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Old Pharts Club

Draconigena

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Let's see if I can put together this shopping critique I promised. It might be informative to some of you or it might be a wasted read. You decide.

A couple of you already know that we live so far out in the boondocks that I only go shopping one day a month (usually the fourth Wednesday), and that drive is about 250 miles through four counties with stops to shop in five cities/towns. I will add some comments regarding each stop and maybe that will help.

Stop 1: Town: Newell, population appx. 500, Store: Dollar General.Nothing different than the last time I stopped for a pop and snack. No employee was wearing a mask, store hours appeared to be normal, no areas blocked off
Stop 2: Town: Belle Fourche, population 5,622, Store: Dakota Mill and Grain. You couldn't tell it wasn't last year. There was no indication anyone was in the least concerned about some stupid-ass flu bug.
Stop 3: Town: Belle Fourche, population 5,622, Store: Runnings. Same comments as Dakota Mill except a couple employees were wearing face masks.
Stop 4: Town: Spearfish, population 11,688, Store: Walmart. This place has two large entrance/exit areas and one of them was blocked off to customer use (the sign said Associates Only). Inside, most employees wore face masks, but all shelves were fully stocked and there were no requirements to purchase only one item (an improvement over last month). I got everything on my shopping list, but in a couple instances I had to get brands I didn't normally get because obviously some customers were still buying more than they used to.
Stop 5: Town: Rapid City, population 70,638. Store: Sam's Club. Almost all the things that were hoarded last month were back in stock, some slightly less than normal (toilet paper) and some overstocked (paper towels). Most employees and about half the customers were wearing something on their faces, though Gawd help me, I cannot understand why anyone would think wrapping a scarf or bandana around their face will protect them from any aerosol virus. The really funny part of this store was that most aisles had yellow tape X's on the floor about six feet apart and there were signs everywhere that we should keep a distance of six feet between us and the next customer. No one was paying any attention to that rule.
Stop 6: Town: Rapid City, population 70,638. Store: Sam's Club gas station. Same as normal but the price was down to $1.629.
Stop 7: Town: Rapid City, population 70,638. Store: Menards. For those who don't know, this is kinda like Home Depot or Lowes, but cheaper. Inside the store, everything was the same as if it was last year. Employees and customers appeared to be doing business as normal, though again many were wearing masks that couldn't possibly stop a bug. The thing that threw me here was a big sign outside the entrance announcing the COVID-19 rules: No one under 16 years of age or pets were allowed in the store until the government declared the crisis over. Must be an order from corporate headquarters (as I suspect was also the case for Walmart and Sam's) because this is simply NOT a South Dakota attitude. And I thought children were less susceptible to this than us old pharts. Oh well...
Stop 8: Town: Sturgis, population 6,627, Store: Dakotamart. A friendly local chain grocery store (I needed some coffee the other stores didn't carry). The only thing different here was plexiglass shields at the checkout, presumably so I couldn't sneeze on the checker. I asked her about it and she couldn't hear me, so she leaned around the end, as did I, and I then informed her it wouldn't help because I was now breathing on her.
Stop 9: Town: Newell, population appx. 500, Store: Conoco gas. Same as Dollar General (across the street), but they also had a large plexiglass sheet in front of the cash register. No one was wearing masks. Gas price was $1.799.

Don't know if that information has any value to you, but the day before (Tuesday) when I went over to a neighboring ranch to get about 500 pounds of oats for my chickens, I was informed that the national bullshit information (online) suggested that Meade County (where I live, containing Sturgis as the only city, one small town, pop. 390, and a couple villages of 50 or less) has 5,000 cases of COVID-19. My friend then laughed because he knows the chief of the county health council personally, who told him on the QT that there is only one verified case in our entire county (an elderly guy in Sturgis). Why is the government and media telling the world that a county that is 99% ranchers has 5,000 cases when we have only one? Because they want to SCARE you and it is a bald-faced LIE! So how many of the other numbers (NYC? LA?) are pure bullshit?
 
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gopher_byrd

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Something to lighten up your day. :giggle:
94517704_10160934050366959_4742157229275217920_o.jpg
 

Draconigena

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Sorry I didn't stick around last night. At 12:10 AM, no one was logged on and I was exhausted, so I just crashed. I see that if I had waited another 11 minutes, Dale showed up. Oh well.

Today I need to empty/clean/move/refill the horse trough (weather now dictates it gets moved outside), then if time allows, clean out the chicken coop. I am gonna be totally exhausted by the end of this day, but I'll try to stay awake a little longer. o_O :)
 

Draconigena

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I'm 56yo but feel like I'm 80yo.
Welcome, Don. Your actual age is fairly irrelevant here. Most of those of us who are still here spend our time bitching about the way things are today compared to "the good old days." Scan the last few pages and you can see that us old pharts are old by state of mind rather than how many birthdays we've had, so jump in and join the fracas. :)
 

Don29palms

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Welcome, Don. Your actual age is fairly irrelevant here. Most of those of us who are still here spend our time bitching about the way things are today compared to "the good old days." Scan the last few pages and you can see that us old pharts are old by state of mind rather than how many birthdays we've had, so jump in and join the fracas. :)
That's kinda funny. I was having this same discussion with a friend the other day. I have always been raised to believe in personal responsibility. It seems nowadays that it has become a "it's not my fault" society.
If I drive my Jeep to the bar and drink Budweiser and Jack Daniels until I can barely walk then get in my Jeep and crash into a telephone pole I can then sue the bar, the bartender, Jeep, General Tires, the city and state for the street being there, the manufacturer of the telephone pole and the electric company, the cable company and the telephone company because they use the telephone pole. I'm sure there are a few others that can be named in the lawsuit. In all reality we all know there is only one responsible party in that scenario. The idiot that was drinking then driving the Jeep.
 

2WhiteWolves

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Hi, Draco and Inspects :)
Nice to meet you and welcome to the Old Pharts thread, Don29palms :wave:

Very good memes this evening, Draco. Yes, mom will like all the new ones, she really liked the others. She sent 'em to my step aunt and her friends, so who knows how far they all go. And, I'm sure the new ones will go the same :)

Sent from....Somewhere on Tapatalk
 

Draconigena

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Well, looks like no one is here again tonight and because I am totally exhausted, I'm gonna crawl in the sack with a shitload of pussies (kats, you perverts). :) We hit 80 degrees today and I took down the storm windows and installed screens, then finished cleaning out the chicken coop and wheeling their shit to the compost pile. My back is screaming and I will probably have leg cramps again in my sleep. Oh well...
 

Don29palms

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Well, looks like no one is here again tonight and because I am totally exhausted, I'm gonna crawl in the sack with a shitload of pussies (kats, you perverts). :) We hit 80 degrees today and I took down the storm windows and installed screens, then finished cleaning out the chicken coop and wheeling their shit to the compost pile. My back is screaming and I will probably have leg cramps again in my sleep. Oh well...
Couple norco and tylenol PM you'll sleep like a baby
 

Draconigena

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Couple norco and tylenol PM you'll sleep like a baby
Thanks for the suggestion, Don. :) Guess I should probably share some history (those of you who have already heard this crap can ignore this post :rolleyes: ). I was declared 100% disabled about 20 years ago (major screwed up spine, now cracked at L3, bad knees, both of which have been replaced with titanium joints, etc., etc.) and have been on hydrocodone (5/500 -- 5mg of codene, 500mg of acetaminophen -- two pills, four times a day to start, reduced to 5/325 once the FDA decided that 4g of acetaminophen a day might ruin your liver), Anyway, Tylenol is just an expensive version of generic acetaminophen (pain reliever and a fever reducer, primarily affects the nerves to deaden pain) and Telenol PM adds Diphenhydramine (an antihistamine that reduces the natural chemical histamine in the body. Histamine can produce symptoms of sneezing, itching, watery eyes, and runny nose). I don't need the latter. Norco has always mystified me because the description of it is "acetaminophen plus hydrocodone," but given that hydrocodone already contains acetaminophen, why not simply double your dosage instead of going to the prescription of hydrocodone? So, I am guessing, because you also have a back problem, that you have this prescription and, like me, probably couldn't survive a normal day's labor without such a pain killer. Enter here the stubborn factor. See, according to the doctors, I should not be doing any of this farm labor. My drugs are not capable of totally eliminating the pain that comes with shoveling shit or lifting 50-60 pound bags of grain (you know those doctors... "Thou shalt not lift anything in excess of 10 pounds.") Yeah, right, doc. You try taking care of all these critters. And Gawd only knows, ain't no way I'm gonna try to make my wife do all this crap alone; she has some major owies too and we share the load because we share the benefits (fresh raw milk and eggs). All the above bullshit is said to make the next statement have meaning: We do what needs doing and we're willing to pay the price, one day at a time. So just ignore me the next time I bitch about being in pain -- it comes with the chosen lifestyle.
 

Don29palms

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Thanks for the suggestion, Don. :) Guess I should probably share some history (those of you who have already heard this crap can ignore this post :rolleyes: ). I was declared 100% disabled about 20 years ago (major screwed up spine, now cracked at L3, bad knees, both of which have been replaced with titanium joints, etc., etc.) and have been on hydrocodone (5/500 -- 5mg of codene, 500mg of acetaminophen -- two pills, four times a day to start, reduced to 5/325 once the FDA decided that 4g of acetaminophen a day might ruin your liver), Anyway, Tylenol is just an expensive version of generic acetaminophen (pain reliever and a fever reducer, primarily affects the nerves to deaden pain) and Telenol PM adds Diphenhydramine (an antihistamine that reduces the natural chemical histamine in the body. Histamine can produce symptoms of sneezing, itching, watery eyes, and runny nose). I don't need the latter. Norco has always mystified me because the description of it is "acetaminophen plus hydrocodone," but given that hydrocodone already contains acetaminophen, why not simply double your dosage instead of going to the prescription of hydrocodone? So, I am guessing, because you also have a back problem, that you have this prescription and, like me, probably couldn't survive a normal day's labor without such a pain killer. Enter here the stubborn factor. See, according to the doctors, I should not be doing any of this farm labor. My drugs are not capable of totally eliminating the pain that comes with shoveling shit or lifting 50-60 pound bags of grain (you know those doctors... "Thou shalt not lift anything in excess of 10 pounds.") Yeah, right, doc. You try taking care of all these critters. And Gawd only knows, ain't no way I'm gonna try to make my wife do all this crap alone; she has some major owies too and we share the load because we share the benefits (fresh raw milk and eggs). All the above bullshit is said to make the next statement have meaning: We do what needs doing and we're willing to pay the price, one day at a time. So just ignore me the next time I bitch about being in pain -- it comes with the chosen lifestyle.
I completely understand. I've been a heavy Mobile equipment mechanic for the last 25 years. It's come to the point now my job is forcing me to retire. I was going to wait another 6 years but oh well. Retirement just let's me get out of the USSK ( United Socialist State of Kalifornia) that much earlier. I'd like to say I wish you no painful times in your endeavors but I know that is an impossibility.
 

Don29palms

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That's a good name for it. We used to live in Orygun and always referred to your state as the Peeple's Republic of Kalifornication. But then they moved north and took over Orygun, so we moved here, to one of the last totally conservative states.
Yeah it seems the mentally defective from Kalifornia are spreading their sickness all over the country. Oregon and Washington are already polluted beyond redemption. A friend moved to Washington. He loves the area where he lives. It's up in the mountains in the middle on nowhere. He absolutely hates going into the city. It always amazes me when people move because they don't like where they are living the try to change the new place to be like where they came from. Once I'm able to escape the USSk I will not to being here in the first place. I will have a place out in the desert and if someone comes on my property they will be shot for trespassing.
 

Draconigena

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He absolutely hates going into the city
Where I live, if you bothered to read the shopping trip report, I have to shop to fill our multiple freezers one day per month and that is 250 miles round trip. This is, it is 110 miles one way to Sam's Club/Walmart. The closet village to where we live is 27.5 miles east of here. They have a small grocery store, but many things on the shelves are already past their pull dates and the price is about twice what Wally World charges. I figure NOT shopping there pays for my gas to go to the "big city." I hate having to do that shopping trip, but it is one of the things in life I just have to tolerate.
 

Don29palms

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I was talking to a friend today and it reminded me of something. Can anyone remember the days before everything was dependent on computers? To make a long story short the time keeping process changed at work. You now have to verify your time once a week ON THE COMPUTER. I'm a mechanic. I have no use for the computer. My computer access ran out because I hadn't signed onto the work computer for close to 2 years. My supervisor requested to have my access renewed. The response was "We sent the instructions to his email." See a problem here? After the forms were sent they denied me access again saying I needed to do a security clearance ON THE COMPUTER. This frustrating battle has been going on for approximately 6 months. It's always "email me this" or "get on this website". I need to just make a recording that says "I DON'T HAVE ACCESS TO A FUCKING COMPUTER! THAT'S WHY I'M DOING THIS STUPID SHIT TO BEGIN WITH!" ARRGGGHHHH!
 

Draconigena

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Can anyone remember the days before everything was dependent on computers?
Yeah, yesterday. :) OK, serious for a moment. My wife and I both have computers, but only use them to e-mail friends or BS on these forums. We refuse to allow them to make us dependent on them or allow them to dominate our lives. More brief history here: Back in 1976 I was a design draftsman /illustrator for a large west coast electronics company. I did my job with a pencil on paper. There were a few computers (dumb terminals) that connected to a mainframe in the next building, but the only people who used them were geeks typing in code. A few of those guys set up a computer near my drafting area and were running tests. I was interested, so they let me poke a few keys now and then. It was something called a Tektronix 4081 stand-alone computer-aided design-drafting computer (you can see it on the bridge of the original Battlestar Galactica series). Then one day the Computer Science Center posted a job for someone to teach people how to use this thing and, apparently, other than those programmers, I was the only one who knew how and had the teaching ability they were looking for, so I became the first official CAD instructor in a company of 23,000 employees. Nope, never had a problem with computers. They are just a piece of hardware. What became a problem was the people who program them and think they know better than you how something should be done, so they start dictating what you can and can't do. Then some asshole decided to put the computer mentality into a cell phone. Then an even bigger asshole decided we should all talk to each other (even if you are only in the next room) by texting via some dumb-ass program called Facebook, then... Well, you all get the picture. They are trying to control your life. It is up to you to say, loudly, "Fuck Off and Die You Mother Fucking Son of a Bitch!!!" I use my computer only when it suits MY needs. Even though, once upon a time, I was in the Geek class, I woke up and decide I, and only I, will control my life.
 

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