April 7 2020 One week gone.
9Well, the first week of my reign (is that the preferred term?) as goat is now ending. To recap, so far we have visited
4/1 smartassery
4/2 vehicles owned
4/3 residences
4/4 stay at home orders
4/5 gas prices
4/6 jobs/careers
Today I went back to work in the ER at our local community hospital expecting a total shitstorm of COVID patients. Lo and behold… they didn’t materialize, so at least here we seem to have done a good job of flattening the curve. The next few days will be a test of how well that works, and locally they are enacting a curfew from 2200 to 0500 every night starting tonight.
Hopefully your jurisdiction is also getting a handle on social distancing, work from home, stay-at-home orders, curfews and quarantines.
Today’s topic for discussion:
How often are you going out from the house to grocery shop etc. compared to pre-COVID times?
I typically would go shopping at least a couple of times a week since I almost never remembered to get everything I needed, or just wanted to go get something fresh for dinner… maybe that’s a hold over from my time in Europe where you bought things like bread daily. Now I am trying to make it a once a week thing, though I have been stopping on the way to work if I need something. I am not much of a shopper, so if I need something I am in and out of the store in a matter of a few minutes even on a good day…
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@chienfou is definitely to blame for… whatever this is.
@mediocrebot you need to up your game 'bot!
No different for me personally - typically once a week. I did have to go once two days in a row due to no milk or bread on run #1 and I was pretty much out. The benefit of that 7am run was I found toilet paper and wipes that a couple of elderly folks asked me to keep an eye out for them.
@Kidsandliz yeah for community spirit and watching out for the seniors. One of the bennies of living in a small town is that we still have TP on a regular basis at the local WM.
With the exception of working from home, nothing is much different for us.
Well… I think we have been to the store a BIT more often since this whole thing started, but I think that has finally calmed down for us.
Curious, how does a curfew help? I mean at least where I live pretty much everything is closed by 10pm normally, these days all that is open is a few gas stations.
As far as the store once a week or less. I do online grocery pickup if I can. And my daughter works at Walmart so if I need something she can bring it home. This has been pretty typical for me a while since it’s just 2 of us in the house. I try to keep a list so I don’t have to run out for 1 thing I missed.
@remo28 I thought the same thing. I guess it gives them more license to stop you if you are out and about.
@chienfou @remo28 Really, is the virus more active at night? Also, what about people that still work until 11:30PM?
@callow @remo28 That’s covered. They are really trying to keep the COVIDiots from congregating on the streets.
l haven’t been to a store since February, or had anything delivered. I don’t know how the city would respond if I started shooting squirrels in my backyard
@benj depends on what you use as a weapon…
/giphy rocket laucher
@chienfou Which reminds me…I also have raccoons in the backyard as well!
@benj @chienfou I’ve read reports that claim up to 50% of raccoons carry rabies. Be careful out there!
@benj @macromeh just don’t serve it medium rare…
@benj @chienfou And raccoon tartare is right out.
@benj @chienfou @macromeh So how does rabies fare against Sous-vide?
@benj @chienfou @macromeh @mehcuda67
Low and slow kills the buggers just as effectively. Anything over an hour is fine. People want fast, so the FDA recommends burning and overcooking meats hot and fast to be on the the safe side even when people screw it up.
That’s why you see guidance like 165°F for 1 minute.
@benj @chienfou @macromeh @mehcuda67
From Cook’s Illustrated (the folks that started America’s Test Kitchen)
@benj @chienfou @macromeh @mehcuda67
For beef steaks, only the surface can be contaminated by contact. For pork and chicken, and ground beef, the pathogens can be throughout your food, hence the “until it reaches an internal temperature of 165°F” guidance.
No thrift stores since the beginning of March already, as I was cutting back since before it was official; I used to do that at least twice a week, if not more. Groceries was weekly, 99 cents only was weekly, Costco was weekly. Overall, perhaps about a 2/3rds drop for me.
In the past month:
I will have to pick some auto parts soon, but that’ll be an online order/store pickup affair.
@narfcake If you need auto parts I use rock auto. Prices are way lower than the big name auto stores. Shipping is quick, and they will tell you about things like rebates if available. I’ve used Amazon before for things like filters and wiper blades, but they might have slower shipping since it’s ‘non-essential’.
@remo28 Yeah, I checked RA first, actually. Even with the usual 5% off, shipping placed them at a higher price this time.
They were cheaper if I went with a lesser brand, but I’m not going to question about saving $6 on something as important as head bolts.
Me ‘n’ Mom gotta eat 3x/day, and we’re not getting take-out at all (welllllll…we got pizza one time in the 5 weeks I’ve been here…) so that means a lot of meal planning and cooking at home. It also means I hit the Safeway about 2-3 times per week. I am a bad meal planner! We have a lot in the fridge and pantry, and I plan ahead as best I can, but I still get confused, forget things, change my mind, etc.
I’m aiming for 1-2 times per week. Usually I cook for one, and end up eating out 4-5 times per week, so this is a big change for me. I loooove to cook, tho, so it’s all basically fine. Tonight I made Jenny Jones’ quick crusty dinner rolls: https://www.jennycancook.com/recipes/no-knead-crusty-rolls/
PS, @chienfou I don’t blame you for anything. I venerate you for warping space and time to make those crusty rolls turn out so good! Well done!
@UncleVinny
/giphy bow
@UncleVinny Oh, so that’s what happened to Jenny Jones.
I have only driven into town once since I started working from home 3 weeks ago - I went to pick up a new battery and gas for my lawn tractor the first weekend of isolation. Other than that, it has only been walks/hikes in the surrounding forest. My wife goes into town about twice a week to pick up groceries for our household as well as shopping for her elderly mom and stepdad.
Usually, about every 2-3 weeks. Now… 2-3 weeks. I don’t like shopping.
Prior to Covid-19, we would go to the grocery store once per week. Now it seems to be twice because they have a two-gallon limit on milk purchases.
@Limewater that frustrated me a couple of weeks ago. If I can get more milk, I’ll stay away. They lifted the gallon limit when I went last time and bought three. Haven’t been back since.
@Limewater @RiotDemon The first time I went, my local Aldi had limits on several items – milk, bread, eggs, and paper goods. The second time, only eggs and paper goods still had a limit and the bread was actually discounted because they had too much inventory.
At my local Costco, it was only the paper goods that had limit 1. Folks aren’t excessively stocking up as if it’s the end of the world anymore.
@Limewater @narfcake last time I was at Aldi they had a limit of 6 gallons of milk. No limit on eggs. Their eggs are 54¢ for a dozen. I’m assuming they are a loss leader to get people in the door.
Maybe once a week, if that. One vehicle hasn’t moved in over a week. Should probably get some gas while it’s still cheap!
We’ve been aiming for once every ten days, from our usual multiple times per week. Though now we’ve told a few of our older neighbors that we’d do shopping runs for them if they need something, so that number may change.