The I Miss the Old Days Complaint Thread
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Um? I had a complaint but I forgot what it was?
I HATE self-checkouts!
they are a plague upon humanity.
It took me years to train my local checkout clerks to balance the weight of my two grocery shopping bags while packing them.
It's not that self-checkouts are too hard, for me to use. Remember, I had been designing computer device drivers, user interfaces, network protocols, graphic display systems, complex control systems, and real-time, multi-tasking, multi-processor operating systems, for 30 years, albeit 20 years ago. It's just that I resent having to be responsible for detecting and resolving pricing errors, missing price tags, damaged products, and other questions that a clerk is prepared to deal with while I wait patiently while browsing magazines or drooling over forbidden candy. Plus, that 5 minutes in a manned checkout queue gives me time to impulse buy that forbidden candy, and to reconsider my other purchases, or remember things I'd forgotten. The self-checkout is almost always empty, but when it isn't empty you see someone hogging it because they can't read and had to call a clerk to explain how to use it. Oy!
And perhaps a less educational reason, is that I have personally confirmed that old people see, hear, move, and think slower than most 19 year old clerks. Getting old sucks!
Now, if I could just get the 19 year old clerk to halve her talking speed to match my 75 year old listening speed, life would be a little bit more perfect for a moment.
And besides, if we eliminate jobs for 19 year old clerks, we'll have a lot of unemployed 19 year olds. Hmmm... bored teenagers with no money...that's got to be a recipe for something.
I'd complain about that if I were you.
I'd like someone to bring me a piece too.
I do something similar, but not by weight, by likelihood of whatever gets scanned first destroying whatever goes back into the cart next... I don't bother to bag my stuff, I just put it back in the cart and arrange it when I load it into my vehicle, which is quicker for the others in line behind me... I hate it when you get that person who has to have the cashier Feng Shui their groceries or arrange them by food group or color... you get people like that around here who come from the rich side of town and seem like they've never shopped unescorted before... there was this one lady who got on the express line at ShopRite with way too many items and waited for the cashier to bag them, ignoring the Bag Your Own Purchase sign, when the cashier realized she wasn't bagging her stuff and told her she got angry and left... nice. Now the belt is full and everyone has to wait for someone to remove the stuff.
I also try to arrange things to the convenience of the cashier... especially in Aldi where (at least around here) the checkout design must have be created to specifically induce repetitive stress injuries... things like large bottles of liquid go first because I can put it in the cart for them, instead of them having to place it down into the cart... I try to understand how they do things, and why (that was actually something I used to do as part of my job designing assembly stations)... whenever it's allowed I prefer to pack my own cart... like Costco it's not allowed, BJs it sort of is if the cashier accepts your help, Stop and Shop, Lidl and ShopRite you have to pack your stuff... at BJs some cashiers are okay with it, some don't want help (its usually the people who suck at it too)...(don't assault my damn bananas!)... There was this one guy at a BJs who was a showman... I called him (Tetris Guy)... he would insist on putting the stuff back in the cart for you and he'd arrange everything perfectly and lighting fast... but he had this interesting way of quickly rotating stuff in his hands as he mentally arranged it to fit... it was like he was playing Tetris in his head... he seemed to do that to entertain himself and maintain his sanity... or he could have been an android too possibly... it's hard to tell with newer units.
But some cashiers are determined to defeat whatever you do to make it easier... if you just shovel a pile of stuff onto the belt, they'll do it one way, but if you arrange it in the order they tend to handle/scan it, they just do the opposite... and they seem annoyed by it.
I guess you can't please some people, but it was nice that a few weeks ago one of the guys at a different Aldi I go to realized what I was doing and said thanks...
Then there's this one cashier from ShopRite who is probably the love child of Dolores Umbridge and Roz from Monsters Inc... I don't think I've ever seen her not angry and the one time she smiled it turned out to be a snarl... she's like 94, but I genuinely thought she was going lunge across the belt and bite me... hard...
I had some cheesecake yesterday. Diane made it for my sister's birthday! I'll have another piece tonight, then it's gone...the rest went home with my sister.
Dana
They say that if you listen in the darkness on a moonless night, you can still hear the sound carried on the cold breeze... its tortured soul grinding and whirring as it taps out each character... They say if you listen too long or the air becomes still, it will drive you mad and if by some cruel twist of fate you see it, you will fall into the abyss... forever damned to eternal torment.
Or not...
I forget... maybe that was about a Brother electric typewriter or one of those Epilady shavers...
Whatever... just don't listen to stuff on dark moonlit nights was probably the takeaway on that...
Well, when you are crossing the street in the dark you should listen, otherwise you could get run over...
Its a tough call.
Cheesecake mysteriously disappears once it enters my house... I have no idea where it goes...
I'm currently interrogating a pound cake for information on this mystery... but it seems to be disappearing right in the middle of the interrogation...
Its dark magic... very dark magic...
There used to be a place in Miami that was famous for cheesecake. I think the place was called "Woolfie's". Back in the 70's.
Edited for Correction. Woolfies was in Ft. Lauderdale. Mmmm... cheesecake... Long story, won't bore you.
i suspect the answer may lie in your avatar.
Non-complaint: Just received the program notice from Chautauqua Institution, for this summer's lectures, opera and symphony events. And yay, there is at least one symphony that tickles my fancy.
July 11th, it's Rimsky-Korsakov's "Scheherazade". One of the greats, worthy of hearing live, many times in one's life. Big orchestra, big sound, memorable romantic melodies, several musical landscapes, and even surprises, like the shouting
between 44:30 and 45:40., in the YouTube production below,
So much great music by Nicolai Rimsky-Korsakov.
Note: the shouting is a gimmic, not done in most performances, but it works.
At first I though it was representing a raucous festival, but upon reflection it probably represents the screaming of the men in the ship dashed against the rocks.
Scheherazade the background: Scheherazade Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scheherazade
Scheherazade the music:
Complaint: SBS... Stupid Brain Syndrome...
I can't ever say "Sepulcher" correctly, or even close because the first thing I alway say is "Speculum"... which sucks when I give directions and the phone conversation in Target sounds like...
"Yeah... its probably Coram... yeah... 112... it's the first right after the Holy Speculum Cemetery... uh, Sepulcher... sepulcher... you know, a cave thing where they stick dead bodies... no... there's no cave, it's a cemetery... that what they called it... you turn right after... no, the other thing is a gynecological tool... no, I made a mistake... it's the Holy Sepul... I don't know... it looks like a steel duck with handles... no... why would I have one?... I suppose you stick the bill... look why do you need to know this... just turn right after the damn cemetery... yes, there are no caves on Long Island, it's a flat cemetery... yes, it has headstones... I have no idea... the bodies are underground... I don't know... 1800s... are you thinking of grave robbing?... Just turn right... Granny road... No, I'm hanging up now, Google it if you want to know how it works... no, that's the corpse cave... bye... bye... hanging up now..."
Don't tell anyone... it was me... it's always me.
They say the first step is admitting you have a problem... I'm hoping the next step involves more pound cake.
My right knee hurts!
as opposed to the Holy Septum, twin caves like nostrils
Now that I'm having to texture atlas 40 unique characters, I find myself really wishing more things had 3DL materials.
...I loathe them as well as no matter what I do it always seems to "complain" that I did something wrong after which it locks up and I have to wait for the attendant to come an help. I also don't care to deal with all the codes for produce and not as fast or accurate at entering them in as a cashier is.
About the only time I used them is If I have only a few easy to scan items when the lines at the checkout lanes are snaking back into the aisles with just about everyone in line having a trolley brimming full with groceries.
At the Safeway a few blocks away the lines for the self-check stations are often as long if not longer than at the checkout lanes as the place only has a few. Of course they usually only have one traditional checkout lane (out of 5).
I've taken to bagging my own groceries as I have to balance the weight out since I have bad arthritis in my hands, wrists, and arms, and cannot have all the heavy items in one bag. I also use a shoulder bag for large heavy items like jugs of milk and bottles of juice.
Last Wednesday Denver broke the record low coming in at 11 degrees F. This Wednesday, we are forecasted to come in at 85 degrees F, breaking our record high. And we have a possibility of snow Friday. Love April.
I was going to make a comment about self-checkout, but I share an apartment with someone who has to manage eight self-checkout registers five days a week. It's no fun, he has wrist injuries from it, and often is brain dead at the end of his day from some of the treatment he endures. And I still see him smiling at people when I pick him up from work. And a customer gave him a Christmas card and when he was on vacation last August, regular customers were asking after him.
Non-complaint: I left my week-delayed dentist appointment yesterday with all my teeth clean, intact, and non-threatened. Yay!
Yes, yesterday was a very small mini-adventure. Wheee...
Bus up to the edge of the city, breakfast at BurgerKing, a two block walk down to the dentist, and an Uber home. And I even stopped into an off-brand 7/11 to pick up some forbidden candy & potato chips (that's what makes it an adventure
).
Complaint: I've been paying too much attention to what it's going to actually cost me to go to the symphony again, now that I don't have a car. I sold my car at the end of 2019. Covid quashed Chautauqua performances by effectively closing Chautauqua for the summers of '20 & '21. And despite being open during summer '22, the symphony offerings that year were uninteresting. But this year they seem to have their mojo back. Yay! but the costs are mounting up.
My mini-adventures at Chautauqua involve a few hours before the performance. Walking around enjoying the late Victorian/Edwardian architecture, of homes, hotels, and shops. And on the other end of the scale, admiring the large stone columned theaters, pavilions, libraries & bookstores. And when possible I like to have a meal either at the overpriced hamburg, fries, and ice-cream shops on campus, or a fine meal in one of the overpriced rich people restaurants on campus. Admission to the grounds for the symphony is $50, parking is $10, a cheap dinner is $20, a fine dinner, is $50, an Uber would be about $30 each way. So..., around $200 for an evening.
But that pales in comparison to renting a car, driving 200 miles, and attending a big city concert hall in Pittsburgh, Cleveland, or Toronto, and having to stay in a hotel overnight. And god forbid I should do this with a date.
I'm long past that.
I thought about getting a ride with a fellow symphony enthusiast from my area. Unfortunately, I don't know any among my acquaintances anymore.
So, I've been considering putting an ad in the Chautauqua newsletter or the local "PennySaver" looking for a symphony enthusiast with a car. There have to be some in this area. The 3000 seat Chautauqua Amphitheater(image below) is almost full everytime I've gone. Or maybe I need to start frequenting the local gay bar again (Yeah, right! I'm long past that too.
), looking for an eager and musically compatible companion.
had internet woes, finally solved it but getting a 5G modem at the end of the week anyway because cheaper and hopefully faster.
my old modem on my copper landline disconnects but wasn't reconnecting
I was going stupid rebooting, unplugging, doing a dance until I discovered my PC has to be turned off for it to complete the handshake
what happens is it opens a browser window and will not connect if it's on, several tabs on the window later it occurred to me to shut the PC down
and lo and behold it was lit steady all up like a Christmas tree
Fascinating insights, this whole bagging stuff, for a European! I guess I always thought it must feel absolutely luxurious to have your groceries packed for you. Little did I know, it seems. The controversies! The anxiety! The sheer drama of where the beer bottles will end up - and where the eggs ... Not trying to be ironic here, either. In my mind's eye, I can definitely see some cashiers from my neck of the woods doing just the things you people are describing. I'd be absolutely fuming with raging helplessness. That's why I'm seeing my therapist again tomorrow, I guess ;-)
I would gladly pack my own but the design of the checkouts don't lend themselves to it, the operator would need to pass me every item instead of putting it into a bag in front of them.
As I said, I bring bags to make it easier for them as I walk to the shops with a granny cart, Coles is the only store they can actually slide the stuff down to you, I do frequently ask them to there and I put it straight into my cart.
But some have "difficulties" with that so I don't insist.
Aldi they don't pack but they also go too fast for me, I need to find times few people are there then ask them to go a bit slower.
In many of our supermarkets (and especially some drugstores), you (of course) have to pack your own bags, but there's really no room for doing it at all, the belts are much too short. You have to sort of grab quickly at everything the cashier passes on, and lots of times, they don't pass it on properly, like basically let it stack in front of themselves rather, and you have to awkwardly try and snatch stuff before everything's being pushed beyond your reach and down to the floor by the belt which is of course merrily running on all the time ... But working in these places is often very close to pure hell I'm told, so one must fume quietly.
With self checkout, the checkout design, the GUI on the register and the whole SKU and reader setup is crucial to it being useable or not... I feel Home Depot's and Target's self checkouts work pretty well... around here they both rely on a hand scanner (gun) which makes scanning a lot easier.
As long as the bar codes work, that makes the process go smoothly... Home Depot has a very large screen and the options are straightforward... Target on the other hand also uses a hand scanner, but some of the choices are ambiguous or icon based, which can be confusing to some people, especially when you don't go there often... but overall its efficient...
Costco for example could use a hand scanner, but I think they want people to have to rely on the people monitoring the checkout... I feel like it's a loss prevention thing, but it's a hassle... BJs has the hand scanners, but more often than not there is a problem with their bar codes and once the cashier has to assist you it all falls apart as it usually requires waiting for a manager if none of the SKUs work.
Walmart makes me nuts, the register design is awkward (there are actually three types of self checkout designs) the most popular one needs to be modeled after Target's and needs a larger screen... Home Depot's screens are BIG... probably 20" or more diagonal... they even show a thumbnail of the product when it scans so you can be sure its scanned... the price is also very visible and in a couple of instances where the price was wrong, it was easy to catch.
Most supermarket chains tend to have all sorts of difficulties, from bad card readers and inaccurate SKUs to faulty scanning devices... not to mention customers who tend bring full shopping carts and end up requiring assistance immediately (most self checkout registers have a 12-20 item limit)
The annoying thing about the self checkout situation is it's becoming the norm, but too many stores that adopt it and execute it like it's 1998... the technology now is pretty good (technically, not morally because it reduces jobs, overworks people who are tasked with monitoring the lines, and invites clever new shoplifting techniques... the cost of which the stores pass onto the customers)... unfortunately most self checkout designs are mired in lazy design and lousy cheap older technology which makes it an unpleasant experience more often than not.
I enjoy bagging my groceries, but not so much paying these new higher prices. I was a bagboy in high school & the first year of college and still quite enjoy the process of bagging groceries today. I even considered applying for a job as a bagboy again after I was disabled about 13 years ago, as it was fun, but realized at this age the customers might be trying to help me do my job. You have got to be quick & careful to stay caught up. People think being a bagboy would be boring but you also wind up changing customer's tires and such on occasion, turning in lost valuables to lost and found, getting your cheap 20 year old Mustang you left the keys in the ignition stolen right out from under your nose in the very same parking lot you are working in, the fun never ends. Just don't talk to anyone but the customers as the store manager, my boss was Mister McGee believe it or not, will chew you out. I sometimes walked in through the out door too. I was so daring.
....it was 87° today in my former hometown of Steven's Point WI. (in the north central part of the state 110 miles due north of Madison) which broke their all time daily record of 71°.
Here in Portland it struggled to reach 53° even after the clouds cleared off for the most of the afternoon). The early morning low back in Point will be 58° (5° warmer than our high here today). Meanwhile tonight the low will be in the mid 30s here (at least they took the chance of snow in the morning out of the forecast). It is currently 24° warmer there (68° at 01:25 CDT) than it is here (44° at 23:25 PDT).
Instead of the mid 70s as originally forecast for this coming weekend it will only reach maybe the upper 50s.. We've basically had 10 weeks of what qualifies for "winter" here since Groundhog Day with no change for the next two weeks (a total of 12 weeks, twice the normal fround hog's forecast). which includes a couple more days in the upper 40s. Our normal high at this time of the year here should be in the low to mid 60s.
I remember several times when I was living back there we had measurable snow into late April.
I always wanted to do that, but was afraid that the death-lasers would get me.
Or this guy...
Once those blue lights turn red it's "game over dude"...