I Have Fowl Neighbors

Well, they keep fowls.  Turkey, Duck, Chicken, Guinea Fowl.  They make some noise, but I can't hear them inside the house, so it doesn't bother me.

They presented me with a gift of eggs.  I had to accept them, of course, but I was unfamiliar with "home-produced" eggs.   Questions like are the shells sterile, what are the tastes like, is there danger of salmonella, etc.  I'm not a forager or even much of an adventurous eater.  

The 3 large ones on the right are turkey, the 2 in the center of the tray are guinea hen, and the rest are chicken.  The 1 duck egg was eaten previously (I misplaced my camera for a few days).

I cook the things I know well enough and stir-fries, stews, and pot pies are routine.  I can make my own pizza.

But some things worry me or seem too unusual.  I have a can of curry sauce I've never opened.  My Dad used to collect wild mushrooms and I refused to eat anything made with them.  "Try this; you'll like it" doesn't get anywhere with me.

So I was nervous about the eggs.  But I tried a duck egg yesterday.  Fried it like a chicken egg.  The white firmed up quicker than a chicken egg.  The taste was slightly stronger, but OK.  

Funny thing was that the duck egg was harder to crack open.  Not because it was stronger, but because it was slightly more flexible.  Maybe I was being more careful than usual because I wasn't sure how clean the shell was.  Commercial chicken eggs get sani-washed; I suspect the neighbor's eggs aren't so much.

But I ate the egg and felt fine after a day, so all was OK.  It still seems a bit weird though.

Time to try a turkey egg in a few days (I don't eat eggs a lot).  That's a big egg, though!  And I'm not sure what to do with the guinea fowl eggs.  Too small to fry easily so I might add a chicken one.

They are really good neighbors to give me these eggs to try.  But I think I will beg off the next offer.  I'm too used to regular commercial chicken eggs, LOL!

OK, eating a duck egg, a turkey egg, and a guinea egg weren't exactly on my "bucket list", but maybe I can be allowed to add that to the list after the fact.  Which is not how bucket lists are supposed to work, but sometimes there is a surprise item you never thought about.

Dr Office Visit

Went to my regular Dr office as followup to hospital visit.  Actually, I saw a physician assistant (PA) hereafter).  I have good vital signs!  Blood Pressure 150/65 (the 150 is a little high, but she allowed for the exertion using the walker for 2 weeks).   Pulse was 66.  Oxygen level was 98% (fantastic for a 50 year smoker)!  And to think the primary care Dr suggested I might have COPD in 2018.  Temp is a perfect 98.6.  

Turned out they WOULDN'T approve a Percoset refill.  I told her my last pill had been Thursday and I felt just fine mentally (as in no withdrawal sensations) but they are being cautious and I understand that).  But she understood I WAS in some pain, so I got a prescription for traMADOL (an opiate) and 600 mg ibuprophen.  Grand total cost 49 cents.  WOW!

I researched traMADOL (that's how it is printed on the bottle).  It seems more addictive and dangerous than Percoset!  Well, they only gave me 9 pills.  What bad can happen?

It was funny when she asked my age.  When I said 70, she looked at me carefully and asked me to confirm it.   Yeah, I'm one of THOSE PEOPLE.  I often get carded when I request a senior discount, LOL!  Fair is fair, though.  I sufferred as a teen by looking 14 when I went to college.  Just TRY to date a college woman when you look like you're in 10th grade...  Liquor store guys would study my drivers license to see how I had faked it. 

I ordered a flat tray with raised edges for carrying food to the TV room on the walker (I have a basket but it only fits small bowls) and 2 precut tennis balls to fit the non wheel legs.

I'm actually having a harder time getting around now than 2 days ago.  Apparently, I've pulled a groin muscle.   THAT stings a bit.  The ibuprophen helps and I start the opiate tomorrow.  But I need to favor the right leg for a few days.

BTW, both Deb and John tested positive for Covid-19 last Summer.  Several negative tests since then.  She sanatizered me and had me wear gloves in her car and the Dr office.  Even so, she said she wouldn't go in the Dr office waiting area, and then did anyway.  She did all the paperwork and got the prescriptions afterwards (there is a pharmacy right there in the Medical Bldg).  She is a take-charge person!

When she got me home, she insisted I do a complete change of clothes and put that set into a separate plastic bag (from which she will dump untouched from the bag into the washer for safety).  She is a self-proclaimed "cleanliness fanatic".  My house must look like a horror show to her.  Let's just say I am a "rather careless housekeeper". It just doesn't bother me.  I grew up playing in dirt and creek water, and my adult hobbies usually have me in dirt.  The PA was surprised at my lack of adult health problems (I never catch colds or flu.  I've read health articles about that, though.  Moderate exposure to "the natural world" tends to provide lifelong health benefits.  :)

She loves the truffle sample box I gave her.  Says she never guessed there were so many flavors.  Pumpkin, spice, mint, sea salt, etc.  I have simple tastes in chocolate:  White and Extra Dark!  So, I know what to do with the sample box (basically 2 or 3 of every flavor Lindor sells) that will come with my next White and Extra Dark order I place (I order a 150 piece box of each about once per year).

That will be a few months from now, so I am planning "innocent thanks" flowers next week and prime steaks when I can shop for myself again.  And some fresh garden produce in Summer.  Not many people are familiar with flat Italian green beans, and apparently, she has never had an heirloom tomato.  Hmm, a loaf of my home baked bread next week, too.  I use beer instead of water for more depth of flavor, and add dried minced onion, crushed garlic and oregano.  Really makes a difference.  I LOVE my bread machine!

Other than that, it is "same old, same old".  Wait and heal, wait and heal...

Grocery Store Frustrations

I shop mostly at one grocery store.  They have the most extensive variety and the best quality (until you get to organic stores where broccoli is $9/lb).  But it has a few habits that drive me crazy. 

The first is minor.  They offer strawberries at $3/lb at the front of the store and $4/per 2lbs further back.  I can deal with that trickery.  I just leave my 1lb container among the 2lb containers so they know I switched.  Minor sneakiness...

Another habit is mixing up produce.  They have Granny Smith apples labeled Yellow Delicious (They suppose any apple that isn't red must be "yellow"?) .  The parsnips were labelled "rutabagas" today.  The individual bags of fresh spinach, collards, kale, and cut cabbage were are labelled "collards at $3lb even they they were actually 3 different prices. 

Worse, when you can FIND a produce clerk and ask a question, they always have to take a sample back the storage area to check.  It's because they don't know what the produce is and have to ask the Produce Manager.  Most of them have never eaten half the stuff they sell. 

The worst habit is lack of pricing labels.  It drives me crazy!  I go to the store with a list, but I'm always open to good deals.  Conversely, if what I have on my list is expensive, I'll change.  I like almost all veggies and fruits, so I can shift.

More than once, I have found the actual Produce Manager out on the floor and led him in a brief tour of all the several above errors.  I suppose I am annoying...

Today it got seriously annoying.  I like yellow peaches over white ones.  Yellow ones separate from the pit easily and are sweeter.  The bin had 2 shelves and one label marked "yellow peaches". $2/lb  One shelf had smaller riper peaches than the other shelf.  I chose mostly those, but there were a few larger ones that seemed ripe, too.  I also bought some plums.

At checkout, I watch the register display carefully.  The clerks punch in the product codes from memory (and they are quite good at it but not infallible.  When there is an error, the price is usually the same and I don't care.  Sometimes it is computer errors back at the programming center.  If THEY somehow call item #4043 white peaches instead of yellow peaches I don't care if the price is right.

But today was weird.  I bought a bag of peaches and a bag of plums.  As I pushed the cart away, I noticed the receipt said I had plums, peaches and nectarines.  So I pointed that out the the cashier.  What followed was 15 minutes of confusion...

Taking the plums out of the picture, I was charged twice for my peaches.  Seems straightforward, but they were different weights and prices.  Well, the cashier had been having a problem with the scale.

We finally figured out (to the extreme annoyance of the other people waiting in line) that my bag of peaches had both yellow and white peaches (from a single bin that had 2 shelves and only one label).

I know this cashier. She is a very nice friendly and helpful person.  But she is easily confused by problems. 

I suggested the easiest way to resolve the confusion.  Refund me for the nectarine charge, refund me for the mixed bag of yellow and white peaches, and I would just go buy another bag of all-yellow peaches (now knowing the product code) and I would pay for them separately in an express line.  She said she could do the refund action easily.  Nope! 

That was too confusing...  She had to go to another cashier several times for every step.  (Where was the cashier manager?")

If the glares from the customers behind me in line could kill, I would not be writing this post now...

It eventually all got sorted out and fixed.  But the whole problem was created because the Produce people can't manage to keep their produce labelled!

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And there is an afternote:  I had 4 cloth shopping bags.  2 are cheap store crap.  2 were cherished handmade gifts from a deceased sister.  I know I had them in my cart when I went in the store.  One was missing at the checkout.  Someone snatched one the the bags while I was shopping...  The service desk said none were turned in but I will check again next time.