I've got a Wegman's near me, and they seem to order the same selection of Passover stuff for all their stores, whether there's a big Jewish community in the area or not. They don't have a huge selection of brands, but they seem to sell a pretty good selection of the things made by the few brands they do use. They even had a few of the Kitni products this year. (Manischevitz, a few years ago, finally acknowledged that not everybody follows Ashkenazic rules, and started selling a few things like peanut butter and canned beans with a "Suitable for those who consume Kitniyot during Passover," under the Kitni label. I'm actually fine with a regular jar of peanut butter with no Passover label, but I buy the Kitni stuff just to show that there is a market for it.)

My legs are requesting a divorce. I was fine when I got up, reasonably sore, but not bad. And then I sat at my desk for 90 minutes. When I stood up, I had to grab onto the wall and stand there, swaying until I was somewhat sure I could walk. And even then, it was a shuffling stagger. Whoa. Once I was moving for a bit, got more limber, but everytime I sat, pure reversal (but sitting isn't painful.) Swimming felt like I was dragging cement bags behind me (and was significantly slower.)

Kinda blown away, because I didn't wake up this broken.

This year, Wegman's also had stack of packets of coupons for Passover stuff, which was nice. It's actually somewhat ridiculous -- we get everything that's listed here with a price (rather than "available in select stores) [link] in a town where there's just one synagogue within fifty miles in any direction, and that synagogue usually just barely has a minyan for Shabbat.

(And that list is definitely not complete. I notice several things I bought -- Osem soup mix, some packets of chestnuts, chocolate covered matzo with rainbow sprinkles on top, peanut butter, and mini matzos -- that aren't on the list.)

Thank you for the birthday wishes! There was breakfast out with Sara, a massage, a tattoo, and a lovely dinner, and there is cake! Plus flowers! Feeling very blessed, and like I really don't want it to be tomorrow anytime soon.

Tattoo? More details please.

That sounds very nice, and I am willing to let it keep being today for longer than usual for you.

I am pretty sure that I've never lived further than ten miles from a synagogue in my entire life... and I'm not Jewish. How weird to be reminded what an actually small demographic "Jewish" is, when it is such a essential feature among my family, friends, and acquaintances.

(Around 30-ish years ago, my cousin visited the northern part of Florida, and was astounded to find people who didn't know what bagels were.)

(OTOH, I was fair distance into adulthood before I encountered actual Grits.)

Double Chocolate Milano: Thanks for the feedback on asking for help. Anyone who's done it, is there a difference between sites that let you do it? Is there a Dummies Guide to Begging Online out there somewhere that I should consult?

Nice day, Amy!

Theo: rule #1 is don't think of it as begging. Think of it as giving people the opportunity to help.

This is why you're a professional fund-raiser et cetera and I'm a semi-employed Uber driver.

I am pretty sure that I've never lived further than ten miles from a synagogue in my entire life... and I'm not Jewish. How weird to be reminded what an actually small demographic "Jewish" is, when it is such a essential feature among my family, friends, and acquaintances.

There actually used to be a bigger Jewish community around here. During the wave of Jewish immigration from Germany from about 1840 to 1870, a lot of those German-Jewish immigrants moved "out west" (which, back then, included Appalachia) and often owned stores in the small towns that supported larger farming areas. There are tons of small towns all over the midwest and west and south that have old synagogue buildings -- there was enough of a Jewish community to support a synagogue during that time, and for a few more generations, but most of them closed as the Baby Boomers went off to college (which had been relatively rare in earlier generations) and then stayed in the cities.