Everyone Hates Ra-- eh, Naruto

[thistlechaser]

At lunchtime I ran to Toys R Us to try to get a Haku and Zabuza figure from the new Naruto line. Unfortunately, though they had roughly 200 figures out on the shelf, there was almost nothing other than Naruto himself. >< About 170 Naruto ones, 20 Rock Lees, and 10 Sasuke ones. Way, way too much orange. Blech. I'm probably going to have to hit eBay if I want to buy Haku and Zabuza. Wonder if they've done anything about people charging $30 postage for a $5 item...

*sad*

Hey, and by the way: Does fruit from the supermarket tend to be not very good? I went to Safeway last weekend to load up on fruit, but nothing was good. Watermelon? Tasted rotten. Grapes? Moldy. Peaches? Bruised and flavorless. Today I went to a fruit stand/place that sold only fruit instead, so hopefully this week's fruit will be better.

Hey, how about a poll? Everyone loves polls!

[Poll #798953]

Comments

[juliansinger.livejournal.com]

I dunno about CA, but around here, it's a freshness thing. Grocery stores, well, aren't. Also, they get the mass produced stuff. (Obviously.)

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I'm not sure either, but I bet that's a big part of the problem. CA has lots of farms, so you'd think we could get fresh stuff anywhere, but who knows...

[animarelic.livejournal.com]

I usually go to Bread & Circus (or whatever they changed the name to now, my brain is blanking out) and get organically grown fruit that hasn't had any pesticides used on it.

It's waaaaaaaay tastier I find and while it may not look superawesomeperfect, I don't care 'cause it tastes good.

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

Huh, I've never heard of a place called Bread & Circus. Where are they generally found?

And yeah, I don't care much how it looks, so long as it tastes good and has no mold on it!

[animarelic.livejournal.com]

Well, it's not the Bread & Circus anymore, now the chain is called 'Whole Foods Market', and they have a store locator on their website:

http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com

Everything they sell is pretty much all natural (and since you're a vegitarian, they have LOTS of good stuff there for you.) Every time I walk in it smells so good and clean and not like blech or chemicals.

They make especially wonderful breads, mmmm. (I want to go to there now!) My housemate and I both have allergies (him to milk and me to iodine) and they offer a lot of good solutions for him. (Milk is in EVERYTHING.)

Anyway, if there's one up your way, definately check it out.

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

Oh, that sounds great! I have heard of the name, but never been in them. You're right, I should! Thanks for the link!

[quasilemur.livejournal.com]

Fruit in the grocery store has been shipped, which is the kiss of death for several kinds of fresh produce. That means that the fruit at the store was probably shipped immature and artificially ripened (which is mostly cosmetic; they look ripe but really aren't).

Depending on what you're getting, you can sometimes get good fruit at a grocery store, but you have to know how to pick the right ones. Find out (from a reliable source; Alton Brown comes to mind) how to select the produce properly, or go to a farmer's market. Personally, I get much of my fresh produce from a relative who grows it, but lacking that, a farmer's market is a very good place to go.

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

I'd love to visit a farmer's market, but that would require me leving the house on the weekend. It'd take a lot more than fruit to make me do that!

That's a good idea. I bet AB has done lots of specials on picking fruit.

Thanks!

[quasilemur.livejournal.com]

Anytime he does a show on a variety of fruit/vegetable, he'll tell you how best to pick one out.

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

Cool beans!

[lokyst.livejournal.com]

I normally buy my fruit at the grocery store. I'm not a big fruit eater, but my rule of thumb is if I can smell it, it's good.

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I'm not a big fruit eater (and even less a fruit buyer -- we get it free at work four mornings a week, so I can just eat it here when I want some). But I decided I should eat more at home, so I'm trying to figure things out.

[firebyrd.livejournal.com]

Depends on the grocery store. Some of them have really good fruit, some of them have awful fruit. You have to check around to figure out which ones are good in your area.

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

Ah, I wondered about that, too. I like everything about Safeway, so I had assumed their fruit would be good, too.

Drat!

If the stuff I got today is good, I'll just have to make a special stop at a fruit-only place from now on.

[firebyrd.livejournal.com]

I guess that is an option year-round for you Californians. Around here, it's only a summertime thing, hence the getting to know what grocery store fruit is like. :)

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

Yeah, we can grow stuff pretty much year-round here. I've been living here for, what, six years now? I think it's gone below freezing once, maybe twice.

[bouteillebleu.livejournal.com]

I don't tend to buy much fruit now because we get it free at work - a basket of fruit every day for each department (there's about 12-15 of us in our department). I have bananas and sometimes grapes from there, and they're always fresh.

They seem to have problems with fresh satsumas/mandarins/clementines (I'm never sure what the difference is - they're basically small oranges that peel more easily). Sometimes they're ripe, occasionally they're overripe, but most of the time they're solid and sour.

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

Yeah, we get the 'free fresh fruit' thing here as well. It's a pretty darned cool idea. (Now if they'd only get rid of the free endless types of candy! So hard to resist free candy!)

[juliansinger.livejournal.com]

Trader Joe's is also pretty OK for some fruits.

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

I only bought "fruit" (well, veggies) once from them, and the whole bag was rotten. >< I had written them off my list, but I do want to go back to them again for some other stuff, so I'll poke at their produce again, too!

[juliansinger.livejournal.com]

Well, I admit their specialty is fish and all, but I've done OK with their fruit and veggies that aren't wrapped in plastic.

But, places do vary.

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

Ah ha! Mine were in a plastic bag. Maybe that was part of the issue!

[kirbyk.livejournal.com]

People have covered the fruit thing, already. :-)

Did you look at amazon.com for the toys? I have no idea beyond that we have a toy store, and that'd make more sense than eBay. (Or ToysRUs.com, but they recently split with Amazon in an ugly court battle, so I feel like I ought to suggest my Corporate Overlords first.)

You can't buy fruit from Amazon. You can get Fruit Loops, though.

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

I glanced at Amazon fast (they're usually the first place I check for online shopping, especially now that I have $100 credit there still!), but only saw the Naruto one. :/ I'm going to do a closer check, because the idea of returning to eBay doesn't thrill me.

You can't buy fruit from Amazon. You can get Fruit Loops, though.

Heh! I did get some sort of food from Amazon, a long time ago. Some sort of special popcorn...

[wanderingscribe.livejournal.com]

Well, it really depends on the season. I usually go to farmers markets, flea markets, and fruit stands in the summer and fall, but rely on supermarkets during the winter and spring months.

Some places like Wegmans are okay since they usually rely on local farms for their produce and sell organic, but other small-town supermarkets suck since their fruit is either over or under ripe, rotten, or bruised. It's all a tossup, really.

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

Ugh! Well, thanks for the info! :)