Tag Archives: WinCo

Help Wanted Thursday Rundown

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Greetings, friends. The summer rolls on here in the northwest as we continue to enjoy warm days and refreshingly cool nights. However, a hint of fall can now be felt in the early mornings. Let’s get to tonight’s five topics…

It Is Still Summer Vacation in Spokane – August can be a funny month. The phenomenon begins right when July ends and at the start of each following week more and more photos pop up on social media. I am talking about the back-to-school blitz that sends many K-8 students back to the classrooms. However, in this part of the country, summer is still in full swing. It might be because I grew up in Washington and lived the same academic calendar my kids do now, but it seems so wrong to go back to school in AUGUST. Sure, the kids who are already back in school now will begin summer vacation earlier, but I think most reasonable children would trade time off in May for more opportunities to hit the pool, lake, and ballpark in August. Sloan and Beau start school on Sept. 3.

Summer continues throughout the month for Sloan and Beau.

Stamp Inflation – Back in 2021, I selected a book of stamps as “Brent’s Gift of the Year.” I love sending (and receiving) snail mail and have always appreciated the fact that a single stamp can send a letter anywhere in this country. However, I am a little irritated at the frequent price hikes. The cost for a book of stamps has gone up TWICE in 2024. A book will now cost you $14.60, a 26% increase from its price ($11.60) in 2021 when I tabbed it as my gift of the year. Inflation sure sucks.

Me holding the book of stamps I paid $14.60 for on Wednesday.

Come On Man – My apologies, my rage continues. I posted this on my X account on Saturday but there is enough insanity to go around to post here, too. This bag of On The Border tortilla chips I found at WinCo doesn’t even attempt to look like its filled halfway. In my opinion, the price should be slashed at least 60% because that is about how many chips are missing.

Try harder.

Help Wanted – There is nothing I like to do more than ask for free design work (sarcasm), but I did want to offer something that others have considered an opportunity in the past. I need to update my blog header image because the WSU-themed graphic is just a little outdated now. If graphic design is your thing and you want to spend a minimal amount of time creating a new header for Don’t Blink let me know. Your work will be seen by thousands and you will be celebrated and promoted by me.

Some of my blog header photos over the years.

8-22 – In case you didn’t know, today is August 22. For me, this date has absolutely no meaning except for the fact that I have written a few blog posts on it over the years. For example, in 2016 I wrote about “Stranger Things” and what really drew me to that first season. The following year I described my experience observing the Great American Eclipse in totality. On Aug. 22, 2018, I gave credit to Sidney as she returned to the classroom for another school year as a second-grade teacher. In 2019 I wrote about my very late discovery of “King of Queens.” And, last but not least, in 2022 I revealed our secret about how Sid and I got around Hawaii when it seemed like every rental car and Uber wasn’t available.

Before Sidney went off to her classroom on Aug. 22, 2018, I took this photo of her. She started her fifth year as a teacher that day.

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Once again I extend my gratitude for your readership of Don’t Blink. Have a terrific weekend and I look forward to catching up next week. Don’t Blink.

Back Again Thursday Rundown

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The Thursday Rundown is back after a brief hiatus. Last week my WSU three-year anniversary landed on a Thursday so that bumped the rundown. Please forgive me. I did consider offering TEN topics tonight to make up for last week’s snub but that would have been just plain silly. So without further delay, here are FIVE topics…

Adding to the Tradition – Last year I wrote about a birthday tradition that I do with Sloan. Each year I throw on the green polo that I wore when Sloan was born and take a photo with her. The pose is always the same and this year was the seventh edition. If you look at the collage below, the photos go in chronological order beginning with the image in the top left.

This year I took my seventh photo with Sloan in my old green St. Pat’s polo.

Sloan’s Cake – Keeping my quasi-tradition of sharing Sloan’s birthday cake with all of you (but not literally sharing), here is what we ordered her this year. We opted to go with Walmart and they baked her this mermaid-themed cake. The aqua blue frosting matched perfectly with the party venue’s décor (more on that next week). The cake itself was a marble chocolate/vanilla combination that we paired with vanilla ice cream cups.

This was Sloan’s birthday cake that we got from Walmart.

Birthday Artwork – As I have documented on here before, my dad marked our milestones and achievements as children with colorful sketches. In fact, he still does it for us today. But that’s not all—he does it for his grandchildren too! This was Sloan’s sketch for her 6th birthday. Kudos to my dad for manipulating the “O” in “Sloan” to take on the form of the number “6.”

This was the drawing my dad did to commemorate Sloan’s 6th birthday.

Chips And Dip Day – Today we celebrate National Chips and Dip Day and I couldn’t help but be reminded of the blog post I wrote two years ago. In this particular post, I opined that family Mexican restaurants can standout from competitors by offering superior chips. I declared that “good” chips must be hot, thick, tasty, bottomless, and accompanied by a distinctive salsa. I sure can eat a lot of them!

Chips are very important at a Mexican restaurant.

Eggo Frosted Maple Pop-Tarts – As we conclude tonight, I share a find from my recent trip to our local WINCO. These Eggo maple frosted Pop-Tarts were on the shelves and provided plenty of temptation. Although I wanted to try them, I refrained from buying them…for now. They did make me think long and hard about whether they would crack my top 10 Pop-Tart flavor list.

Would you give these Eggo Pop-Tarts a try?

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I apologize again that you had to go two weeks with a Thursday Rundown. Hopefully this didn’t disappoint…although I am sure it did. Have a great weekend, everyone! Don’t Blink.

WinCo for the Win

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I know people back east rave about places such as Wawa and Publix. I have been to both places and they are fine stores but out west we have something different. My friends, we have WinCo. Short for Washington, Idaho, Nevada, California, and Oregon, this grocery store is pretty special and tonight I am giving you five reasons why.

This is our local WinCo in the Spokane Valley that we visit frequently.

Cheaper Than Walmart – No joke, WinCo offers cheaper prices than the Michael Jordan of discount grocers…Walmart. Don’t believe me? Pretty much every item in WinCo is tagged with the store price and the Walmart price. Guess which one is lower? $20 will get you more at WinCo than it would get you at Walmart five years ago.

The little girl in the cart is priceless but everything else I throw in is usually really cheap.

Bulk Foods – Are you one of those people who prefers to buy in bulk? Then WinCo is your dream. Pay by the pound for everything from pistachios to pasta to peanut M&Ms. The options are endless and you will undoubtedly leave that section of the store thinking “I never thought I would see that item in a cylinder tube.”

You will be impressed by the large selection of bulk foods at WinCo.

Ready-Made Dinners – You can pick up inexpensive and delicious pre-made dinners for the family with a quick in-and-out WinCo trip. For under $8 you can choose a meal that you can just throw into the oven for 10 minutes and enjoy. The other night we tried the manicotti and garlic bread that was fabulous. You can also bring home chicken tacos, pasta alfredo dishes, and Asian entrees.

Pasta and tacos are two of the options you can choose from for ready-made dinners at WinCo.

Fried Chicken – WinCo makes some of the best fried chicken and that is saying a lot coming from someone who spent a lot of time testing different versions of it in Southern supermarket chains. Not only is WinCo fried chicken cooked to perfection but it costs less than $6 for eight pieces.

The other night we had WinCo fried chicken for dinner…cheap and delcious!

Random Bins – Around the aisles in WinCo you will find random bins filled with quirky sale items. Whether it be a bag of freezer pops for $.68 or a pack of fruit cocktails for $1.48, you will find plenty of items that you definitely don’t need but kind of want. It is an adventure every time you go.

Take a look at the bin holding the freezer pops in the corner of the photo. What a steal!

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If there is a WinCo in your town but you have been hesitant to check it out, give it a try. You will appreciate its charm and affordability. Don’t Blink.