Not to talk about food again, but I'm going to talk about food again. But not really. It's more about shopping; it just happens to have to do with shopping for food. That being the kind of shopping I do most often.
Worcestershire sauce is something I use frequently when cooking. Mostly, I use it on meat, but I use it in other things, too. For a long time, I've been buying Lea & Perrins', which is kind of the standard for Worcestershire sauce. They are the originators of it as a brand, a brand that's been around 180 years or so. It's good stuff, and they have a few different varieties, though I mostly just use the original.
Now, I don't know how it is everywhere else in the country, but food prices around here have been going up quite a lot lately. A gallon of milk has gone from being in the $3.00 - $3.50 range to the $5.00 - $6.00, and we drink a lot of milk. A pound of butter has done the same. And don't even get me started on the prices of pork and beef. That stuff has gone insane.
All of that to say that I am having to be a lot more aware of food prices, right now, than I was, say, six months ago.
So there I was in the condiment aisle looking at the Worcestershire sauce since I knew I was almost out. I was looking for the large bottle, but they were out. Which is when I saw that the small bottle is now the same price as the large bottle used to be. Since they were out of the large bottles, they hadn't put a new shelf tag up with the new price, so there they were right next to each, and the small bottle price was the same as the previous price of the large. I just stared at it.
But, as I was staring, I noticed the Safeway brand of Worcestershire sauce. Now, I've always known that the Safeway brand was sitting right there next to the other. I've had to push it out of the way before or picked up a bottle of it because it was in the wrong space or whatever. However, this time, I really looked at the Safeway brand. I glanced down at the price: It was half that of the Lea & Perrins'. For the first time, I wondered what could possibly be the significant difference between the two. And, so, for the first time, I bought the off brand.
Well, not the first time I've bought an off brand; I actually buy the Safeway brand on a lot of things, but it was the first time I bought the off brand on the Worcestershire sauce. (So far, I haven't noticed a difference, but it hasn't gotten the full range of testing, yet.)
Of course, I'm not here to sell you Worcestershire sauce. I don't care one way or the other what you put on your slabs of meat or if you put anything on it at all. It's just that the whole thing made me wonder, even while I was standing right there in the grocery store staring at the shelf and the prices, if this is the same process readers go through when deciding to buy a book that is not traditionally published. And I don't know if it is, but I suspect it might be.
Or something like it, anyway. Maybe not with actual physical books in a book store since a bookstore is pretty much guaranteed to only carry traditionally published books, but do people buying books for their e-readers ever look at the price of a traditionally published e-book and think, "I'm just not paying that much for an e-book." I know I do. Actually, when it comes to traditionally published books, I almost always buy the physical book, often because it's actually cheaper than the e-version (which is just wrong). And I'm buying fewer and fewer physical books. Basically, there are only a few authors left for whom I'm willing to spend that kind of money, which, I suppose is leading me to a place where what I will be buying is independently published material.
And I have to tell you, so far, I haven't noticed a difference. I mean, it's just hard to be worse than Snow Crash (traditionally published). And, in fact, my favorite book of 2012 was Demetri and the Banana Flavored Rocketship (independently published), so, looking at all of this from a value standpoint, I think we might be getting to a point where we get a lot more for our money from independently published (which includes self published) books, especially once you've figured out which authors you like. The only catch is that you have to be willing to try them to see if they're the kind of sauce you like. Just, you know, when you find one you like, make sure you leave a review and let other people know, too.
Just sayin'.
So here are some suggestions:
Pick up Shadow Spinner: Collection 1: Tiberius (Parts 1-5). Beside the piece of Shadow Spinner that you get, you'll also get "Like An Axe Through Bone" by Bryan Pedas, the author of the Demetri book that I just mentioned.
Or grab Shadow Spinner: Collection 2: The Man with No Eyes (Parts 6 - 12) which contains "Augurs of Distant Shadow," a great new take on vampires, by Briane Pagel.
And, if you like Augurs, you can follow it up with "The Magic Cookies," which contains another piece of his vampire lore.
And don't forget Shadow Spinner: Collection 3: The Garden (Parts 13-21) which contains "A Nightmare Named Ricky" by artist extraordinaire Rusty Webb.
Showing posts with label Safeway. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Safeway. Show all posts
Monday, May 26, 2014
Sunday, December 2, 2012
Investing in a Line
'Tis the season of lines. You know it's true. They can't be avoided. The worst are the traffic lines, and they started a few weeks ago where I live. Traffic on the road and lines to park. Although, maybe, those shouldn't be called lines, because it's more like sharks circling before killing a parking space.
But I'm not here to talk about traffic or trying to park when you're just trying to stop at the grocery store to pick up something for dinner. Seriously, what do those people eat the rest of the year, because they certainly aren't shopping at Safeway. Okay, forget that question; I actually know the answer to that one, which is why it violates my space to have all those people crowding my store when they're busy at <insert name of fast food establishment here> the rest of the year.
No, no... forget the lines outside of the store; let's talk about the ones inside.
I hate lines. Not because I hate the lines in-and-of themselves so much, but because I can't choose a good line to save my life. Seriously, if there were 10 lines and some guy told me to pick one but that if I picked the slowest one, I'd get shot in the head... well, I'd have a hole in my head. Every time. Because, you know, just one hole isn't enough. Anyway... I'm not just saying this. Yeah, I know that everyone feels this way about it, that whatever line you pick is the slowest. I get that everyone feels that way, but it's just not true for you people out there. I have third party verification, and my wife pretty much won't let me pick a line for anything when she's with me.
You don't believe me, do you? Well, let me give you an example:
A couple of weeks ago, I was at said grocery store to pick up a few things. It just so happened to be kind of busy (for no good reason), and I got stuck needing to pick a line. I had four choices (because the 5th choice was the express lane, and I had more than 15 items, so that one was out), and I evaluated carefully. Three of the lines had three or more people waiting in them after the person that was being checked out; the other line only had one person waiting in it after the person that was being checked out. Okay, so I had a short line, but that's not good enough, so I looked to see who was checking in each line (remember, I shop here a lot, so I kind of know who's good and who's not). One line had a newish girl checking that I'd only seen once before, so I slid her to the end of my list because I didn't know enough about her. The next two were women I'd consider "normal" checkers, which is fine. But the short line... I couldn't see who was checking in that line. I thought it was because I just couldn't see her, so, based on what I knew, I took the short line.
A moment after I stepped into line, I discovered the reason I couldn't see the checker: she hadn't been there. But she was coming back, so it was okay, right? Well, except that I knew this was one of those kind of hyper checkers that seems busier than they are. But I was in the line... See, by stepping into the line, I'd invested in it. It was now "my line." So I stood there... and watched the checker almost immediately leave again.
What was going on?
I glanced over at the other lines, and they had gotten longer. And, soon, someone got behind me strengthening my investment in this particular line. The checker didn't come back... she didn't come back some more... and, then, she did, but she left, again!, almost immediately.
The other lines had not shortened, but I did see that in one of the lines the person I would have been behind was leaving... and I hadn't moved. Because the checker was now flitting about between her register and some other register, but, see, now I had invested time in this line, and there was someone behind me, meaning I would lose my place if I moved. The woman in front of me, the woman that was "next" looked back at me with a look that reflected how I felt, and I thought, "screw this," and I got out of line and stepped down to the new girl's line. Her line was moving at least twice as fast as the next fastest line.
Here's the thing: I'm not usually willing to change lines. I'm more the kind to pick my line and stay with it no matter what. It's my line, darn it, and I'm keeping it! No matter how slow it is. I mean, theoretically, it all evens out, right? Sometimes you get a slow one, sometimes a fast one... but not in my case. I always get the slow one, and I always stay with it to the end. But not that time... That time I decided to change lines.
I got into my new line, and it wasn't long before someone got behind me. I turned and looked, and it was the woman that had been in front of me in the other line. We kind of laughed, and, then, she started talking about how that checker kept leaving, and it sounded like that woman had been in the line about twice as long as I had been before I left it, but it took me being willing to move to another line for her to also switch. She had been even more invested in it than me.
The newish girl was fast. When I was walking out of the store, that other checker still wasn't back at her register. I'm not sure what was going on there, but that same person was still standing there with her stuff half way checked out, and the person that had been behind me had moved up to "next." I suppose he thought he was getting a good deal when both people in front of him moved, but he should have seen it as a lesson.
Anyway... Sometimes, we get invested in things that are not good for us or aren't going anywhere. Those things can often be difficult to see. I mean, you never know when a line might start moving, and, the longer you spend in it, the more you don't want to give up your spot to go get at the end of some other line. I get that. Like I said, I'm the guy that will tough out the slow line again and again because I'm already in it. But this experience with switching lines gave me a slightly different perspective on things. I think perseverance is good. I mean, I think it's great. We all need to have it, especially in the writing business. Stick it out. Often, it's just the person willing to stick it out that makes it. So I'm not saying you should become one of those wacky people that switches lines all the time trying to work out which is the fastest.
No, I'm not saying that at all. What I am saying, though, is, once you have picked your line, don't close off the possibility to trying other things. Keep your eyes open. Continue to evaluate the situation. If you see something that looks like a better opportunity, don't let your investment in a particular line stop you from taking or, at least, exploring the other option. Don't think that you can't switch to a faster line.
Of course, my usual experience with that is that the new line stops moving after I switch, but, I guess, that's the kind of risk you have to be willing to take. Evidently, sometimes, it pays off.
[Update: Just this past Saturday, I had to pop down to Safeway. I picked a good line with a good checker. I got up to "next," the a new checker came and took over checking for the person in front of me. A not good checker. I groaned on the inside, but I stayed where I was. I was "next," but, more than that, I had all my stuff on the counter already, and there was a line of people behind me. I watched four people in the next line get checked out before I got my turn in my line. See, I just can't pick lines.]
But I'm not here to talk about traffic or trying to park when you're just trying to stop at the grocery store to pick up something for dinner. Seriously, what do those people eat the rest of the year, because they certainly aren't shopping at Safeway. Okay, forget that question; I actually know the answer to that one, which is why it violates my space to have all those people crowding my store when they're busy at <insert name of fast food establishment here> the rest of the year.
No, no... forget the lines outside of the store; let's talk about the ones inside.
I hate lines. Not because I hate the lines in-and-of themselves so much, but because I can't choose a good line to save my life. Seriously, if there were 10 lines and some guy told me to pick one but that if I picked the slowest one, I'd get shot in the head... well, I'd have a hole in my head. Every time. Because, you know, just one hole isn't enough. Anyway... I'm not just saying this. Yeah, I know that everyone feels this way about it, that whatever line you pick is the slowest. I get that everyone feels that way, but it's just not true for you people out there. I have third party verification, and my wife pretty much won't let me pick a line for anything when she's with me.
You don't believe me, do you? Well, let me give you an example:
A couple of weeks ago, I was at said grocery store to pick up a few things. It just so happened to be kind of busy (for no good reason), and I got stuck needing to pick a line. I had four choices (because the 5th choice was the express lane, and I had more than 15 items, so that one was out), and I evaluated carefully. Three of the lines had three or more people waiting in them after the person that was being checked out; the other line only had one person waiting in it after the person that was being checked out. Okay, so I had a short line, but that's not good enough, so I looked to see who was checking in each line (remember, I shop here a lot, so I kind of know who's good and who's not). One line had a newish girl checking that I'd only seen once before, so I slid her to the end of my list because I didn't know enough about her. The next two were women I'd consider "normal" checkers, which is fine. But the short line... I couldn't see who was checking in that line. I thought it was because I just couldn't see her, so, based on what I knew, I took the short line.
A moment after I stepped into line, I discovered the reason I couldn't see the checker: she hadn't been there. But she was coming back, so it was okay, right? Well, except that I knew this was one of those kind of hyper checkers that seems busier than they are. But I was in the line... See, by stepping into the line, I'd invested in it. It was now "my line." So I stood there... and watched the checker almost immediately leave again.
What was going on?
I glanced over at the other lines, and they had gotten longer. And, soon, someone got behind me strengthening my investment in this particular line. The checker didn't come back... she didn't come back some more... and, then, she did, but she left, again!, almost immediately.
The other lines had not shortened, but I did see that in one of the lines the person I would have been behind was leaving... and I hadn't moved. Because the checker was now flitting about between her register and some other register, but, see, now I had invested time in this line, and there was someone behind me, meaning I would lose my place if I moved. The woman in front of me, the woman that was "next" looked back at me with a look that reflected how I felt, and I thought, "screw this," and I got out of line and stepped down to the new girl's line. Her line was moving at least twice as fast as the next fastest line.
Here's the thing: I'm not usually willing to change lines. I'm more the kind to pick my line and stay with it no matter what. It's my line, darn it, and I'm keeping it! No matter how slow it is. I mean, theoretically, it all evens out, right? Sometimes you get a slow one, sometimes a fast one... but not in my case. I always get the slow one, and I always stay with it to the end. But not that time... That time I decided to change lines.
I got into my new line, and it wasn't long before someone got behind me. I turned and looked, and it was the woman that had been in front of me in the other line. We kind of laughed, and, then, she started talking about how that checker kept leaving, and it sounded like that woman had been in the line about twice as long as I had been before I left it, but it took me being willing to move to another line for her to also switch. She had been even more invested in it than me.
The newish girl was fast. When I was walking out of the store, that other checker still wasn't back at her register. I'm not sure what was going on there, but that same person was still standing there with her stuff half way checked out, and the person that had been behind me had moved up to "next." I suppose he thought he was getting a good deal when both people in front of him moved, but he should have seen it as a lesson.
Anyway... Sometimes, we get invested in things that are not good for us or aren't going anywhere. Those things can often be difficult to see. I mean, you never know when a line might start moving, and, the longer you spend in it, the more you don't want to give up your spot to go get at the end of some other line. I get that. Like I said, I'm the guy that will tough out the slow line again and again because I'm already in it. But this experience with switching lines gave me a slightly different perspective on things. I think perseverance is good. I mean, I think it's great. We all need to have it, especially in the writing business. Stick it out. Often, it's just the person willing to stick it out that makes it. So I'm not saying you should become one of those wacky people that switches lines all the time trying to work out which is the fastest.
No, I'm not saying that at all. What I am saying, though, is, once you have picked your line, don't close off the possibility to trying other things. Keep your eyes open. Continue to evaluate the situation. If you see something that looks like a better opportunity, don't let your investment in a particular line stop you from taking or, at least, exploring the other option. Don't think that you can't switch to a faster line.
Of course, my usual experience with that is that the new line stops moving after I switch, but, I guess, that's the kind of risk you have to be willing to take. Evidently, sometimes, it pays off.
[Update: Just this past Saturday, I had to pop down to Safeway. I picked a good line with a good checker. I got up to "next," the a new checker came and took over checking for the person in front of me. A not good checker. I groaned on the inside, but I stayed where I was. I was "next," but, more than that, I had all my stuff on the counter already, and there was a line of people behind me. I watched four people in the next line get checked out before I got my turn in my line. See, I just can't pick lines.]
Wednesday, July 18, 2012
Let's go on Vacation! Part 2: The Menu
Disclaimer: Unfortunately, I didn't think to take pictures of any of this part of the trip, mostly because I was busy cooking and, then, eating the food. It just didn't occur to me to tell someone to grab the camera and take any pictures, especially since I'm generally the guy taking the pictures. Maybe next time though.
What to eat on a vacation is always a big deal. Okay, so it may not really be that big a deal to most people. Most people eat out all of the time anyway, so eating out while on vacation is rather expected. However, we don't eat out all that often. We don't even eat out once a week. Even counting pizza, I don't think we eat out more than a couple of times a month. Of course, camping isn't exactly about eating out, but we also didn't want to spend a week eating cheap, crappy hot dogs and stuff. Besides, hot dogs cost more than, well, all but the expensive cuts of steak.
Don't believe me? Go check it out. Generally speaking, at least at Safeway, hot dogs run about $5.00/pound. In my mind, that's freaking insane. Chicken doesn't cost that much. Pork almost never costs more than that, and, just this week, I got some really nice New York strip steaks for $4.99/pound. Why would I even consider paying that kind of price for hot dogs when I can buy steak instead. By the way, lunch meat is the same way (even bologna), which I can (kind of) understand but not really. It just goes to show what we're willing to pay for convenience.
I suppose my family is not very convenient. Actually, I know this to be true.
In the end, camping food ended up being very much like home food. That was the decision, at any rate. But let me put this into context: this was a camping trip with the in-laws (my wife's father and step-mother), and they were rather difficult to pin down about how the whole eating thing was going to happen. Let me put this into more context: for years, they have taken my kids camping once or twice a year. When they go camping, they've always done the typical thing: eat lots of hot dogs and s'mores; they weren't really prepared for how we were planning to eat, and, I think, because we (my wife and I (really just me)) aren't into the whole camping thing, they figured we wouldn't know what to do when we got up there. However, having a stove, a real stove, to cook on is one of the reasons I wanted a cabin. A stove and a bed, see. So they brought lots of hot dogs. And bacon. And marshmallows.
We brought real food.
Needless to say, they ended up eating with us for most meals. Most means all of the dinners and about half of the breakfasts (we didn't really "do" lunch (there was never any need, because breakfast was so big and good no one would be hungry until around 4-5:00 anyway)).
By this point, I bet you're wondering what, exactly, we had for our dinners. Well, let me tell you!
Tuesday: rib eye steak, salad, bread
Wednesday: pork fajitas w/ sauce that we made, homemade ice cream (pineapple coconut)
Thursday: spaghetti, garlic bread (there was supposed to be salad, but, um, the refrigerator kind of froze it, so there wasn't much left worth eating (I did give it my best shot, though, but I just couldn't do it))
Friday: grilled salmon, salmon mac (mac 'n' cheese with salmon mixed in), kale chips (one of my favorite things! (it's something I make from fresh kale, not something we buy)) [and my father-in-law provided grilled chicken]
Saturday: hamburgers (I make the best hamburgers. Seriously. We kind of can't go out for burgers anymore because of it.), homemade buns (and my wife makes the best hamburger buns (we also make pretty much all of our own bread (except sourdough)), yam fries
Those were our evening meals. The in-laws were astounded. They decided that camping is better the way I do it. And it was nice to be cooking for people that appreciated my cooking (as opposed to complaining about it (as my kids do (because they still think sugar and carbs are the best things in the world))).
In no particular order, the breakfasts were
ham and cheese grits (the in-laws had never had grits before, so this was a new experience and, unless they were lying (and I'm pretty sure they weren't), they really liked them -- grits, good grits, are not the easiest thing in the world to make)
blueberry pancakes (homemade with fresh blueberries, of course (my wife doesn't like pancakes, but she loved these))
biscuits and sausage gravy (my favoritist breakfast in the world! (when it's done right))
French toast (my kids' favoritist breakfast and made with homemade bread (it's awesome))
All of these were accompanied by scrambled eggs and bacon (except the French toast, which just had bacon, because it's already covered in eggs). The last morning was just scrambled eggs and bacon as we were trying to take as little back with us as possible. We succeeded in eating all bacon, but we had to tote eggs home again.
All of that and there were 'smores basically every night. That made my daughter, especially, extremely happy.
So there you go... who wants to go camping with me next year?
What to eat on a vacation is always a big deal. Okay, so it may not really be that big a deal to most people. Most people eat out all of the time anyway, so eating out while on vacation is rather expected. However, we don't eat out all that often. We don't even eat out once a week. Even counting pizza, I don't think we eat out more than a couple of times a month. Of course, camping isn't exactly about eating out, but we also didn't want to spend a week eating cheap, crappy hot dogs and stuff. Besides, hot dogs cost more than, well, all but the expensive cuts of steak.
Don't believe me? Go check it out. Generally speaking, at least at Safeway, hot dogs run about $5.00/pound. In my mind, that's freaking insane. Chicken doesn't cost that much. Pork almost never costs more than that, and, just this week, I got some really nice New York strip steaks for $4.99/pound. Why would I even consider paying that kind of price for hot dogs when I can buy steak instead. By the way, lunch meat is the same way (even bologna), which I can (kind of) understand but not really. It just goes to show what we're willing to pay for convenience.
I suppose my family is not very convenient. Actually, I know this to be true.
In the end, camping food ended up being very much like home food. That was the decision, at any rate. But let me put this into context: this was a camping trip with the in-laws (my wife's father and step-mother), and they were rather difficult to pin down about how the whole eating thing was going to happen. Let me put this into more context: for years, they have taken my kids camping once or twice a year. When they go camping, they've always done the typical thing: eat lots of hot dogs and s'mores; they weren't really prepared for how we were planning to eat, and, I think, because we (my wife and I (really just me)) aren't into the whole camping thing, they figured we wouldn't know what to do when we got up there. However, having a stove, a real stove, to cook on is one of the reasons I wanted a cabin. A stove and a bed, see. So they brought lots of hot dogs. And bacon. And marshmallows.
We brought real food.
Needless to say, they ended up eating with us for most meals. Most means all of the dinners and about half of the breakfasts (we didn't really "do" lunch (there was never any need, because breakfast was so big and good no one would be hungry until around 4-5:00 anyway)).
By this point, I bet you're wondering what, exactly, we had for our dinners. Well, let me tell you!
Tuesday: rib eye steak, salad, bread
Wednesday: pork fajitas w/ sauce that we made, homemade ice cream (pineapple coconut)
Thursday: spaghetti, garlic bread (there was supposed to be salad, but, um, the refrigerator kind of froze it, so there wasn't much left worth eating (I did give it my best shot, though, but I just couldn't do it))
Friday: grilled salmon, salmon mac (mac 'n' cheese with salmon mixed in), kale chips (one of my favorite things! (it's something I make from fresh kale, not something we buy)) [and my father-in-law provided grilled chicken]
Saturday: hamburgers (I make the best hamburgers. Seriously. We kind of can't go out for burgers anymore because of it.), homemade buns (and my wife makes the best hamburger buns (we also make pretty much all of our own bread (except sourdough)), yam fries
Those were our evening meals. The in-laws were astounded. They decided that camping is better the way I do it. And it was nice to be cooking for people that appreciated my cooking (as opposed to complaining about it (as my kids do (because they still think sugar and carbs are the best things in the world))).
In no particular order, the breakfasts were
ham and cheese grits (the in-laws had never had grits before, so this was a new experience and, unless they were lying (and I'm pretty sure they weren't), they really liked them -- grits, good grits, are not the easiest thing in the world to make)
blueberry pancakes (homemade with fresh blueberries, of course (my wife doesn't like pancakes, but she loved these))
biscuits and sausage gravy (my favoritist breakfast in the world! (when it's done right))
French toast (my kids' favoritist breakfast and made with homemade bread (it's awesome))
All of these were accompanied by scrambled eggs and bacon (except the French toast, which just had bacon, because it's already covered in eggs). The last morning was just scrambled eggs and bacon as we were trying to take as little back with us as possible. We succeeded in eating all bacon, but we had to tote eggs home again.
All of that and there were 'smores basically every night. That made my daughter, especially, extremely happy.
So there you go... who wants to go camping with me next year?
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