August 18

Sunny for the moment but we had unexpected rain storms yesterday. We don't have any errands today--at least not now. I boiled down a ham bone yesterday so I will get the meat and broth in jars and in the freezer. When I finished the meat off the bone prior to boiling I packaged three boxes of pieces for freezing. We'll see what else I get done today.

Something I saw Tuesday while shopping (besides the gas at $4.39/gal) was a renovation at one of the major stores we shop at. They are reconfiguring their check-out lines to convert a large part of the area into self-checkouts. We won't be going there because when we go there we are seriously shopping and will easily exceed the limits for those lanes. But they have also removed the bagging carousels. Before the pandemic we used our canvas bags even though it did slow the line somewhat. During the pandemic the plastic bag manufacturers touted their single-use bags  as a "sanitary" measure. The store insisted the customers not use their own bags because the cashier had to handle them to get them set up on the carousel. My first comment to the person who bagged our groceries that I was glad I could now bring my own bags and, if a bagger wasn't there, bag my own. All without slowing down the line. She said that the changes were the result of customers' comments. I am glad I can go back to using my own bags.