Text 21919, 121 rader
Skriven 2009-03-14 21:05:44 av hap newsom (1:124/311)
     Kommentar till en text av Glen Jamieson
Ärende: RE: COMPUTERIZED CHECK 90313
====================================
Hey Glen!
->  -> 
->  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.
->  
I see no need for banning the plastic, although
it's the "PC" thing to do nowadays. We have an
ample supply of bags and generally remember to 
put them back into the cars when empty them at
home. 

->  ->  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?
->
There were lots of claims and counter claims
from both sides. Many claimed the store was
putting "pre wetted" pads underneath the meat
to boost the weight. There were claims that 
instead of one pad there were three or four, all
being sold at meat prices. The upshot was that
the store lost a huge amount of revenue due to 
people simply refusing to buy their meat there.
 
->  -> 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.
->
I have two banks within a slow 10 minute walk. a brisk 20 minute walk
brings in four more banks.
  
->  -> 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.
->
My very favorite price!
  
->  ->  -> 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?
->
Both, some places do not have it available at all, some 
have automated "pay stations" where you put in a coin
and get X amount of time that the air compressor runs, or
the water flows...then it shuts off until the next coin is
inserted. 
 
->  -> 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!)
-> 

Now you're talking 21'st Century!! (grin)
chat with you soon!
hap 
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