Our local Safeway opened from 6:00 to 9:00 am for seniors only. I went at 5:45, hoping to be first in line. There was already a line of about 20, half of which were NOT seniors.
At long last when the door opened, they all made a beeline ... practically running ... to the toilet paper aisle. I circumvented their route and went for eggs. AND I FOUND THEM!!! I have to say, Safeway has fallen short in these trying times. They only get four trucks a week from their distribution center, wherever that is, and they have not kept up at all. Almost every aisle was empty due to hoarding and apparent short supply.
They did have toilet paper however and were finally limiting people to just one package. I got my eggs, one bag of cookies for pie crust and one bag of rice (there were only two bags on the shelf). My plan is to donate the rice to the food bank if I don't truly need it.
Back home, I called Miss Patty to give her the bad news about Safeway. She said let's go to Fry's. Okie doke! We were off on another adventure, without any protective gear, face masks or gallons of disinfectant. Living on the edge in true buccaneer style.
What should my eyes see when we walked in the door at 8:30? GROCERIES!!! Who knew!! For whatever reason this grocery store is chock full of everything. They have been in overdrive keeping up with the demand fairly easily.
Although they were short on paper towels (what are people using all those for?), toilet paper and disinfectant wipes, they had every shelf well stocked. I did pick up some macaroni just in case, along with yeast, sugar and one whole chicken. The extent of MY hoarding consisted of a total of 3 dozen eggs and two bags of sugar. Between Patty and I, we didn't even fill one basket.
What an adventure THAT was. Either Fry's really has their act together (which they do) or the hoarding has subsided. Here's the OTHER thing ... Fry's has extended their "senior hours" to every day between 6 and 7 am. I think just that little change has allowed people to relax knowing they can get back to the store every day if needed.
In an effort to clean out my freezer, I finally finished off the last of the fish. Doesn't it look lovely on the package? This stuff sucks, but I ate it anyway. Crispy outside, yes, but inside, half the thickness you see in the picture, including all the brown flesh that tastes terrible. BUT I ATE IT!!!
The weirdest part of the day was when I realized at 10:00 in the morning, that was it. My big adventure was over in a flash and I had nothing left to do FOR THE ENTIRE DAY!!
I did discover four limes in the fridge that needed to be used up, so I made that no-bake cheesecake, running the mixer for a full five minutes until my arm felt like it would fall off. If nothing else, I will have a nice tasty desert to go with whatever horrible concoction I fix for dinner.
Into the freezer it goes in my springform pan. I did want to mention one thing I whipped up and have been eating for the last week. I cooked up onions and mushrooms in butter (can't go wrong there), added in cooked chicken from the store, then when almost done I drizzled in some cream with a teaspoon of dijon mustard. I'm not a mustard fan, but this came out delicious!!! Who knew dijon was so good?
I wandered around the house like a zombie the rest of the day, looking for something to do. I better come up with something soon, because opening that fridge door every few minutes is going to make my electric bill skyrocket.
Things are definitely slowing down in Arizona. I'm hoping the travel ban will be lifted and we can all get back to some shade of normal very soon and maybe the spring breakers can go have fun at last.
Remember folks, we are all in this together. Be kind to your fellow humans.
You have all that material, you could make facemask. Joanna has directions online.
ReplyDeleteAnd they are giving out free fabric!!
DeleteIf you were heading to your home in California you would probably not have any issues but what would you do there. Even the Magic Kingdom will be closed.
ReplyDeleteBe Safe and Enjoy the solitude and lower prices where you are.
It's about time.
You are right Rick ... the Magic Kingdom is shut down along with everything else. Prices here are a little cheaper and I have a nicer view!
DeleteWent to Sams yesterday and compared to two weeks ago, when EVERYTHING was there, this time the meat area essentially only had fish, pork, chicken, large beef briskets and hamburger but few choices within each category. No steaks, no lamb, and large signs which said "ONE PER CUSTOMER" all over the place. I did get everything else, cheeses, pork rinds (although very low on them), fiber pills, salmon, etc. Now two weeks from now I will go back and we will see if it has corrected itself or gotten worse. However, WinnDixie and Publix grocery stores are much better stocked, although meat area is low there too. So many people rely on 'eating out' that the grocery stores are hit hard now because it is hard to eat out with restaurants closed except for to go orders.
ReplyDeleteIt's a good check of the stores flow of products too, because some are doing amazingly well and some are failing .. like Safeway!
DeleteWe finally have internet again. Love the pictures you got of the "cat" how beautiful. We have not have the fun of shopping for about a week and I can hardly wait for that adventure. Take care.
ReplyDeleteIt should be better now Deb. A week ago there was nothing on the shelves. If you can find a Kroger or Frys, they are doing an excellent job of remaining stocked on food. Just no toilet paper!
DeleteI went to Senior Hour at my Kroger store in Las Vegas this morning. Got everything on my list. I'd say they were an hr away from being out of out of pasta, sugar, eggs, bread. There was no TP or disinfecting wipes.
ReplyDeleteI don't eat meat; can't find my Beyond Meat Spicey Italian Sausage anywhere. Only 2 links left.
OH NO!!! Funny, that sausage doesn't sound like it would be a hoarding product. Glad you got most everything you need. Keep the faith!!
DeleteI cackled aloud reading your theory about the TP shortage.��😂
ReplyDeleteI also think you're quite right about the differences in grocery chains being able to cope smoothly with re-stocking after hoarders descend. Fry's is a Kroger Co. Here my Kroger looks like your Fry's - everything looking almost normal (at least when I visited.) I'd have had to look a lot more closely to see what if anything was missing. So if the situation looks bleak at one market, shoppers should definitely check out their competitors, they might be pleasantly surprised. The supply chains are fine, but apparently some distribution chains are proving to be kinda glitchy under pressure.
I never thought of that before, but distribution is certainly lacking in some stores. I admit our Safeway is small and doesn't have the clientele some of the big guys do, but that shouldn't keep them from getting extra trucks and stocking up. I'll be going to Frys.
DeleteI haven't been able to find the love of my life...crunchy Cheetos. Today Jerry found small packages at Nugget. The clerk was stocking them. He told Jerry the plant in Modesto had an employee that was positive for the virus so the plant had to be shut down to disinfect it. So through out this era there could be shortages of random items. But I have Cheetos again! Elva Shannon
ReplyDeleteOh Elva ... can I send you some? Our shelves are stocked to the brim with chips. I heard Frito Lay closed down. So sad for the workers, but hope they will be back on line soon.
DeleteI'm glad you found a store with most everything. I'm waiting it out hoping to stay hidden till it's over. Good that you find making sweets to kill time. Enjoy the results. :))
ReplyDeleteI think I enjoyed the results too much Doug. You are smart to stay hidden.
DeleteI think they killed off of the egg laying chickens so you could have chicken wings and chicken thighs
ReplyDeleteDon't feel too bad Walmart didn't have it any eggs and no bread well it's OK if you want wheat bread yuck
That's why most of the Mexicans have chickens in the yard 2 meals for the price of one.. if it don't lay eggs it becomes the food chain
They did have milk and some steaks so I can add those to the 275 steaks I have already And as for the toilet paper and paper towels it's a doomsday psychological thing. they can't explain... it but they have to have it
It's going to be funny in 20 years .... remember when we didn't have toilet paper? Plenty of food, but no toilet paper? Hilarious!! Enjoy those steaks!!
DeleteWe also shopped north of Vegas today..no paper products at all..WTH is with this you can't get toilet paper!! Limiting alot of other things..glad we don't need them! Honestly I want to pick up my grandsons if I can..but we willed toilet paper!! They are teenagers and eat alot! LOL..
ReplyDeleteLook for cheap paper dinner napkins ... they seem to work! It's seriously funny that the world is short of toilet paper.
DeleteI'm glad you had at least one adventure in your day! You are set now with eggs at least! The lime pie will be a yummy treat. You have quilting, no? :)
ReplyDeleteYup ... quilting and needlepoint. You can only take so much sewing!!!! LOL
Delete