What are the greatest changes in shopping in your lifetime? So asked my 9 year old grandson.

As I thought of the question the local Green Grocer came to mind. Because that is what the greatest change in shopping in my lifetime is.

That was the first place to start with the question of what are the greatest changes in shopping in your lifetime.

Our local green grocer was the most important change in shopping in my lifetime. Beside him was our butcher, a hairdresser and a chemist.

Looking back, we were well catered for as we had quite a few in our suburb. And yes, the greatest changes in shopping in my lifetime were with the small family owned businesses.

Entertainment While Shopping Has Changed
Buying butter was an entertainment in itself.
My sister and I often had to go to a favourite family grocer close by. We were always polite as we asked for a pound or two of butter and other small items.

Out came a big block of wet butter wrapped in grease-proof paper. Brought from the back of the shop, placed on a huge counter top and included two grooved pates.

That was a big change in our shopping in my lifetime… you don’t come across butter bashing nowadays.

Our old friendly Mr. Mahon with the moustache, would cut a square of butter. Lift it to another piece of greaseproof paper with his pates. On it went to the weighing scales, a bit sliced off or added here and there.

Our old grocer would then bash it with gusto, turning it over and over. Upside down and sideways it went, so that it had grooves from the pates, splashes going everywhere, including our faces.

My sister and I thought this was great fun and it always cracked us up. We loved it, as we loved Mahon’s, on the corner, our very favourite grocery shop.

Grocery Shopping
Further afield, we often had to go to another of my mother’s favourite, not so local, green grocer’s. Mr. McKessie, ( spelt phonetically) would take our list, gather the groceries and put them all in a big cardboard box.

And because we were good customers he always delivered them to our house free of charge. But he wasn’t nearly as much fun as old Mr. Mahon. Even so, he was a nice man.

All Things Fresh
So there were very many common services such as home deliveries like:

• Farm eggs

• Fresh vegetables

• Cow’s milk

• Freshly baked bread

• Coal for our open fires

Delivery Services
A man used to come to our house a couple of times a week with farm fresh eggs.

Another used to come every day with fresh vegetables, although my father loved growing his own.

Our milk, topped with beautiful cream, was delivered to our doorstep every single morning.

Unbelievably, come think of it now, our bread came to us in a huge van driven by our “bread-man” named Jerry who became a family friend.

My parents always invited Jerry and his wife to their parties, and there were many during the summer months. Kids and adults all thoroughly enjoyed these times. Alcohol was never included, my parents were teetotallers. Lemonade was a treat, with home made sandwiches and cakes.

The coal-man was another who delivered bags of coal for our open fires. I can still see his sooty face under his tweed cap but I can’t remember his name. We knew them all by name but most of them escape me now.

Mr. Higgins, a service man from the Hoover Company always came to our house to replace our old vacuum cleaner with an updated model.

Our insurance company even sent a man to collect the weekly premium.

People then only paid for their shopping with cash. This in itself has been a huge change in shopping in my lifetime.

In some department stores there was a system whereby the money from the cash registers was transported in a small cylinder on a moving wire track to the central office.

Some Of The Bigger Changes
Some of the bigger changes in shopping were the opening of supermarkets.

• Supermarkets replaced many individual smaller grocery shops. Cash and bank cheques have given way to credit and key cards.

• Internet shopping… the latest trend, but in many minds, doing more harm, to book shops.

• Not many written shopping lists, because mobile phones have taken over.

On a more optimistic note, I hear that book shops are popular again after a decline.

Personal Service Has Most Definitely Changed
So, no one really has to leave home, to purchase almost anything, technology makes it so easy to do online.
And we have a much bigger range of products now, to choose from, and credit cards have given us the greatest ease of payment.

We have longer shopping hours, and weekend shopping. But we have lost the personal service that we oldies had taken for granted and also appreciated.

Because of their frenetic lifestyles, I have heard people say they find shopping very stressful, that is grocery shopping. I’m sure it is when you have to dash home and cook dinner after a days work. I often think there has to be a better, less stressful way.

My mother had the best of both worlds, in the services she had at her disposal. With a full time job looking after 9 people, 7 children plus her and my dad, she was very lucky. Lucky too that she did not have 2 jobs.

Many of you often ask us if A Levels online are worth considering in order to gain a recognized qualification or if you have left it too late to study A Levels, as part of your career progression.

Suggested article: A Level Courses Online

A Levels, known as ‘Advanced Level qualifications’ are normally introduced for students aged 16 and above. The term of the A Level qualification would normally be two years, although learners choosing to study through online learning, can normally fast track and complete this much sooner. UCAS points will be available, which will go towards University applications.

Learners also have the option to complete AS Level only and will still receive UCAS points, depending on grades achieved.

Do I need A Levels for University?

Most universities insist that potential applicants have a good mix of basic Maths and English Level 2, together with Level 3 qualifications or A Levels in order to secure a place with them. When considering applying to University, the first thing we recommend you should do is contact them and ask what the entry requirements are for the specific degree you are considering studying as you cannot leave this to chance. We have had students come to us at the eleventh hour, desperate to study a specific subject in a short space of time because they did not ask this simple question.

Can A Levels go wrong?

In an ideal world, many would complete their A Levels in sixth form at a conventional school or college, then progress to college or university. However, this does not always go according to plan and for one reason or another, you may not have had the opportunity to gain your A Level in a school or college setting.

A classic example is a Covid-19 pandemic, where many students were expected to sit their exams in the normal way and were then told that due to the cancellation of exams, their results would be based on predicted grades. This worked for some learners as they had worked hard on any assessments submitted to their Teacher but for others who hadn’t really made the effort, relying on studying hard for their examinations; it did not bring the desired effect with low grades submitted.

We then had a second year of canceled examinations, again something that no one was prepared for. The results of this, we are still awaiting, but I am sure that there will be learners receiving grades they were not expecting.

There have also been other reasons learners have been unable to achieve their A Level qualification. As an example, we were approached by Jason, who had been keen to study A Level Computer Science at school but during his first year, he had become extremely ill and was not able to complete his second year. This is one of our extremely popular courses as this can lead to various career paths such as Application Analyst, Business analyst, Data analyst, Games developer, etc. We enabled Jason to complete his second year of A Level Computer Science and he then went on to study a degree at university managing to get himself back on track.

Suggested article: A Level Computer Science Online Course

Are there any age restrictions for studying A Levels?

Not everyone is suited to studying with an online learning college though and we have found that learners of all ages enrol with us, as there appears to be no set criteria for applicants. As they say ‘it is never too late to learn and everything changes so fast, we have to keep up to date with it.

Suggested site: Learn Now Distance Learning College

One of the things we have found with learners is that you really need to be self-motivated and able to work autonomously. This is difficult if you feel you can only work in groups with your peers and do not feel you can set yourself a timetable and stick to it, thus avoiding distractions. We have found that using your Lesson Plan helps considerably as this sets out which modules should be completed and when. This can give you a certain amount of structure and ensure that you stay on track throughout your course.

It would seem that there are always options to complete your A Levels, whether online or studying at a school or college. It is a case of you deciding the best options for yourself.

It seems as though everyone is concerned about their diets; what they eat, why they shouldn’t eat other foods, and what full nutrition really is. It is not surprising really as statistics show that inactivity and unhealthy eating contribute to over 300,000 deaths every year in the United States. The high saturated fat, sugar, sodium and low in fruits, veggies, calcium and fiber diets are very unhealthy and increase risks of several diseases. The body therefore requires a diet rich in fruits, vegetables, calcium, whole gains and fiber. Read on and discover more on the importance of proper nutrition for a healthy lifestyle.1. Muscle-tissue building and maintenance
Having full nutrition is vital in helping foster the growth of body lean muscle tissues and helps in its maintenance. The body’s muscle mass is such an incredibly energy-demanding tissue, meaning that, the more you have, the higher the body’s metabolism. There is no better way of weight management than body muscle mass building as far as a healthy weight is concerned. Proper nutrition allows you all this, and in addition, if you succeed in building more body muscles and maintain your weight, you will be in a position to avoid all other sorts of diseases related to obesity.2. Reduced Health Risks associated with diets
Proper full nutrition means a balanced-diet that includes a variety of healthy foods. Researchers have gone ahead and provided suggestions and guides to the best foods; “food pyramid” that entails grains, cheese, meat, vegetables, grains, fruits, oils and beans that provide all nutrients and vitamins the body requires. These should however be taken at appropriate and equal amounts from each of the food-group every day. With the right diet that provides good nutrition therefore, you can reduce the risks of certain health problems. Such health issues include high blood pressure, high body cholesterol, type 2-diabetes, heart disease, several types of cancer and stroke among other problems that are associated with improper nutrition.3. Enhances Your Immune System
A full nutrition diet helps in enhancing your immune system and this prevents you from frequent short illnesses. Every day, you come across a number of stressors, from your work place, to exercise-stress to financial stress, all these take a toll on the immune system of your body. Through feeding your body’s immune system with high quality nutrients you will definitely ensure that it stays strong and makes you feel much better every day. Veggies and fruits are especially very vital for your immune system health, be sure therefore to load-up these in your diet.4. Little Helpers of the body
Adequate full nutrition acts as helpers of the body. The body requires minerals and vitamins but in small quantities only. These function as co-enzymes meaning that they help a lot with chemical reactions. For instance, Vitamin B complex is important in burning carbohydrates; the body’s source of energy. Vitamin A is needed for good vision and Vitamin C helps to keep connective body tissues strong and the immune system functioning. Minerals such as Zinc contribute to metabolic processes. Healthy balanced diets provide the body with lots of minerals and vitamins, therefore, your diet should have adequate quantities of these body helpers.5. Manage Weight
Good nutrition is paramount in body weight management. While the quality of foods in your diet is important, the quantity matters also. To avoid weight gain, or to shed off some pounds, then choose the kind of foods that is low in fats, especially saturated fat. According to nutrition specialists, one extra gram of fat adds about 9calories to your food diet. Choosing low fat meats veggies and fruits keep the calories count down in the body. You can even reduce calories further in the body by limiting yourself to less drinks and snacks as well that are loaded with lots of sugar.6. Improve general health
Apart from lowering your vulnerability to several serious medical problems, maintaining full nutrition has a lot of other health benefits. Nutrition specialists explain that one has more energy and is able to delay aging effects and maintains a healthy skin by having proper nutrition. In addition to this, other benefits include healthy teeth and disease resistance.Giving your body full nutrition is a vital element in leading a healthy lifestyle and its importance is unquestionable. In fact, nutritionists agree that the formula for a healthy and fit body is; 10% exercise, 10%genetics and 80% nutrition. You cannot control the genetics, but you surely can control the 90%.