Amazon is hiring, but 200-250 deliveries a shift?

[gfretwell]

That is how union and government jobs work. You just get in line and chug along.

[gfretwell]

One of my buddies worked for USDA (actually several) but this guy said it was real hard getting any kind of forest ranger job because old farts with office jobs, ready to retire, would fire off a 171 and even be willing to take a grade pop for the chance to move to Montana or Wyoming and get settled into their retirement home. They generally had far more seniority than any local applicant and Civil Service rules made it hard to pass them over.

[gfretwell]

I know the PLU number for most of the things I buy. That speeds up the checkout a bit. Usually they make it pretty easy to find what you are looking for at the self check. It is easier than what the cashier has to do.

[gfretwell]

Russett Potato 4072 ;-)

[gfretwell]

Sams club didn't take credit cards for years. They had an ATM there.

I worked fast food point of sale in Florida for quite a while. It is a real disaster in most stores when the registers are down. You have kids using calculators to make change. They are real happy in other stores that they did hire some old geezers who know how to count change.

It is really simple. You start with the purchase price and add the change to get up to the tendered bill. You gave me a 20. you bought something for $3.98 Two cents is $4 One dollar is $5 A five and a ten make $20 Thank you for shopping at Beach Bud's.

We owned a store for a while.

[Ed Pawlowski]

Our store has a phone app now and I use it. Just scan the QR code on the screen and it takes the money and give me an electronic receipt. Easy to use and takes it against my debit card.

Money is only one issue. When I was in CT I complained to the store manager. They paid a little better than most places and had some long time employees. She said they just can't get people. This was years before the pandemic.

[Scott Lurndal]

Only in your sick mind.

[Ralph Mowery]

Can not say that is the name of it, but sure looks like it.

I wash them with a Scotchbright pad, poke a few holes in them with a fork and pop 2 of them in the microwave and hit the potato button and it cooks. I am thinking it takes about 12 minuites for 2 of them with the MW I used to have before it quit on me.

The sell some that are suppose to be clean and wrapped in plastic but they cost a lot more. I don't think you poke holes in those.

[Ralph Mowery]

That is the way I recall doing the money before computers.

Some places even have a hopper that the coins come out,so all the people have to do is handle the paper money.

[Ralph Mowery]

Sounds about like what happened to my wife. A store she shopped at the cashiers were almost throwing the food down to the person doing the bagging. She complained to the store manager and he said that they are lucky to have those cashiers and did have some that were not very good. She started going to another store.

[micky]

LOL. Supermarkets get loads of cash from people like me, and when deliveries come, they very often pay them off with cash.

I've heard of that.

See, that' another thing that cashiers have to know. I also see them sort the money so it's all got the picture facing the same way, and they have to remember to put extra 20's under the drawer or some place, and their count has to be right when the head cashier collects the cash or they check out at the end of their shift, or they have to pay the missing money.

[micky]

I love watching the money run down the chute. It's shorter but almost as good as going to the amusement park.

[micky]

But why is it worse at Walmart than any place else?. (Well, I hardly went shopping anywhere even before Corona, but to the extent I did, Walmart was the worst by far. And I've read the same elsewhere. Home Depot, Target, various supermarkets were all better than walmart.

OTOH, my friend has a home security company, only 4 or 6 employees and when there's a vacancy, installer or clerical, he has problems getting anyone new. They don't even show up for their interview appointment. And he pays a decent wage plus vacation days, sick days, health insurance.

[Ralph Mowery]

You should be using credit cards that give cash back. I get 1 1/2 percent back with the card I usually use. That is over $ 120 a year back from there for the weekly grocery shopping.

I have not checked it out, but should. Walmart advertises something back if you use their card.

[rbowman]

The markets here typically have russets, round whites like Yukon Gold, round reds like Red Norland, and purple like Purple Viking. The russets are the cheapest, typically half the price of the others.

Clerks also have problems differentiating yams from sweet potatoes.

Winter squashes are another.My favorite is the buttercup, not to be confused with the butternut although it's also good. Maybe it's just my luck but acorns seem to be dry and tasteless lately.

Kuri kabocha, which are derived from buttercup, are replacing buttercups. I don't know if they're easier to grow or what prompted the switch. They're often quite good. Turbans are another C. maxima cultivar, I've found their quality to be variable.

Checkout clerks often get a break when all the squash cultivars are in the same bit at the same price.

Then there are the peppers. I usually get jalapenos but there are many varieties, some of which are quite expensive.

[rbowman]

Russets bake and mash well but I prefer Yukon Gold for soups and stews.

[gfretwell]

I might heat a potato up in the microwave but I still put them in the oven or toaster oven a little while to crisp up the skin and get the inside cooked a little more evenly. Microwaved potatoes are not the same as oven cooked potatoes. It is like those people who say an air fried french fry is just like ones you fry in oil.

[rbowman]

You have to be careful. Idaho is very picky about the origin of potatoes.

It's a good thing Idaho is a long way from Maine or there would be serious border skirmishes.

[gfretwell]

They also have the delusion that things will be affordable. If you are going to Walmart you are shopping price. Sam called that "Market Driven Quality" In the 90s IBM picked up that motto. I left.

[rbowman]

I was in Lowe's close to the start of the covid circus and their credit link was down. The line was long and grumbling. When an employee came down the line to explain the problem I waved two Jacksons at her an she immediately directed me to the cash only kiosk.

One day in Alberson's all my items had been scanned, the total had flashed up on the screen, and all the computers in the store locked up. Even though I had cash in hand the clerk couldn't complete the sale. It took about 10 minutes for the POS terminals to reboot and come back on line, right before I was going to abandon my stuff.

Must have been Windows XP....