24/7 Chat About Anything

[maki2]

I was at the grocery in Quartzsite. The clerk was a very young man. He rang up the person’s ahead of me order but punched a button on the register that no longer let him see the exact change to give the man but he could see the total. That left him mystified as to how much change he needed to give back from the 100 dollar bill he was given. The concept of counting out change the way it used to be done was totally beyond his ability to comprehend when I mentioned it. Even the person who gave him the money could not comprehend how simple it is to do. Their brains were too locked into trying to figure it out with subtraction to realize it can be done quickly and easily and accurately with addition. Then the man’s wife who also had brain lock had to pull out her cell phone to do the subtraction on its calculator because she said her anxiety disorder was sending her into a panic attack. Both the husband and wife are in their 60s but I guess they do not remember the days when cash registers did not give clerks the amount of change to give back to a customer.

Some days waiting in lines at stores turn out to be very amusing.

At least I got to the post office to ship out kits to clients and eventually got checked out at the grocery store.

The weather in Quartzsite is returning back to sunny 70s during the afternoons next week!

 

[bullfrog !]

^^^wait til you try to buy something at a register that has to have an internet connection to complete the transaction someplace where there isn’t always internet! Lol!!! Ended up tearing off bar codes and sales labels paper clipped to my cash and let them keep the change until the clerk called another branch store and rang it up there with a credit card with the notation it would be picked up at the store I was at! Crazy nonsense I tell you! Lol!!!

 

[maki2]

^^^Sounds like trying to run my Etsy store front while I am on the road. I buy the postage for shipping online but It requires a lot of workaround connections between devices to get that postage to my printer. Sometimes staying up until midnight or getting up at 5:00am to get enough internet speed to download the pdf file of the postage I purchased. Today was OK though, not super fast speed but enough to get the 4 orders I needed to ship ready to take to town before the mail truck got to the Post Office to ship the mail to its next leg of the journey at the Las Vegas regional mail sorting facility. That is where it heads to via trucks when it leaves Quartzsite.

 

[RonDean]

This is an amusing head shaker. But, before we cast too much blame on the teachers or schools, we should also acknowledge that what and how much is taught is often dictated by politicians at the state level. If that isn't bad enough, we also have many school boards, peopled by folks that are more motivated by political or religious ideology and have little to no education or experience in education getting more directly involved. Making sure the students are ready for successful careers often takes last place.

Not that SOME of the educators don't also deserve some of the blame. I worked in a middle school where the principal was more concerned about "social promotion" - whatever that means - than promotion based on learning. Later I worked at a High School and got to see the outcome of students arriving at that level unprepared. Add in a few "lost years" from the pandemic and we have the recipe for where we are now.

If I owned that store, I would be more comfortable with a computer doing the math too. Not to mention the real advantage of computerized checkout is keeping track of inventory.

 

[maki2]

Just a different era now for how stores handle book keeping. I like the newer cash registers. But being able to make change is still a valuable basic skill to have, especially for craft fairs, farmers markets and flea markets. Customers also need to know if they are getting the right change back. Quartzsite has a lot of sellers at such events and lots of cash only businesses.

 

[VanFan]

For the first few years one of my kids performed at Ren Faires, I worked concessions to be on site, as she was still quite young. There were, of course, no registers and all the youngsters had to be taught to make change. I had had some practice with that, because that same kiddo struggled with subtraction, so I had taught her to "add up to subtract."

 

[maki2]

I took a job at a Sears store part of the summer of 1969 after my Freshman year at college. The first few days I was given classroom training on being a sales person. Part of the instruction was how to count out change as well of course how to use a cash register. They were much simpler cash registers in that era.

 

[JohnnyM]

True dat , Maki. I've operated several cash registers over the years and I don't even recall those modern ones that told you how much change to hand back. You just counted the change out to the customer, starting with the amount of the sale and ending on the amount they gave you. The customers wouldn't have had it any other way. How else were they to know whether they were getting the correct amount? I think we were taught how to do that in grade school arithmetic. I don't remember ever not knowing how to do it.

No need to learn how at this late date anyway, cuz cash is on the way out.

Johnny

 

[dreamrunnerjt]

No need to learn how at this late date anyway, cuz cash is on the way out.

Johnny

With so many companies adding charges for using a CC I am considering going back to cash.

 

[maki2]

Serms like an extra charge for credit cards showed up pretty much concurrently with the arrival of debit cards. But that is not really true because there actually was cost for using them that was cleverly disguised as enticement that was called a “cash discount”.

My memory has not quite yet failed me as I enter into my mid 70s. Except times with loss of the rapid recall of names being a frequent first sign of dehydration.

The other day a person was saying that dementia was “normal and to be expected” for a person in their 70s. Fortunately, statistically that is not true. It is unfortunate for the persons who state that because that means they are not looking forward to their golden years.

 

[RonDean]

I would add that according to Alzheimer's Society although getting older is the biggest risk factor for dementia, evidence shows there are things you can do to help reduce your own risk. These include keeping active, eating healthily, and exercising your mind.

 

[abnorm]

^^ Is repeating yourself Dementia ? You missed dinner.................

 

[vanbrat]

No need to learn how at this late date anyway, cuz cash is on the way out.

Johnny

I don't know about cash going away I still tip in cash 'cause Mastercard did not refill my water or ask if they could get me anything or smile at hubby's silly jokes so they do not deserve 2% of the tip.
Most small business owners are charged to much for the card uses and it really cuts into their bottom line. That said we mostly use debit at home and credit on the road... I was told it was easier to dispute fraud charges on credit then debit and we live in small town area so if a business tried to screw with debit stuff "we know where they live...". We also only use credit online for the same reason, it is harder to get cash back if debit is used on-line. We do just enough credit to keep our numbers good. Lately we both agree cash is good... I know most online stuff is secure but.....
When we did our booth stuff, we only took cash some folks grumbled but oh well. We may at some time get a card app but don't really want to deal with it. Now that we agree we only want to do stuff closer to home really don't want to deal with it. We will just tell folks were to find an ATM.

 

[user 22017]

The other day a person was saying that dementia was “normal and to be expected” for a person in their 70s. Fortunately, statistically that is not true. It is unfortunate for the persons who state that because that means they are not looking forward to their golden years.

They could be thinking of forgetfulness, which is not dementia. From WHO:

• Dementia results from a variety of diseases and injuries that affect the brain. Alzheimer disease is the most common form of dementia and may contribute to 60–70% of cases.
• Dementia is currently the seventh leading cause of death and one of the major causes of disability and dependency among older people globally.
  
  Also from WHO:
  
  
  
• At older ages, mental health is shaped not only by physical and social environments but also by the cumulative impacts of earlier life experiences and specific stressors related to ageing. Exposure to adversity, significant loss in intrinsic capacity and a decline in functional ability can all result in psychological distress.
  
  Older adults are more likely to experience adverse events such as bereavement, or a drop in income or reduced sense of purpose with retirement. Despite their many contributions to society, many older adults are subject to ageism, which can seriously affect people’s mental health.

 

[Happy Camper]

I have spent a few minutes numerous times teaching a cashier how to count change back. 90 percent were extremely happy to learn it. And they were able to do it once shown a couple times.

The other 10 percent I gave them a link to a good calculator app. They just couldn't get it. As long as you get the job done correctly. And in a timely manner.

On another note, and I'm pretty sure I mentioned this before, and I'm sure maki2 has it sorted already, because she's always dialed in. Regarding shipping, consider using pirate ship. It's an excellent service with great shipping rates for USPS and UPS. For those that don't know. If the box is 18" or less on one side at the longest, and 20 pounds or under, just putting the box in a bag reduces your shipping costs dramatically. It's Christmas time, and we send things. I hope this helps someone. There is no cost to use the service. I've used it for years and can recommend it highly. Box in a bag is your friend. Pm me if you have questions. I'm happy to help.
https://www.pirateship.com/rates
On another note. Vendor cost to process credit or debit cards is a minimum of 2.75%, up to 3.75%. it depends on a few variables. It used to be that there was an upcharge to use a card at some retailers and gas stations. Consumer protection laws made that illegal. Now you get a cash discount. That circumvents the law legally and they won't close the loophole. The money is too much to mess with.

Educators should take a lot of the blame for the current situation. Yes. Politics have something to do with it. But how many former teachers became administrators that made terrible choices at the board level or above? Education administration has, as much or more, politics as politics. And they aren't looking out for our kids education. They are looking for favorable metrics to boost the climb up. That means to short term solutions for a long term problem. Left of course, for the next person in line to solve on their way up. I would prefer to fire the entire education bureaucracy and start over with actual education in mind. Not left or right priorities. Regardless of my personal beliefs.

I think I am caught up with the thread now lol.

 

[NctryBen]

Reminds me of a sign I saw on the way back from Minnesota…
It said… Wright… but the arrow pointed left…

 

[maki2]

I actually am not dialed in on anything to do with shipping in boxes.

My Etsy kits are flat pack, they require assembly. I can ship them in an regular business envelope. Also I buy my postage via Etsy. When I do it that way the package is fully insured for loss or damage in the mail.

So this morning I just had to put the kits into envelopes, download and print out the postage. I travel with an inkjet printer and I order sticky back printing labels in quantity via Amazon. No way do I want to stand in lines anywhere to purchase postage. Today I will just drive to the Post Office and drop them into the blue letter box outside. Quartzsite has two of those, one is at the main Post Office and another is at the Post Office Annex.

 

[maki2]

Example of the kits I ship sitting on top of the business sized envelopes they ship in.
The other photo is from a customer showing how she used the miniature buildings in the kit to make miniature Christmas village building decorations. Plus a closeup of the assembled buildings in one of the kits that customer used to make her glittered Christmas Village. Mine is very literally a small business

 

[Happy Camper]

Those are very cute. Definitely a tiny business lol. Just about perfect for mobile life in a mobile space for a physical product.

You mentioned you buy shipping through Etsy. Pirate ship can connect to your Etsy and import the shipping info to your account with them. I did this for eBay and saved decent money.

Everything is done on your computer, so you don't do anything different. Just print from pirate ship instead of Etsy. It might be worth checking out. One thing I did like about doing this is that the shipping labels are saved, unlike eBay, which would delete them after a certain time period.

$2 difference(?) Per package might or might not be worth it. But for me it was simple and didn't take any extra time vs buying shipping labels from eBay. Bigger or heavier items definitely benefit more in terms of savings.

Regardless, I love your product, and at some point I might order some for family.

 

[NctryBen]

Support pirate camp… pirate ship!