Apr 30, 2020
Shopping is stressful and debilitating
The day started with the long drive ( well at least it was for me ) to Freightliner. The driving itself was fine but the stop and go and slow down and speed up created some knee pain. The repeated small motions were aggravating.
So happy that once we dropped this off that Colin could take over driving and I could stretch my knee. The pain quickly dissipated.
Next stop was Home Hardware where the window handle replacement had been shipped for us to pick up. You can barely see Colin here. I stayed in the car while he went in. We wanted to get a few strawberry plants but they were $3.98 each so I told him thru the fence to not pick any up.
The next stop was to pick up the two cases of wine that I had ordered plus we picked up several more bottles. I do not want to be heading out every week to buy things, anything, so why not stock up on wine. Heck I bring enough down to Mexico with us so that I don’t have to shop there so why not stock up here. So we did. However just the trouble of putting a mask on and gloves on and trying to remember to put your credit card somewhere you can reach without contaminating your purse and wallet was tiring. The mask is hot and my hands were so sticky inside the gloves. All I could think of was about how many layers the first responders and especially the medical staff in the ER and ICU have to wear. So why was I complaining. Anyway we got it selected, paid for and loaded. So glad it will be several weeks before we have to do that again.
Next stop was Superstore. This is the major store here that you can order online for pick up but you must do so two weeks in advance. This is the staging area where the food is waiting to be picked up. A very large area and the outside designated parking spots were all full of vehicles waiting for their orders.
My problem with Superstore is that they expect you to put in a dollar coin to unlock the shopping cart 😯 Who is carrying quarters and loonies? Here I am gloved and masked and I can’t get a buggy. So I went in and the security guy came and got me a buggy, thank you kind sir. They also give you one wipe as you enter to clean the handle of your buggy. It is a bit of a free for all inside and not everyone, in fact not may are practicing social distancing so the onus is on you to stay safe. The only mark on the floor re social distancing was the line for the checkout stands. But the head of the line was so far away that you could not tell which line was empty. No washing down of the conveyer belt but I did use a wipe to do so. We got all that we needed except for flour and yeast and romaine in a bag. We did get one separate head for $3.98 when the bag of 4 -5 heads usually is only $5.98. They only had two 22 pound sacks of flour. I just needed a small 2 -5 pound bag. Such a pain loading the car and not touching anything in order to keep the inside clean. Then once the gloves are off we realized that they do not have any garbage cans in the parking lot? No wonder there are gloves littered everywhere. So we created a corner of the floor in the car for dirty gloves. Oh yes, then remember to sanitize the door handle and anything else we touched.
I almost forget to mention, that we ended up buying strawberry plants here at Superstore for even more money at $4.50 each. So I only bought three instead of five. Later as we were unloading the car at home a neighbour walked by and told us about the local nursery was selling 20 strawberry plants for $25.00 😥 We were just trying to keep our stops to a minimum. Oh well, you can’t always do the right thing.
You have to have seen the movie Groundhog Day to understand this. If you have not seen this movie then this is a good time to watch it.
Next stop was Robinson Lighting to buy a tiny LED lightbulb for one of trio of hanging lights we have over the bathroom sink. I again stayed in the car while Colin went in and it took forever. They had to look up the original order from 2007 to find the type of bulb we needed as there is no number on the actual bulb. The salesman then told Colin that he wasn’t sure how much longer we will be able to buy those bulbs! S0 are we supposed to replace our custom lighting system because there are no more bulbs? Coin purchased three bulbs at eight dollars each before tax. I will have to try and find them on Amazon and be sure to buy enough to last us until we are in our nineties 🙁
While Colin was inside I called Walmart which was only a few blocks away to see if they had flour and yeast. I was told that they had no idea and that they were too short staffed to check. I then called Save On in Lake Country where within one minute I was told that they had the large bags of flour and no yeast. I next called the IGA where she immediately knew that there was no yeast but she would double check just in case. There was none and she said that she would try and order some tomorrow if she could find it. So we drove over to Walmart and suited up as I like to think of it and entered to only find empty shelves. Time to head home. We had been gone four long hours.
But it does not stop there. First I had to rush inside to use the toilet and then the unloading began. Everything went from the car to the outside steps where Colin totally sanitized every single item, top to bottom and all around. I would then carry it inside and eventually put it all away. I truly hope that we don’t have to leave the house for groceries for at least two weeks. Next big shop at that time will be Costco. Today we drove past and the line was extremely long. Not looking forward to when we end up having to go.
Did any of you see the above? Colin saw this on one of his news feeds and sent it to me yesterday but tonight here in Canada they say it is only for the US.
The only good news is that we have a full fridge and a full wine rack ( plus some boxes in storage ) and we don’t need to go anywhere for a few weeks. Once our garden is growing we might only need to go out once per month.
This is how I am see myself tonight, rather frazzled.
Please stay home as much as you can and stay safe.
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I also did enough shopping to last us three weeks once we came out of isolation but now I’m at the point where I have to do it again and I don’t want to. When we did Costco last time we lined up just after seven on one of their senior days and waited until eight to get in and I think we will do that again, I think it was way less time that going during regular hours.
I am going to try and hit The Greenery in the next little while, I hope it’s not too long of a wait and I can get everything at once.
For certain we will try either the early in the day or late in the day visit to Costco.Good luck with the Greenery. I suggest that you wear very lite to little clothing as wearing a mask in the green house will really heat you. I was so hot that I made very rapid decisions and they were not all wise.
We are so looking forward for this to end but the Scientist are forecasting a Second and Third Wave. They also are saying it might last until 2022.
Be Safe and Enjoy!
It’s about time.
Yikes, that is most depressing. I hope that things are not that bad.
The Costco thing is USA for now, nothing on Canadian website although they say it is coming. We were in Costco this week and staff finally had masks, not so 10 days ago. Go in the final hour and a half to Costco, generally no line. Inside it is much better, worth standing in the line for. It is the one place I actually feel super safe to shop! The good thing about paying that much for strawberries is that once you buy them they multiply so next year you have free plants and lots of them! I have about 40 bottles of white and 15 of red(hubby drinks that), all through our winemaker so am good for a long while!
Good to know that about the strawberries, thank you. Do I have to split them? Good planning on the vino
No, usually they just start new little groups so no splitting, they shoot a runner far away enough it is obvious where the root is. They are super hardy plants, especially where it doesn’t get that cold like here and Kelowna
Thanks for the info.
We found yeast at our local Nature’s Fare. They are in 2 lb sealed packages ($14) like an espresso coffee brick until you cut it open. Pretty good deal even if you don’t use it all. Also, someone suggested calling a local, small independent bakery. Some of them are selling both flour and small bags of yeast. They have lots of flour and yeast as their production is down from what it usually is. Apparently a local bakery near us sells yeast for $1/bag.
I did read that one of the best times to go to the store was during the last hour of the shopping day. Most other people have already been in and finished. And they were starting to re-stock! Again, just depends on how “lucky” a person is!!
Isn’t life full of “fun” challenges?!
Hugs and stay well.
Great idea to check with the local bakeries, never would have thought of that idea. Okay so next week we will try a later in the day stop at Costco. Gracias.
I too, am stressed going shopping.
We wear gloves and masks, but them I consider them dirty once in a store.
I now use kitchen gloves and sanitize them when we get home.
Load purchases, after removing, carefully, one glove, to open car with, then take the others off and put in plastic bag.
So far car is “clean”.
Sanitize gloves at home.
Mask is homemade, so it gets washed.(we have 2 each)
Sanitize hands.
What a procedure!
I wish they would tell us where the Covid cases are.
I think people are getting complacent, thinking “there aren’t any cases in our community”. If we knew we’d be more vigilant.
Although I don’t see how I could be more careful!
So nice to see you that you are still reading my blog. You are doing all the correct things to be safe but yes it is tiring. I wonder how many others are sanitizing what they bring into their homes. Today when we pick picked up our mail,Colin considered that hand dirty. When we got back home I used a letter opener and then threw the envelopes in the recycle bin and put the paperwork out to sit in the sun for two days before I touched it all. Of course then I washed my hands for a long while and then used sanitizer on the letter opener. Gosh even opening the mail is exhausting.
At a local Facebook forum site someone asked where to purchase yeast in our area. Someone else replied that 1 tablespoon of baking soda and 1 teaspoon of lemon juice could be used instead. Don’t know if that is true or if it works as I haven’t baked anything that needed yeast lately.
A Costco sign saying all customers needed to wear a mask was also posted on FB. Don’t know if that was Canada or USA. In any case its good to have that mask in your purse just to be prepared.
Who knew? wLooks like e are all learning new things during this pandemic. I always have a mask and gloves and a mini sanitizer in my purse. I used to be a Girl Guide and our motto was “Be Prepared”. I am. As to Costco, I am sure that we will see that same rule here in Canada and it is not a bad thing.
U can make yr own yeast… I looked it up on Google… Admit to not trying it tho.. I gave never had good luck w/ yeast things so stay away from such recipes.
That is very interesting. I will look that up. Thanks Dolores.
Hi contessa this may help you, check and see if the bulk barn in Kelowna has yeast, you can look online and place your order on line or go to the store they let you in and you can walk around with a employee who then gets your products for you, there yeast is in the bottle or package. It’s a great store and many people don’t realize that they are open at all locations across the province so they are always with products.
Great idea, never would have thought of it.
Thank you