[To the tune from Evita, Don't cry for me, Argentina]

So, when the Pi first started to be in tight supply, I thought being a bit patient would help. Then, Jeff Geerling posted that the shortage was dire, and had a link to a website with a Raspberry Pi tracker. And I assumed that this would be like that site for the ship stuck in the Suez canal, something fun but not relevant for too long.

Well, I was wrong. after a few iterations of enhancements, the Rpi tracker now shows when stores LAST had stock. (edit: Tracking started mid-Feb) And while things have improved recently, stock is still being quickly snapped up. I even mulled over ordering from overseas, but even after the VAT comes off the pricing is still very steep and I don't have a firm project for it. (edit: Pi Zero seems to have not gotten NA stock since March, while Pi 4 in various sizes has at least made an appearance in the last week. More avail. in Europe it seems)

I peeked at auction sites, but if they are actually getting those prices, I might have to put some of mine up.

The upside of this is I haven't been doing too many Pi projects lately. But, I'd like to do the Kubernetes cluster which seemingly might not happen.

So, I'm looking for alternatives. Short list include Pi clones and older x86 refurb units for the short term, at least.