Five measures to stay safe!

No virus will keep me away from my Sonic All American hot dogs!

Sonics 15700 Us Hwy 160, Forsyth, MO 65653

Forsyth MO. – It was Thursday, March the nineteenth, and I had my lunch money squeezed tightly in one hand as I steered my way into a local Sonic venue next to the Country Mart on Highway 160. The day was on the rainy side with lots of clouds. On a good note, the temps were rather moderate, somewhere in the mid sixties. I'll tell you, that wasn't too shabby weather for this part of March! And, anyway, I was pretty darn hungry! I'd likely go there even in a snowstorm!

For under $5, I was going to purchase myself an All American dog with a medium order of fries. (Just what a boy needed to remain fat and sassy)! I had found myself eating out more due to the virus that was going around. You see, I wanted to stretch my food at home so as to not have to visit the local grocery store very often. This was also a great excuse to eat a lot of junk food!

I'd written a number of posts about Sonics, over time, and I still have nothing but good things to say about; their brand, the great tasting foods and their low prices!As a bonus and a convenience, Sonic offers drive thru service that's most always fast and efficient.

The food  was awesome, as was generally the rule. I did take note of the Country Mart that adjoins this venue and it was busy as it had been for over a week. Me? I just cruised on by!

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A trip to the local grocery store!

Forsyth MO. - It was mid-March, 2020 and at about 10AM on a Wednesday, I made the decision to go to a local Country Mart Grocery store for some supplies...

The coronavirus was still raging all across the continental landscape. While, here in Missouri, there were only 16 cases out of a population of 6 million with no one yet dying! Although to hear the folks at CNN talk, this virus was going to be the end of the world as we know it. OK, then... I guess that's that. It must be true. Because, how often are those folks ever caught lying? Just saying.

I arrived at the store at about 9:20 AM and my first impression was that, while the store looked busy, it didn't look like there was much in the way of panic buying going on. If nothing else, it felt more like a typical weekend morning... Busy, but really not impressively so.

As I meandered my way through the isles, my first stop took me to the pharmaceutical section for a bottle of mouthwash and a few bars of soap. (Yes, just plain old soap). I noticed that where there was a generic selection available, that was what customers were buying. The Brand names were pretty much left sitting on the shelf. (That was something that showed up again and again as I shopped).

Next, it was onto the Produce Department where I grabbed some apples and an onion. I also noted that the large ten pound bags of potatoes was almost gone even as the smaller five pound bags were in ample supply. Everything else about that department seemed pretty normal.  I did overhear one of the store personnel remark that TP was hard to come by, and I wondered in passing, what the connection was between the virus and TP?  (Hint: There is none).

As I passed the canned goods isle, I glanced down the isles and noted that a lot of customers seemed to gravitate towards the purchase of corn! Why was that true, for God's sake? Perhaps, it was on sale. From a strictly nutritional standpoint, corn is not all that energy dense. (Nowhere like potatoes are). [As an aside; I would think that a collage post-grad might want to do some research on what people buy in stores like this during a time of a 'pseudo' crisis.] I call this crisis 'pseudo' based on the incidence of infection by the coronavirus being at about .00026% of the Missouri population. (If people wanted to be afraid of something, let them worry more about the regular flu which has hit the country pretty hard this season)!

When I finally made my way to the checkout area, I witnessed a group of ladies who looked pretty tired even at such an early hour, Hey! If you're planning on shopping at a grocery store, over the next couple of weeks, please consider slipping your checkout person a few bucks to help brighten their day....

As I stepped out of the store and headed for my car, the sun was breaking through the clouds and you could feel spring just about to burst out all over the place. I realized that things were going to be just fine and that all I really needed to do (besides washing my hands) was to keep the TV tuned to some old movie while bypassing the media talking heads and the politicians who were desperately trying to; score points, enhance the sense of panic and to throw taxpayer money at a problem that was going to very likely clear up like the early morning mist on a summer day.



I 

Doc Holidays Pawn!

Forsyth MO. - I stopped over at Doc Holiday's - a local pawn shop located at 15261 US-160 when coming into town from the north, as I wanted to purchase some ammo and also to look to see if they had a small Glock semi-auto in the 9mm caliber. I was getting tired of carrying a 40 caliber Model 19 Glock and desired something a little lighter. Cody the manager had a slightly used model in the back which I wanted to think about.

The store, which has all sorts of sport related and other forms of equipment, including guitars, has been around for a number of years and was actually fun to browse on an otherwise cool Tuesday in March. I'd just gotten done voting at the Baptist church on Hwy 76 and felt the mood to explore a bit before heading home to watch more stuff about the growing threat of the pandemic caused by a coronavirus.

Finally, a good tasting coleslaw!

Forsyth MO. - After searching for years to find a commercially prepared coleslaw that I could actually tolerate, I cam across a 15 ounce container made by Reser's. It was located in a cold case next to Deli counter at the Country Mart store in Forsyth. It sold for three dollars and change and was pretty darn tasty!

Charlie's was under contract to sell!

Forsyth MO - Charlie's Steak Ribs and Ale, a popular steakhouse located on the corner of Hwy 160 and Y was under contract to be sold with a closing date set for Friday, March 6th. Unfortunately, that fell through according to a spokesperson for the company that represents the property. So, it's now back on the market!

Forsyth Long Horn Update

I was able to drive by the former Long Horn and grabbed a quick pic. Yep, it was up for lease again! This happening after a guy named Jimmy dumped a lot of money into the establishment including the purchase of a new sign. (Maybe Italiano Jimmy was called back to Italy to get more pasta)....

Sonic and McD burgers!

Forsyth Mo. - February was not a particularly good month to embark on any kind of diet, as I recently discovered. It's generally cold and there's not much to do other than eat. So, of course, my thoughts always turn to one of food right about noontime. On this day, I decided to head out and grab a burger at McD's, but then had second thoughts. My last purchase of a Big Mac and a medium French fry was $7.56. I thought that was a bit much, and so altered my course to head over to the local Sonic instead.

When I got there, I ordered a Cheeseburger and medium fry at a cost of $7.13. Nutritionally the Big Mac and the Sonic Cheeseburger are pretty close with the Big Mac being a tad more diet friendly. 

The upshot of this was me thinking that is really comes down to a matter of taste and frequency. I planned to allow myself only once such visit a month in the future.