bookofjoe

Portrait of the artist (Cecelia Paredes) as wallpaper IV

Notes on grocery shopping

I do my Podunkville grocery shopping at any of three stores, depending on this, that and the other: my mood, energy level, proximity, things one store has the others don't, etc.

My contenders:

• Kroger

• Harris Teeter

• Wegmans

Kroger is a mile and a half down the road at Barracks Road Shopping Center; Harris Teeter is at the other end of the shopping center.

Wegmans is a five-mile/15-minute trip on the interstate.

Only yesterday did it occur to me that Harris Teeter is WAY easier to shop at than the other two — this epiphany only occurring after shopping there for many years.

The "killer app": at Harris Teeter the checker unloads your cart and puts your groceries on the conveyor belt — that's how the store is designed.

So if you can wrestle your items into your cart, you're money — at least until you hit the parking lot and put your groceries into your car.

This is a big deal, now that I'm aware of it: I wonder how come I never realized the difference until yesterday.

I mentioned it to the checker, and suggested that Harris Teeter could gain a lot of older and disabled shoppers who have trouble dealing with their groceries, if they advertised this difference.

She shrugged.

I like that.

Indifference to my ideas always delights me.

It's a Bizarro World.

Dead Umbrella Project

Res ipsa loquitur.

Wrote its creator, David Balogh,

"A personal project where I post photos of abandoned umbrellas.

Normally the photos are in New York City,

but sometimes I find them elsewhere.

I also have a British counterpart taking photos across the pond."

Back story here.

World's most tricked-out car cup holder

Whoa.

From the website:

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The Car Stack Organizer is perfect for adding more helping hands in your car.

It adds more cup holders while also giving you a nifty spot for your sunglasses, phone, and other belongings.

It fits into practically any cup holder.

 

Features and Details: 

 

• Multifunctional car storage box with big space: top layer is for phone, sunglasses, pen, two-layer holder for beverages; bottom layer for small stuff such as keys, coins, etc.

 

• 360° rotation layer enables 360° rotation for top three layers — increase more space to hold drinks and easy to save

 

 

• Rubber cup body cover, designed to keep your drinks stable during driving on rough road

 

• Sweet erect rack design on the top keeps your phone or glasses stuck inside, and includes two holes for putting your pens, perfect fit pen sizes

 

• It is universal to most cars, saves space, and keeps your car organized always

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

$15.