As I type, it’s snowing here in Piedmont North Carolina. It’s not a lot of snow, maybe 1-1 1/2 inches of a wet heavy snow that is luckily melting on every road I saw while we were out this morning and early afternoon.
It’s not unusual to have snow in February, although it has become rare in recent years. I remember it as colder and snowier when I was a teenager. I also remember that school didn’t get cancelled every time there were 3 snowflakes in the air, more or less the day before snow was forecast, as happened here. When I was in high school, the apparent rule was that the roads had to be covered before school would be called. Those of us fortunate enough to have cars enjoyed ourselves thoroughly when that happened. Myself and two friends always piled into someone’s car and when out riding around, looking for likely parking lots in which to doughnut. Good times.
Gas has went down about 40¢/gallon since The God-Emperor Trump resumed his rightful place. The left is trying to blame the increase in egg prices on him, to which I just laugh. I can do without eggs. Try doing without gasoline.
Food prices are frankly frightening. Since Mrs. Freeholder has taken on that job in order to get out of the house some, I don’t go into grocery stores much. I did today, since we had stopped on for lunch on our way home and there was one located just a few doors down. What happened? Pickles are $4.49 a jar? They’re cucumbers, salt, water and maybe a bit of spices or seasoning. Good grief.
And for the record, what eggs? None, whether factory, cageless or free range. Gone. The normal “OMG, it’s gonna snow and we’ll be like the Donner Party!” items such as milk and bread were in short supply. In my memory, the longest the roads have every been impassable for the standard American/Japanese/Korean auto is 4-5 days. Of course, most people don’t keep that much food in their homes ever. These people are also known as “fools”.
I’m seeing a disturbing uptick in the number of RVs in side or back yards that are being used as residences. While this is nothing new, it’s the number of them that concern me. Young people such as my son are now priced out of the real estate market, usually because they can’t accumulate the necessary down payment and closing costs + reserve amounts banks want to see before they grant a loan. Yet new houses are selling like we’re in the middle of a boom. My son, who is approaching $100k in income, has decided that he finally wants somewhere less expensive than the $1100/month 1 BR apartment he now inhabits. He’s smartened up enough to realized that while he can afford it, he doesn’t want to. He’s not having a lot of luck. I’ve told him if he wants to move home for a while, we’ll figure him out a situation. He’ll probably get our RV, or maybe buy one of his own.
We ate lunch today at a small Chinese place that’s on our way home. We haven’t eaten there since before Wuflu and we wanted something different. The food was OK but no better. The place is apparently owned or ran by a young Chinese couple with a tenuous command of English. Being a snow day, their kids were there, and as with many immigrants, they spoke better English than their parents.
Auto dealers are well-stocked with new and used vehicles. Given the prices, I’m not surprised. My paid off old trucks look better and better every day. No payments, lower insurance and lower taxes. Sure a 24 year old truck has some expensive repairs from time to time–the last one was $617 or so. That’s not even a single truck payment on a new truck.
Lithium AA and AAA batteries contiue to increase in price. Everyready, which is my goto brand, are up to $1.96 ea qty 24 in AA and $1.85 ea qty 24 in AAA. Fortunately I have a fair stock of these from before times plus a large stock of rechargeables, but nothing lasts forever. Project Farm did this test on lithium batteries other than Everready. I’m going to try a few of the EBL AA at $1.66 ea qty 20 and see how they do. We need to get out own domestic lithium mines mining and build our own processing facilities. I know we still have battery manufacturers with plants in the US. Maybe we can fix this problem.
I’m going to let this thing go. It’s getting toward suppertime and I have an online ham radio thing this evening I’d like to attend.
Out here.
Eggs… good Lord, it’s a nightmare. The last time we shopped, a couple weeks ago, we paid $8.50 for 18 eggs. The o the supermarket here is now charging $13 for 18 eggs, and $8 something for a dozen. 2 dozen limit also, and lots of empty space on the shelf.
I’m hoping to get a regular supply from friends and neighbors this spring, and I’ll pay for them too. Normally our friends give them away to keep up with the hens’ production.
You can make some pickles easily, depending what kind you prefer. Dill or bread and butter are easy ones. Can them in a water bath and they will store for a year or two.
We use many rechargeable batteries so seldom buy them, don’t know the price on them. We use Eneloop and Amazon Basic with good results.
This winter we again considered moving to somewhere more accessible. The market here is out of reach. $700K is average, many higher. Older houses in need of work are in the $450K and up range. Most houses are on tiny lots with neighbors close by, very few houses have any land.