First Try With Google Express. Preetay, Preetay, Preetay Nice.

Posted by on
Earlier this week, Google announced the expansion of Google Express to include delivery in the suburbs of Chicago via this blog post.  Being a 'root-for-the-home-team-kinda-guy', I *had* to give it a shot, right?

Google Express allows for overnight delivery of goods from a network of retailers including Walgreens, Costco, Toys R Us and others.  Much like Amazon Prime, you can pay an annual subscription charge and receive free shipping.

On this maiden order, I decided to skip the subscription and just pay the $4 it cost to get the stuff to my house.  To make things easy, I picked just one store:  Walgreens.  And after filling my cart with a few things, I got the hang of it.  I quickly realized that I had to hit $15 in stuff to get to the delivery threshold.

So...I went around and plucked a few things from the various departments and nosed ahead of $15.  This was on Wednesday.  I also looked at the offerings from a few other stores.  Costco, in particular was of interest.  The first thing I looked up were these rice roller things that Nat and the girls love.  They weren't listed in the Costco section of Google Express.  So...not *everything* that Costco has is available via the service.  They do, however have those tasty PB Pretzels from Costco.

Anyway....after ordering on Wednesday, I got an email yesterday saying my order had been delivered.  When I got home from the office, on the counter was this box:


I asked Nat who delivered it and she wasn't sure, but thought that it might have been the mailman.  The box had some cute Google Express tape on it and a nice 'Fragile, Carry with Care' Sticker.

Fragile?  Well...I guess?  Here's a peak at what was inside the box:

A couple of deoderants, some toothpaste and some Alka-Seltzer chewables.  Not what I'd call fragile, but I'm not complaining.

The service was easy to use and worked pretty well.  In parts of the Bay Area, Google Express is *same day* delivery and that would be a game-changer.  But for me?  This was just fine.  Was it better than Amazon Prime - which is where Nat orders hundreds of items from every year?  Not a lot, to be honest.  But, like I said earlier...I'm a Google-guy, so I'm always going to give them some credit for doing things like this.  Will I jump at the $10/month or $95/year subscription charge?  Maybe?  Just not quite yet.

Comments

Post a Comment

Be nice to each other here.

Popular posts from this blog

Lou Malnati's Salad Dressing Recipe as Published in the 60's

Posted by on
Image
Earlier this winter, I wrote about the old Lou Malnati's menu and mentioned that as I was waiting around for my pie to finish up, I spied an old Chicago Tribune article posted on the wall that included the original Lou Malnati's Italian Salad Dressing Recipe.  The Tribune reporter called it "prized".  We were set to host a little pizza party over the weekend, so I figured I'd give it a shot.  Here's the article as seen through my mobile phone's camera. I'm not a wine drinker, so the fact that the recipe called for Burgundy wine didn't strike me as odd.  I went shopping at Angelo Caputos in Addison - a really incredible shopping experience - and when I got to the wine section I found Burgundy wine was carried ONLY in those HUGE jugs.  And they were dirt cheap.  The only issue is that needed just 4 ounces.  We ended up with a whole-lotta-wine that Nat won't drink. I've taken the recipe and modified it a bit by eliminating the percentage
Read more

Tom Thayer's Italian Beef Recipe

Posted by on
Image
TOM’S TAILGATER ITALIAN BEEF COURTESY OF Steve Dahl  and  DAHL.COM Ingredients: One 3 ½ to 4 pound boneless beef chuck pot roast One package of Zesty Italian Salad Dressing and Recipe Mix One 16 oz. jar of hot giardiniera One 16 oz. jar of mild giardiniera One dozen baguettes (French rolls) Directions: In a four-quart Crock-Pot, pour in one bottle of giardiniera. Place the roast on top of the layer of giardiniera. Sprinkle the salad dressing mixture on top of the roast. Add the second bottle of giardiniera to the top of the roast. Cover Crock-Pot and cook on high for 6 to 8 hours. When fork tender, shred the roast in the Crock-Pot and allow it to combine with the other ingredients. Slice the baguettes in half and pile on the beef and giardiniera mixture. ------------------------------------ For the babe's baptism party, we hosted a collection of family and friends back at our house after the church proceedings. We ordered some of the food from Maggiano's in
Read more

Cedar Summit Panorama Playset from Costco

Posted by on
Image
Move over vegetable garden and garage pavillion, there's potentially a new entrant into the currently crowded backyard at the Parrillo household.  Behold:  this beauty.  The Cedar Summit Panorama Playset from Costco.   Comes with 3 swings and a tube slide.  Nat spotted this behemoth at Costco and after doing a bit of comparison shopping at a place like Menards (more expensive, I think) and Wannemaker's (don't sell these type of things any more), it appears to be a fair deal. It is a kit - so I'd be putting it together myself, but I'm up for that challenge.  The real issue is getting it home.  I'm going to head back to Costco to take a look to see if it will fit in Nat's car with the back seats folded down.  If not, it seems like I'll be renting a truck from Home Depot.  Yes, the Babe is likely too small for a lot of this, but certainly NOT the swings.  We take her to the park on a regular basis and she gets a kick out of the swings.  The whole fort t
Read more