Well, I was probably TOO helpful today

We taught someone how to use the eraser on a chalkboard.

*

… yep … all of our mistakes got erased thus longevity.

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We had a late shipment today(it was supposed to go yesterday)! First is nearly 13 years!! DESPITE ILLNESS(my own and others), FAMILY EMERGENCIES…our part of AZ doesn’t have weather emergencies except wildfires and we haven’t had one-of-those either, thank GOD.

Shipped a book that was supposed to go Tuesday, instead of this title.

Hell, not certain how it happened. Completely my fault. Now that our ship-by dates are all over the place, we have stacks of orders for several days future labeling. So the husband re-wraps it PM(it’s going to LA-usual about a 2-day MM delivery from Tucson), rushes off to the MAIN HUB which is about an hour away, where it might get scanned in before midnight via the KIOSK.

I sent the buyer a note-though my helpful husband said DON’T. What do ya’ll think? I could have made a up a family emergency tale but decided to be honest(we’re just stupid, sorry or words to that effect.) Not gonna make any difference re our metrics… unless buyer gives us a neg. FB.

He was nice enough to send a message, thanking us for “making it right.”

Are we too old for this?

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I turned 77 a few months ago. As far as I am concerned, age is an ATTITUDE and believe me, I have enough attitude to go around. You can ask some of my fans on the the New NOT improved Forum about that.

When I either run out of inventory (which means I have to quit buying at some point) or my body just gives out I will think about stopping.

My problem is that everyone that I have ever seen actually RETIRE has ended up dying sooner than you would think they would.

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While we were OOT for 3 weeks roaming the country due to several actual family emergencies, or visiting those who aren’t long for this earth(we know more folks in their late 80/90’s than 70’s, our own age),

I rode our poor daughter ceaselessly re: shipping on time. She works nights in the medical field, so often would have to scan-in orders at the kiosk in the middle of the night.

When I admitted had done this stupid thing, she burst out laughing and didn’t harangue me. As I age, am more appreciative of our descendants-who turned out well, all things considered, and have a strong sense of humor, particularly about their aging parents, thank goodness.

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The kids call it, “Adulting,” and a lot of them are not very good at it. My son (34) still doesn’t know how to write a check unless closely supervised, and his handwriting is unreadable. He claims not to understand how medical insurance works. I finally got him to do his own taxes last year since he acquired a couple of brokerage accounts. Cooking, cleaning, and laundry are OK since he lived in a shared apartment for the last 3 years at uni.

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Does anyone actually understand how medical insurance works???

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Guess this belongs HERE…
So…
I started a new store on Ebay and to bulk up on feedback, purchased 30 random $1 with free shipping items. (decals, stickers, quarters…). No way can you make a profit selling anything for $1 with free shipping, even as letter. You’d think this is understood. By ANYONE. Even a 12 year old should grasp this yes?

I just got a message from one of the sellers (a quarter) with over 400 seller ratings!

Seller:
I had to share this with you. Ebay in all their splendor actually charged me .20 on this transaction I made Zero on this. So I ended the listing yours is sent. Check out the pic I added I can only laugh and how can they tax you on money??? Isn’t that illegal??,? Let me know your thoughts

He follows up with this one:

People wonder why im leaving ebay… wtf!

So I educated him:
there is a 30 cent charge on EVERY order plus the standard percentage fee that comes off item price AND shipping. The sales tax I paidn not you, it just shows for you as received and taken back out…usually people that sell $1 items do it for feedback, not profit…
furthermore, a quarter is only 0.2 ounces (69 cents postage), you must have purchased 2 ounce letter postage as you paid 97 cents;
In total you’d have made 8 cents…if you didn’t have to pay for ink, envelope and a trip to the post office. (and a quarter…)

Seller’s completely ignorant reply:
All I know is that I feel that ebay has screwed me and for rhe last time. I’d have to raise my prices to cover what I’ll lose then no one will buy

I am just shaking my head.It’s worse than what I read on the Amazon forum

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We can understand how medical insurance works (the numbers are within the policy). What we don’t understand is how the hospitals come up with their charges based upon whether or not you have insurance, cash price, insurance price, what type of insurance coverage you have, medicare and/or medicaid. Never met anyone working in a hospital who could even give a ball park cost on a procedure.

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One of the ones getting me is that my insurance requires that it be at least 365 days between my (free) annual checkups. So by the time you work it into the doctor’s schedule, it might be closer to 13-14 months between.

Doesn’t sound like a big deal, except now it’s starting to get close to the end of year (maybe I can’t even have one in 2025?) which is when I’m busy, plus I have meds that need to be renewed every year, so when I can’t get scheduled, the doctor has to end up writing an extension on the refills to get me to my appointment date. PITA.

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Oh how we agree with this one. Our doctor was out at the beginning of the year having a baby. Our last annual was in Nov 2023. Wasn’t able to see the doctor until July 2024. At that time she set up an annual but was not available anytime in Nov or Dec 2024 so it was pushed to the end of Jan 2025 … 14 months (so no annual in 2024). If it is annual, we consider it 13 months at least.

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Don’t ever ask a doc or a nurse about the cost of anything. They don’t know and they don’t care.

Go to your hospital’s website and download their spreadsheet with all of their prices if you want to take a deep dive into this issue.

My hospital is NYU-Home Depot, and I down loaded their price spreadsheet a few years ago.
It was astonishing.

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This kind of amazing long time to arrange appointments with almost ANY doc in NYC has become the norm.

I forgot to arrange my next appointment with one of my specialists at NYU before leaving the office, and thought I could just do it online when I got home.

My doc was booked solid for most of the next 6 months, all in 20 minute intervals!

I love him and we connect, but he is being worked like a dog!

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A lot of them don’t know how to write checks or tell time on an analog clock, either. It’s really not their fault and not society’s fault. It’s that time has marched on and those things are going by the wayside. It is very rare to write checks anymore. Banks don’t give them out with each new checking account. There are not many analog clocks around. No one writes letters. Even though they learned many of these skills in school (I was there when they were taught how to read a clock, and my kids say they learned how to address an envelope), they don’t ever practice it and they forget.

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This is why I like Kaiser. Even if my doctor is busy, I will be able to get in to see a doctor any time I need it.

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Nisha and I live on the east coast, far from Kaiser or similar providers. You are fortunate to have access to Kaiser, although I have heard a few complaints from their patients. Sounds like a good system.

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Kaiser is either love it or hate it. I love it.

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I loved it when we lived in Colorado many years ago when our children were young. .

A friend has it now and all she does is gripe about it (though don’t understand why, if so awful, she doesn’t get another provider). Like many insurances, have to learn how to work the system so it works best for your individual situation…

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My brother-in-law is a clock and watch repairman. He trained in Switzerland and has been repairing clocks and watches for about 40 years. He has his own shop and has enough work to keep busy. He mostly receives watches for repair from jewelers and other similar stores.

He receives inquiries from people asking if he can get grandma’s antique clock running again. Old clocks are numerous, there were many brands and parts are hard to find. Many times the cost of restoring an antique clock exceeds what the owner is willing to pay. There are many hours of work involved and parts may not be available.

Not long ago, he restored a 200 year-old grandfather clock. The owner was likely someone who could afford to pay to have a rare antique restored. But those type customers are few and far between.

There are still analog clocks around and there are still collectors and other people who love them. But sadly those numbers are dwindling.

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I have what I believe is called a “400 day clock”, where it uses a torsion pendulum (is it still called a “pendulum”??) instead of one that swings by gravity. Really pretty, but doesn’t work after moving it from my dad’s house. Nice brass, with a glass dome over it. I’ve thought about getting it repaired, but I don’t even know where I would put it, so haven’t bothered.
Such is the life of living with cats (I’ve even had to put my Lava Lamp into a safe place…)

But we do have a battery powered analog clock in the kitchen; sadly, it gains about 3-4 minutes/week. Where I really miss having analog is in the car; I can read the analog in a split second; digital doesn’t take much longer, but you do actually have to look; and if it’s (for example) 10:41, you have to double check to make sure that you’re not seeing the radio station of 104.1, since the clock is also the radio (and yes, I’ve fallen for this trap before, when I didn’t double check)

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These clocks are also known as anniversary clocks and there are helpful hints on the internet as to how to repair them yourself which involves cleaning the gears, etc. I have a similar clock.

Marilyn

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