Product Review and Rants

 Time to vent about inflation, big box stores, and ZEVO.

Well, you all know about inflation and the smaller portions at a higher price. I suppose all of us are shopping for the best price on everything nowadays. But then you get cautious .... lettuce, a vegetable I love and could eat every day is taboo. Taylor Farms sells under various names, and you don't know what you are getting. I am far too old to spend my days attached to the toilet. So, we no longer have BLT's. Because I grow our tomatoes, we now enjoy an occasional BT. Then you wonder about other things available in the supermarket. Like chicken. It has come to my attention that some of what my grandmother called "fryers" are huge. Hormones, I suppose. There are farms around here and their prices reflect the money they spend to feed the animals. Eggs are rarely offered for less than $5 a dozen. We are looking to buy a freezer and find someone to split a side of beef with. Also, half a hog. Okay, that is off my chest now.

We ventured into the very small Walmart closest to our home to get water and a few other things. I had a list and it was less than 10 items. Our usual practice is for The Man to fill our water bottles while I peruse the aisles looking for bargains and filling the cart with my list items. Well, I am now having to help with the water, since his ill-timed collision with mower and tree. He was dutifully waiting for me at the produce section. It was so cold in there, I could not think. I always take a sweater with me when we go to Walmart because it is always cold in their stores due to the fact that Bentonville controls the thermostat. I know this because I worked in the Pharmacy and had to call them to have the heat turned down, lest I strip all clothes off. We were in Minnesota then and I suppose they thought we deserved more heat there. The woman even voiced that opinion to me. I wanted to ask her what was wrong with her but decided it would not be a smart move. Anyway, we left without most of the items on my list. I like cooler temps and think 60 is quite pleasant. My fingers were turning blue and I estimate temperatures in the lower 50's was the setting. Maybe their thermostat was broken. I complained when they asked me if I had found everything I was looking for. I doubt anyone did anything, but I did tell them. Now we go to a different store in another city, so my brain does not freeze up.

That leaves the product review for ZEVO. Since I have a vegetable garden it came as no surprise that fruit flies took over the kitchen. In the past I just pour a little apple cider vinegar in a shallow bowl with a couple drops of dish soap and it has always taken care of the problem. Not this year, they have taken over my entire house. The bathroom and the bedroom as well. So, I ordered the device and plugged it in. It didn't solve the invasion. I read that they will sometimes come up from the drains in the sinks. I scrubbed all my sinks and the bathtub and then then poured baking soda and vinegar down each drain. Still here dive bombing my face. They will get under my glasses and into my eyes. I am pretty sure I have swallowed a few.

Off to Walmart to get another device and some refills. I always try to find what I am looking for on my own, based on where it should logically be. Couldn't find them, so I asked. "What is a ZEVO?" asked the helpful, friendly associate. Faced with the dilemma of having to describe the product, I burst into song. You know the one on the ad on TV. She still had not a clue. I was looking in the household cleaning aisle that has bug spray and roach and rodent traps. I mean, that is where I would display them. No, there were in the garden center.

Both devices are plugged in, and the sticky trap part should be full of the annoying little devils. They are not. There was one housefly and a couple of mosquitoes along with maybe 10 fruit flies. I am unimpressed with the device. My old go to for fruit flies is still in place. I seem to have eliminated more with my vinegar solution than the ZEVO. Oh, one other thing .... they are not cheap. Vinegar and dish soap are something you probably have in your cupboard.