'It's busy', the manager at the Co-Op told me, 'we have lots of new staff though the empty shelves take less time to fill ... Yes, not enough lorry drivers, problems with suppliers, all that's going on.' Not much is being said publicly about shortages in shops, possibly sensibly given what tends to happen when people think there are.
Meanwhile I have something to transform my shopping experience, a pair of bike pannier bags. I consulted Dr Abacus over the purchase as I knew he would be the right person to go to and as predicted he came back with advice within ten minutes of my email. I think what I will do in future is pack my shopping into separate bags - probably those hemp fabric bags we all seem to acquire these days but whose provenance is often mysterious - and pop them in the panniers. They make the bicycle somewhat less racy-looking but it was never that racy with the basket on the back anyway.
One of my amendments to my life prompted by climate concern has been not to use the car if there is a viable alternative, and that means cycling to do my main shop if possible. The panniers allow me to carry more and bring other benefits. There have been times when I have teetered about with a heavy bag in the basket and another on my back, balancing on the really quite small area of tyre actually in contact with the ground. Lowering the centre of balance makes the whole journey feel slightly less perilous.
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