Ramblings

There wasn't a lot to write about today, so I decided to mention some grocery shopping frustrations I have. The difference between Josie shopping, and me, is like night and day. When we go together, she stops and looks at everything. When I go alone, I just want to get it done and get out. There was an article that appeared in one of the other blogs I follow about this very thing, and I grabbed a copy of it and made some of my own changes to suit the occasion. 


I always take a list when I go alone. If the list just says a "can of ...." whatever, Josie knows that's not good enough.  The cans come in all sizes and there are eighteen thousand different variations of every product in the store.  Left to make the choices on my own almost always means that I would be making a return trip to get the "right" stuff.  


I don't know how cooks do it.  Shopping for a particular recipe would drive me crazy.  The recipes call for certain measurements, but of course none of the ingredients are packaged according to those measurements - they are all packaged by weight.  I don't have an I-phone or a Droid, but maybe I need one to go grocery shopping.  I'm sure there is "an app for that" - converting measurements to packaging. 


Oh, and once you figure out the conversion, the packages never seem to contain the exact amount you need.  They either have too much - so you end up with extra that spoils before you use it - or they have too little so that you have to buy two packages, and, once again, you end up with too much.  It's like "Goldilocks Goes To The Supermarket".  But all the packages are "too big" or "too small" and there is never one that's "just right". And don't get me started on the checkout lines.  They have 112 checkout lines with four on each end of "20 items or less" and four more "self checkout".  Everything else is a regular check out lane, but they are rarely open.  If I have a couple items, I'll do the self checkout, but if I have several items, I avoid the self checkout lanes.  I can't handle the "Please place item in the bag" mechanical instructions and then the awkwardness of when you have the two designated bag spots full.  Can I remove one of the bags or will it yell at me?  Heaven forbid you place an item in the bag, and then try to remove it and put it in a different bag.  And then ultimately, the whole thing screws up anyway and you have to have an attendant, when you can find one, come punch in some magic codes so you can pay and be on your way.


Okay, so the last time I went the "20 items or less" lanes were out since I had a few too many items.  Not that that stops people.  I've given up trying to give them the glare or mumbling within earshot about their inability to count.  Apparently, if you have fourteen cans of the same thing, they can be counted as one item. And I avoided the "self checkout" lanes.  That means I had to choose one of the three lanes (out of eighty-something) that were actually open where there are lines and each of the three carts in front of me are stacked to the limits.  I did manage to avoid the line with the kid sitting in the cart staring at me while at the same time yelling "Candy, Mommy!!!"


Of course, once I'm next behind one heaping cart, with three others behind me, the announcement comes over the intercom.  "Julie, Brittany, Jeff, Joe, Tammy, & Lisa, please come to the front to do checkout please".  So they open new lanes and everyone behind me rushes to those. Sound familiar?


All of these things make up a few of the Murphy's Laws of grocery stores. I'm not a shopper, I'm a picker.  If it ain't on the list, it ain't makin' it home.  If Josie starts a sentence with "Did you happen to think to get .....", I cut her off.  "Was it on the list?  If it wasn't on the list, I didn't get it.  All my brain power was focused on converting the amounts on the list to the packaging so that I wouldn't have to go back, finding the cheapest prices, and getting the heck out of there as fast as possible."


I guess it's a good sign when the most stressful thing in my life is grocery shopping. 
Yawn.  I know, pretty boring.  But that's life on many days.  I've learned to embrace the boring days as part of the overall deal.  And I remember the times when I longed for a boring day, so it's all good. 


The next couple days we are off will most likely be low key - boring - as we try to conserve money until our missing paychecks show up. That is the money we use to play with and cover expenses for travel to fun places. Staying home isn't all bad either as we always find ways to enjoy ourselves...