I am panicking about groceries again, despite coming home with almost everything on my list. The shelves just looked so extremely gappy. I had to say to myself “There is still LOTS AND LOTS OF FOOD here!” again and again while shopping today. On the way home I said to Paul that I was starting to feel grocery panic again, and he looked on his phone for an article about possible upcoming shortages and then said, “Yeah, we definitely should have bought flour today.” Good, good. I put “FLOUR” on the list for next time.
Almost no one was wearing masks. Mayyyyyyybe 10% of customers were wearing them. The employees are no longer required to wear them; and, to my surprise, most of them don’t—though more of them than the customers, maybe 20%. One thing that bothered me was that many of the registers had one masked clerk with one unmasked bagger, or vice versa. Why not, for EVERYONE’S benefit/happiness, pair up the masked employees with each other? Then masked shoppers have safer lanes to choose, and also employees who care about masks can have a masked co-worker.
Chicken nuggets continue to be very, very limited; that is, there are lots OF them, but only about three types total. Juice is similar: the shelves are full, but if you look more closely, it’s like being in a video game or cartoon, where the background is just a few items on repeat.
Canned beans have been very low and also very limited selection for weeks, which makes me super skittish. Today they had nice large supplies of the brand/kinds I usually buy, and I had to stop myself from going overboard. Vegetarian meat selection has been low, but I’ve been able to find everything at Target, so that must be something specific to my grocery store chain.
This is so niche/unnecessary, and yet it is making me fretful: we have not been able to buy the big bags of Splenda or store-brand Splenda in MONTHS now. I can order the name-brand from Target, so it’s not a big deal—but WHY isn’t it in my grocery store?? What is WRONG??
I also felt a little panicky at the increase in gas prices. I filled the tank at a price I haven’t seen in a long time, and I’m hearing predictions that this high price is likely the lowest we’ll see in a long time. Paul has a long commute, so gas prices affect our budget pretty noticeably. (There’s a Facebook meme going around which asks fraughtly if instead of complaining about gas prices we could be grateful we’re not sheltering in a subway wondering if our homes have been blown up. I just feel so extremely capable of doing BOTH?)
Grocery store flowers update:
These are the assorted survivors from last week and the week before (and I think even a couple from the week before THAT), now in a beer stein because of how many times the stems have been trimmed.
New daffodils, $2/bunch; this is two bunches.
New Gerbera daisies, $4.99/bunch; this is one bunch. I’d planned to mix them in with the old bouquet, but I liked the way they looked on their own, so sparse and orange. They are much taller than this photo makes them appear: that’s a big vase, and a misleading angle. Next week I hope they will have the Gerbera daisies again, and I will have fun choosing a second color to mix in.
I find flowers very difficult to photograph; they are SO much better in person, and I see them and enjoy them a thousand times a day.
CA lifted the indoor mask mandate this past week, seeing those smug unmasked faces from my own warily-masked viewpoint is jolting and nerve-wracking, esp since our community still has v high transmission rates.
Our community transmission is so low. I know 75% of our acquaintances from facebook moms groups, school, and sports had it in January. I think there’s just not anymore hosts available for the virus. So today we took the big step of no masks to church, except my 8 YO, who felt more comfortable with, and then with another exception that I and our toddler stayed home. It felt like a MAJOR DEAL. I’m trying to model trust in local government and that CDC, even though it’s hard. For the last 6 mo, our family was among the 20% masked people out and about in our folly town. We are still home schooling, still doing grocery delivery or pick up, still avoiding crowds. It’s feeling okay ish.
All this to say: I’ve been cautious and now I look just like the anti maskers, and maybe I have been unfair in my swift judgement of people without masks.
The other thing I wanted to comment is thaf I pictured your house to have dark cabinets and birds egg blue paint. I guess like the website looks on my phone, and then an old house looking dark inside.
Im glad you got the flowers. That’s not something I can get from pick up!
One of the things I don’t like about this house is that it was formerly owned by a real estate agent, so she updated the kitchen and baths before selling it. But what I LIKE about old houses is that they are OLD (we looked at another old house that had many-times-painted kitchen cabinets and an old linoleum floor and old tarnished hardware and I SWOONED), so she wasted all that money to do something I don’t like, yet can’t justify redoing because it’s all so new/expensive! My old kitchen had dark kitchen cabinets and cream walls, and the only reason the walls weren’t bird-egg blue was that I was worried I would end up tired of the color if I had it on my blog AND elsewhere!
Quite honestly….the cdc has been consistently wrong. I wouldn’t put your trust in them if you can avoid it.
The CDC has lost my trust in a way that feels profoundly deserved. I won’t be taking off my N95 until both of my kids are vaccinated, and my younger one won’t be eligible to even start the series until late June at the very earliest.
I am honestly sorry for your panicky feelings. I am a person who rarely feels panic, except in relationship to my adult children for which I feel a LOT of panic. day to day stuff, not really. But I feel the panic in your posts and it is a little contagious. I figure if the grocery store is out of something, I will either find it somewhere else or make something different. There are only two of us now to worry about, so I realize the situation is different.
I am doing the part of my job now where I plan multi-day events, and am responsible for all the travel, catering, etc, and one of the things I’m noticing is that even if it isn’t objectively that difficult to use this hotel instead of that hotel, because the old hotel shut down during the pandemic, all of the uncertainty builds up and makes everything so much harder. I used too book flights a month or so in advance. Is that still the right amount? Can I still assume that most flights will arrive on time? What do I do about coffee? All these logistics weren’t something I enjoyed about my job in the first place, but I used to manage to just barely get through them. Now they are sapping my will to live. And I feel like MORE CHANGE could happen at any moment. Some change I am fine with or even embrace as a fun challenge, but change + 1000 little details to keep track of? Too much.
I bought grocery store flowers today and thought of you! But they are more expensive here – €6.90 for one bouquet of 10 flowers which is like $7.50 but way cheaper than a flower shop and I love them.
I feel that panic and also feel that annoyance at the real estate flipper we bought our house from. WHY DID THEY MESS WITH IT? It would have been so much less expensive for us to do the things we want if they had not first done the things we don’t want.
Someone posted a link to the family house they’re selling after three generations’ of occupancy, and someone commented that it was a shame it hadn’t been “updated” (not as in the fun Swistle updates about which name parents picked for their baby x, but replacing past trends with current trends).
The post was on the local historical site.
My favourite sunscreen has been unavailable for months now and sometimes it feels like a harbinger of doom.
I love your orange gerberas and the whole concept of getting flowers regularly
Love cheap flowers- so cheering. I only just composted an assorted bunch of carnations that lasted three weeks. They were purple, dark pink, white/pink, yellow/pink, and greenish yellow. I had them in a round, yellow green vase that is actually one of those personal sized teapots. Very uplifting.
Oh, that’s so stressful! I haven’t noticed local shortages of the food I usually buy. There was a couple months’ absence of my preferred cat food at Aldi, but it retuned just before my large back stock ran out and I’ve been able to replenish my supply.
Do you have any CSAs or farmers markets nearby? I find it comforting to know that in a couple of months I’ll be back to getting more than half my food locally from the growers, rather than relying on supply chains.
I’m over here breathing into a paper bag to keep from hyperventilating; that the kind of panic I’m currently dealing with. We are supposed to return to the office this coming week – only two days a week (thank goodness!) but it’s masks optional…what the ever living hell?! Based on all the Welcome Back “activities” (what?!) planned for the first three days, I’ve decided I will go back on Thursday/Friday. All this as I continue to read about the BA.2 variant. This is not good.
Today, I stopped at Walgreens and noted two LARGE signs on the door that stated masks were required only to walk in and note the cashier was not wearing one. *bangs head on the desk* I keep telling myself we will get through this…but at what cost to my mental health?
Your flowers are beautiful *makes a note to buy myself some flowers*
The gas prices have me more worked up than anything.
The grocery stores are out of a lot of my preferred items, but I chalk that up to a privilege issue – there’s still tons of food there so we’re fine/not going to starve.
But gas. GAS!
I have driven to two different states for gas in the last couple of weeks and now have two gas cans so I can fill up the second vehicle when I get home with my out of state gas.
I’ve been working remotely but they are expecting me to return any week now.
So much money in gas.
Should I trade a vehicle in for an electric car? Idk bc I don’t understand how electric cars work. Do I need somewhere to plug it in? Will my electric bill just go up the same or more compared to gas costs? What about those charging stations? Are they free or do you pay to use them like a gas pump?
So much research to do.
I own an electric car:
Some cars are a Hybrid. You use this just like a regular gas car, but they usually get much better mileage. No need to plug in. Some hybrid owners report lower repair costs than gas cars, but ymmv. Some people worry about the batteries losing range over time, like how cell phone batteries get weaker over time.
Some cars are Electric or Plug-in Electric. Those don’t use any gas, so they need to be plugged in to recharge. They come with a cable you can plug in to an outlet in your garage, if you have one, but they charge much faster with a special dedicated charger. Your electric bill will go up, but because electric engines are so much more efficient than gas, and because gas prices are so ridiculous, you should save a lot of that gas money. Also repair costs may be lower, although ymmv.
Those public chargers usually cost a few bucks to plug in for an hour and get a bunch of miles back on your car. Much less than the cost of gas, but more than the cost of electricity at home. If you own a home with a garage, you’d probably pay an electrician to install a 240 volt outlet for your own faster charger (mine is a Wallbox, if you want to google it). Some workplaces offer free charging for employees.
Finally, there’s one more type of car: Plug-in Hybrids (PHEV). Like a Hybrid, they run on both gas and electric, and are usually more efficient than a gas car. But unlike a regular hybrid, you have the option to plug in and charge up the electric part. If you mostly take short trips and have a convenient place to charge at home and/or work, you could cut the majority of your gas usage. This might be a better option than a pure electric car if you sometimes need to drive long distances without stopping to charge.
We are a two car household with a garage, and I love the electric car. When it’s time to replace our other car we’ll get a PHEV so that we can save as much as possible on gas but still have one gas tank for long trips.
Sorry for the long reply, buy I hope that helps!
I read every word of your long reply, so the time you took to write it is appreciated!
I read it even though I just (as in within the past year) bought a car so probably won’t be in the market for another decade or so.
I [heart] Swistle commenters
@R
Yes this was so helpful!
Thank you so much!!
Big [heart] to Swistle for creating a space where people who love details can feel welcome!
I’ve had a hard time finding soy milk which I prefer for my coffee. Gas prices are almost $6 a gallon near me and the last time I filled up the gas nozzle didn’t shut off when my tank filled and it created a gas geyser reminiscent of the scene from Zoolander. Talk about an expensive, messy and dangerous accident!
Beautiful flowers! Spring is coming, daylight savings begins next weekend and that is giving me hope.
The grocery store flowers make my kitchen happy! I got the same vibrant orange Gerbera daisies recently and they’re just starting to fade after 3 weeks. Carnations are another type that are pretty, cheap and last forever. Everyone is so burned out, myself included. I’m finding joy in the little things right now – drinking coffee from my mom’s china cups, chatty walks with my 11 year old, and reading in the bath.
Not to add to your panic about gas prices, but my panic about gas prices is that if it keeps up through the fall, the Democrats are going to get blamed for it. And I just can’t handle that right now. Our sane governor woman is running for re-election this year. And all, I mean A-L-L, of her GOP opponents are various flavors of MAGAssholes.
I want to go Russia and kick Putin in the crotch so hard his testicles explode. With a side trip to the Fox “news” headquarters to do some crotch kicking there.
I will join your crotch-kicking party!
I’m in a state that hasn’t worn masks for the better part of a year, so it’s VERY unusual to see more than a handful of people wearing them. I had COVID in late January (an extremely mild case) and I’m going to continue to follow the CDC guidance. I know they haven’t been perfect, but I think they’ve been trying.
And I find myself surprisingly worked up about this Russia/Ukraine thing. And I wonder why this invasion bothers me more than a lot of invasions. And I realize it doesn’t reflect well on me as a human. And then I actually caught myself thinking “this really sucks, as soon as COVID seems to be getting better, now there’s a war. My life sucks” and holy shit is that crappy of me as I sit in my house watching TV NOT worried about a rocket coming through the window.
Gas prices won’t really affect me too much. I bet I fill up once every 3 weeks now. We are going back to the office in a month, but just one day a week and it’s just 10 miles each way, so not a huge deal. My Dad is a farmer though and fuel prices will affect him.
I somehow am still surprised when I go to the grocery store and there are weird shortages. Last week it was pasta—the shelves were bare like early-pandemic times. And cream— lots of milk products but just a few containers of real heavy cream. ??? Just so random it is unsettling.
Two weeks ago I was shocked to see gas at $5 a gallon. Now it’s $5.25!!!
My office wants me to come back in person but they just admitted they are not actually enforcing their so-called vaccine mandate & they just removed the mask requirement. And it’s a 45 minute commute each way. Uhhhhh, no. Nope. Luckily, my immediate bosses are all on the same page in terms of “come in when it really makes sense” so that’s good. If Husband and I are both working in this general 45-minutes-away location 3 years from now, I think we will probably move.
Grocery store items that are hard to find around here include lactose-free products and tater tots. It’s been months since I’ve seen regular sized bags of tater tots of any variety. I just caved and bought the super ridiculous giant bag from the big box store.
Someone tweeted that he didn’t understand why people were being so dismissive of the increase in gas prices and yet so adamant about the need to increase the minimum wage because the gas price thing affects a lot more people.
Sir.
If we’re ranking what we’re bothered by, I’ll go with Ukraine (also the head of my department persists in saying “the Ukraine” even after I sent links to explanations about why that is not cool), then cost of healthcare, then minimum wage, then gas prices, but because I where I live, the gas prices thing is hitting people who chose to buy enormous gas-guzzlers, so for them, I feel nothing but schadenfreude. They are also the people who ask for recommendations for tradespeople with “reasonable rates,” which irritates me beyond measure.
But I too can have feelings about more than one situation at a time.
The continued shortages are so weird! We have not been able to buy egg roll wrappers for months. I did not realize how often we eat egg rolls, until we couldn’t.
Also, re: perimenopause: I was fully unprepared for this. I am having literally the longest period of my life right now (7 straight days!), and it started 5 days after a normal period ended, and that makes this 7 periods I’ve had in 4 months. Nobody told me about this garbage.
Those orange daisies are pretty delightful.
Man, doesn’t perimenopause suck terribly. I have developed terrible (like lie on my back with a heating pad and groan) pain with ovulation and hugely heavy periods. I haven’t been lucky enough to have extra or extra long periods, so I guess that is something to look forward to??
Also, and if I am alone here, please nod politely and move away, I feel like I am losing my mind sometimes. Between the hormones and the new feeling of absent mindedness, it is really making me feel like I am insane.
AND now I have to go to a clinic called the MIDLIFE CLINIC (my former midwives shifted me over there when it became clear that no more babies are coming out.)
I hope everyone else’s experiences are better with this extremely fun transitional period (also it can last for 10 years, why would it last 10 years…)
I’m so sorry you’re going through this, but THANK YOU for saying something about ovulation pain. It is out of this world painful for me and lasts for several hours. I hate it. And I hate that it is not talked about at all.
My periods have gotten slightly longer, but oddly less heavy. But, I’ve been watching with trepidation as the time between periods gets shorter and shorter – l am not looking forward to the future on that front.
Ugh perimenopause. Sorry if this is TMI, if so, everyone just move along. Several years ago perimenopause was causing me to have really heavy periods for over a week each every three weeks. So 2 out of 3 weeks I had PMS or my period and it was crushing me. After I became dangerously anemic (I had to have an iron infusion because my iron count was so low) my OB suggested I get a Mirena IUD and it was a life saver. I got my first in October 2015 and a replacement in October 2021 and I haven’t had my period or insane PMS in 6.5 years. I know these don’t work for everyone, but I can’t praise them enough if they can work for you. (I swear I don’t work for them or get a kick back, I’m just so thankful for them). I feel like I got weeks of my life back as well as all of the mental space that had been taken up with dealing with my period what felt like every other moment. I just wish I’d known about them sooner.
I had anemia and hair loss from the amount of blood I was losing (not to mention hormonal migraines, bloating, and angry skin), so I use a similar solution: I take the pill every single day. Haven’t had my period in many years and I’m hoping my doctor lets me continue until I’m safely past the perimenopausal stage. I want to just stop someday and find out I’m done with all that nonsense.
I know this isn’t for everyone, but it was a life-changer for me and I LOVE it.
Covid complaint here. My kids’ school district went mask-optional this week. Okay, fine, cases are dropping. What bugs me is that the clear plastic barriers were removed from the cafeteria tables where all the students are unmasked together at lunch. Why, oh why when everyone was fine with the barriers? Some kids are still masking.