This crazy weather / HEB

Yesterday the weatherman said it would be sunny, warm, and windy. This morning it was cool and cloudy the only part they got right was the "windy". I got an e-mail from HEB Pharmacy reminding me that I had not picked up my prescription and I only had three days or it would be returned to stock. I had planned on going tomorrow since today is a federal holiday and the post office was closed but I decided it would be best to go today.

I was surprised there were so many people picking up their mail. For those that do not have a P.O. Box while the post office is closed the lobby stays open 24 hours. By now it was around 2:30 p.m. and the HEB parking lot was packed...when are they going to build another store or the city allow a competitor to come to town?

They have yet to fix the pharmacy drive-thru but I needed to go inside anyway. I inquired about the free N95 masks the government was giving out but the clerk told me they had run out and she did not know when the next shipment would arrive.

Other than a canister of Nestle Hot Chocolate, my pre-packaged salads, bananas, and serranos I did not have a plan to purchase anything else. That is why I have no idea how I ended up spending $105.71... money does not go as far as it use to 😒

Glad they lifted the ban on avocados from Mexico and that the price has not gone up. 

I did not buy these but Jumbo avocados were selling for $2.50 each.

Pre-packaged salad has not gone up in price, it is still selling for $3.08 each.

When I saw the saltines I could not help but think of JudithK.  No saltine cracker shortage in Del Rio...

I had not seen Jalapeño Saltines before so I bought some to try them out...

Lucked out and found some Nestle hot chocolate...

Bought some Light Fruit Cocktail...

I was not able to find Strawberry Flakes cereal at Little HEB but they had plenty here...

Now that everything costs $1.25 at the Dollar Tree decided to buy hand sanitizer for only $1.00 here...

Bought a lot of canned goods, toilet paper, decaf coffee, two dark chocolate bars, chips, dip, and way too many cookies 😏

Gasoline was selling for $3.069 for unleaded gas and $3.549 for diesel...

At the corner Exxon it is was considerably more...

It was very warm as I drove home that I had to turn on the air conditioner. I would later learn that the temperature reached 96 degrees. The winds were terrible I had to hold on tight to the steering wheel. More of the same is expected tomorrow before another arctic freeze descends on us Wednesday.

Good night.  May you all have Terlingua Dreams.

Aunty Acid

Dollar Tree had already raised prices in Del Rio

The rain many parts of Texas have experienced this week has bypassed Del Rio or at least our part of Val Verde County. My rain catchment system has been empty for weeks. I also have two 32 gallon containers with City of Del Rio water which for those not familiar with this area is excellent and comes from San Felipe Springs. As I am typing this I am hearing thunder, lol!

The big non-political news today was that Dollar Tree would be carrying items worth more than a dollar. That did not come as a surprise as in Del Rio prices went up in May 2020 as written in a prior post  https://terlinguadreams.blogspot.com/2020/05/dollar-tree-no-longer-sells-things-for.html

Yesterday I made a quick trip to town to pick up the mail and a prescription at HEB. My intention was to also pick up a gallon of milk but ended up spending almost $80.00 because I went on an empty stomach.

At the pharmacy, they had several chairs set out when there usually are very few. I asked the clerk why there were so many people sitting there (thankfully all had masks on) she said they mostly were there for the Covid-19 shot which I was glad to hear. 

Good night.  May you all have Terlingua Dreams.

Aunty Acid

Funny Wine Sayings

Early trip to town

Got up early and was out the door before even the cats caught on and could chase after me. My first stop was the post office where thankfully I did not have a lot of mail. The little I had was from those darn house flippers who are never going to leave me alone.  The sign on the post office door asking you to wear a mask has been removed, I suppose another one will go up soon?

I have to mention that my new telephone system that blocks Robo, as well as nuisance calls, is working great. It has only rung three calls through...one from my CPA, my doctor's office, and one from a house flipper and they all went to my answering machine. I have since blocked the flipper and she will never be able to call me again!

I needed to buy my prepared salads and did so. On the news, it shows that the price of food, as well as other items, have gone up but here at our local HEB prices have remained the same and if they have gone up it has only been a very modest increase. For example, my salads went from $2.98 to $3.08 something I can live with.

Milk, eggs, and bread, or at least the brands I use (HEB brands) have remained the same. Because of my high cholesterol, I buy 1% Low Fat Milk.

All types of milk go for $2.68 a gallon. In this picture whole milk. I would be interested to know what you pay in your city.

Tomato prices remain the same...

No, JudithK, I am not trolling you :-D  Regular avocados .78 cents each.

Jumbo avocados are $2.25 each.

Gasoline went down .02 cents to $2.739 for unleaded gasoline and $2.929 for diesel.

Today we had a high of 104 degrees with a heat index of 112 degrees (in the county, not the city). I was looking at my calendar and noticed that Halloween is exactly three months away.  I am usually in Terlingua on that day. I sure hope everyone gets vaccinated so they can hold the event...I really need a vacation!

Good night.  May you all have Terlingua Dreams.

Aunty Acid Saying of the Day

Funnies

Replenishing my food stock

I usually keep three months' food stock but when the pandemic hit I doubled it to six months to keep from having to go to the store. Recently I started having car issues so I let it get down to a two-month supply and decided to remedy that situation.

Got up early to avoid the crowds and picked up quite a few things at HEB this morning. You do not know how much I regret having bought the turkey and ham back in November. We have a regular size freezer and it is taking up so much room not to mention all the frozen water bottles I keep just in case the power goes out as it often does in this sleepy border town.

A couple of days ago I went to The Dollar Tree to stock up on cereal, frozen vegetables, mushrooms, and cookies.  I so wanted buttered popcorn and chips but I made sure I ate beforehand and was able to maintain the little self-control I possess.

I have been with my cellphone carrier for five or six years and I have never upgraded my chunky smartphone. Wanting to be able to post better quality photos I finally got a new one but I am having all types of problems uploading them to my computer so until I figure it out I guess I will have a photoless blog.

Good night.  May you all have Terlingua Dreams.

Aunty Acid Saying of the Day

Grocery run / It is cold

Monday when I finally ventured out to go pick up the mail I decided to stop at HEB but the parking lot was so packed I headed to Walmart only to find the same circumstances and decided I did not need groceries that bad.

Tuesday I got an e-mail from HEB Pharmacy letting me know my prescriptions were ready but by the time I read it, it was too late in the afternoon. Wednesday I was getting ready when the horrendous attack on our Capitol happened and I dropped everything to follow the shameful event, ditto for Thursday. I could not put it off any longer as I also had to mail out some items as well as pay my 2021 P.O. Box fee and I hope they do not lose my check like they did last year.

The pharmacy drive-thru was backed up and there were just as many cars in the parking lot as there were on Monday but this time I had to go in as we were low on staples and I was also down to my last one and a half serrano (I have been rationing them) and like it or not I had to buy more pre-packaged salads. I was surprised avocados were still selling for .50 cents each.

It has been cold, gray, and now it is drizzling. We only made it to 48 degrees today. Tomorrow it is forecasted to rain and only reach a high of 49 degrees. While we will not see any, the northern part of Texas will see snow tomorrow.

Good night.  May you all have Terlingua Dreams.

Aunty Acid Saying of the Day

Grocery Run / Nice Temperatures / Last Edition

I could no longer put off going to the store and stocking up for my future shelter-in-place. The COVID-19 cases keep on increasing and the future does not look promising. Therefore, yesterday Wednesday, November 18th I took off to HEB early in the morning. I was glad I did because by the time I was checking out so many more people descended on the store.

I had already seen on the news (ours comes from San Antonio) that once again there was a run on toilet paper, paper towels, and cleaning supplies. I do believe I have more than enough on hand but purchased an additional package of toilet paper just in case.

I have not had good luck finding a good crop of serrano peppers either here or at Walmart. That was the case again today. I only purchased a handful of serranos. 

The tomatoes weren't even ripe and did not look very pretty.

One of the things I miss about Houston is their lower grocery prices in particular with regards to potatoes (that I am not supposed to eat but shhh). You could buy a 5 lb bag for .99 cents at most Dollar or regular grocery stores. Today they had a 15-pound bag on special for only $2.47.

Their garlic did not look so good and was very small. I usually purchase mine at Little HEB as theirs are purple and bigger but I was not about to make a special trip just for that. I was therefore glad I ran into garlic braids as I had never seen them in the US, just in Mexico where these were from. Though a bit pricey at $9.98 (mine came with 17 garlic bulbs) I decided to purchase them anyway as I eat a lot of garlic (lowers your cholesterol levels).

I almost purchased some onions in a mesh but I do not use those as often and they would probably go to waste.

I bought my usual salads and spinach as well as avocados. Ok, JudithK and Penelope close your eyes and skip the next picture...

They say you should not go shopping on an empty stomach and they are right!  I had no intention of buying a turkey but I found a small 8 lb. one but in order to get it for "free" you had to purchase an HEB spiral-sliced bone-in Half or Whole Ham, or HEB Boneless spiral sliced ham. I have no plans to cook it for Thanksgiving I just wanted to have one in the freezer in case things go south and we run out of food.

My HEB Lightly Salted Fritos, as well as all their other chips, have gone up in price but I love them in my chili or like we call them in this part of Texas...my Frito pie :)

The last time I was at Walmart I was going to stock up on White Claw until I noticed they had gone up $2.00 so I passed. Happy to inform that was not the case here. For good measure added a 15-pack of Natural Light even though with all the medication I am taking I am not drinking at this time...but it's good to have on hand and my doctor did say I could have one per day but if I was watching my Spurs I could have TWO per game...too bad the NBA season is over and at most I watched one or two games and did not accompany any of them with an adult beverage. :-(

I could not forget my boys (cats) so I got two boxes for my two little ones.

I was tired by the time I got the groceries in the car so I did not take advantage of the lower gasoline prices...maybe next week?

I would be remiss if I did not mention that the last edition of The Del Rio News-Herald was printed Wednesday, November 18, 2020.  

http://delrionewsherald.com/news/article_668277fc-2914-11eb-8943-bb7834dac405.html

We have been having gray and cooler mornings but by noon the sun starts shining and we have been experiencing nice temperatures in the high 70's and lower 80's but are in dire need of rain.

Last night I was uploading my pictures so I could make my post when once again the darn electricity went out...grrrrrr!  It was odd though it went out at exactly 9:00 p.m. and came back on at exactly 10:00 p.m.  I saw the neighbors outside using their phone's flashlight but I stayed inside stewing!

I can not wish you Terlingua Dreams as it is a little past noon...have a great day instead!

Aunty Acid Saying of the Day

Today's Header Picture

Storms / Trip to town

We have had several severe storms this past week. While the rain is very much needed, we could do without the strong winds, thunder, lightning, power outages, and thankfully only pea-size hail.

We had a strong thunderstorm this afternoon but at least the power did not go out like it did on Wednesday. Just like then, I lowered the A/C to 75 degrees in case it did...the house would be cool...this is going to cost me!

The strong wind gusts have done a number on the trees, there are branches and limbs everywhere.  If you have been reading me for a while you know I HATE YARD WORK!

Friday, May 22nd I had to go pick up the mail at the P.O. Box as I was waiting for this year's insurance premium (Houston house) as I have a bad feeling that we are in for a heck of a hurricane season. While it had arrived the Flood Insurance which is billed separately had not.  Even though my house was not flooded during Hurricane Harvey or any prior storm before it...one never knows what catastrophe awaits with climate change.

I left early in the morning to run my errands and not seeing many cars at the main HEB stopped to get the items that are not usually carried at little HEB.  Filled up on pre-packaged salads and large containers of organic triple-washed spinach.

Happy to report that the darn "beer smugglers" had not made their presence felt yet. The beer coolers were well stocked and I took advantage of that. With Memorial Day weekend on the horizon, the meat was going fast. Chicken was selling for $1.29 lb which is not bad since it usually sells for .99 cents a pound.

Noticed eggs had gone down to $1.49 a dozen for medium size but it was not the HEB brand.  However, name brands and larger quantities were still expensive. I still have not used the eggs I bought at Dollar Tree two weeks ago but will boil them soon now that I can eat them with my salads.

They are still out of Lysol disinfecting wipes but they did have some generic ones. They were well stocked with toilet paper as well as paper towels. While I did not need some...I went ahead and bought Charmin Ultra Gentle...one never knows when will be the next time it will be available.

This is selling for $12.97 at HEB
wonder what other parts of the country are paying for it?

Stocked up on canned goods, pasta, and cereal.  Since it was early there were not that many people and I am happy to report that they were all wearing masks!

I needed some items from Dollar Tree.  I think the lines are over and done with since the Governor decided to open up the state of Texas. I walked right in to buy what I needed and what is cheaper here than at HEB...like canned mushrooms, minced garlic, dishwashing liquid, frozen vegetables, as well as frozen fruits for our oatmeal and cereal.

I did buy a flex tub for $5.00 (remember I mentioned that they now carry items costing more than a dollar) so I can soak my fine washable until I work up the nerve to go into a laundromat. With my insomnia, I stay up late at night reading many blogs (that I do not comment on) I remember reading one where a couple bought a small portable washing machine for their RV but I will be darn if I remember which blog it was as he was going to post his review. If anyone knows which blog it is please let me know as I spotted it in someone's sidebar.

I must say it took me longer to wipe down and bring in all my purchases than it did to actually shop for them.

Today we had a low of 73 a high of 96 with a heat index of 100 degrees.

Good night.  May you all have Terlingua Dreams.


Aunty Acid Saying of the Day