The General Chat Thread (2016-2022)

[SatNavSaysStraightOn]

Yes, I've done that and its a good service - but still not as easy and time-saving as on-line. It takes time to drive there and back and then there is the time spent in store. If I did this for a weekly shop it would probably take an hour and a bit at best, plus driving there and back. On-line takes 15 mins, and I'm doing other stuff like watching TV at the same time.

There is also 'click and collect' service here in the UK which means you book on-line and pick up from the supermarket. I haven't used that but I think it suits some people.

The thing is, I rather like the idea of supermarkets coming to me, rather than me doing the donkey work for them!

I don't see time in front of the TV as relevant for me and my lifestyle. When my OH is not here, the TV does not get turned on. I listen to my music, if I want sound. I cook if he is home, I spend time online if needed and I knit. I colour in/draw, I mend. I live outside (broken ribs not withstanding) and I garden a lot. I have plenty of things to do other than sit in front of the TV. For me, getting out of the house is great, getting away from home is fun. I don't get away a lot anymore. I enjoy my outing. Here it is 40-60 minutes driving each way (we will be getting a local super IGA in the new year but whether it stocks everything I want, whether it has all the fruit and veg I need, and if the cost difference works out between 25km of fuel and 90-100km of fuel remains to be seen. IGA is expensive, plus the shopping trip itself. 2 shops and we leave home at 8am, we can just be back by 1pm if we don't linger too long in the 2nd shop!

If we need to visit more than 2 stores on a Saturday, it is an all day out job and that's an excuse for a meal out at our favourite vegan café. 3 shops and we can just be home by 3pm anything more and we are looking at not being home before 5-6pm.

But that said, I have lived in places in the UK where the shopping was an morning trip as well - especially some of the places I lived in the Lakes. You get used to it, it is a way of life, you learn to adapt. For me going out all day into town to clothes shop is a living hell no matter what country I am in. I would much prefer to do my clothes shopping online! But food shopping, no, I am with @Lullabelle on this one 100%. I choose my own fruit and veg and I do not want swap outs for anything. Even switching a loaf of bread to a different brand is not an option. It 100% has to be what I choose and for that reason I can't see me using a delivery for my food shopping.

Ah well... right 3 eggs today before 10am, so they will be happy chooks. My criteria for release to free range is 2 eggs... 3 of my 4 layers have already lain today, the 4th I'm not expecting her, so they are all out - except for trouble who remains in solitary! So I need to get some work done on my blog, update some pictures here... I had a wonderful egg-in-a-hole yesterday. the yolk was spot on and lovely and runny and I have the photo to update the comp with... and I need to start some new threads here as well...

You will all be well and truly fed up with me by now, but we need new threads to attract new members... the last couple of new members were here for surveys only, nothing more so I don't expect to see them again. And the ingredient challenge comp finishes this weekend, so come on folks... new threads, new recipes please... pretty please.

 

[Cinisajoy]

I think you are right regarding population density. Its funny really because I always assume the USA is ahead of us in terms of smart technology etc. Yet in the UK we seem to have advantages which I wouldn't be without!

You are probably partially right. As far as progression goes, yes the major cities are on the cutting edge but the majority of the country is still in the sticks.
As you noticed in the previous post about population density, there are many areas like mine. The east coast is highly populated, the west coast comes in 2nd but the rest of the population dense areas are hundreds of miles apart.
I am at least 300 miles from any city with a million plus population.

 

[Cinisajoy]

I don't see time in front of the TV as relevant for me and my lifestyle. When my OH is not here, the TV does not get turned on. I listen to my music, if I want sound. I cook if he is home, I spend time online if needed and I knit. I colour in/draw, I mend. I live outside (broken ribs not withstanding) and I garden a lot. I have plenty of things to do other than sit in front of the TV. For me, getting out of the house is great, getting away from home is fun. I don't get away a lot anymore. I enjoy my outing. Here it is 40-60 minutes driving each way (we will be getting a local super IGA in the new year but whether it stocks everything I want, whether it has all the fruit and veg I need, and if the cost difference works out between 25km of fuel and 90-100km of fuel remains to be seen. IGA is expensive, plus the shopping trip itself. 2 shops and we leave home at 8am, we can just be back by 1pm if we don't linger too long in the 2nd shop!

If we need to visit more than 2 stores on a Saturday, it is an all day out job and that's an excuse for a meal out at our favourite vegan café. 3 shops and we can just be home by 3pm anything more and we are looking at not being home before 5-6pm.

But that said, I have lived in places in the UK where the shopping was an morning trip as well - especially some of the places I lived in the Lakes. You get used to it, it is a way of life, you learn to adapt. For me going out all day into town to clothes shop is a living hell no matter what country I am in. I would much prefer to do my clothes shopping online! But food shopping, no, I am with @Lullabelle on this one 100%. I choose my own fruit and veg and I do not want swap outs for anything. Even switching a loaf of bread to a different brand is not an option. It 100% has to be what I choose and for that reason I can't see me using a delivery for my food shopping.

Ah well... right 3 eggs today before 10am, so they will be happy chooks. My criteria for release to free range is 2 eggs... 3 of my 4 layers have already lain today, the 4th I'm not expecting her, so they are all out - except for trouble who remains in solitary! So I need to get some work done on my blog, update some pictures here... I had a wonderful egg-in-a-hole yesterday. the yolk was spot on and lovely and runny and I have the photo to update the comp with... and I need to start some new threads here as well...

You will all be well and truly fed up with me by now, but we need new threads to attract new members... the last couple of new members were here for surveys only, nothing more so I don't expect to see them again. And the ingredient challenge comp finishes this weekend, so come on folks... new threads, new recipes please... pretty please.

Agree 100% with the clothes shopping. I try to shop every few years.
This is last day of vacation so back tomorrow with recipes and anything else I can think of.

 

[SatNavSaysStraightOn]

I am at least 300 miles from any city with a million plus population

I think I have something similar though perhaps only 2-250 miles... The capital city (Canberra) which is 50-60km away only has a population of 300-400,000 people. I think Sydney is the largest place near to here, otherwise it is Melbourne which is over 700km away (so around the 450 mile mark?). The closest place to us surprisingly has a population of 3,000 people! Where they are all squirrelled away is beyond me, but they are probably counting the likes of us in that head count and you could easily loose most of us in the undergrowth around here and them never be seen again! I expect it is everyone who has the postal 'town' of 'insert name here' which the likes of lots of us do, but are in reality not that close to. I use 'town' because it is really no bigger than a village, but villages don't exist here, the smallest is a town. OK anything between 0-199 people is a township. When a town (+200 people) becomes a city, I have no idea.

 

[Morning Glory]

Re TV watching. I can honestly say that my cooking has come on in leaps and bounds since watching good, well made cooking programmes and TBH, that is mainly what my viewing consists of. Cookery books are fine but there is nothing like watching someone prepare a dish in front of you, so to speak. I've learned all kinds of techniques and also gleaned lots of ideas - so I'm not a passive viewer. I often make notes while I'm watching cookery programmes - I keep a notebook next to me at all times, to jot down food ideas. And all this whist I'm doing a weekly on-line shop! I also like to watch the news and feel its important to hear and see what goes on in the world.

The point is that I simply don't enjoy traipsing around a supermarket to buy toilet rolls, milk (in vast quantities because my grown-up kids living here drink it a lot), washing up liquid, bleach and numerous other mundane items. If I want to go out I can think of better ways to spend my time. Sometimes I do go to shops to choose vegetables, meat or fish. But frankly, I can get much better tomatoes delivered by Ocado (who are delivering straight from the warehouse) than I can in Waitrose. The tomatoes I used here, for example: Have you discovered Burrata? come from Ocado.

 

[Lullabelle]

I hate clothes shopping but I would never buy clothes or shoes on-line, what if they don't suit or fit? You then have the hassel of sending them back, so IF I need anything then I do it. I prefer to go to the grocery store, see what they have and also I like to talk to people-never use the self serv-. I hear both sides- for and against but my personal preference is to go, wander around. It can be a chore at times but buying on-line is not something either of us want to do.

 

[SatNavSaysStraightOn]

The only time I would buy shoes online is if they were a second pair of something (or third or fourth. ( I think my boots will be the 4th identical set soon) where I already knew the size. Add for the colour, I both don't get a choice and don't care!

It's the little things in life sometimes.
You can't get M&S here in Australia, but they do a specific Alastralian website when you can purchase things and whip to Australia. It gets around the customs issues and also the Australian postal serve issues. In fact I'm off there now to get my OH's Christmas presents.

 

[Cinisajoy]

The only time I would buy shoes online is if they were a second pair of something (or third or fourth. ( I think my boots will be the 4th identical set soon) where I already knew the size. Add for the colour, I both don't get a choice and don't care!

It's the little things in life sometimes.
You can't get M&S here in Australia, but they do a specific Alastralian website when you can purchase things and whip to Australia. It gets around the customs issues and also the Australian postal serve issues. In fact I'm off there now to get my OH's Christmas presents.

Same idea but with bras. There is no way I would buy one of those without trying it on first.

As to your other post, I am in a very small city, roughly 100,000. 150,000 when there is an oil boom.
Yes, that increase reeks havoc on all the systems.
The town next to me has 110,000. Also increases when there is a boom. Well I say next too. During the last boom, they grew together.
The towns 30 miles north south and west of us have populations of 12,000, 3700, and 7400.
Unless you want to count Notrees. (Pronounced No trees). It is also to the west of us. It is 24 miles away and has a population of 2. We have a couple of other small settlements near us but neither even has a grocery store.
One has 270 people, one has 1500. Oh and the other two little areas are counted in our town's census.
During the boom, Miniskirt Junction went from 2 people to about 50. They put in a small RV park. That is not an actual town but when I was a kid, it had a restaurant and beer joint on one side of the highway. The other side of the street was and still is a liquor store with a very small general store that sold mostly beer. Now there is a small RV park next to the stores.
Oh and one small house.
Now it may be closing soon, since their main customers can now buy beer and liquor in their own town. The county above ours was dry. (Meaning no alcohol could be sold)(It went wet last year.) I guess the younger generations were tired of having to drive 20 miles for their alcohol. Younger generations pretty much anyone under 75.
The reason for the two different stores is because you cannot sell anything over 15% alcohol on Sundays in Texas. So only proper liquor stores can sell it.

 

[Lullabelle]

Same idea but with bras. There is no way I would buy one of those without trying it on first.

As to your other post, I am in a very small city, roughly 100,000. 150,000 when there is an oil boom.
Yes, that increase reeks havoc on all the systems.
The town next to me has 110,000. Also increases when there is a boom. Well I say next too. During the last boom, they grew together.
The towns 30 miles north south and west of us have populations of 12,000, 3700, and 7400.
Unless you want to count Notrees. (Pronounced No trees). It is also to the west of us. It is 24 miles away and has a population of 2. We have a couple of other small settlements near us but neither even has a grocery store.
One has 270 people, one has 1500. Oh and the other two little areas are counted in our town's census.
During the boom, Miniskirt Junction went from 2 people to about 50. They put in a small RV park. That is not an actual town but when I was a kid, it had a restaurant and beer joint on one side of the highway. The other side of the street was and still is a liquor store with a very small general store that sold mostly beer. Now there is a small RV park next to the stores.
Oh and one small house.
Now it may be closing soon, since their main customers can now buy beer and liquor in their own town. The county above ours was dry. (Meaning no alcohol could be sold)(It went wet last year.) I guess the younger generations were tired of having to drive 20 miles for their alcohol. Younger generations pretty much anyone under 75.
The reason for the two different stores is because you cannot sell anything over 15% alcohol on Sundays in Texas. So only proper liquor stores can sell it.

Don't get me started on bras, I recently purchased 2 from M&S, the exact same size as the ones I normally wear, they were too small so had to take them back! I need to sign up for their fitting service put it is just about finding the time.

 

[classic33]

You forgot the lack of cashiers so you have to stand in line for 15 minutes.
Oh and how did you know what we bought today?

You forgot @satnavsaystraighton claims to have previously worked in IT. You will shortly be receiving a few lorry loads of Ritz Crackers. Lead truck hauled by the "Rubber Duck".

 

[Cinisajoy]

You forgot @satnavsaystraighton claims to have previously worked in IT. You will shortly be receiving a few lorry loads of Ritz Crackers. Lead truck hauled by the "Rubber Duck".

Will the Bandit be bringing me a Trans Am too?

Oh and Sally Field turns 70 this month.

 

[classic33]

Will the Bandit be bringing me a Trans Am too?

Oh and Sally Field turns 70 this month.

Wrong movie!

It may be Go-Go Girls though.

 

[Cinisajoy]

Wrong movie!

It may be Go-Go Girls though.

I was thinking of a Snowman not Convoy.

 

[toasted crumpet]

Oh yuck.

I ran out of milk (changing the subject from clothes shopping - which I hate). As my OH was out, I rang and asked him to buy some more on his way home. He remembered too, but the local mini supermarket was doing a promo on a new brand - someone giving all the reasons why he should buy it and saying that it was selling at a wonderfully low price.

Now OH doesn't drink milk, in fact he doesn't like, unless it's needed in something we're eating, so to him it made no difference. He bought it, thinking of me without milk for my tea.

Being in France I drink UHT milk, far cheaper than pasteurised milk here. Well the one he got says it's semi skimmed which is fine, what I usually have, but it's not UHT but doesn't taste like UK milk either. It's has the most awful taste Thankfully OH has promised to get me some real milk in the morning.

Gave me nasty shock when I had my first mug.

 

[Morning Glory]

Oh yuck.

I ran out of milk (changing the subject from clothes shopping - which I hate). As my OH was out, I rang and asked him to buy some more on his way home. He remembered too, but the local mini supermarket was doing a promo on a new brand - someone giving all the reasons why he should buy it and saying that it was selling at a wonderfully low price.

Now OH doesn't drink milk, in fact he doesn't like, unless it's needed in something we're eating, so to him it made no difference. He bought it, thinking of me without milk for my tea.

Being in France I drink UHT milk, far cheaper than pasteurised milk here. Well the one he got says it's semi skimmed which is fine, what I usually have, but it's not UHT but doesn't taste like UK milk either. It's has the most awful taste Thankfully OH has promised to get me some real milk in the morning.

Gave me nasty shock when I had my first mug.

French milk is notoriously horrible. Rumour has it that it all goes into cheese making.