Valentine's Day Dinner

At $12.99 per pound the rib steak was 50% higher than pre-pandemic, but:

1) We hadn't splurged on this cut since last fall;

2) Home-cooked steak would still be cheaper than dining out, which is what we usually do on Valentine's Day.

COVID-19 and inflation seem to have caused long-lasting changes in the shopping and dining habits of Americans:

Americans continue to stockpile food and household goods.

Many are spending more time at home and remain uncertain about product availability. Some have moved from tight-spaced apartments in cities to more spacious suburban homes, and inflation is spurring a search for savings by buying in bulk.

After more than 20 years of steady but slow sales growth, sales at bulk retailers Costco Wholesale Corp., Walmart Inc.’s Sam’s Club and BJ’s Wholesale Club Holdings Inc. rose 26.6% in dollars and 18% in volume during the fourth quarter of 2021 compared with the same quarter of 2019

Though restaurants have reopened, Americans are eating billions (!) of meals more at home than before the pandemic:

At the height of the pandemic, Americans ate 88% of their meals at home, according to retail research firm NPD Group, up from 83% pre-pandemic. Meals eaten at home have since leveled off to about 85%, but the 2 percentage point increase from 2019 levels is equivalent to an estimated 2.9 billion meals and snacks per quarter, NPD says.

BTW, after two years of working on our skills in the kitchen, the steak turned out a perfect medium rare.

Deferred Digestion

Clockwise from top left: seafood fried rice, beef
chow fun, chinese broccoli, hot and sour soup,
tomato beef chow mein Hong Kong style

On Valentine's Day we had Chinese takeout.

Friday was the Lunar New Year, and all the Chinese restaurants were closed. Except for reheated jai that was brought from Hawaii, we had had none of the traditional dishes. So the noodles were deferred to Sunday.

It's been the kind of year, unexpectedly, where we are continually falling behind. Today we'll be grilling the steaks that we would have had on Valentine's Day.

Pancakes on Shrove Tuesday will have to wait until next year (!) when things get back to normal.

(WSJ illustration)

Update - 2/16/21: My Covid Valentine: Couch, Takeout, Movie

Couples are digging deep this year to find Valentine’s date-night ideas with restaurants and cinemas closed—and working hard to summon romantic feelings about people they have slurped soup and folded laundry next to for the last 11 months.

Forever

The roses are still going strong five days after Valentine's Day--in fact, they look better.

If I were a poet, I'd write something about how love matures and can become more luminous over time.

Eventually the petals fall, but by then the underlying beauty will have been revealed, and that it is what we retain in our memories.

The grass withers, the flower fades,
But the word of our God stands forever.
------Isaiah 40:8

Happy Valentine's Day from the City That Knows How

Flowers for sale at the Ocean Ave. Whole Foods.

Last month we noted how San Francisco D.A. Chesa Boudin's solution to auto break-ins is to help victims replace broken windows more cheaply. Marginally "helpful" though it is, his proposal doesn't apply to us non-San Franciscans. Of course, he will have to add staff to administer his program:

The $1.5 million in the office’s new budget includes money to pay for two victim advocates to process claims from people whose vehicles are registered in San Francisco.

Needing to run a couple of errands in the City, I drove my 16-year-old weather-beaten Camry, not the one-year-old SUV. Paranoia runs strong in my family.

Happy Valentine's Day from the City that knows how.

Hope You Found Some Joy

Another school shooting (17 dead so far) has ruined this Valentine's Day. The usual questions arise: how did the gunman get his weapons, were there warnings signs (emphatically yes in his case), would mere enforcement of existing laws have prevented this horror, etc. etc.

As one who has the highest respect for the Constitution but at the same time doesn't regard the right to bear arms as essential to my being, I--and I suspect many Americans--am willing to consider drastic solutions, including a ban on gun sales and even a ban on gun ownership. I think either of those goals will be too difficult to attain, but if someone can put together a plausible plan that people will get behind, let's listen. Frankly, I think it will be easier to solve immigration or illegal drugs. [Added - 2/15: of course it's harder--a comprehensive gun ban requires an amendment to the Constitution.]

Meanwhile, I did send a bouquet to my true love, who is visiting her mother two thousand miles away. So, Happy Valentine's Day, everyone, hope you found some joy.

Valentine's Day—-Really?

Still working on Christmas cards and thank-you notes, I cast a jaundiced eye on the Valentine's display at a San Jose Safeway.

Valentine's Day---really? Give us a break, marketers and retailers!

And if you really do care about your customers' welfare, please don't have them buy for their true love what will be a 46+-day-old box of candy when February 14th arrives.

Out of Kilter

The sauna is out of kilter. The repairs were scheduled to be completed by Valentine's Day, but they look like it will take another week at least.

I need the quiet time, I want the quiet time, I must have the quiet time. The steam room is one of the few places that I can get away. (Is there stuff going on in the world that bothers you as well, dear reader?)

I guess I'm out of kilter, too.

Acquire and Hold

(Image from money.cnn.com)

Borrowing more than was prudent, I made the investment without knowing what I was getting into. Luckily, it began paying dividends almost immediately, and the investment more than covered incremental out-of-pocket costs.

After a few years, however, there were inevitable dips, especially after a couple of major expansions caused finances to be over-extended. (After two decades, it's still uncertain whether the expansions will ever pay off.)

The investment has become so long-term that the costs of exiting are prohibitively high. Besides, the dividends have gone up, too, and I will need them in retirement.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Sweetheart Splurge

"Sweetheart" rib-eye: I wonder how it got its name.

For the day after Valentine's Day I went to the local Whole Foods and splurged on the "sweetheart" steak at $13.99 per pound.

Actually, shopping at Whole Foods is always a splurge because I've never found it to be cheaper than Safeway, Lucky, or other markets on anything.

If you believe the hype about organic food, however, no price is too high when it comes to your or your sweetheart's health.

Either That, or Pray a Lot

Facebook Data Science reports that the overwhelming majority of Facebook members marry within their faith:

(Facebook diagram)

With so many potential sources of conflict, e.g., money, sex, children, and careers, most marrieds seem to display a practical streak by uniting with someone of the same religion, thus reducing, if not eliminating, it as a bone of contention. Divorce is significantly more likely if partners have different religious backgrounds.

According to calculations based on the American Religious Identification Survey of 2001, people who had been in mixed-religion marriages were three times more likely to be divorced or separated than those who were in same-religion marriages.

Living together before marriage is officially frowned upon by major religions, but a trial run is probably good advice to those marrying outside the faith.  Either that, or pray a lot. 

Kindly Explanation

On this Valentine's week, Facebook Data Science runs a series of blog posts about love. Behold the power of modern data-collection and analysis: listing the cities that have the "most single males to single females" (San Francisco is #1) is a trifle; Facebook can tabulate the actual rate of couple formation:

Facebook, with 201 million users in the U.S. and Canada, has something the Census Bureau doesn't: Real-time relationship statuses for about half of Americans. Over a one-month period, Facebook ranked major U.S. cities according to the percentage of singles that went from "Single" to "In a relationship."

Digging deeper, the Facebook data miners looked at the number of times each member of the couple posts on the other's timeline:

During the 100 days before the relationship starts, we observe a slow but steady increase in the number of timeline posts shared between the future couple. When the relationship starts ("day 0"), posts begin to decrease. We observe a peak of 1.67 posts per day 12 days before the relationship begins, and a lowest point of 1.53 posts per day 85 days into the relationship. Presumably, couples decide to spend more time together, courtship is off, and online interactions give way to more interactions in the physical world.

As many married people can attest, intra-relationship communication can go down over time. The FB data analysts are positing a kindly interpretation--more "interactions in the physical world".  Well, it's Valentine's Day, when all explanations should be kindly. 

Positively Blissful

In Valentine's Day news you might have missed, "the happier your marriage, the more likely it is that you will gain weight".

[SMU researcher Andrea] Meltzer followed 169 newlywed couples for four years, collecting information on their marital satisfaction and weight. The results showed that marital happiness is positively associated with weight gain. Spouses -- both male and female -- who were more satisfied with their relationships tended to gain more weight, while spouses who were less satisfied tended to weigh less.

Based on readings from our bathroom scale, our marriage is positively blissful.

Hearts a Flutter

Valentine's Day has been co-opted by the female of the species. Candy, flowers, white tablecloth dinners, meaningful conversation---if guys are honest, none of these activities would make the list of top five things to do on a Thursday night.  On Valentine's Day there are duties to be performed and monies to be spent. It's an investment in the future, like the Prisoner's Dilemma with multiple iterations.

On the other hand, what really sets male hearts a flutter is speed, power, and destruction (as long as no one gets hurt--this is a family blog) such as the supersonic ping-pong bazooka put together by the Purdue engineering department. Note the unsurprising absence of gender diversity in the video.

Happy Valentine's Day from Hawaii

Valentine's arrangement, including protea

It wasn't exactly "when I'm not near the one I love, I love the one I'm near," but I was 2,387 miles from home on Valentine's Day. So I bought flowers and peanut brittle for those whom I was near.

Disdaining the ready-made Valentine's Day arrangements, I purchased the flowers, vases, and candy from separate stores. One can get the recipients' favorite items at lower cost provided that there was enough time. There were no urgent appointments on the calendar.

The recipients were properly appreciative, and I had the opportunity to chat with them at length. For the first time in a long time I could stop and smell the roses.

A Perfect Storm (But No Snow) in Vancouver

Yesterday we posted separately on Facebook and Twitter [Re-typing betrayed my lack of skills in social media. Didn't follow single entry only, one of the axioms of modern electronic data-processing]

It's triple-witching multi-culti day.

Gung Hee Fat Choy! Happy Valentine's Day! Today our church is also celebrating Fat Tuesday a couple of days early by feasting on jambalaya, red velvet cake, and assorted high-cholesterol comestibles.

We're now playing bingo. Which other (mild) vices may we indulge before Lent begins?

Pity the poor inhabitants of Vancouver’s Chinatown, who are tugged in even more directions. The Winter Olympics shortened the lunar new year festival and parade. And I’m sure the crowds made a seat at a decent restaurant impossible to find on Valentine’s night. Vancouver – a jewel of a city, but not so much this week.

Happy Valentine's Day

I hope you spent today with someone you love...and remembered to spend a few minutes with someone who's alone.

The Way to Their Hearts

The members of the household are forever in a rush during the morning. A bowl of cereal or oatmeal is all we have to fortify ourselves until lunch.

Today, Valentine’s Day, I took a few minutes—okay, an hour—to show them the love by making a pan of fried rice. Ingredients: brown rice, scrambled eggs, onions, boneless chicken, pepper sausage, bacon, green onions, and salt and pepper.

Happy Valentine's Day

Take a moment from your websurfin' and give a non-avatar someone a hug--and if you're lucky, a kiss. Contact is what makes us human, Mr. Spock.

Right With the World

Planning ahead more than I usually do, I went to the florist Monday night to pick up some flowers for my valentine. I gulped at the prices. A dozen roses in far-from-perfect condition were going for $60, nicer ones were sold ala carte at $8.50.

I picked a tropical arrangement that won’t wilt quickly---more days for the dollar. The cashier smiled. She said I was one of the few customers who hadn’t complained about the price. For my valentine, nothing’s too good (a phrase that could carry a double meaning, but here any cleverness is unintentional).

The vase was left on a table to surprise her when she came down in the morning. I took the call at work, ready to bask in the plaudits.

“Who sent the flowers?”
Me, who else?
“It could have been my sister, mother, or L.”
Well, it was me.
“I didn’t see a card.”

No card, my fault. Once again, despite my good intentions, another situation where I’m on the defensive. The fate of husbands everywhere.

Later that day I called the youngster on his cell phone and offered a bribe.

I’m taking Mom out to dinner, so I’ll bring home whatever you want to eat.
“The two-meat special at Armadillo Willy’s, Texas ribs and baby-back. I want the corn muffin and the jambalaya as side orders.”
Okay. The kid is disorganized, but not when the subject is food.
“Dad, I forgot to buy anything for Mom. Can you get me a rose?”
Okay. The bribee was in the power position and pressed his advantage. You can pay me back when I get home. A feeble attempt to regain self-respect.

I reached Armadillo Willy’s around seven and ordered the two-meat special. $16 for take-out, especially for a kid, is outrageous. But Valentine’s Day is like April 15th---just get through it and pay up. As I put my credit card back, the girl spotted my triple-A membership. “Next time, show us the card and you’ll get 10% off.” Something positive to take away from the day.


I walked over to BJs Restaurant, the new chain that’s hot with the twenty-somethings. Exotic beer and wide screen TVs appeal to the guys, while a varied upscale menu brings in the gals. I put my name on the list and pocketed the beeper. The wait would be an hour. Perfect. Time to buy a rose, pick up my dinner companion, then return at eight to take our seat.

The BJs beeper started beeping every 20 seconds once I drove out of range. Impatient customers clearly had given up and driven away with beepers before, but BJs did not know about my sound-ignoring ability that is intensely irritating to those, such as my Valentine’s Day dinner companion, who try to carry on a conversation with me. I tuned out the sound and drove to the florist to fulfill my errand.

The youngster's eyes lit up when I walked through door with the rose (allow me the illusion that it was not due to the ribs), and so did his mother’s when he presented her with the rose. Love was in the air, and the remainder of the evening went off without a hitch. The beeper quieted when we got back to the restaurant, and we were seated within ten minutes. A beer, a steak, my valentine seated across from me, and all was right with the world. © 2006 Stephen Yuen