Text 21893, 98 rader
Skriven 2009-03-13 14:07:00 av Glen Jamieson
     Kommentar till en text av Hap Newsom
Ärende: COMPUTERIZED CHECK 90313
================================
 -=> Quoting Hap Newsom to Glen Jamieson <=-

Howdy Hap,

 -> In May, supermarket plastic bags will be phased out here, so everyone
 -> will be expected to use their own bags or buy re-usable fabric store
 -> bags. People are getting used to them already.  I have been using my
 -> own bag for years, and either the checkout girl or I pack the goods
 -> into it.  No problems.
 -> 
 HN> We've been using our own bags for years as well.
 HN> Many stores locally now give you a 5 cent rebate
 HN> for using your own bag...if you get three bags each
 HN> trip that's 15 cents off your bill...not much but it
 HN> adds up over time.

That is a good encouragement to use your own bags.  In wet markets in
the Philippines small boys walk around selling plastic carry bags for
those people who forget to bring their own.  That has always seemed to
me to be a nice compromise between allowing and fully banning plastic.
 
 ->  HN> to augment that margin. Here Fred Meyer was sued
 ->  HN> for selling meat by weight....but they were weighing
 ->  HN> the meat and the packaging together..so they were 
 ->  HN> selling packaging to you at meat prices. Cost em a
 ->  HN> bunch of money in settlement, and even more in 
 ->  HN> good will as folks refused to buy meat there unless
 ->  HN> it was reweighed  in front of them.

 HN> Here the meat is already weighed and packaged and put
 HN> into coolers for you to choose from. There are very 
 HN> few "Butcher shops" left. there are folks in the back 
 HN> of the meat dept to cut the primal cuts into saleable
 HN> sections and weigh and price and wrap them. The problem
 HN> was that this particular store would place the meat upon
 HN> an absorbent pad and place it in a styrofoam "tray"
 HN> and THEN weigh it...the styro doesn't weigh a whole 
 HN> lot, but that absobent pad beneath the meat is often
 HN> heavy with liquid...and at $8/pound that's 50 cents
 HN> and ounce. Not a huge hit per each customer...but 
 HN> when you figure the total weight of all those little
 HN> ounces here and there over the course of a year
 HN> it really starts to add up...when you compound that
 HN> with tens or hundreds of stores it REALLY adds up.

Understood.  The moisture would have come out of the meat, and
therefore would have been part of the pre-packed weight.  Presumably
the customers who requested that the meat be reweighed in front of them
would have been happy to see the indicated weight of the pack being
significantly more than the labelled weight, rather than insisting that
the meat be taken out of the pack for weighing?

 -> I use ATMs a lot, particularly when travelling, to get money in the
 -> currency of the country.  I can still remember my pin number (g).

 HN> If I travelled more I might need to use ATM's
 HN> but I don't so I can get by with the cash
 HN> I need to get through the week.

There are lots more ATMs than bank tellers here.  The nearest ATM is 5
minutes walk, while the nearest bank is 20 min. walk, or a car ride.
 
 -> Another way of getting money here is from the supermarket, as the girl
 -> asks, "Money out?" when the customer uses a credit or debit card to pay
 ->
 HN> That's another option I could use if needed.

That costs nothing.
 
 ->  -> Just out of curiosity, do you only go to full-service 
 ->  -> 
 ->  HN> in Washington state, you could not find 3 
 ->  HN> full service gas stations. You would have a 
 ->  HN> hard time finding free air or water at one 

Do they charge for air, or just not have the service available?

 -> Good points.  These days you are expected to clean your own windscreen
 -> as well as fill the tank.   BTW, we don't have to pump fuel any more,
 -> using that big lever on the side of the bowser, as we have these
 -> new-fangled electric pumps.  Much easier!   (G)
 ->
 HN> (grin) we've had those for more than a few years 
 HN> now...welcome to the 20th Century Glen! (grin)
 HN> Here if you put the nozzle in the fill hole it's 
 HN> considered "pumping" the petrol.

The wonders of modern engineering!  Next they will be inventing
synchromesh gearboxes and power steering, then _everyone_ - even women
- will be driving cars and the roads will get crowded and there will be
no place to park, and they will figure out some way to charge for
parking!    Aaaarrrgh!  (Glen cranks up his de Dion Bouton and drives
away in a cloud of smoke!)

___ Blue Wave/DOS v2.30 [NR]

--- FLAME v2.0/b
 * Origin: Braintap BBS Adelaide Australia (3:800/449)