Global Supply Chain Crisis 2021: Megathread - A cozy thread for watching the supply chain fall apart just in time for the holidays

[Kramer on the phone]

been looking through the job boards hoping to see any huge increase in pay like whats happening around the country. so far no, outside of nurses. Nurses can get $52/hr just to give people COVID shots, traveling ER nurses get $60/hr starting.

Which i find fucking crazy because isn't nursing a community college degree? Fucking hell, that means technically any teen could drop out at 16, head straight to community college, and by 18 be making more than 6-figures sitting on their ass.

It used to be the only way an 18 year old girl made $2,000+ in one week was by grinding on a pole. these cunts are getting paid more than basically everyone else. the cunt giving you your flu shot is making more per hour than the guys literally in charge of our satellites and defense contractor sys admins. And no one thinks there is anything wrong with this?

The way shits going with all these cunts making 6 figs this will be a real job soon. (and i'll be applying)

The Management in my company doesn't control Trucks. All the Inventory is handled by Corporate and the Automated Point of Sales. So some days we just get..two trucks at once..without being told.

Wasn't this what Strangelove was about? we automate ourselves into oblivion. simple if...thens that go out of control because a break in the chain just spirals out of control

 

[Ancient Pioneer]

The Management in my company doesn't control Trucks. All the Inventory is handled by Corporate and the Automated Point of Sales. So some days we just get..two trucks at once..without being told.

This is why they pick up the phone to corporate and tell them to not send a truck on a specific day. Its not rocket science, what do you think happens when a Blizzard, Hurricane, Riots or some other event causes the store to be closed? The manager calls corporate and tells them shits fucked do not send a truck nobody will be there to receive them. I've been the manager at retail stores like this and I've done this before, sure the POS stuff does the ordering and you manage the stock level values to ensure they're correct but the actual scheduling of the trucks has some play in them, there is a hotline to call that will route you to almost any contingency.

Also almost certainly there is a mechanism to see what the waybill is for the truck in advance, its just your shit tier management that has no idea what it is doing that is the problem. I would routinely look up the waybill because it would break down what department was getting by total piece count and I'd organize the loading crew based upon these values.

 

[Honka Honka Burning Love]

This is why they pick up the phone to corporate and tell them to not send a truck on a specific day. Its not rocket science, what do you think happens when a Blizzard, Hurricane, Riots or some other event causes the store to be closed? The manager calls corporate and tells them shits fucked do not send a truck nobody will be there to receive them. I've been the manager at retail stores like this and I've done this before, sure the POS stuff does the ordering and you manage the stock level values to ensure they're correct but the actual scheduling of the trucks has some play in them, there is a hotline to call that will route you to almost any contingency.

Also almost certainly there is a mechanism to see what the waybill is for the truck in advance, its just your shit tier management that has no idea what it is doing that is the problem. I would routinely look up the waybill because it would break down what department was getting by total piece count and I'd organize the loading crew based upon these values.

I wouldn't doubt any of that.

Of course I am also pretty sure Corporate are Exceptional Individuals so he may have called and gotten ignored.

 

[Art Kassul]

Why don't they make a caffeine free version of Bang? They have a huge variety of flavors and they're all good.

I wish they'd offer a reduced caffeine version. 300mg of caffeine is a bit much for a single dose.

 

[Car Won't Crank]

I wish they'd offer a reduced caffeine version. 300mg of caffeine is a bit much for a single dose.

Why not dilute it with some water. All that sugar in one go can't be good either.

 

[Art Kassul]

Why not dilute it with some water. All that sugar in one go can't be good either.

I think its only aspartame. The lack of sugar is patr of why I like them. (Not that I drink them often, as 300mg of caffeine leaves the day's energy lopsided.)

 

[Clockwork_PurBle]

been looking through the job boards hoping to see any huge increase in pay like whats happening around the country. so far no, outside of nurses. Nurses can get $52/hr just to give people COVID shots, traveling ER nurses get $60/hr starting.

Which i find fucking crazy because isn't nursing a community college degree? Fucking hell, that means technically any teen could drop out at 16, head straight to community college, and by 18 be making more than 6-figures sitting on their ass.

It used to be the only way an 18 year old girl made $2,000+ in one week was by grinding on a pole. these cunts are getting paid more than basically everyone else. the cunt giving you your flu shot is making more per hour than the guys literally in charge of our satellites and defense contractor sys admins. And no one thinks there is anything wrong with this?

The way shits going with all these cunts making 6 figs this will be a real job soon. (and i'll be applying)

Wasn't this what Strangelove was about? we automate ourselves into oblivion. simple if...thens that go out of control because a break in the chain just spirals out of control

Pretty sure most traditional nursing degrees are actually four year. Technicians like ultrasound and radiology are 2 years.

There are different kinds of nurses of course.

 

[contradiction of terns]

The White House crew is currently accusing Russia of withholding natural gas to intentionally harm the rest of Europe.

WASHINGTON, Oct 25 (Reuters) - U.S. President Joe Biden's global energy security adviser said on Monday that Russian President Vladimir Putin is getting close to using natural gas as a political tool if Russia is holding back fuel exports to Europe as it suffers an energy crunch.
"I think we are getting close to that line if Russia indeed has the gas to supply and it chooses not to, and it will only do so if Europe accedes to other demands that are completely unrelated," Amos Hochstein, Biden's adviser, told reporters, when asked if Putin was using gas as a weapon.

I found it intriguing because Russia seems to smell blood in the water, and is also currently launching coordinated cyberattacks. I have no doubt that when our current political class bury their heads in the sand they aren't even considering that some countries might be willing to suffer greatly to make sure the US and European Union nations also suffer.

 

[Meriasek]

I think the hardest part of all this nonsense will be keeping the panic and depression down. Some of us know how to survive in less than perfect conditions, but as the past couple years have shown, a LOT of folks don't know how to cope if anything is the least bit different.

I wonder how much of the "worker shortage" is BS too. Lots of people, even if they quit their usual jobs would be looking for something else out of boredom. I've heard stories of folks that have applied for multiple jobs only to not get called about it. Are businesses being told not to hire more workers?

Some are reframing "worker shortage" as "good job shortage". There are enough workers around, but they don't want the shitty jobs anymore.

 

[George Lucas]

Pretty sure most traditional nursing degrees are actually four year. Technicians like ultrasound and radiology are 2 years.

There are different kinds of nurses of course.

In the US, a basic registered nurse has a Bachelor's (4 years total). Nurse practitioners have Master's Degrees (5 to 6 years total). In addition to the degrees there is an exam and licensing requirements.

Technicians are certifications, like a trade, and are usually two years. Note that X-rays are usually being done by a tech, yes, but the person actually analyzing them is known as a radiologist, which is an actual doctor (and apparently one of the most difficult doctorates to obtain).

Other countries can have completely different requirements for nursing. The stringent requirements for becoming a nurse in the US is relatively new.

 

[Jet Fuel Johnny]

Without doxing myself, got some news.

Had a partial derailment at the trainyard here. Damaged the main track run, meaning for these big boss trains of 100-500 cars to move through the yard it requires about 2-3 hours of work and switching around. They've doing priority based on cargo and size and direction. Heard that the main run should be fixed in a couple of days but it's a union job, so... I'm not sure how they're doing it, but I did notice the trains just craaaaaawl through the switchyard. There's been a load of conexes just sitting there for about a week on a side track.

Rails have been pretty quiet the last few days since the derailment. Supposedly it was a computer error with track switching on a heavy cargo train.

Probably won't effect too much.

Gas topped $3 a gallon, then, weirdly enough, dropped back to $2.89.9. The Wal-Mart has never been full shelves constantly (out in the sticks) so I'm not worried.

Price of butcher's shop pork, chicken, beef went down. Wheat flour (locally milled) went down.

Ammo is way up. Thinking about getting a reloading bench again and teaching my daughters how to do reloads.

Just some trip report stuff.

 

[Phalanges Mycologist]

Wasn't this what Strangelove was about? we automate ourselves into oblivion. simple if...thens that go out of control because a break in the chain just spirals out of control

In part yes, the problem is with that sort of Automation when it goes wrong it's not just a few thousand gallons of milk getting tossed it's millions or billions of people dieing.

All complex automated systems fail and quickly reach a point of no recovery where it's simpler to wipe the slate clean and start again from zero because they are highly fault intolerant they can take a slight delay and the odd missed delivery or shipment and can correct fairly quickley but anything more than a few days or hours the less easy that recovery point is even with human intervention and in situations like we are finding ourselfs now there is very little likelihood of the system fully recovering without it getting wiped and started again from zero.

Other countries can have completely different requirements for nursing. The stringent requirements for becoming a nurse in the US is relatively new.

I think I read something a while ago about there is trying to be a international standard for nursing education being developed.

 

[Meriasek]

The amount of hubris it takes to wish for the Great Reset plan is boggling. They want to destroy the most stable, prosperous and peaceful system in the history of mankind for the chance to rebuild it in a way that benefits them even more. The sheer arrogance to believe that they would survive the chaos, much less be in a position to rebuild society in their vision is borderline insanity. The entitlement they feel to justify the suffering of billions for their own sake is inhuman. For the people that aren't billionaires but somehow support this, there is no question, they are lost in complete lunacy.

They are mentally incapable of understanding the consequences of their actions and that is terrifying.

Power is its own merit, and prosperity is relative. As long as TPTB yield more power and have a little bit more than the plebs, a rebuilt society can be arbitrarily shitty. Luxury doesn't mean much if everyone can have it. Poor people today live easier lifes than kings back in the day, but the kings had power. A palace full of gold and luxury is meaningless without peasants and serfs. Better to live in a drafty castle with sooty walls as long as the peasants bow to you.
But peasants bowing to you makes them rebel. Better make them bow out of their own free will, and make it so that they don't know they're bowing.

 

[veri]

Nurses can get $52/hr

just to juice up people with vaccines and film tiktoks? i’ve always wondered why the nursing field was considered the universal thot career choice. makes sense now cause everyone’s sucking off nurses and calling them heroes cause they tweet pics of them crying and talk about their dead covid patients for clout. most of the nurses i met are bitter probably because they got the job thinking they could sit on their ass all day and get praised for their job but the reality is doing gross shit like wiping old people asses and whatever else involves not tweeting all day.

 

[Kramer on the phone]

just to juice up people with vaccines and film tiktoks? i’ve always wondered why the nursing field was considered the universal thot career choice. makes sense now cause everyone’s sucking off nurses and calling them heroes cause they tweet pics of them crying and talk about their dead covid patients for clout. most of the nurses i met are bitter probably because they got the job thinking they could sit on their ass all day and get praised for their job but the reality is doing gross shit like wiping old people asses and whatever else involves not tweeting all day.

you think thats bad, i'm seeing ads for $70/hr to work weekends although i swear this $90/hr job posting is just a post for a jack shack. its for a nurse at an "alternative therapy" mens relief specialist. these cunts are getting paid better than congressmen and thats before factoring in OT or the fact that they usually need to look over like 30 beds. check in on a patient every 2 hours to hear her say "i'm good" and spend the rest of the time sitting around.

 

[Sped Xing]

I think its only aspartame. The lack of sugar is patr of why I like them. (Not that I drink them often, as 300mg of caffeine leaves the day's energy lopsided.)

In a pinch, a Bang is a decent substitute for preworkout. Just drinking one driving around, however, makes me want to puke.

I've actually had some success just dropping deep on 10-20 mg of melatonin 9 hours before I need to wake up. I'm groggy as ballsacks at first, but once I'm awake, I'm snapping alert all day. I recently learned that melatonin is converted into serotonin, so that both makes sense and probably means I really shouldn't be taking melatonin every day.

Anyway, while I'm on the subject, why does diet doctor pepper make me need to pee way more urgently than diet coke?

 

[teriyakiburns]

Weekly shop, here in the glorious people's islamic republic of bongistan. No food shortages, but the prices have gone through the roof. Lamb steaks are up nearly a pound per kilo, bagged salad is both more expensive and less per bag. Chocolate rationsbars have put on at least 50 pence in the last couple of weeks and I wouldn't be surprised if they shrink again soon. Cheapest petrol I could find is 1.40 per litre (6.36/gallon or 5.30/us gallon) and cheapest diesel is 1.45 per litre.

I actually don't expect to see food shortages for quite some time. UK.gov policy since brexit is to favour food imports over anything else; they understand that trying to invoke the "wartime spirit" bullshit would provoke a pretty robust response, but that means nearly everything else is fucked. Wood is insanely expensive and has weeks-long lead times for deliveries. Aggregates and cements are still backed up beyond belief. The media has kept trying to blame us leaving the EU, but anyone with half a brain can see that the Europeans are having a similarly hard time.

What I do expect is rolling blackouts to start in late November or early December, once the winter really settles in. Green energy policies have knackered the power grid, leaving us dependent on intermittent and unreliable wind and utterly useless solar, and we're now operating with a very short strategic fuel supply as well. There's no coal and very little gas. If a cold high settles over the UK, as it often does in the winter, the wind turbines will stop operating and we'll get a shortfall that can't be covered by what remaining conventional power plants are left, because they'll be out of fuel.

 

[Mr Bunny]

There's no coal and very little gas. If a cold high settles over the UK, as it often does in the winter, the wind turbines will stop operating and we'll get a shortfall that can't be covered by what remaining conventional power plants are left, because they'll be out of fuel.

What did the Communists use before candles?
Electricity

 

[Oxous]

British Grocery Stores Are Stocking Empty Shelves with Cardboard Cutouts of Food​

Spoiler: Full Article

(archive)
UK supermarket Tesco claims it has nothing to do with supply chain issues.

Earlier this month, British consumer-goods publication The Grocer surveyed 1,000 people to ask whether they were concerned that the country's ongoing supply chain issues would affect their ability to stock up on holiday favorites this year. Over half (56 percent) of those who responded said they were either worried, slightly worried, or very worried that they wouldn't be able to find the food and drinks they wanted at the supermarket during the festive season.

Meanwhile, some supermarkets in England have reportedly been filling empty produce sections and bare store shelves with pictures of whatever items should've been in those spaces, while others are using their empty freezer cases to display non-food items like toys and games.

According to The Guardian, these out-of-stock items are just an ultra-visible representation of the consequences of the truck driver, fruit and vegetable picker, and food processing plant worker shortages. There have also been issues at the country's ports, where handlers can't unload and re-pack the deliveries that seem to have arrived all at once — and then there are ongoing complications from Brexit and the ongoing pandemic to deal with, too. Pictures of the inedible cardboard foodstuffs have also been shared widely on social media. "Tesco have the fake asparagus out this morning," one widely shared Tweet read, and it was accompanied by two pictures of produce bins filled with photos of rubber-banded fresh asparagus spears.

Other Twitter users included pics of what cardboard cutouts their own supermarkets had placed on the shelves. "Tesco Express in Cambridge," a user named @GoatSarah wrote, along with pictures of cardboard dishwashing liquid. "Look carefully. The middle three rows are photographs."

"Yum tasty cardboard carrots," another added. "Fakenham Tesco last week." (Yes, Fakenham is actually the Norfolk town's name.) And a picture taken at a Sainsbury's showed shelves that were lined with cardboard cutouts decorated with the shapes of the items that could've been on sale.

Some insiders believe that having photos of temporarily unavailable items is still a better option than just leaving bare shelves throughout the store. "No one wants empty shelves as it's a negative perception of availability and that can impact sales and leave customers thinking that the store is poorly presented," Steve Dresser, a director at Grocery Insight, told The Telegraph. "Blocking the shelves with cardboard 'fillers' is preferable as it's a nice halfway house, reflecting that gaps are longer term but not forcing the store itself to change layouts."

A representative from Tesco supermarkets told the Daily Mail that supply issues weren't the reason for the cardboard displays. "For the images that contain fresh food, we have these available for selected large stores to use when there is additional space," the spokesperson said. "These have been in use for many months now and are not connected to the recent supply chain challenges. Overall availability remains strong."

And a Sainsbury's spokesperson said that its suppliers were "working hard" to ensure that customers could find all the items they went into the store for. "Availability in some product categories may vary but alternatives are available and stores continue to receive deliveries daily," they said.

 

[teriyakiburns]

Guess I spoke too soon.