Month: May 2020

Categories 2020, Nothing Much, Supply chain, what I'm seeing in stores

Yah, I wasn’t exagerating

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On 3/19, back when this all started, I did a small order from our local wholesaler.  Now I usually get cases of eye of round for the beef portion of the dogs’ diet, its usually slightly more expensive than the top round, but its packaged in smaller chubs which  makes it easier for us to work with.  But at that time the top round was listed at $3.83/pound.

Wednesday this week I called the wholesaler about doing another order.  We don’t NEED anything yet, but I wanted to keep the freezers topped off.  The wholesaler can’t get ANY eye of round, they don’t know when they’ll be able to get it.  They have top round, and its $7.34/pound.

Depending on your grocery store you might not have seen the price increase, but its coming folks.  Hang onto your hats, cause yah, I expect it to only get worse from here.

Categories 2020, Politics

Memorial Day

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People complain about the commercialization of Christmas.

No, ANYTHING that can be monetized on has been commercialized.

To the point where I have people screaming at me at work this week because Home Depot isn’t running their normal Memorial Day sales.

I don’t really care what your POV of the whole pandemic shut down is, right or wrong, doesn’t matter.

If you’re screaming at the girl (I sound about 14 on the phone) who had the bad luck to answer the phone at your local big box store, because she just informed you that they aren’t running the usual sale, on a holiday that’s supposed to be in memory of the soldiers who died to keep you free, you need to sit down and shut the fuck up.

 

 

What can you see from your window?
I can’t see anything from mine
Flags on the side of the highway
And scripture on grocery store signs
Maybe eighteen was too early
Maybe thirty or forty is too
Did you get your chance to make peace with the man
Before he sent down his angels for you?

Mamas and grandmamas love you
‘Cause that’s all they know how to do
You never planned on the bombs in the sand
Or sleeping in your dress blues

Your wife said this all would be funny
When you came back home in a week
You’d turn twenty-two and we’d celebrate you
In a bar or a tent by the creek
Your baby would just about be here
Your very last tour would be up
But you won’t be back. They’re all dressing in black
Drinking sweet tea in styrofoam cups

Mamas and grandmamas love you
American boys hate to lose
You never planned on the bombs in the sand
Or sleeping in your dress blues

Now the high school gymnasium’s ready
Full of flowers and old legionnaires
Nobody showed up to protest
They just sniffle and stare
But there’s red, white, and blue in the rafters
And there’s silent old men from the corps
What did they say when they shipped you away
To give all in some God awful war?

Nobody here could forget you
You showed us what we had to lose
You never planned on the bombs in the sand
Or sleeping in your dress blues

No, no you never planned on the bombs in the sand
Or sleeping in your dress blues
You never planned on the bombs in the sand
Or sleeping in your dress blues

 

or if you prefer:

 

Lay me down in the cold cold ground
Where before many more have gone
Lay me down in the cold cold ground
Where before many more have gone

When they come I will stand my ground
Stand my ground I’ll not be afraid

Thoughts of home take away my fear
Sweat and blood hide my veil of tears

Once a year say a prayer for me
Close your eyes and remember me

Never more shall I see the sun
For I fell to a Germans gun

Lay me down in the cold cold ground
Where before many more have gone
Lay me down in the cold cold ground
Where before many more have gone

Where before many more have gone

In memory of Sgt. Charles Stuart MacKenzie
Seaforth Highlanders
Who along with many others gave up his life so that we can live free. We will remember them

Categories Birds

Birds nesting

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Its definitely spring out there, finally. Birds are nesting hard. We’ve got our usual complement of Robins, including the one who figured out how to build a nest on top of the bird spikes on the solar panel shut off:

I feel like this picture needs to be turned into one of those motivational posters about persistence.

We, briefly, had a little war going on between a Chickadee and a House Wren, both determined to nest in one of the BlueBird boxes. Or maybe the House Wren just wanted to stop the Chickadee from nesting there, as he finally successfully threw out the Chickadee’s nesting materials and then never nested in the box himself.

Both the Bluebirds and the Tree Swallows are building nests in boxes, and the House Wren is nesting in a woodpecker drilled cavity in a half dead tree in the middle of the yard.

Then, last weekend Husband came into the house to tell me that someone was nesting on top of one of the supports in the carport. So I trundle out with the camera and sure enough:

With a little bit of careful lurking I finally got a look at the bird building the nest:

Looks like we’re going to have Phoebe babies this year too!

Categories 2020, Nothing Much

Snow

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Woke up Saturday to white grass and heavy snow fall. Though the snow melted fairly quickly after that it continued to snow, often this hard or harder, for the rest of the day. Areas north of me got upwards of 4+” of snow from this storm

Welcome to upstate NY!

Categories 2020, Nothing Much

Bleg: The Wilderness Belts

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I ordered an Original Instructor Belt on 4/11/20 from their home website. My current belt having been a cheap belt that fit, and now stretching out in short order, I decided it was worth spending money on a good belt.

Their website says they normally ship fairly quickly, but to give them 7-10 days. On the other hand the current situation isn’t normal, so I waited. On 4/28/20 I emailed them asking if it would be possible to get an update as to how much longer it was likely to be to get the belt. Never got a response. Yes I checked the spam folder. On 5/3/20 I tried messaging them via FB with the same message. FB changed the check mark on the message on 5/4/20 to their profile icon, which usually means that the recipient has read (or at least opened the message screen) the message. But I haven’t gotten a response there either.

My work schedule is such that calling them during their business hours is difficult at best.

I am very aware that the current situation isn’t normal, and based on the reviews I’d really like this belt. But I’d also kinda like an update as to whats going on. Does anyone know of anything about whats going on with them?

Categories 2020, Nothing Much

Rant

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I posted most of this in a response to a friend’s post on FB, and then expanded it into the rant you see here.

But before I go any further, DO NOT turn this into a political comment war. I don’t care what your opinion of the shut down is. I don’t care if you think there’s a point to wearing a mask or not. I care about the people like me who’re trying to keep things running on the real life level that the USA is running on right now.

Let me tell you how busy Home Depot is.

We’re open 4 LESS hours each day. (though it’ll be 2 less hours effective Monday)

We’re working with upwards 30% LESS people (due to vulnerable folks not working).

I spent two weeks covering THREE departments by myself for a large portion of each day, and there was one day where a co-worker was covering FOUR BY HERSELF.

We’re limiting how many people can be in the store at a time (my store has a 75 customer limit, larger stores may be up to 150).

The company hasn’t had a single serious sale or promo since this started (by choice).

And despite that my store has MADE SALES PLAN for most of April. The sales plan that was written MONTHS ago before anyone had any idea that this virus was going to cause a shut down like this.

And to top it off, we’re not doing it by selling mulch and garden supplies as we normally would (we’re selling some of those, but not in normal numbers).

Well over half of the current sales are stuff bought online and picked up in stores or delivered from stores. Which, btw, requires a MUCH higher employee participation than if the customer came in and purchased it.

We’ve sold SO MUCH paint that Behr had to send us our own trailer for our order last week. A normal weekly paint shipment is between 4-6 pallets for my store. This week’s truck had 12.

A normal spring busy Saturday has me walking ~5 miles at work. The past three weeks I’ve been averaging over 8 miles, and I hit 10 one day. On a WEEK DAY.

The shut down isn’t going to last the summer. It won’t require a political movement, people are just going to stop listening. They’re already standing in line in the rain to get into Home Depot. To buy a gallon of paint. So stop harping about how horrid all these people are and start figuring out a way to make it work while keeping the vulnerable folks safe. Cause this isn’t stopping any time soon.

Also please keep in mind that ALL “essential” employees, regardless of what store they’re working at, are over-worked and burning out right now.

We’re running our asses off trying to get people the things they want.

And we’re dealing with everything from grandma in a full face mask and gloves (which she’s wearing while rifling through her purse) while mumbling so badly we can’t understand her, to the guy who thinks this is all pointless and is refusing to not only wear a mask but to even back up a few feet to make the lady at the paint counter feel not quite so claustrophobic (protip, she’s already there, between the face mask we’re required to wear, and the plexi shields they put up, so having an asshole insisting on trying to loom over her isn’t helping).

I’ve watched long time employees who normally have all the patience in the world verbally snap at customers.

So before you get snotty because an employee asks you to back up a few feet, before you get offended because an employee isn’t as polite as normal, please remember that we’re all beyond exhausted, we’re all past brain fried, and we’re not any happier with the situation than you are. Take a great big deep breath and sit on your goddammed ego till you’re out of the store.

I don’t care if you’re pissed because you refuse to wear a mask and don’t see the point to the extra spacing between people. I don’t care if you’re pissed because other people aren’t wearing masks. I don’t care if you’re pissed because people are buying something you consider non-essential. I don’t care if you’re pissed because you think it should be business as normal.

Don’t take it out on the people running their asses off trying to make sure you can buy what you want or need. We all have our own opinions on what should or shouldn’t be done. They may or may not match yours, but today we’re stuck with what we have. If you have that big of a problem with it then take it up with corporate.