Kroger vs HEB

Whoa! It has been over month since I last posted. Gol-ly!

This has nothing to do with transitioning to life in S Asia, but I still wanted to share, since we have been anticipating the opening of the new HEB on Buffalo Speedway, which is in our neighborhood in Houston.

We went to the Grand Opening of HEB Buffalo Market and had a devil of a time finding a parking space. A couple of the reviews I read pointed out the small parking area. I feel sorry for the folks who want to eat at Buffalo Grille, but cannot find parking since they share the same lot. (By the way, we had breakfast at Buffalo Grille last Sunday and the food was WONDERFUL - I had forgotten how much we enjoy that place! Plus, I ran into one of my old students from my very first year of teaching. He is 25 now!! I had him in World History and he commented that it was a good class and I made it fun. I love running into old students!)

Back to HEB. It was fairly crowded and reminded Jerry of a circus atmosphere. There were lots of "stations" to visit. I was very impressed with the varieties of fresh bread, cheeses and meats. There were samples galore - my fav was probably the homemade mozzarella. We had planned to eat lunch at their Cafe on the Run (which was pretty small), but we had enough samples to fill us up.

The weekend before we went to the Kroger across the street that had its grand re-opening to compete with HEB. I was REALLY impressed and wondered how HEB could possible out-do Kroger. The samples were great, including a half-pint of Graeter's ice cream. (Side review: For the price, Ben and Jerry's is better. And for cheaper ice cream, Blue Bell will do for me. It was kinda funny that Blue Bell was on sale 2 half-gallons for $5. Everyone was eating the free Graeter's, but had Blue Bell in their carts!)

Back to Kroger vs. HEB. I thought the calif roll at Kroger was better than the sushi at HEB. Also, I did not like the seafood people at HEB who were shouting for customers to come to their area. It sounded like we were on the midway at a carnival. Also, the sales at Kroger were WAY better, except for the fresh lobster at HEB. See below for price. Kroger has really expanded their prepared food area. I look forward to eating some meals in the new upstairs dining area that overlooks the supermarket when we move back to Houston.

Bottom line - we'll keep doing our regular grocery shopping at Kroger, but if we need specialty items or the HEB flier has an exceptional sale, we will go there.

Competition is always good for the consumer. Here is what we had for lunch the day before we came back to S Asia:

steamed lobster: HEB - 5.99/lb
steamed asparagus: Kroger - .99/lb
bing cherries: Kroger - .99/lb.
mac n cheese mixed with cut up hot dogs - hotdogs were .55 for a 14oz Oscar Meyer at Kroger

P.S. I also ran into an old student at Kroger!

There is a first time for everything

I have a boil. It is on my arm. Near my wrist. It is gross and painful. When I think of boils, I think of the ten plagues from the Old Testament - remember Moses and Pharaoh? How is it that I have a boil?

But I do. And I have learned that lots of people get them here. It's because of the heat.

At least several times a day, I think to myself, "I have a boil. I can't believe I have a boil."

And at least several times a day, I hold up my arm to Jerry and say, "I have a boil."

I tried taking a picture, so you could see it, but the photo does not do justice to the real thing. I did not even know what boils looked like until I got one. It started off looking like a pimple, but then the skin around it swelled up, turned red and hurt like heck. I asked around and was told I have a boil.

I have a boil. I can't believe I have a boil.

Better than a bidet

One thing I will REALLY miss about living here is this:

Not the toilet, but the white hose-looking thing to the right. I do not know the official name for it, but I call it a sprayer. Its cultural use is to spray your bum after you go short toilet (pee) or long toilet (poop) instead of using toilet paper. I use the sprayer AND toilet paper. The sprayer for the bits and the rinse and then the toilet paper for the dry.

I think it is better than a bidet because you do not have to move to another contraption to get the "rinse" and you have control over where the stream is spraying as well as the intensity. I have asked Jerry if he can install one wherever we end up living when we move back to Houston. He has said, "Yes."

So, if you end up coming over to our place in Houston one day and need to go to the bathroom...

well, it's interesting to me

I find that my facebook status is usually about the weather. And I think - this is probably really boring to most people, but the reason I put it out there is that it is really fascinating to me how hot and humid it gets here. Yesterday the heat index was 153 degrees. Can you imagine that? Well, I can honestly say that not only can I imagine it - I have felt it and it is HOT! I was just telling someone who just moved here that I used to try to describe the heat, but now all I can say is, "It is hot; it is really hot."

This is for my sister - I found myself telling Jerry a couple of weeks ago, "I know I am spoiled, but I have endured alot!"

First Meal

Even though we will not be going home for another six weeks, Jerry and I have already talked about what our first meal will be when we get to Houston - Chick-fil-A milkshake and Popeye's Fried Chicken!

My husband said so

I went by myself to cancel our membership at BigFlix, a DVD rental place, primarily because we do not rent enough to justify the monthly fee and we have already lost one movie.

When I told the clerk I wanted to cancel, he tried to persuade me not to. Then I told him why and he tried to persuade me again. Then I said that I just wanted to cancel and then he tried to persuade me again. Finally, I had to resort to, "My husband says we are canceling." That did the trick.

It is pretty interesting how women are identified through their husbands and fathers. On almost any application and definitely any gov't application, if you are a woman, you have to write your father's name or husband's name and occupation. Women are commonly announced as "wife of" or "daughter of" so-and-so.

I could go on and on about the treatment of women, but it's my birthday!!! Hooray for me - I love being a woman!

No news is good news?

Yesterday, Jerry was reading the newspaper and it said something about how there would be no May 2nd edition because of the May 1st May Day holiday. And sure enough, there are no newspapers in our city today. And when I went to check the online edition of the usual newspaper I read, it will give me the news only for May 1st - yesterday.

This happened to me before when I tried to access the newspaper online and kept getting a past date even when I refreshed the page. I just thought it was something wrong with the server. Now I know.

I have never really heard of this ever before in any place ever.