respublica

Price of gas over the years

This was a rather fun article relating what the price of a gallon of gas was the year you were born. I especially liked looking at the cars and trucks from over the years which accompanied each year.

What prices will be skyrocketing

As if the cost of everything hasn't been going higher and higher, now we learn even more may skyrocket.

According to the Department of energy, petrochemicals derived from oil and natural gas make the manufacturing of over 6,000 everyday products and high-tech devices possible. As these prices rise, so will all things things made from oil and gas. It's quite shocking the variety and number of all these things. Here is a partial list.

"Personal items such as hand lotion, shampoo, shaving cream, toothpaste, deodorant, perfume and lipstick -- are all manufactured with oil. So are health devices like dentures, heart valves and hearing aids, as well as antihistamines, aspirin, pharmaceuticals and vitamin capsules. Have vision issues? Soft contact lenses and eyeglasses are also petroleum-based. The list goes on -- bandages, cell phones, clothing, coffee makers, crayons, credit cards, detergent, footballs, glue, hair dye, hula hoops, ink, insect repellent, laptops, luggage, mops, nail polish, pajamas, panty hose, plastic toys, purses, shoes, sunglasses, swimming pools, tents, tires, trash bags, umbrellas, water pipes and yarn."

And anything packaged in plastic. An unwelcome prospect.

 

 

Time jump coming

Just realized that next weekend we have to move our clocks ahead one hour. Ugh. This has been one of the worst ideas ever and I wish this country could just pick one and stick with it. I know this is not a first world problem especially these days, but the thought of it bugs me.

Paper deliveries explained

I've mentioned a number of times how weird our daily newspaper delivery has been. Some days none, other days 8, still others maybe one but the wrong one. The delivery time of day has changed by the day. We've chalked it up to the lack of delivery people. It does get frustrating not knowing if they'd come or not or when.

Today we received an explanation letter with our papers and this helps our understanding. This is pretty much what we thought was going on.

"Good Morning!"

"While we strive for the best possible service for all customers, our delivery times may vary and some special deliveries might be put on hold during this transition period. Our current contractors are working long hours to ensure everyone receives their newspapers. Due to an unprecedented nation-wide shortage of available workers, we are struggling to find newspaper carriers and have many available routes."

"Our routes are a great way to make extra money delivering papers in your neighborhood each morning. We currently have a couple of opportunities available on this route and in your area."

Thank you for being a valued customer,

Eric Freeman Distribution manager.

 

Snow coming

It seems we will never get through the empty grocery shelves. We are in the stores in big numbers constantly. Every time I drive past Schnucks the parking lot is full, the same is true for the Walmart Neighborhood Market. Aldi's not so much.

Yesterday I needed one thing to go with our supper-grated parmesan cheese. Schnucks was filled with shoppers, employees trying to fill shelves and countless Insta-Cart personal shoppers. The one thing I needed was gone. The parmesan cheese I usually get across from the deli was sold out except for the chunks made for do it yourself grating. I went to the very back of the store where the more name brand cheeses are located and after bending and stooping and raising up on tip toes I saw one last tub of grated parmesan. But it was on the top shelf and all the way back against the wall. I could not reach it no matter how many things I tried. I was about to go to the cleaning product aisle and grab a broom  to try and slide it down. But finally I sucked up my nerve and asked the first tall man I saw if he'd reach it for me and he graciously did.

All this is mentioned because tomorrow night an Wednesday this area is supposedly getting a snow event that won't just be a dusting. Maybe. This sends everyone out to the store again and after the many empty shelf spaces I saw yesterday I doubt the employees will be able to stock fast enough to satisfy everyone heading for the store.

The oddest items are gone-the peanuts we like to have around, cream cheese, Chex Mix, many cuts of meat, milk. There is plenty of wine and beer and sodas, olives, tuna. The biggest issue is supposed the supply chain and I can kind of understand that, but boy, do we all eat the exact same things.

We are wearing ourselves out dealing with food to eat at home.

Bringing home the bacon?

Last week I was in the grocery store getting ingredients for a Sherry Meatball casserole and one item was bacon. Fried bacon is crumbled over the top of this dish before it goes in the oven. It's been awhile since I've needed bacon and I was absolutely stunned at the price. Another man was also looking over all the various packages and like me, hoping to find one that wasn't so costly. We agreed that the price for this was just unbelievable.

That event is why this article on bacon costs grabbed my attention. Bacon costs 23.7 percent more than last year and prices are higher than they've ever been in history.

There are kinds of guesses as to why this is which doesn't really take the sting out. The pandemic brought on an increased demand for anything pork and the production side skyrocketed as well.

We probably won't be over-doing the bacon buying too often anymore. It will be for a special occasion kind of like a nice steak always has been.

More shortages, higher prices

The news this week which seems like a repeat of news from last week, is prices on grocery items will continue to rise. This is said to be due to Omicron taking its toll on workers being off sick in all areas of the supply chain.

Prices are expected to rise for eggs, cheese, meat and milk. There are also many news photos and videos of grocery shoppers in front of wide swaths of empty shelves. I've noticed various grocery aisles around here which often have empty areas but not to the extent it must be happening in other parts of the country. Around here we could count on Super Bowl Sunday weekend having just about everyone buying out chili fixings and chicken wings. And black olives for Pete's sake.  On New Year's shrimp was hard to find as was some other fish items. And even weirder to me was the run on frozen vegetables over the holidays. Before Christmas flour, sugar, etc was going like crazy for baking. Local people have also been buying meat like there is no tomorrow. Also trash bags!

About the only place I go these days is the grocery store and I watch what's going on as I move through the store. The employees doing the stocking look tired and just fed up with us customers. I've seen way too many people taking things off the stocker's cart and one old guy decided it was a good idea to just sit down on the floor in front of the jars of gravy until he found what was on his list. He sat there for the longest time while others of us stood around waiting.

When snow was predicted local people headed to the stores and bought out milk and bread and lots of produce and junk food. So many buying that the stores could not keep up with re-stocking. Normal. What there is too much of is, all the insta-cart shoppers. They are everywhere treating the aisles like they own the place. Maybe it's just me, but I find them somewhat  irritating.

But like everywhere else, we do see food areas which are slow to be stocked up due to not having the items to put out or not enough people to do this. I have to make a grocery run today and am interested in what is and is not available.

About masks

We are back again getting strong advice on the importance of wearing masks and N95 or KN95 masks being the most protective. Cloth masks are now said to be less effective.

I guess I'll be getting some of these today even though I am not crazy about the big round blob of their look. Some companies have begun making them in fun colors and designs which help somewhat.

The N95 masks are designed to form a seal around the mouth and nose. It is also said that you can tell if you have a fake one if your glasses fog up while wearing it. The good mask will not allow fog.

Also the KN95 masks, also recommended are made in China while the N95's are not.

A coming gift card problem

Some consumer business experts have begun suggesting giving gift cards this Christmas may be a bad idea. Not the cash filled cards, but cards for specific stores. The reason given is that due to the pandemic, many of these stores have file for bankruptcy and the cards will be useless.

Just an FYI, do some research if giving cards to actual stores.

Change is good?

Heard on the news tonight that there is a change shortage which is troubling businesses and banks. Businesses don't have enough change to give people, change for what they buy with cash. "That's right, America doesn’t have enough physical change to go around. And yep, you can blame that on the pandemic, too. In short, coins aren’t circulating through the economy as readily as they once were since people are going out and spending less–and opting for digital or contactless payments wherever they can."

Well, let me just give a personal experience. We have lots of change, a serious amount of change. We've emptied pockets and purses and wallets of change into jars, buckets, baskets, and even rolled a bunch into those paper coin things for years. The problem we've experienced is banks really do not want to waste time tossing all of this into their counting machines. And as to rolls, forget it, they must be emptied and put into the machine as well. I would love, love, to take our change to a bank and get it counted and credited to my checking account. But dealing with eye rolls from bank tellers in past years keep me from bothering.

The country wants change? Just ask and we will be there.