My May Pantry Challenge

by | May 13, 2022 | Food & Drink, LifeSkills, Open Post, Prepper | 160 comments

Recently, I’ve been watching lots of gardening videos on YouTube.  Specifically, about trellising squash and melons.  My garden is small, and I want to get as much as possible out of it.  Watching gardening videos causes YouTube’s algorithm to serve up homesteading videos (I don’t want chickens).  And back in January of 2021, many homesteaders did a pantry challenge where they had to only eat things in their pantries – no grocery stores allowed.

This made me think about my pantry.  I am not prepped for the zombie apocalypse – more like a bad storm or a job loss.  But, I’ve never tested my system and decide that I would test my prep by not going to the grocery, wine, or liquor store for one month.

I decided to do this on May 1, 2022.  I went grocery shopping on April 30th but hadn’t planned on doing this and didn’t buy about half my list because my bill was approaching $100 and I decided I could wait.  On May 1st, I kinda regretted that, but thought it would give the test a little more verisimilitude. What if I lost my job tomorrow?  How awful would it be in terms of what I had to eat?  I have long thought it wouldn’t be a big deal and now I’m about to test it out. I do expect a meat shipment mid-month. I subscribe to a delivery service and if I lost my job tomorrow, I would take the next shipment and then cancel the rest.   I’ll report back in June on how it went.

What do you prep for? Have you ever tested your prepping system?  How did it go?

About The Author

Tulip

Tulip

She is mythical.

160 Comments

  1. UnCivilServant

    homesteaders did a pantry challenge where they had to only eat things in their pantries – no grocery stores allowed.

    I’d starve.

    Okay, probably not, but given my rather fresh memories of stretching said pantry between trips to New Hampshire for groceries because of stupid lockdown rules, I’d be unhappy at least.

  2. kinnath

    It would get boring, be we could go a month with the contents of the freezer, the canned goods, and dry goods that we have in the house.

  3. rhywun

    I’d last a week, two tops. I don’t have the space to be a prepper.

    But I will add that since my kitties departed a couple years ago my cupboards have expanded into the dining area and onto storage bins that line the wall where a dining room table would be for normal people. I’m thinking of putting shelves there so I could squeeze in another couple weeks of food.

  4. hayeksplosives

    I got semi-serious about prepping in Minnesota when I realized there’d be times that roads were impassable due to blizzards and electricity was out. So I made sure to have canned goods and plenty of drinkable water, as well as a grill outside for heating food. We also had tornadoes in Minnesota, so I made sure we had flashlights and tennis shoes in the basement. I learned the shoe thing from Die Hard.

    Then California. Different threats. No tornadoes, but earthquakes and wildfires. Needed to be ready to get out quick or to survive in rubble until rescued. Got a 5 gallon bucket whose lid could convert to a toilet seat (not necessary but, eh). Filled it with good dehydrated meals and packets of potable water.

    Also made a custom first aid kit that is seriously well-equipped with carefully selected medical supplies, including a couple of weeks of my epilepsy medicine and now my husband’s heart medicine. Basic hand tool bag as well.

    Cat carrier is stocked with cat food when not being actively used for ordinary transport.

    So my prepping is geared to “getting the hell out” more than anything. Pantry is well stocked for ordinary needs if we’re stuck at home. Ammo is stocked (thank you, Pahrump!!)

    The other thing I got was a Jackery battery backup sufficient to keep two CPAPs running through the night, plus cell phone charging etc. that was when California started scheduling blackouts just because it was going to be hot and dry. Needed that thing more than I expected. Also got two folding Jackery solar panels to go with it; they allow direct usb device charging even without plugging into the main Jackery unit so that was handy for California planned blackout days.

    • Tulip

      ooh, stocking the cat carrier is a good idea. Consider it stolen.

      • pistoffnick

        I wonder what cat tastes like…

      • rhywun

        Ugh I can’t even.

      • Toxteth O'Grady

        “Es gato.” What movie* was that?

        *90s made, thirties setting, made in Spain.

    • Rat on a train

      5 gallon bucket whose lid could convert to a toilet seat
      Army hack. We had a toilet seat mounted to the frame of a folding table that fit over a trash can for use in cold weather. We had to bag it when it was too cold to dig a cathole.

      I’ve been through the Loma Prieta, Landers, Big Bear and Northridge quakes (all 6+). Fortunately losing power for a couple days was the worst that happened where I was at the time. I witnessed Rayleigh waves travel across a plaza during the Whittier Narrows quake.

  5. Brochettaward

    First, First, First it all out
    These are the things I can’t do without
    Come on
    I’m talking to you, come on
    First, First, First it all out
    These are the things I can’t do without
    Come on
    I’m Firsting to you, come on

  6. TARDis

    I need to do something about water supplies. What are the best options? I have a couple of months of food, but that doesn’t mean shit without water.

  7. hayeksplosives

    Oh, and a hand cranked / solar powered radio with NOAA weather band, reg Am/fm, and shortwave.

    • Tulip

      I have a couple hand crank radio/flashlights. During hurricane Sandy they worked great.

  8. trshmnstr the terrible

    My pantry is small and poorly stocked right now. We’d last maybe 2.5 to 3 months with power on. Maybe 4 to 6 weeks with no power, assuming we had supplemental water. Stored water would last a week, maybe 2.

    Currently, I’m more focused on gaining and maintaining the skills I need to set up a system where we could get by on homegrown food indefinitely once we get out of postage stamp suburbia (3rd of 4 rounds of interviews for a job that would whisk us off to the Ozarks happened today). As it is, this house/lot is piss poor if SHTF. I’d immediately drop all the mature trees if there was a societal crisis that shut off food supply. Can’t grow a productive vegetable garden in 3.5 hours of sun.

    • trshmnstr the terrible

      Oh, and most of that is flour and rice. Everything else is measured in weeks, not months.

    • Tulip

      I’m brushing up my pressure canning skills in anticipation of retirement.

      • trshmnstr the terrible

        Pressure canner is my next pepper purchase. I don’t have any heat source rated to do pressure canning, so it’s more of an investment than just the canner.

      • pistoffnick

        Craigslist or thrift stores. Presto is a good brand.
        I have two, a large and a small. The large one also acts as my still water distiller.

        Be sure to buy extra gaskets. Or you can pay a little extra for the gasket-less ones.

      • pistoffnick

        strike fail

        I don’t have a still, Mr. ATF man

      • MikeS

        I don’t have any heat source rated to do pressure canning

        You don’t have a stovetop? What am I missing here?

      • kinnath

        My wife’s family canned lots of stuff on the kitchen stove when she was young. Water bath or pressure canner. Both work on the stove.

      • pistoffnick

        Some glasstop stoves don’t have enough BTUs to do the job.

      • MikeS

        Ah. Well, then step one would be to ditch the pretty glasstop stove.

      • pistoffnick

        Now you’re cooking with gas!

      • trshmnstr the terrible

        step one would be to ditch the pretty glasstop stove

        I nearly did when I figured out there was a capped gas line behind the oven. However, it’s a rental and I don’t want to play musical appliances when we move out.

      • MikeS

        Right. My whole life I’ve known people that canned both ways on the stove.

      • Brett L

        Instapot is great for this. $150 for all that.

      • The Hyperbole

        Ratings, schmatings. You’re gonna let some corporate suit following government guidelines tell you what you can and can’t do on your stove top.

    • trshmnstr the terrible

      Biggest challenge we had to our system was the snowpocalypse a year back. We didn’t have it as bad as some others, but our power was cycling on and off hourly-ish. It was cold enough outside (-5) that it was getting cold (50s) in the house towards the end of the power-off cycles.

      We used the nat gas “log starter” line to heat the living room during the worst of it, and I had a few other tricks up my sleeve (mostly involving camping equipment exhausting up the chimney) if that didn’t work. Thankfully, it did.

      After that experience, I immediately bought a pair of hurricane lanterns and a clean burning indoor propane heater. I may have grabbed a couple other small things, too, but those were the big ones.

      • Tulip

        My retirement house will have a generator.

      • pistoffnick

        Might I suggest you spring a little extra for the triple fuel (gasoline, propane, and natural gas) version? Oh and buy an automatic transfer switch and have it installed in your house (or if you are brave enough, install it yourself)

      • pistoffnick

        Also, if you store gas for the generator, mix in some Sta-bil. Gas (even sta-bilized gas) only keeps for half a year, so you need to rotate.

    • Mojeaux

      off to the Ozarks

      That would put you marginally in my neighborhood. My people are from Ava. Mansfield is Laura Ingalls Wilder’s territory.

      • trshmnstr the terrible

        Ava is where we stayed last fall to go visit the Laura Ingalls Wilder house. We fell in love with the area, but may end up on the AR side of the border since the job requires in-office time.

      • Mojeaux

        You should go here: https://www.assumptionabbey.org/

        So, when I was a kid, there was a creek called Bryant Creek, which we would go wade in. You had to cross it to get to that monastery. Well, there were cliff faces on either side of the creek, not terribly high, maybe 20 feet. But there was a footbridge across from one side of Bryant Creek to the other (I presume to allow for flooding). It was a SWINGING rope foot bridge that was not well maintained in the slightest. I did not do well on that thing.

      • Mojeaux

        Also, I set one of my books halfway between Ava and Mansfield. (I mean, half the book’s in the KCMO metro area, but the focus is on Mansfield because the heroine is so totally all about LIW.)

  9. Ted S.

    We have a chest freezer and a generator to run it, along with a pantry that isn’t particularly well stocked. I don’t have the skills to barter with in an apocalypse, so it’s more for winter storms.

  10. DEG

    There was a time when I’d have multi-day power outages every winter.

    I never bought a generator.

    I make a fire in the fireplace to keep that part of the house warm.

    I am on town water. The town pumping stations had power during those outages, either through back-up generators or their part of town didn’t lose power. I’ve always had running water, though it was cold. I have about 15 gallons as an emergency supply in the basement. I figure if the town pumping station ever fails long enough to run out of that water, it might be best for me to get out of here.

    It takes a long time for pipes to freeze if your house is well insulated like mine. You can have water drip to help. Or drain the pipes and bail if things get really bad, which some then-coworkers of mine did during those outages. The closest I ever came to the pipes freezing is on the eighth day of an eight day power outage with some really cold temperatures. The power coming back on woke me up in the middle of the night. When I went to sleep, the temps in the house outside of the room with the fireplace were still above freezing, but not by a lot. The temps had hit freezing while I slept. But, with the power on, I didn’t care anymore. No burst or frozen pipes but that was a close one. It took a while for the boiler to heat my house up.

    My food situation could be a little better. I have cast iron cookware, and I’ve cooked in my fireplace and on my grill. A lot of what I have frozen in the freezer is in plastic containers that really aren’t good for heating up in that situation. I relied heavily on the grocery stores in the area having good back up generators and being able to go to areas that still had power.

  11. Fourscore

    Water and electricity would be the tough ones. We’re close to a river so we could get 2nd use water and we have about 10 gals of fresh water. Lots of firewood and woodstoves. Wintertime cold storage outside. Propane heat but need a fan for distribution but a small stove we could hunker with for a while. Food we probable have enough and the critter corn could be eaten if necessary. If we have electricity we have water.

    Meat, open the door and pull the trigger.

    • TARDis

      Long pig? It’s what’s for dinner.

  12. Brett L

    I only have 25lb of rice and 10lb of beans, plus whatever is in the freezer. We could probably eat a month on that. Probably supplement with fresh fish and gator.

    I knew a guy from closer to my parents generation who grew up on a ranch “outside Del Rio, TX”. Which probably means the nearest town was too small to even have a Dairy Queen. Anyhow, he told me one day how he went back for his dad’s funeral and the woman who was working the front desk at the hotel he was checking into asked if the guy was son to the man who passed. When he affirmed he was, she broke down in tears and said his father had saved her family’s life. Apparently, her dad had broken his back, and my associate’s father had brought them 50lb of rice and 50lb of beans, and that was the bulk of the family’s diet for the six months it took for her dad to heal enough to go back to work. I’m not sure everyone got their fill every day on that diet.

    • Mojeaux

      Beans I could do. Rice would tear up my insides, especially in those quantities.

      • Fourscore

        I don’t know what the shelf life of dried (flaked) potatoes is but the boys loved them when I made them in Canada with powdered milk and a dollop o’ butter. Some of the fast foods places, KFC, maybe? Theirs are not so good but covered with gravy they are edible. We keep a couple months of oatmeal on hand.

        A year ago my neighbor was a volunteer at the food shelf, somehow they generated some overages and he brought home about 6 extras, he gave us one, I think it had a 10 lb package of meatballs and other assorted stuff, I don’t remember but there was some fresh veggies, carrots maybe, anyway a lot of stuff we don’t normally buy but we scarfed it all down.

      • Brett L

        We’ve used the ready to eat Bob Evans mashed potatoes, a gravy pack and chicken nuggets to make imitation KFC bowls. Other than having a bunch of calories, they have no nutritional value, but damn are they good. Flaked mashed potatoes would sub here nice.

    • Brochettaward

      Firsting Facts: It is a tradition among Firsters, at least in the 20th century, to lose one’s virginity by fucking a fat Dairy Queen worker behind the building. It is meant to remind Firsters that they, too, are mortal beings, no matter what heights they may ascend to later in life. It evolved out of more ancient customs, more or less the same.

      On top of being the best that the species have to offer, Firsters are also the most humble. It is ingrained in us.

      • pistoffnick

        Oddly specific.

        Is this biographical?

      • Brett L

        Aspirational.

      • Chafed

        Lol

      • Brochettaward

        It is not what I’ve done that matters, but what Firsts I produce which defines me and matters.

      • pistoffnick

        You never forget your First…even if she was a “fat Dairy Queen worker behind the building”.

        Mine was under a pine tree between two lakes. I took off my shirt and laid it down for her to lay on…

      • pistoffnick

        I knew it! John Prine is the MAN!

        No, private YMCA camp lakes. We called them 1st Shurd and 2nd Shurd. There was also a 3rd Shurd where the big fish were. The location was called the “breakfast site” because campers would ride horses there and partake in a campfire breakfast. I was particularly adept at making a fine campfire breakfast. Cowboy coffee is 1 cup freshly ground coffee beans in 2 liters of boiling water, swing it windmill style for 13 and 1/2 turns to settle the grounds. Enjoy. The pine tree still stands, and I get a little shiver in me nether regions whenever I visit it again.

        Later she had breast reduction surgery, but I got to experience them in their full glory. She could fill out a baby-blue cotton sweater!

      • pistoffnick

        By coincidence, her name was Elizabeth.

      • Sean

        Lulz.

  13. MikeS

    DAILY QUORDLE ROUNDUP™©®
    (The ‘Oops…I got drunk’ Edition)
    #109

    Champ
    Ted S. 17

    Bobarian LMD 18
    Not Adahn 18
    Rat on a train 18
    one true athena 21
    Grosspatzer 22
    Raven Nation 22
    rhywun 22
    Sean 22
    The Hyperbole 22
    grrizzly 23
    MikeS 23
    ScoobaSteve 23
    Grumbletarian 24
    Tundra 24
    kinnath 25
    SDF-7 25
    Tulip 25
    whiz 25
    trshmnstr the terrible 27

    Chumps
    TARDis 117
    db 118
    l0b0t 207

    Yes. I’m late again. I’m not going to apologize for having friends who make me drink.

    For much of the day I thought an 18-point three-way was going to be the story, but Ted S. finishes the week out with a very nice 17. The Scrabble score (36) was one point higher than yesterday, but the average score today was almost 8 points lower (30.95)

    Not Adahn’s week average of 20.43 was bested by Rat on a train’s 19.86. Rat’ had a score in the teens 4 times this week. Nice work! Grosspatzer and grrizzly also had sub-22 averages (21.43) and the rest of us were over the Tundra Line on the week. (all averages based on seven entries)

    The Hyperobole and Sean have entered their second month of not busting. They are at 31 days. How high can they get?

    I think db’s four-day average of 95.25 is worth commenting on. He could have easily “forgot” to post one or all of his 3 busts, but he didn’t. That’s integrity.

    Lastly, as this week’s acting chairman of the DQR™©®, it is my privilege to extend a laurel and a hearty handshake to our newest player, Scuba Steve. Fuck off, Tulpa

    • pistoffnick

      I HATE quordle because it makes me feel stupid.

      I am much better at Wordscape and Scrabble.

      • MikeS

        Wordscape is fun. I stumbled across a knock-off that I like even better: CrossWord Jam

    • DEG

      I’m not going to apologize for having friends who make me drink.

      Those are good friends. Well, as long as they don’t have you drink to the point of doing things with barnyard animals that you don’t remember the next day.

    • Tulip

      No dig gardening doesn’t work very well for heavy clay soil. That’s why I had to dig out my garden beds. Otherwise, yes, I would totally do that.

      • Zwak,The Baddest Johnny on the Apple Cart

        Ours are heavy clay also, so it is raised beds with brought in soil.

      • Tulip

        I did raised beds, but still dug out and replaced with good saik.

      • dbleagle

        I have the opposite problem. I have beach sand for a yard. My garden is on top the old septic system tank and reinforced with a foot or so soil on top.

      • Fourscore

        I call it Jack pine sand. It’ll grow stuff but needs fertilizer and lots of water. Leaves for amendments and any topsoil that is hauled in.

  14. slumbrew

    Like rhywun, I don’t have the space for real prepping.

    We’d be ok for a week or two, tops.

    Downside of eating mostly low carb/gluten free is that it limits your bulk options.

    • pistoffnick

      Deer are plentiful in my area…

      I could do the ‘Sloper All Meat diet for a while.

      By the way, “Sloper has been scarce around here lately. Does he have a new girlfriend?

      • pistoffnick

        Or boyfriend – I shouldn’t presume his sexuality.

    • grrizzly

      Yep, I have to go to a grocery store every 2 or 3 days for fresh vegetables. No prepping whatsoever here.

    • Chafed

      You’re right by Davis Square. Just order out.

  15. cyto

    The current world is going to hell, and it doesn’t taste just like chicken.

    Yesterday was weird. The wife sent me to pick up a few groceries. She wanted boneless, skinless chicken breasts. Stop 1, Aldi’s. Reliably the cheapest. Everywhere here has been $2.00 per pound. Aldis is out. And the label was $3.49.

    Publix.

    All out. Frozen, fresh. Matters not. No breasts, no cutlets, no full breasts with bone and skin. Nada.

    Bjs. Nope.

    Later the wife goes to Costco because I had seen some there on Saturday. They had 1 package of cutlets left. 2 huge empty chest refrigerators. 1 package in the bottom. It wasn’t enough for what she wanted, but she grabbed it anyway.

    America is out of chicken? What the hell??

    Never seen anything like this.

    When I was a kid, we had gas lines. Other than Christmas toys like cabbage patch kids, I cannot remember anything ever once being unavailable. Ever. Not since gas lines of 1973.

    Apparently diesel supplies are dangerously low in some areas. And added to toilet paper from 2020, we have shortages of baby formula, beer, iced cream, cars, computer chips, paper plates, soda, …….

    So, I was discussing this observation with some millennials. They think it is crazy to think there is anything weird happening. I have never once heard of a capitalist society having widespread shortages
    Communists? Sure. Venezuela is a recent example. But us? No way! Until now.

    But they were confident. Biden is the bomb. Everything is great. Nothing to see here. Which i also found weird.

    What do you guys think? Am I nuts to think the entire area being out of chicken is a disturbing portent?

    • kinnath

      America is out of chicken? What the hell??

      bird flu. millions and millions of chickens have been destroyed. but the chicken shortage started last year.

    • pistoffnick

      Bird flu, friend.

      Minnesota is a huge turkey and chicken farming state. Apparently thousands of turkeys and chickens have had to be destroyed recently to stop the spread.

      • pistoffnick

        Eggs too. They jumped up to $3-4 per dozen, even at Aldi (and there were a few weeks that Aldi didn’t have any)

      • pistoffnick

        I eat a LOT of aigs

      • pistoffnick

        Why, I’d bet you a $100, I could eat 50 hard boiled aigs.

      • rhywun

        At one sitting? ?

      • slumbrew

        Nobody can eat fifty eggs.

      • Brett L

        Seemed like a real cool hand

      • slumbrew

        We’re good for a half dozen a day. Every day.

        It’s a lot of eggs.

        Still not tired of them. I love eggs.

      • pistoffnick

        I’m usually good for 3-4 a day just by my lonesome.

      • rhywun

        I lurve eggs but I’m still deterred by everything I was learnt as a kid that eggs are bad. It feels wrong to eat more than two in one day and then I have to take a day off.

      • pistoffnick

        They really are the nearly perfect food.

      • Gustave Lytton

        The only thing wrong with (most) eggs is the watery yellow yolks. Orange or gtfo.

      • Brett L

        There is a kid down the way who sells eggs $6/dozen. He’s friends with my older kids. We buy 2 dozen each weekend when they have eggs for sale to support. Dad is filthy rich real estate guy. Love what he’s doing for his son.

        The chickens go out and forage. There’s no feed. They bought a Great Pyrenees Mountain Dog to keep the chickens. That’s how we got in touch. The doggo got out and we called the number on her collar.

        Honestly, It’s an extra maybe $4 a week to teach a kid to run a business, get pastured eggs, and support a friend

      • DEG

        🙂

    • rhywun

      I didn’t buy chicken last weekend but there was plenty there.

      Expensive AF, natch.

    • rhywun

      I don’t remember the gas lines but IIRC that was artificially and politically driven. The chicken thing might be that flu but yeah most of the other shortages seem to be politically driven too.

      • kinnath

        We had weeks, when the frozen chicken was completely gone from both Target and Sam’s club last winter long before the bird flu.

        The supply chain was already fucked. Now it’s beyond fucked.

        The good news is that I have ten or fifteen large bags of frozen chicken breasts in the freezer. I cleaned out Target one day when they got a shipment in.

      • rhywun

        I don’t see any grocery shortages lately – except STILL paper products.

        I’m in the market for a new computer, though. Anything custom is a couple months delay. Thanks, Pooh.

    • Brochettaward

      I am in the Millennial age bracket and I consider it a god damn disgrace what is going on. America was the First of countries. Now it’s basically a still wealthy, but fading banana republic. The political decay is starting to have real effects on people’s everyday lives. The real question is if the markets are still freeish enough for us to recover from the complete and utter fucking mess our politicians have created.

      The idea of shutting nearly the entire country down for 1.5-2 years for a virus that has a 99.9% survival rate is so fucking crazy, that if you suggested that would have been the reality in this country 20 years ago people would have thought you were beyond Alex Jones levels of crazy. But here we are in 2022 and that is the reality we just witnessed.

      • MikeS

        You’re a fucking Millennial? I can’t even with this shit right now.

      • pistoffnick

        I am in the Millennial age bracket…

        THAT explains the Messiah complex…

      • Toxteth O'Grady

        If only one could ever believe anything you say, my dear brochen squirrel. ?

  16. Threedoor

    Water. I went six years without a well and hauled water. I learned how to economize. How to do laundry when necessary and my cleanliness limits. My wife and I can make it six weeks comfortably on 1800 gallons. Eight not so
    Comfortably.

    • Threedoor

      Cistern holds 1800 usable. I always have 15-20 gal of premium no ethanol on hand and can keep three freezers or refiegerators running. Propane for the range top. Food wise probably a month before I’m eating my neighbors and their pets.

      • pistoffnick

        …I’m eating my neighbors…

        Dry rub or marinated?

      • Threedoor

        I’m a bit lazy. I’ll probably cook em with the skin on so they don’t get too dry.

    • Threedoor

      Oh and I saw the baby formula debacle coming. I’ve got 25 big cans. Should last five months and get my new one well past the sixth month mark. Honestly that’s all I’m really prepared for.

  17. Toxteth O'Grady

    Grocery Outlet, dollar store, sale rack, farmers market at closing time. ‘Tis a gift to be simple* and flexible.

    (*Not congratulating myself, just stressed out)

    • pistoffnick

      The “reduced for quick sale” freezer can also be your friend, depending on how adventurous you are.

      I am DongGuan, Gongdong Province, China-sweltering-wet-meat-market-on-a-hot-summer day-with-lots-of-flies adventurous. But I have slowly worked myself up to that level of depravity.

      /knocks on cast iron stomach

      • Toxteth O'Grady

        Yeah, that one (#3). I find the Kroger corp. good about that; Albertson’s slightly less so. In fact I met a Kroger employee who was reprimanded for rotating stock (cheese).

      • DEG

        In fact I met a Kroger employee who was reprimanded for rotating stock (cheese).

        ??!?!?!

        At the grocery store I worked at, not rotating stock, no matter what it was, would get you yelled at.

        Our dairy guy rarely rotated stock. One day I was working by myself in the dairy section. The dairy guy was on vacation. A customer approached me with some out-of-date stuff from the shelf. Yogurt I think? All of it was out-of-date. I found some in the back that was not past its sell by date for her. Then I took a bunch of empty milk crates and checked every item in the dairy section. My boss wandered down the dairy aisle and wanted to know what was going on. I told him what happened with the customer. I showed him the nine crates worth of out-of-date stock I had found at that point. I also showed him the record item which was a package a butter a year past its sell-by date. My boss said he’d yell at the dairy guy when he got back from vacation. Somehow, the dairy guy kept his job.

  18. dbleagle

    Total Lunar Eclipse Alert for 15May! Whole show visible from North America. Part show for Europe on the morning of the 16th. Asia so sorry.

    Pacific Daylight Times
    Partial starts: 7:28pm
    Totality 8:29-9:53pm
    Partial Ends 10:55pm

    • Toxteth O'Grady

      ?

  19. Tres Cool

    suh’ fam
    yo whats goody

    • DEG

      Yo. Leaving for the gym soon. That’s goody.

      • Tres Cool

        Ive been up all night. Thats my gym.

        TALL CANS!

    • Gender Traitor

      Good morning, homey, DEG, Tulip, trashy, and rhy! Another beautiful sunny day here at Tranquility Base!

      Hey, homey – you might want to wait a bit – long enough to let the novelty wear off – before trying our new Culver’s – unless you can find when (or if) they have a “lull” time. Went to pick up dinner there Thursday evening on the way home from the Huber Y, and their drive-thru was at least 1.5 Chick-Fil-A’s long. Inside wasn’t much better. Not a darn thing wrong with the food once I finally got it. In fact, it was quite tasty. (Mint shake a permanent menu item! Happy, happy!) However, the teeming hordes need to thin out a bit before the entire experience is positive.

      • Tres Cool

        Its like that whenever someone opens a McDonalds in our suburbs, too. Its like these briars have never had a quarter pounder.
        I tossed a hunk of brisket in the crock-pot before I went in last night. Jugsy just broke the seal, and NewDog™ (name yet to be determined since we’re fighting over it) went nuts.

      • Gender Traitor

        Beware! Not having an agreed-upon pet name option (or two, if you don’t yet know whether your new critter will be male or female) in advance is how I ended up with a cat named “Snot.”

      • Tres Cool

        As an homage to her German (by way of Drexel) heritage, Im pushing for Brünhilde…or just Hilda.

      • Gender Traitor

        I still like Wilma or Stella if you’ll ever have to go outside and call for her. ?

      • Grosspatzer

        Heh. My nickname in grammar school was “rag”, short for “snot-rag” due to my severe seasonal allergies. According to current thinking, I should have suffered permanent psychological damage. Actually…

      • Tulip

        I still like Helga

      • Tres Cool

        Close.

  20. Tulip

    Daily Quordle 110
    3️⃣6️⃣
    7️⃣9️⃣
    quordle.com
    ?

    • trshmnstr the terrible

      Daily Quordle 110
      8️⃣4️⃣
      5️⃣6️⃣
      quordle.com
      ?⬜⬜?⬜ ⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜
      ⬜⬜⬜?⬜ ⬜?⬜?⬜
      ⬜⬜?⬜⬜ ???⬜⬜
      ⬜⬜?⬜⬜ ?????
      ⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜ ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛
      ⬜⬜?⬜⬜ ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛
      ⬜??⬜? ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛
      ????? ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛

      ⬜⬜?⬜⬜ ⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜
      ⬜⬜⬜⬜? ⬜⬜???
      ?⬜⬜⬜⬜ ⬜⬜?⬜⬜
      ?⬜⬜⬜? ⬜⬜?⬜⬜
      ????? ⬜⬜?⬜⬜
      ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛ ?????

    • Grosspatzer

      Daily Quordle 110
      3️⃣7️⃣
      6️⃣8️⃣
      quordle.com
      ⬜?⬜⬜⬜ ⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜
      ?⬜⬜?? ⬜⬜??⬜
      ????? ⬜⬜?⬜⬜
      ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛ ⬜⬜⬜⬜?
      ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛ ⬜⬜⬜⬜?
      ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛ ?⬜⬜⬜?
      ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛ ?????

      ⬜⬜⬜?⬜ ?⬜⬜?⬜
      ⬜?⬜⬜⬜ ⬜⬜⬜?⬜
      ⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜ ⬜⬜?⬜⬜
      ⬜???? ⬜⬜?⬜⬜
      ⬜???? ⬜⬜?⬜⬜
      ????? ⬜⬜?⬜⬜
      ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛ ⬜⬜?⬜⬜
      ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛ ?????

    • The Hyperbole

      3️⃣4️⃣
      5️⃣6️⃣

    • Tres Cool

      uh-oh….

      • DEG

        Yeah, I procrastinated a bit on that gym-going. But I really am leaving now for the gym.

    • rhywun

      Pete Buttigieg Forced To Chestfeed

      *snort*

    • Grumbletarian

      I want a Dammit Gym t-shirt.

  21. Tres Cool

    Yes, I know. And I hate myself for it.
    But still totally wood.

  22. Rat on a train

    Daily Quordle 110
    3️⃣5️⃣
    6️⃣7️⃣

    • Sean

      NJ sucks, but I hope you have fun.

      • Grosspatzer

        Thanks. We’re staying here:

        https://www.theflandershotel.com

        Place has a great history, was a speakeasy with a secret underground entrance during prohibition. Especially odd since Ocean City is a dry town founded by Methodists.

    • Gender Traitor

      Good morning, ‘patzie & Sean! Enjoy your getaway, ‘patzie! We’re heading over to charming little Metamora, IN mid-afternoon for a music event. In the meantime, my neighborhood farmers’ market opens today! ? Almost certainly too early to find much produce, so I have to be careful not to go carb-crazy over the baked goods.

      • Grosspatzer

        Enjoy! A little music to soothe the soul, sounds terrific. Carb out, life is too short to forgo the little pleasures.

  23. Sean

    Mornin peeps.

    • Fourscore

      Only worth what someone else will pay for it. Can’t eat art (lower case).

  24. Grosspatzer

    My “prepping” is limited to buying a year’s supply of canned soup when the annual sale comes around, and keeping the freezer full of beef, chicken, pork, and fish. Frozen stuff won’t help if the lights go out…

    Stocking up on canned goods makes you a prepper nutjob these days. But in the 1950’s we had fallout shelters stocked with canned goods so we could survive WWIII. Nothing nutty about a shelter on 182nd Street in upper Manhattan, because government.

    • Fourscore

      The world (our world) has gone crazy. The summer will be hot, hot, hot when the fast food places run out of product. Chi-town has already started.

      • Sean

        All you need is a rifle, and friends with rifles.

        And maybe some anti tank weapons…

      • Grosspatzer

        “And maybe some anti tank weapons”

        I identify as Ukrainian. Does that work?

  25. Fourscore

    The Smash-Grabbers will start with the people coming out of Walmart with groceries.

  26. rhywun

    FML.

    Daily Quordle 110
    3️⃣6️⃣
    4️⃣8️⃣
    quordle.com
    ⬜??⬜? ?⬜⬜⬜⬜
    ⬜⬜⬜?⬜ ⬜⬜⬜⬜?
    ????? ⬜⬜?⬜⬜
    ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛ ?⬜⬜⬜?
    ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛ ?⬜???
    ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛ ?????

    ?⬜⬜⬜⬜ ⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜
    ⬜??⬜? ?⬜?⬜⬜
    ⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜ ⬜⬜?⬜⬜
    ????? ⬜⬜?⬜⬜
    ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛ ⬜⬜?⬜⬜
    ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛ ⬜⬜?⬜⬜
    ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛ ?⬜??⬜
    ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛ ?????

    • The Hyperbole

      21 is a perfectly respectable score.

      • rhywun

        My best in many days.

        A couple unlucky guesses knocked me down.

    • Ted S.

      Daily Quordle 110
      4️⃣8️⃣
      7️⃣5️⃣
      quordle.com
      ⬜?⬜?⬜ ⬜⬜⬜??
      ⬜?⬜⬜⬜ ⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜
      ????⬜ ⬜?⬜⬜?
      ????? ⬜⬜?⬜⬜
      ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛ ⬜⬜?⬜⬜
      ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛ ?⬜?⬜?
      ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛ ?⬜⬜⬜?
      ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛ ?????

      ⬜⬜?⬜? ⬜⬜⬜?⬜
      ⬜⬜⬜⬜? ⬜⬜⬜??
      ⬜⬜⬜⬜? ⬜?⬜⬜⬜
      ⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜ ⬜⬜?⬜⬜
      ⬜⬜⬜⬜? ?????
      ?⬜⬜⬜? ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛
      ????? ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛

    • Grumbletarian

      Daily Quordle 110
      3️⃣4️⃣
      6️⃣7️⃣
      quordle.com
      ⬜⬜??⬜ ⬜⬜⬜⬜?
      ?⬜⬜⬜⬜ ⬜⬜⬜?⬜
      ????? ⬜⬜?⬜⬜
      ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛ ?????

      ⬜⬜⬜⬜? ⬜?⬜⬜⬜
      ⬜⬜??⬜ ⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜
      ⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜ ⬜⬜?⬜⬜
      ?⬜⬜⬜? ⬜⬜?⬜⬜
      ⬜⬜⬜?⬜ ?⬜??⬜
      ????? ⬜⬜?⬜⬜
      ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛ ?????

      20. Got lucky on top right.

  27. Sean

    Planning a vacation getaway is much more difficult when you’re keto.

    *kicks pebble*