Off-Topic

[NolanRyansSnowmonkey]

re: Off-Topic

My guess is maybe parents are just smarter shoppers? Buy kids what you want at a good price. Not "here's a toy store, pick out any toy you want" mentality. Doesn't matter if it comes from toys r us, Walmart, a small mall store or so on. A toys a toy and kids will get bored of toys fast.

Weirdly enough, I've rarely been to toysrus in my life. Maybe once a year at most for Christmas time when buying gifts for peoples kids. As a kid, I never really went there.

Same here. I went several times as a kid though. I was always excited to go (at first) because commercials were amazing. I was always pretty disappointed when i saw their selection of whatever series of toys i wanted. Plus they were always more expensive than other stores.

I usually ended up going to Walmart and getting what i wanted. Even tiny stores like KB Toys had better selection of what i liked, so i usually chose them out of the two. There was also a small local craft store that only had a small selection, but for some reason always had obscure GI Joe's and toys that other places never had.

On a slightly different note - Back then, if you wanted a certain GI Joe, for example, there was the thrill of the search. First there was the anticipation build up for the trip to the store. If they didn't have it, you hoped the next store did. Sometimes you would be on the search for weeks or even months. It sucked not having being able to find it, but just the possibility of finding it was exciting. And there was nothing like the thrill of finally stumbling upon it. I dont think going online and ordering the exact item you want, and getting it within two days would have carried the same fond memories. We had "The Catalog" which was our Amazon. You could order from there, but it was 6 to 8 weeks for delivery. (Now im fine with getting everything within two days. I would have been happy then too, but looking back im glad i didn't have everything so readily available)

[Majingir]

re: Off-Topic

Anticipation is usually more exciting than the moment itself lol.

It's not just the fact that places have different variety, it's also the fact that you could get the exact same thing for a better price in other stores. Not singling out ToysRUs, but it happens so often. If you know where to shop, you can find exactly what you want at the best price. Why would you pay $60 for something when there's a store selling that same thing for $35? Less people just blindly pay for things, though I still see so many doing so, especially relating to clothes and groceries.

If you know the item you want, then just look around. Especially nowadays where you can check most websites and see what stores sell. Last Christmas I got a real nice gift you would think cost over $100, for around $25. Not like I went to some random no name store. I just knew the exact item I was looking for, and just looked online at various stores and saw one going on sale, so I just ordered it online and picked it up in store. Beat that crazy Christmas rush AND secure the items I wanted. No coupons, or going to a discount store or anything like that which people often associate with someone who saves money. I went to the exact same stores as everyone else, but just knew how and when to shop.

[slickdtc]

re: Off-Topic

Does the newest iPhone still not have a headphone jack? If not, does it come with the wireless earphones?

I can't stand Apple. My 128 GB iPod Touch is on its last legs and I'm trying to figure out what to do. To replace it would cost me $300 so I figured for that much I might as well look at the iPhone, but if they still hate their customers and have no headphone jack or come with headphones, I'll be screwed on that.

No headphone jack and no home button either on the X. But the phone comes with the dongle that adapts a regular jack to lightning port. The biggest issue is charging and listening, but wireless headphones or an adapter cuts that problem out. Although the two adapters I had were garbage.

AirPods are sick and I’d 100% recommend. Got a pair about two weeks ago and they’re amazing.

[DieHardYankee26]

re: Off-Topic

No headphone jack and no home button either on the X. But the phone comes with the dongle that adapts a regular jack to lightning port. The biggest issue is charging and listening, but wireless headphones or an adapter cuts that problem out. Although the two adapters I had were garbage.

AirPods are sick and I’d 100% recommend. Got a pair about two weeks ago and they’re amazing.

I wish I could try them out. I already have $150 headphones so paying the Apple tax for those is a no go. I think it'd be cheaper for me to buy a new 128 GB iPod, buy a new Pixel 3 XL when it comes out, and keep it moving than to buy a new iPhone at the size I want and then airpods, I just find it hard to believe that that's the case. Dear God, it might be cheaper even without the earpods lol, what is Apple on?

[pietasterp]

re: Off-Topic

I wish I could try them out. I already have $150 headphones so paying the Apple tax for those is a no go. I think it'd be cheaper for me to buy a new 128 GB iPod, buy a new Pixel 3 XL when it comes out, and keep it moving than to buy a new iPhone at the size I want and then airpods, I just find it hard to believe that that's the case. Dear God, it might be cheaper even without the earpods lol, what is Apple on?

If you have a lot of music and like having a dedicated iPod (I sure do), it's probably worth it to get a new 128GB iPod and get whatever phone you want. The battery life is an issue w/ all cell phones, and if you listen to a lot of music, your phone will be dead by noon every day. In addition to which, if you already have a good set of headphones, there's no point in getting another set just to change to the iPhone X. And then of course getting an iPhone with enough memory for your music and apps and such...that gets you well beyond the $1000 entrypoint for the likes of the iPhone X.

Re: Toys'R'Us, there are an endless number of post-mortems in business journals and all sorts of other publications that you could spend a whole week reading if you were so inclined. But mostly it boils down to (as always) poor management. Yes, amazon and other stores took a bite out of their traditional business model, but they didn't invest in their one clear-cut asset: having a network of physical plants that kids loved going to. Instead they cheaped-out on inventory, didn't update their aging stores, and then (thanks to private equity) leveraged up well beyond their ability to ever get out of debt, so that even though they were still profitable right up to the end, it wasn't enough to offset their crushing debt-load.

Take home message? Don't get into business with private equity firms if you can help it.

[WaitTilNextYear]

re: Off-Topic

Yesterday was Grace's birthday, she's such a sweet woman, we had a little party with cake and champagne... I made the toast

You are Pensky material. Ever consider working directly for me?

[Blzer]

re: Off-Topic

This is hilarious. I'm watching a movie where a character says: "Oh hey boys, how about my phone call?" Somehow, my Windows 10 hears something along the lines of: "Hey Cortana, [insert something about phone]." I keep getting different pop-ups each time as it tries to resolve my request about a phone somehow. The first one did a Bing search on Find My Phone, the next one I forget, and the third one was something about a new Samsung Galaxy announcement.

The interesting thing about it is that it only knows my voice command. My sisters and students have all tried it and can't get it to recognize them, but somehow it recognizes the actor through my speakers.

[Blzer]

re: Off-Topic

Okay, so I'm trying to sell a washing machine and dryer on Craigslist.

I get a text from a person who is interested and would pay by money order, and said they would even pay $40 over for me to hold it for them till next Thursday. Then later they text and say their assistant overpaid on the money order and that they're asking that I refund the difference from that amount.

Really starting to think this money order check will be bogus and I am going to be scammed. Wanted to read your opinions on this.

[dickey1331]

re: Off-Topic

Sounds like a scam. I’d never accept a money order in the first place anyway.


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[countryboy]

re: Off-Topic

Sounds like a scam. I’d never accept a money order in the first place anyway.


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Agreed

Straight cash


Sent from my iPhone using Operation Sports

[DieHardYankee26]

re: Off-Topic

That's the most basic money order scam there is, don't believe their lies.

[NolanRyansSnowmonkey]

re: Off-Topic

Okay, so I'm trying to sell a washing machine and dryer on Craigslist.

I get a text from a person who is interested and would pay by money order, and said they would even pay $40 over for me to hold it for them till next Thursday. Then later they text and say their assistant overpaid on the money order and that they're asking that I refund the difference from that amount.

Really starting to think this money order check will be bogus and I am going to be scammed. Wanted to read your opinions on this.

I used to work for a bank and this sounds exactly like scams i have seen before. This is a very, very common scam. The seller sends the extra money back, then later the bank informs you that the money order was bogus. Now you are out the money and the merchandise, while they pocket it and scam the next person.

A common phrase is "Money Orders are as good as cash". Unfortunately that is not always true because i saw more fake Money Orders than anything else. There is usually a number on the Money Order to call and verify funds. I have even called the number off of a Money Order i already knew to be a fake, and they verified the funds, sounding legit. Fortunately i knew what to look for and knew it was a fake.

Always take cash, unless it's from someone you already know and trust.

[kehlis]

re: Off-Topic

All red flags.

Paying more than the asking price.
Paying via money order (which as mentioned above are easy to use as scam).
Having an assistant "overpay" and asking for a refund.

Nothing sounds legit about it at all.

[NolanRyansSnowmonkey]

re: Off-Topic

All red flags.

Paying more than the asking price.
Paying via money order (which as mentioned above are easy to use as scam).
Having an assistant "overpay" and asking for a refund.

Nothing sounds legit about it at all.

Yes. And if i was guessing, i would guess the "customer" is not even local to his area.

[Blzer]

re: Off-Topic

Yes. And if i was guessing, i would guess the "customer" is not even local to his area.

Across the bay.



So now I'd rather kind of entrap the guy if I was allowed to. If I was a police officer and I found out this person attempted to defraud me upon the moment of the transaction, could I have him arrested? I'd rather get his jackwipe off the street then ignore the whole thing altogether.