Well that’s stupid. There’s no reason they can’t be programmed to accept EITHER a swipe or a read of the chip. And the chip-read can be accompanied by a chime of some kind.
When the technology gets fast enough to complete the chip-read (and give a pleasant “bing”) before the card can be swiped, people will train themselves to stop trying to swipe.
Also, having to wait until the checker is finished ringing everything up before it accepts a chip-read is kinda bullshit.
I just got my new chipped card in the mail, but I haven’t activated it yet, because I want to make sure I get ALL of my on-line payments set to the new number. Maybe I’ll start hitting the ATM for cash myself.
Hey, quick question: Once I’m using the chipped card, will the ATM still insist that I swipe the card to get cash?
I agree, and stop laughing at these jokes. Owning your daughter’s sexuality is not funny, it’s middle ages bullshit. And gross. And disgusting.
I bitched out the cashier at Kohl’s a few months ago. He asked me four times if I wanted to sign up for their credit card. After the fourth time, I turned to him and said,
“Listen. I don’t mind you asking me once or even twice. I know corporate makes you ask. But do not keep asking me after I have already said no three times. It makes me inclined to leave all of my purchases here and walk out the door. Now, can I pay for my goods and go home?”
He very sheepishly rang them up. I know they don’t need to ask me four times, no one else does, he was just being overzealous.
My minirant is this truck dude that nearly killed me the other day. I’m driving up I-87 the other day going about 65 mph, in the middle lane. There is no traffic ahead of me or behind me. Cars are entering from the right lane. The first car that enters is going slow. The car behind him is a ginormous pickup truck. The truck is impatient. Without looking, signaling or making any effort he swerves into my lane - directly into the spot where my car is occupying.
I have no time to think, I just swerve my car into the far left lane. If I hadn’t, he would have been in my car. Thank goodness no one was in the left lane!
I lay on my horn and then, because I was so annoyed, I did something I never, ever do. I gave him the finger. I seriously haven’t given another driver the finger for like 15 years. But dude, you nearly killed me!
And worst of all? I have a really bright blue car. HOW COULD YOU NOT SEE ME? Are you freakin blind???
After being on dialysis for three months, you can apply to receive Medicare Part A and B. It’s an automatic approval, which would be nice as this is financially hurting me horribly.
Now, only, if I could just apply.
Can’t enroll online, as I’m too young and still working.
Called two weeks ago to set up an appointment to apply. I could either go in office, first opening December 28th. OR someone could call me to set up an appointment for a phone application. Decided to go the second route. I’m still waiting to be called back.
Today in the mail I received a lovely letter informing me just HOW much easier and faster it is to apply online.
I would LOVE to apply online instead of waiting and waiting and waiting. Again, you won’t let me.
The most mild of grumps, but I feel like expressing a WTF.
Was out at the local nature preserve yesterday with my camera and long lens. OK, it’s a big lens, because wildlife is rarely considerate enough to land twenty feet away and pose. Naturally, every passerby feels they have to comment on it, and, also naturally, everyone feels that their comment of “wow, that’s a big lens!” is fresh and new.
So I was hanging out at the end of the lake, in a bleak mood (for various reasons, including the fact that between the time I left home and got to the park, the clouds had rolled in and I wasn’t going to get any pictures). Family comes along – little kid screaming and running, so fat chance of my sneaking up on any woodland creatures. Dad strolls up and says “Gosh, that’s a big lens”. “Yep”, I mutter.
Dad walks off and whispers, but not really, “Not much of a talker, is he?”. Apparently, my lack of communicative ability was so amazing to him that he felt he had to mention it again when the rest of his party showed up.
Huh? Why would you get offended if some guy standing by the side of the trail doesn’t engage you in active banter? Some days I’m willing to engage in “Hail, fellow, well met.” Other days, not so much. You don’t know my story. Get over it.
I’ve been walking with earbuds and Raybans, aloof as possible (maybe even aloofer than that even), and had someone get in my face to tell me, “Nice day, huh?!”
'Twas, indeed. 'Twas.
ETA: I have a special “pained smile” I share with those people.
I’m not a parent so I don’t have a duck in this race, but I wholeheartedly support this sentiment.
As an occasional amateur nature photographer and full-time pro introvert, and as someone who deeply values communication and transparency of information, I LOVE this solution!
Add a picture of a camera, to make it clear you’re not hunting, to ward off the problem of people deliberately spoiling your “hunt” thinking they’re saving the cute widdle bunnies.
Actually it’s your job to indicate, and check the lane is empty before you move over into it. No it is not my fault for being in that lane. Last I checked, the lane I was in was not reserved for dickheads. No it is not my fault because I wasn’t wearing hi-vis clothing. If you can’t see anyone unless they are wearing hi-vis then there’s a helluva lot of pedestrians who would like to know, and perhaps you should pull over, hand in your keys and get yourself to an optometrist before you kill anyone.
I wasn’t that angry about it to begin with; shit happens. If you’d just said “sorry mate” I would have been fine with it. But since you started in on the victim blaming, yes, your employer at Otis Elevators is going to hear about you and your attitude.
Our next-door neighbor, whom I’ve described as Mr. Congeniality in previous posts, died Sunday. Sudden-ish, but not shocking nor unexpected. The Mr. and I went to school with Mr. C’s youngest daughter and son-in-law, so we try to maintain a civil relationship, if not overly close - it’s not Laura’s fault that her father is an asshole, you know? (And she knows he was one. And she apologizes, and I keep trying to tell her - understood. not her fault. quit saying that you’re sorry. We choose our own behaviors, not our family’s.) At any rate, there’s some other weirdness, and as a favor to Laura, I offered to keep an eye on her father’s house during the visitation and funeral. So I just checked the on-line obituary. It lists Mr. C’s age as 83, and his military service in Korea and World War II. Doing the math… ??? I had no idea that the US accepted enlistments from soldiers who turned 13 a month after the war ended - were we that desperate?
Yeeeeah, it’s similar in Europe only we’re currently getting technologies 3 (touch-it cards) and 4 (cellphone payments), and the immense majority of the old machines are dual-function swipe or chip. I’ve run into machines in France which only accepted chips, but eventually they realized those were a problem for international travelers.
Hey, maybe you guys are getting our refurbished hand-me-downs
I deal with the same issue. To have fun I dress like a professional photographer and go to the local tennis tournament. Everyone thinks I’m a real photog and ask me questions. I make up answers on the spot. I once had a Belgian reporter ask me to come with him to an interview with Kim Clijsters. I didn’t go since I didn’t actually have the credentials to get into a secure area.
You know, you’d think that wouldn’t be necessary, what with the huge lens and the theoretically common knowledge that wild critters are shy and scare easily. I guess I could wear camo, but, ironically, that makes me feel conspicuous and somewhat of a poseur.
And really, I’m resigned to people tromping by while I’m taking pictures. It’s a public park and we photographers are not rare snowflakes on a sacred mission. And sometimes you can show people a cool bird or critter.
Got back from vacation this past weekend to find out one of my best friends is moving halfway across the country next week.
It’s going to a great opportunity for him. For the past 5 years, he’s either worked in his field for sketchy companies, or worked in fields unrelated to his experience / education, so that he can make ends meet. I just hate that I won’t see him much anymore. (I have family near where he’s moving, so I can always use that as justification to visit)
What really has me conflicted is that he doesn’t want many people to know, including my roommate. They used to be really close, but the roommate is one of those who has to be in a relationship at all times, regardless of how toxic it is. Nobody really likes who my roommate is currently dating, and the roommate’s insistence on spending all his time with the significant other has driven a wedge between all of his friends and him. (There’s a lot more to it than I’m detailing.)
I know that when my best friend leaves, the roommate is going to be really upset, and wonder why nobody told him. I completely understand the desire to keep it quiet - he wants everyone just to act like it’s any other week, so as not to make a big deal out of it. I plan on respecting my best friend’s wishes, but think that, once Thanksgiving passes and the roommate realizes what happened, it’s going to make for an awkward few weeks.
Probably not. Of the friends / social group, four of us know. I wouldn’t want to lie about it, because I’m sure the truth would come out one way or another. I’m just going to say that I was respecting the best friend’s wishes, which is the right thing to do. It’s not my place to interfere, even if I thought that the roommate *should *know.
The whole thing just happened so suddenly. I guess the company had done all their due diligence on the best friend before reaching out to him for the interview process. He said that in 24 hours, he had two phone interviews and one Skype interview. He was offered the job shortly thereafter, and once he leaves to be with his family for Thanksgiving, he’s not coming back, instead relocating immediately after the holiday.
Sad thing is, it’s really a self-perpetuating cycle. Roommate pushes people away to spend time with the significant other of the month; friends start to exclude roommate from activities; roommate doesn’t have any other options so he continues to spend time with the significant other. Knowing that this cycle basically prevented him from being able “in the loop” about the departure is going to either be a wake-up call, or push him deeper into his co-dependence. My money is on the latter.
I am wondering, not for the first time but for the tenth or twelfth, if it’s time for me to hang up my riding boots and give up on dressage. How do you know when to call it quits at doing something you love but aren’t especially good it (because of my health and physical limitations) and which costs a fortune? If I had more money, I’d keep riding just for the hell of it. But I haven’t got a single cent in savings because all my discretionary income goes to keeping the horse and me in training. It’s crazy and the cost-benefit isn’t penciling out anymore. I hate being faced with this decision. The fact that I keep returning to this place, the place of awareness of diminishing returns, tells me this is a real problem that I need to address, not turn away from as in past years because the thought of not riding dressage, not seeing my friends every week at the barn, not going to horse shows, makes curl up in ball and cry.
BEEN THERE. Actually, I am there. I know your pain very well. Unless I move, it’s impossible to keep horses in a responsible manner in the Seattle area unless one has a lot of discretionary income. We don’t. So after 35 years, I no longer have horses. I still have five saddles, a couple harnesses and a garageful of tack “just in case”. Let me know if you need any 76-78 sheets/blankets because I have about 15 of them. :rolleyes:
I offer some stream-of-consciousness thoughts:
Is there someone you’d trust to half-lease your horse? Could you sell yours and half-lease someone else’s? If you love the horses and love riding (it doesn’t matter if you’re getting better or not, it’s the enjoyment that counts) I really don’t recommend quitting cold turkey. It’s a complete lifestyle change. I had no idea how much of my life and identity came from having horses. Try to figure out some way to stay involved. Maybe full-lease your horse to someone for a few months to see how you would do without it all? Are you good enough to take your horse out of training and maintain him yourself? There are so many good books and videos. You’d probably have to lower your standards as to what you accomplish, but it’s a thought. There’s the time committment, I know. I was finding that as long as they got worked reasonably hard three times a week and free-longed or longed hard two days we were all fairly happy.
Dressage is pretty expensive. What about a change in disciplines? I used to show A circuit Saddlebred shows until I got disgusted by a lot of the things that went on. I moved to an all-discipline barn and took lessons in hunt seat and western. I started going to B shows and had a BLAST. Much more fun than I ever had at A shows, and for a lot less money.
and half-lease someone else’s? If you love the horses and love riding (it doesn’t matter if you’re getting better or not, it’s the enjoyment that counts) I really don’t recommend quitting cold turkey. It’s a complete lifestyle change. I had no idea how much of my life and identity came from having horses. Try to figure out some way to stay involved. Maybe full-lease your horse to someone for a few months to see how you would do without it all? Are you good enough to take your horse out of training and maintain him yourself? There are so many good books and videos. You’d probably have to lower your standards as to what you accomplish, but it’s a thought. There’s the time committment, I know. I was finding that as long as they got worked reasonably hard three times a week and free-longed or longed hard two days we were all fairly happy.