The Price Is Right

It occurs to me that I've never heard of any contestant on the TV show, "The Price Is Right" who hails from Barrow, Alaska. No one from here would stand a chance on that show. You may think this is a totally random thought for me to be having sitting here with my view of the Arctic Ocean and having just seen a whale spouting "hello" from my front yard.

Not so random, though, when you consider I've also been pondering the receipt from our last sojourn to pick up some necessities from the store. So, I thought this would be a fun little exercise. Take a look at our most recent basket of grocery items. (Just an aside, Husband was totally against my taking photographs in the grocery store, so I had to wait until the aisle was empty then pretend I was making a phone call while snapping the photo with my iPhone. We don't want to look like tourists after all when we are here for the long haul!) Keep in mind this is one of those mini carts. Just take a guess at how much you think this basket cost us. There are a couple of hidden items here, we did buy lettuce, plums, and cookie mix. No, I don't think that's a weird combination of items...you really need to be here to understand why we buy what we do! Now, while you ponder the cost of the basket, let me regale you with some price stories.

For the things that you really can't live without (coffee in my case), it's hard to wait for the deals if you don't have any in your cupboard. You may be surprised to learn that there is a drive thru coffee stand here in Barrow. However at $6 for a 16 oz. latte, I'm going to have to pass on daily visits. This is a 2.5 lb. bag of coffee beans. Do not go to the eye doctor to get your vision checked; the price really is $33.39! I won't even go into detail regarding this small box of Bisquick.

We are somewhat stuck while we wait for the barge to come in. It reminds me of the spirit that must have been behind that song from "Music Man"..."oh ho the Wells Fargo wagon is a-comin', oh please let it be for me" because we are GREATLY anticipating the arrival of our groceries and our other household items.
Oh yeah, and the basket of groceries was $113.60 (there is no tax in Barrow).