I live in the USA and I am concerned about the future. I created this blog to share my thoughts on the economy and anything else that might catch my attention.
Tuesday, June 16, 2020
Covid Kitty
The Covid Kitty takes after Punxsutawney Phil. If he comes out and sees his shadow then there will be 6 more weeks of pandemic. And then, unfortunately, he repeats the process.
Funny you should say mention Winco at 6:30am. Been there, done that. I still remember the last time I shopped there. It was on March 15, 2020. I know because I took a picture of the huge line to get in at 6;55am. I also took a picture of the huge line to get out at 8:57am. And no, I didn’t spend 2 hours shopping. Much of it was spent waiting, and waiting.
I was making one last attempt to stock up on the things I thought I would need to ride this out. Had done the same at Costco 4 days earlier (which was also the last time I’ve entered a Costco in person, and there are pictures of that too). Winco had toilet paper but I opted to pass. It seemed to be bringing much joy to those who were actually finding it. One woman’s arms were filled with toilet paper and she had a huge smile on her face. I congratulated her on her find, and she thanked me.
My TP hoard did fall to dangerously low levels through benign neglect though. It had leveled off at about 100 rolls. That’s about where it stands now. Costco has been shipping it to us and I don’t have the heart to actually expand my TP hoard during a pandemic.
That’s not to say the rest my “apocalypse pantry” is at dangerously low levels though. It’s fully stocked and then some. Winter is coming and who knows what it might bring. Better safe than sorry.
In other news, cabin fever made me buy a bicycle. I’ve also been buying board games to pass the time. One game is called Maximum Apocalypse. Hardly an escape from reality. I’m a glutton for punishment apparently. In my defense, As tempting as it is, I have not bought the game Pandemic. Yet. Ha! ;)
(switched to my gmail login) Everything copacetic here. vs 5, 10, 20, 30 years ago . . . basically identical. Same stuf, different decade as they say.
Looking forward to getting a Cybertruck to do a lot of camping out of this decade and next, but just this past week a good chunk of CA coastal redwood forest where I wanted to go just burned up.
Still have the Olympic Peninsula and E Washington I guess. WA's lack of income tax is becoming an increasing attraction for me as I edge into retirement mode.
My trusty Bianchi is how I lost 40lbs twice, in 2004 and again in 2011. Gotta do it again, alas.
Two of my very favorite camping spots in my youth: Kalaloch on the Washington coast and Round Lake in northern Idaho. Take that with a grain of salt though. My parents were not exactly world travelers.
I too am trying to lose 40 pounds. Started when the pandemic hit. I have 26 pounds to go. The bad news is that I’ve acquired plantar fasciitis again. The good news is that I now have a new bicycle (that's easy on the feet).
There’s one thing I’m doing different this time. Every time the 7-day moving average of my weight drops a pound, I add one 16-ounce water bottle to a crate near the refrigerator. Should the moving average gain a pound, I take a bottle out. I don’t ever want to take a bottle back out. And at least so far, I have not. The crate is a physical reminder of how much weight I have lost and how I never want to gain it back. Saw someone else recommend this approach it and it really seems to be working. It’s very slow progress. Some weeks I simply maintain my weight. No big deal. My primary goals are to eventually see 40 bottles in that crate and never remove a bottle. I think there is a good chance this is actually sustainable over the long-term. Maybe. And might stop the yoyo. Maybe.
An example of how I do it: When my 7-day moving average fell to 226.0 recently, I put the 14th bottle in the crate. I must remove a bottle if the average reaches 227.0 again. This gives me some wiggle room if I do something stupid on a given day, like eat too much chocolate pie. There is no wiggle room if I keep doing it in a given week though.
The crate acts kind of like a one-way valve. Any water that flows into it has a very hard time flowing back out. Maybe that appeals to the physics in me. Or maybe the mechanism appeals to the OCD in me. Can’t say for sure, but I like the results so far. If I do end up losing 40 pounds, I’ll have to change the rules slightly or eventually risk fading away to nothing. Ha! (I only have 40 water bottles, so maybe that’s the most I should ever put in the crate. ;))
Our German Shepherd weighs 80 pounds. It boggles my mind that I was carrying half of her around all the time. That’s a lot of dog.
I’m looking forward to losing 2 more pounds soon. I will have ditched a 16-pound bowling ball. Pretty sure I never intended to carry one of those around all my life, much less 2.5 of them! Baby steps! ;)
Earlier this year standing in line at the Winco at 6:30AM to maybe be able to buy 1 18-pack of TP . . . was thinking of your hoard mate.
ReplyDeleteHi Troy!
ReplyDeleteHow are you?
Funny you should say mention Winco at 6:30am. Been there, done that. I still remember the last time I shopped there. It was on March 15, 2020. I know because I took a picture of the huge line to get in at 6;55am. I also took a picture of the huge line to get out at 8:57am. And no, I didn’t spend 2 hours shopping. Much of it was spent waiting, and waiting.
I was making one last attempt to stock up on the things I thought I would need to ride this out. Had done the same at Costco 4 days earlier (which was also the last time I’ve entered a Costco in person, and there are pictures of that too). Winco had toilet paper but I opted to pass. It seemed to be bringing much joy to those who were actually finding it. One woman’s arms were filled with toilet paper and she had a huge smile on her face. I congratulated her on her find, and she thanked me.
My TP hoard did fall to dangerously low levels through benign neglect though. It had leveled off at about 100 rolls. That’s about where it stands now. Costco has been shipping it to us and I don’t have the heart to actually expand my TP hoard during a pandemic.
That’s not to say the rest my “apocalypse pantry” is at dangerously low levels though. It’s fully stocked and then some. Winter is coming and who knows what it might bring. Better safe than sorry.
In other news, cabin fever made me buy a bicycle. I’ve also been buying board games to pass the time. One game is called Maximum Apocalypse. Hardly an escape from reality. I’m a glutton for punishment apparently. In my defense, As tempting as it is, I have not bought the game Pandemic. Yet. Ha! ;)
(switched to my gmail login)
ReplyDeleteEverything copacetic here. vs 5, 10, 20, 30 years ago . . . basically identical. Same stuf, different decade as they say.
Looking forward to getting a Cybertruck to do a lot of camping out of this decade and next, but just this past week a good chunk of CA coastal redwood forest where I wanted to go just burned up.
Still have the Olympic Peninsula and E Washington I guess. WA's lack of income tax is becoming an increasing attraction for me as I edge into retirement mode.
My trusty Bianchi is how I lost 40lbs twice, in 2004 and again in 2011. Gotta do it again, alas.
Two of my very favorite camping spots in my youth: Kalaloch on the Washington coast and Round Lake in northern Idaho. Take that with a grain of salt though. My parents were not exactly world travelers.
ReplyDeleteI too am trying to lose 40 pounds. Started when the pandemic hit. I have 26 pounds to go. The bad news is that I’ve acquired plantar fasciitis again. The good news is that I now have a new bicycle (that's easy on the feet).
There’s one thing I’m doing different this time. Every time the 7-day moving average of my weight drops a pound, I add one 16-ounce water bottle to a crate near the refrigerator. Should the moving average gain a pound, I take a bottle out. I don’t ever want to take a bottle back out. And at least so far, I have not. The crate is a physical reminder of how much weight I have lost and how I never want to gain it back. Saw someone else recommend this approach it and it really seems to be working. It’s very slow progress. Some weeks I simply maintain my weight. No big deal. My primary goals are to eventually see 40 bottles in that crate and never remove a bottle. I think there is a good chance this is actually sustainable over the long-term. Maybe. And might stop the yoyo. Maybe.
An example of how I do it: When my 7-day moving average fell to 226.0 recently, I put the 14th bottle in the crate. I must remove a bottle if the average reaches 227.0 again. This gives me some wiggle room if I do something stupid on a given day, like eat too much chocolate pie. There is no wiggle room if I keep doing it in a given week though.
The crate acts kind of like a one-way valve. Any water that flows into it has a very hard time flowing back out. Maybe that appeals to the physics in me. Or maybe the mechanism appeals to the OCD in me. Can’t say for sure, but I like the results so far. If I do end up losing 40 pounds, I’ll have to change the rules slightly or eventually risk fading away to nothing. Ha! (I only have 40 water bottles, so maybe that’s the most I should ever put in the crate. ;))
When I carry 4 1 gal water jugs I remember that's how much I gotta lose to just be sorta overweight so that sounds like a good idea!
ReplyDeletePreviously I maintained a graph of the SMA, eg from my 2004 period: https://imgur.com/ySfneWA but something more physical is in order!
Our German Shepherd weighs 80 pounds. It boggles my mind that I was carrying half of her around all the time. That’s a lot of dog.
ReplyDeleteI’m looking forward to losing 2 more pounds soon. I will have ditched a 16-pound bowling ball. Pretty sure I never intended to carry one of those around all my life, much less 2.5 of them! Baby steps! ;)