Five O'Clock Friday: Holiday Weekend Shopping

It's best to be prepared.

Cheers!

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Five O'Clock Friday: Spending Priorities

The struggle is real.  And at the same time, it's no struggle at all.

I hope your decisions are easy this weekend.

Cheers!

Five O'Clock Friday: Shopping Self Control

When it comes to buying cigars and bourbon, sometimes my impulse is greater than my common sense.

But is that really a bad thing? Enjoy the weekend.

Cheers!

Preparing For A New Arrival

Relax, I'm talking about a new gun.  :-)

The money invested in new firearm goes well beyond the cost of the gun itself. There's always a variety of holsters to buy, magazine carriers, extra magazines, and of course copious rounds of practice and self-defense ammunition to verify the operation of the weapon. Since I am anticipating the purchase of a SIG P365 at some point in the not-too-distant future, I've been "pre-loading" some of those supplies. The calendar in spring and summer is also full of holidays when many suppliers offer sales, so I've been taking advantage of those as well.

No one waits until the baby arrives to begin preparing the nursery, right?

Still to be added; belt magazine carrier, extra magazines...  And the gun.

Christmas Shopping

This is the store I need.

If you are shopping for me, you need this store too.

Five O'Clock Friday: A Near Perfect Store

Add beer and we're good.

Hope you find good shopping this weekend.

A Welcome Text Message

In the middle of a ho-hum day, it's a joy to get a text from Colleen when she's out shopping.

The day is looking up.

Five O'Clock Friday: Winter Prep

If anything can get you through the flu, it's Twizzlers.

Click to embiggen

Thanks Staples.

Great Minds Think Alike

Yesterday afternoon I made an spur of the moment run out to the local beer store to check if my favorite late winter release, Tröegs Nugget Nectar was in stock. A successful beer run made, I returned to my desk and within a few minutes received a text message from Colleen, who happened to be out running errands at the same time.

That's Hardywood Sidamo Coffee Stout and Blue Mountain Dark Hollow Barrel-Aged Imperial Stout in her cart. Looks like we both had the same idea! We'll have plenty of good beer to enjoy this week.

Blinded By The Light

I opened the beer fridge Sunday evening and was momentarily blinded by a bright light. I was temporarily shocked and confused. "What is that?" I thought.

Then I realized, it was an empty shelf! That light bulb hasn't been visible in a very long time.

The second shelf is not looking so well-stocked either. I guess I have some shopping to do.

Counting Change Is Hard

Everyone has stories to tell of kids working the cash register these days who can't make change, even when the computer tells them how much to give back. Here's a contender for the Hall of Shame.

I stopped by the local Rite Aid and made a purchase totaling $5.78, for which I handed the cashier a twenty dollar bill.

Register Dude: "Do you have 78 cents?"

Me: "No I do not."

RD: Hands me $15 and says, "I'll have to give you the last 4 dollars in quarters."

Me: Stares. 

RD: Starts counting out quarters...

Me: Stares some more...

Shaking my head I realize I have $5.00 in my wallet and some change in my car. I return the $15 and ask for my $20 and I say I'll get the exact change from my car. 

I return from the car and hand register dude $5.80 for my $5.78 purchase. He puts the money in the register, and...

HANDS ME A $20 BILL IN CHANGE!

I tell RD he only owns me 2 cents, and at this point he is totally lost. Fortunately the manager notices there's an issue and comes over. I tell her I appreciate the offer but I am not owed $20 in change. I got my 2 cents in change, and as I left the manager had not yet spoken, but was only looking at RD in disbelief. 

And this is why they have to put directions on shampoo bottles.

The "Whole Box" of Beer

Sometimes the Saturday morning grocery shopping chore has a bright side. As I made a casual glance down the beer aisle, expecting more of the usual factory beer stock, I spied the bright yellow and orange boxes of Flying Dog Dead Rise OLD BAY Summer Ale. This has been an elusive quarry since we reviewed the beer last month.

Scanning the case of beer at the self-checkout set off the alert that someone was buying beer and we dutifully waited to show proof of age. The clerk couldn't get the scan to process, so he and I walked back to the beer aisle so I could show him the price sign. The conversation then progressed like this:

Clerk: "It's $10.99 a six pack."
Me: "There's four six packs in the box."
Clerk, incredulously: "You just grabbed a whole box?!"
Me: "Of course."

He then proceeded to carry a single six pack back to the register to run through the scanner, and down the conveyer belt, four times. I'm sure he'll have a story to tell about the drunks that bought a "whole box" of beer.

Your Retail Boycott Is Misdirected

Hardly a day goes buy that I don't get a email from someone, usually a fellow Catholic, urging me to boycott some retailer or another. These "feel good" messages typically point out a corporate policy and inform me that I should be outraged and refuse to do business with the company. There is often the implied message that I am going against my faith by not complying. In truth, most of the time the corporate policy in question is one I disagree with, but that doesn't convince me to boycott the business. In fact, I often find the plea to be somewhat hypocritical.

First, let me explain why I generally don't go along with these boycotts, and why that decision is not contrary to my faith. Typically, the offending business is a large corporation that has made some contribution to a cause that I do in fact find immoral. Does that make me culpable if I patronize their local store? No, not if my intent is to buy a product, and not to support the cause. My intent determines my guilt in supporting or cooperating with evil. For instance, one of the latest pleas is to boycott Starbucks because the company supports gay "marriage." When I buy a coffee from the local shop, am I doing so because I support redefining a Sacrament of the Church? No, I'm buying the coffee because I want a consistently made, somewhat decedent and over-priced cup of coffee. My support, if you want to call it that, of the local retailer and their employees in no way indicates support for what I consider an immoral lifestyle. Is Starbucks in business for the purpose of supporting gay marriage? No, Starbuck is the business of selling me a consistently made, somewhat decedent and over-priced cup of coffee. My action is too far removed from the corporate policies to make me culpable. I am not cooperating in the actions of the corporation.

It is also interesting that local Starbucks employees are active in helping the homeless and those in need. My patronage of the local store would have a greater affect on these local folks, than the corporate board room. Ironically, it wasn't too long ago that the tables were turned and folks were urging a boycott of Starbucks because they do support traditional American, and Constitutional values.

The Target chain is another target (sorry) of a boycott call. Apparently the chain sells a "gay pride" t-shirt. Don't like the "gay pride" shirt? Don't buy it. Shopping at Target doesn't make me a supporter of "gay marriage." If I purchased the offending items, that would be a different story.

Ironically again, Target faced a boycott a couple years ago because they gave money to an "anti-gay" political candidate.

I don't give money to organizations such as Planned Parenthood. I don't vote for politicians who support positions I find offensive or immoral. Those would be direct actions that would make me guilty of cooperating with evil. As opposed to the Starbucks example, Planned Parenthood's main function, the reason for its existence, is immoral. To give support to them would be to directly support their mission.

I mentioned the hypocrisy of the boycott calls, emailed to me using a computer that is either running the Windows operating system, or the system from Apple. The Gates Foundation is one of the largest global supporters of abortion and sterilization world wide. And Apple Computer uses its corporate wealth to support redefining marriage. So maybe the senders of these emails aren't really all that sold on using the boycott as a tool after all. I'll make a deal with you. You stop using products from these companies, and I'll reconsider where I buy my morning coffee.

Beer Shopping

Picking up the liquid portion of this weekend's event.

Betcha wish you had bid, eh?

Blue & Gray Groupon Tour Offer

Thursday's DC-area Groupon offer features a "Grape and Grain Tour." The tour features two local stops, the Blue & Gray Brewery and Bowman Distillery.

Grape and Grain tours bestow imbibers with a whirlwind six hours to sip and savor a kaleidoscope of diverse beverages. A chauffeur from Prime Transportation begins the day by whisking patrons to a brewery, distillery, and winery, each of which grants samples of their unique brews and vintages while instilling educational tidbits about their creation. At the Mediterranean-style Potomac Point Winery, patrons explore the wine cave and tour the cellar, dining on a bistro lunch and stopping at the olive oil bar to tend jaws creaky from chewing. At Blue and Gray Brewing Company, samples of seasonal beers emerge straight from the tanks to wash down a complimentary dessert, and the tour of family-owned A. Smith Bowman Distillery—a Fredericksburg mainstay since 1934—imparts tricks of the brewing trade that toe the line between tradition and innovation. Discounts on return visits and gift-shop merchandise urge tours to return, and patrons depart with souvenir glasses from each venue that will always remind them not to drink out of the brewer's tank.

The Groupon price is discounted 1/2 off the "retail" price, but not having done a chauffeured tour myself, I'm in no position to judge. The price does include transportation from the DC area, so it's probably not a great deal for local folks. In any event, it does sound like it would make for a fun day.

See the Groupon offer page for complete details.

Note: I have purchased Groupon tickets for Blue & Gray, as well as other local restaurants, in the past, but I am in no way affiliated with the company, I'm just reporting.

Start 'em Young

Saw this on Overheard in D.C.

Beer snobbery starts at home

In the beer aisle of the Adams Morgan Harris Teeter, 1:00 p.m. on Super Bowl Sunday:

A 30-something mother has her two-year-old son in the seat in the cart facing the fridge.

Child: (pointing towards a row of Dogfish Head 60-Minute IPAs) "Fish!"
Mom: (laughs, to self) "Haha. Fish. (To child, slowly enunciating) Dog-fish-Head!"
Child: "Dogfish Head."

Well, okay then.

When the Beer Planets Align

Some days it seems that everything just falls together. A recent string of events had me wondering if perhaps I should by a lottery ticket. First, a couple of background bits to set things up. Recently I lamented about the recent absence of Clipper City and other beers in the Fredericksburg area. Also, last week I picked up the latest issue of Mid-Atlantic Brewing News. In it I read how Bear Republic Racer 5 was a "delicious profitable mistake" created when the brewers added too many hops to a batch of their house IPA. This invoked memories of enjoying this big IPA on draft many times in the past. Now, on with this tale...

Recently while shopping at our local chain grocery store, I remarked to Colleen that I was going to check the beer aisle to see if anything inspired me, though I wasn't optimistic. As I rounded the corner and passed a rack of singles available for mix-and-match purchase, I spied several bottles of Clipper City Loose Cannon and Small Craft Warning. I laughed and thought, "Wow, those must be left over." Then I turned and spied an entirely new section of craft beers on the shelves. There, at the bottom were full six-packs of Clipper City beers. "Look at that!", I said to Colleen, who was by now also perusing this new display. I then spied some bombers of Racer 5 on the shelf. I remarked that I liked that beer a lot, but had only ever had it on draft.  I wished aloud that it was available in six-packs, rather than the 22 ounce bottles. Then, looking further down the shelf, that wish came true. There is was in that more consumable package as well.

How quickly a routine trip to the grocery store turned into a near stream-of-thought experience. A newly stocked beer section, an old favorite beer making a return, and a new bottle selection added to the home fridge. Life is good.