Monthly Archives: November 2011

Please stop using the term “pro tip”, it annoys me.

Posted on by

I can only speak about my trains in NYC: If the conductor honks twice it usually means that the train going through the station isn’t going to stop. Sometimes it’s because it went Express, sometimes it’s because it went Skip Stop, sometimes it’s because it was just told it had to make up some time for an earlier incident so is changing to a different line’s route than what’s on the side of the train. It happens. Just grin and bear it and wait for the next train to show up.

I promise you, another train is coming.

And if another train never stops at the station again, there are way bigger problems in the world to worry about. ;)

If the train does stop at the station, the honk (in retrospect) meant some douchebag was hanging over the platform not listening to the fact that a big, ginormous train was about to turn them into a pancake with strawberry syrup.

revelations in grocery acquisition

Posted on by

Today I went full grocery shopping alone for the first time since I’ve had my new job. In a moment of brilliance during the shopping list creation process I decided to divide the list up by dry goods and cold/wet/perishable goods.

I arrived at the store, used my card to activate one of the self scanners, then walked around the inner portion of the store to shop for only dry goods. I filled up the entire cart with these goods, packing them snugly in their bags as I went. I checked out with $200 worth of groceries, brought them to my car, packed them in their spot, then returned to the store. I used my card to activate another self scanner, then walked around the outer portion of the store and the frozen food aisles to pick up and snugly pack $222 worth of food that does not appreciate being kept out of a refrigerator.

Lots of birds, one stone: I was able to pack my bags the way I wanted, was able to breeze through the 15 items or less line (when you self scan it doesn’t matter how many items you have, because you already totaled your groceries for them), and was able to keep all the perishable stuff together so I knew which bags to give priority when I got home.

Yes, it took me longer to do things this way, but I have anxiety issues when it comes to crowded places, and everyone was Thanksgiving shopping today so this was my way of coping. Because I had a plan I was able to take my time and keep a pleasant, even-tempered attitude while everyone was crowding the aisles around me.

I brought home $422 worth of groceries right as school was letting out, so was able to find a parking spot near my building. I ended up having to make 5 trips up my stairs. After trip 4 I was so exhausted that I ended up inadvertently planking on the bed while Twitter sat on my butt rubbing her head against my leg (it’s her “thing”).

There is still one trip left to make, but I was too exhausted to get the remaining spaghetti sauce jars and the Diet Cherry Dr. Pepper. Hopefully we don’t have a surprise overnight freeze. :)