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Morning All, just a shower this morning then hit and humid. I’m shut up in the bedroom since maintenance will come today for quarterly change filters etc. It takes about 15 minutes but you don’t know what time they will come. They ask you move to another room because of COVID so I decided to just set up here with iPad and coffee. Was checking Food Lion prices, wow! Sticker shock. A can of red salmon is $3.00 more than Walmart. Guess I will still visit Walmart now and then. Be safe

Good morning to all. We are able to open our doors for an hour or so this morning - the air outside is only 80. Supposed to make 105 later. We shop at Walmart when we want lots of groceries. But go to Albertsons for produce only, so much better. But other prices are any where from 20 cents to over a dollar higher than Walmart for exact same item. Makes a difference when buying a lot.
That is about our only getting out and going any where - pathetic when we get excited about getting to go to grocery store. Covid cases are dropping here in Vegas, but with labor day just over I expect them to go up again in a week or so. Maybe not. 70 some percent of people in Vegas are vaccinated now. And lots of people had Covid. But on weekends place fills up with tourists so who knows.
We still don't have our RV back, expected date is 9/24. Personally I feel it is safer at dealers, really don't want it here until we are ready to head south sometime around end of October.
Nothing exciting to write about.

Our cool front must not have gotten here yet. It only got down to 75 last night. I'm not moving too fast this morning. I have been making my own sausage biscuits using the biscuits I made and some sausage patties in the freezer. My step-daughter brought me a bag of produce from her sister's husband. It's an eggplant, some different kinds of squash and peppers. I had to look online to find the squash. One is a butternut. I have no idea what to do with the peppers. I cut one open and it kind of tastes like bell pepper but long and skinny. I love fried eggplant so I know what to do with that.

I will probably have to go to the store again because I forgot I needed eggs. Walmart was out of eggs when I went the other day and they weren't on my list yesterday. I don't know what's going on with Walmart. Sometimes when I go they have the aisles full of stuff that needs to be stocked on shelves and other times they will be completely out of some things. For some reason cat litter seems to be in short supply. I haven't compared prices on things at the local store and Walmart lately. The local store changed hands a few months ago and it seems like they are getting more expensive. When I was working I checked the prices one time and some things were a dollar more per item than Walmart. I need to do that again. Yesterday they had a sign on the deli counter that starting October 1 the meals will be charged by the pound. I don't think that is going to go over very well. I know I don't want to place an order and not know what it's going to cost in advance. That's the way the chinese place charges for take out.

Martha

Acadianmom wrote:Our cool front must not have gotten here yet. It only got down to 75 last night. I'm not moving too fast this morning. I have been making my own sausage biscuits using the biscuits I made and some sausage patties in the freezer. My step-daughter brought me a bag of produce from her sister's husband. It's an eggplant, some different kinds of squash and peppers. I had to look online to find the squash. One is a butternut. I have no idea what to do with the peppers. I cut one open and it kind of tastes like bell pepper but long and skinny. I love fried eggplant so I know what to do with that.

I will probably have to go to the store again because I forgot I needed eggs. Walmart was out of eggs when I went the other day and they weren't on my list yesterday. I don't know what's going on with Walmart. Sometimes when I go they have the aisles full of stuff that needs to be stocked on shelves and other times they will be completely out of some things. For some reason cat litter seems to be in short supply. I haven't compared prices on things at the local store and Walmart lately. The local store changed hands a few months ago and it seems like they are getting more expensive. When I was working I checked the prices one time and some things were a dollar more per item than Walmart. I need to do that again. Yesterday they had a sign on the deli counter that starting October 1 the meals will be charged by the pound. I don't think that is going to go over very well. I know I don't want to place an order and not know what it's going to cost in advance. That's the way the chinese place charges for take out.

Martha

Martha for the butternut squash or for acorn squash I put them in the microwave for 2-4 minutes depending on size so they are soft enough to cut without endangering myself! Scoop out the seeds and put brown sugar, cinnamon, butter and pecans in where the seeds were. Bake until fully cooked. I like the long light green or red sweet banana peppers, you can make them like regular stuffed pepper or put in goulash. Peppers also freeze well I just wash them off and put them in a freezer bag. Don't they have a farmers market or roadside stands there where you can buy vegetables and fresh eggs? Fresh eggs taste so much better! I think the stores are having trouble hiring and keeping employees so things don't get stocked. I've heard there are a lot of ships waiting to be unloaded and again no one to do the job.

Redetotry wrote:I think the stores are having trouble hiring and keeping employees so things don't get stocked. I've heard there are a lot of ships waiting to be unloaded and again no one to do the job.

Thanks for the post, BJ.

I think the entire supply chain is in an uproar (again) due to Delta.

I have used Walmart delivery (directly to my home) since the beginning of the pandemic. It is working very well, for the most part. I have learned that Walmart is often out of this thing or that; what I generally do is either list alternates that I will accept should any item be out of stock, I also will almost immediately re-order any items (and their alternates) that do not come.

The best days of the week for stuff NOT to be out-of-stock seems to be Wednesday mornings and Saturday mornings. I also place my delivery time at the earliest hour possible ("between 8:00 - 9:00 a.m.") because I have also found that having orders delivered later in the day have the most likelihood of having missing items.

But. . . man, have groceries gotten expensive during this time!!

Before the pandemic, a cut of meat I liked was beef tri-tip. Put the whole thing on the charcoal grill and. . . well, yum. Before the pandemic, tri-tip was around $2.99/pound and plentiful. Now it is $8.99/pound, and often difficult to get. A 300% increase in price on this one item alone - and everything else grocery-wise is doing nothing but going up-up-up!!

I worry that many people in this country are finding it difficult to put food on the table.

I am extremely thankful that I am not one of them. Yet.

Anne

Karen, you have gone through this year with such grace and resilience. You are an awesome example to everyone. Hugs to you.

I totally agree!

I have been dealing with some moderate shoulder pain in one of my joints since Tuesday. I did laundry and took out the trash this weekend so am thinking it was one of those that caused it. For the trash, I have to lift the heavy lid for the dumpster with one arm and then toss in the heavy bag of trash with the other arm. Wish there was an easier way to do that. My neighbor is disabled and she has either her daughter take it there or calls security and they will pick it up and dump it for her. I may have to check with security to do that for me. If I do laundry once a week instead of every 2 or 3 weeks, It would be just one small load and easier to carry the basket to the laundry room and back.

Anyways, I had some pain at work on Tuesday but got thru it with the CBD balm and some Advil. Then yesterday we had a much different day. I had to work from 10 to 3 because the state inspectors were back and watched as we dumped out thousands of packages of out dated THC gummies into barrels of soapy water. (The gummies aren't ours but belonged to someone else who made them and sold them years ago and then just left them all there). Luckily, my boss and the owner were very understanding with me and put me on an easy job of just discarding the empty packages. But later on, I ended up on dumping duty (my choice) and could feel some discomfort with that. But we were all having so much fun, joking and laughing thru it all that I wasn't really paying much attention, (even the inspectors commented on what a fun group we are!). So anyways, this morning is a whole 'nother story! Woke up with lots of pain in that joint! Rubbed the CBD balm on it and now is feeling somewhat better. We will be back to normal activity today so that will help. I am also wondering if that cortisone shot I got several months ago is wearing off now. That is the same joint he put it in.

Other than all that...yesterday was so hazy that I could not see any of the mountains surrounding the valley including the ones right behind me! Not sure if it was smoke or dust. Didn't smell anything but also hardly a breeze out there so not sure what was going on. It also has been hot and very humid here the past week or so. That humidity just sucks the energy out of me!

I checked at the bank yesterday about the double charge from the storage place and they just said to call the 800 number and see what I could do there . I then stopped at the storage place and talked to the gal there. She checked and saw that I had been charged twice on their end and gave me a credit back. I was overdrawn yesterday because of it so am hoping the bank doesn't charge me an overdraft fee for it. They took the funds from my savings account to cover it. Tomorrow is payday. I saw the HOA fee that was taken out of my checking account that also has my electric bill included. Wow! $500! $350 of that is for the HOA, so the other $150 is my electric bill! That is really high! They jacked up our electric cost last month and with the extreme heat, that really went up by a lot! I will have to raise the temps in here during the daytime a few more degrees when I am not home. Lola likes it warm so she won't care. I keep it at 82* now but will put it up to 85*.

Still need to find someone to help me go get propane. Now I really can't be lifting that bottle myself.

Martha for the butternut squash or for acorn squash I put them in the microwave for 2-4 minutes depending on size so they are soft enough to cut without endangering myself!

BJ, That is a great idea! I once tried to cut a butternut squash and just about cut my arm off trying to do so! . I told my dad I needed a chain saw next time! I love squash but haven't bought any just because of that. Now I can try the microwave trick! Thanks!

Sorry, this is so long, but lots going on and I haven't posted since Monday. Have a good day!

Yummmm.I love butternut squash. I peel the squash down to the orange and then I cut it into cubes, taking the seeds and pulp out of course, and put it in a pan with just a little water on the bottom, and cook like making mashed potatoes. But watch it so it doesn’t scorch. Don’t use too much water or it will get too watery. Then I take out what I wanna eat, add butter and tad bit salt and put the rest into individual serving containers in the freezer. I don’t like to ake it cause it gets too dry. It’s the way my mom has always made it. Acorn squash is another thing I like and that I cut in half, take out the seeds and put in the oven and let it bake until it starts to get a bit soft and then I add some butter, a little bit of maple syrup and a little bit of cinnamon.

Beautiful but breezy fall dsy today. Sun and clouds, but no rain. Temp in mid 60’s. Gave the house a good overdue cleaning this morning. Been cleaning stuff out of my trailer as have prospective coming to look at it either this evening or tomorrow. Even if thry decide they don’t want it, still want to go through that stuff and weed out some things I’ve been carrying and never use.

A d yes, grocery prices are going up here as well. Due to shortages, due to Covid, due to lack of employees all across all sectors of distribution etc. saw a graph awhile back that showed, whenever we have a major crisis in this country, prices will rise and eventually stabilize.

So that’s my itty bitty news for now.

Almost dinner time here. I woke up with a belly ache this morning. And tired, although I'd gotten a decent night's sleep. No clue what the problem is. I worked a couple hours (all I was needed) and when I came home thought maybe eating something bland would settle my tummy. Wrong. It gets better, then worse again. After walking Ty I decided to lay down because I'm still so tired. I've been down a couple hours but never slept. I hope this is some silly bug and tomorrow is a new day without being exhausted and with a belly ache. I know one of the other workampers has been complaining about being constantly tired. I'm partially blaming it on the heat. But it's been hotter. I'm careful about drinking enough water, so I know I'm not dehydrated. It's just weird.

I like squash but have never prepared it myself. As to grocery prices, yep they are rising. Produce, which is big on my grocery list, seems the worst. But that makes sense as the farmers aren't having good crops this summer. Combine that with all the other problems... I wish I was near a farmers market. That would solve that problem, and I'd gladly pay higher directly to the farmers. As for Walmart, I had pretty much stopped doing their as much. Safeway was my store of choice. Then I did both... No Safeway near me and Walmart is 60 miles one way, so they are getting most of my business this summer. I tried using the local grocery 15 miles away, but between their really higher prices and constantly being out of the things I go in for, that's only an emergency stop now.

I did pretty good at work today. Shoulder was a little sore but not bad.

I asked my manager about going to full time there. He said he didn't think it would be a problem but wants to check with the owner first. I should know tomorrow. The full-timers work from 7 to 3:30, but he said I could maybe work 9:30 to 6, which sounds better to me. (I currently work 1-6). I told him either shift would be OK tho. I just really need more income. I am just cutting it too close right now. (I just did the math and it comes out to an extra $420 per paycheck! 420 ). That sure would make a big difference!

So hot and humid! Having the temp higher in the house, it was so stuffy/musty in here when I got home! Can't wait until it cools off enough to open the windows in here and air it out! And get a nice breeze thru the bedroom at night!

walmart is at least 1 and 1/2 to 2 hours away I give my order to my dd's and they pick stuff up for me... even my books although I am sure that they would rather not but at least they will look for them...
and yes prices are going up all over .... some really noticeable I rather get out of the store under 50 dollars usually more...
just depending upon guess what I get...
hopefully Beth that you just have a flu bug and will be over it quickly...
it's been a quite day today
you all take care
sheila

BJ, thanks for the suggestion for the Butternut squash. I'll try that this weekend. I have my Meetup meal tomorrow night. Pizza again. lol I have never been to this place. I looked at the menu on line and I'm not too sure about some of their combinations. You would think since I live in the country that I would have access to fresh vegetables but no. I don't even know anyone with a garden any more. The crops around here are rice, soybeans and sugar cane. Some towns have a covered place that people can set up and sell things but Abbeville doesn't have that. When we have a farmers market they set up in the town square. I'm not sure who is in charge of that and don't know if vendors have to pay to have a booth. Most of the booths have home made jewelry and crafts. A few booths will have jelly but very few have produce.

Barbie, take it easy with your shoulder. Says the woman that is suffering from picking up bags of mulch. I need 6 more bags of mulch but I get tired of trying to find someone to help me at Lowes and there is no one to help when I get them home. Can you make smaller bags of trash? I'm lucky I have the big trash container on wheels and I can put trash in it often. It's not that heavy to move it to the road.

Martha

Martha. yes, I am going to get a smaller trash can for the kitchen so the bags aren't so heavy. That bag gets heavy because I put baggies of used cat litter from Lola's box in there, as well as unused food from the fridge I no longer want or is expired. So by the time the large trash can is full, it weighs a ton! Will just have to take smaller bags to the dumpster more often.

Acadianmom wrote:BJ, thanks for the suggestion for the Butternut squash. I'll try that this weekend. I have my Meetup meal tomorrow night. Pizza again. lol I have never been to this place. I looked at the menu on line and I'm not too sure about some of their combinations.
Martha

Martha there is a place in Ogden Utah that has unusual names to their pizza's the one that I remember it called " the great debate" love it and it's one I order can you guess what is it?
sheila