How many ways can SpellCheck misspell stain?
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Similarly, Costco gas stations (at least the ones in my state…) don’t accept cash, so apparently businesses are not required to accept cash.
That seems to be the norm in most areas at this point. A few smaller towns still have individual meters, but it’s becomming the norm to pay at a centrally-located pay box.
While it makes sense to do this, little-by-little it seems that jobs for people without specialized technical training are being eliminated. Years ago, we had jobs for elevator operators, parking lot attendants, street sweepers, and guys who emptied parking meters–none of which required certification–and which one could master after a few minutes of training.
Those who don’t decide to further themselves educationally after high school have few employment options at this point, and will likely have none w/in a few years.
If you show up at a car dealer with a wad of cash to purchase a car… by law they must inform the IRS, if greater than $10K, so you can understand why they would not accept a cash payment.
That transaction requires an electronic bank transfer or a personal check with funds verified with a phone call to the bank.
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Exactly!
Folks who carry huge quantities of cash have a high probability of being drug dealers, terrorists, or people who acquired their wealth in other ways that were not legal. There is an IRS form that a business has to submit if they accept $10k or more in cash:
MD too. The Costco gas lines would be much slower if they accepted cash. Even on a slow day, there are lines. With 10 pumps the one near me would need a huge wad of cash and be ripe for a robbery.
Yeah that is kind of the issue. The jobs without skill are getting rare. But the in the inner cities quite a few don’t even finish free high school. That coupled with unskilled and illiterate additions to our population taking roofing and gardening work, and what’s a kid wit a 10th grade education gonna do? Makes it even worse when the masters deemphasize things like showing up for work on time or even showing up at all.
You misunderstood what I said, I never wrote or inferred that folks on their deathbed would not wish for having saved or earned more money… But I do doubt that they would be thinking that. I was writing about memories and counting your money in private, at home, alone, is not a memory that someone would be having on their death bed…
When I was a in Junior High in the mid '60s, we read a short story about a recently departed man. He asked if he could look back and review his life and he was told he should not do it would only make him unhappy. In spite of the warning, he went ahead to relive his life and he saw all the wasted times when he could have been with friends and family. I remember his regrets were his memories… I wish I could remember the storie’s title or author, but Googling it did not give up the “ghost…”
The OP originally wrote that his son would rather stay at home and count the “ice cream money” while the rest of the family went out for ice cream together. And I wrote that the daughter would have memories to tell her children about while the son would not be reflecting on counting that money when his end is near… I do not believe anyone really is thinking about not having made more money so they could have a bronze casket, rather than wood or that their children’s inheritance will not let them go to Disneyland. Well perhaps, but they wish they had taken them instead of saving that amount…
So, let’s hope when your time comes, you are thinking of pleasant memories, rather than regrets…
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I am guessing “twice…” I always type up my musings in MS Word and then copy and paste them into the text box. Since Word has a Spell Checker, I probably really misspelled it twice, differently each time, and Word Auto-corrected each misspelling differently… And I just read over it, knowing what it should have said.
In the computer class, I teach at the local senior center, one of the student misspelled “categories” and Word auto-corrected to “cat orgies…”
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Our Costco in Newport New VA does not accept cash at the gas station either. There is an attendant, but their sole job is to assist the motorists whose pumping gas or to assist disabled motorists (or lazy ones…)
I saw one person beep and ask for the attendant to pump their gas, they handed over their credit and membership card and the attendant pumped their gas. When the attendant was hanging up the hose, the driver got out and started moving packages from the back seat into the trunk. The attendant looked dumfounded as the driver reached over to get their cards back and the driver casually mentioned that they need to go shopping inside and did not want the packages just lying on the back seat…
You can say, I do not know if that person was really disabled or not, but by the way they were slinging the packages around and stuffing them into the truck, I would say that if they were disabled, it was not physical…
Aside from that, the attendant lets folk know about the Vapor Recovery System on the gas nozzle. If you do not shove the nozzle in all the way and compress the plastic/rubber cone around the nozzle, the pump does not activate. I found this out when I tried to fill the gas can for my lawnmower. You have to pull the cone back by hand while holding the nozzle in the gas can. If you do not hold it back and shove the nozzle all the way into the can, the nozzle shuts off 4 to 6 inches short of full as the gas touches the nozzle and it auto shuts off.
BTW…
Dateline… May 27, 2023, Costco Price for Regular is $3.189 and Premium is $3.779…
Why do they still use that stupid 9/10 for gas pricing???
I mean I know why, it’s called just-below pricing and is used to make buyers feel like the price is lower than it really is… But everyone knows it is BS for the most part, Just round the 1/10 up, it will only be $0.01 per every $10.00’s, so it will not make or break most anyone… I know in the 1930’s it made a difference when gas was $0.10 a gallon, but we are way past that now… So WHY!!! ???
Sorry, one of my many pet peeves… lol
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Well I’ll just relate a story again. We had an office in the north country and a guy there that watched his money pretty close. My former partner was a big hunting and fishing fan and spent what little money left after his divorce on the habit. He was up in the bemidji office and the other guy criticized him for spending all his money on fishing and hunting. He retorted that when we are both old and gray, I’ll be in the rocker thinking of all those great times I had, and you’ll be thinking about all the money you saved. The next week he went out and bought at new caddy.
Caution if deciding to give daughter a debit card. I recently had one for $350 given to me by the state as part of its Covid-era economic-stimulus program. Intended to partly compensate for high gasoline prices California drivers have faced. You’d never believe the amazing coincidence, it arrived just before last fall’s election … lol …
There are very high fees for using this card if I do anything other than just paying the exact amount for my purchase. Every purchase I’m given the option: Would you like extra cash, $5, $10, $20? If I click on any of those options, $7 fee, each time.
For the same reason a house is priced at $499,900 instead of $500,000.
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When I was a little kid, 7 or 8, riding in the back seat, parents in front, I asked why there was that raised “9” on every gas-price sign? My mother tried to explain, but I wasn’t understanding, so I kept asking more and more questions. Mom - as most do – had infinite patience, but dad, like most dads, not so much. Finally , to get me to shut up, he said “George, that “9” doesn’t mean anything!” … lol …
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In one of my earlier postings in this topic, I talked about making memories like your “rocking chair former partner” and the “punch Line” proves my point, memories are important. I think that is part of the reason I post many of the things that I do, memories, and I’ve noticed that others do also. Some to brag, some to reminisce, and some because we can all learn from one another’s experiences…
In my posting above, I suggested giving the daughter a Gift Card or a loadable Spend Card. This way the daughter or anyone else for that matter cannot buy or spend more than they should… A gift card or the spend card would not work if there were insufficient funds…
As I wrote, I’ve given the grandkids a Visa Spend Card from my Credit Union. I can go online at any time and check on what the balance is. It’s like an allowance, but It gives them more freedom and if it’s lost or stolen, I can immediately shut it down and no one can charge up more than is in the balance.
Each week (like an allowance), I add to it, regardless of what the balance is. I consider it like a saving account and if the grandchild does not spend it all, then they are saving it… When the balance hit $100, I take some of it back so if the card is lost or stolen, they do not lose everything since the card works like cash. If they do find something that cost more than the available balance and I have reduced their balance for safety sake, a phone call, a text, an email is all that’s needed and I refill the card. Which takes less time that typing this… I do not advance their “allowance” and their allowance is not meant to cover life’s necessities. If they want designer boots, coats, etc… (Luxury items…) they had better save for it…
Like a friend or relative that has fallen on hard times and needs money for food, I do not give cash, I go out and buy them the groceries (and there is no sirloin or high end delicacies…), if they need money for rent, I go to the landlord and I pay the rent… I intend to help them, not enable them…
Many years ago, I had a cousin (2nd or 3rd and maybe a couple of times removed…) who was living on welfare, no job and no prospects. He also used drugs and had failed state-provided Re-hab a couple of times…
His aunt died and left him and his siblings about $25,000 each. He bought himself a big screen TV, and Stereo, a Computer, a Game Box, a used piece-of-crap Porsche, and with the money left over, he bought drugs, hoping to make a profit selling them… I think he actually used all the drugs himself…
Within 6-months, he had wrecked the Porsche, could not affords to get it repaired. His “friends” had borrowed, lost, or stolen most of his other stuff and the TV, well that got smashed when there was a fight in his apartment…
Getting dragged into the insecure world of online fund linked apps kicking and screaming. I don’t mind using a card, but I do not want my phone linked to any thing that might cause financial issues. Bud today asked for a donation to fund a church kids sports. I looked at it and did not want to install cash app on my phone, so I gave him cash.
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That’s why I always reread my posts before hitting reply.
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Or, as carpenters say… Measure twice, cut once.