Monday, February 18, 2008

A trip

I finally went to the commissary today. (actually yesterday by the time this posts)
For the first time.
I know. I've heard how much savings there is.. etc. etc...
The closest one is about 80 miles round trip. I need to save quite a bit to make up for the cost of gas, but finally, I had some time that I could go check it out.
I went to Los Angeles AFB... not somewhere I would want to drive to during the week. The traffic on that side of town is horrendous, but it was OK today.
I was surprised to see that it wasn't confusing to shop there. I guess I didn't really know what to expect. It's just a regular-looking grocery store to me. Normal items, and the produce was fine. I didn't check out the meat department, I'm pretty particular about my butcher. The years of working on the farm and caring for cattle, I guess.
Yes, the prices are cheaper than the regular prices at Albertsons or Vons, but I rarely buy anything regular-priced. I stock up on sale items and determine the weeks menu based on the weekly specials. My receipt was lower than it could have been somewhere else, but then adding the surcharge and tip, and gas... I about broke even.
It was a nice adventure, but I don't think I'll make a special trip again.
One thing that I did notice, most of the men shopping there were better looking than average... maybe it's the haircut.

On the way home, we had the fun of driving on the tallest interchange in SoCal. The 170 ft high HOV ramp at the 105/110 interchange. I hold my breath almost the whole way over the thing... the kids think it's cool. I get the heebie jeebies driving over the thing. Was it really necessary to have it so high? I'm sure the model looked great, but did you need to build it?

4 comments:

Kasey said...

We are pretty particular about our meat as well. My parents slaughter their own cattle, so we always bring meat back from Ohio when we visit them.

Vypergirl said...

My kids love high bridges - I do too!

The commissary is not always worth it, I will agree on that! At our current post it is necessary, because everything off post is way more expensive. At our first post, it was cheaper to go off post, and the selection was better.

Hope you had a great weekend!

Buck said...

...most of the men shopping there were better looking than average...

Hey! ALL the cool guys shop there, don't they?

maybe it's the haircut.

Ooops. Well, maybe not... :-)

But seriously... I go to the commissary every week, without fail. BIG savings in my neck o' the woods.

The Mrs. said...

Its a strange thing but I kinda feel at home at the commissary. Esp when I'm back home at a Marine Corps base. Its nice to see guys that look like my guy (esp when he's away), you overhear familiar lingo, and sometimes you catch another mothers eye and you can see that she's in the same boat as you, being mom and dad and just plan tired of it.

Sometimes its worth the drive. And up here the savings is amazing.