Subj : Isolation Diary To : Nancy Backus From : Barry Martin Date : Fri Jul 03 2020 08:35:00 Hi Nancy! BM> So things are essentially back to normal. Do have what appears to be BM> a double batch of messages from you this morning: ten messages, which BM> I'm guessing is your customary five per day run times two. Yesterday BM> morning looks like there was a problem transferring messages at the BM> levels above me. Still ended up being a rather large packet for me. NB> Right... that would have been two days worth... 5 per packet... NB> :) And I figured that out without resorting to scratch paper! Oh, we figured out why Autumn was having a little bit of problem doing arithmetic. Sometimes counting on her fingers, which is fine. but seemed anything with adding five or more she'd give an answer one short (so if the answer was supposed to be 9 she'd answer 8). The problem was the thumb: "count on your fingers": she wasn't counting the thumb as a finger! She hadn't realized 'thumb' is the name of that finger! Discovered that shortly before she went home Wednesday. BM> And sort of along that line Illinois is starting "Phase 4" today: BM> restaurants are allowed to open at 25% capacity, gyms 50%, gatherings BM> up to 250 people (though that number seems too large based on the first BM> two) so can have smaller weddings and funerals. NB> Got your correction later in this packet... Good. LIS "250" didn't make sense, though sort of did as some people have that size. BM> Pig roast sounds more fun! NB> It does... :) Would feed the above! BM> NB>>> I'm finally going to have to open the new package soon... but we did NB>>> have probably six or eight rolls left from the earlier package... Just NB>>> took the last one to set out for when the one on the roller runs NB>>> out.... ;) Like I said when we got it, if it hadn't been for the NB>>> coupon for $3 off, and the special deal that buying it would give us NB>>> 10 cents per gallon off on gas, we wouldn't have done it that early... BM>> Some deals are just too good to pass up! I would have done the same. NB>> And I finally took the first roll out of that package... ;) BM> Celebration time!! With the talk of a possible second wave of BM> the coronavirus might be a good idea to buy a few things ahead just in BM> case. Not hoarding, but more along the lines of keeping an extra small BM> pack of toilet paper on hand, Kleenex, paper towels, etc. Don't wait BM> until on the last roll/box has been opened. Same for some basic food BM> that's storable. Buy on sale, of course! NB> I'll admit to staying a little farther ahead than I used to, with NB> things still somewhat unsure... Making sure prescriptions are NB> reordered as early as possible, staying a full box/tube ahead on NB> OTC meds and getting the replacement as soon as the new one is NB> opened... that sort of thing... Paper products I was already way NB> ahead on just from previous buying on sale, and in bulk.... Right: one of the 'detail things' that may occur from the pandemic lessons is 'plan ahead'. We're (generic) used to going to the store and buying what we just ran out of now. Great for convenience, not-so-great on cost savings. Then there's the subset we (you and I tend to fall into this group) where we try to plan ahead: I don't need toothpaste now but my brand is one sale/has a coupon so if I buy it now I'll have it when I need it later, plus I saved some money. That buying-ahead plan doesn't always work: maybe the pre-cooked and shelled eggs would keep but the raw ones in the carton would not. Plus some people are living paycheck-to-paycheck and buying for now is hard enough, much less buying for now and later. BM> profit margin high sales can make it a very profitable item. Of course BM> us consumers tend to look it it through a different set of accounting BM> eyeballs. :) NB> Of course. :) Update, the Beef roast au jus finally made it NB> back on the shelf, so I grabbed one... Still no beef tips with NB> gravy, the shelf tag was turned backwards... hope it eventually NB> comes back too, as that's what I prefer for a base.... But I NB> figured the other would work in a pinch.... :) Hooray on the beef roast au jus!! ..."Have a sale: ding!" ==> Computer or manager should re-order. And that might trigger the check if should re-order the beef tips when they are available. ...Tag's backwards, so Wegmans is thinking they will be back, just a temporary supply issue. BM>> Yes, possible to substitute Cream of Asparagus for the Cream of BM>> Mushroom in certain recipes. I'd guess the C of A label would even BM>> have a recipe suggestion and perhaps even substitutions. NB>> Probably... ;) BM> The canned soups section still has a lot of holes but looks like they BM> are getting better supplied. I tend to cut back on my soup consuption BM> in Summer because it's hot -- yeah, don't have to heat it up so high BM> to serve, just still hot. NB> I don't use canned soups much at all anymore anyway... so haven't NB> really been monitoring that area... :) OK. I noticed last Thursday the canned soups at Hy-Vee as almost full. Up until last week was definitely on the empty side with lots of holes, this week on the fuller side with only a few holes. ...Didn't create any: not really a hot soup eater in Summer except for the occasional tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwich for dinner. BM>>> Which for some reason reminds me: sounded like someone was having a BM>>> giant Pong game yesterday from about 11 a.m. to almost noon: in the BM>>> direction of the direction of the I-74 Bridge could heard "BEEEP" BM>>> randomly followed by a "BOOOOP". Sometimes a couple of spaced BEEEPs BM>>> (missed the serve?). Random timings of the beeps and boops. Haven't BM>>> heard/read of the source; was just sort of strange. NB>> Sounds almost like heavy equipment back-up alarms... just slightly NB>> different on different machines, maybe... :) BM> Well, the "BEEEP" and "BOOOP: were somewhat similar-sounding to the BM> back up alarms, just lower in tone (most back-up alarms have a bit of BM> a piercing quality). Also singular: most back-ups go BM> 'beeep-beeep-beeep' and the tones I heard were always singular. BM> Haven't heard since; casually looked for a why/source but didn't find BM> anything. Another mystery! NB> Maybe extra-terrestials paid a brief visit...? Checking out the new I-74 Bridge and updating their version of Google Maps! BM>> I'm thinking 'yes' to the extra stylist on duty to handle the backlog BM>> load. Could have been their normal staffing as normally I don't go on BM>> Thursdays. As for social distancing the chairs in use were semi- BM>> clustered together but here were clear barriers hanging between the BM>> chairs, plus stylists usually rent or are otherwise assigned a BM>> specific chair so probably not able to spead out further to use the BM>> other chairs. I didn't feel uncomfortable and no one else seemed to BM>> either. NB>> I'd guess that people that would have felt uncomfortable wouldn't NB>> have ventured out yet... :) BM> That might be a statistic being overlooked! NB> Or possibly actually being taken into account... They might have NB> put on even more people if they thought everyone that had missed NB> their haircuts and stylings were going to be coming in right NB> away... :) True. I'd guess a combination: numerous customers rushing out to get 'sheared': "I can't wait any longer!", so hopefully extra stylists available. LIS (I think) the first couple/several days there was a wait of up to an hour. Actually not bad considering each appointment is around 20 minutes, and now add time for the COVID-19 sanitizing. ¯ ® ¯ BarryMartin3@ ® ¯ @MyMetronet.NET ® ¯ ® ¯ (Humans know what ® ¯ to remove.) ® .... Podiatrist: the doctor who has never metatarsal he didn't like. --- MultiMail/Win32 v0.47 þ wcECHO 4.2 ÷ ILink: The Safe BBS þ Bettendorf, IA --- QScan/PCB v1.20a / 01-0462 * Origin: ILink: CFBBS | cfbbs.no-ip.com | 856-933-7096 (454:1/1) .