Bit of a surprise at work today: I've just been elected as Workers Representative! As in representing the workers interests to management, and in disciplinary hearings and such ...
Other than that, I spent the day puzzling over the spreadsheet ...
Shopping today was quite eventful - and expensive! On the way to Pretoria East, I drove past ten, fifteen kilometers of bumper-to-bumper traffic going the opposite way! The hold-up? I heard on the news that it was the toll-gate - it has at least eight booths serving four lanes, yet the amount of traffic going through was just too much! I considered alternative routes back ...
At the bakery I had little luck, they had only one of the loaves I normally take, so I ended up taking a mixed variety. They had very little in stock - I guess because of the holiday on Monday, although, the bakery is always closed on Mondays anyway?
At the butchery I got everything on my list and then some! Just one oopsy - they packed Weisswurst instead of Grillwurst, which I only discovered at home. Pity. I dipped a bit deeply into my finances for a variety of sauces, special sauces for special dishes, like goulash, rouladen, and such. Since they are imported, they are quite pricey. They are for when I want a special meal, but don't have the time to make it all from scratch. I also treated myself to a packet of ... I think hash-browns is the closest? It's pancakes made from grated potato. Also some mustard and some Bismark Herring.
With that traffic looming ahead, I decided to take my time getting the rest of my groceries, hoping that would give the traffic time to clear up. At the fruit fridge I saw they had sweet cherries! Yum and very, very pricey! To think that I used to just pick them off trees I was passing on the way home from school! Less than a handful for the price of three liters milk! They did, however, have a special - if you take two. So I took one cherry and one blueberry.
I lingered a while over the cheese - I looked at several options for Parmesan, but the fresh, finely grated one is still the cheapest. They had mozarella in two sizes, and - strangely enough, the larger size turns out to be nearly half the price per kg! AND they display the kg price for each! Last I took some plain cheddar as well as my usual treat of Emmenthal.
I needed a spare butter AND a spare margarine - and neither was on special! Sigh, butter is so expensive! Then I saw a special - take a block of baking margarine and get a tub of margarine at a reduced price. Since I had planned on getting a block of baking margarine anyway - since it's cheaper than the tub - I decided to go for it.
I spent a long time deciding which fish to buy, none of them were 'deboned'. What puzzled me was reading that the haddock was made from fresh hake? I just googled that, and here's what I just learned:
The fish specie Haddock (Melanogrammus aegle nus) is caught in the North Atlantic Ocean and found in European and American homes. “Haddock” in South Africa, however, is a traditional name for naturally dyed, brined and smoked Cape Hake! The story dates back to the 1960’s, when true cold smoked Haddock was imported. As import prices rose, local producers found that Hake produced a similar product when smoked, and the name was born. This “Haddock” is an excellent fish for all occasions, and is often used in the traditional “poached in milk” breakfast serving, omelettes, pies, kedgeree and so much more!
I never knew that!
There wasn't much available in tins, I'm afraid. A whole section just for tomato tins - chopped, whole, with onions, etc; a few maize tins, a few pea tins and some mushroom. I did, however, see tomato and green peppers, so I took a tin. Oh, and mushrooms in tins and not too pricey. No asparagus, though.
I got my frozen veggies without any trouble - I can't wait for my garden to start producing, so I can get them fresh and tender, and maybe even freeze some myself!
Then I strolled along the baking shelves, I didn't find any skimmed milk powder but I did find everything else, like rye flour and baking powder. I also took some baking chocolate - one dark, one milk. Nothing else caught my interest.
They didn't have some of the items on my list, so I decided to take an extended lunch sometime next week to go to the hyper store near work.
My heart sank when I saw they had only one bag of litter! I'm quite low, and one bag won't keep me for long - I could just see myself having to come back next Friday ... and then I thought of putting the staff to work and asked whether they maybe have more in stock. I got lucky! They brought out another four bags, so now I got five!
When I went back to get some cat food, I saw another bag at the back of the shelf - I hope I won't regret not taking it!
Last, I got greedy with the chocolate - they didn't have my favourite flavour (plain milk) so I took half top deck and half dark. I took twenty bars - I do NOT want to run out again, ha ha! And just to be safe, I also took some small bars - hazelnut wafers and creamy hazelnut chocolate.
It was five when I finally sat in the car for a smoke while waiting for the traffic update - which didn't come on, so I gave up and decided to give the highway a chance. When I approached the on-ramp to the N1, I saw that traffic was still flowing slowly and my heart sank again ... it would be a long time before I got home! I figured I could get off just before the blocked toll-gates and go around them, although it would cost me more in tolls than going through.
I was surprised to see traffic moving at a tolerable pace - instead of the 5-20 km/h I had expected, we were going 60 - 80 most of the time. Imagine going 5 km/h for 15 km! I kept hoping for a traffic update - and it came while I was going through a no-signal stretch. Sigh. Traffic only slowed down to 0-20 km/h for the last 1 1/2 km, which would have been frustrating if I hadn't been expecting so much worse!
It was six when I finally stopped outside our gate. Poor mippies were not impressed with my late arrival! And then, instead of making time for them, I first offloaded the car, and then packed all perishables in the fridge or freezer. I left the sand for tomorrow to offload, though.
They were ready come in fairly quickly, though. We have a new ritual, where they don't get their munchies until I get my Mew-Mew kisses! Mewthos just has to hold his face still, so I can kiss his nose - which he loves! Even while waiting for food!
Sigh, and then mippies went cuddle-mad! Mipping and pawing and purring and head-butting and going on and on and one - which is why I'm only writing this now, after nine! I didn't bother with dinner, just gobbled a bar of chocolate.
Mippies are quietly waiting for me to join them on the bed, now. Apparently I've scratched enough ears and tickled all the tummies and played mousey long enough to keep them quiet for a bit. Just long enough to finish writing, at least.
Funny how the most write-worthy thing in my life is a shopping trip, eh? Well, I've got some more kitchen experiments planned for this weekend - though first, I'll have to re-pack and freeze all the meat I got today.
Other than that, I spent the day puzzling over the spreadsheet ...
Shopping today was quite eventful - and expensive! On the way to Pretoria East, I drove past ten, fifteen kilometers of bumper-to-bumper traffic going the opposite way! The hold-up? I heard on the news that it was the toll-gate - it has at least eight booths serving four lanes, yet the amount of traffic going through was just too much! I considered alternative routes back ...
At the bakery I had little luck, they had only one of the loaves I normally take, so I ended up taking a mixed variety. They had very little in stock - I guess because of the holiday on Monday, although, the bakery is always closed on Mondays anyway?
At the butchery I got everything on my list and then some! Just one oopsy - they packed Weisswurst instead of Grillwurst, which I only discovered at home. Pity. I dipped a bit deeply into my finances for a variety of sauces, special sauces for special dishes, like goulash, rouladen, and such. Since they are imported, they are quite pricey. They are for when I want a special meal, but don't have the time to make it all from scratch. I also treated myself to a packet of ... I think hash-browns is the closest? It's pancakes made from grated potato. Also some mustard and some Bismark Herring.
With that traffic looming ahead, I decided to take my time getting the rest of my groceries, hoping that would give the traffic time to clear up. At the fruit fridge I saw they had sweet cherries! Yum and very, very pricey! To think that I used to just pick them off trees I was passing on the way home from school! Less than a handful for the price of three liters milk! They did, however, have a special - if you take two. So I took one cherry and one blueberry.
I lingered a while over the cheese - I looked at several options for Parmesan, but the fresh, finely grated one is still the cheapest. They had mozarella in two sizes, and - strangely enough, the larger size turns out to be nearly half the price per kg! AND they display the kg price for each! Last I took some plain cheddar as well as my usual treat of Emmenthal.
I needed a spare butter AND a spare margarine - and neither was on special! Sigh, butter is so expensive! Then I saw a special - take a block of baking margarine and get a tub of margarine at a reduced price. Since I had planned on getting a block of baking margarine anyway - since it's cheaper than the tub - I decided to go for it.
I spent a long time deciding which fish to buy, none of them were 'deboned'. What puzzled me was reading that the haddock was made from fresh hake? I just googled that, and here's what I just learned:
The fish specie Haddock (Melanogrammus aegle nus) is caught in the North Atlantic Ocean and found in European and American homes. “Haddock” in South Africa, however, is a traditional name for naturally dyed, brined and smoked Cape Hake! The story dates back to the 1960’s, when true cold smoked Haddock was imported. As import prices rose, local producers found that Hake produced a similar product when smoked, and the name was born. This “Haddock” is an excellent fish for all occasions, and is often used in the traditional “poached in milk” breakfast serving, omelettes, pies, kedgeree and so much more!
I never knew that!
There wasn't much available in tins, I'm afraid. A whole section just for tomato tins - chopped, whole, with onions, etc; a few maize tins, a few pea tins and some mushroom. I did, however, see tomato and green peppers, so I took a tin. Oh, and mushrooms in tins and not too pricey. No asparagus, though.
I got my frozen veggies without any trouble - I can't wait for my garden to start producing, so I can get them fresh and tender, and maybe even freeze some myself!
Then I strolled along the baking shelves, I didn't find any skimmed milk powder but I did find everything else, like rye flour and baking powder. I also took some baking chocolate - one dark, one milk. Nothing else caught my interest.
They didn't have some of the items on my list, so I decided to take an extended lunch sometime next week to go to the hyper store near work.
My heart sank when I saw they had only one bag of litter! I'm quite low, and one bag won't keep me for long - I could just see myself having to come back next Friday ... and then I thought of putting the staff to work and asked whether they maybe have more in stock. I got lucky! They brought out another four bags, so now I got five!
When I went back to get some cat food, I saw another bag at the back of the shelf - I hope I won't regret not taking it!
Last, I got greedy with the chocolate - they didn't have my favourite flavour (plain milk) so I took half top deck and half dark. I took twenty bars - I do NOT want to run out again, ha ha! And just to be safe, I also took some small bars - hazelnut wafers and creamy hazelnut chocolate.
It was five when I finally sat in the car for a smoke while waiting for the traffic update - which didn't come on, so I gave up and decided to give the highway a chance. When I approached the on-ramp to the N1, I saw that traffic was still flowing slowly and my heart sank again ... it would be a long time before I got home! I figured I could get off just before the blocked toll-gates and go around them, although it would cost me more in tolls than going through.
I was surprised to see traffic moving at a tolerable pace - instead of the 5-20 km/h I had expected, we were going 60 - 80 most of the time. Imagine going 5 km/h for 15 km! I kept hoping for a traffic update - and it came while I was going through a no-signal stretch. Sigh. Traffic only slowed down to 0-20 km/h for the last 1 1/2 km, which would have been frustrating if I hadn't been expecting so much worse!
It was six when I finally stopped outside our gate. Poor mippies were not impressed with my late arrival! And then, instead of making time for them, I first offloaded the car, and then packed all perishables in the fridge or freezer. I left the sand for tomorrow to offload, though.
They were ready come in fairly quickly, though. We have a new ritual, where they don't get their munchies until I get my Mew-Mew kisses! Mewthos just has to hold his face still, so I can kiss his nose - which he loves! Even while waiting for food!
Sigh, and then mippies went cuddle-mad! Mipping and pawing and purring and head-butting and going on and on and one - which is why I'm only writing this now, after nine! I didn't bother with dinner, just gobbled a bar of chocolate.
Mippies are quietly waiting for me to join them on the bed, now. Apparently I've scratched enough ears and tickled all the tummies and played mousey long enough to keep them quiet for a bit. Just long enough to finish writing, at least.
Funny how the most write-worthy thing in my life is a shopping trip, eh? Well, I've got some more kitchen experiments planned for this weekend - though first, I'll have to re-pack and freeze all the meat I got today.
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