About two weeks ago, I purchased canning supplies: can lids and straps and a new pressure can.

There is nothing to eat locally. My wife told me of another shortage. A local farm selling grazing meat products could not find a refrigerator.

We guess that the COVID lockdown has persuaded some people who stayed at home to start or expand their gardens, especially if they are also unemployed as a necessity to support their families. This will exhaust the supply chain of canned goods and freezers.

I asked some friends about shortages through Facebook.

Then, suddenly, I went shopping again. Our HP inkjet printer is dead. It has been rumbled reliably for 15 years and is eternal for printers. This time, the rollers are worn out and I cannot clean them.

The computer shelf areas of Staples and Walmart look weird, just like the grocery store aisles filled with toilet paper are almost empty during the "2020 TP COVID shortage" period.

Although we all understand the toilet paper shortage (Americans will go crazy during the crisis), we seem to have forgotten that earlier this year, when the entire industry closed, 30 million Americans were unemployed. Office workers can work from home. Assembly line workers cannot.

Why is the supply of computer printers in short supply?

A salesperson at Way's office supply in Dubois provided an answer: "They are on a slow ship from China." The shortage of printers may be one of the consequences of the Sino-US trade/tariff war. But the COVID lockdown has prompted many schools and college students to only take classes online, which has increased the demand for printers at home.

I bought an HP print-copy-fax model that uses only two ink cartridges (black and tri-color) for less than $200, including spare ink cartridges.

The interesting part is that after 15 years of not doing such a thing, stumbled in its setting. There is no printed manual. I followed HP's step-by-step instructions through a web browser and watched as a hypothetical HP technician took control of my computer and made the printer spin and blink. This has taken a disturbing turn, making me suspect that my hypothetical link to HP has been phished to computer hackers. I shortened the call time and downloaded the PDF print version of the user manual. Everything seems to work.

But the shortage did surprise me.

I did find tank lids and pressure tanks online. If they are available, I would rather buy them locally.

As early as February, when the COVID virus first hit, I had expected a shortage of toilet paper. We may have contributed to this. It's almost October now. Since we returned from Florida in April, we have not bought any toilet paper.

Our family’s use of these important sheets has decreased. Large family visits in summer are rare, and they are carried out with social distancing and wearing masks. Some fellow Americans did not take these precautions. We are indeed.

I doubt whether my wife and I have consciously reduced the use of toilet paper. But I am not going to ask her. If she asks me, I will not answer. Just "shhh!" I guess we need to buy more toilet paper before winter arrives.

I have always been a computer ink hoarder. I sometimes take "backup" to an absurd level. For our now deceased printer, I accumulated nearly US$200 worth of ink and can no longer use it. I hate to simply throw away dead computers or ink.

My wife posted the availability of ink on Facebook. Sure enough, we got rid of it on the same day. I did some sneaky things. I did not charge for the ink, but imposed the non-operational printer on the good lady who came to fetch the ink. This saved me the trouble of storing it until the recycling staff in Jefferson County had another electronics collection day-and then I tried to remember where I stored this damn thing in order to get it out of the landfill. Rescued.

Someone told me that there is anecdotal evidence that the following items are in short supply:

¯ Camping trailers and RVs; kayaking (!).

¯ Headphones for listening through a computer or smartphone; fitness exercise equipment; strings for archery bows.

Washing machines; tractors and tractor parts; paint rollers; straight razors; golf clubs (parts made in China); and, although why would anyone care, wind chimes.

According to a Facebook poster, even canned pumpkins seem to be difficult to find, and the price of $21 for two cans is too high, according to its epic rant, which is both humorous and intense.

All this may have a mysterious morality, but those of us who have experienced it will not understand these things until they become history.

Now, please stick to toilet paper and don't damage your computer printer.

Denny Bonavita is the former editor of DuBois and Warren newspapers. He lives near Brookville. Email: denny2319@windstream.net.

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