Tag Archives: hoarding

WHAT’S HOT AND WHAT’S NOT AT AMAZON.

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So many people are hoarding food now that the most popular foods​ that​ they sell on Amazon are ​largely ​sold out. A lot of what s available for immediate shipment is the stuff nobody wants. For example, Armour canned roast beef is sold out, but Rose’s Pork Brains in Milk Gravy is available for immediate shipment, and you get all you want.​ See:​ Pork Brains. The listing says that Rose​’s​ is ‘Amazon’s Choice’ for canned pork brains, but that isn’t enough to get me to buy​, much less eat,​ this product. Now is the time when you find out what nobody will buy – even when they are hoarding food. Here are some other food items that are available for immediate shipment from Amazon.

Clamdy Candy Canes. Peppermint candy canes are sold out, but they have lots of clam candy canes in stock. The listing says that this is ‘Amazon’s Choice’ for clam candy. Clamdy Canes.

Sauer Frau Squeezable Sauer Kraut. The description on Amazon of this product says that this is “an authentic German sauer kraut made from an Old World recipe.” Well, excuse me, but I know lots of Germans and none of them eat sauer kraut out of a squeeze tube. Sauer Frau.

Pickle Soda. Pickle flavored soda is expensive, $6.95 a bottle, but even if it was cheaper, would you buy it? Pickle Soda.

Sweet Sue Canned Whole Chicken. I’ve eaten Kirkland canned chicken breast meat. It’s not as good as fresh, but it’s not bad. But it’s sold out. A canned whole chicken is something entirely different. Imagine, a whole chicken, including the skin and bones, in a can. This may be the single most unappetizing item on this list. See photos below. Sweet Sue is ‘Amazon’s Choice’ for canned whole chicken.

WHY DO PEOPLE SAVE OLD NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINES?

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Below is a photo of the lobby of the Graduate Hotel in Berkeley. Tartine Bakery is inside. Graduate is a chain of hotels in college towns. There’s a lot of them. The hotel is using hundreds of old National Geographic magazines as decor behind the check-in desk. It reminds me of when I was a realtor. I remember that I used to see National Geographic magazines like this in people’s homes, usually in estate sales. When an elderly person died in Berkeley, their house was usually put on the market for sale by the heirs. After I walked through a house like that, I would then go into the basement or the attic and there I would sometimes find hundreds of old National Geographic magazines, all neatly arranged by date. Whenever this happened, I would wonder: “Why do people do this?” Old National Geographic magazines have no resale value. Some people told me that they save old National Geographic magazines because they have wonderful photos and stories in them, which is true, but unless you have an index of all those magazines, which nobody did back then, how would you find those photos and stories? I had an aunt who did this. She had a room full of old National Geographic magazines. She also saved Christian Science Monitor newspapers, even though she was not a Christian Scientist. I know realtors who tell me that they still see rooms like this, filled to the ceiling with old National Geographic magazines. Can you explain to me why so many people do this? I have never figured this out.

The Dangers of Clutter and Hoarding.

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On December 27, 2015; a fire destroyed a house near where I live on the 2800 block of Acton Street near Russell. The house was occupied by its owner, Billy Carroll. Firemen were unable to enter the house through the front door because there was a pile of stuff placed up against the door making it impossible to open. The firemen eventually found another way into the house, but Carroll was in the center of the house by that time, and the firemen could not reach him because piles of storage boxes blocked their way. By the time the firemen were able to get to Mr. Carroll, he was dead.

This story is not unique or even unusual. Excessive clutter is responsible for countless fires and deaths every year. Hoarding and the accumulation of stuff is a danger to the health, safety, and lives or everybody living in that building and the neighboring buildings. Are you storing stuff in your hallways, on stairs, or near exits that people have to walk around or avoid? If your apartment was full of smoke, would firemen be able to navigate through your place without falling down or tripping over stuff? Are you storing stuff near furnaces? What happened to Billy Carroll is more common than you might think. Just within 1 block of my house, I know of 2 other houses that were destroyed by fire in which people died as a result of their clutter. There are a lot of reality TV shows about hoarding. Perhaps you have seen one. In these shows, no one dies as a result of their hoarding, but reality TV is not reality. In the real world, hoarding and clutter is dangerous, and people die as a result of it every day.  When is the last time you looked over your house or apartment objectively and asked yourself what would happen if your place was on fire and filled with smoke. Would you be able to get out? With limited visibility, would firemen be able to get in and move around inside your place to rescue you?