Steerpike

Two years ago, I was stressed out in a serious manner. I was losing weight, and since I'm already a skinny rake, this was not good. I did everything I could to put on weight, including drinking 'Ensure'! Stress just kills my desire to eat (I know it's the opposite for many). One day, a friend introduced me to Poutine. I think Poutine was single-handedly responsible for getting me back on track! There is something entirely delightful about the dish - crispy french-fries that are at the same time soggy with gravy; crispy cheese curds, similarly soggy at the same time; tender pork; and to cap it all, literally and figuratively, a fried egg on top! Oh my. I loved it! Now, I had it first at a brew-pub, and loved it, but then tried it somewhere else and it was awful ... so it has to be prepared in just the right manner ... Haven't eaten it in over a year though ... not the kind of think you want to eat if you value your health!

I bought an espresso machine for about $400. You can pay anything from $50 to $5,000 or more for them. For $400 you get decent pressure and control, but no automation (I've had cheaper and pricier ones in the past). It's 'just right' for my taste. I was buying 2 big latte's a day at $4 each, so that's $8 per day; $2,920 per year. So paying $400 for a machine was not a bad investment! I make 3 big latte's a day for myself now ... the highlight of my day
Edit to add - the other cost is of course the coffee, but I buy bulk whole beans and grind my own. A $10 bag lasts quite a while. And then there's milk - $2 / gallon?

Cape Blue

Big move by the UK gov - 80% of wages paid by the state.

Bit of a relief to be honest, I though some tenants might start saying they couldn't pay their rent and I'm now barred from kicking them out.

Steerpike

I believe LIW lives in Illinois, USA. I live in AZ, USA. I just checked with Safeway, Fry's (Kroger), and Sprouts - they are all offering local delivery to me. So I still can't fathom what she is saying.

Lion in Winter

I've no idea. We can order online from Amazon of course, but no supermarket delivers groceries. You can place an order online, but you have to go and pick it up. Or use an expensive third-party service like PeaPod and order online from them.

Lion in Winter

Explained above.

Cape Blue

I seem to remember reading that you can't buy a Tesla in Texas (because they do not have dealerships and the dealerships lobbied against direct sales) and of course one cannot pump ones own gas in a couple of States. I wonder who was against grocery store online shopping and delivery in IL?

Lion in Winter

Al Capone?

Jsmth321

US/Canada border restrictions will begin at midnight (I believe the Mexico/US border will be restricted as well.)

For Canada this is what is being reported as to who can still cross into the US

• Returning U.S. citizens and permanent residents
• Those travelling for medical purposes or to attend school
• Those travelling to work in the U.S. (“e.g., individuals working in the farming or agriculture industry who must travel between the United States and Canada in furtherance of such work”)
• Those travelling for “emergency response and public health purposes” — which includes government and emergency responders
• Truck drivers and others “engaged in lawful cross-border trade”
• Official government/diplomatic travel
• Members of the U.S. Armed Forces and those on military-related travel

Steerpike

I just searched for supermarkets in Illinois; Kroger are active in Peoria (I don't know where you live so picked a central location). I then went to kroger's website and put in the zip code 61615 (Peoria). Delivery was an option.

Maybe you can't get delivery in your neighborhood, wherever that may be, but why did you phrase it as 'not allowed in the land of the free', suggesting this is a nationwide thing? It must be a local thing related to where you live.

sid nv

Looks like delivery service is available in the Illinois area. It may be expensive to have the luxury of home delivery, and the consumer may be filling the exploitive coffers of 3rd party delivery companies that despatch drivers poorly paid but vacuously unaware due to being light-headed with Lysol fumes. But order the groceries and they will come.
https://www.instacart.com/grocery-delivery/chicago-il

Lion in Winter

You are way over-thinking this. It was a flippant remark. And thankfully, I don't live anywhere near Peoria. I live on the edge of Chicago.

Did you think I was making this up? Why would I do that? Why are you searching it? Why does anyone even care?

Lion in Winter

Yep. Instacart is a third party service, and you pay extra. Ditto Peapod. The supermarkets don't deliver.


I don't know why you're all getting so worked up about this.

Steerpike

Following your 'instacart' link, I see they do delivery for approx. 20 establishments (see below) but not Kroger. Kroger are therefore doing it themselves, or, using another service. They appear to charge a flat-fee of $9.95, but I didn't go far enough into it to find out if you can get that waived with quantity, etc. (I'm screwing up all my cookies changing my zip-code like this ) .

Lion in Winter

Third parties, for which you pay extra. Supermarkets don't deliver.

You may have the money to spare, I don't.

macliam

Here in the UK, supermarkets DO deliver, but a low percentage of customers use that option regularly. So, only an idiot would think that the supermarkets would be in the position to deliver to just about everyone, right? Unfortunately, being an idiot appears to be a career skill amongst those forming policy and so we are left with deliveries being available..... but only with a 3-week delay because no bookable slots are available - and that's not likely to improve any time soon. Now the "obvious light" has come on, various alternatives are being introduced, the postie delivering bread, etc., but these are voluntary actions and the truth is, the vast majority of people will have to go to the shop.....

Another area where idiocy reigns (or perhaps just a lack of common sense) is that the "silver hour"s introduced by UK supermarkets to allow the elderly to shop before stock is depleted have not been policed, so that they have been ignored and pensioners elbowed out of the way by the "survivor of the fittest" enthisiasts. My local supermarket in Portugal reduced the day from one 12-hour shift to 2 4-hour shifts (to preempt staff shortages and allow for shelf restocking) and only allow 40 people in the shop at any one time, after which it's one out, one in (social distancing). This is policed by using two of their security people on the door just barring the way. Portugal already has a general policy of priority service for the elderly and the disabled, so no knee-jerk "silver hour" was necessary..... Bravo!!