'We used to get helium any time ... now we're on a weekly call'
EUGENE, Ore. -- Securing a Valentine’s Day staple for your sweetheart might be harder to get your hands on this year as the nation faces a shortage of helium.
While businesses around the area are already seeing the effects of the U.S. gas shortage, Dandelions Flowers and Gifts in Eugene said that they are prepared for the upcoming holiday.
“It is a little bit surprising to our customers that … during the last few months, we've run out of helium and our suppliers don't have any helium available for us,” said Shirley Lyons, the owner of Dandelions.
There are limited amounts of the gas commercially produced, and more and more of it is being put to use in medical and technical fields.
This means that the helium supply to some businesses that sell balloons has become more limited.
Lyons' business specializes in mainly floral arrangements and flowers, so she says she isn't too worried about the helium shortage.
“We used to get helium any time we wanted. That has changed to now, we're on a weekly call in for our helium,” said Lyons.
For now, Lyons said that she’s got her bases covered, and they're ready for Valentine's Day.
“We’ve already secured our extra helium. They happen to have additional helium this week,” said Lyons. “We are going to take that tank in advance so we are prepared for the upcoming holiday.”
There was a guy a couple decades ago who got hold of a helium tank, bunch of ballons, and lauched himself from an aluminum lawn chair from his own back yard. He got really high up, and drifted into a des/ascending commercial jet flight path. He was signaled to come back down. Just like a cartoon he popped 1 ballon after another and came down safely. He said, "I just wanted to fly your honor."Â
There will be legions of sad little boys who won't be able to talk like Donald Duck ever again.
Be thankful it is not toilet paper.
Interesting: a year ago, California was put on ânoticeâ that helium was  not available. (My daughter wanted helium balloons for her baby shower, and couldnât get it) wonder why they were rationed a year ago, and Oregon is only now being rationed? Makes you wonder ..... real or created shortage?
The whole "helium" shortage is crap and was debunked on Reddit a few weeks ago.
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Under the Obama administration we have dramatically increased our drilling/fracking.
By 2017 we will surpass Saudi Arabia.
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These NASA photos show proof of the changes over the past decade as far as fracking is concerned. http://www.dvice.com/archives/2013/01/natural-gas-mak.php
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So where am I going with this? Well, fracking produces helium, geothermal steam, free radical oxygen and methane. Â Firms are already capturing the helium, so there's really no threat of running out of helium for quite some time.Â
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I swear some guy who is massively invested in helium continues to perpetuate this myth for their financial gain.
Baking soda and white vinegar in a soda bottle will give you instant helium. Check it out on Pinterest.com. Never have to go buy helium again.
 @catzmeow It produces carbon dioxide, not helium.Â
@catzmeow You obviously flunked high school chemistry. "When Baking soda and vinegar are combined, it makes a fizzing reaction when the Acetic acid in the vinegar reacts with Sodium Bicarbonate (the chemical name for baking soda). The result is some water, Sodium Acetate and Carbon Dioxide gas (the bubbles)." Carbon dioxide is heavier than air and will actually flow out of a container and across the floor instead of rising. "Helium is commercially recovered from natural gas deposits, mostly from Texas, Oklahoma and Kansas. It is a 'noble gas' which means it doesn't easily combine with much of anything."
It's a gas =)
 @hewhoo  @catzmeow I have never claimed to be smart, just passing on info I have gleaned. Sorry.
 @hewhoo  @catzmeow Tell me, out of curiosity, why do they use it in deep diving SCUBA gear? How does it help keep you from getting the "Bends"?
 @hewhoo  @catzmeow Aahh. Now I understand why they describe it as your "Blood Boiling."
@catzmeow @hewhoo As I understand it, they use oxygen helium mix instead of air which is mostly an oxygen nitrogen mix. The nitrogen is the part that gets trapped in your joints and causes 'the bends' and also nitrogen narcosis, which is like being drunk down there.Â
 @catzmeow Don't trust everything you see on the internet.
 @santiago_del_bosque I can always use a good chemistry lesson.
 @santiago_del_bosque Pardon me. It will blow up the baloons, but they will not float. I haven't tried it myself. There has to be other solutions out there, you just have to look and try.