Missing Trader Joe's

Yep, that's the one.  Haven't stopped at Morrison's yet - it's on the "to do" list. Was going out to Pets At Home and saw the Sainsburys in the same  shopping center so popped in.   So, at the Anniesland Bus stop, by the train station.... from there to get to Morrisons I walk north?

There might be a pedestrian shortcut from the station, I don't know, cos I drive everywhere.  But yeah, if you're standing at Anniesland Cross, say, in front of the council office, you'd head north (the north 'leg' of the Cross is Bearsden Road), and just stay on the right hand side of the road.  You can't miss it.

Is the salted butter real butter?  Sounds amazing but I can't have real butter.   

Yeah, it's real butter!

I think the reason I particularly like Waitrose is that they're very much like Central Market in Texas and it's my go-to store for pretty much everything. I enjoy the quality of their products. The Duchy Organic range is spectacular. If it's good enough for the Queen and The Prince of Wales (Waitrose has the Royal Seal from Elizabeth and Charles), it's good enough for me. If it's not Waitrose, it's M&S and Sainsbury's if I'm really slumming it. I've been known to drive my MIL to ASDA and wait in the car park. My stress levels peak just standing in the produce section. But I loved the George clothes she used to buy my kids.


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Hey Lorena, good to see you!  Tell us what happened in the storm, I was worried about you.

Agree on the quality of the Duchy products. I went in recently and hit their cookies aisle and bought several boxes of various Duchy cookies to send back to my old office buddies.  But, aren't they Prince Charles' brand literally? As in, his production/farm company?

I'm almost certain that the Duchy brand was made so that Prince Charles can have some income without having to enter the fray of commerce like a commoner. I think he gets special tax benefits or something as well. 

Does anyone know the whole scoop?

Waitrose are few and far between in Scotland, but we do happen to have a nice, shiny new one here in Helensburgh.  My favourite things there are their chocolate tart in the refrigerated dessert section... it's very plain... just chocolate ganache in a shortcrust pastry, but it is SO GOOD!

I also make a special trip there to buy butter... they've got this butter that has chunks of salt in it... we call it crunchy butter.  If you like salty butter, you will love this... and I never see it anywhere else apart from M&S Foodhall, which I don't go to anymore, as their prices on some things are ridiculous and insulting.

Oh yes. The sea salt butter. It's my favorite!

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Hey Lorena, good to see you!  Tell us what happened in the storm, I was worried about you.

Hi Jimbocz!

Thank you very much for asking about me.
It's been a very long several days. To be honest, I'm not entirely sure what day it is. Someone on my FB feed said it was "Labor Day" yesterday. I hadn't noticed since many places are closed or on new hours.

It's been a bit surreal because my neighborhood is a sort of island. We are a whopping 109' above sea level and we're informed that properties under 104' would flood. It was a very scary storm and we were spared by 5' but neighboring subdivisions did not do so well. When the rain finally stopped, we discovered the reservoir near us was about to burst it's banks so two blocks away from us, there were mandatory evacuations. So, our neighborhood was spared this by two little blocks.

For a few days, we were living in this weird reality where everything seemed normal until we had to venture out of the subdivision. We would stand just outside the main street and watch a convoy of National Guard and every day people with boats and monster trucks pass by to rescue people from their homes. Every media imaginable from all over the country and the world was set up outside that same road as it was one of the few areas on higher ground. We couldn't do anything but pass along whatever food, clothes, water we didn't need to those journalists to pass on to others on our behalf.

Every day, we can venture a bit further out and things are slowly starting to seem more normal than the day before. My son's community college opened today and he's had to take the long way around to get there but he said it was good to have something stable in his life. My daughter is in high school and they won't return until 09/11. Her school will have to absorb another 800 students from another high school since they have extensive damage. But the water levels around that school are still too high for people to drive through. They'll come when it's possible. The only we can do now is help clean out damaged homes and help those families with whatever they need to rebuild.

Here's a photograph taken yesterday a mile south from me. This street was so flooded that trucks were flooded to their roofs. But it's slowly going down.

Again, thank you for checking up on me. It's very much appreciated.



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It's so cool to hear what really happened from an eye witness.  I'm really glad you were lucky, sounds like you were in just the right place.   

That is an almost unfathomable amount of water!  I'm glad your home was spared, but with everything around it devastated, it will still be challenging I imagine.  You didn't stay in your home during the storm, did you?

That is an almost unfathomable amount of water!  I'm glad your home was spared, but with everything around it devastated, it will still be challenging I imagine.  You didn't stay in your home during the storm, did you?

Yes, we stayed home during the storm.

Houston is my adopted city and my hometown of El Paso is 750 miles away but you have to drive on I-10 West through San Antonio which was in the original path of the storm. Plus, after the hurricane hit, I-10 W was underwater in various places along the way. Besides, my parents are deceased and my only sibling lives in Alaska. I only thought about going there due to familiarity and some sort of feeling of safety.

It rained for nearly five days straight. On the Saturday night, things got extremely scary. .05"/ hour rainfall is a solid rain; 1.0"/ hour of rainfall would cause you to pull over if you were driving but it was 3.5"/ hour and the drains were having trouble working and that rain was starting to back up. It really put us in a position to make quick decisions of what we would do. We have one car to transport my husband and myself, our son & daughter, my oldest son and his three young children and three cats. We were staying put. We just kept watching the water level but miraculously, the rain would stop pouring down for ten minutes and the drains would start working. It was an extraordinary night.

You want to know the funniest part of this? As we were watching the rain fall, my husband said that he was more determined to go home to England. Did we use our time wisely to pack cat food and litter, baby formula, clothes? No! We spent precious moments triple-bagging documents like our passports, marriage certificate/ divorce decree, relationship documentary evidence into plastic bags because I'm not hunting for this crap again for that freaking spouse visa!





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Yes, we stayed home during the storm.

Houston is my adopted city and my hometown of El Paso is 750 miles away but you have to drive on I-10 West through San Antonio which was in the original path of the storm. Plus, after the hurricane hit, I-10 W was underwater in various places along the way. Besides, my parents are deceased and my only sibling lives in Alaska. I only thought about going there due to familiarity and some sort of feeling of safety.

It rained for nearly five days straight. On the Saturday night, things got extremely scary. .05"/ hour rainfall is a solid rain; 1.0"/ hour of rainfall would cause you to pull over if you were driving but it was 3.5"/ hour and the drains were having trouble working and that rain was starting to back up. It really put us in a position to make quick decisions of what we would do. We have one car to transport my husband and myself, our son & daughter, my oldest son and his three young children and three cats. We were staying put. We just kept watching the water level but miraculously, the rain would stop pouring down for ten minutes and the drains would start working. It was an extraordinary night.

You want to know the funniest part of this? As we were watching the rain fall, my husband said that he was more determined to go home to England. Did we use our time wisely to pack cat food and litter, baby formula, clothes? No! We spent precious moments triple-bagging documents like our passports, marriage certificate/ divorce decree, relationship documentary evidence into plastic bags because I'm not hunting for this crap again for that freaking spouse visa!

Cat litter, clothes, and formula can easily be purchased again (well, maybe not easily in the early days after the storm, but you know what I mean!).  Meanwhile, those documents are priceless.  I think everybody here would've made the same choice.

We've all been thinking of you Lorena.  Glad you were spared but so sad for your neighbors.

I'm leaving florida early from my holiday tomorrow.  I'm not sticking around to see what Irma brings.  My parents are going to ride it out at home.  Just praying it continues that turn north earlier and earlier!!

We've all been thinking of you Lorena.  Glad you were spared but so sad for your neighbors.

I'm leaving florida early from my holiday tomorrow.  I'm not sticking around to see what Irma brings.  My parents are going to ride it out at home.  Just praying it continues that turn north earlier and earlier!!

I was wondering what your status was!  I saw you posting in the Visa section, but I wasn't sure if you had come home already, or what your plans were.  I have been watching Irma (my sister and her husband are in Fort Walton Beach, which currently looks to be safe)... I'm glad you're coming back early, and I hope your parents will be safe.  Sorry your holiday got cut short, though.  :/  This extreme weather is kind of crap.

Glad you and family are okay Lorena.  Hopefully things will slowly get back to normal.  These things are so sad and scary. 

I'm watching Irma with interest, as I lived in South Florida for many years and have many friends there. I also have friends and co-workers in Puerto Rico, but luckily they seem to have escaped with only power outages and minor damages. 

Glad you and family are okay Lorena.  Hopefully things will slowly get back to normal.  These things are so sad and scary. 

I'm watching Irma with interest, as I lived in South Florida for many years and have many friends there. I also have friends and co-workers in Puerto Rico, but luckily they seem to have escaped with only power outages and minor damages.

Good to hear.  She's a biggie!