Sams Club, Scan & Go and the coronavirus

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  • leehljp
    Just me
    • Dec 2002
    • 8429
    • Tunica, MS
    • BT3000/3100

    Sams Club, Scan & Go and the coronavirus

    I know some of you may use Sam's Club and Costco. Costco is about 15 miles and 20+ minutes farther away in heavy traffic from me than Sams club, so I use Sam's Club the most. Used to be members of both, but don't buy enough to justify both.

    Anyway, with the coronavirus panic buying going on, I dreaded going to Sams Club today to get some meds that I needed . This Morning, I noticed I had a Sam's Club app on my phone that I could not even remember ever getting. I opened it on my iPhone, it asked for my password (which I had to look up on my computer). Then noticed something called "Scan & Go" so I looked it up on my computer (needed a bigger screen), and it seemed to be viable. I also noticed that it already had my information in from some tire purchases a few months ago. Actually the app was accessing my account that I originally set up on my computer.

    I went to Sam's Club - it was a mad house. I could not get down the main isles for lines of people lined up trying to check out. Most of what I wanted was at the back of the store and the meds were up front on the far side - nearly impossible to get to from the entrance. So I went around the isle down the wall to the back, across the back and back up front along the other side wall. 9 items. Scanned them, paid for them on my phone, walked up the exit isle and to the door checker; they scanned my phone app bar-code and I walked out. Checkout was in seconds. Everyone else in line had at least 30 minute wait.

    I enjoy doing things on my computer and consider my phone screen too small to do decent work, but today, I became a smart phone convert! Wow, that was easy and fast. NO LINES to have to wait in - in a panic buying place.
    Hank Lee

    Experience is what you get when you don't get what you wanted!
  • LCHIEN
    Internet Fact Checker
    • Dec 2002
    • 20913
    • Katy, TX, USA.
    • BT3000 vintage 1999

    #2
    A little off the topic but not quite. Public gullibility:

    How does wash your hands frequently and avoid touching your face translate into "Buy lots of toilet paper and drinking water"

    There's so much misinformation going on.
    I received from several of my friends a purported " report from Stanford University" on how to tell if you've got Coronavirus. Something about holding your breath in the morning and if you feel tightness or cough then you have it. It was a bit more technical and sounded a bit medical but that was the gist of it.

    Snopes says this is false. If that is really false how many people.get a false sense of security. Or worse, how many people have Coronavirus but this test convinces them they don't have Covid-19 and its safe for them to go out (and infect other people)?

    :
    The post goes something like this: People with coronavirus may not show symptoms for several days, but if you can comfortably hold your breath for more than 10 seconds, you’re probably not infected. You should sip water every 15 minutes to wash the virus into your stomach, where stomach acid kills it, to prevent the virus from entering your windpipe and lungs. And if you have a runny nose, you have a cold, not the coronavirus.
    Last edited by LCHIEN; 03-13-2020, 10:35 PM.
    Loring in Katy, TX USA
    If your only tool is a hammer, you tend to treat all problems as if they were nails.
    BT3 FAQ - https://www.sawdustzone.org/forum/di...sked-questions

    Comment

    • cwsmith
      Veteran Member
      • Dec 2005
      • 2737
      • NY Southern Tier, USA.
      • BT3100-1

      #3
      Lee,

      That was interesting, and certainly sounds far more efficient than the normal checkout routine. My wife and I only occasionally go through the cashier line anymore. Our local Walmart cut the number of cashiers and for only a basket of purchases it is much faster to do the 'self-checkout'.

      I do have a cell phone, but rarely ever use it and honestly, I'm sure I don't know how to use all of its features, apps, etc. Mostly it's there in my pocket for emergencies and it is usually turned off. I'm not important enough in this world to have the need to be in constant contact. It's simply a phone and I use it as I might use any phone back in the 60's... but, it sure beats a dirty phone booth!

      Loring,

      That sir, is the problem I have with this scourge. As I mentioned in a post on another forum, there seems to be variations all over the place. Even when watching a single News channel, everyone seems to have a variation with the only common theme being to "wash your hands". The scary thing about it is that they mostly say it is transmitted by "droplets"; coughs, sneezes, close contacts, etc. Sounds like a good reason to wear a mask as we see in every other country, YET we are told they are not necessary here.... why is that? Are we being told that simply because our government can't supply them?

      The other mystery, to me anyway, is how long does the virus live on surfaces? I've heard everything from two to nine days on hard surfaces like railings, door knobs, floors, etc. But how long on clothes, on shoes, on paper and packages? Is it possible that the very soles of our shoes are tracking it into the house? That it could be on products we buy at the store and then take home? How about on the mail we pick up in our mail boxes? We do change our shoes when we come into the house, but for me it's a matter of walking down to the basement, changing there and then walking back up those same stairs in my house shoes... possibly contaminating them!

      Weeks ago, watching the video of what was going on in China, I told my wife that IF was really as dangerous as it looks, we will have a major problem when it reaches our shores. WE will not be able to take such measures to enforce masks, take people off the streets, etc. AND, we will never have the will or the capabilities to rally medical assets in the manner of the Chinese government. Build a hospital in ten days? We wouldn't be able to even decide who to get together to talk about it, in ten days!

      Let us hope and pray that this thing is NOT as bad as it appears to be.

      CWS
      Think it Through Before You Do!

      Comment

      • Carlos
        Veteran Member
        • Jan 2004
        • 1893
        • Phoenix, AZ, USA.

        #4
        I've been using the self scan there and at Fry's (Kroger) for a few years. Less interaction with strangers is better, IMO, virus or not. I wish Costco had it. I recently re-joined Costco to see if I'm missing anything, but still prefer Sam's greatly. Costco has a few things we like that Sam's doesn't, but not much. Sam's has a lot of things Costco doesn't. And the produce quality at Costco is just crap, while Sam's is exceptional, matching or beating my favorite farmer's market/grocer sometimes. We mostly eat whole plants and few meats, so this is important for us. Costco won't take my preferred cards, they are Visa only. Discover gives me a 5% kickback at Sam's and other wholesale clubs, but Costco won't take it.

        Yesterday I went to that local farmers market grocery store. It was busy, but not totally insane. There were limited supplies of potatoes and normal canned goods, but a great supply of no-salt canned goods. No normal water bottles. Morons depleted most of the smart water at $3 when the nutritious coconut water is $1 and fully stocked. Idiots. Meat supplies were low, veggie and vegan supplies high. So people will die from eating unhealthy one way or the other. I saw a water hoarder filling a cart with only that. So I pretended to sneeze on her cart, she kind of squealed and ran out of the store. I put the water back. The same morons stocking up in case the water supply fails are stocking up on food that requires electricity. All of this is idiocy.

        While we have a couple months of TP around just as our normal stock anyway, I finally got around to installing a bidet that I bought months ago. Now it means we probably have a year of TP between the house and the RV. We also just have a very full pantry at all times, not for some prepper reasons, but because we like variety and choice. So there's always at least a few dozen cans of things, boxes, dry grains. I buy grains in 5+ pound bulk, like buckwheat, oats, barley, and hominy. With a pressure cooker you can do a lot with them. I did realize that I do a crap job of keeping propane full at home, which can run the generator and/or a heater. But I keep the RV topped off and that's a 40# bottle.

        So basically for us, nothing has changed other than doing less of what everyone else is doing.

        Comment

        • leehljp
          Just me
          • Dec 2002
          • 8429
          • Tunica, MS
          • BT3000/3100

          #5
          Carlos,
          You mentioned one item that was installed in many many stores in Japan since the mid-90s - bidet. We had them in our last home over there and I installed one in our home here when we returned in Dec. 2010. My small home town about 30 miles from Memphis is not a poor town, but I was surprised a year ago when LOML was talking with some of our more wealthy church members: "I just hate cold toilet seats one woman replied. Then the others joined in with the same. LOML said: Well I don't have to worry about that, because we have had a heated toilet seat since 2011! Then LOML said the other ladies were jealous of her. The toilet seat Bidets (heated) are not that expensive and are not difficult to install.

          It does cut down on the toilet paper use and the heated seats in cold weather are a plus. LOML leaves the AC on at about 68° in the summer, so the seats would be a little cold if not for the seat heater.

          CWS,
          I wanted the smart phone to be a replacement for the laptop, but alas, the smart phone can't handle the posters, excel docs and Word Docs that I get almost daily. I don't like email on my smart phone either - which renders the smart phone back to no more than a regular phone for me. But suddenly, the Sam's App just came alive in my mind and it all gelled - it was actually VERY intuitive. Somebody spent some time working on the app so that old people could figure it out.

          I have an iPhone and recently bought an Apple Watch or LOML and also for me. I occasionally get what I thought was hypertension and what I thought was fast heart rates. But the Apple Watch has shown me that my heart rate is all sinus rhythm meaning it is consistent; it does not show my blood pressure but that is borderline high from my Omron blood pressure tester. The Apple Watch also keeps up with my sleep rhythm which it says is not up to snuff. I get about half of my sleep in the deep sleep mode, and half in light sleep mode. I was surprised by that. I wake up feeling rested far more than not rested.

          The bottom line reason that I got both of us the Apple Watches was the "fall" detector. If either of us fall and do not move or respond within 1 minute of falling, it will dial 911 AND each of our three daughters with a life alert message. I'm 73 and LOML is 70. She is diabetic and I am basically very healthy with the exception of occasional light vertigo, which I have had since a kid. Doctors have tested me and told me it is not enough to worry about. Still, one day, it is going to cause a fall.
          Last edited by leehljp; 03-15-2020, 10:12 PM.
          Hank Lee

          Experience is what you get when you don't get what you wanted!

          Comment

          • Carlos
            Veteran Member
            • Jan 2004
            • 1893
            • Phoenix, AZ, USA.

            #6
            The Watch has helped me realize/confirm that I have some food allergies or sensitivities, and I've changed my diet radically. My ECG will go to "inconclusive" any time I eat a "normal" American meal of meat, salt, and grease. Most of the time my heart rate will go up a lot also, which I didn't know without the Watch telling me. I just felt crappy and thought that was the normal price of a meal. Now I eat much better and it also erased 100% of my joint pain. My doctor is pretty amazed, he was telling me to get an MRI and think about surgery.

            I just did a Sam's Club pickup order. TP and water are obviously sold out. I had heard there was a run on dog food, but it's in stock.

            Comment

            • cwsmith
              Veteran Member
              • Dec 2005
              • 2737
              • NY Southern Tier, USA.
              • BT3100-1

              #7
              Lee,

              I confess to not 'being up' on modern electronics. While I've always been a technical person of sorts when it came to computers, the electronic age left me in the dust quite some time ago. Back in the 80's and 90's I was a 'go to' guy in our factory and village for computer related stuff. I did some servicing, taught classes, advised even our IT department, but with the advent of the smart phone, I quickly out paced and really didn't get one until about three years ago. Even then, it was just a Samsung 3 "Express". Our son and his family have whatever the latest and greatest is, but for me I just can't justify that kind of expense... like I said, I'm just not that important to the world to be that in touch while mobile!

              But that said, I am absolutely astounded by the technology and feel that things like the I-phone and Apple Watch are truly a wonderment. The features of the Apple watch that you mentioned, I was not aware of, and certainly that alone is a great benefit. I look at products like that and find them astonishing, especially in view of thing that I grew up with. When I was a kid, we still had 'party lines', where you had to mind your manners when picking up the phone because one of any of our several neighbors could be on the line. When I was 15 I built a Heathkit "Twoer", a lunch-box 2-meter transceiver. When working properly and the conditions just right, I might be able to reach into Binghamton from our hillside home... about 10 miles away! And, even when we moved to Painted Post in 1973, it was a long-distance toll charge to call Elmira, which was just twelve miles away!

              My grandson just turned 21 this past Thursday. We were talking about how much technology has changed just in his lifetime, not to mention how much it has changed in yours and my lifetimes. (Like I remember I was in Junior High, when ball-point pens came out!) Nice thing though, from my ancient perspective, is that the kid knows his way out in the backwoods too, has great survival skills and knows how to make a fire the caveman way!

              We live in an astonishing time with so much technology that benefits us.

              CWS
              Think it Through Before You Do!

              Comment

              • Carlos
                Veteran Member
                • Jan 2004
                • 1893
                • Phoenix, AZ, USA.

                #8
                The Apple Watch has saved a number of lives by detecting cardiac events before people knew. Many said they would not have gone to the ER if not for the Watch. I just got back from a doctor appointment and he said the data I bring him, in a binder, helps him tremendously. Everything I can measure using the Watch, a bluetooth blood pressure cuff, bluetooth glucose meter, etc. All fed into the Apple Health app and organized perfectly.

                Comment

                • leehljp
                  Just me
                  • Dec 2002
                  • 8429
                  • Tunica, MS
                  • BT3000/3100

                  #9
                  Originally posted by Carlos
                  The Watch has helped me realize/confirm that I have some food allergies or sensitivities, and I've changed my diet radically. My ECG will go to "inconclusive" any time I eat a "normal" American meal of meat, salt, and grease. Most of the time my heart rate will go up a lot also, which I didn't know without the Watch telling me. I just felt crappy and thought that was the normal price of a meal. Now I eat much better and it also erased 100% of my joint pain. My doctor is pretty amazed, he was telling me to get an MRI and think about surgery.

                  I just did a Sam's Club pickup order. TP and water are obviously sold out. I had heard there was a run on dog food, but it's in stock.
                  I have had my watch about 2 weeks; LOML had a "3" but she gave that to our diabetic daughter and got a "5" similar to mine. The first 5 days, I did the ECG about 10 times a day and got about 1 inconclusive a day, but it had to do with my hand tremor more than heart. After a workout, I have a right hand tremor that my grandmother had, my mom hand and a couple of relatives had. If I am rested, I have not problem. My neurologist ruled out all major problems back in January and called it "essential tremors", or something like that. After a workout or working with heavy items that cause me to sweat a bit, my hand will shake. If I am tired, I can't eat soup with a spoon in my right hand (and I am basically right handed.) So, when I touch the crown of the Apple Watch for the ECG test, my hand will jitter enough to give an "inconclusive." If I press hard enough to hold down the shakes, it tells me I am pressing too hard!
                  Hank Lee

                  Experience is what you get when you don't get what you wanted!

                  Comment


                  • KenBurris
                    KenBurris commented
                    Editing a comment
                    My brother (65) has essential tremor in both hands. His Doc explained that it shows up when you are doing something with your hand, vs Parkinson's where shaking is when they are idle. Don't ask him to thread a needle !
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