Blog

Short blog posts, journal entries, and random thoughts. Topics include a mix of personal and the world at large.

The price of protein

I shop at Whole Foods because I’m buying produce for just myself. So what if the stuff there is more expensive than less prestigious(?) grocery chains? I alone can’t possible eat enough food for the extra cost at Whole Food to add up significantly. Besides, as an Amazon Prime member with an Amazon Prime Chase Visa card, I get 5 percent cash back. (Spend money to make money, am I right?)

If I were grocery shopping for a family, that changes everything. No more organic eggs from free-range chickens. No more organic milk from grass-fed cows. Paying for pre-cut fruits would be an insult to the ancestors. Food for the family will be purchased as cheaply per weight as possible.

I recently noticed how vastly more expensive beef and fish is compared to chicken and pork. Pork chops are something like three times less expensive per pound compared to the cheapest cut of steaks. As a frequent lifter of weights, I need to eat a lot of protein. Because I only shop for me - and lucky enough to make decent money - I have no qualms springing for the more pricey steaks and salmon. If this were me 10 years ago (read: much poorer), it would be chicken and pig meats only. Cows are a delicacy.

Same is true if I had a family to feed: fish and cows are very occasional treats only!

While I do lament not starting weightlifting in my twenties, at least in my thirties I don’t have to resort to chicken and rice for my staple nutrition. A gram of protein is a gram of protein for sure, but I much rather eat salmon sashimi than pan-fried chicken thighs (bone out, of course).

The greatness of Costco

Even though I live within walking distance to a Whole Foods, Target, and a Trader Joe’s, I still make the pilgrimage (in relative distance) to Costco every few weeks. It’s one of the few reasons I still own a car (other than, you know, being a huge car enthusiast) - to drive there and carry all the stuff back.

Because Costco cannot be beaten from a price per unit standpoint. I may have to buy more than I really need at that time (four pounds of oranges compared to one pound at Whole Foods), but I am paying significantly less. The key then is to have enough space to store the extra stuff until it is time for me to use it. My favorite is buying many pounds of Alaskan cod, separating them into half pound pieces, and freezing them for long-term keeping.

Fitness guys and girls: don’t forget about the sale on Optimum Nutrition whey protein at Costco. 48 dollars for 80 servings is a superb deal, from a hugely trusted brand. (Though I can remember it used to cost $48 un-discounted before the pandemic.) I took great advantage of this and bought four bags (had to go to Costco twice, since the sale limits two per customer per visit). Suffice it to say, I am set for much of 2024 on protein. (Yeah buddy! Light weight!)

Another awesome thing about Costco: clothing. For your everyday basic items, Costco offers excellent quality and low prices. Every time I visit, I take a look at what’s newly available at the clothing section. (Would that be compulsive?) I own many pants, shorts, shirts, sweaters, et cetera - all bought at Costco. It is fantastic.

I am admittedly lucky in that I get to bum off my father’s Costco membership (one account can have two cards). But even if that weren’t the case, I would happily pay the $60 for the basic Gold Star membership. Much like an Amazon Prime membership, I easily make back the annual fee in either savings or credit card points.

A scourge on civilized society

I really want to support my local Target store. I try to buy stuff there (instead of Amazon) as often as possible. However, when the thing I want to buy is locked up behind security boxes - requiring the assistance of a store clerk to open - I immediately give up and order that same item from Amazon. Sorry, I really cannot be bothered to talk to someone just to buy something.

I remember a time visiting Austin, Texas. The local CVS there has no such funny business. Every item was out in the open, not a security case to be seen. What a revelation that a well-functioning society should not subject its local populace to rampant retail thievery. Worse, there’s hardly any consequences for that sort of crime in the San Francisco Bay Area. Go to the 24th and Mission BART station and you can see vendors selling goods stolen from the likes of Target, Walgreens, and CVS. It’s madness.

I was at a Walgreens recently. Three young teens that looks to be of high school age walked in, and I immediately knew they were trouble. They took their sweet time to find items they wanted, stuffed them into their bags and jackets, then simply walked right out. Nobody working at the store paid any attention, not one person said anything.

And I don’t blame them. This is America, after all: you have no idea who has a gun and can shoot you for speaking out. Fellow shoppers just want to be left alone in peace. The minimum-wage store clerks definitely do not get paid enough to deal with this shit. Even for dedicated loss-prevention officers, potentially losing your life over theft is absolutely not a worthy tradeoff.

I don’t know what the solutions are. Smarter people have to figure out a solution to retail theft. It creates a wholly unpleasant situation for anyone. People coming into stores to steal utterly terrorize other shoppers while the act is being committed. Stores, in order to stem the tide, erect barriers that inconveniences otherwise law-abiding citizens. Eventually, it spirals into the store closing, like the Whole Foods in the heart of downtown San Francisco.

For the teens doing retail theft, I ask: “Where the heck are the parents?”

Waiting for QR

Yesterday I was at the local Whole Foods doing some grocery shopping during lunch (as one does). I got to the self-checkout terminals and the first thing to do is scan the Amazon Prime QR code. That lets the system know I am a Prime member and to give me my 5% cash back and other associated discounts. But there was a problem: my iPhone did not a have a strong enough network connection to load the QR code in the Amazon app. Apparently two (out of five) bars of 5G cellular is insufficient.

To load quickly, anyways. The loading circle kept spinning, so I just stood there waiting for the QR code to pop up. The people flow during that hour was slow so I was not holding up anybody. Honestly I think Whole Foods should make sure there’s solid network connection in their stores, especially now that everything is on our phones - including our credit cards. Gone are the days of Safeway where you bring a tiny card with a barcode to scan as confirmation of membership. Even Costco have migrated to digital ID cards on the Costco app. I never bring the physical card with me these days.

Soon as California allows for digital driver licenses in smartphones, I won’t bring a wallet with me ever again.

After a few minutes of waiting, the QR code finally appeared. I simply refuse to give up the 5% cash back (that is, if you have an Amazon Prime Visa card). Amazon Prime membership is not cheap these days, and I need to “make that money back” as fast possible so that I’m in the green. I bet the security guy was looking at me really funny, though. What is this guy doing staring at his phone and not scanning any items?

The good stuff

With a Whole Foods recently opened up near my home, I’ve been going there from time to time for groceries. The Target at the same mall closes way too early at 6:00 PM - due to rampant retail theft in San Francisco - so it’s nice to have an option all the way up until 10:00 PM. Though as a pro tip, the shelves aren’t as stocked during the evening hours, at least the few times I’ve been there. The stuff I buy is always available, however: milk and eggs.

That’s because I buy the expensive stuff. Only the best organic milk from grass-fed cows. Only the best eggs from free-range chickens, fed organically. Sometimes the cheaper non-organic alternative would run out, but never the organic stuff. That’s how I come to buy organic: one time I was forced to because the Target was sold-out of cheap milk. After that I never went back.

I live by myself so the premium of few dollars is insignificant. If I had to feed a family of four, I too would buy the 60 eggs for five dollars at Costco. Instead, I use that same five dollars to buy a just dozen of the goof stuff at Whole Foods.

And I can definitely taste the difference in the free-range organic stuff, especially the eggs. I break two eggs into plain oatmeal for breakfast most mornings, so the flavor of the eggs is immediately apparent. The cheap stuff have an almost gamey taste that is absent in the eggs from humanely-treated chickens. The latter has a natural sweetness, and a more satisfying texture as well. It’s definitely worth the price premium.

Let's take a walk

The Whole Foods at the local mall a few blocks away is finally opening up soon. I am one step further to having absolutely everything I need within walking distance. Of course, I don’t have the paycheck to afford a frequent Whole Foods habit, but let’s just gloss over that for a second. I can walk to a Whole Foods in less than 10 minutes! The hot foods section will be my sanctuary.

What would be clutch is if the same mall with the Whole Foods also had a post office, and either a UPS or Fedex store. I seldom send boxes out, but when I do, it currently still involves in getting into a car. Functionally I guess I can walk to the nearest USPS: the plaza is about 30 minutes away by foot. Same plaza also has a UPS Store and a Fedex Office. A bit of a walk isn’t so bad, now that I’m typing about it.

These days I really loathe to get into a car for anything. Coming out of the pandemic, drivers on the road are far too aggravated. Even on an early Sunday morning when everything is supposed to be relaxed and joyful, there’s still drivers who are too willing to tailgate, too willing to weave through traffic. What’s the bloody hurry, honestly? Way too many crazies out there that I can’t get truly comfortable in my M2. I’m always on high alert.

Leisure drives on a winding mountain road would counteract that, but have you seen gas prices lately? Two weeks ago I filled up on 91 octane at $5.25 a gallon! At that price, I actually wouldn’t have been able to fill up my old 911 GT3’s 26-gallon tank in one go. The one time maximum at most pumps is a measly $100 dollars. No such problems with the M2’s relatively tiny 13-gallon fuel tank. Gas prices would have to reach near the $10 dollar mark for that to happen.

Our European cousins would say to our gas prices: “That’s nothing!”

Suffice it to say then, I’m not driving all that much lately. Having almost everything within walking distance is truly a luxury, and a real stress reducer. An Asian city style of living that I adore so much.