Social distancing, no longer in stock, rain, leaks, overstocking

I was in teaching a class yesterday in Grand Prairie, TX. About an hour commute from home. It was one of those classes where the entire class was in their fourth or fifth cycle through the class. Those are often difficult classes to teach because the information is mostly familiar. The upside is that we only require the class to be repeated every three years. Anyway, with the current “epidemic” in play, we set up the classroom a little differently. We put only one person to a table – six persons in total. It was not too awkward. Everyone adapted quickly. All in all, it was a good class. Especially considering it was the fifth time for five of the six participants. We started early, worked through lunch and ended early. A clear bonus for all of us. Since they offered, I took home the leftover Papa John’s pizza to Mama and Victoria. 

On the way home, I took a route that would allow me to pass right by our Sam’s Club in Denton. Mama had been in touch with Krystal yesterday morning and had been told that Sam’s was restocking the shelves with paper goods. Including toilet paper. Mama had also been told that only twenty persons were being allowed into the store at a time. Krystal was in a long line as she called. Mama declined to make the run that morning for fear of having to stand in a long line just to get into the store. It was not a guarantee that the two items she was wanting – rice and toilet paper – would be available when she did manage to gain access to the store. We are not desperate for either item.

There was no line when I got there. There was also no stock of paper goods of any kind and no rice. I am not sure if Mama would have fared better. We will never know. I was slightly encouraged as I entered the store and saw a man with a package of toilet paper in his cart, but he must have gotten the very last package. We have a small supply at home, but with this panic, it would be nice to have some extra. It will be interesting to see how oversupplies stores and warehouses become when this panic subsides and people who are now overstocked with a year’s supply of toilet paper do not buy that item for nine to twelve months. We have plenty of toilet paper in the United States. It is just sitting in private locations across the nation. Those that are laughing at us latecomers in line will not be so impressed with themselves when this quickly blows over and they have $200 worth of toilet paper taking up a corner of their living room.

If I read the rain gauge correctly this morning, we had almost three inches of rain last night. With the ground already soaked, we had a lot of runoff. Some of that excess ended up in our living room. Over the past several days, we have had some water show up on the floor where my recliner sits. This morning it was a lot of water. I ended up going to the wellhouse for the industrial mop and bucket to clean up the flood. That was after I had spent about fifteen minutes using a towel to soak up the water and wringing that towel into a bucket. That was working – albeit slowly. It was wearing out my knees. The mop made quick work of the water and allowed me to soak it up and remove it quickly enough to see where the water was seeping into the house. I am not sure that determining that access point will help me eliminate the leak, but it gives me a starting point to work from.

I believe there are only five or six people in the office today. All others are working from home. I am enjoying the quiet.