Buy in bulk and... waste?

Let me start by saying that I've been very good about not eating fast food/take-away every meal, every day... but very quickly you can see why people start doing just that. Why is it that you can't buy just enough food for one or two people at the grocery store? Why is it that everything - no matter how perishable - comes in “family size” amounts? To anyone who is just moving into a place, know this: you can't have a fridge (or freezer) that is too small.

Grocery shopping is fun (or at least I think so). You get to go out, wander about with a big shopping cart, and select your meals for the next several days. Breakfast, lunch, and dinner. You can also be planning what dinner will become leftovers for lunch the next day, what food to buy fresh (e.g., for dinner tonight) and what to buy frozen (for later in the week). Lots of decisions go into any shopping trip, but do come prepared: have your list ready and, whatever you do, don't go on an empty stomach... it's true that you'll come home with much more than you bargained (or budgeted) for!

Is it all that easy? All that much fun? Well, yes and no. As I started this post by saying, if you're not feeding a family of four (or more), you'll see that you have to buy a lot of large servings/portions... or pay just as much for a fraction of the amount. And that's the catch and that's why a fridge/freezer is so important. You can't go wasting a lot of food (for both moral and budgetary reasons), so you buy what gives you the best “bang for your buck”. So this brings us to lesson number two: be sure to have lots of storage containers and/or Ziploc bags. If you just brought home a bulk package of eight chicken breasts, you can be sure that you're not eating all of them (by yourself) tonight.

Does this post contain a magic solution? No, not really. But there is a flip-side to all of this: the parents. This post was in large part inspired by a conversation I was having with my mom last weekend when she was talking about how much harder it's become to go grocery shopping now that there is one less person in the house. So, anyone reading this with the hope of giving their son or daughter some advice pre-move, remember that some of this may apply to you as well!

Bits and pieces

Wow! How did I manage to go this long without writing something here? I must be getting old. But, without anything concrete to say today, let me entertain you with a little of this, and a little of that.

The car wash: As promised, I took my camera with me to the car wash a few days ago and got some shots from the inside. While it didn't seem to be as cool this time, and the photos are nothing too special, I've presented one here all the same (besides, looking through my blog, I'm way behind in adding photos of my place!).



Something to note: the average car wash, at least where I was, is about five minutes. I have to say that it doesn't feel that long while you're in there, but it feels twice as long while you're sitting in your car waiting!

Automatic withdrawal of bill payments: Awhile back I might have said something about making all of my payments manually so that I don't lose track of costs, etc. That's crap. “Screw this!” I exclaimed, “I'm putting it all on auto-pilot”. Yup, there is nothing worse than missing a payment because you just weren't paying attention (no pun intended). Too many things going on still, and since I'm going to pay them all any ways, I may as well let them do all the work.

Damn phone company: Now, along the same lines as that, I'm not going to put my phone bill on automatic withdrawal. They've done some screwy things to their customers within the last year or so, and I intend to watch these bills like a hawk. And good thing to - I was just about to pay my bill on-line when I realize that - for reasons still a mystery to me - my account number has changed! Yes, I was just two-clicks away from paying someone else's bill. I don't get it... and I'm dreading another call to their stupid automated customer service line, but I don't have a lot of choice really.

Mud: There is just too much mud in the neighbourhood right now. If you're living in a nice, old neighbourhood where the lawns all have grass and yet are still complaining about the spring thaw - I'm telling you to: Suck. It. Up. Imagine all that run-off making mud. Out of everything. Going to get your mail? Expect to get dirty. Taking the garbage out? Be prepared to change when you get back inside. Don't know how to clean your shoes yet? You will. I can't wait for sod... can you tell?

Super-thick walls: And now, to end on a happy note, I have to say that I'm super-impressed with the between-house wall. As you can see (from the last photo I posted of my place, three months ago today), I'm enjoying life in a semi-detached home. The last time I shared an outside wall with other people was in University - it wasn't that thick. Before that, it was in the semi- that I grew up in. That wasn't much better. But just the other night I realized that I haven't heard a peep from my neighbours through the wall. Okay, okay... maybe a little hammering once or twice, but general conversation? television? crying baby? None of it. I hope that they can say the same about me! (While I'm not “teen-angst” loud, I do listen to my stereo and play guitar from time to time.

So there you have it. A bit of a catch-up posting if I've ever seen one. Sorry about the delay, I'm still hoping to get back into a routine of some sort (every Sunday, etc.) but it doesn't seem to be happening at the moment... but I'll keep trying! In the meantime, I hope everything is going well for everyone.

I'll be back soon with more photos... really!