Do you think that is the worst day to head to the store as well? I was wondering if I should postpone my visit to the Ralph’s pharmacy until Monday? In normal times, I would assume that a grocery store would be less busy on a Monday morning when people were headed to work than on a Sunday when they might be doing their weekly grocery shopping. But now when nobody other than essential workers are headed to work (and if you are an essential worker, then probably you aren’t necessarily just working M-F), I didn’t know if there would be any difference between a Sunday and a Monday. Half the time, I don’t even know what day of the week it is – the days just meld together.
The best time to go to the store is never.
Depends on the market, but I believe many suppliers don’t deliver on Saturdays and more don’t deliver on Sundays. So Monday morning the market may still be understocked from weekend shopping. Maybe around 2pm on a weekday afternoon seems like a good bet to me. Trader Joe’s was not busy at all at those times a couple of weeks ago.
Many people are working from home their usual hours.
If you have a prescription to pick up at a pharmacy, have it delivered, or drive by and see if the line is such that you’d rather try another time.
Just read a couple of news articles that markets are considering stopping in-store shopping because employees are being exposed and getting sick. Not good!
Went to the MDR one on Monday and it was impressive how well stocked it was… they only had limits on Chicken and Eggs…
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Just back from my Monday 2:00 p.m. excursion to Ralph’s - my first time inside a store since before Governor Newsom’s lockdown order.
I wouldn’t say it was super crowded, but on the other hand, it wasn’t super empty either. I would say it was busier than you might expect to see on a Monday workday early afternoon.
Some people were wearing masks, but plenty were not – despite the periodic announcement from the loudspeaker that you needed to be masked. I guess they can’t exactly have a mask monitor.
I had to wind my way to the very back of the store to hit the pharmacy counter and the aisles are not wide enough that it would be possible to maintain 6 feet distancing. I had to zigzag to find empty aisles.
Thankfully no one was at the pharmacy counter. Since my last visit there prior to the lockdown, they had installed a plexiglass counter stand on the counter where you go to pick up your prescription. Paid in cash and told them to keep the change (thankfully I was traveling so much pre-pandemic that I’m well stocked on small bills as I was stockpiling them to use for tips to bellmen, hotel staff, etc. - not something I will need in the foreseeable future). Another welcome change – they’ve abandoned the idiotic touchscreen that you have to touch to decline a consultation with the pharmacist. I think they can assume in these days of COVID that no one wants to speak to a pharmacist regarding a routine prescription.
There were a few grocery items I could have picked up, but I was in no way shape or form interested in interacting with my fellow shoppers in those narrow aisles, so hightailed it out of there without groceries and will put in a Yummy order later this week.
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They can have the employees at the door who are limiting the number of customers in the store refuse entry to people without masks. That’s required by law where I live.
Prescription delivery saves going to the store. I recommend Costco, they’re cheaper. Instead of charging me my insurer’s copay, they work out some kind of deal, so my four regular prescriptions cost me a total of $7.74 a month.
Ralph’s unfortunately doesn’t do delivery prescriptions. And a long time ago I switched this particular prescription to Ralph’s because all generic brands are not the same and Ralph’s had the generic version I prefer and other pharmacies did not.
Anyway, it wasn’t as bad as I expected given the pharmacy area was empty. Just wasn’t interested in grocery shopping.
Some stores are requiring it. The two I went to most recenty, Trader Joes and Tokyo Central both had door monitors and enforecement of masks However, the wording in L…A. is a little vague… They May be able to refuse if you don’t wear…
Since the masks more than anything else are for others, the main others being an employee… I would be hesistant to shop at a place that did not do their best to protect their staff… But then again… I’ve been avoiding Ralphs since they instituted that stupid 50 cent charge for cash back… 
Our TJs is letting people in as other leave but no mandate re masks but all employees wear them.
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My Costco “2-Day Delivery” order I placed a week ago today was just picked up from Ceres by UPS, supposed to arrive tomorrow.
Oh, yeah, sign me up.
0 cases as of today in siskiyou county . Yay .
12 cases in Washoe County (Reno) since yesterday 
Our governor is just right this minute saying we won’t go to phase 1 until there have been 14 days of decreasing cases. I’m glad. There’s no way that WE’RE going to change until at least June. But aren’t we glad that we enjoy cooking 
Take care, buddy.
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that policy was being enforced at the ranch 99 in alhambra. moreover, they were denying entrance to people with their own bags.
circumstances have prompted me to start clearing out certain stockpiled food including a number of lbs. of skinless chicken breast, a bag of somewhat rancid roasted almonds, and the remaining quick pickles i made at the beginning of the month: chicken salad. i ran a cup of the whole almonds through the food processor and then toasted the almond bits in a cast iron pan. at first i was worried that i’d blackened some of the almond bits, but i discovered that beyond the texture contrast they lent a delightful smokiness to the chicken salad. the diced pickled carrot, onion & serrano pepper added more crunch, heat and acidity. i’m on my fourth open faced sandwich (toasted wheat bread) and feeling reasonably content.
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Good news Spice Lovers… Penzey has re-opened after taking three weeks to figure out their social distancing plan. They are a bit backlogged on orders, but still taking and shipping them. Put in a big order today after making some NY System Chili Dog sauce (It was beyond delicious!)
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Second CSA box from Riverdog. Compared with Full Belly, bigger quantities of fewer things. The bunch of curly kale was huge, as were the heads of baby red Romaine.
- 1.50 lbs Gold Oak Mandarins
- 1 bu White Spring Onions
- 1 bu Orange Carrots
- 1 lb-bu Asparagus
- 1 bu Curly Kale
- .75 lbs Baby Red Romaine
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The Apple Farm does not normally do mail-order but they are at the moment. Just send them an email. Their cider vinegar is the best and their apple “balsamic” is unique. Their cider syrup is great for sweetening apple pies.
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Cal Expo, the California State Fair has been cancelled due to Covid-19. The expo usually hosted producer competitions for Cheese, Olive Oil, Wine and Beer. CalExpo has provided a page with links to all the producers who were entered in these categories. so that consumers can continue to support them during the pandemic.
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That’s great! We’re lucky to have a number to lots of farmers and ranchers so we can literally go to them. Our farmers markets will certainly not open any time soon.
San Diego county has 67 farmer’s markets every week. All of them were closed down when all this coronavirus stuff began. Several have reopened including our 2 largest but with incredibly stringent requirements. All of the non-food craft and cottage industry vendors are gone, they’ve only allowed the farmers and a couple of meat/seafood vendors in the markets.
People forget that SD was once a major fishing port. We still have a very active fishing community. Our weekly buy-from-the-boat market is still open which has been a godsend for everyone. Tuna loins are going for $10/# or less.
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