Musings on Random Musings

[BlueCloud2k2]

Some things in life are bad they can really make you mad
Other things just make you swear and curse
When you're chewin' on life's gristle, don't grumble give a whistle
And this'll help things turn out for the best

And always look on the bright side of life
Always look on the light side of life

If life seems jolly rotten there's something you've forgotten
And that's to laugh and smile and dance and sing
When you're feeling in the dumps don't be silly chumps
Just purse your lips and whistle, that's the thing

And always look on the bright side of life
Come on, always look on the bright side of life

For life is quite absurd and death's the final word
You must always face the curtain with a bow
Forget about your sin, give the audience a grin
Enjoy it it's your last chance anyhow

So always look on the bright side of death
Just before you draw your terminal breath

Life's a piece of POOP when you look at it
Life's a laugh and death's a joke it's true
You'll see it's all a show keep 'em laughing as you go
Just remember that the last laugh is on you

And always look on the bright side of life
Always look on the right side of life
Come on Brian, cheer up

Always look on the bright side of life
Always look on the bright side of life
Worse things happen at sea you know

Always look on the bright side of life
Always look on the bright side of life
Always look on the bright side of life

 

EDIT: Had to edit out s*** with POOP

[lemming]

I've had our taxes done by professionals when it was more complicated, though wound up getting semi-audited by the IRS one year and they wound up rechecking some back years as well.  My mistake got more than compensated by the mistake the professional made.  (Wound up getting a couple hundred bucks back)

 

Since then, only used a professional one more time when we moved and had bankruptcy all in one year.  Though I did double check.

[lemming]

Cancer, on 14 Apr 2014 - 09:02 AM, said:

    Total lunar eclipse tonight, good for most of the Americas and the Pacific Basin ... not much for Europe or Asia. Weather permitting at your location, of course.

------

I plan on staying up tonight. Should be clear here.

[Cancer]

It had been clear in the afternoon here yesterday, but the forecast was for it to cloud up by the time of totality. And the forecast proved correct

[tkdguy]

It had been clear in the afternoon here yesterday, but the forecast was for it to cloud up by the time of totality. And the forecast proved correct

 

Same here. Hopefully viewing conditions will be better next time.

[L. Marcus]

Hah! You got to see the eclipse as much as I did!

[Old Man]

Was your eclipse eclipsed?

[Bazza]

Was your eclipse eclipsed?

for the most part yes, as it was still below the horizon.

[Old Man]

That's what N-ray vision is for.

[L. Marcus]

The radiation hazard of that isn't well-known.

[Cancer]

Actually, it is rather well known.

[Old Man]

Oh?  What is it then?

[BlueCloud2k2]

Isn't N-Ray vision a passive sense?

[Cancer]

No, it is quite active.

[L. Marcus]

You can boil water with a glance! Very handy if you're dying for a cuppa.

[Bazza]

That's what N-ray vision is for.

My character has it, but not me.

[Cancer]

That's OK. Only one person seems ever to have had it, and his results weren't replicable.

[BlueCloud2k2]

Lawnmower Boy Posted Today, 03:37 PM

 

 

Dear Customer:

 

 

 

Do you have chronic understaffing at your work place? Are you short of help and unable to get the most basic things done while on the clock? Have you never noticed these things elsewhere. If so, I certainly appreciate where you're coming from. (Mars.)

 

 

 

If you have noticed these things, I have some questions for you:

 

 

 

i) If there are lineups at every checkstand a mile deep, why do you think that standing in front of the "closed" sign at Customer Service is going to improve things? Do you think that there's someone hiding behind there who will jump out and congratulate you for figuring out the secret way around the lineups? (Although you might just want any one of a million things that our inexperienced cashiers can't do, and I am trying to be understanding here. If I am not as patient as I might be, just imagine that I have been called away from putting the milk and meat orders away in the coolers to do this for you. Because I have.)

 

 

 

ii) I presume that you will have noticed that there are no bakeries/flower shops open at this time of the night. Your local supermarket has flowers and cakes! So far, so good. But, and this might be a bit of a logical leap here, if your local flower shop is closed because it can't provide proper service at this hour, do you think it likely that your supermarket will have someone available who can "wrap this up very nicely, like you would present to a performer after she comes off stage?" It's not that I don't appreciate your needs, and am not willing to at least try. It's that I have three new merchandising ends to build tonight, and the only question is how late I have to stay to get it done.

 

 

 

iii) Presuming that you haven't thought the above through, have you considered revisiting your assumptions before you wade through the lineups to get to a cashier to demand your special wrap job? Because it would not be completely unreasonable to have this hypothetical special-flower-wrapping person trained as a cashier, so that they could be on the tills, as opposed to being free to do an ultra deluxe flower wrap for you.

 

iv) I appreciate your coming to tell me that your cashier is slow and incompetent. Have you considered the possibility that we would not have hired a 55 year old with who can barely speak English with crazy-person-ticks if we could have found someone better? There are many excellent sources of information about public policy issues that might help you understand why we couldn't find someone better, and those same sources will help you direct your energies and attention in productive ways, such as writing your MP. I suggest that hectoring the night manager is not one of those productive ways.

 

 

 

v) Speaking of fighting your way through the lineups to bring your very important concern to someone's attention, but if that said person has to be paged out of the depths of the store, and emerges sweaty and holding a box cutter, perhaps there exists some benefit-maximisation-algorithm that you can run that would suggest that this is not the best way of proceeding with complaints about out of stocks. I mean, certainly if the item is not on the shelf, go for it. If the item you found is a 12 pack of toilet paper, and is not completely to your satisfaction because there's a little tear on the bottom of the packaging? Now, we are wandering into the territory of the somewhat unreasonable.

 

 

 

vi) I understand that the bakery department loses almost 20 cents an item when gourmet donuts are confused with regular donuts, and I would be the first to concede that putting self-serve boxes out for customers to use is going to result in those mistakes as well as general wastage. Still, consider the possibility that customers will respond to this not by shrugging their shoulders and deciding that they really didn't want to box up some donuts (which, again, I'm not seeing as a business optimisation strategy, but never mind) but, instead, calling for customer service. This will result in their getting boxes (probably more expensive ones) and a lot of time being wasted. Are we really going to save that much money?

 

 

 

vii) It would certainly be deplorable if people were to use rainchecks stashed at the tills for illegitimate purposes. I can certainly see how storing them at customer service might slightly reduce such abuse and lead to savings at the margin. But it is worth considering the possibility that either the night manager will have to waste a lot of time handing them out, or that people will go without, and be disgruntled, instead, and never shop at the store again. Have we really thought the business case through satisfactorily?

 

 

 

viii) Dear The Street: I understand that you set profit expectations in service to the shareholder. I understand that this is how capitalism works, etc, etc. But, and here you're going to have to follow along with me on a huge logical leap, what if there is a correlation between hours cuts and low sanitation score results? Oh, I know, it's far more likely that it's just laziness that leads to dirt and cross-contamination, and that you can just keep on cutting labour targets forever, knowing that if you tell the frontline staff that cleanliness is a priority, that it will be done. (Unless they're lazy.) But what if there is a correlation? I know, I know, I'm repeating myself. It's to get your attention, because this crazy hypothetical actually has some consequences that might be important to you.

 

 

 

You see, if this crazy theory is true, cutting hours to meet financial targets might lead to your food being poisonous. Just a thought.

 

 

 

ix) Somewhere, someone in the ranks of middle management is typing an email right now that says that "Your request for additional decorating/meat-wrapping/food-service/relief-management" help could not be filled.

 

 

 

We understand. Sometimes, there is no-one to do the work, either at the store or in the chain, and the consequences will be felt through the chain. Classically, one solution to this problem, to talk like an economist, is "raising the bid for the item to its clearing price." That is, if you offer to buy something, and no-one offers to sell it, you increase your offering bid. Now, imagine that "labour" is a "thing," and that its "price" is "wages." What we are seeing here is that the store is offering to "buy" "labour" with an "offer." That is, with a "wage." And no-one is offering a supply of "labour" at that "wage."

 

 

 

What I am saying here is that classical economics offers a solution to this problem.

 

 

You work for Walmart, don't you? My wife feels your pain.

 

EDIT: She works the overnight shift.

[death tribble]

 

It has just now occurred to me that the difference between Disney and Pixar films is that (generally speaking) the Disney Characters sing songs. Pixar characters don't sing. My mind is blown that I just now realized this after how many years?

 

You are overthinking this. I think you should just Let it Go ! Let it Go !

[BlueCloud2k2]

I'm assuming that was a brief homage to Let it Grow from The Lorax?

[death tribble]

No, I am more upto date. It was from Frozen.

[BlueCloud2k2]

Haven't seen it yet, but it's on my list.

[BlueCloud2k2]

Oldman Posted Today, 08:17 PM

 

Anyone else here playing Hearthstone?

 

 

Yes, yes I am. And I have no idea how to add people to my battle.net friends list.

[Enforcer84]

I am as well, but not terribly often

[Logan D. Hurricanes]

Does it make me a bad person that I want to scream at my boss and quit because she can't manage her business in a way that doesn't make my life a living hell or does it make me a good person for putting up with her shit and biding my time?

 

Hrm....

 

Bad? No. Miserable? Probably.