When I got to Walmart yesterday, the side door I normally enter and exit through was blocked and had a sign saying it was for emergency use only. Okay, fine…things have been a little chaotic the past few weeks.
In walking around to the next door, I noticed rows of upside-down and upended shopping carts around both main entrances / exits; dozens and dozens of them; the cart corral inside the store was actually empty, although there were lots of them outside the corral I could see through the open overhead door.
So, being a scofflaw, I grabbed a couple of wipes, walked through the corral to the outside, grabbed a cart and brought it back through the “CARTS ONLY DO NOT ENTER” door.
Also noticed a weird “vibe” in the store which hasn’t been there even through the first several weeks of The Great Panic Of 2020.
A little curiosity last night was rewarded with this:
To promote health, safety and consistency for our associates and customers in this environment, we’re taking some further steps for our U.S. stores:
Regulating Store Entry
Starting Saturday, we will limit the number of customers who can be in a store at once. Stores will now allow no more than five customers for each 1,000 square feet at a given time, roughly 20 percent of a store’s capacity.
To manage this restriction, the associates at a store will mark a queue at a single-entry door (in most cases the Grocery entrance) and direct arriving customers there, where they will be admitted one-by-one and counted. Associates and signage will remind customers of the importance of social distancing while they’re waiting to enter a store – especially before it opens in the morning.
Once a store reaches its capacity, customers will be admitted inside on a “1-out-1-in” basis.
Shopping Inside the Store
We’ll also institute one-way movement through our aisles next week in a number of our stores, using floor markers and direction from associates. We expect this to help more customers avoid coming into close contact with others as they shop.
I should add that over the past several weeks, this Walmart has been completely reorganized; even most employees don’t know where stuff is.
So I’m going to have to queue-up outside the store until a sufficient number of splatter-ass waddlebutts -- with their noses buried in their damned phones -- slowly and distractedly navigate the newly-rearranged store “now with one-way aisles!!” -- have gotten their shit and egressed.
Fark. That. Noise.
Walmart may, of course, run their business as they see fit. But for the duration, they’ll be doing it without my custom. Glad that LambiePieK and I are in a position where we can afford to shop elsewhere until this dystopian foolishness ends.
And -- even when it does -- I may conclude I no longer wish to support Walmart. I’m more than willing to inconvenience myself a bit to raise both middle fingers to ’em.
They weren’t doing any actual *counting* when I was there last, but they did have have the CartHogs up.
(Based on some of the calculator usage I’ve seen over there, counting may be above their pay grade.)
Going to try to get some work done around the house today and other than that, not much on the agenda. Teh bestest place ever announced yesterday that we’ll be remote at least until the end of the month.
Oh yeah -- we are refinancing our mortgage and have to go over that paperwork today. Figure if we are going to do it, we might as well do it now while we both still have jobs. It shaves off almost a full point and it gets the nut down to where we would be OK when/if one of us loses our job.
Funny that just a few months ago we were both coming around to the idea that we had done good financially and that getting out of California was a real possibility. Now we are back to survival thinking.
“Announcing your plans is a good way to hear God laugh.”
Happy Caturday, Gerbil Nation!
Good morning, Fatwa, and Sven!
Fatwa -- the grocery stores around here have been limiting the number of customers in their stores for a few weeks now, but no “one-way” aisles.
Sven -- good on ya’ for refinancing. We really need to do that, but I don’t want to extend the length of our mortgage (again!). I should check out the rates.
We’re looking right now at 3.5% for the full 30 years. Our broker last month was thinking 3.1 wasn’t out of the question, but he’s changed his tune lately. I wanted to roll the dice and wait, but with the real uncertainty surrounding everything including employment, we decided to move ahead now.
Hope all is found to be in order with your refi paperwork.
Only been to WalMart a couple of times — never been a huge fan.
When I moved to OH in ’04, I went to one which had opened there once and was woefully unimpressed. (It was very similar to the one on Cochran -- IIRC -- in Simi.)
The supercenters here are a lot nicer. I don’t love shopping there, but do like that we save well over $1K a year on many basic food and OTC health / sundry items. (When I go to other grocery and drug stores, I do random price comparisons.)
I want to go to the store to get a few things, but I know I’m safer if I don’t go. Still maybe I will. I need Soda, Milk, Atkins bars for work in case I get hungry on a longer shift.
Okay, back from the store. There was a limit on Milk which included Lactose free half gallons. I got a few more at another store. I usually like to have enough so I don’t have to shopping again too soon. I bought a lot of coke zero, but I always do that.
TP and such was down to four-packs, and you could only buy one. But I don’t need any so I didn’t get one.
Most otc medicines seemed normal. Of course sanitizer related stuff was out.
I got some protein bars which I keep in my work bag if my shift goes long and I get hungry. I’m glad a got a few big jars of muscle milk powder some days ago, because that seems to be running out also.
I’m suppppppooooosed to be making meatballs from scratch because I have so much ground beef, and other ingredients--I use them for protein in a lot of recipes--but I can’t motivate myself to do that, so I bought some frozen ones again. Now I can put off the meatball making for a few more weeks.
I bought some cilantro for a special recipe because it doesn’t keep. I do have some in the freezer but I’m saving that for emergencies.
FYI: If you have some cilantro that isn’t bad but you know you’re not going to use it, you can chop it up (stems and all) and blend it with olive oil and freeze it. The oil protects the volatiles in it, so it gives you a bit of “cilantroieness” in a pinch. I leave the stems in because they have more cilantro flavor and it helps to counteract what you lose from freezing.
FYI: If you have some cilantro that isn’t bad but you know you’re not going to use it, you can chop it up (stems and all) and blend it with olive oil and freeze it. The oil protects the volatiles in it, so it gives you a bit of “cilantroieness” in a pinch. I leave the stems in because they have more cilantro flavor and it helps to counteract what you lose from freezing.
I did not know this. I will have to remember it.
(Now where the hell’s that Post-It?)
But I have absolutely Ø interest in cooking. Anything. Except maybe a bagel. There’s still some spaghetti the Mr. can get into if he’s so inclined.
Everything’s beautiful and green out here on the prairie, but it’s blustery, rainy and cold -- which kind of lends itself to the whole TEOTWAWKI vibe, and I just don’t feel more motivated than playing on the Internets, or if I want to laugh while crocheting, I can turn on “Ghost Adventures” just to hear Zak Bagans scream like a little girl.
And they’re supposed to be so serial. Pfft.
BBIAB.
So, I decided to go down a rabbit hole and see if anyone knew if Corn Pop was real. And if Joe Biden’s story is accurate or even loosely based in reality.
Evidently, Corn Pop is indeed real, and his brother and some other folks basically uphold, generally, Biden’s version of the story.
Evidently, his real name is William Morris, and he really existed.
Mrs. Paddy, Teh Older, and I went on a drive and a bit of a hike today. It was nice to get out and see some wildflowers. Here are a few low-quality pictures taken from my cell phone: fiddle-heads, chocolate lily, and lupine.
When The Child was a youngling we used to go up to the foothills to forage. Her favorite was fiddlehead heads sautéed with butter and a touch of garlic. Good times and delicious.
Caturday greetings, GN!
When I got to Walmart yesterday, the side door I normally enter and exit through was blocked and had a sign saying it was for emergency use only. Okay, fine…things have been a little chaotic the past few weeks.
In walking around to the next door, I noticed rows of upside-down and upended shopping carts around both main entrances / exits; dozens and dozens of them; the cart corral inside the store was actually empty, although there were lots of them outside the corral I could see through the open overhead door.
So, being a scofflaw, I grabbed a couple of wipes, walked through the corral to the outside, grabbed a cart and brought it back through the “CARTS ONLY DO NOT ENTER” door.
Also noticed a weird “vibe” in the store which hasn’t been there even through the first several weeks of The Great Panic Of 2020.
A little curiosity last night was rewarded with this:
https://corporate.walmart.com/newsroom/2020/04/03/changes-to-our-shopping-process-to-encourage-social-distancing
I should add that over the past several weeks, this Walmart has been completely reorganized; even most employees don’t know where stuff is.
So I’m going to have to queue-up outside the store until a sufficient number of splatter-ass waddlebutts -- with their noses buried in their damned phones -- slowly and distractedly navigate the newly-rearranged store “now with one-way aisles!!” -- have gotten their shit and egressed.
Fark. That. Noise.
Walmart may, of course, run their business as they see fit. But for the duration, they’ll be doing it without my custom. Glad that LambiePieK and I are in a position where we can afford to shop elsewhere until this dystopian foolishness ends.
And -- even when it does -- I may conclude I no longer wish to support Walmart. I’m more than willing to inconvenience myself a bit to raise both middle fingers to ’em.
Bah!
They weren’t doing any actual *counting* when I was there last, but they did have have the CartHogs up.
(Based on some of the calculator usage I’ve seen over there, counting may be above their pay grade.)
Hi X_LA, I’m still intrigued by the initial comment you made regarding my rather serious post a few weeks ago. All that aside… hi!
Hi Fatwa -- happy Saturday.
Only been to WalMart a couple of times -- never been a huge fan.
Going to try to get some work done around the house today and other than that, not much on the agenda. Teh bestest place ever announced yesterday that we’ll be remote at least until the end of the month.
Oh yeah -- we are refinancing our mortgage and have to go over that paperwork today. Figure if we are going to do it, we might as well do it now while we both still have jobs. It shaves off almost a full point and it gets the nut down to where we would be OK when/if one of us loses our job.
Funny that just a few months ago we were both coming around to the idea that we had done good financially and that getting out of California was a real possibility. Now we are back to survival thinking.
“Announcing your plans is a good way to hear God laugh.”
Happy Caturday, Gerbil Nation!
Good morning, Fatwa, and Sven!
Fatwa -- the grocery stores around here have been limiting the number of customers in their stores for a few weeks now, but no “one-way” aisles.
Sven -- good on ya’ for refinancing. We really need to do that, but I don’t want to extend the length of our mortgage (again!). I should check out the rates.
We’re looking right now at 3.5% for the full 30 years. Our broker last month was thinking 3.1 wasn’t out of the question, but he’s changed his tune lately. I wanted to roll the dice and wait, but with the real uncertainty surrounding everything including employment, we decided to move ahead now.
Hi, Sven and Paddy!
Sven --
Hope all is found to be in order with your refi paperwork.
When I moved to OH in ’04, I went to one which had opened there once and was woefully unimpressed. (It was very similar to the one on Cochran -- IIRC -- in Simi.)
The supercenters here are a lot nicer. I don’t love shopping there, but do like that we save well over $1K a year on many basic food and OTC health / sundry items. (When I go to other grocery and drug stores, I do random price comparisons.)
I got nuthin’
But I’m dropping in to say hi.
I want to go to the store to get a few things, but I know I’m safer if I don’t go. Still maybe I will. I need Soda, Milk, Atkins bars for work in case I get hungry on a longer shift.
Maybe I’ll go.
ok, I’m going….
Because of Miss Harper’s migraine, it reminded me to reorder meds -- picked them up. It’s so neat outside right now -- wide open roads and all.
glad I could help : )
Hah. Glad I could help!
Okay, back from the store. There was a limit on Milk which included Lactose free half gallons. I got a few more at another store. I usually like to have enough so I don’t have to shopping again too soon. I bought a lot of coke zero, but I always do that.
TP and such was down to four-packs, and you could only buy one. But I don’t need any so I didn’t get one.
Most otc medicines seemed normal. Of course sanitizer related stuff was out.
I got some protein bars which I keep in my work bag if my shift goes long and I get hungry. I’m glad a got a few big jars of muscle milk powder some days ago, because that seems to be running out also.
I’m suppppppooooosed to be making meatballs from scratch because I have so much ground beef, and other ingredients--I use them for protein in a lot of recipes--but I can’t motivate myself to do that, so I bought some frozen ones again. Now I can put off the meatball making for a few more weeks.
I bought some cilantro for a special recipe because it doesn’t keep. I do have some in the freezer but I’m saving that for emergencies.
FYI: If you have some cilantro that isn’t bad but you know you’re not going to use it, you can chop it up (stems and all) and blend it with olive oil and freeze it. The oil protects the volatiles in it, so it gives you a bit of “cilantroieness” in a pinch. I leave the stems in because they have more cilantro flavor and it helps to counteract what you lose from freezing.
I did not know this. I will have to remember it.
(Now where the hell’s that Post-It?)
But I have absolutely Ø interest in cooking. Anything. Except maybe a bagel. There’s still some spaghetti the Mr. can get into if he’s so inclined.
Everything’s beautiful and green out here on the prairie, but it’s blustery, rainy and cold -- which kind of lends itself to the whole TEOTWAWKI vibe, and I just don’t feel more motivated than playing on the Internets, or if I want to laugh while crocheting, I can turn on “Ghost Adventures” just to hear Zak Bagans scream like a little girl.
And they’re supposed to be so serial. Pfft.
BBIAB.
So, I decided to go down a rabbit hole and see if anyone knew if Corn Pop was real. And if Joe Biden’s story is accurate or even loosely based in reality.
Evidently, Corn Pop is indeed real, and his brother and some other folks basically uphold, generally, Biden’s version of the story.
Evidently, his real name is William Morris, and he really existed.
He passed away in 2016.
Hi, Plaguie!
and
Heh!
Mrs. Paddy, Teh Older, and I went on a drive and a bit of a hike today. It was nice to get out and see some wildflowers. Here are a few low-quality pictures taken from my cell phone: fiddle-heads, chocolate lily, and lupine.
Beautiful, Paddy, thanks for the pictures!
When The Child was a youngling we used to go up to the foothills to forage. Her favorite was fiddlehead heads sautéed with butter and a touch of garlic. Good times and delicious.
Paddy, I keep meaning to ask if it’s ok if I share Mrs. paddy’s sermon with my local church ladies. And please thank her.
Yes, of course you may share it.
Thanks!