The Hotdog Conspiracy

now sold in packages of 5

 

I was doing my weekly shopping and thought, hey, why don't I get some hotdogs.  They weren't on sale, but they are a quick and easy meal.  I know which ones I like, and I know where they are in the store.  I quickly go there and pick up a package.

What!

There is something completely strange here.

There are only 5 hotdogs in the package.

Five?

I had to count several times.  I looked around, thinking this must be a hidden camera segment.  Apparently not--but I have checked YouTube repeatedly, just in case.  So, naturally, I checked the buns.

Six, as usual.

Quite the conundrum.

When I was a child they sold hotdogs in packs of twelve and buns in packs of 8.  I thought that was strange, but once I learned a little math, I figured two packages of hotdogs and three packages of buns and all was well in the world.  If I do that to today's problem I get six packages of hotdogs and five packages of buns.

Someone at Schneider's wants you to eat 30 hotdogs.  30 hotdogs!

Obviously, this is another example of lowering the quantity while maintaining the price.  (see my previous post on this phenomenon    http://theoctagonalpeg.blogspot.ca/2013/09/new-and-improved-means-smaller-and-just.html) This seems pretty easy when you do it to liquids, or things that are sold by weight, but why do it to hotdogs.  They could have made the hotdogs smaller.  I probably wouldn't have noticed, and might have appreciated the better fit to the bun and the reduced calories.

What to do?  I guess I should consider the possibilities.

Possibilities

1. I buy them all and store them in my freezer.  I don't know if I actually have that much space.  I am also not sure I can eat 30 hotdogs in one year.
2. Buy one package and either throw out the last bun or keep it frozen until the next time.  Two problems with this.  I usually eat two hotdogs at a time.  That means one hotdog will go to waste and two buns will stay frozen for a long time.  It is also likely that I will forget about these things and buy new buns the next time.  Soon my freezer will be overloaded with mismatched freezer burnt buns.
3. I forget the whole thing and buy something healthier to eat.  And that's what I did.

The Gift Card Season

 

 

While I am by no means so organized that I am shopping for Christmas right now, I am thinking a bit about it.  Perhaps that is because is will only be another day or two before the Christmas decorations rear their pretty heads--I haven't actually been shopping, so it might have already happened.  This blog is not a rant about selling Christmas before Halloween is over, it just has a Christmas theme.

Family traditions are what they are, but lately, I notice that more people give gift cards rather than actual presents.  There are several reasons for this, and they seem sound.

1. It's easier than shopping for something.
2. The people getting the gift have given no hints (subtle or not so subtle) as to what they want.
3. They are likely to return your gift anyway, so this saves the intermediate step.
4. They can get what they want (though if they couldn't give you any hints, it probably means they don't know what they want.)
5. Gift cards are an easy fallback--and for all those guys doing their shopping on the 24th, what a great fallback it is.
6. Gift cards are easily re-gifted.
7. They are easy to wrap.  They often come with their own envelopes.
8. Transporting them is easy.
9. They've become so popular you can even get them at the gas station.
10. People, except young children, do not express disappointment in getting them.

I guess, I just miss the excitement of getting a gift.  Usually when people ask me what I want, I can give them about ten ideas.  I usually keep a list of things that I want, and when people ask me, I email it to them.  I have even gone so far as to point out which stores offer the best deals on that particular item (and yes, it is often Amazon).

I do not know what Christmas has in store for anyone in my family, but I am starting on my list today.  And to make it easy, I will even include some ideas of where I want gift cards from.

There's a Holiday Tomorrow, Shop Now!

 

I went to the store today to buy some coffee and milk.  As I write that sentence and reflect on how innocuous that sounds, I think of how I felt when I left the house to go to the supermarket this morning.  It seemed like a typical Saturday, and I expected the store to be a little busier than it would be on a weeknight (when I usually go shopping).  How wrong I was.

I forgot to consider that the store will be closed tomorrow, and that meant that everyone and their dog would be at the supermarket stocking up.  I had never seen so many carts full to the brim.  It was just like I see on those coupon shows where the husband and wife are pulling three shopping carts up to the checkout at a time.

Perhaps I just don't understand the significance of a holiday.  The supermarket will be closed for one whole day.  I guess that is reason enough to panic.  When the zombie apocalypse arrives, I'm sure we will be no less vigilant.  Heaven forbid anyone run out of Pillsbury crescent rolls or tacquitos.  We're talking life or death here.

I just couldn't join the fray.  I didn't even bother getting a cart.  I took a handbasket and tried to get out as quickly as possible.  I easily qualified for the express lane, but couldn't get over to it, so just lined up behind anyone I could.  I was almost run over by carts numerous times.  I heard several people remark on how "crazy" it was, but they didn't give up and go home either.

All I can conclude is that life is weird.

Careful Planning or Last Minute Panic?

 

What's better:  Planning your Christmas shopping and getting it done calmly and efficiently in the months, possibly several, leading up to Christmas or leaving it to the last minute and finishing the shopping in an adrenaline fuelled last minute scramble ending just as the store is closing?

Let us analyze.  Planning your shopping and executing it makes for a worry free Christmas.  It also probably means that you were able to stick to your budget and even if you didn't, you won't be facing a huge post Christmas credit card bill (like most of us).  You'll miss the crowded stores, the panic buying and dealing with salesclerks who've heard the same Christmas carol CD 20 times a day for more than 15 days in a row.  You will also have the ability to gloat whenever your friends, family and colleagues speak of their future shopping trips.  Of course, you don't have to gloat.  You could just smirk inwardly.

If you choose the last minute option you will have compacted the time you spent in the mall to a bare minimum amount.  You will have saved a lot of time to use for other activities (like procrastination) and used a lot of effort over a short time rather than a small effort over a larger period of time.  You will also have received the aforementioned adrenaline rush.  One other thing that must not be overlooked is that you will have spent the Christmas season in a place that was decorated for Christmas, full of people doing stuff with Christmas in mind, and lots of music to remind you that its Christmas.  Outside of church, where else could you find that?

I guess I would really like to be the first person, but am more like the second person.  I know it is more effective to decide what to get each person, then leave the house and go get it.  In a perfect world...... (hopefully you can finish this sentence)

Christmas in October

It happened on the weekend.  It caught me by surprise, though you would have thought that I would know better.  I saw my first Christmas display.   We haven't even gotten to Halloween yet, and already the Christmas decorations are out.

Now don't get me wrong, I love Christmas, but shouldn't we tackle things in some sort of chronological order?  It seems a little premature to be getting ready for Christmas when you're busy looking for a costume.  (and based on the advertisements for costumes, Halloween is not a particularly holy occasion)  As a Canadian, we've already gotten Thanksgiving out of the way, so we're doing our part.  For any of my other readers, you've probably got other holidays or celebrations before Christmas, but I am sure the decorations are already out.

Again, I love Christmas, and when my shopping is done, I love all the store decorations, Christmas music, and wholesome TV shows (Maybe this year we can get a Dexter Christmas special).  I am happy that so many people go to the trouble to brighten up the world, talk about goodwill, and promote happiness.  Sadly, I am cynical and believe that some of this is more target at the quest for greater profits than the greater good.... but it still does look nice.

I have heard, though not actually seen, some people have already started turning on their Christmas lights.......... sorry, but that's just wrong, regardless of how beautiful it looks.  I am impressed if you have already hung them (or still have them up from last year), but there really is no need to turn them on until we are much closer to the holiday.  If I were a Member of Parliament I would introduce a bill banning all Christmas displays to stay packaged up until at least November 15.  If I get my message out, I might actually win on this promise alone.

Running Free in the Toy Store or Liquor Store

Sometimes when you go to a store, you see kids running amok.  They race from aisle to aisle, from item to item.  It can be pretty intense.  Most of the time I don't mind it, unless I have a headache--but then what in the world am I doing shopping. 

When the store in question is a toy store, I really can't blame the kids.  They are in childhood paradise, and they should revel in it.  Since I can easily channel my inner child, I can see how stimulating the experience is.

There are times when I wonder what their parents are thinking, though.  I watched the same scene that was wonderful in the toy store take place in a liquor store.  Call me judgemental, but somehow I don't think a child running wild in a store full of glass is really a good idea.  I have even seen some people let their children push the cart.  I can't be sure, but maybe the children were in better shape than the parents (it was a liquor store after all.)

When I was a child, we weren't allowed in the liquor store.  Of course, child abductors and the general decline of our civilization has made leaving children in cars or alone in front of stores a rather bad idea.  In fact, it was probably always a bad idea (like riding tail gunner position in the back of the station wagon) but we did it anyway.

I wish I could say that things are better.  Sadly, I think that though children are more computer and technology literate, they aren't better behaved. 

The Plastic Bag Debate

Recently Toronto city council voted to ban plastic bags some time next year (it could be January first, or June first--I am not really concerned with the date)  It was covered by all the major newspapers and found its way onto the local news for several days running.

I don't live in Toronto, so most people would argue that I shouldn't really think about it.  True, except that when Toronto passed a by-law requiring all stores to charge for plastic bags, it quickly became store policy.  So pervasive was this that most store clerks thought it was the law in the province, rather than store policy.  So, if this happens in Toronto, it is likely to be adopted by all stores province wide.

As for me, I don't really understand the resistance to the idea.  I remember when we didn't have plastic bags, and things worked out fine.  The only time there was any trouble was on sitcoms, where the main character had to struggle in the door with multiple bags, leaking fluids, fumbling with keys while the phone rang.  These days, they would just let it go to voicemail, and I would hope that you could put down your bags while you are opening the door.

I have embraced that bring your own bag to the supermarket, and so it seems have quite a few others,  It was difficult at first, but I always have some of the bags in the car.  When I am planning on going to the store I always manage to bring them with me.  If I forget, or don't have enough, I am sure paper will do. 

I realize that plastic is convenient, but I don't recall the last time someone tried to tell me that plastic was good for the environment. (though people are still debating global warming, it seems that we've all accepted that plastic will never go away)  Most people seem to have embraced the blue box concept.  Maybe a sensible first step is to force the blue box program to accept plastic bags......

I am prepared to lug paper bags home (or at least to the trunk of my car) and I am sure I will soon see bundle buggies full of paper bags being hauled across town.  Will the plastic bag go the way of the dinosaur?  Since the dinosaurs became oil, and oil gave us plastic, it seems only fitting.

The Shopping Cart

 

 

Every time I go to the supermarket I have to deal with the whole cart issue.  Some stores want you to deposit money for the cart, thereby ensuring that you'll bring it back.  It makes sense.  I used to live near a store where more than a few people took the carts home, or at least to the  bust stop.  It certainly cost the store money to go out and round up these carts (imagine the advertisement for this job in the paper--wanted:  shopping cart wrangler)  They tried using a deposit system for their carts but all they got were a bunch of busted locks, and then they had to hire someone with a pickup truck to go out and wrangle all those carts.

So, I can see the financial expediency of having a deposit system.  It might make me feel like a criminal, but the carts get returned.  It might make me opt for a small carry basket (in which case I buy less because the teeny weenie basket gets full and heavy quickly) but the carts get returned.

The biggest problem that I usually encounter is that I don't have the specific coin they are looking for when I enter the supermarket.  Sometimes they want a quarter, sometimes they want a loonie (that's a one dollar coin for those of you not familiar with Canadian currency).  I have yet to come across one that requires a twoonie, (if you understand loonie, you should be able to figure out twoonie), but I am sure that day is coming.  They say you can easily get change from cashier, but when the store is busy, or everyone is using credit or debit cards.... you just might need more patience than you have.

Sometimes I am forced to use my lucky quarter (I can't really explain why it's lucky, it just is) and then I can't simply pass the cart off to a person racing up to me with another (and probably unlucky) quarter in their outstretched hand.  They give me dirty looks, but there's nothing I can do about it.

One store I went to had an ingenious system.  They put up a notice that if the carts were removed from the store area they would cease to function.  Psychologically this worked great.  What's more, this wasn't just a cool ploy, it was the truth.  One of my friends felt pretty foolish when suddenly their cart stopped moving and would go no further.  This system is probably quite expensive, but I would certainly prefer it.  My hope is that in the future, shopping carts will navigate their own way back to the store and into the line of shopping carts.  That will be perfect...until they rise up against us.