Adventures in the Grocery Store

Wednesday, July 02, 2008

I'm sorry, but some retail shops must just think that their customers are dumb as boxes of rocks. Like maybe their customers have all suffered from accidental lobotomies or something.

We were at Safeway last night, Joe and I, and I sent him on his merry way to get some eggs. Now buying eggs has become an exercise in tooth grinding angst. I'm accustomed to purchasing my eggs for $.79/dozen and $1.25/18 or some such price. Not any longer! Safeway likes to jack their prices up so high that you're paying $.25 apiece. That's just ridiculous.

Anyway, he came back with 3 dozen eggs. I asked him why he got that many when I just needed a dozen and he replied that they were buy 2 - get 1 free and this was cheaper than buying 18 at normal price. Only guess what? They weren't normal price!

We were just in there 2 or 3 days ago and the eggs were something like $2.39/dozen. So along comes a buy 2-get 1 free sale so what does Safeway do? They jack up the price! To $3.29/dozen. Like we wouldn't notice that they're now NINTY CENTS more than 48 hours ago. I have to give them credit for using the same numbers and just transposing the first 2. That's sheer genius on their part. I imagine that many shoppers won't even notice and will instead be counting the extra pennies they are saving through purchasing 2 and getting 1 free.

So I'm a bit steamed about that but quite frankly, it's cheaper to just buy them here than it would be to get in the car and drive to the only other grocery store in town, Albertsons. Especially since it now costs us like $.25 per inch to go anywhere in our car...

I grumble and put the eggs in my basket and then head down the soda aisle. We are the designated drink suppliers at all family functions so we like to do a stockpile of sodas and I'd seen that now you could buy 2 - 12 packs and get 3 free. Awesome! These were buy 2 - get 2 free 48 hours ago (and $3.99 per 12) so I figured we'd be saving a good amount.

Except.. what's this? Now the 12 packs are... $5.99. FIVE ninety-nine. That's $2.00 more than 2 days ago. Time to whip out the calculator. 2 days ago I would have paid $7.98 for 4 - 12 packs. That's a pretty kicking deal - $2.00 per case. Now I'll be paying $12.00 for 5. That's $2.40/case. Grrr...

Isn't this illegal? I remember Lamonts (a department store in the late 80's - early 90's) that used to pull stuff like this. They'd have a sale on hats, just to pull something out of my.... hat... hahaha! So anyway, hats would be marked 40% off. The robin hood hat would now be $19.97. But wait a second. 3 days ago that same Robin Hood hat was $19.99. So they would jack up the price and the put it on sale. They're no longer in business - one wonders why.

Unfortunately, we don't have much choice in this town when it comes to grocery stores. You have your 2 Safeways, 1 Albertsons, and a local shop that specializes in outdated canned goods and other assorted botulism experiences. You've got your moldy veggie and fruit section and your bag of freezer burn... something in the frozen section. So boycotting a store just isn't really possible. Especially when Albertsons isn't that great.

And so, like the other masses of lemmings in this town, we march one after the other into the few shops available and pay their highway robbery prices and jacked up "normal" price - because we have no other choice.

Now pass me that $.25 egg, please.

Happy Shopping
Check out this photo - it's a mother, her mom (I guess) and 2 kids. Isn't this lovely... they're all so happy to be grocery shopping together. What planet are they from? Because let me tell you - I've never seen that family in my grocery store before. Obviously these aliens watched one too many episodes of Leave it to Beaver before donning their human bodies and heading to earth...

The first order of business upon entering the grocery store is finding a cart that works. Between the wonky wheels, the garbage left in the basket, and the goop smeared on the handle (I do NOT want to know what I just put my finger on...) just finding a grocery cart has become a battle unto itself. A brief struggle ensues as I attempt to disentangle several carts that have melded into one unmovable object, but finally, a worthy vehicle is located and I take a deep breath and set forth into the cavernous expanse of the store.

I have a plan so I quickly move from section to section, grabbing my items. Oh gross, the meat is bloody and has once again bled through the wrapper and is now all over my hands. You'd think that the butcher section would get a clue one day and pack them better. After cleaning up the slaughter it's off to the eggs - this is always fun. Inevitably, someone has broken all the eggs in the front so my backside is out for the world to see as I reach into the very back and attempt to locate a carton that hasn't been smashed or trodden on. Several tense minutes later, I have my eggs and I move on.

And here's where it gets fun. I don't get to see that happy little family out shopping - instead I see the family that is spread out over 3 aisles. Mom is pushing the cart as quickly as she can down each row, grabbing at random products in an effort to get her cart filled so she can check out. There is a screaming baby hanging off the side and knocking down displays as they race by. At the end of the aisle is an older child running up and down and back and forth. Oh, excuse me, are my cart and feet in the way of your play time? Don't mind me. I'll just climb up the shelves and get out of your way...

Then there is the toddler who has escaped completely and is headed for the front door of the store, bag of candy in hand. Mom's eyes are bugging out of her head and her hair is standing on end as she hollers for the toddler to get back and for Jimmy to get back here "RIGHT NOW OR I'LL MEAN BUSINESS THIS TIME BUDDY!" So, the last 50 times you bellered that... you didn't mean it??

And of course, these people always end up line behind me. I can sense everyone else scampering for other parts of the store as the din of screaming children and their weeping mother come up behind me. I know they've arrived when the cart slams into the back of my legs and I'm suddenly tripping over a small child as he crawls between my legs and through the bottom of my cart in his latest attempt to escape. I can feel my eye begin to twitch but you just don't turn around in line to talk to the crazed lunatic behind you - that's not how things are done. Instead I start focusing all my energy on the cashier in the hopes that she'll feel me urging her to move a bit more quickly with the person in front of me so I can get out of here.

As I stand there, staring with laser vision at the cashier, I cannot help but listen to what's happening behind me. The frantic mother has now abandoned her cart and is running down the main aisle of the store to catch the toddler before he escapes out of the store. The baby is screaming and has somehow managed to climb into the basket and is kicking my back. This ceases when he discovers that mom isn't there to stop him and there is a blessed moment of silence as the little wheels in his head turn madly before he begins to pick items from the cart and fling them quite forcefully into the other shoppers standing in line.

Mom finally comes back, dragging Jr by the arm and looking frantically for the older child. He's not been seen nor heard from since he was told that THIS WAS IT, BUDDY. I wonder idly if his name is actually Buddy...

Mom is apologizing to those around her as she takes stock of what she's looking at. Baby angrily hollers as mom finally clues in to the food items flying about and removes the bag of flour before it goes sailing. My stare is growing more intense but the cashier is oblivious. She's been here too long to be affected by the death stares of the desperate.

Just when I think I cannot take another moment, it's finally my turn and I leap to the front and begin bagging my own groceries. I cannot pay quickly enough and I'm gone. Whew. Another trip to the grocery store is done. I can go home and relax and begin planning my next foray into the wilds of the local supermarket.

Joey, the Amazing Couch Potato

Monday, June 30, 2008

Joey is a world class couch potato. He has it down to a science... or an art form. He will lie for hours w/out moving, just lying there snoring softly as he sleeps his life away.

This is one of his favorite positions. He has no shame. Cover yourself up, boy!

hot day in P.A.

Saturday, June 28, 2008

Today was a scorcher. I think it peaked near 90 and the inside of our non-AC cooled house was over 85. Simply unbearable. So we packed up the dog and a bunch of cupcakes and made the trek to my parent's place for an outdoor BBQ dinner.

Afterwards, the kids and animals were running around so I pulled out the cellphone and went to work!

And for those who doubt whether these are actually shot with my cellphone - in one shot you can see my shadow as I take the picture. Wholly unintentional, but makes for an interesting photo. And proves what I'm doing ;)




Megan (l) and Anneka (r) - what a cute pair of cousins!


Forgotten on the stairs...


Joey meets Mittens the cat. Mittens wasn't interested.


It's a veritable zoo...dogs and cats galore


Unintentional - shadow of me taking a pic with my phone
(for all the doubters!)


What do you want? No, I won't look at you for the shot.
I'm sleeping. Leave me alone.


hello, kitty!


Mittens in deep contemplation


Megan looks for lizards. Eeek!

dancing in the sunset

Friday, June 27, 2008

I just love sunsets. The colors that stretch across the horizon are simply breathtaking. Sunset is my favorite time of the day. I'm a night owl so it signals that I can come to life, but it's more than that. I just get a happy feeling watching the sun slowly move down and vanish as it sinks below the horizon. It's times like tonight with a crystal clear blue sky and an amazing sunset that I am just happy to be alive.

And it's even better when little kids are running around on a beach at sunset. Lots of silhouette photos of my nieces/nephew throwing rocks and just being kids. With the brilliant sunset in the background, it makes for a perfect photo opportunity. How could I resist?

But before we hit the beach, enjoy a few photos I took of the harbor from an overlooking park. The colors, ships, sunset - it all was peaceful and gorgeous.

And as always, view the entire set of photos at my Smugmug album.



A view of the Olympic Mountains as we drive to the park.


The COHO ferry coming in from Victoria, BC (seen on right of large container ship).


A view of the park that overlooks the harbor.


Downtown Port Angeles on far left - Victoria, BC on right (far horizon).


Mt Baker can be seen in the middle, far horizon.


Port Angeles harbor shot


A few ships sitting in the harbor.


More Victoria, BC on the far horizon..


Looking out toward Victoria on the far horizon.


Mt Baker can be seen toward the right - Victoria on the left horizon.


The sunset as seen from the car. The sun peeking through the trees intrigues me...


More of the sunset from the car as we drive down the road..


View from downtown Port Angeles - looking at a tanker docked for repairs.


Victoria, BC on far horizon. Looking at Strait of Juan de Fuca.


Looking west down the Strait.


Watching the waves roll in.


Other vehicles there for the sunset.


Andrew throws a rock into the water..


Nikole dances on the log.


Still dancing...


And finishing the dance.


Watching the sunset and waves.


Victoria, BC is on far horizon...looked very close tonight.

the high price of gas

Thursday, June 26, 2008

Just a few photos today.

I can remember when Joe and I moved to Virginia 11 years ago. We used to drive to a huge mall outside DC and we always stopped at this little mini-mart to get gas. We were paying $.89/gallon then. We could fill up our red mini van for something like $17.00. Those were the days!

Gas has reached $4.55/gallon for mid-grade here now. That's what we use in our car so now a typical fill up is upwards of $70. We typically put in $20 at a time since we don't do a lot of driving. That lasts a week or so.

Yesterday I saw this van in front of me as I drove to Seattle to do an airport retrieval of a sister and her kiddos. It's not terribly clear but it should be legible. Instead of the usual "powered by alternative fuel" it states "powdered by expensive gas."




And this photo shows what happens when Costco sells fuel for $.10 less than anyone else around. We waited in line for a bit before being able to finally fill up. In some lines, the cars were 6 deep.

the lonely road

Wednesday, June 25, 2008

It's great living close to family. My parents are just a short 10 minute drive away so tonight we went there for dinner. My mom made a killer pizza (Joe and son said it was great - I ate my own gluten-free version made from biscuit dough) and then we took a short walk. Knowing I would be able to shoot some photos just had me all excited. My mom is a fabulous gardener and has a vast number of flowers and bushes growing wild like an english cottage garden. Every time I'm there I just turn green with envy and wish I could have a flower garden like that. But being the original Black Thumb, that's impossible. I would need to hire a full time gardener to keep things alive. 1 month with me in charge and everything would be dead. But I digress...

I may not be able to grow anything, but I can definitely enjoy Mom's while I'm there. So our tour starts in the small garden next to the parking area. First up will be my dad's Washington Huskies mailbox surrounded by a sea of flowers. Enjoy!






















This is Rocky. He's a miniature pony and when not fenced in to eat down the tall grass, he's out running free with the dogs. He greets guests at their cars when they arrive and thinks he is one of the dog pack. It is the most adorable thing I've ever seen.






































Where old cars go to die.

Tall Ships at the Pier

Tuesday, June 24, 2008

Last night, Joe and I took a twilight drive through town and discovered that some old wooden "tall" ships were docked at the Port Angeles Pier. Today was a sunny day so off we went to take a look.

There were a few private smaller ships and then there was the HMSS Bounty. It was just amazing to see it up close. (read their website for more information - HMS Bounty).

I didn't see that there were any tours available so I had to content myself with some shots from the pier. And since the pier is like 50 feet off the water, it was all I could do to get close enough to the edge to get some good shots (acrophobic much?). But overall, I think it was a successful trip and I'm very pleased with the shots I was able to get.

There were quite a few people out on the pier and looking at the boats. And since the tide was out and it was a beautiful sunny, albeit a bit chilly, day - the small beach next to the pier was just buzzing with families and their children playing in the sand.

While I was looking at the ships, the Coho ferry arrived. This ferry makes multiple trips between Port Angeles and Victoria, BC each day and is a fun adventure in itself. MV Coho Ferry. The ferry comes in head first but as it arrives at the dock, it moves past and then backs in. That also is something worth seeing.

Enjoy the photos. I wish there were a way I could include the sound of the seagulls calling as they circle around and the smell of the salt water in the slight breeze that was softly blowing in from the harbor. I just love it here.

























































Our son, being his usual self, waiting in the backseat.