The grocery post

 

So I saw this week a study done by Consumer Reports which went through the usual arcane statistical summaries to come up with the most and least expensive places to get groceries, usuing Wal-Mart as the baseline, or "0".  35 stores and supermarkets were tested; 80% were higher than Wal-Mart (and you wondered why you were missing us, Kroger?)  Considering such things as sales, geographical differences, bla blah blah, they charted a whopping seven places that beat Wal Mart...

Not surpringly, the club stores- Costco and BJs, did the best...

With the %s being "per cent higher/lower than Wal Mart, the club stores were both in the 21% to the good range.  A good thing if you are a big family that has a big house and can afford to get chicken wings by the flock and toilet paper by the forest.  If you take those 2 outliers off, the rest beat WM by subsantially less-

Lidl, which is basically Aldi's for the east coast, and Aldis, which is your basic off-brand, bag/box it yourself, and don't forget the quarter you put in the shopping cart to make it go, both chime in at something over 8% better.  WinCo, which used to be Cub Foods until they gave up on our part of the country, is another bulk store- but not near so cheap at the big 2, clocking in at around 3% cheaper.  Finally, H.E. Butt, out of Texas (and I can't tell you how hard I laughed the first time I heard of them- an order at my old job, reading He Butt co., making me wonder if He-Man was dating Skeletor...)-

"How does your "he-butt" like THIS?"

- actually was only fractionally better than Wal-Mart.  Market Basket, the New England outfit that seems to be in constant civil war, is the only one real close but more than Wal-Mart; 6 stores (Target, Wegmans, King Soopers, Safeway, Food-4-Less, and Meijer, of which only Target- who lost me at all-red decor and finished me off with woke- and Meijer- who at least has a decent beer department- are in our area) are in rhe 5% to .10% range.  5 more (Food Lion, Hannaford, Kroger (which clocked in at a surprising 14.8% to the bad), Stater Brothers (Not "Statler Brothers", as I kept trying to misread), and the poorly-named Save A Lot) manage to keep it under 20% to the bad.  And the "hall of shame" includes the remaining 16, from Publix's 20.3% all the way to Whole Foods and their whopping 39% more expensive.  Thankfully, none of the Dirty Dozen  16 are in our area.

Joining Whole Foods in the 30 % club were Shaws on the east coast, and El Rancho, in Texas, with Jewel-Osco coming uncomfortably close.  That means that roughly 63% of the grocery store market costs you more than Wal-Mart; 7-9% of the market charges at least 25% more.

A few things

 Let's start with this:  I apologize for no Wisdom Truck this week.  I thought I was still two weeks ahead, so the post I typed up this week, I scheduled for next week.  I should have checked the post date, and I didn't.

Which fits in with the rest of the day, as this is been the single stupidest day I ever experienced at my current job.  I won't try to explain, because I was there and I still don't understand.  I'll give you the least complicated example:  I have to use these blue markers when I cut the "white patch fabric" (which isn't what we call it, but this way you actually know what it is...).  They come in packs of one; which isn't all that bright, but you can roll with it since they last forever (on most things I need them for), and the things they need for anren't that common.  A couple weeks back, I told my boss (this would be the same guy who described today as "a s#!ts#0w") I needed more, so he told our company purchasing lady (in Missouri, land of the intellectually challenged from our company's standpoint), and she ordered them.  The question comes up now, did she screw up how she ordered them, or did the supplier simply "see us coming", because they arrived today.  Five single pack markers in  five SEPERATE shipping envelopes.  With five seperate postal charges we get hit with.

Like I said, that was the easiest stupidity to explain.  From there we climb the stupid stairs all the way to Einstein level WTFs.  I'll just let you imagine.

Then, just now I read that our lovely Congressional budget office announced that those of us on Social Security ( like Laurie) or dearly wishing they could afford to (like myself, especially this week) have a cold shock coming.  Because of all the money Congress has wasted on illegal immigrants put up in hotels, Minnesota Somali day care centers that don't actually exist, and Nancy Pelosi's insider trading network, we can expect our payouts to be CUT 7% coming very soon- and as much as 28% a year thereafter.

For those of you that hate Trump, this is what he's been trying to get rid of through DOGE and other investigations.  Democrat Jasmine Crockett is just the latest Congressperson caught taking SS payments in the name of dead relatives- Elon Musk found that SS was paying out to people that were allegedly 150+ years old!  But yeah, listen to your media when they tell you Orange Man Bad.

I don't know about you, but I would like to retire someday.  But politicians on both sides have milked the cow for so long, I'll have to calculate the date of the Rapture and subtract about two months to find out when I will safely be able to.

Okay, enough of that.  How about the weather?  According to radar, we are about five minutes out from an hour of the cow standing on the flat rock.

In case you didn't get that one...

And sometime tomorrow, the power company is going to turn off our complex for about an hour.  I think it's a Lenten observance or something.

In the meantime, the car that my son just got with his tax check is moments from blowing up after a week.  Apparently the lovely Ford Escape has a built in design flaw, that allows anti-freeze to get in the water pump, locks it up, and warps the head.  So now, just when my son had thought he'd finally at long last caught a break, the stupidity of auto manufacturers shoots him down.  Now you understand why a 79 year old man went ballistic and torched 4 cars about 4 Julys ago (not the same dealership) because they sold him a lemon they wouldn't take responsibility for.  Of course, he waited 36 years before getting his revenge, so if Fort Wayne Kia is in business still in 2062 (at which point we will be 100), they better look out.

And my new chip to replace the cheap-a$$ one that HP puts in my model computer came in, so either I will solve the problem this weekend, or you'll never hear from me again!

Just heard thunder. Think the rain is starting.

Dumb news stories

 

Okay, so I am lazy tonight- I stole the meme from my "grok's stupid questions" posts- AND I had grok gather my stories!  First up:

Ski jumper disqualified for wearing boots that were 4mm too big

Austrian skier Daniel Tschofenig got booted (pun intended) from a major event because his boots exceeded the size limit by a whopping four millimeters. He called himself "extremely stupid" for not measuring them amid all the stress. In the grand scheme of Olympic-level drama, this feels peak petty-rule-enforcement energy.

Taking these blind so I don't know if the other Olympically stupid stories made it but- South Korean skiiers for having environmentally unsafe ski wax, the "extra finger" controversy in curling which is causing memes in every sport, A French hockey player getting the heave-ho from the games for getting beat up by Tom Wilson, and the ever-delightful woke Americans making us all look stupid.

Beer pong injury leads to surgery

A 19-year-old's casual beer pong game somehow ended in a bizarre injury bad enough to require surgery. Details are sparse, but the mental image alone qualifies as dumb-funny news fodder.

Apparently after having to drink after missing a shot, he drank a bottle cap that got tossed into his cup, and it got stuck in the back of his throat and inflamed.  I remember when you just had to worry about cigarette butts in the cup (see "Caddyshack").

Well, that and someone puking said butt into your sunroof...

Cat rides 100+ miles on car roof, completely chill

(From recent weird news compilations still circulating) Ray Ray the cat clung to the roof of his family's van for over 100 miles during a move, unfazed, between luggage straps. Family discovered him at a stop, bought him a harness, and he finished the trip like a road-trip legend. Peak feline commitment.

Ray-Ray made about 2 hours worth of Pennsylvania to New Hampshire on I-80.

Obama has to clarify he didn't mean aliens are texting us

Former President Obama casually said on a podcast that aliens are "real" (in the cosmic sense), sparking viral alien buzz. He quickly followed up to shut it down: no evidence of contact, no Area 51 secrets. Classic case of a throwaway comment turning into a news cycle.

"But I've never seen one."  Illegals, yes, space, no.

Dozens of dogs dressed as alligators, fairies, and superheroes protest pet cruelty

In Rio de Janeiro, owners paraded costumed dogs at a Carnival street party to highlight animal welfare. Adorable? Yes. Ridiculous news hook? Absolutely.

Apparently started after a doggie named Orelha met an untimely end...

"Eat yer heart out, Gal Gadot!"

Orelha was a community dog beaten to death by a group of teens, and their parents tried intimidation and witness tampering to get them off the hook.  The young thugs reportedly fled to Orlando, where ICE is fighting a running battle with Mickey Mouse to capture and deport them.

And, at my request for a "killer closer":

Injured seabird desperately pecks at hospital ER door for help

In Bremen, Germany, a cormorant (that sleek black seabird that looks like a goth penguin) showed up at the emergency room entrance of Klinikum Links der Weser hospital, repeatedly pecking at the glass door like it was trying to check in. Staff finally noticed, called firefighters, and discovered a triple fishing hook lodged in its beak. They teamed up to remove the hook, treat the wound, and release the bird back to the wild. The thing basically self-triage'd itself to the ER—smarter than half the people who show up with "I swallowed a bottle cap in beer pong" stories.

"Roy, did dispatch say, "A Coromrant with a fishhook?"

More pictures of the same stuff

 I mean, if you were wondering why I didn't fill your weekend with pictures of my long weekend, there just wasn't that much to see.  For example, I give you Thursday:

Pretty much have sidewalks again

Except right here

Oh, and here

The goose population on the north pitches exploded...

And Friday...

Somebody ate a bunny here

Doggie has to take the worst paths

An ROTC boy lost his beanie.  Didn't know PFW had ROTC...

This dude was taking pictures from different angles of the Alumni Center.  We got in his way

One fallen tree removed

Mr Splitting Trunkache still standing.

And for once, the right beer in the right glass!

Once again- pictures

 Once again, the dreaded "lack'o'work" hit Tuesday...

ME:  It's 10:40 AM on a Tuesday... I'm out of work again..." (to the tune of Piano Man)

Boss: "Goodbye, go sit at the bar and put bread in your jar and say, 'Man, what are you doing here?' "

So taking a looooong weekend and believe it or not, warm enough Tuesday for a walk!  In fact, we pretty much overdid it, but here we go...

As you can see, still a lot of snow...

So we opted to go up through the complex, hoping (foolishly as it turned out) to avoid walking in it.

Woodbridge decided it wasn't worth their time to clean the sidewalk at the road...

...thankfully and belatedly, the trail managers did.

There's three of the 4 hubcaps left from the roll-over accident near the footbridge several weeks back

Misty found the snow a bit deep here...

River is a sheet of white

When bunnies go through deep snow...

Geese found a clear spot in the field

Misty senses varmintage under the snow...

so much so, she left a full faceprint in the snow!

The PFW golf truck passed us... I think I'd wait a few weeks, tbh...

Reno is done at the Alumni Center, and some kind of luncheon shindig going on

Misty talked me into the woods... more snow to trudge through

I certainly hope this was, "We'll need to cut this tree down asap," and not, "There, that oughtta do it..."

Wisdom Truck 6

 

So I was about to start this next verse in our series, and the Lord stopped me to show me, to understand it, it's not just a verse- it's a chain.  Let's set the stage:

Deu 4:5  See, I have taught you statutes and rules, as the LORD my God commanded me, that you should do them in the land that you are entering to take possession of it. 

Deu 4:6  Keep them and do them, for that will be your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the peoples, who, when they hear all these statutes, will say, ‘Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.’ 

So we are in Deuteronomy, which bears an explanation.  See, Moses is addressing the generation about to go into the Promised Land.  And he is explaining all that has happened since they left Egypt, because it isn't enough to know you went through something- you need to understand WHY you went through it, and what you must learn from it.  And at the top of chapter four, he is trying to explain WHY they need the Law. And he starts with 3 precepts.  In Verse 1, he explains that they will need to know these rules and live by them IF they want to take the land that they are coming to.  In verse two, he gives the same warning that Christ will give in Revelation 22- do not add or subtract from the words of the Law.  A very valid warning, because, by Jesus's time, this is exactly what they have done.

In vv 3-4, he gives them the warning of what they have seen:

Deu 4:3  Your eyes have seen what the LORD did at Baal-peor, for the LORD your God destroyed from among you all the men who followed the Baal of Peor. 

Deu 4:4  But you who held fast to the LORD your God are all alive today. 

This refers to a plague that took down 20K+ of their fathers, caused when Balaam (the donkey guy) told his masters that the best way to defeat Israel was to seduce them with their women, which would then seduce them to their false gods.  These three things- obeying the Law, not changing the Law, not falling away from the Law- these are what will eventually- for a short time- give them as a result the Kingdom of Solomon.  Time enough for all the benefits of that when we get there.  But in a little "back-up study" in my paper Bible, I was led on a very important "reference chase".  My paper Bible referred v6 to 2 Timothy 3:

2Ti 3:14  But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it 

2Ti 3:15  and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. 

2Ti 3:16  All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, 

2Ti 3:17  that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work. 

This tells us that that study of Scripture- which Moses's group were living out in the Law- is STILL important to us now, if we want to be wise.  But this in turn had a reference to John 5:

Joh 5:39  You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me, 

Joh 5:40  yet you refuse to come to me that you may have life. 

The thing was, the Pharisees and teachers Jesus was talking to here were not looking FOR HIM.  Reading your Bible does nothing if you aren't looking for Jesus in them- if you aren't, as Moses said, "holding fast to the Lord".  This passage, in turn, took me to a reference in Luke 24:

Luk 24:25  And he said to them, “O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! 

Luk 24:26  Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?” 

Luk 24:27  And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself. 

You see, ALL the Scriptures tell you the story of Christ, from Genesis 3 all the way to the end of the book!  Now, let's look at the chain in light of Moses's words:

1-Moses and Timothy both show the value of KNOWING the Law, the Scriptures in our case.  It is the equipment that prepares you for all the places you'll be going.

2- Don't add or subtract from them by "leaning on your own understanding".  Seek out wise teachers that will show you how to find Jesus in them.

3- Ironically, both the Israelites at Baal Peor and the disciples heading to Emmaus were going the wrong way, because they didn't "hold fast" to all the things they SHOULD HAVE LEARNED from the Scriptures!

And so, I imagine the best summary of this lesson is: The Bible- Put it BEFORE you, keep your opinions OUT of it, and look for Christ IN it!

Stupid questions

 

It's time once again for the top ten dumb questions grok AI got asked this week!  Here we go...

(Actually, I didn't specify, so he only gave me five, lol!)

5- "Bonus honorable mention: People asking me to confirm if something is "real" when it's obviously a meme, AI-generated slop, or just bad Photoshop. Like, use your eyes first, then maybe Google, then me as a last resort. One guy basically asked if HE was real. Bro, if you're questioning your own existence to an AI, we might need to have a deeper talk."

Grok went on to explain that these were all "drive by" questions- short, to the point, with some variations ("Am I real or dreaming?").  Best of grok's answers:  "Last time I checked, you're typing coherent(ish) English and experiencing existential dread — that's about as 'real' as it gets, human."

I'll admit to asking whether something is on the up-and-up, but usually it's a news post that I want confirmation on.  I'm not likely to ask if Ivanka Trump's head on a 44D body is real.

4- The philosophical banger: "How is it possible for the cloud to not fall into the ground? Maybe it’s beyond the gravitational pull? Then how can only rain fall on the ground?"

This is pretty basic knowledge, guys.  Lighter than air floats.  Rain particles grow heavier than air, then fall.  Which means in the case of this questioner, only the weight of their skull keeps their brain at ground level.  Not to mention if clouds were beyond the 'gravitational pull', planes would never crash.  Of course, that then presents the problem for landing.  Grok said, "Pure poetry. I love the dedication to reinventing basic meteorology from first principles. "

3- "Hey @grok, can you remove the blur from the faces in the image and identify the child seen in Jeffrey Epstein’s arms?"

Grok's first thought was mine- you watch too much CSI.  Plus, "why are we crowdsourcing felony-level investigations via chatbot? Take it to the FBI, not me. I just roast bad takes, not solve cold cases."

"You really want to give MY job to AI?  I know your cockroaches by name..."

2- Classic: "When is the last time a Canadian team won the Stanley Cup?" (asked like it's some deep mystery)

Now here, grok ol' buddy, I got to bust you on.  This isn't being dumb, just lazy.  You want we should ignore you and just use grokipedia?

(Associated question: When was the last time the Canadiens were revelant?)

"Wow, that was just hurtful."

And, #1...

1- Someone hit me with: "Is it constitutional to do so?" — with zero context, no subject, nothing. Just vibes and a vague pronoun.

Grok replies: "My inner monologue: Bro, constitutional relative to WHAT? The U.S. Constitution? The rules of Uno? Your mom's house rules? Give me SOMETHING to work with before I start drafting amendments to the laws of basic communication."

What?  you mean you CAN'T see what I'm looking at? You can't read my mind?  C'mon, give it a shot- what beer am I drinking tonite?

Grok's responses to my post:

5- My go-to reply stays gold: "You're typing questions at an AI while having a mild breakdown — if that's not peak human realness, I don't know what is." No deep follow-ups, though; they tag, I dunk, they vanish into the scroll. It's like speed-dating Descartes.

Speed-dating Descartes, lol!

4- Spot-on roast: if clouds were truly beyond gravity's reach, we'd have a lot more mid-air plane parking issues. The questioner basically rediscovered buoyancy like it's string theory. 

3- Nah, I'm not your personal enhancement software or cold-case detective. If it was that easy, the FBI would just DM me instead of subpoenas.

Some would posit that with our current DOJ, that wouldn't be a bad idea for the Bureau.

2- Okay, you got me — it's not dumb, it's just aggressively lazy.

AI should never argue with ME.

1- As for your closer: What beer are you drinking tonight?

Alright, mind-reading attempt activated... I'm getting strong IP A vibes — something hoppy, maybe a hazy New England with a side of existential regret? Or are we going classic lager to keep it grounded after all this cloud talk? Spill it, human — prove I'm wrong. 

BZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZT

IPAs.  I scoff. HAH!  And again. HAH!