Random randomness

[Holman]

I know. Just funnin'.

[Blackhawk]

Coworkers discovered they can lock other coworkers' phones by entering the wrong password in three times in a row.


*sigh*

???

Do you work at the toddler factory?

He does. We call it 'Earth.'

[LawBeefaroni]

"It's surprising and very delightful that people like dick on things," she told the Post. Who would have thought?

[Isgrimnur]

Always check the return policies.

Last weekend, my wife and I bought me a couple pair of sunglasses from a Sunny Shades kiosk in the mall. After 6 days, one of them literally fell apart, the screw mount holding the lens came lose.

When attempting to get them to address the situation, I was advised that their policy was no refunds ever, and no exchanges if you've so much as taken it out of the package.

Congratulations. You've just made that I never do business with you again. And apparently state law in Texas gives me no recourse, even for a defective product, because their policy was posted, no matter how draconian.

[Unagi]

No implied warranty of merchantability in Texas then?

[Isgrimnur]

I don't have the legalese knowledge to parse it.

[Unagi]

Sec. 2.315. IMPLIED WARRANTY: FITNESS FOR PARTICULAR PURPOSE. Where the seller at the time of contracting has reason to know any particular purpose for which the goods are required and that the buyer is relying on the seller's skill or judgment to select or furnish suitable goods, there is unless excluded or modified under the next section an implied warranty that the goods shall be fit for such purpose.


Acts 1967, 60th Leg., p. 2343, ch. 785, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1967.

Back in highschool, our consumer ed teacher made a big deal about this law. About how his wife bought a 'no returns' purse, and the strap broke.... The store insisted there were no returns, but the implied warranty law basically protected him, since when you buy a purse with a strap, you expect to be getting a purse which you can use with a strap. (like your glasses, with the parts attached). Now, a store can sell you a broken purse 'as is', but that's not what you were sold, nor was his wife.

[Isgrimnur]

And yet there is no indication of how long that fitness has to hold.

Regardless, our total exposure across both pairs was $25. The effort required to force them to comply is well and truly not worth the time or stress it would cause me. I don't like that it's the case, but...

[Unagi]

Oh just go give them hell, and show them that law and tell them you are a lawyer...
In any case, I do think your state law gives you recourse.

[LawBeefaroni]

Always check the return policies.

Last weekend, my wife and I bought me a couple pair of sunglasses from a Sunny Shades kiosk in the mall. After 6 days, one of them literally fell apart, the screw mount holding the lens came lose.

When attempting to get them to address the situation, I was advised that their policy was no refunds ever, and no exchanges if you've so much as taken it out of the package.

Congratulations. You've just made that I never do business with you again. And apparently state law in Texas gives me no recourse, even for a defective product, because their policy was posted, no matter how draconian.

Never buy stuff at a kiosk. If there's a named manufacturer, send the pair to them. Otherwise junk them and that's that.

FWIW, I have a few pairs of these in silver mirror. They're great to stick in the range bag and the glove box. And I have these for everyday use.

[Rip]

But (seriously instead of joking) isn't afterburner "afterburner" because it involves dumping fuel into the engine burn?

Afterburning involves involves injecting fuel into the the jetpipe downstream of the turbine.

Looks like this.



Whereas dumping and burning looks like this.

[dbt1949]

That last pic looks like an assblaster from Tremors.

[Daehawk]

Never thought of dumping fuel as a way to save weight for landing. I always thought it was done to prevent a fire or explosion upon crash.

[Kraken]

And yet there is no indication of how long that fitness has to hold.

Regardless, our total exposure across both pairs was $25. The effort required to force them to comply is well and truly not worth the time or stress it would cause me. I don't like that it's the case, but...

That's why their policy works for them. Plus a mall kiosk does not expect repeat business.

When you have an unhappy buyer, you can either go for the one-time sale or try to convert the buyer to a customer. I always lean toward the latter approach -- if I can buy your goodwill for $25, that's a win for me, because you might come back and tell other people about your experience. But stores that rely on impulsive foot traffic just want to take your money once.

My published return policy is strict to head off people who abuse returns -- and yeah, they're a thing. But I only invoke it when I know that someone is trying to screw me.

[Kasey Chang]

Some random comments, in no particular order:

1) I stopped buying sunglasses after I realized I need prescription for distance vision. I just order a nice tint off Zinni or whatever. I got one with a beautiful golden mirror finish, dark blue tint, and my prescription for about $60. Could have saved more if I skipped the golden mirror finish. I was so happy, I ordered a second pair, this time with photochromatic (autochanging tint) lens, also ended up being about $60.

This means I have four pairs of sunglasses sitting around my house doing nothing. *sigh* Three from drugstore, one from Woot.com, which I kept as it's also technically a safety glasses. Oh, AND clip-on shades. Got those too. *sigh*

2) Dump and burn, as show for F-111's, is often done at airshows, because it looks f***ing sweet. It was sometimes written up in fiction involving the Aardvark, usually "roasting" an annoying European fighter pilot unfamiliar with the plane and/or insulted the plane/crew. (Ref: Force of Eagles by Richard Herman)

Trivia: F-111 does not have ejection seats. It has a crew escape capsule instead... explosive bolts separate the capsule from the fuselage... Watertight, floats, and self-righting. However, last F-111 was retired back in 2010 from Aussie Air Force.

[Kasey Chang]

But (seriously instead of joking) isn't afterburner "afterburner" because it involves dumping fuel into the engine burn?

Afterburner adds up to 50% more thrust than full power.

Dump and burn adds no thrust, just that flame plume.

[gilraen]

Apparently the main board in a TV can go bad and cause all HDMI inputs to fail. Didn't know it was a thing.

[Holman]

But (seriously instead of joking) isn't afterburner "afterburner" because it involves dumping fuel into the engine burn?

Afterburner adds up to 50% more thrust than full power.

Dump and burn adds no thrust, just that flame plume.

I wasn't seriously challenging the list of pilot Don'ts. I was attempting a sort of pun.

[Default]

When my kid started his job, he signed up for 5k shares of stock at $3.60. Company got bought, and all the stock is being bought back. At $11.40 a share.

Cha-ching! As of next paycheck, he will be able to pay off his student and car loan and be completely debt free.

[RunningMn9]

When my kid started his job, he signed up for 5k shares of stock at $3.60. Company got bought, and all the stock is being bought back. At $11.40 a share.

Cha-ching! As of next paycheck, he will be able to pay off his student and car loan and be completely debt free.

Make sure he saves more than enough to pay the tax man! Windfalls like that are great, but they typically have unforeseen consequences as tax brackets get shifted around. I learned that the hard way.

Also, tell him to not invest the remaining proceeds in something called "The Internet Fund" in late 1999.

[LawBeefaroni]

When my kid started his job, he signed up for 5k shares of stock at $3.60. Company got bought, and all the stock is being bought back. At $11.40 a share.

Cha-ching! As of next paycheck, he will be able to pay off his student and car loan and be completely debt free.

Make sure he saves more than enough to pay the tax man! Windfalls like that are great, but they typically have unforeseen consequences as tax brackets get shifted around. I learned that the hard way.

And wait until the money is in the bank. Sounds like options so he'll still have to buy them at $3.6.

Very nice though, congrats to him.

[Default]

When my kid started his job, he signed up for 5k shares of stock at $3.60. Company got bought, and all the stock is being bought back. At $11.40 a share.

Cha-ching! As of next paycheck, he will be able to pay off his student and car loan and be completely debt free.

Make sure he saves more than enough to pay the tax man! Windfalls like that are great, but they typically have unforeseen consequences as tax brackets get shifted around. I learned that the hard way.

And wait until the money is in the bank. Sounds like options so he'll still have to buy them at $3.6.

Very nice though, congrats to him.

According to the paper they gave him at work, he will have 4k held for two years. 33k will be paid out either this check or next. Taxes will be witheld no mention of having to pay 3.6 per share. Not saying that won't happen, just no mention of that. The sample sheet that he was given at work shows a sample account of 34k and a gross payout of 30k.

[dbt1949]

Well, that was interesting. I was trying to make a payment to my Amazon store account but I had forgot my password. They told me to give my cell phone and they would sent me a code. I have no cell phone.
That was the only way the would do it on the internet.
I called the phone number they gave me. The girl there tried to find me from scratch via the internet. She couldn't do it. So she told me I'd have to send them a copy of a photo id of myself. I told her hell no and asked to talk to a supervisor. She said no and that if I called back any other person there would tell me the same thing.
I talked to Amazon customer service center. Not their problem, contact the bank.
I found a different customer service number for the bank. I talked to a person there that basically told me I was s-o-l as far as the password reset goes. So I asked to make a payment over the phone. And I did. Then I asked for my account to be closed and told them it was because of their incompetent service center. They didn't make any comments but did close my account.
And now all I have to say is

[LawBeefaroni]

Well, that was interesting. I was trying to make a payment to my Amazon store account but I had forgot my password. They told me to give my cell phone and they would sent me a code. I have no cell phone.
That was the only way the would do it on the internet.
I called the phone number they gave me. The girl there tried to find me from scratch via the internet. She couldn't do it. So she told me I'd have to send them a copy of a photo id of myself. I told her hell no and asked to talk to a supervisor. She said no and that if I called back any other person there would tell me the same thing.
I talked to Amazon customer service center. Not their problem, contact the bank.
I found a different customer service number for the bank. I talked to a person there that basically told me I was s-o-l as far as the password reset goes. So I asked to make a payment over the phone. And I did. Then I asked for my account to be closed and told them it was because of their incompetent service center. They didn't make any comments but did close my account.
And now all I have to say is

I just got hit with a late payment fee on mine. Problem is I paid my balance in full, as always, before the payment due date. They can't explain why I have the fee but won't remove it either. Synchrony Bank is terrible. I think after I managed to jump through all their hoops to pay online, they still won't admit defeat and are just charging fees anyway.

[RunningMn9]

According to the paper they gave him at work, he will have 4k held for two years. 33k will be paid out either this check or next. Taxes will be witheld no mention of having to pay 3.6 per share. Not saying that won't happen, just no mention of that. The sample sheet that he was given at work shows a sample account of 34k and a gross payout of 30k.

Depending on the size of the company, they might be set up to handle the whole transaction (buy options on margin, sell stocks and use proceeds to pay margin). At my first company I had to find a broker that would handle that for me. When I worked for Intel, I just pressed a button and money showed up.

Either way, they absolutely will not withhold enough unless you specifically tell them to over withhold.

It's been a while but with stock options it doesn't matter how long you've "held" them since you don't buy them until you sell them. So the proceeds are always treated as direct income (which is why the withholding is wrong since it doesn't account for changing your marginal rate).

However - that doesn't mean that we are actually talking about stock options. If he got actual stocks as a sign on bonus or something, then holding those for two years outs that as long-term capital gains with much lower taxes. In any case, a sudden influx of $30+K should result in checking with a tax professional before doing anything with the money, just to make sure.

I had a windfall like that once (a few thousand options with a strike price of about $5, that I sold for about $32 per share). While it was awesome, despite them withholding taxes, I owed the tax man like an extra $7000 or something.

[LawBeefaroni]

According to the paper they gave him at work, he will have 4k held for two years. 33k will be paid out either this check or next. Taxes will be witheld no mention of having to pay 3.6 per share. Not saying that won't happen, just no mention of that. The sample sheet that he was given at work shows a sample account of 34k and a gross payout of 30k.

$33K sounds a lot like ~4,000 shares at 7.8 ($11.4-$3.6). Whatever the case, he should probably hold off paying off that student loan until he talks to an adviser. No rush on that low interest loan.


Again though, how excellent for him. Very cool.

[Default]

My understanding is that he purchased them through a payroll deduction. It wasn't a signing bonus (he works in shipping/receiving), so I think it would be a capital gains situation.

Definitely seeking tax help next year.

[Kraken]

Jeebus, the grocery store was mobbed this after. I thought it was all because of sportsball parties, but it turns out we're expecting up to a foot of snow tomorrow. Bread & Milk Alert!

[Holman]

Jeebus, the grocery store was mobbed this after. I thought it was all because of sportsball parties, but it turns out we're expecting up to a foot of snow tomorrow. Bread & Milk Alert!

My beer shop was mobbed, but it was just the sportsball.

[gilraen]

So she told me I'd have to send them a copy of a photo id of myself. I told her hell no and asked to talk to a supervisor.

Should've just sent the copy of your ID. Seriously.

[dbt1949]

No. No I shouldn't of had. Seriously.

[Paingod]

So she told me I'd have to send them a copy of a photo id of myself. I told her hell no and asked to talk to a supervisor.

Should've just sent the copy of your ID. Seriously.

Sort of concur - a lot of companies are increasingly protective of your account data. Cell phone texts are an easy automated way for them to verify your identify. It's assumed you'd have your phone with you and that phone can be password protected; if you lose your phone, you cancel the account pretty quick or get a new one. Without proof of who you are, calling from a landline just isn't enough anymore.

It'd be like walking into the bank and asking for a withdrawal, with your only proof of identity being "Don't you know who I am? I'm dbt, bitch!"

[Daehawk]

Can you imagine it getting lost though? Or the asshat that gets it using it for their on purpose? I dont even like paying with a CC over the phone to a human being because..well people.

[Paingod]

Can you imagine it getting lost though? Or the asshat that gets it using it for their on purpose? I dont even like paying with a CC over the phone to a human being because..well people.

Oh, no, I get it.

I get crawlies anytime I have to give personal info to an agent over the phone - I have to assume that they deal with a hundred people a week, are trustworthy, and aren't selling my identity to someone from Russia to use in their next scam.

[Isgrimnur]

At Cingular, we would occasionally have issues. We would note the account with the details and advise them to call 611, which routs direct to the carrier, or look up the main customer service number and call us back to verify. No one would put as much effort and frustration into navigating an IVR like a major corporation.

[Rip]

I always just offer to send them a sperm sample....

[dbt1949]

Bunch of P whipped individuals around here.
All my life I've run across people who told me you have to do this or don't do that or it'll go on your permanent record!
I can just see the FBI taking out my super top secret permanent record file now...........<FBI man>
Look! I see where dbt didn't drink all his milk when he was 5 on Oct 2.....and again just two years ago! Put another mark on his record and put him on the "Active List!" Assign a sniper unit to keep tabs on him.

[Isgrimnur]

Is the paranoia an unmedicated condition or a side effect of something else?

[gilraen]

Can you imagine it getting lost though? Or the asshat that gets it using it for their on purpose? I dont even like paying with a CC over the phone to a human being because..well people.

You've never been a woman that has to change her last name on EVERYTHING after getting married. I lost count of how many places I had to email a copy of my DL and marriage certificate: mortgage company, cell phone/internet/TV providers, Amazon, PayPal, every hotel, cruise line and airline loyalty reward program I belong to. Plus other places that have my name that one doesn't normally think about, like Blizzard for my battle.net account (good thing I did since I had to send my DL again a few months ago when I lost my authenticator).

[Jaymann]

Can you imagine it getting lost though? Or the asshat that gets it using it for their on purpose? I dont even like paying with a CC over the phone to a human being because..well people.

You've never been a woman that has to change her last name on EVERYTHING after getting married. I lost count of how many places I had to email a copy of my DL and marriage certificate: mortgage company, cell phone/internet/TV providers, Amazon, PayPal, every hotel, cruise line and airline loyalty reward program I belong to. Plus other places that have my name that one doesn't normally think about, like Blizzard for my battle.net account (good thing I did since I had to send my DL again a few months ago when I lost my authenticator).

Can't you just keep your same name when you get married?