misc. #43

MISC. #43

I might talk a lot about Kroger’s verses Wal-Mart, but believe me I am not happy going shopping. This is just one of those pesky details one must keep up on. Once a month, sometimes less in the winter if the roads are bad, I rent a car to go in to go grocery shopping. Yes, I can and have done this exclusively on my bicycle, but I can’t tote bags of wheat or bulky items ( like a big trash can- I’m going to start a new composting project as soon as I can dig without passing out from the heat and once I make that dreaded lumber run in a U-Haul. The hole is already mostly done but right now with our heat wave even 6 AM is too hot and worse yet an unprecedented humid ) in a three gallon basket. Renting a car is one of those budget items filed under luxury. I can drop it as soon as needed or desired. Hell, even going into town once a month isn’t worth the one restaurant meal a month I allow myself. One after another places are getting more expensive and/or substituting something or other in place of real food. I feel like I’m eating in Haiti at a roadside stand selling mud pies.

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Anyway, despite relegating Wal-Mart down to the bottom of the shopping pile, the place I spend the least, I still feel violated shopping there. I checked on DVD movies on my way to the food and The Walking Dead was priced at an incredible DOUBLE ( $42 verses $23, third season ) what I paid at Amazon for a new copy. And when I got to the coffee, I was stunned and shocked. Master Chef had gone up in price. All the last coffee crop failure it had stayed at $5.28. Now, at the very rumored start of the new one it had gone to $5.68. I don’t know if this is an indicator of price hikes everywhere or it is just Wally humping us again. I guess I’m just buying Kroger’s “Psst” brand coffee, still at $5.29. It doesn’t taste as good, but I’ll persevere.

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And on the subject of coffee, French Press coffee makers. I love them for the simplicity and energy savings and ease of clean-up ( important when water is conserved ) but I’m getting tired of buying new ones. The “shatter proof” ones have easily broken plastic pieces and the glass ones break too easy. I just busted up another one ( think about it. You are on the way to making coffee, meaning you haven’t had any yet, meaning you are half asleep and clumsy ). I’m devolving back to the vacuum thermoses and reusable filters in a trash picked drip basket.

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I don’t know how long it will last but Kroger bags of flour are at $1.49. I had already gone to the other end of town and didn’t feel like doubling back, so I just bought white flour instead of wheat kernels at the feed store. I try not to do that too often. Flour, for the same weight, takes extra storage space. I can fit 100 pounds of berries in three five-gallon buckets with room to spare for a smidge more. With flour, I have an extra ten pounds left over I can’t fit in. Very irritating.

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And speaking of “The Walking Dead”, as soon as I get done paying $50 for three seasons on DVD, I see an ad that the series is coming to broadcast TV this fall. MyTV is the station. Granted, NOT watching ads is worth something, as is watching in the order you pick. But still. I feel this was directed at me personally.

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