A Grocery List That Writes Itself
food, Stupid things I do November 27th, 2010Yesterday I took my oversized comforter to the laundromat. Y’all know how much I love the laundromat.
Nothing remarkable happened there except for the guy in neon orange sneakers who lifted the lid to his washing machine about twelve times during one cycle to, I don’t know, see if his socks were all getting along in there. Dude, it’s OK. They know how to mingle.
After my visit, I decided to make a run to the store. Since I didn’t have paper and pen with me, I used the Notes program on my iPod Touch to make my list.
Oooooo! Electronic grocery list. So convenient.
Except…..
When I walked the length of the store for something I hadn’t tapped out and worried I’d forget, this happened.
Apparently, my swinging hand action caused me to hit all kinds of buttons and suddenly I had a new grocery list.
Great. Now we’re having pasta for dinner, with Ld and Q on the side.
I remembered only half of the rest of the list I’d created.
And then when I got home I saw that I’d been hitting the enter key the whole time, so the rest of my list was there, just way down at the bottom out of view.
Whatever, technology. You suck.
Stumble it!
November 27th, 2010 at 7:29 am
This just made me grin. It sounds like something I would do.
ann´s last blog post ..Progress
November 27th, 2010 at 8:06 am
Sounds like a wonderful dinner. Just curious, what isles did you find the Q, qw and ld in? I can never find them:)
Rachele´s last blog post ..I am Thankful For
November 27th, 2010 at 8:10 am
did you ask the guy where he got those neat neon sneakers?…pen and paper Kathy…. pen and paper..Old Fashioned….out of date…some would say unfashionable..definitely not trendy..but…. effective…except when you can’t find it in your pocket.. even though your sure you put it there…:)
robert bourne´s last blog post ..Happy Thanksgiving To My American Friends
November 27th, 2010 at 8:28 am
It was the cat. I’m speaking from years of experience here.
Barb @WillThink4Wine´s last blog post ..Ying and Yang
November 27th, 2010 at 1:31 pm
You need the grocery list app – they have one for the Touch. Works really well, as long as you don’t forget to charge the Touch.
November 27th, 2010 at 4:49 pm
Remember to bring the Q to the right temp before you serve it. In fact, you can’t even overcook it.
J. Bear Savo´s last blog post ..Bardship from a Bashed Brain
November 27th, 2010 at 5:11 pm
Way back in the old days, before smart phones, I inherited my husband’s Palm Pilot. I thought I was going to be all cute and use it to organize my grocery list. After several incidents similar to yours, though, I decided to just go back to pen and paper. Much easier.
absepa´s last blog post ..Fortunately for them- theyre also cuddly and lovable
November 27th, 2010 at 6:08 pm
A friend inadvertently dialed my wife’s cell phone number. “Hello?” No answer. Only a faint rustling sound could be heard. The friend was out raking leaves and evidently her ‘ass’ made the call as the phone was in her back pocket. Technology strikes again!
November 27th, 2010 at 6:33 pm
I do not think it was a mistake. This is your reminder to buy Quail eggs and some Quarter pounders With cheese.
Daisy the Curly Cat´s last blog post ..A Black Friday Special!
November 27th, 2010 at 6:38 pm
You’re so much higher on the technology chain than I am. I still use pencil and paper for my grocery lists. But I have joined the technology world a little bit – I sent my first text message recently!
Surfie´s last blog post ..Not Eaten by Zombies
November 27th, 2010 at 7:35 pm
No poop for you!!!
(The FoodMart Nazi)
LOBO´s last blog post ..I am to Blogging as Mike Mayock is to Football
November 27th, 2010 at 7:48 pm
Reminds me of my phone name entries…KJ is my daugher and that is not her name, Jywdy is you guessed it Judy, Chndy is Cindy…and so on…
TC´s last blog post ..Thanksgiving For Dogs
November 27th, 2010 at 9:29 pm
That’s funny. Sometimes technology just makes things more difficult instead of easier. I made a list on the computer of stuff we buy and run them off and just check the items we need that week. It’s very efficient and easy. Maybe you should try it and just carry some in your purse. I guarantee you can swing your hand all you want and nothing will be added or disappear from it.
Karen and Gerard´s last blog post ..Our Thanksgiving Day- Rainy- Eating- Reading- Football- Blogging
November 28th, 2010 at 12:08 am
The notes feature is great but they need to find a way to let us hit the top button to deactivate the ability to click while still leaving the screen lit so we can read what we are doing. It’s what I do with my daughter to keep her from flipping through iPod songs but it doesn’t work on the notes app.
Robin´s last blog post ..Explaining Promotional Drinkware Types and Decorations
November 28th, 2010 at 12:17 am
When cooking and shopping, one must watch the Ps and Qs.
November 28th, 2010 at 6:05 am
ann — Good. We’ll shop together and get nothing on our lists.
Rachele — The Ld was easy, right in the middle of the store. But the Q things are hard to find because hardly anyone uses Q. They’re on the bottom shelf in aisle 12, next to the dollar bins full of empty travel sized shampoo bottles. A real pain, I tell ya.
robert bourne — I was actually diggin’ his sneaks. Had to be custom order. Hey, when I’m lucky enough to find a pen somewhere, the ink’s always out. I’m screwed, really.
Barb — Wait. Your cats or mine?
Carol — See now, you can’t go throwing a qualifier in there. It basically has to be child/idiot-proof.
J. Bear Savo — Good, because I think you know I’m no cook. I never learned how to cook Q properly, so my mother never moved me on to Qw. Shame. I hear it’s good with a nice Bordeaux.
absepa — Ah, the classic Palm Pilot. Remember the stylus you’d always drop between the seats of your car? Or dropping it on the like-colored carpet and you can never find it? Glad those days are gone. Of course, it’s not like the new technology is actually helping me, right?
Geakz — And isn’t it interesting how long we’ll stay on the line, hoping to get a response, even though we are certain it was a butt call? I once went three minutes with my husband’s ass.
Daisy the Curly Cat — Thank you, Daisy. You’re always so smart and trying to make me feel better about my foibles. I love you.
Surfie — Congrats on the text! I hate texting! My sister wants to disown me because I refuse to use it. But that’s because my phone was made by Fisher Price and cost less than $20. Or something. I think using pen and paper isn’t high tech, but it sure is smarter.
LOBO — Or butter. Or paper plates. Or french bread, dammit.
TC — That’s hilarious! Hey, close is good enough, I say.
Karen — That’s a very good idea, really. I know they make tablets of paper with commonly needed grocery items. You just rip off a sheet and check what you need and add other things to the bottom. Of course, that only helps if you’re organized and have one with you when you decide to go shopping. Me no organized.
Robin — Yes! Yes! That’s what it needs! Want!
Rattl’n Along — And butter, and everything else I forgot.
November 28th, 2010 at 10:13 am
I SO love my new android phone… technology rocks, until I type a word with an N in it. Every single word with N in it ends up being an M. So imagine me typimg a semtence that contaims lots of N’s… I guess technology is still only as good as its owner.. ha ha!
November 28th, 2010 at 11:29 am
I hate technology. And I hate lists too. I like to shop free form! Just go where inspiration takes me. Minor problem with my way. You get home and realize you badly need to go to the bathroom and there is no toilet tissue in the house. My inspiration just never took me to the paper goods. Maybe I’ll try a list.
Linda Medrano´s last blog post ..Thanksgiving Aftermath
November 28th, 2010 at 1:05 pm
If you’ve never had Qw in parmesean cream sauce…well then I can’t begin to describe it to you!
Pricilla´s last blog post ..Silly Sunday – Frosty the SnowGoat
November 28th, 2010 at 2:07 pm
Great story. Nice that you were at least able to figure out where the rest of the grocery list went…I hate it when things disappear and it remains a mystery on how it happened.
November 28th, 2010 at 6:06 pm
That’s almost as bad as walking in from the grocery store with hands full, managing to lean over and pick up someones nasty dirty socks and throwing them in the dirty clothes basket and then two hours later chasing my stupid ringtone to find where the hell I put my phone – in the laundry basket and of course it’s under the nasty socks. I think pasta with ld and q sounds awesome – lard and quail?
November 28th, 2010 at 6:10 pm
Too funny! My iphone has a recorder app that I talk into and replay at the store. My tongue gets less tangled up than my fingers, so it works better than trying to text myself!
November 28th, 2010 at 7:34 pm
See, it’s moments like that when you should call me. Your list makes perfects sense to me. You wanted:
* Large Donuts
* Quince
* Quinta (da Ponte Pedrinha Dâo) Wine
And may I add, you are a woman of refined tastes.
Nicky´s last blog post ..Does It Make Me A Bad Person
November 28th, 2010 at 11:07 pm
That’s REALLY funny Kathy!
meleah rebeccah´s last blog post ..Thanksgiving Re-Cap 2010
November 29th, 2010 at 5:35 am
Katherine — You should see ny enails. It’s the sane way. If I can get close to the right nessage, I leave it at that and nove along.
Linda Medrano — I occasionally do the “shop up and down every aisle” technique, but yeah, it usually leaves me wanting something after I get home. Paper towels make a nice substitute in a pinch, just sayin’.
Pricilla — That’s it! I’m trying it!
Say Mmmm — What I wanted to see was a Cancel button because I knew what I’d been doing (at least with the additional nonsense items), but there is no Cancel button. Why? Why?
sheila — Aw, sorry to hear that. Couldn’t have been in a drawer with clean socks, right?
Vikki — That’s awesome. That reminds me of the time I got on an elevator with a guy who spoke into his handheld device (think it was a simple recorder, because this was easily 10 years ago). I chuckled to myself when he took it out, turned it on and said “Note to self….”
Nicky — And now it makes sense to me, too. What’s a cheap donut without a fine wine?
meleah rebeccah – Yes, but you’re supposed to say you do it all the time yourself!
November 29th, 2010 at 11:28 am
I’ve just got to know, was Ld laundry detergent?
I think if I even texted, that I could use an electronic grocery list to great advantage. I’m always a) forgetting my list on the counter at home b) losing my list in the store along the way c) remembering my list and still forgetting to get everything on it.
I inevitably come home from shopping, walk through the door and go, Damn! Paper towels!!! or Damn! I forgot the vinegar (again).
Kat
P.S. What the heck was the “Q”?
November 29th, 2010 at 12:21 pm
Hi Kathy,
If you boil Ld and Qw in chicken broth, it makes a nice, winter time soup. Technology isn’t so bad. My wife will give me an entire grocery list taking up one side of a sheet of loose leaf paper, then text me three or more times while I am in the store with additions, such as “d soda, whbread, and lf ccheese.” I’m savvy enough to know that translates into “diet soda, white bread, and low-fat cottage cheese.”
Michael J. Kannengieser´s last blog post ..Interview for The Front View- Kathleen Maher
November 29th, 2010 at 2:05 pm
Bwa-HAHA!!!!!
I think your little techno-whiz machine there was trying to help balance out your diet of pizza and pasta but just doesn’t know how to spell broccoli and brussels sprouts.
OK, but seriously, how did you capture your screen like that?
Also? Love your title.
November 29th, 2010 at 3:03 pm
That’s why friends don’t let friends buy Apple products. You need a good Android phone with the grocery list app on it and you’d be good to go.
November 29th, 2010 at 5:20 pm
Poetikat — No. That would make too much sense. I’ve forgotten my list at home from time to time, which is bad because my memory is God awful. Can’t even remember what I wrote down two seconds ago, much less 10 minutes.
Mike!!! — Any husband who does the grocery shopping, even if the list was printed in Sanskrit, is aces in my book. Love that you can interpret her shorthand. How long have you been married? Good to see you again, Mike. Missed ya.
Nanny Goats — You could not get me to eat brussel sprouts if you paid me. Or dunked them in chocolate. Or mixed them with bacon. I’m five. I captured the screen by pressing the circular ON button along with the sliver button on the top of the device. It goes to Pictures and you can email from there. Pretty slick. I can do that, I just can’t make lists.
Tarheel Rambler — So I’ve heard. A co-worker has a Droid and it’s become an appendage for him. Problem is my employer bought me a Touch only so I know how to support my clients’ Touches. That’s hilarious, isn’t it?
November 29th, 2010 at 6:15 pm
Should you be supporting your client’s touches??? I am sure I read about it in the HR manual that touches were not to be supported. Something about a green yellow red light system or something just before my head hit the tabletop in a free-fall sleep mode.
What I like about an android phone is the Google Speak. It is sooo cool. No training at all and it understands my Texan accent, y’all.
November 30th, 2010 at 4:41 am
You just can’t beat pen and paper for lists, I’ve tried using my phone before but it always feels like such an effort!
Hayne´s last blog post ..Wedding venue Kent
November 30th, 2010 at 9:03 am
Har! Oh Kathy, you are hilarious…. your app is just like the one on my iPad. Not that I would pull that sucker outta my purse at the grocery store… now THAT would look geeky!
Do what I do. Let hubby do the grocery shopping. It solves numerous problems 😉
Yer welcome.
Maureen´s last blog post ..White Thursday – Black Friday
November 30th, 2010 at 10:37 am
You know, I just finished composing the newsletter for TB and in it I mentioned your absence from the Slumber Party, I was cutting you some slack for missing it because you shut it down the week before. I suggested everyone else refrain from making old lady jokes. Now I see that in addition to never having tried a PB&J you also only eat foods that begin with P. Which makes me wonder why you don’t eat PB&Js since it also begins with the letter P.
I’m one of those people who lifts the lid repeatedly. I don’t know why I do it, hadn’t thought it was strange until just a few minutes ago.
Jen´s last blog post ..Last Call on Holiday Treats and Free Weekend on Tribal Blogs!
November 30th, 2010 at 4:45 pm
Just about every single time I go shopping I manage to forget something on my mental list. Like you, I write everything up and promptly forget the list on the fridge door when I go out shopping. There are items on that list that have been waiting for weeks that I always promise to get next time.
December 1st, 2010 at 2:35 pm
Gotta love touch-screens!!
December 1st, 2010 at 7:48 pm
If you had saved your list prior to going to the store, you should have known it would all still be there. Just shut it down and open it again and all the queues would be gone. Well maybe not the queues, but the Q’s. If, on the other hand you hadn’t saved your list….. No comment 😉
At least you actually do read your notes and lists. I make them and forget to read them!
Babs – beetle´s last blog post ..Paintings and puppets and bright coloured fleeces
December 2nd, 2010 at 8:21 pm
I hear you! They say computers and phones and all those other gadgets make life easier- nah-ah! I swear getting those things to work and get them to do what I need them to do, is harder than dealing with my kids!
Catherine´s last blog post ..Lea & Perrins Shine at Dinnertime Challenge
December 2nd, 2010 at 10:58 pm
Too funny. A while back I woke up and the time on my clock radio said: 17:L7. I kept wondering if my vision was just blurry, or if I was dreaming, or if the letter “L” had somehow snuck into the time equation when I wasn’t paying attention. 🙂 Obviously, I just needed a new clock radio, but it’s not the easy to figure out when you are just waking up. Technology can be a trip.
Lee´s last blog post ..20 Bowling Personas
December 4th, 2010 at 12:25 pm
Technology doesn’t suck – the iPod Touch sucks.
December 5th, 2010 at 7:02 am
Ratt’n Along — The ironic thing is that all the more complicated features make perfect sense to me. I just can’t apparently figure out the built-in kindergarten stuff. Speak sounds like what I need, although I’m sure I’d find a way to make a worse list with it.
Hayne — I’m never using Notes again if I can help it. Pot-it and pen. That’s all I need.
Maureen — I would laugh uproariously if I saw someone use an iPad for a shopping list. And then I’d ask them if it’s any good. And then they’d beat me over the head with it.
Jen — You should read my OCD post then. You’d have a field day with me. And if I ever dare to try a PBJ, it’s getting put on YouTube. It’d be a truly momentous occasion.
Criminal Justice Degree — If I ever forget my list entirely, I have to go up and down every single aisle hoping that seeing forgotten items on the shelves will jog my memory. Takes longer, and I wind up buying stuff I don’t need, but at least I don’t have to run back.
Ricardo Bueno — But thank god for spell suggest. I love that in email!
Babs Beetle — Yeah, but I still wouldn’t have seen that I added a dozen blank lines and didn’t think to scroll down. D’oh!
Catherine — And unfortunately for me, it’s my day job!
Lee — That clock was totally messing with you. Or it switched to the military time/alphabet mode. Stupid technology! It needs to neither break nor get a mind of its own!
Grant — So says the happy Blackberry guy. I love that BBs come with an actual keyboard. Despite my gorilla hands, I do way better with that than touchscreen typing. Obviously.
December 7th, 2010 at 5:54 pm
Score one for Android. My phone has a notes program as well, but is also links with Google voice, so I can just talk into the phone and it types for me, then saves it. You suck iPhone…..
Bruce´s last blog post ..Future Channels
December 10th, 2010 at 9:42 pm
Way over here we still do our grocery lists by hand. Carry an iPhone around and it’s guaranteed to get snatched outside the grocery store. I’ve gotten a bit lazy making lists though so instead of carrying a piece of paper around. I just go through every single aisle. I remember what I need when I pass by them.
By the way, I love the way you write. So funny about the guy and his socks 🙂
Grace@personal cook´s last blog post ..Easy Pork Recipes- Spicy Sisig Recipe