Shopping by RV

[kevin_standlee]

The last time we went shopping in Reno/Sparks was just before Worldcon. While we've been trying to keep things well stocked, stuff is starting to run out, with one of the signs being my breakfast today.



We rather liked Odwalla juices and smoothies, but Coca-Cola, who bought the company in 2001, decided it wasn't making enough money and shut it down at the end of July. When the stocks currently in store run out or expire, that is the end. And as I'd run out of my normal breakfast (blueberry yogurt, preferably Tillamook), this morning I drank what I assume will be the last ever blueberry Odwalla I'll ever have.

Because the relatively cool spell we've had is forecast to end tomorrow, and because shopping on Friday-Sunday means having to dodge more idiots, it was time to refill the larder. Because the fan on the Astro's air conditioner has quit (and I've not made arrangements to have it diagnosed and fixed), I thought maybe it was time to take the Rolling Stone for a spin. As all plans for me to work from the Bay Area office were scuppered by the pandemic, the RV has hardly moved for months aside from when we moved it from the back of the house to the front to make more room for a project we're doing out back. Unfortunately, the air conditioning in the RV isn't working all that well, either, but at least the fan works and it does produce some cold air, so it was off to Reno/Sparks as soon as I could get off work.

As I merged onto the freeway heading west, there was a terrible racket coming from the back of the vehicle. Looking in the window, I saw what was wrong. Some of the rubber trim that covers screws on the upper part of the RV had cracked in the heat and was flapping around in the airflow, banging against the side of the vehicle. I exited at the rest area west of Wadsworth and removed the loose rubber trim. I suppose I can get a replacement for this stuff somewhere.

This was purely a functional trip: first to WinCo, then to Raley's. As I've mentioned before, while the shell of the RV is large, the amount of room to store stuff isn't that great, and putting $300 worth of groceries into the RV is a bit challenging, but I managed. As I expected, there was no more blueberry Odwalla in the case, but there was some of the chocolate, which Lisa likes, and it's good until October, so four of those went into the basket.

Perishables like milk and eggs I can get at the Family Dollar store between here and the post office (you see it behind the photos I post of the NLCFPD signs like the one from yesterday), so with luck it will be a while before having to brave the stores again. At least today the stores were not crowded, and nearly everyone was wearing a mask, and most of them were wearing them properly (over their noses). I thanked the clerks at both stores for doing so, and they seemed relieved. One of them said, "I wish more customers were like you."

My feeling is that arguing with a virus is like arguing with gravity after you jump off a cliff. Both are just as effective at changing the ultimate outcome.

Comments

[scott_sanford]

Some of the rubber trim that covers screws on the upper part of the RV had cracked in the heat and was flapping around in the airflow, banging against the side of the vehicle.

I've got a daily commute, so when did my door trim come loose? En route to Westercon in Layton, about thirty miles outside Portland. Luckily the door is shaped such that the door trim could be secured with a paperclip.

[history_monk]

arguing with a virus is like arguing with gravity

Absolutely, but the UK and the USA both seem to have a lot of people who think that everything works via human social structures, and thus complaining long and hard enough is effective. Failures in this can be put down to conspiracies.

I've had to explain to people who don't see the world this way that by current standards they're strongly biased towards scientific rationalism.

[mount_oregano]

Thank you, History Monk, for this!