SHOPPING ON A TUESDAY

Okay. I read that piece by Vlad's friend and I was impressed to go to an Asian store in Bloomington, today. I had to be up there with the Handmaiden so what the hell, go to the Sahara Mart and check it out. I do not know why it is called the Sahara Mart. Maybe the guy is from a saharan country. Maybe he was a fan of The Police and liked "Tea in the Sahara."



But it ain't no Kroger and that is a fact. The rows of shelves are in ranks and not files in regard to the check out counter. I suspect that has something to do with getting you to come in to the food and look around. Then again, I could be full of crap. But the owner has recently rebuilt his store and the size increase is really impressive. It ain't a remodeled convenience store any longer. It is a regular grocery store, with a beer and wine annex no less! Must not be Islamic. I don't think they drink.



The items on the shelves are laid out a lot different that I am used to. There is a great lack of advertising. It would seem that the owner figures that people know what they want and all he has to do is stock it. It felt a little alien to not have some freaking advertising not trying to reel me in. You actually felt like you had time to think on your own without Betty Crocker or the Pilsbury Doughboy doing it for you. Refreshing. But everything was clean and in apple-pie order. The wares were neat and nice.



The Handmaiden told me to go on toward the back aisles for bulk stuff. She knew I was prepping. Sho 'nuff, right at the back were the bulk items. There musst have been a hundred kinds of beans on display in clear plastic containers. There were handy scoops to take out what you wished. I had her go to the Chick Pea contianer and I told her to get me 10 pounds. She got a substantial amount and went to the scales to weigh them and it was 2 and 1/4 pounds and I called her off at that point. I went to the big bags of rifce and bought a 20 pound bag of rice from Thailand for $12,99. The Chick peas were $1.49 a pound. But it was Tuesday and they give everybody a 10% discount on Tuesday and I got out of there for a hair less that $15. That was a little over 22 pound of grains for $15. That comes to roughly 68 cent a pound, which is high but I like to buy from them instead of from China Mart, at least once in a while. I reckon I give and take a bit on buying from China Mart.



But I have some more preps and the Handmaiden went to the chiropractor and her dizziness is all but gone. Successful day!



So I came home and checked Drudge and there was a bit jump in rices prices. Happy days. The survivalists mentality triumphed again! The banking news on Drudge was butt ugly. The federal reserve auctioned off 50 billion dollars to keep some banks afloat. There was an article that said Citibank and Wells Fargo may stop lending. Just the kind of joyful noise you would expect to hear from a gang of con men and embezzlers. But our goverment will bail them out and use money that WE THE PEOPLE have to repay. You know, if I was a kid fooling around with money and tricking people like these banks are these days, my dad would have beat my ass raw. Not a question about it. You just didn't do things like that to people. Now days, though, it's Jingle Mail and see ya' later! What gets me is the fedgov is helping them out of the jam as much as they can. 50 years ago the banks would have gone out of business and a lot of people would have gone to prison. And they should go out of business and the ring leaders should go to prison.



An intersting observation: Ducks walk with their necks extended when they go up a hill and they go down the hill with their necks pulled in tight. I think it is a matter of balance.



Stay alive!



Michael



mboone@rtccom.net