March 23, 2009 by dave.

I occasionally get into conversations with friends, colleagues, and others about what is best in the area we work and live in.  When I use the term ‘best’ I refer to everything from services, to food, to resources, to entertainment.  The list below highlights the various things I feel are ‘the best’ and they are all accessible around the mid-NH towns of Plymouth and Meredith.  I chose these areas because I spend most of my time here (between work and home).  This is one of many installments for ‘The Best’….I welcome comments and additions:

[Best Breakfast]: The Village Kitchen (no web site), Moultonborough……This small restaurant is known to locals as ‘The VK’.  It serves what many individuals would refer to as ‘home cooking’.  The service is extremely fast, the prices are very low, and the staff are wonderful.  Though many New Englanders are not familiar with ‘biscuits and sausage gravy‘ I have to say it’s my favorite breakfast meal and they have the best.  Note that the VK also serves lunch and dinner…so check them out!

[Best Deli]: Biederman’s Deli, Plymouth……This is a fixture in Plymouth.  The sandwiches they put together are of the highest quality and their daily specials are usually very unique and creative.  I’d have to say 75% of the time I get whatever is ‘on special’ because the combination of ingredients that the staff put together always result in a top-notch meal.

[Best Tire & Car Repair Service]: Salta Tire (no web site), Laconia……Other than going ‘to the dealer’ for car repairs it can be a difficult decision to find a regular car repair service that is reasonable, of quality, and trustworthy.  I’ve found such a shop in Laconia.  Salta Tire has actually won a number of ‘best of’ awards for the Laconia area and I further endorse them based on my own experience.  I’d have to say the key reason I like Salta Tire is their staff’s integrity and their prices.  They are my ‘regular’ repair shop and I highly recommend them.

[Best Local Newspaper]: The Laconia Daily Sun….This is a daily paper that is free.  I’ve blogged about this before so check out the details here.

Posted in New Hampshire, Food / Beverage, Household Stuff, Fun! | 1 Comment »

July 28, 2008 by dave.

The raised bed garden is doing VERY well.  As you may recall, I constructed it with scrap wood and I used a combination of compost from my town’s Transfer Station (I call it our ‘dump’).  My goal had been to have a good producing garden that didn’t require much maintenance / weeding.

Well, I’m very happy with it and am already making plans to add another section next year so I can grow more.  A few thoughts and comments:

** Next year I will plan the layout a bit better.  Example: My lettuce is pretty much gone and now I have empty space.  At the same time my cucumbers are taking over.  Perhaps next year I can design the layout so when the lettuce is used up the room left vacant will be filled by the cucumber plants.

** I will also try to spread some things out a little more.  I left plenty of room for the tomatoes (based on the package guidelines) but the plants are absolutely HUGE!

** I may also try to stagger some plantings of certain fast-growing plants.  For example….I only had spinach for about 3 weeks then it was used up or went to seed.  Next year I’ll try to plant some…wait a week and plant more….wait a week….well, you get the point.

** I have had very few weeds in the garden.  This was my biggest gripe.  I blame the good soil….I’m sure I’ll get a bit more weed infiltration next year but I’m sure it will continue to be manageable.

So in summary I got a good batch of spinach - which is already done.  I’ve been eating fresh lettuce for about 6 weeks now and probably have another week or two of ‘inventory’.  My tomato plants are HUGE and full of green tomatoes.  Some around here have already gotten red tomatoes but not me.  I do have the quantity….we just need more sun.  The carrots are doing very well.  The biggest story is the cucumbers.  I have already pulled 43 cucumbers out of the garden….and the plants are infested with buds so I’m going to get a ton more.  Check out the pictures (they are from a few weeks ago so the realize the cucumber plants have about tripled and the tomato plants are almost doubled:

 Cucumbers in foreground.  Running out of lettuce towards the back.  far back are carrots and sunflowers.

 Some lettuce.  I tried to pick it in a way to open up room….which is why it’s not neatly aligned.

This is an overview of the garden.  The smaller area in the back is a cutting garden for flowers.  On the right you can see the tomato plants.

Posted in Food / Beverage, Household Stuff | 1 Comment »

July 9, 2008 by dave.

I am reliving my childhood through my own kids.  One of the enjoyable things I remember as a kid was building tree houses and forts.  My wife and I try to keep our kids active and engaged in activities without watching TV so we spend a lot of time outside.  This summer I started building them a tree house.  They try to help but since they are still kind of young they tend to act more as ’supervisors’.  The tree house is triangular shaped (because I had 3 good trees to attach the structure to), it will have 3 windows, a door, and access will be via a ramp.  At this point I have all the walls, floor, and ramp in place.  The roof is going to be tricky due to the triangular shape but I have some ideas.  All of the wood was scrap that I had or got from my father-in-law.  I even have shingles for the roof.  At this point it appears the only costs associated with the tree house will hinges for the door and Plexiglas or screening for the windows.  Check out the current picture below.  Note the ramp is not done yet:

Posted in Household Stuff, Fun!, Parenthood | 1 Comment »

June 26, 2008 by dave.

Well, it seems my grocery store comparison has indeed struck a nerve.  In addition to posting the data, I had forwarded the Blog entry to a number of friends and co-workers…..who in turn forwarded it to others.  Typically individuals would comment directly on the Blog entry but instead I’m getting commentary via email.  This makes sense in some respect as some individuals didn’t actually receive the Blog link - they got to read the information via a cut-and-pasted email.  I feel it’s important to share this commentary so read on (I have blocked the personal information).  Also - please post opinions directly on the Blog by clicking on the comment option at the bottom of the article.

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Thanks for the update!  You have a great website.  It is good to know that I really am saving money at Market Basket.  I didn’t realize they were putting in a Hannaford’s in Meredith.  I’d still drive to MB if I was you although I do find that there are a few items that MB doesn’t carry and I do go to the Plymouth Hannaford for those.

I’m passing this on to a few other people.  Thanks.

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Thanks for sharing…..I’m a confirmed shopper at Market Basket…..and always love saving a few dollars whenever I can:)  I’m sharing with _______ and _______ too!

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Thanks so much, Dave.  We, too, converted to shopping at MB a couple years ago; and, like you, go there every couple weeks.  Glad to see that our decision now has some data to go with it.

Interesting…..Your shopping list looks really similar to the common things we buy. 

Again, thanks for sharing this.

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Very interesting!  I can’t quarrel with the price info; it speaks for itself.

However, on a non-price basis there are some other contrasts.  When I’m in Market Basket, I’m always impressed by the number of people on life support: oxygen tubes, electric carts, etc.  Shaws always has some promotion going: reduced price gas, free turkey, $20 - $50 off coupons based on how much you buy.  Shaws and Hannaford seem to be best for organic items.

Then there’s the question of how many other necessary stops you can make close to the supermarket, saving time and gas.

It’s nice to have Jackson’s Star so close, and would be even nicer if their prices were at least in the Hannaford/Shaws range.  Maybe the competition will help!

Many thanks, 

NOTE MY REPLY:

I agree that pricing isn’t everything.  I also agree that Shaws has great ’specials’.  I’ve been known to ‘cherry pick’ at that store once in a while.  Price is one part of my reason for shopping at Market Basket.  Honestly I have had very bad experiences at Shaws.  I even walked out with a partially filled carriage once because I was so ticked off.  Some of this may have changed but they lost a customer as a result:

1) When I did shop at Shaws it was regularly in the evening during the week.  I got frustrated because in the evening their meat selection was horrible.  It seems they ‘let the display run out’ towards the end of the day.  Market Basket is always very well stocked.

2) The employees running the registers and bagging at Shaws come across as inattentive and uncaring.  They came across as though I was bothering them on several occasions.  The supervision of the younger high-school-age staff leaves a lot to be desired.  At MB all employees are friendly and come across professional and attentive to customer needs.  I don’t like to be ‘kissed up to’…..but I do want them to treat me with courtesy and be friendly.

3) The Card…..On a few occasions I forgot I didn’t have ‘the card’ because I had my keys and not Tami’s (I hate extra stuff on my keyring).  When I told the checker I didn’t have it and asked if they could just have a manager bypass it I was directed to go to customer service.  This held up the checker  line and I had to wait in line at customer service.  I understand ‘the card’ from a marketing, loyalty, and tracking standpoint but they need to be a bit reasonable about this…..

So…..for me it IS more than prices…..Shaws’ doesn’t treat me like a customer…..they act as though I should be privileged to shop in their store.  I guess we’ve had different experiences and perhaps they have changed.  At least for now I will continue to shop at Market Basket….but I will sincerely consider Hannaford when it opens in Meredith as I’m still pretty happy with that chain.

Take care….and thanks for the healthy discussion!

——

Thanks for the information.  We actually have an Economic Development Committee meeting tomorrow, so I’ll bring the information to the group.

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I am SO HAPPY….finally someone is on my side!!!!!!  Give my kuddos to Dave!!!!  I have been shopping and SAVING at Market Basket for years and I am always arguing with others about the cost savings…..I don’t care about the “one time only deals” that Shaws’ and other stores have because it cost me extra $$$ to drive there and then I end up picking up this and that while in the store.  Market Basket has ALWAYS been the store to shop at.

Here is my opinion:  I have to drive to Rochester 30 minutes to shop at MB but for me worth the $ in gas for the overall savings in food.  As you may recall Hannaford opened a store 1 mile from my home 2 years ago which put the little mom and pop store out of business (but it has helped our local economy).  I  have shopped at Hannaford as that is where _____ meds are for convenience sake…but the prices are OUT OF THIS WORLD!!!!  I would be better off spending the extra $$$ to make the trip gas wise to Rochester than to shop 1 mile from my home.  Please do NOT shop at Hannaford…it is not worth it…MB will always have the better prices overall…in my opinion.  Whatever weight you want to give to “my opinion”!!!!

Thanks to Dave for creating such a great comparision chart I am sharing this with everyone!!!!!!!!!!!

Posted in Food / Beverage, Household Stuff | 1 Comment »

June 18, 2008 by dave.

About handful of years ago I was curious which grocery store I should shop at. It had been a toss-up between in-town options or some that required a little additional travel time. To answer my question I had done a prices comparison between 3 supermarkets….and that helped me to decide where to shop.

I currently drive about 25 minutes to get to my ‘regular’ grocery store (Market Basket) despite the fact I have a local store a few minutes away from my house. The reason I drive the distance is that our local store (Jackson’s Star) has outrageous prices. They are the only local grocery store (and we are considered a ‘tourist area’) so they don’t have any competition and as a result, can get away with charging what they do. I do shop there on occasion but it’s usually to pick up a few things; I never do my full shopping there.

I’m excited because another store is being built in town (Meredith, NH). Sometime in the fall we will have a new Hannaford grocery store. Now comes the dilemma: I really like market Basket and believe the prices are REAL GOOD…..but will I be able to justify a 25 minute drive when Hannaford opens about 8 minutes away? It was time to do another price analysis.

I created a list of 20 items that I buy on a reasonably regular basis. I made sure all items were pretty common so I would be able to easily price them at all the locations. For this analysis I compared REGULAR prices for the items. Adding a ’sale’ component would only complicate things. I priced the items over a period of a few weeks for the following supermarkets. Note that since our new Hannaford is not open I had to choose another one of their locations for the study. The results didn’t surprise me at all - they simply confirmed my observations / assumptions:

• Jackson’s Star (Meredith, NH)
• Shaws (Tilton, NH)
• Market Basket (Tilton, NH)
• Hannaford (Plymouth, NH)

Note: Market basket is very unique these days in that they DO NOT have a web site! I’m curious why but assume it’s part of their ‘old-fashioned’ way of doing things. The link above is to their Wikipedia citation.

So…now for the results (click to see full-sized):

A few things to note:

• The highlighted prices are the ‘best prices’ for the particular items.
• Market basket does not sell 90% grade ground beef….they sell 93% so it’s difficult to compare. I believe based on this they should be considered ‘on par’ with the Shaw’s price
• Jackson’s Star didn’t have the same size cereal (they only had a smaller box) so I extrapolated their price to account for it.
• Realize that on one item Shaw’s beat out Market Basket by a penny.
• The ‘Outright Best Price’ notations count the number of items where they have the best prices. I didn’t count items where several stores shared the best price.
• The ‘Percentage Above Base’ shows how much more expensive the other stores are than Market Basket (the clear winner).
• The ‘Cost Above Base’ figure assumes a $200 grocery bill at Market Basket (typical bi-weekly grocery bill for a family of 4). and calculates how much the same groceries would be at the other supermarkets.

This analysis is not overly scientific but it does have reasonable validity.

Posted in Food / Beverage, Household Stuff | 4 Comments »

June 10, 2008 by dave.

About 4 years ago I wanted blueberry bushes and we discovered Waters Blueberry Farm on the Internet. I know we could have bought some local but we wanted to make sure we bought good plants that come from people who specialize in this fruit. We purchased 2 young bushes at the time…..and then last year we bought 3 more. I believe the farm / site is a family business and as thus, you get outstanding service. I’ve emailed them questions and they are alway eager to help. They offer several types of blueberry plants and you can choose from several ages of plants. Younger bushes cost less but you have to wait longer for blueberries.

We’ve had decent luck with the blueberries and this should be a real good year for them. This spring our oldest two plants had LOTS of flowers on them (= LOTS of blueberries to come). The only advice I can offer is to follow the instructions they send with the plants….watering, feeding, and applying the Miracid is pretty important.

Posted in Household Stuff, Web Sites | 1 Comment »