you do need a gorilla to pull that 1,000 pound boulder.
Yeah, that was an adventure. I used my engine crane to get the rock into the cart, then moved it where it needed to go, and used the crane to get it out of the cart and lower it to the ground. My neighbors thought I was nuts, but it saved hiring a bobcat for the job. 
I had the same experience with Sears a couple decades ago. They advertised a pressure washer for a good price. I looked at the display and decided it was what I wanted. I went to the cashier and told them I was ready to buy it. They checked the computer and had one in stock. A salesman was carrying it out for the customer that beat me to it. I offered to buy the display model for full price. Of course they canāt sell display models. What do they do with them? Throw them in the dumpster? A few months back I was at the regional mart wanting a LG computer monitor advertised for a good price. They were out of stock but offered the display model for $20 off. It had the box, manual and all accessories. Why not. Almost a year with no problems. I am looking at it now.
I have got a few good deals at HF although you have to carefully evaluate what your buying. I have 2 sets of their 6 for $2 screwdrivers with the Mac/Snap-On shaped handles that are OK. The small size pliers 6 piece $8 pliers, and the $15 25 piece SAE/Metric combination wrenches which seem to be as good as anything. Sears inventory control is a joke. Itās been a few years but their cash registers appeared to be 1970s vintage which probably have no communication with the inventory computer.
Iām very careful about buying stuff at Harbor Fake
This is the kind of stuff I buy there . . .
brass brushes
tie straps
some of the button cell batteries, but only if itās a variety pack
Ingersoll Rand air tools, but I donāt think they stock them anymore
fittings for air hoses and/or lines
Whenever possible, I try to buy Snap on stuff on ebay. Iāve had good luck buying new cordless and air tools for 1/2 price or less. Buying used power tools is a huge roll of the dice, IMO. I try to buy used socket and wrench sets. No problem if theyāre worn. Iām picky . . . I generally donāt bid on tools that have initials etched into them, unless the price is so low, that itās essentially a steal
Occasionally, I buy Craftsman impact socket sets, but ONLY if itās club saver days. Otherwise, forget it. I feel the craftsman impact sockets compare very favorably, versus Snap On, Mac, etc. The craftsman chrome sockets are no longer very good, IMO. Theyāve gotten really cheap, in price and quality. After a few years, the chrome flakes off and cuts into your fingers. Craftsman extensions are also not that great, because they donāt have the knurling. The knurling makes a big difference. Craftsman professional screwdrivers were quite good, but they donāt sell them anymore.
I love getting gardening tools and hoses there. The only reason is the lifetime warranty. Buy it once, I say
Inventory control at my local Sears is okay, but not great.
The razor blade scam when my Gillette Mach 3s quadrupled in price. The excuse was that Swedish steel prices increased. The amount of steel in the blades is next to nothing. The plastic housing and packaging far exceeds the cost of the steel. Iām very tired of the BS excuses for price increases. Coffee double price increase was also a total scam. If Chinese steel cost 1/10th as much and lasted half as long I would be OK.
I have used TaxAct for many years. It is about $25 for Federal and State. No problems.
I remember that with to many failed military computer programs. Lowest bidder and they throw a load of feces together that looks good in the demo but is entirely unusable. In 2008 I spent 2 weeks at Redstone Arsenal for āadvancedā training for the latest/greatest flight records program which consisted of the same useless crap they taught us in 2 days back home. I was trying to learn how to enter the data in the central data base. Oh. That is not yet operational. Hey. I got a nice 2 week vacation in Huntsville, AL living at the Rocket City hotel.
Customer service is always the best business model. Our only auto parts store is a NAPA with friendly, knowledgeable, and helpful employees. The only drawback is that they are closed Sundays when many people are working on their vehicles. It is a religious thing with the franchise owner. I can respect that. We have an ACE hardware which is co-located with a regional drugstore. You can never find anyone if you need help. I have always had to ask a drug store cashier who calls someone from ACE who eventually emerges from the back room. Strange that ACEās commercial jingle is āACE is the place with the helpful hardware manā! I live in a smaller (population 9,000) town. Other than ACE the local businesses are very customer oriented, Kind of like returning to the 1950s, early 1960s. I like it.
All of the NAPA stores in my area are also closed on Sundays
It might be a corporate rule
I remember some years ago a study was done where 10 different IRS offices were contacted and asked the same question. 5 significantly different answers were given. Your 50% seems spot on!
That sucks! A ārain checkā should be good until they get it!
All of the NAPAs around here are open on Sundays, but only till about 4:30 instead of 8:00. ACE is very helpful here too. One of the supermarkets though is closed on Sunday for religious reasons. I donāt go there anyway but I appreciate the stores being open 24/7. Now Iāll drink maybe a six pack of Miles hard lemonade in the summer when its really hot and have been working. I discovered you have to plan ahead since in Minnesota you canāt buy it on Sunday-anywhere.
The local NAPA store is the only one I know of that is closed on Sunday. We have Oregon state liquor stores that are closed on Sunday. Monday through Thursday they are open from 11:00 AM to 6:00 PM. On Friday and Saturday they are open really ālateā. 8:00 PM. Hard lemonade and other pre mixed cocktails are the same as beer and wine and are sold all 7 days. But beer and wine cannot be sold from 2:00 AM until 7:00 AM. Bars are open all 7 days but must be closed from 2:00 AM until 7:00 AM. Who comes up with this silliness?
I have always thought that these closing laws and individual city ordinances should be ruled unconstitutional, either under state constitutions or federal. Cities are getting into all kinds of business restrictions that are just silly. Back in high school we sang for the Rotary and had lunch with them. I sat next to the owner of a local department store. He talked about how he was going to make sure the then Sunday closing laws were not repealed, because then he would have to be open on Sunday too. I thought then and still, a guy like that should not be able to wield his weight around to influence legislation.
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Sometimes I drive from San Francisco to Colorado, pass through Utah along the way. I happened to hit there on a Sunday night, stopped in at a the local Walmart for a 6-pack of beer. At the checkout, I put the 6-pack on the conveyer belt; I notice the other folks standing in line looking at me like I had just landed from Mars. The clerk looks what Iāve done even though Iām still 3rd in line, says āsorry, you canāt purchase THAT today, itās Sunday!ā. In a polite, but firm way. But her intent was clear: āNO BEER FOR YOU!ā So I told her āsorry Iāll put it backā.
Immediately one of the folks in line comes up to me, says, hey, you arenāt from around here, right? I say āno, Californiaā. So he says āYou can still buy beer if you want. I buy beer on Sunday all the timeā he says. So I ask him where? He says āWell, you have drive 70 miles up into the mountains two counties over, and thereās a place that sells beer there on Sunday. But you need exact change, cash only.ā ā¦ lol ā¦ I tell him thanks for the info, but Iām ok w/no beer for the evening, Iāll just wait until Monday. Drive 70 miles for a 6-pack?!! I donāt think so ā¦ .lol .
2 counties over to buy a probably overpriced 6-pack . . . outrageous
And since itās exact change, cash only, itās probably also being sold āoff the booksā
This sounds like a case of somebodyās religious convictions impeding on everybody elseās freedom, forcing them to drive extreme distances, or plan better
The storeās open, they have the beer, but they canāt/wonāt sell it . . . insanity
Preventing beer sales at that Walmart on Sunday is probably not going to lower drunk driving accidents one bit
Years ago I stopped for the night in a West Texas city and after checking into a room I asked where I could get a sandwitch and beer and the clerk recommended several sandwitch shops but for a beer I would have to go to Impact which was several blocks down the road. It turns out that Imact was an incorporated town of one city block that was a huge alcohol warehouse and refrigerated wall to wall. If I hadnāt grown up in Mississippi when it was dry I wouldnāt have believed it.
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We were on our way this summer to just over the line in NY for a week stay and stopped in Pennsylvania for the night a few miles from our destination. I wanted to buy a 6 pack of hard Mikes Lemonade for the week so when we went to Walmart I asked if they sold it. Nope, you have to go to a liquor store. Next morning I go to a wine and liquor store and they say no, thatās like a beer. You have to get it at a beer store. Theres one close by but you have to buy in case lots. If you only want a 6 pack, then you have to go to a different type of beer store-hidden in back of Mac Dās with a small little sign over the back door saying ābeerā. They had it but geez what a system. Maybe you canāt buy any in Minnesota on Sunday but at least you can go to a liquor store and get wine, beer, lemonade or whatever. in a 6 pack or whatever you want.
@bing, one of the few complaints that my brother and SIL have had since moving to PA is in regard to that stateās bizarre, backward liquor regulations, and the fact that you have to go to a āstate storeā for many of those items. As a result, they usually defer their wine/beer/liquor purchases until they are taking a trip over the bridge to nearby NJ, where the prices are lower, the selection is probably 300% better, and the restrictions are fewer.
Donāt get me wrongā¦NJ has some bizarre regulations also, such as the reality that no person or company can hold more than 3 liquor licenses in the entire state. Clearly, the lobbying dollars of the small liquor store owners called the shots with that outdated regulation. However, in spite of that restriction, buying wine/beer/liquor in NJ is far easier and cheaper than in Pennsyltuckyāwhose tourism slogan used to be āAmerica starts hereā. 
Then, we have Bergen County in NJ, where you canāt sell anything except food and medicines on Sundays.
The so-called āBlue Lawsā of days gone-by are still in effect in that county.