In a moment of deep adulthood, the sort where you're the one taking care of yourself, I'm trying some new sheets tonight. A new fitted sheet, a new duvet cover. I bought them because Ikea was selling them, because I wanted fitted sheets by themselves, and because I wanted something monochromatic. There's times it's surprisingly difficult to find things with only one color. Not even a fringe. I ran into this trying to find a rug a few years ago and ended up not buying one at all, because that was easier. I didn't care it was two shades of green; I only wanted one. That was the level I was going on, which was a level beyond what the sales people could work with.

These sheets aren't quite as soft, even after being washed, and some of that's on them being so new and some of that's me gambling on buying them online. I didn't want to deal with trying to navigate all the different linen stores, especially the ones that are merely departments within much larger stores. All that said, it's not like I'm trying out a completely new set of sheets - I've got regular sheets that work fine, I just needed the fitted ones. So there's some continuity going on, which should help enough I won't struggle too much with the adjustment.

I'm beginning to hear unconfirmed rumors from family members a local grocery store might close. I hope it's just rumors - we've lost enough independent grocery stores in the neighborhood already. I know people talk badly of the story, and largely that's fully justified. The best way I know to describe it is that it's a secondhand grocery, where a decent amount of their business comes from selling overstock from other places. There's a lot of stuff they do firsthand, and when it's a product like canned tomatoes or dish soap or beer, there's very little concern about who got it first. That said, every so often, something from Whole Foods or Target shows up, and I can't begin to guess how it got there.

Within the last four years, three other grocery place - one bodega corner store, two organic markets - shuttered for various reasons. Rent's a big motivation. Wanting to retire's another. The unconfirmed rumors include that the owners can't find someone to carry on the business. I know it's not an easy way to make a living, and it's not something I'd ever want myself. It's something I want others to do, and it's something I'm happy to support.

Worst case scenario, I'd like to know ahead of time to stock up on things like salt. Best case, the unconfirmed rumors never move beyond neighborhood gossip.