Well, I did it. I joined Costco. I mean, why the hell not? I’m in Baton Rouge at least every Monday, and who doesn’t love buying toilet paper and plastic wrap in bulk?

I made my first official visit as a member on Monday saying I was only going in to “check it out.” Thirty minutes later I was pushing a cart filled with cereal for 20, Vitamin Water for 40, and enough Ziploc bags to completely organize a small village’s produce for the freezer this summer. I think it was a fantastic investment of my time and even found a few favorites to pass along.

Apples Wrapped in Plastic

Duh! Why hasn’t Wal-Mart and the locals been offering this for fresh produce? I can’t wait to fill the area around my trash can under my sink with these contraptions to be used at some point in the future for God knows what. I can promise there will come a project when I get to say, “I have the exact storage container for that. Let me grab the 20 plastic apple crates I have in my cabinets.”

Corn Popped by the Thousands

This bag the size of a large L.L. Bean backpack is home to the best organic and lightly salted popcorn there is. It’s better than Skinny Pop; Orville can step aside; and I have no need to throw a bag in the microwave again. I am one of those people that considers a bag of popcorn a meal; so finding Popcornopolis’ Organic Nearly Naked being passed around as a sample was like hitting the actual $195 million lottery. Plus, it was only $3.47 for a 14-ounce bag. Your average microwaveable option is a little over 2 and a half ounces with most of that being left in the bottom of the bag as hard kernels. So far, this bag of goodness has provided one meal on the road; and you can barely tell I’ve made a dent.