Houston? You Have A Problem!

[Simon Dog]

In times of shortage, governments have been known to put in regulations against stockpiling of critical assets like food.   I haven't seen this done in the US, but is more common in socialist countries.

But, when governments do that, you can be assured that the officials have their own horde of these critical supplies and are not going to take their chances with the food and gas lines.

[iolaire]

Perhaps I should have used the word "panicking" instead of hoarding. Both are unpleasant tho. Sorry to have bunched up anyone's knickers.

I'm more interested in knowing why you are worked up about hoarding or panic buying?  I don't watch TV but do scan hundreds of news stories each day in many publications and have not see reference to panic buying in the Houston area, but it wouldn't surprise me if fuel was in short supply in such a car based city.  Not to mention all the small motor devices that need fuel for the clean up.

[Michael Murphy]

My favorite panic buying was in late 2000 when the Y2K frenzy was at its highest.  One of my coworkers took out a second mortgage for about 25,000 to buy supplies.  He filled his cellar with food fuel and a 5000 dollar generator.  None of which was returnable.  What was really funny was he was a programmer and should have known better.  The Y2K was an application problem and could not cause major problems.  The real problem was the rolling of the UNIX year scheduled for early in 2030 which if not fixed will cause chaos.  This is because that date is central to th UNIX operating system.







sp mod Cas

[Simon Dog]

The real problem was the rolling of the UNIX year scheduled for early in 2030 which if not fixed will cause chaos.  This is because that date is central to th UNIX operating system.

We have 8 more years leeway than that 

Unix stores the time a seconds since the Epoch (defined as January 1,1970).   This timestamp is defined as a 32 bit unsigned integer, which is scheduled to "roll over" back to 0 on January 19, 2038 at 3:14:08 UTC.   

I had to investigate a problem on a system that was caused at the midpoint of the timespan when the high order bit went to 1, as someone had used a signed integer to store a timestamp and it was causing problems when it when the value went negative.

The solution is conceptually simple - redefine the timestamp as a 64 bit unsigned integer.   The problem is that a lot of software will have to be changed, including some industry standard packages in wide use within other products (for example, Kerberos security).    Plus, when you change it you have to maintain backward compatibility with all existing applications or fork and maintain two versions.

---------------------

As to hoarding -

There are two kinds.

1. Buying something in times of abundance and maintaining an inventory in case of future shortage.  Those into competitive shooting will remember the great primer shortages, and stock up accordingly when supply is readily available.   When the next shortage hits, those people are not "hoarders" but "forward thinkers".

2. Stockpiling a scarce resource in times of crisis.  For example, filling up your pickup truck with more plywood than you need when a hurrican is bearing down on your city or filling up a dozen gas cans.

The social implication of #2 is different that #1.  #1 does not cause a shortage to increase in times of crisis, whereas #2 does.  Anti price-gouging laws actually encourage #2, and also reduce the incentive for outsiders to bring in supplies.    For example, absent price gouging laws, people will buy generators at retail, load up their truck, and head to a recovery area to sell them at a profit.   So, are people better off not being able to buy a generator at $1000 or being able to buy one at $2000?

[Bill Peckham]

If you stockpile you won't be part of the problem when there is a shortage.

Speaking of moral hazard and trying not to motivate bad social behavior, what about the whole we don't have any zoning regulations 'cause freedom and then turning around to ask for 150 billion dollars from the federal and state government.

Is it not a moral hazard to make the area financially whole while allowing the Texas costal and low lying areas (looking at you Houston) to continue their non zoning ways?

Build anything anywhere anyhow and when things go to high water someone else will pay. Freedom!

[PrimeTimer]

I was talking about the panic of a gas shortage started on social media in Texas. Gas stations are out of gas because of this. It's a man-made shortage. There are long lines at the pumps and the stations cannot refuel their pumps fast enough. Many (hundreds) of stations are OUT of gas. They cannot keep up with the sudden increase in demand because it has more than tripled since last Thursday. Google some news for Dallas, San Antonio, San Angelo, Laredo, Del Rio....it's widespread. People are fighting with each other, it's gotten ugly. Fuel trucks have arrived to restock the stations but they run out again within hours. It's crazy.

[Simon Dog]

Is it not a moral hazard to make the area financially whole while allowing the Texas costal and low lying areas (looking at you Houston) to continue their non zoning ways?

Its also a moral hazard to give financial aid to persons who enjoyed the financial benefit of choosing not to buy flood insurance.

Fuel trucks have arrived to restock the stations but they run out again within hours. It's crazy.

Even a rumor of a shortage can create one.     One example is the shelves in CA being stripped bare after Johonny Carson mentioned a shortage.

In the shooting world, a rumor started that Clinton would require small arms primers to have a short shelf life.  Despite the fact that this chemically made no sense, the shortage was widespread and instant.  It was about a year before any suppliers could fill orders of a product normally in plentiful supply.   The only reason for the demand was an inaccurate rumor about a possible shortage.

[Michael Murphy]

The Carson induced shortage was Toilet Paper and it was a national event not just limited to Ca.

[Rerun]

I'm going to start hoarding "eclipse glasses" NOW so I will have many pair to choose from and share.

    

[Tío Riñon]

I moved the topic from "off Topic" to Dialysis General Discussion because we started to use the "D" word..  Rules is Rules

I found a link that you can donate to if you want to help Dialysis People in Huston.
    NOTE:  I donated yesterday to a Bank that had an account set up for the Red Cross.  I have not tried this link so PM me if it does not work for you.  Rerun


It was a pleasure speaking with you over the phone both yesterday and today. Thank you for wanting to donate to the dialysis patients who have been affected by Hurricane Harvey in Texas. Here is the direct link for donating to the American Kidney Fund:
https://secure2.convio.net/akf/site/Donation2?df_id=4663&mfc_pref=T&4663.donation=form1&&utm_campaign=harvey&utm_medium=paid&utm_source=facebook&utm_content=Paid2
 
100% of the donations will go to American Kidney Fund’s Disaster Relief Program which will be used to assist dialysis patients affected by Hurricane Harvey. Feel free to share this link on your website so others can donate if they would like.
 
Please feel free to contact me if there is anything more I can do for you. My contact information can be found in the signature line below.
 
Sincerely,
 
Cecilia Estep
Event/Program Coordinator and Communications Specialist
National Kidney Foundation of Louisiana
8200 Hampson Street Suite 425
New Orleans, LA 70118
Phone: 504-861-4500  Fax: 504-861-1976
Cecilia@kidneyla.org
www.kidneyla.org
 
A member of Community Health Charities of Louisiana and Mississippi
A United Way Partner Agency
NKFL Boiler

I recently contacted our state chapter of the National Kidney Foundation (NKF) and the representative shared the following information with me:

NKF has developed a special emergency relief fund for dialysis patients in the Houston area.  While NKF is not set up as an emergency relief organization to provide on the ground assistance, we have developed a special fund to provide financial assistance to dialysis patients in the Houston area.  Recovery from Hurricane Harvey will be long and challenging and this fund seeks to alleviate some of the financial strain that our dialysis patients will face in its aftermath.  100% of the proceeds from NKF’s Hurricane Harvey Relief Fund will go to dialysis patients in the Houston area.  The relief fund will be coordinated with a patient’s social worker and doctor, and an application must be submitted.

If you receive calls from volunteers wishing to donate, please let them know checks can be mailed to: National Kidney Foundation Headquarters, 30 East 33rd Street, New York, NY  10016, memo marked “Hurricane Harvey Relief”.  Telephone: 212-889-2210 or 800-622-9010.

Feel free to share with others.

[PrimeTimer]

Tio Rinon: Thank you for posting that info and numbers. My husband is sharing it with some of the evacuees his center took in. Hopefully there will be something setup for the people affected by Hurricane Irma as well.

Husband's center is still accommodating evacuees. At first everyone had to have their treatments shortened so that everyone could at least have a treatment. Nobody complained tho, it was not only the right thing to do but the only way to make it work. Now everyone is getting their full treatments, just running a little behind.New friendships are being formed. Hubby has the 5:30 morning shift so not bad, they are only a few minutes behind now. As for the gas panic, that has seemed to ease. There was a morning when hubby had to go out hunting for gas before dawn. He saw a station where a tanker truck was refueling so pulled in there. It was 5am and he was 5th in line, including an ambulance waiting to refuel! Now it looks like Florida is going thru the same thing. I pray for those who are about to be hit by Irma, I pray people will act civil towards one another and that they get the help they need and lives will be spared from this monstrous storm.