The $1.29 potato and $4 gas

I'm sure you've seen them, hermetically sealed Russet potatoes that come out of the microwave almost as good as the baking potatoes done in the oven. They are not shriveled or puckered. They are a taste sensation, and travel well. I took them to work, when I had a job, and had a tasty microwave potato, sometimes topped with chili. Until this week, you could buy one of these puppies for 79 cents. OK, so that's the price of a pound of baking potatoes, but I was employed and had the extra 79 cents. Apparently, the wrapped potato is a popular item because today, I discovered that these potatoes are now $1.29 each, almost twice as much a pound of Russet potatoes. And if you want a similarly wrapped sweet potato, it will set you back $2.29 each. Even if I was still employed, I wouldn't spend $1.29 on a single potato, wrapped or not. Now I have tried to duplicate the same effect by enrobing a potato in plastic wrap before microwaving. But the result was not as good. If you have one of those seal-a-meal devices that were so popular a few years ago, you may want to try sealing your potato before microwaving. Or you can do what I now do, bake them the old fashion way: in the oven.

I was thinking about complaining, but realize it's useless. I promise you the high cost of gas will be cited as the reason why in one week, the price of a convenience item jumped from 70 cents to $1.29.