We’ve got the Online-Ordering thing here in Kissimmee in spades. Publix Grocery, Target, Wal-Mart & Amazon will all deliver food to my door for a nominal fee or for free in some cases.
BTW, driving out to the Orlando International Airport with my son we got a view of the new Amazon Distribution Center being built. Massive is a bit of an understatement. That thing is BIG.
Mark Gosdin
Wait. Publix does online ordering? When did they start that? There are literally 2 of them at my McDonald’s, should try that out 
.
Maybe I can get some UTZ chips 
In my neck of the woods, there used to be a Target and a Walmart practically across the street from one another. The Walmart moved to a new shopping complex, making it newer/nicer/neater than the Target.
The “register pressure” problem at Walmart is all too real. What is the point of having 10+ manned registers if only one seems to ever be open?
Now, my Walmarts can’t be too sketchy as they actually have self-checkouts, but my local Walmarts seem to use the self-checkouts in lieu of the manned ones, resulting in lines so long that it is more effective to just finagle paying at one of the manned registers in the back section of the store.
…then again, maybe my area walmarts are still pretty sketchy as only one is really open 24/7. Another one was, but suddenly it wasn’t 
Publix uses a third-party delivery service here in Kissimmee, can’t remember who. Ours is so close that there is no incentive to have it delivered. Publix is a 4 minute drive, Wal-Mart is within walking distance.
Our local Wal-Mart ( Neighborhood Market branded. ) is a prime example of the register pressure issue. They have up to 6 manned registers and 8 self-checks. Many times only 1 manned is open and half or more of the self-checks will be out of service or have either cash-only or card-only signs on them. My wife won’t use the Wal-Mart, driving 4 minutes to Publix instead. I don’t blame her.
Mark Gosdin
Oh! I have one of those Walmart Markets too! The one on 192, where Coliseum Of Comics used to be. Although, since the one off of Oren Brown and 192 is closer to my house, that’s my usual stop. Publix is primarily for meats, or when I need to pick something up right after I leave work. (Well, if they’re open anyway…)
UTZ Chips. 
We had a vendor at the place in Oklahoma where I worked in the 90’s that would send us pallets of UTZ Chip’s boxed sets at Christmas.
Mark Gosdin
What happened with them? They just seemed to drop off the map a few years ago.
Mark Gosdin
Oh! They moved! It’s a few miles down the road from the old store. The closest landmark I can give is the Nike Factory Outlet on 192. It’s in the same shopping center. I go there once in a while to check out the Yu-Gi-Oh singles.
Yea. Back in Maryland, those were the only chips my family ate. Luckily, as of recent, Wawa and Racetrack have been stocking the snack size bags, but only saw the big bags once at one of the Publix near my store…
Our biggest local grocery chain is Giant Eagle, and all of their corporately owned stores have online ordering. However, the two closest to me are franchised locations, and those have been a bit slower to add it.
I actually try to avoid Walmart as much as possible. I did an online order there once, and waited so long in line to get it, that it would have been quicker to just grab it myself and use the self checkout. I also don’t go there for grocery items very often, as their selection is sub-par and the organization makes no sense. Not to mention, their deli meat is not so great, especially compared to Giant Eagle. I’ll usually try to stick to the local store whenever possible as well.
We’ve used Wal-Mart for groceries off and on for the last 15 years. In Oklahoma it was one of the better places because of it’s size and variety. Here in Florida it is an OK place to shop, not nearly as good as Publix but good enough to have run Albertson’s out of the state and Winn-Dixie into bankruptcy multiple times.
Mark Gosdin
I don’t use the online pickup ordering from Walmart often . The few times I did it was either slow or guy was right there . The problem I run in to is since they’ve been doing the newer version of it . It’s near impossible to find some stuff in stock unless you get lucky and the people putting the orders together block aisles and get in the way . The regular customers are good at that already did not need to add to it .
I live 5 minutes outside of town yet I’m considered rural so no place wants to deliver here . Can’t even get Pizza Hut or Dominos anymore .
Well that is that . Not meant to be .
Wow. $122.50! Sorry you couldn’t get the winning bid psycho 
It’s cool . I was watching and saw it broke the $100 mark so I just waited to see how much it went for after that . I saved a search so if more pop up I’ll see it .
So, I still keep track of the goings on in the Model Railroad community. Right now there is a huge disruption in the production of models with one of the larger Hong Kong based contract manufacturers shutting down unexpectedly. This has played merry hob with several major model vendors delivery schedules.
The thing is that this contract manufacturer also supplied a LOT of companies with injection molded plastics. It could be that the closure will have some impacts in the Anime goods sector as well. Just something to keep an eye out for.
Mark Gosdin
So, speaking of eBay auctions, I feel really lucky right now. Just won quite a few of them, all from the same seller in Japan.
Several of our members may already know what the items that shall soon be in my possession are 
Nice !
I’ve won a few things lately . Just that one got a little bit to much for used when for a little more I can still get it new .
On the subject of Japan it’s very rare when some of my hobbies cross paths .
I’m not sure I ever posted about this .
In 1986 Takara released a bunch of Gi Joe and Cobra figures/vehicles released here from 1983 to 1985 .
It lasted one year as they did not sell well as you can imagine . Mostly turn up carded or boxed as once they are out they are the same as the US release except for one vehicle I can’t remember what was different right now . Zartan was also different as he was released with a vehicle here ,but on a card there . There was also some rare Kabaya Gum kits that don’t turn up often . This is the only one I have as some of the others are getting up there in price plus US carded Shipwreck is not as easy to find
I saw Amazon Prime added the 2004 Black Jack series . Been watching a few episodes a day since Friday .
