Tag Archives: consuming

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only slightly socialist


They’ve just opened an ALDI by us.

Kevin, who’s fallen quite creepy-naturally into frugal housewife role, was the one who put the store on our radar.

I couldn’t remember if I had ever actually “been” in an Aldi before… but for some strange reason my memory said “Ghetto”. I guess that’s a textbook example of negative word-of-mouth branding.

The store was squeaky clean… and simple…. Think IKEA with food.

Most of the products are “house-brand” so you don’t get the variety you’ve grown accustom to at normal stores.

You get…
BBQ Sauce… One kind.. that’s it.
Chips… Sour Cream & Onion… or Plain…. that’s it.
etc.

Along with the in-house brand products – they’ve cut their overhead by streamlining labor and the other arguably wasteful extras. The entire store is manned by just 3 employees…

Cart boys? – nope… Shopping carts are interlocked with these little boxes that release when you insert a quarter… You want your quarter back? – you’re gonna have to take your cart back… voila… genius.

The quality of the food is in-line with your standard consumer-level stuff…. This includes the icky-factor of processed foods.. (snack crackers containing hydrogenated oils, etc.)… But for basic staples we’re all over it, and saving a lot: Baking mix, canned veggies, taco seasoning, tortilla chips, bananas, …. stuff we’d normally go to a Schnuck’s for.

For the shi-shi, organic earth-fuck selections – the second part of our hunter-gather cycle has become the new Trader Joe’s they just opened.

Which – after doing some research online…. come to find out – Trader Joes is owned by ALDI!

huh.. go figure.

I couldn’t possibly be blogging about something as mundane as grocery shopping…

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white rarebit


Chad’s birthday… We all played hooky. (I did work a little in the AM before everyone got up).

devcubber came over and we headed down to the Central West End to nab lunch at what some Welshmen call the “Best Welsh Pub in America”…. I don’t know if that’s a valid title… they have Rarebit, (beer and cheese sauce), and the best french dip sandwich I ever stuck in my mouth… and it’s also where my friend Tony and I used to go to sneak a pint of ale with our “older cool friends” as minors…. In fact – the place is so-sopping with personal nostalgic relevance – I caught myself feeling guilty since it was Chad’s birthday.

Everyone shared sandwiches and smiles.. as well as splitting a new appetizer on the menu… “Welsh Nachos”… (scary huh? – homemade tortilla chips topped with rarebit, bacon, tomato, red onion and sour cream.)… They were, unpredictably, the bomb.

Strolled around the neighborhood, stopped for a scoop of Ben and Jerry’s and then swung by “Gringo Jones” to get lost… Think a huge labyrinth of yard stuff and other Mexican imports that connects two buildings, inside and out.

Looking for a life-size metal zebra for your yard?….. they got it…. and a bunch of other Strange Stuff – that never ceases to amaze when we visit.

Headed home in time for Elise to fetch boychick and Chad to take a big ole birthday nap.

The evening was spent at home, watering the garden and having conversations like…. “No really – an 8 foot tin palm tree would look FABULOUS right over there.”

I’m not blogging – I’m recounting.

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bird shit

feeder

Adventuresome weekend.

Grocery time again… Sunday morning I got up early and took dad to Costco and was back home in time to whip up brunch.

Bypassed my ritual Sunday egg-coma to hit the road with the guys who were on a mission… FIND A BIRDBATH.

You’d think this would be an easy task given the PURE GLUT of nurseries and garden stores out in these parts… Think again.

Oh sure – if you want a faux-concrete bunny rabbit holding a dish or characters that look like they were on the cast cut list for Strawberry Shortcakeâ„¢ – then you’re in luck.

Try asking for something minimal.

There’s a great little mom and pop nursery and garden store nearby that’s been around forever. In fact – I have vivid memories of going there as a child with my grandma…. The place still smells the same.

We found one we could all agree on and a bird feeder to boot. Honestly – I’m more crazy about the bird feeder. The bath is Kevin’s obsession – I’m just thankful we don’t have a 3 foot bunny in our front yard now.

Wandering between nurseries turned into an impromptu shopping trip in an outlying city called Fenton… I remember the area being a not much more than a collection of trailer-parks and a lot of wooded bluffs. Not so anymore.. Megaplex outdoor malls, including a Starbucks, now sit dug into the bluffs.

Checked out a store called “Garden Ridge” – It was ok but nothing earth shattering. Picked up a new shower curtain and bathroom rug for cheap.

While we were there we went into Circuit City to wander and look at toys.

Chad and I have been wanting to get a Satellite Radio – but apparently there’s two competing networks out there. XM and SIRIUS.

XM’s hardware is prettier and more intuitive – but the kids at the store agreed that the content is better, (and un-bleeped), on SIRIUS.

If store employees actually knew how to SELL anymore – we were willing to slip the couple of hundred dollars onto the Amex to get set up… But I wound up just getting confused between the two choices and left with brochures in hand instead.

Anybody know anything about this?

Anybody think I’m blogging?

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consuming consumerism

Sweltering weekend… Summer in St. Louis always seems to do this. It’s fine for weeks, and just when you’re used to the idea of shorts, flip-flops and tank-tops. Then the “REAL” heat kicks in and you’d happily trade your summer wardrobe for an environmentally controlled space suit.

I’m starting to feel like maybe we “are” some strange flavor of Amish. A pattern has emerged over the last year, but I didn’t become aware of it until this weekend. Once, and only once, a month we’ll take a Sunday and “go to town” (read as 5 minutes down the street where there’s a huge cluster of suburban commerce) – and go look at them there big pretty stores. We’ll go to Target, usually with an item like a “hose sprayer nozzle” in mind, but take our time just milling around the store and looking in every isle – almost like it’s a carnival spectacular. It’s strangely consuming – and oddly feels like an “event” for us.

Chad will vanish in the CD section, Kevin goes off to the garden area and I roam and look at packaging and observe people.

Most folks it seems must be desensitized to the pageantry which is retail. I’ll tail Women with bath-towels under-arm march through the store as if they had blinders on…

I make shop lifters nervous.

From there we’ll zap across the street to Frank’s Nursery to look at plants and ponder perennials. Then we’ll eventually wind up at Best Buy where we’ll get lost for over an hour… looking… touching, pressing buttons… I don’t ever remember stores being so much fun… so stimulating. Maybe it’s because we’re not going with the intention to buy anything. Although we’ll inevitably pick something up… and it’s always seen as a treat… like treasure.

Yesterday’s treasure: MST3K Volume 5 Box Set and that “Team Talk” thing for XBox Live. Thanks to a surplus of Best Buy Reward-Zoneâ„¢ coupons I keep in my wallet – our tab came to $5.00.

Not a bad day in town.

This would however probably make a bad blog entry, rambling on about something folks take for granted… I may as well talk about the mystery and wonder of sidewalks.