Note of the Living Deb

(Scroll to the bottom to see final recommendations.)

To grow cocoa conventionally, you hack down some rainforest, grow cocoa on it for three years until the soil is ruined, and then hack down some more rainforest and start again. When I learned this I was appalled, especially considering that cocoa is a luxury item. (What I've seen during today's research is that it actually takes 20 - 25 years to destroy the land. Still, not good.)

Fortunately, I learned that there are ways for me to have chocolate without being an accessory to rainforest destruction, and that is to buy only shade-grown cocoa.

I have never seen cocoa products labelled as shade-grown. However, I've previously learned that the following certifications all require that the cocoa be shade-grown:
* Organic - You can't grow cocoa in the sun without a lot of disallowed additives.
* Rainforest Alliance certified - This is not a big surprise.
* Fairtrade [International] - I thought this was all about treating the workers nicely, but they also require that cocoa be shade grown.

And recent research shows the following additional products:
* Probably Fair Trade Certified [aka Fair Trade USA], which apparently used to be part of Fairtrade International, but has split from them because of differing perspectives how to achieve their common goal, after which they "launched pilot projects to extend certification to groups in the coffee industry who were historically excluded by FLO standards" - wikipedia I think to include co-ops, independent smallholders and farm workers (rather than to weaken the standards) - Fair Trade USA.
* And probably Fair Trade Federation (never seen this), Fair for Life (e.g., Dr. Bronners and Equal Exchange), and Fair Trade America - Ohio Fair Trade Network

So what about UTZ certified foods? I first noticed on a bunch of items at Aldi's, and now it's also on the label of Nestle Artisan Collection single-origin chocolate chips. (I know, Nestle. I wouldn't even have noticed, but there was a big coupon.) The answer seems to be probably yes.

All I could find at UTZ.org was "UTZ promotes the appropriate use of shade trees."

But I also found this: "All four standards [Rainforest Alliance, organic, Fairtrade, and UTZ] uphold labor standards and include measures to reduce the negative impact of primary production on ecosystems. Beyond this, Rainforest Alliance requires maintenance of at least 12 native tree species per hectare, two strata and canopy density of 40% (SAN 2010); organic requires the maintenance of wildlife habitats (IFOAM 2014); Fairtrade requires activities enhancing biodiversity buffer zones (FLO 2011); and UTZ requires at least 12 shade trees per hectare (UTZ 2015a). Fairtrade is the only standard to guarantee minimum prices and premiums to farmers. Organic does not allow the use of synthetic inputs and encourages farmers to implement ecologically sound production practices. Rainforest Alliance and UTZ contain compliance criteria on traceability, while Fairtrade includes provisions on democratic governance of farmer organizations (SAN 2010; FLO 2011)." - Taylor & Francis Online

Yet the actual chocolate that you buy does not have to have been shade grown. "Under the mass balance system, when you buy a volume of UTZ certified cocoa, this gives you ‘credits’ which can be used to sell on a volume of conventional cocoa as UTZ certified." - UTZ.org But then I also learned that "all major international sustainability initiatives use mass balance in one form or another." - (a href = "https://utz.org/what-we-offer/certification/products-we-certify/cocoa/massbalance/">UTZ.org So if you just want to support this practice, this may be good enough. But if you want to also make sure that you, personally, are not eating pesticides or whatever, you may need to stick with organic.

In other news, UTZ is now part of the Rainforest Alliance. Currently the two certifications are running in parallel, but the UTZ label will be phased out gradually. - UTZ.com

What To Look For

In conclusion, when buying chocolate, you can minimize environmental destruction (and maybe even worker poverty) by choosing things with any of the following certifications:
* organic
* Rainforest Alliance certified
* anything that says Fair Trade or Fairtrade
* Fair for Life
* UTZ certified

What I Buy

Chocolate chips are cheaper than chocolate bars, so they are my main staples. I have enjoyed the following:
* Guittard Acoma organic semisweet chocolate chips (12 oz, 55% cacao) (organic) (~$4.00+ at HEB, old favorite)
* Guittard extra dark chocolate chips (12 oz, 63% cacao) (Fair Trade Certified) ($3.18 at HEB) (darker and tastier than above, my current go-to)
* Nestle Artisan Collection Single Origin Extra Dark (10 oz, 61% cacao) (UTZ certified) ($3.28 at HEB) (new, tasty, smaller package)
* Equal Exchange (organic) (pricy, but delicious)

[I did not like Whole Foods organic mini chocolate chips ($3.99). And I was not as impressed with the ingredients in Lily's dark chocolate (9 oz, 55% cacao, stevia-sweetened, Fairtrade, pricy at HEB).]

Cocoa powder is also a staple and I now get Trader Joe's organic Fairtrade cocoa powder. Previously I got whatever was cheapest at Wheatsville Food Coop or, when available, Dagoba at HEB.

But sometimes I want some candy. I have enjoyed:
* Chocolove - they have a couple of candy bars that are organic
* Chocolove almond butter cups ($2.48 at Central Market, not a bargain)
* chocolate covered almonds in the bulk section of Central Market - not organic, but the fine print shows some other kind of shade-grown certification that I no longer remember
* Trader Joe's organic dark chocolate PB&J minis (peanut butter cups with raspberry jelly in there, too) (3.5 oz)
* Trader Joe's dark chocolate baton (other flavors are good, too) (organic, Fairtrade) (1.25 oz, $1)

I also like Trader Joe's organic hot cocoa flavored toaster pastries (they also have fiber in them, but they are seasonal, available right now!)

And I eat chocolate at parties without worrying about where it came from. And I accept store samples. In restaurants I try to remember not to order chocolate, because I assume it's not shade-grown. But sometimes I forget. And sometimes I forget and buy some other chocolaty thing at the store. And sometimes I buy Trader Joe's chocolate babka on purpose anyway, even though it's not polite. Mostly I make my own chocolate things--chocolate chips cookies, chocolate cake and frosting, chocolate syrup, hot chocolate. Ask if you want a recipe.

I've been using the same box of table salt forever, and it's finally running low. But at the store, I noticed you could get it with or without iodine. I had thought iodine was added to all table salt.

Just out of curiosity, I looked at the ingredients lists. The iodized salt had several ingredients. The other had only salt. So then I decided I should do some research before deciding.

First I looked at which salt I currently have: non-iodized. Huh.

Of course everyone says sea salt is healthier because it still has trace amounts of multiple nutrients in it. Or maybe sea salt is a little scary because it has microplastics and maybe pollutants in it, unless you get Himalayan sea salt, from ancient pre-plastic, pre-pollution oceans.

On table salt: "During manufacturing it is heated to around 1200 degrees Fahrenheit and treated with caustic soda to remove other minerals. Anti-caking agents, like aluminum hydroxide, are then added to improve how it pours." - Health Ambition

"Although refined table salt is produced from sea salt it is so highly processed that the end product leaves it alarmingly void of its natural nutrients. The naturally-occurring minerals, essential to our health are stripped from the harvested sea salt. Aluminum and other additives are used to dry the salt. The salt is then processed under such extreme heat that its chemical structure is altered. To replace the stripped iodine, potassium iodide is added to make the salt “iodized.” Stabilizers are added and the substance is bleached white." - Farmers' Almanac

Interestingly, health.com says that if you need an exact measurement or need the salt to dissolve, then use table salt because sea salt comes in bigger crystals that do not dissolve as well and that have bigger spaces between them meaning you'll get a different amount than you're used to.

Susannah Chen on Lifehacker recommends Diamond Crystal Kosher salt (but not Morton Kosher salt) for an all-purpose salt; just use twice as much of it by volume (the same amount by weight) for recipes. But one of her commenters says kosher salt has additives like table salt does, so "[w]hen a recipe calls for kosher salt, I use coarse sea salt instead—similar size & texture. Never had a problem with it. For things like eggs, I use fine sea salt which dissolves well. I use this salt also for most things."

So apparently there's such a thing as fine sea salt which might dissolve well and measure like table salt.

But Authority Nutrition says "The problem with heavily ground salt is that it can clump together. For this reason, various substances called anti-caking agents are added so that it flows freely." And one of their commenters advises "If you're happy to pay 20 times the price to get iron-tainted rock salt [Himalayan salt], then OK, it's worth it for the flavour."

So, don't anti-caking agents need to appear in the ingredients list? If so, why does non-iodized salt not need them (and mine is still fine after all this time) even though it is finely ground?

So here's all I feel that I really know now:
* Table salt is highly refined.
* Iodine fights hypothyroidism (which runs in my family) and is found in iodized salt and unrefined salt.
* Sea salt still has some trace minerals in it.
* Different kinds of salt have different sized crystals and maybe even differently shaped crystals; this affects volume-based measuring.
* Some people can taste a difference among different salts, and they don't all love the "metallic" sea salts more.

I hardly use added salt in my cooking, so it probably doesn't matter what I get. But I'm not sure I really need my salt bleached for me.

Any opinions?

Once I read that some fishing is done by dragging nets across the ocean floor disrupting everything. So I started making the switch to fried fish labeled with the Marine Stewardship Council seal.

But I've been looking at cans of tuna fish and not finding that label. There were other labels, so research was in order.

Dolphin-safe - does not use a method that inadvertently harms dolphins, but may inadvertently harm other sea life; there is some controversy that this label might not even mean as much as it implies.

Pole-and-line caught (aka pole caught) - has minimal impacts on other sea life.

Troll caught - also has minimal impacts on other sea life. And makes me think of trolls.

Greenpeace ranks brands. They like Wild Planet best (all that company's products are pole-and-line or troll caught plus they don't source tuna from proposed ocean sanctuaries). Second, they like American Tuna (which are pole-caught plus they support small-scale fishers and canneries). Third is Ocean Naturals, which also sounds good. However, I'm not sure I have access to any of those.

Some that I do know I have access to are fairly high on the list. Fourth is Whole Foods 365 brand, which is good except that they may be too trusting of their suppliers. Ninth-rated Simply Balanced from Target sounds similar (but not their Market Pantry brand). Sixth is Trader Joe's Skipjack tuna ($1.49), which is responsibly caught but may come from suppliers with human rights violations.

I also have access to Natural Sea ($2.49 (on sale?) at Wheatsville) which is not on the list but is labeled as Earth Island Institute-certified Ocean Friendly; I can't figure out what that means. It's also dolphin safe and the can has no BPA.

And I have access to Natural Value ($1.99 at Wheatsville), also not on the list. It's labeled as wild caught, dolphin safe, and having a BPA-free lining.

Here's how the Good Guide ranks the items I have access to above:

* Simply Balanced (Target) wild skipjack - 7.2 overall, 10 health, 5.9 environment, 5.8 society
* Natural Value Yellowfin Tuna - 5.7 overall, 6.0 health, 6.2 environment, 4.9 society
* Trader Joe's - not on list
* Whole Foods - not on list
* Natural Sea - not on list

I have the three with prices at home and thus can also compare the nutrition numbers.

First, they are all five-ounce cans; the Trader Joe's and Natural Value are also labeled as having a dry weight of four ounces. Interesting! I'd been noticing that my other tuna brands have been including less fish but still calling it five ounces, so I've been comparing protein to try to guess how much tuna fish is really in there. I suspect the dry weight is as little as 2.5 ounces for some of them. (I opened the Natural Sea can today, and it definitely has a reasonable amount of tuna inside.)

Protein
* Natural Sea - 15 g
* Trader Joe - 14 g
* Natural Value - 13 g

Otherwise, the nutrition seems to match.

Of course PETA recommends eating vegetarian fake tuna.

I may have to ask around at Wheatsville to see why they picked those brands to stock. Otherwise, it's interesting to know I may have a good option at Target, which is walking distance from me.

Otherwise, I've decided that pole and line caught (or troll caught) is good enough but dolphin friendly is not. (This is just for stuff I'm buying from grocery stores. I will still happily eat tasty things that are served to me at restaurants and by friends.)

I did finally replace my nonstick pan, as I claimed I would. Except I realized that apparently I don't have a six-inch pan but an eight-inch pan because those are the smallest pans I can find.

Summary: so far so good.

I decided to try one of the newfangled ceramic lined pans, in spite of inconsistent reviews, and I decided to check out some stores that get rid of overstocks and discontinued items to get a lower price, in case these turn out to stink and I want to buy another pan. Going to one of those stores might be asking for trouble, but companies discontinue items for all kinds of reasons.

So first I went to Marshall's and wrote down the names of some that felt and looked good and looked up reviews. The reviews again were either half amazing and half horrible or just nonexistent. Then I went to Ross. Same thing.

Finally I settled on an Oneida because of the following features:

* not ugly (a nice red on the outside, white on the inside) (all the Oneidas I see online have black inside; so this one is probably discontinued rather than overstock)
* easy to clean - no rivets; also, a lot of the pans had circular grooves on the bottom (exterior), but this one is smooth

It's also:
* low-cost ($10) (all the 8-inch pans were between $10 and $13, so this wasn't a deciding factor)
* lightweight with a hole in the handle for hanging it up

The outside of the packaging claims:
* easy-to-clean stain-resistant nonstick interior
* bright white surface improves view to better monitor food
* PFOA- and PTFE-free ceramic interior

The inside of the packaging has lots more writing, including the most hilarious warning I've seen in a very long time: "For safety, please keep pet birds out of the kitchen." Um, what?

Then it explains, "Birds' respiratory systems are sensitive to many kinds of household fumes, including the fumes from extremely overheated non-stick pans." That's a little creepy--so it's poisonous after all. I can't help thinking of canaries in coal mines (which actually improved safety, though not for the birds).

As expected, it is to be hand washed.

Unexpectedly, you can put it in the oven so long as it's not over 400 degrees in there. And "High heat is recommended ..." (What?) "... for boiling only. Use Medium-High for frying, sauteing and searing. Low temperature setting is recommended for simmering and warming foods." Oh, I see, don't let it get hot.

They say you can use metal utensils though "[u]sing high temperature nylon, silicone or wood tools is recommended." I use plastic. Uh, oh. I'm not using metal, though, in spite of what they say; I'm sticking with my plastic.

Another surprise: it's got a ten-year warranty.

**

I tried using my new pan to make a one-egg omelet. First I poured a little oil in and rubbed it around with my finger as usual (since I stopped using cooking sprays when I started feeling poor after quitting my job). The oil beaded up on the surface a little in a way that it did not do with my teflon pan.

Then I poured in the beaten egg. The egg seemed to push the oil to the edges of the pan. I wonder if I really don't need any oil at all even for eggs. Weird. The egg did not all run to the edges but acted as though the pan were nice and flat, unlike some of the pans on which I'd read some reviews.

This pan is definitely bigger than my old one. So I decided to measure. My new 8-inch pan is 8 inches across the top. My old pan is 7 inches across the top. The flat part at the bottom of my new pan is 6 inches. For my old pan, it's 5.25 inches. Huh.

Normally I like to flip the egg like a pancake once the top is almost dry to make sure that it gets fully cooked. Then I add the omelet filling (usually cheese like today). However this time, the egg was too thin and too likely to tear for me to flip. Well, at least there were no worries about having raw egg--it was too thin to be cooked on the bottom but also raw on the top. But it didn't really brown. Do eggs not brown in this pan, or was it just too thin for me to leave in long enough?

So then I made a two-egg omelet, without adding any additional oil. This worked perfectly, though the pan is a lot more slippery inside than I'm used to. Flipping the egg is not exactly the same skill, though my current skills did transfer fairly well. And then I really could just hold the pan sideways over the plate and the omelet slid out. Cool.

The two-egg omelet did brown a bit, so that's good. I like it a little golden brown, though I also don't mind if it's not brown. Robin loves it golden brown, though.

I'm not sure if having a white pan made it easier to monitor my food. Even my yellow-egg omelet contrasts better with black than with white. But it's fine.

And I like two-egg omelets better than one-egg omelets (unless I just had a one-egg omelet), so that's cool, too.

I think I might have to try crepes again. The way the bottom of the pan is curved, I think it will be easier than with my old pan, and being extra slippery will probably help, too.

The gleaming white interior of the pan has not yet browned (as it did for some reviewers of white ceramic pans) and there is not yet any chipping. Of course many reviewers loved their pans the first few times they used them, but found they didn't hold up at all. So I may have to give you an update in a year or so if I remember.

If it stays like it is now, I think I like it better than my old pan even its heyday! Even if it doesn't work out, I do like the idea of switching from a seven- to an eight-inch pan.

It's frugal to comparison shop, and the "price book" is a frugality tool for things you buy regularly. You check prices at all your stores to learn which things are cheapest at which place. The first time I did this, I had an HEB and an Albertsons within walking distance and had no car. My impression had been that both were similar. But after writing down prices, I decided that although Albertson's was often cheaper on dairy products and had better sales, HEB was the cheapest overall. So when Albertson's stopped letting me bring my backpack in (so I had to wait in line to check it in, wait in line to pay for my groceries, wait in line to get my backpack back, move my groceries from bags to backpack, then try to put the bags where they would get re-used), it was easy for me to start always going to HEB.

Over the years, my price book has evolved but has never been particularly handy. I haven't found a good electronic price book, I can't count on getting to Google docs at the store. And the staples I get keep changing as I begin insisting on things like more nutrients or fewer poisons. And now I have a car and get to many, many stores, including yet another new one as of last summer. So I've decided I want to make a list of all the things that are best to get at each of the different stores so I don't forget to stock up when I'm there. And I want it to be a one-page thing I can just bring with me.

The first step is to figure out a single page of things I actually buy repeatedly. The next step is to collect additional prices for those items for which I'm no longer sure of what my favorite place to get them is. Here is that list, include best place to get it for those items I already have a handle on. (Really, I can fit all these on one piece of paper with two columns.)

Grains

* sandwich bread (with some fiber in it) - $1.88 HEB
* spaghetti (Barilla plus - has fiber, but tastes and cooks like regular) - $2.08 HEB (often on sale for $2 at Target)
* macaroni and cheese (whole wheat) - $0.59 HEB
* flour (whole wheat) - $2.99 for white whole wheat flour (which my sister likes, but I haven't yet tried) at Trader Joe's, $3.48 for whole wheat pastry flour at HEB
* oats (instant)
* graham crackers - $1.98 HEB
* taco shells (no GMOs) - the cheapest are $1.99 at Trader Joe's, but the tastiest are the blue corn ones at Whole Foods which are more like $2.50
* crackers (some fiber, yummy, but not too evil) - $2.49 for the Everything flavor of crackers at Trader Joe's
* pretzels (some fiber--I get Newman's Own spelt pretzels) - $2.79 at Wheatsville
* brown rice
* tortillas (with fiber) - the ones at Central Market are often warm
* bagels (with fiber)
* hominy (for taco soup) - $0.98 for a big can at HEB
* cold cereal (with fiber)

Dairy

* milk (with no growth hormones) - $2.84 at Target using the Red Card (for 5% off)
* yogurt
* sour cream
* sharp cheddar (with no growth hormones) - $4.29/lb at Trader Joe's
* sliced cheese (with no growth hormones) - Trader Joe's (prices comparable to those of conventional cheese at HEB)
* ice cream (yummy, and not pumped with extra air) - $2.50/quart HEB
* parmesan cheese (ungrated)
* mozzerella cheese (ungrated)
* whipping cream - $1.29 for shelf-stable cream at Trader Joe's
* cream cheese (no growth hormones)

Protein

* hamburger (extremely low fat and grown some way that's more humane than conventional) - Whole Foods buffalo or grass-fed beef
* eggs (with omegas)
* hot dogs (no nitrates, but taste like regular) - $2.48 HEB
* canned beans - ~$0.55 HEB
* refried beans (La Sierra refried black beans yum, yum, yum) - $0.97 HEB
* tuna (no dolphins, not albacore) - $0.74 HEB
* veggie corndogs
* veggie breakfast sausage
* peanut butter (organic, no added sweetener)
* peanuts (organic)
* walnuts
* pecans
* almonds
* TVP (no GMOs)
* chili (Wolf brand low-fat yum)

Produce - Prices on fresh produce and canned pumpkin are always changing, but if I find prices around the same time period, I may be able to make generalizations.

* salad bags - $1.99/5 oz Trader Joe's
* grape juice (concentrate, organic) - $3.89 Natural Grocer
* frozen spinach
* onions
* canned artichoke hearts
* canned tomatoes
* tomato paste
* canned pumpkin - $1 is a good price I can sometimes find around the holidays
* bananas
* zucchini
* carrots
* frozen berries - $1/bag from Dollar Tree

Empty Calories

* raw sugar - $1.89/lb HEB, $1.99/lb Wheatsville (cheaper on member appreciation days)
* brown sugar
* chocolate chips (shade grown = fair trade or organic) - $3.29 for Guitard at HEB
* butter (no growth hormones)
* walnut oil - $6.49 Wheatsville
* grapeseed oil
* sesame oil - MT Market
* cheese puffs (no GMOs) - $1.99 Trader Joe's
* tortilla chips (no GMOs)

Other

* cocoa powder (shade grown)
* vinegar - $2.68 for 128 oz of 9% acidity vinegar at HEB
* cumin - $4.99 for 400 g = $5.70/lb at some ethnic grocery story I can no longer remember
* other spices - probably bulk at Wheatsville, but should check
* vanilla beans (for vanilla extract)
* vodka (for vanilla extract)
* baking soda
* baking powder

(I'm not going to go into toiletries or nutritional supplements here though they are on my list.)

Today I went to Texas Running Company (the north one) to get some running shoes that are good for my feet.

I explained all my concerns about wanting a comfy shoe that has padding and is flexible but also not wanting to injure myself.

I showed the customer service representative my old shoes with the huge wear on the outside back corners, but he focused on the wear at the balls of the feet and said it looked just about right. Weird.

He even said my totally affordable Reeboks were probably a good shoe for me. Weird.

Then he had me put on running socks and "neutral" running shoes in my size and jog on a treadmill for 30 seconds. Then he played back a video of my feet and lower legs in slow motion so we could see what the situation was.

I did not look like a dork at all. Weird.

Also, my left foot landed perfectly and my right foot had only a very slight pronation. (And my right foot was the one with the plantar fasciitis.) Interesting.

So I tried on six pairs of shoes with very mild support for people with pronation. One was too tight in front and too loose in the middle, several had uncomfortable lumps (arch supports) in various places, but two felt good.

He said one had slightly more flexibility and the other had slightly more padding. He had me put one on each foot and see which one I liked best. (They have a long rug you can try out running on. Fun! I miss running.)

And the winner was the hot pink ones with black and silver trim. Specifically, I ended up with Brooks PureFlow2 in my usual size, in "divapink/blck/anthrcte/slvr/wh" for $100 + tax.

I knew I would end up with ugly shoes, but of all the day-glo colors, pink is my favorite, and I am also pleased that pink, black, and silver do not clash with each other. And some of the silver bits look reflective, which is a good idea. I plan to use them only for jogging, so they don't have to look good for work or parties (or even going to the gym).

According to Brooks' website, they also come in mostly purple, mostly black, and mostly black with pea green instead of silver. Also, here are the features:

Like peanut butter and jelly or water and energy gels, the lightweight construction and lush cushioning of the PureFlow 2 are a perfect match. The key to blending the two is engineering comfort features in a lean way like a shaped BioMoGo DNA midsole that gives your feet a cushy feel without added materials. It's a match your feet will hunger for.

Just like our core line, we hold PureProject to the industry’s highest weartest and durability standards. Because of their lightweight construction and fewer materials, runners should generally expect shoes from the PureProject line to last approximately 250-300 miles.

Also, the writing on the box says that the box is 100% recycled and recyclable.

Well, that went much better than expected. When they wear out, I wonder if I'll go back to Reeboks. I'll use just my new shoes for a while, then try going back and forth between them and my Reeboks to see what I think.

I enjoyed Wheatsville Coop's owner appreciation days today. I got 15% off several things I always get there (flour, spelt pretzels, cocoa, chocolate chips, peanuts) plus the cocoa was totally on sale. And we tried out the water machine--you can only fill one bottle at a time, but it fills quite quickly.

Blog entry of the day - Grumpy Rumbling's Google Q&A - Periodically they answer questions googled by people whose question leads them to their blog - some are funny, some are useful, and some are both. Here's my favorite:

"Q: why do i have to sacrifice everything

"A: Because if you don’t the great Monster Gathuuza will swallow the island and start on his path to vanquish the planet. With your sacrifice, he will sleep another 400 years. (Alternate answer: You don’t. Also, don’t marry a douche.)"

FYI, they also have periodic posts called RBOC, and that abbreviation is explained here.

Photo blog entry of the day - Wil Wheaton's I am literally playing The Dead Meemaw Card so that you'll watch me on The Big Bang Theory tonight. (Don't worry, Wil Wheaton knows what "literally" means.)

Ad of the Day - Giant Bicycles' Reality Does Suck - actually, it's a counter-ad.

Robin and I went to a couple of car dealerships today looking at cars. I found out a couple of odd things.

The used car section of car dealerships do not have any old cars. The oldest car I saw was 2006. The second oldest car was 2007. The third oldest car was 2008, and although I did see more than one of them, I didn't see many of those either.

Also, there is not one single new Toyota Corolla S with a manual transmission for sale by any Toyota dealer in the five-state area. (Just a reminder to my New England friends--my state alone is rather large.)

Not that I'm in the market for a new car. But people are being so stupid about Toyotas right now that new Toyotas are being highly discounted, so I was tempted for a couple of minutes. But with a new car, you have to care a lot more about whether it gets wrecked so you have to have collision insurance. I'm also more likely to get control-freakish about things like ice cream in the car which is just wrong considering how yummy ice cream is.

So I now have two dealers looking for cars for me. I know I said I wanted a car from a private seller, but I really don't feel like calling up a bunch of people and begging them to hang around while I have an inspector check out their car before I buy it.

I'll have to do that at some point I suppose because I've now officially promised to hand over my car to my sister and she's leaving in a month. I'll probably end up going without a car for a while, which is fine--the main thing I really need my car for is to visit my sister and I won't be doing that anymore. It will still be handy to be able go shopping and to go to other activities when Robin's out, though I could bicycle to shopping and most activities are on bus lines. We'll see.

It's been difficult lately, on and off, to get my key out of the ignition. It's as if I don't realize you have to have the car in neutral and then push in and turn. I do all that and still, it sometimes works on the first try but sometimes takes up to about seven tries.

Robin suggested I go to the dealer and get a new original key. I didn't know you could do that. As if there are huge, dusty filing cabinets in every single dealer.

Interesting. It sounds much cheaper than fixing an ignition!

So I went to the dealer today. The first guy there asked me what kind of car I had. "Honda Civic wagon."

"Ho--wha?" Apparently they don't make these anymore. (Wikipedia says that starting in 1992, "The wagon variant was now only available in the Japanese market where the previous generation wagon was carried over until 1995." In 1996, "several new variants were introduced, including two distinct wagon models: the "Orthia" based on the standard Civic which was sold in the Japanese market and the Domani based wagon which was offered in the European market.")

I told him what I wanted, and he led me to the key person who asked me what kind of car I had and what year. Then she said she would have to confirm that they still have the data on cars that are that old (1991). I told her that the problem with making cars that last is that people will then come in with old cars.

Three minutes and five dollars later, I have a fancy-schmancy* original-looking key. I compared it to my current key visually, just "to make sure you didn't accidentally look up 1881" and it seemed to match. The lady warned me that the tumblers might be used to my old, worn out key, and I might have to jiggle the new key a bit before it would work, but then after that it would work perfectly.

My tumblers were not at all surprised. Perhaps "relieved" is a better adjective. My new key worked perfectly in the door and ignition with no jiggling at all.

Next stop: make copies so I can keep this one in good shape. Although, if the copies cost more than $2, I probably should just go get some more "originals" instead.

* After typing that, I realized that my key is not fancy at all. There is no LED, no far-away unlocking and locking capabilities, no tweeting noises. But it does have a black plastic head on it.

It's yet another shopping blog entry from me. I swear, I am still the same person and have not recently suffered any sort of trauma. It's just that JO invited us to join him at Costco because they have power washers from Snap-On right now, and both he and Robin are in the market for power washers.

I almost didn't go because I don't usually find anything thrilling at Costco or Sam's, but at the last second I decided to be sociable. On the way there, JO explained that Sam's is more like a cheap giant Walmart and Costco is more like a cheap giant Target.

I am not in the market for power washers, but I did actually find some things I wanted.

* Sliced Tillamook Cheddar, $6.89 for a 2-pound package. They only had medium sharp cheddar rather than super sharp, but that's still good. At $3.445 per pound, it's cheaper than my favorite (unsliced) cheese, HEB sharp cheddar aged 9 months, which is $3.49 for 10 ounces or $5.584/pound. It's even cheaper than my second favorite (unsliced) cheese, a different HEB sharp cheddar, which is $2.00 for 8 ounces. It's comparable to the latter when the latter is on sale for $1.79 (= $3.58/pound). And it's sliced. I broke it into four sections and put three in the freezer and one in the fridge. [Savings: ($4 - 3.445) * 2 = $1.11 plus it's sliced!]

* Crumbled feta cheese - $5.99 for 24 ounces. At my usual store, it's $4.99 for 8 ounces. And this feta is less dry and crumbly than regular feta and just as tasty. I put some in an 8-oz container and put the rest in the freezer. [Savings: $8.98.]

* Organic sugar, $7.79 for 10 pounds. The stuff I usually buy is $1.99/pound at HEB, but I think it's cheaper at Wheatsville. I remember than the cheapest bulk sugar at Wheatsville is brown sugar at $0.80 per pound, and I'm pretty sure the kind I get is at least $0.20/pound more. I put about half in my big canister and left half in the original bag, which zips shut. [Savings: between $2.21 and $12.11.]

* Sliced almonds - $6.99 for 2 pounds. The price at my usual store is $6.99/pound. I put some in a jar in the pantry and re-zipped the original package and put it in the freezer. [Savings: $6.99]

* Whole wheat bread - $3.99 for two loaves. This isn't quite as yummy as my favorite Alvarado Street sprouted wheat bread, but it's still quite tasty and has a lot of fiber. And my favorite bread is $3.69 for only one loaf. This price is comparable to that of boring whole wheat bread, which is better for peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and costs $1.93 per loaf. One loaf is on the counter, the other in the freezer. [Savings: $3.39 at the cost of some quality.]

* Sponges on one side with a scrubby surface on the other side - $11.79 for 18. Whenever I'm getting low on sponges, I look for some that are a dollar each, which I'm pretty sure I've seen somewhere, but I haven't seen them for that price lately. These sponges are only $0.655 each, a definite bargain. They all fit in the pantry. [Savings: $6.21.]

Total savings: $28.89 - $38.79. That sounds pretty good for an expenditure (investment) of only $43.44 (plus tax on the sponges). But I usually don't buy a huge pile of feta cheese or splurge on sliced cheese. And I'm not sure how well some of these things will freeze (or thaw) or whether I will ever find them again at the bottom of the freezer. We'll see.

Robin's thinking of getting a membership (which costs $50). I'm thinking it might not be any time soon: our freezer is full and I already have over a year's supply of sponges.