Monday, October 30, 2017

Memo, Mail & Me: It's Monday October 30th

And here we are again, arriving at Monday.  Good morning all.

The burning bush is glowing in the season's finale
Most of our chipmunks have received the memo from Mother Nature that these are the last days to gather food stores for the winter.  Chipmunks don't hibernate in the true sense of the word.  What they do is called torpor, which means they slow down in their breathing, heart rate & metabolism but do stay underground in their burrows for the winter, so hence the need to gather enough food to see them through November to March.  This is a photo of Arnold, he lives under this wooden barrel which I use as a compost container.

Our mail box was over flowing this week with very colourful grocery store flyers from 5 of the 7 stores.  Lots of pretty pictures of yummy food.  None of these 7 stores are local to me, I need to drive into the city 20 minutes away.  I use to read all these flyers thoroughly, marking all the deals & then driving from one corner of the city to the other (7 in total) to take advantage of any sale price.  But one day I realized something.  I was not saving anything.  It would add about 45-60 minutes to my shopping routine & my time is valuable; I put lots of extra kilometers on the car because none of these shops were close to each other, which translates into added gas usage.   Now I just choose two stores which are fairly close together & plan my other errands around these locations.  Both are doing comparison matching, which means if I take the flyer to the store that maybe doesn't have the sale on a particular item but one of the other shops does, I just present the flyer/item to the cashier & they then match the price.  What about you, do you have a favourite grocery store? 



Not sure if it's the weather change, but the fur girls are quite busy, running about the house at the oddest of hours.  Plus I swear these cats have mountain goat in them,  we are finding them up on top of the bookcases in the family room & "war room".  There's no fighting taking place in the "war room" it's called this because of all Mr Man's war books, which number over a thousand,  contained in 7 bookcases.
 
Smokey Puss - who loves tissue paper to play in
Sooty Paws, who seems to love trouble


On the me front, last Monday on my way into work, I tripped at the entrance, landing head first on the cement walk way.  I so scared myself that I just lay there to be sure nothing was broken when a lady who was driving by, saw what happened, pulled a U-turn & came to help me up.  I cracked my head pretty hard & had an immediate goose egg, cement burn (scrape) nasty headache &  skinned knees.  It happened so quickly I didn't even have time to put out my hands to brace myself.  I called Mr Man to come & get me to take me to our doctor's to be check out.   I do not (thankfully) have a concussion but head trauma (the swelling) & lateral whiplash, which translate to when I fell I jarred my shoulder & neck.  Now I get to be a patient at the clinic I work at.  Let me tell you, several of them need to take a sensitivity workshop.  The RMT told me "oh well, it could have been worse".  Yes you are right, it could have been, but really you tell patients that are injured & hurting this?  Another staff member said "oh I can't see the goose egg - I guess you're ok now".    On the boss front - I told him as soon as it happened but he has yet to call to see how I'm doing! 



Autumn shows us how lovely it can be to let things go ...

20 comments:

  1. First of all, I'm sorry to hear about your accident. Do you even know what caused you to fall? That would have been very scary, especially since you didn't put your arms out to catch your fall.
    I go to one grocery store in the town that is closest to me (about 12 minutes away). I collect PC points which helps to save money in the long run. Some of the flyers I receive are for stores that are 45 to 55 minutes away from me! -Jenn

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    1. Thanks Jenn. I think I think the hole in the centre is where/what I tripped on. The larger SUVs & pick up trucks pull up so close to the front door that their bumper catches the cement & scrapes away at the centre. I'm hoping WSIB covers my treatment costs. I also collect PC points which I save up for Christmas treat shopping. I use alot of the President's Choice products. -Mary-Lou =^..^=

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  2. Oh, that's not good. Wishing you a very speedy recovery with absolutely no complications.

    I don't stay loyal to any particular supermarket. If I have a home delivery I choose between the same two but if I'm actually out shopping, I go to whichever is more convenient on the day.

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    1. Thanks Eileen, most of the soreness is gone & the scrape on my forehead is healing over. I just received notice that an 8th grocery store is opening mid week in the city I shop in - spoiled for choice!

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  3. Oh no. Falling over is never good, and onto a cement path is just horrible. Doesn't it shake you up? You must have felt awful, having bumped your head so badly. Hope you are feeling better very soon.
    As to supermarkets, we are spoilt for choice here. I have a large Sainsbury's within walking distance of home, Tesco 5 mins away by car and Waitrose 10 mins away in town. There is also an Aldi at the bottom of the road where I work. They're the major ones over here. I shop at a different one each week! Some of our shops here automatically check their prices against others and if they find that certain branded goods are cheaper elsewhere, they automatically take the money off your bill at the till. We don't tend to get the vouchers in newspapers etc over here. Each supermarket will have 'loyalty cards' and when your bill prints out at the paying checkout, it will print out a few specialised vouchers for your next shop based on things you buy regularly.

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    1. There aren't too many coupons produced anymore, it does seem to be all about loyalty cards & that can be another type of rabbit hole to go down. I just use one rewards card & do 90% of my shopping at this store. Tesco - that made me love because in Coronation Street they shop at Freshco's which is the name of a store we have here!

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  4. Gosh, that fall sounded nasty and I do hope you're on the way to a full recovery.
    As for the supermarket thing, I tend to use the one that I can walk to and have an online delivery for the big stuff every six weeks or so. It's probably not the most economic way to shop, as I'm limited to what I can physically carry.

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    1. Thanks Ruth. I've had a week of lots of Epsom salt baths & a poultice for my head made with Epsom salts. Online ordering & home delivery is becoming popular locally as is something called Skip The Dishes for take way home delivery.

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  5. Love your chipmunk photo but sorry to hear you've been in the wars. I went through a spate of falls some years back and it was very frightening. Luckily I didn't do as much damage as you have. Hope you get over the lumps and bumps soon, not to mention the psychological fallout.

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    1. Thanks Ella, I think most of the bumps are gone although I take a bit of extra care/time walking into the clinic now. I'm so grateful not to have broken anything.

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  6. Oh dear that sounds a really nasty fall. Not much sympathy from the work colleagues. Hope you feel better.

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    1. Thanks Maggie. My Gran use to say that a fish starts to rot at the head & I think with an absent boss & one that struggles with consistent & good communications can be the beginning. My boss did call me yesterday to see how I was. Simple things can make a big emotional difference.

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  7. So sorry to hear about your fall, and rather disgusted by the response you got at your clinic! The head of our largest hospital had a severe head injury from a bicycle accident several years ago. It caused him to institute new patient care policies at Strong when he finally returned to work. Everyone I know says it's made a difference.

    Yes, I have a favorite grocery store. I drive a few extra miles to get to it, but it's worth is as they have the best produce and the best selection. The prices are comparable to other stores. Now that I've been shopping in Chicago for over a week, I appreciate how low our grocery prices really are!

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    1. Thanks Karen. I agree sometimes when someone has been through a health event it can really change the perspective. I think some of the problem at the clinic is a male power struggle going on which has fall on on the rest of us. I think my feelings were hurt because I do so much extra for them to ensure that their work day is hassle free & I guess I expected some care in return or at the very least, some sympathy. I also shop for fresh produce at the more expensive grocery store only because the quality is supreme & I don't throw out or waste. I hate food waste. Ah Chicago, visited once & it's a big big city so I guess big city prices, Toronto is the same.

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  8. Our Luna (cat) used to love being up high on the cabinets, but lately she just enjoys being lazy and sleeping on the chair, lol.
    Winter is close here as we have had a few days of snow :(
    As for grocery shopping, my city is pretty small, but I still prefer to shop close to home

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    1. Smoke loves to sleep in the "loft" as we call it, which is the highboy in the bedroom. We had one cat that insisted sleeping on the floor of the linen closet so we cleared it out for her & referred to it as the "hotel". What ever my fur children want, they get (lol). We had wet snow for about 20 minutes yesterday (31st) NO NO NO.

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  9. Sorry to hear about your fall..the thought of hitting my head on the concrete like that makes me shudder...so sorry your colleagues weren't more sympathetic too. Always love seeing what is happening in your part of the world... as you are preparing for winter and we are launching into a hot summer.

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    1. Thanks Mardi. My theory is for my work mates; sympathy for the masses is often easier than when it's close to home, it makes it too real & our RMT is really quite shy ... there I'll give the benefit of the doubt & I know my boss has a lot on his plate at the moment.

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  10. Oh that's not good news Mary-Lou! So sorry to hear about your accident and I agree that sometimes people in the caring profession certainly need to learn compassion and how to be more careful with their words. I know from experience too ;) Wishing you a speedy recovery and meantime take good care of yourself and things slowly.

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  11. Oh goodness, I do hope you are all better. I'm just catching up on some blog reading after two weeks away in Europe.

    My favorite grocery store is the one that's only 1 mile from the house, a large store with great selection & good sales, plus reward points for fuel (which is right outside & next to our bank & dry cleaner). I'm all for convenience.

    A "war room" of books sounds fantastic!

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