Got Out Some

[howeird]

Up at about 6, Spook joined me when the alarm went off. And jumped off the bed when I got up - she wanted treats. But I have my morning routine to do first.

Interesting email from older sister, she's been seeing a therapist, probably coping with the death of her husband a couple of years ago. It hit her very hard, they had been together since about 1971, maybe earlier. He heard his cancer diagnosis just after his 70th birthday and just gave up. He was gone in about 3 months. Sis has always been her own person, one of the first things she did was take a tour of China. Anyhow, she asked me to tell her about Dad, especially whether I remembered him doing Dad Things with her. The answer was basically no, except I do remember him playing card games and Monopoly with us. She asked if I remember him teaching her chess, and I don't. He taught me chess, and we played a bit, but I never got very good. Sis would have absolutely sucked at chess. She also asked if Dad helped us with math homework, and the answer was no, Dad was a math genius, he did not understand why we weren't born doing differential calculus. He couldn't explain math problems to us because he did them all instantly in his head, not step by step. He seriously asked me once why the school required algebra as a pre-req for calculus when calculus was basically shortcuts to avoid using algebra.

On the job front what looked like a promising Android test opportunity turned out to be in LA. Indian guy working for a NJ contract company had no idea how to use a map.

Nothing else new.

The usual breakfast.

10, drove to what had been an all the shipping companies place but they are now a USPS contract post office and don't do UPS anymore, so onward to the one in a hard to find nook in the Great America Marriott. Starbucks mercado is on the way home, so I used their restroom and then set up my laptop and had a criossant and an iced mocha. There was some eye candy, but it was too early for the movie crowd and too cold for much foot traffic.

Home, fired up the PC.

Four storm chasers were streaming today, two in Ohio 16 miles apart, where it was raining and the tornado warning were bogus, and two in the snow, Indiana and Michigan? Wisconsin?

Dim sum for lunch while watching metal detector guy and then my favorite storm chaser. Found myself almost falling out of my chair, so I got undressed and took a nap. Woke up 2 hours later and Spook was curled up on the comforter near my feet.

Up & dressed. Dinner was grilled cheese on rye.

Watched PTI, Masked Singer and will probably watch a Mysteries at the Museum later.

Plans for tomorrow:
None, really.
There probably won't be new job postings till Monday.
Maybe there will be EDD $$
Last time I was on unemployment they gave me a BofA debit card which they direct deposited into and I auto-transferred it to my checking account. This time it looks like they are back to mailing checks.

Comments

[msconduct.livejournal.com]

I'm always astonished by the way the US clings grimly on to cheques. As a university holiday job I used to work for what was then called the Department of Social Welfare in NZ, who paid unemployment and other benefits. While I was there they forcibly switched all beneficiaries off cheques and onto receiving their benefits via direct credit. That was 1984.

[howeird]

I am not sure EDD will be sending checks. It's too soon to tell, and the trend for all government payouts is direct deposit. My state and federal tax refunds/payments are paperless, all my brokerage activity as well. We have chips in our credit/debit cards now, and tap-to-pay is becoming more common.

The only place which insists on checks is the mobile home park, which is odd since the last three apartments I was in handled all that online.

[msconduct.livejournal.com]

Sounds like at least the trend is in the right direction. I suspect a move towards a cashless economy will be pretty protracted, however. While I can't remember the last time I used cash here (Paywave is ubiquitous) I don't think I could do without it on US visits. I guess that must be at least in part related to it being a tipping economy. Question mark.

[howeird]

Nah, all electronic transactions where you might tip someone have a place for tips. The only places which are cash-only are nail parlors, massage parlors and small restaurants which are probably really fronts for drug dealers.

For example, I recently went to an orchid show held in a city recreation center, and every one of the merchants - and these are mostly hobbyists - had a credit card reader on their phone.

Your biggest challenge would be to find a card which doesn't charge a foreign exchange fee.

[msconduct.livejournal.com]

Your biggest challenge would be to find a card which doesn't charge a foreign exchange fee.

Yep. I carry only cash when travelling for that reason. Every other method stings you for huge fees. Cash isn't recommended, but I'm careful and I've never had a problem. Not with having any stolen, anyway. I was in a store in LA and because my bank always gives me new notes the store thought they were counterfeit. (I avoid carrying fifties because of the counterfeiting thing, so I thought I was OK, but these were sequential notes.) The person I was travelling with had to pay instead. They had exactly the same sequential new notes but somehow that didn't seem to matter.