Saturday, January 19, 2019

Odd Weather

I might be a very interesting few days!

We have 4" of snow on the ground, it is above freezing, there is a forecast of a inch of heavy rain, and then tomorrow, the temperature is going to plummet from 45F to 10F with windchills near zeroF.

No one seems quite sure what will result from that.  The snow might melt adding to water on the ground which will there freeze, or maybe the ground will stay warm enough to not-quite freeze. 

I did some mild shopping today ahead of this uncertainity.  Nothing serious, just some fruits and veggies I might miss if the roads turned icy.

But I was also reminded of why I seldom shop on weekend days and especially ahead of storms.  People go nuts.  And they get stupid.  All *I* wanted was the usual fruits and veggies ( have month's worth of meat in the freezer).

I'm looking at the carts ahead of me.  Lady, do you need TWO 12 packs of toilet prepare to get you through the next 2 days?  Hey single guy, 6 frozen pizzas?  Etc. 

All I was trying to do was my regular fresh food shopping.  Lettuce, celery, beets, beans, apples, tomatoes, etc...

And I had to stop to shop at the local pet place.  Chewy was out of several regular items (Whole Earth Farm, so I wanted to replace them locally .  I found them at Petco.  But Petco has oddly expensive aquaium fish, and none on the one I wanted, so I went to Petsmart across the street from them.

I walked into Petsmart and was subjected to an utter cacophony of screaming babies, barking dogs and upset parrots screaming words.  It was also doggie adoption day (and hurray for any adopted doggies) but it was a madhouse!  And they didn't have the fish I wanted either.

It's a serpa tetra with a high top black fin.  I found a few a month ago for $1.39 each and suddenly they are $4.39.  The price doesn't really matter to me, but I don't like big price changes like that.  I'll wait.

And there was something else that annoyed me.  If it was just the pet store asking for donations I might help.  But EVERY SINGLE PLACE I GO is soliciting donations for some cause or another on the card checkout these days.  "Do you want to support X"?  You can't escape it. 

But what concerns me is that they never say exactly how you are supporting them?  They never mention a particular organization. 

Do I want to support Vets or homeless people or pet shelters?  Sure.  But not without knowing who they are.  That's why I donate at home to several specific organizations I know to have small administrative costs and most of my money actually goes to the specific causes.

But I am safe at home with the cats' accustomed foods, my fruits and veggies, etc. 

I found what I needed and got out as fast as possible.  I seldom shop on weekend days for that reason.  But sometimes I forget the day.  Retirement will do that to you.

1 comment:

Megan said...

Gotta love those people who feel a desperate need to stock up on toilet paper. And whenever I see TV shows or read articles about 'preppers', it's always toilet paper that they have loads of!

Like you, I also refuse to donate to ill-formed, poorly presented requests for donations. I prefer to do my research and donate in my own time when I'm ready to donate to organisations that I choose to support.

As you're possibly aware, I make quilts as a hobby. Whenever there's a disaster in some form or another - most often a natural/weather-related distaster - I can put a stop watch on how soon it is before some well-intentioned quiltmaker puts out a call for crafters to make quilts, quilt tops or even individual blocks so that the people who have been affected will receive a quilt. Fooey. What people impacted by a natural disaster need is cash - so they can buy underwear and food and a replacement mobile phone. They don't need an ugly quilt that doesn't match their style or decor handed to them 8 months later in the expectation that they will be eternally grateful for something that they didn't ask for, don't want and possibly don't like. It gets worse: some quiltmakers will buy fabric, thread etc in order to make these quilts. I just wanna shout: give them the money instead!

Oh well ...

Megan
Sydney, Australia

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