, was disappointed that the locker couldn't make Head Cheese. I was not disappointed.
 
$2.11 per pound doesn't sound too bad, but bacon isn't bacon until it has been cured and smoked. Is that included?
Yes. And can be sliced thin, medium or thick. In our case, my Polish wife insists that half of the side pork, the fatter part, remain uncured and unsliced.

I deliberately didn't mention bacon in my post, in order to see how long it would take for @THParent to swoop in for the kill.

You never disappoint.
 
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