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Post by Phalon on Aug 6, 2019 4:57:36 GMT -6
Sometimes it's hard to believe, with all the needless hate and rage in the world, that humans are supposed to be the most intelligent species on the planet.
Without turning this into a political discussion, because I don't believe there should be (or wish that there wasn't) a party divide, I think gun control measures need to be put in place.
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Post by stepper on Sept 15, 2019 19:11:55 GMT -6
Well this is new to me even if most of you have seen this before. Clearly I don't get out often enough.
I took Steppet to Red Lobster this evening and they had a flashing "thing" on all the tables showing their ads. Turns out the flashing thing is also how you are expected to pay - they send the bill to your table and you scan your credit card (via their wifi if you trust them to have security). What I didn't realize was that they also decide for you what your tip should be and it's included as if it's part of the bill. A hidden part unless you've seen this before and know where and how to find it. I've been to luncheons where the restaurant included the gratuity as a part of your bill because it's usually a large group and they've had to bring in extra servers for the special occasion being celebrated - but it's known up front and advertised that the tip is being included in the bill. This wasn't known or mentioned. I only found out because I wanted a regular receipt and the waitress had to go to somewhere out-of-sight to get one. The printed bill made it clear that the tip was added on as a part of the total. Grrr. I don't appreciate them making decisions like that for me.
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Post by stepper on Sept 16, 2019 17:02:17 GMT -6
And you were exactly who I had in mind when I said some people start their Christmas shopping early. (You're probably done, aren't you?!)... <evil cackle> Sept 16th! Only 100 Days to Christmas!! {Just Saying} [/div
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Post by Phalon on Sept 16, 2019 21:56:45 GMT -6
I've experienced those only a few times, and it's been awhile (though I'll probably run into them more often now that BP is in college). I've only seen them at chain restaurants - probably at Applebee's, Ruby Tuesdays, Buffalo Wild Wings, and possibly Olive Garden. I don't remember which of these had them, but these are the restaurants closest to campus that we'd stop in for dinner when I'd take LX back to college when she'd visit for the weekend; they were convenient being so close to the college. They always gave you a tip option though, by using a touch screen - I believe if I'm remembering correctly you could choose to leave a 10%, 15%, 20% tip, a dollar amount of your choosing, or no tip at all.
Kind of a sad thing - when we were up there moving BP into her dorm, we took her to dinner to our favorite restaurant up there. It's a bit away from campus - just a few miles outside of town, but had the best veggie pizzas, deli sandwiches, and soups. It was closed and the building was for sale! Hate to see independently owned places close down - it probably couldn't complete with all the chain restaurants close to campus.
Shhh....that just makes autumn seem shorter than it already is!!!
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Post by Mini Mia on Sept 16, 2019 22:48:32 GMT -6
I've never seen such a thing. So, good to know.
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Post by Phalon on Sept 25, 2019 5:21:08 GMT -6
Been running late lately - too much to do these past few mornings, so just a quick "Hello" and "Enjoy the day" right now.
Later, Taters.
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Post by Mini Mia on Sept 25, 2019 12:15:16 GMT -6
Won’t be long and you’ll be busy with your own projects. Hope they do better than years past.
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Post by Phalon on Sept 29, 2019 6:56:34 GMT -6
You mean the greenery baskets I do for the Holiday Market? Oh, I do pretty danged good on those. There's always the thought in the back of my head to branch out into the bigger markets in surrounding towns - people always tell me I could charge twice as much at those than I do at the little market. I'm happy where I am though. A bigger market would mean more work, and because it's all fresh made the day before, I don't think I could handle doing more!
Speaking of projects, I've been busy with one lately at work (which is also taking up a lot of my time outside of work). It's another of my hair-brained ideas - and what the hell was I thinking?!! It's one of those things, like doing a bigger Holiday Market, that has snowballed into more than I can handle. It all started out so simple too - I said to myself on the way to work one day, "let's have a scarecrow contest". In the fifteen minutes it takes to get from home to work, I'd worked out the details in my head: we'd invite the public to make scarecrows to put on display at the nursery, and our customers would vote for their favorite. Then, for some reason, I made it more complicated - each vote costs $1, people can vote as many times as they want, and all the proceeds would go to the local Humane Society. We'd offer gift certificates to the people whose scarecrow got the most votes. At the end of the voting period, we'd have a day of hayrides, refreshments, etc, and announce the winners. Oh, wait - let's have the Humane Society there too for a meet-and-greet with some of their adoptable animals! I presented the idea when I got to work, my co-workers liked it, and the boss said to run with it. Then she left town for basically three weeks for vacation and back-to-back trade shows.
It didn't stop there. On one of my days off work, I was walking downtown and had another idea - why don't "we" (which means me) sweeten the prize pot with gift certificates to additional retailers and restaurants. I stopped in a couple places downtown, and was surprised at how generous people were. And then that snowballed into going to more and more places, and getting additional gift certificates which we'd raffle off to people who vote for the scarecrows - each vote costs $1 which goes to the Humane Society, and the voter's name goes into a pot with a chance to win a gift certificate to a local establishment.
For all this to work, of course, there needs to be scarecrows for people to vote for, and to do that, there needs to be a ton of publicity. I am not an event organizer or a public relations person. I have few organizational skills what-so-ever! But because I started this, I've got to carry through with it, and keep my fingers crossed it'll work!
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Post by Mini Mia on Sept 29, 2019 11:22:57 GMT -6
Yeah. You usually start on them about the time the nursery closes, which won’t be too long from now. If October goes by as fast as the last few months has, you’ll be starting on them very soon.
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Post by stepper on Sept 29, 2019 19:21:32 GMT -6
That sounds like a really good idea Phalon, equaled by how much work it'll be. Look for some volunteer assistance - especially with advertising. And good luck!
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Post by Phalon on Sept 30, 2019 22:12:42 GMT -6
I do have help; I shouldn't have implied I didn't. A few of my co-workers made scarecrows just in case we don't get many people bringing them in (I made one too...or rather, a sort of scarecrow-type creation - a "Tree Witch"; I like her), another made the ballots, the ballot box and signage in and outside of the store. I've done all the running around though to different businesses, setting up contacts, e-mailing, press releases, and Facebook posts. And like I said, and you very well know, I am not an organized person...I'm just as bad at delegating work. I ask people to do stuff, get impatient with how long it takes them to do it (which is hilariously ironic given my knack for procrastination), and end up doing it myself.
Thanks for the good luck wishes. I'm going to need it!
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Post by Phalon on Oct 10, 2019 4:57:42 GMT -6
Update on the scarecrow contest: it's going really well!
The visitors bureau in a town close to work gave it an entire page on their website. It ran in the paper here in two places - both a blurb in the Humane Society's weekly "pet of the week" ad, and an article in the body of the paper itself. The Humane Society covers two counties - we've got publicity in both.
All the gift certificates are in place.
We've got a dozen scarecrows so far, and almost a couple of hundred votes. I'd like more in both categories, but there's still a week and a half left, so hopefully we can double that. I'd like to hand the Humane Society a big fat $500 check at the end of it all, which would be a lot for what is mostly a rural area.
I've been posting photos on our Facebook page of each new scarecrow that comes in (there are some very creative ones), but am getting behind - I don't like to bug people with too many posts, and have been only doing one a day. Maybe I ought to step it up? Since I don't like social media myself, maybe people who do, don't mind what seems to me as being bombarded with posts?
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Post by Phalon on Oct 13, 2019 7:09:05 GMT -6
The weather turned really cr@ppy here the last couple of days - an entire day of rain on Friday, and very cold and windy yesterday. Despite that, the scarecrows held up in the weather, and the votes came in - we broke the $300 mark yesterday.
One week to go in the contest - keeping fingers crossed.
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Post by Mini Mia on Oct 15, 2019 20:36:19 GMT -6
Hope it's going well.
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Post by Phalon on Oct 16, 2019 6:03:59 GMT -6
I dunno. We haven't made it to $400 yet (it's close though), and the forecast for the week doesn't look good - rain and cold predicted for every day through Saturday doesn't translate into a lot of people spending time outdoors.
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Post by Phalon on Oct 19, 2019 5:01:31 GMT -6
Today is the big day. The weather seems as if it's going to cooperate - high of 62, and the rain is supposed to hold off until late afternoon.
This has really gone much better so far than I expected. People came out in the cr@ppiest weather the last few days, just to vote for their favorite scarecrow. Voting closes at noon today, and even if no one shows up, we've exceeded my goal - we've raised over $530 as of yesterday afternoon! I'm happy.
I would be over-the-moon happy if at least one of the animals the Humane Society was bringing today for the meet-and-greet got adopted.
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Post by Phalon on Oct 19, 2019 16:08:50 GMT -6
OMG!!! $1050!!!! And three adoptions...2 dogs, and 1 cat!!!
LX was there, doing face painting. Uhm...guess who's got another "grand-cat"?
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Post by stepper on Oct 20, 2019 15:20:31 GMT -6
OMG!!! $1050!!!! And three adoptions...2 dogs, and 1 cat!!! LX was there, doing face painting. Uhm...guess who's got another "grand-cat"? My sincere congratulations! I'm sure the $$ will be put to good use, but even better you got some adoptions! Now, tell us more about the grand-cat. Or kitten?
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Post by Mini Mia on Oct 20, 2019 23:37:04 GMT -6
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Post by moonglum on Oct 21, 2019 23:26:44 GMT -6
Congratulations on your fine efforts Lady P.
Saw on the news about the tornado's in texas. Hope everything is well with you Stepper.
I've been a bit distant (is that the word) lately. A couple of trips to the doctors has resulted in my being diagnosed with diabetes. So, lifestyle changes happening at the moment.
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Post by Mini Mia on Oct 21, 2019 23:48:02 GMT -6
Sorry to hear you've haven't been well. I think we've all been a bit distant. We seem to be posting less and less of late.
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Post by Phalon on Oct 23, 2019 6:14:21 GMT -6
The Humane Society had brought three six-month old kittens to our event, and LX fell in love with one of them. When she and the Boyfriend went to their facility to complete the adoption process, they decided to get a 2-year old that had been there for the majority of its life. She's always been a sucker for a sob-story.
Oh! I hadn't heard! Hoping as well that all is okay your way, Stepper.
Sorry to hear, Moonglum. Hoping it's something you're able to get under control without too much effort, or too many changes.
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Post by Phalon on Jan 16, 2020 11:56:03 GMT -6
Doing a bunch of stuff around the house today, and while I'm at it, figured I'd break up the mundane tasks of housework by popping in and catching up on some posting. A little laundry, a bit of posting, sweeping the floor, take a bit of a break with a post.
But while I'm in this thread, Today's WTF comment: Dr. Pimple Popper - WTF?!! Why would they make a show like this, and who would find it entertaining. And more importantly, why the hell would they advertise it on the Food Network while on a commercial break from a cooking show.
Made me completely lose my appetite for whatever was being cooked on Chopped.
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Post by katina2nd on Jan 16, 2020 19:02:20 GMT -6
humans are supposed to be the most intelligent species on the planet. Doing a bunch of stuff around the house today, and while I'm at it, figured I'd break up the mundane tasks of housework by popping in and catching up on some posting. A little laundry, a bit of posting, sweeping the floor, take a bit of a break with a post. But while I'm in this thread, Today's WTF comment: Dr. Pimple Popper - WTF?!! Why would they make a show like this, and who would find it entertaining. And more importantly, why the hell would they advertise it on the Food Network while on a commercial break from a cooking show. Made me completely lose my appetite for whatever was being cooked on Chopped. Makes one wonder if that top statement is actually correct, gotta think we're actually pretty low on the evolutionary scale when you see things like that. Hey, can move this if it's not the proper place for it, but was wondering who anyone here thinks will get the Democratic nomination, and if it really matters anyway, looks very much like another four of the Donald coming up, or am I misreading things.
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Post by Mini Mia on Jan 16, 2020 23:21:22 GMT -6
I've seen commercials for that show ... and sometimes I'm eating. As for politics, someone started a thread on Off Topics ages ago ... I'll see if I can find it and bump it up. Politics isn't my thing, so I've got nothing to say on the topic.
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Post by Phalon on Jan 17, 2020 7:14:28 GMT -6
I never did make it back here to post while taking a break from my tasks of the day yesterday - I got sidetracked (maybe derailed is a better term) from both!
HA! Yes, it does. It makes me wonder too, how the concept for the show even came to be? Of all the topics out there to revolve a television show around, why, why, why?
Since Joxie bumped the thread, I'll jump over there.
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Post by Phalon on Jan 23, 2020 8:01:03 GMT -6
Sigh. Sometimes frustration gets the better of me. I was not very nice - not horrible either - but less-than pleasant to the post-office lady yesterday. I always feel bad immediately afterward though, when I'm not as pleasant as I could have been.
It was the second time in less than a week I've been to the post-office. Last week, I went in to get stamps, and while I was there, mentioned that just the day before my neighbor brought mail addressed to me, but which had been delivered to his house. It's not the first time - it's become a fairly common thing for a few months now; neighbors have been trading mail delivered to wrong addresses like it's Pokemon trading cards. It's not even just our street; someone from a neighboring street frequently gets my neighbor's mail. Sometimes days will go by without our out-going mail being picked up.
When I talked to the post-office lady about this last week, she said she'd flag our address to alert the mail-carrier we've been getting the wrong mail. We haven't had a regular mail-carrier in a while; it seems like it's a different person weekly.
Yesterday, the mail came...and it was all addressed to a house a block down the street. Like WTF? I know the people whose mail we received, and could have just walked the mail to the correct house, which is what we all have usually been doing, but instead I took it back to the post office, and had my less-than-pleasant conversation with the lady behind the counter.
It's especially frustrating because who knows if we're getting all our mail? Hubs has been waiting for a new debit card to replace an expired one for over a month. He had to cancel the first one that the bank mailed, because it never arrived. When he cancelled that card, the bank told him if he did not get the reissued card by a certain date, to check back with them - that date was yesterday. Since we got someone else's mail yesterday, to whom was our mail delivered? Our bills, tax documents for the upcoming income tax season - who knows where it's going, or if we'll ever even receive it.
My handwritten note on an index card is now taped to the front of our mailbox: Dear Mail Carrier. Please verify the address on the mail you are delivering - this is Blah-Blah-Blah Blah Street. We've been getting mail that's not ours, and other people have been getting our mail.
I wonder if it'll make a difference. Doubtful, since our address is clearly marked on the house - clearly he's not reading that, or the address on the envelopes, so why would he bother to read a note on a mailbox.
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Post by Mini Mia on Jan 24, 2020 3:30:29 GMT -6
Years ago we had our mail lady tells us she had to fight and yank the mail for her route out of the hands of the others. They just grabbed and didn't care what mail they got. I've gotten opened mail that I'm sure someone else opened before realizing it wasn't their mail. I put a note on the mail I open that isn't mine. "Oops. Sorry. It was in my mailbox, and I assumed it was my mail." And I would take it and put it in the neighbor's mailbox. (Not doing that anymore, because I was told that the post office didn't like that. And that got me worried that a neighbor might cause a problem. So now I put it back in the mailbox and raise the flag.) A couple of times I got mail that was way on the other side of town. It's very aggravating when I get the wrong mail, and I wonder if any of mine is in another mailbox somewhere.
My mail doesn't even come at the same time anymore. I never know when to go out and get the mail. It used to come between 9 & 10, and now it comes between 11 and 5. During the week, it can come as late as 3, and on Saturday I went to the mailbox between 4 & 5, and no mail. Then I noticed the mailbox cracked open on my way home from Church the next day, and there was mail. I don't mind going to the mailbox after 5 when it's still daylight out, but when it's dark out, it's aggravating.
I just recently signed up for USPS Informed Delivery. I get an email with images of what's going to be put in my mailbox. It doesn't give me a time, but at least if the mailbox is empty I know to make another trip. No email means no snail mail. I've had the Church Literature get dropped off without me knowing it was coming, so I signed up with UPS, and now I get alerts. Signed up with FedEx too. Of course, sometimes I have to go to my sister's house to pick it up, but at least I get an alert it has been delivered.
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Post by Phalon on Mar 5, 2020 6:52:13 GMT -6
What is up with mail lately?
We haven't got anyone else's mail since I complained at the post office, and put the note on the mailbox reminding the mail carrier to check the address of what he or she is delivering; the mail carriers seem to change a lot, probably because none of the new carriers want the route...especially in winter, when it seems like all this started. Ours is a walking route, and the mailboxes in town are on the front porches. The note is still on the mailbox, which is next to our front door under the porch roof, nice and dry, out of the rain and snow, and readily available as a reminder to whoever new carrier delivers the mail.
I've learned since first putting it out though, that the problem of people receiving mail that isn't theirs is not just confined to our neighborhood - it's happened clear across town, and even on the rural routes outside of town, again mostly since last fall. Maybe there was some huge of personnel change at the post office that happened then?
Although our snail-mail problem seems to have stopped, now it's my e-mail that's giving me a headache. I got an e-mail yesterday from my provider - they will no longer provide service after next week. I rarely communicate by e-mail anymore (which is the reason they are discontinuing their service; with cell-phones, texting and social media, there isn't much need). There was only a handful of people I needed to contact with a new e-mail address - my boss, the writing group people, and just two other people who I receive e-mails from once in a blue moon. That's it - easy-peasy.
The hard part is that everything else is attached to the old e-mail, which is the reason I've had the same account for nearly 20 years! It's just been too much of a pain-in-the-@ss to change every single account I've got - everything from billing, to medical, to shopping, banking, etc, etc, etc - stuff I use daily, weekly, monthly, or maybe just once or twice a year has to be changed. I made a list, and dang it, I know I'm forgetting things, and I've got just a week to remember.
It takes time to change it all, and I was making decent progress on checking things off the list, when I got to my internet provider - they auto-bill me once a month, and send the receipt in an e-mail. I called....and guess what? They should have been at the top of the list!!!! They could have (and they've done this before for me now that I think about it, but it's been probably 15 years ago!) changed the actual address of my new e-mail account, allowing me to keep my old e-mail address! Kind of like when you get a new cell-phone provider, but keep the same phone number. D@mn, d@mn, d@mn! Halfway through the list of changing the address though, so it's too late now.
Finishing the rest of the list is on hold for today though. Got an appointment with the tax preparer. Another headache!
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Post by Phalon on Mar 6, 2020 6:30:38 GMT -6
Taxes...grumble, grumble, grumble.
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