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Black Friday

Started by abefroman329, November 23, 2018, 07:39:31 AM

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Brandon

Quote from: Rothman on November 27, 2018, 09:01:58 AM
Quote from: Brandon on November 25, 2018, 04:31:58 PM
Quote from: Rothman on November 25, 2018, 12:58:06 PM
Shop online.  I finally got sick of shopping and not finding what I wanted.  Online, ypu can find anything.

Then you get it, find it's broken from the shipment, find it doesn't fit, & then you've got to return it.  I'd rather see it, touch it, then buy it.
I haven't had any issues with the few times I have had to return things.  Don't think I ever paid anything to return something to Amazon.

Well, I've got to return something purchased online.  They want the shipping fee and the restocking fee (a bullshit charge if there ever was one) deducted from the return value of the item.  It kind of sours me on online shopping.  If bought in store, then I could've looked at the item immediately and asked a clerk if it would fit my car.

I fear that as we go more online, we're losing the human interactions necessary for life.
"If you think this has a happy ending, you haven't been paying attention." - Ramsay Bolton

"Symbolic of his struggle against reality." - Reg


US71

"Avoid the Line" so I ordered a new walking pole on-line from Dick's Sporting Goods to pick up in the store. I waited so long for someone to help me it would have been faster to have walked in, picked up the pole, and wait in line to check out. But I saved 30 percent by ordering on-line for pick up
Like Alice I Try To Believe Three Impossible Things Before Breakfast

abefroman329

Quote from: Rothman on November 27, 2018, 09:15:41 AM
Quote from: abefroman329 on November 27, 2018, 09:11:23 AM
Quote from: Rothman on November 27, 2018, 09:01:58 AM
Quote from: Brandon on November 25, 2018, 04:31:58 PM
Quote from: Rothman on November 25, 2018, 12:58:06 PM
Shop online.  I finally got sick of shopping and not finding what I wanted.  Online, ypu can find anything.

Then you get it, find it's broken from the shipment, find it doesn't fit, & then you've got to return it.  I'd rather see it, touch it, then buy it.
I haven't had any issues with the few times I have had to return things.  Don't think I ever paid anything to return something to Amazon.
We had this delicate glass teapot that was on our Amazon wedding registry and one of our guests bought it.  Amazon had to send one to us three times because, the first two times, it wasn't packaged properly and it was in pieces by the time we got it.
Ouch.
As far as returning items, it's miles better than it used to be now that you can drop some items off at Kohl's.  Before that, and after they stopped shipping items many items in reusable boxes and started using single-use envelopes, I'd have to scrounge for packaging I could use to send it back.

Free shipping on returns is a rarity with e-commerce.  Amazon, Zappos, Groupon Goods offer it.  With many other companies, you have to pay to send it back.

abefroman329

Quote from: US71 on November 27, 2018, 09:31:46 AM
"Avoid the Line" so I ordered a new walking pole on-line from Dick's Sporting Goods to pick up in the store. I waited so long for someone to help me it would have been faster to have walked in, picked up the pole, and wait in line to check out. But I saved 30 percent by ordering on-line for pick up
I've had this happen with in-store pickup at Best Buy so many times, it's not funny.  Sometimes it's faster than wandering around the store trying to find what I want, sometimes, well, not.

PHLBOS

#54
Quote from: abefroman329 on November 23, 2018, 07:39:31 AMAnyone else make any Black Friday trips?
Short answer: no. 

For the most part, except when my nieces were very young (over 15 years ago); my Christmas gift shopping typically involves purchasing gift cards (this year, I purchased all of them several days before Thanksgiving) for family members which can be done at anytime.  While some will say such is too impersonal/practical/convenient, given that I only see my family members while in Massachusetts (I reside in southeastern PA) during most holidays; purchasing gift cards I know they'll actually use (be it from places I know where they shop or one of those use-anywhere types) makes the most sense.

Traditionally, the Friday after Thanksgiving was a time when my brother, father (prior to his 2012 fall, he died last year) & I would head into Marblehead, MA (where we grew up) and have lunch at one of the local restaurants near/at the downtown area.  This year was the first year we didn't do that (we stayed home (my brother's place in Sturbridge)); although last Saturday, my brother & I did drive to Marblehead to check on my mother's house (we're still in the process of emptying stuff out of it), we did not do the restaurant thing though.  Assuming that her house (she died about 3 months after my father) is finally sold this time next year (such is my family's only remaining tie to Marblehead); our traditional lunch day-trip to Marblehead may not happen again... at least not on the day after Thanksgiving.  Time will tell.
GPS does NOT equal GOD

kphoger

I finally found someone who uses more parentheses than I do!   :)
Keep right except to pass.  Yes.  You.
Visit scenic Orleans County, NY!
Male pronouns, please.

Quote from: Philip K. DickIf you can control the meaning of words, you can control the people who must use them.

hotdogPi

Quote from: kphoger on November 27, 2018, 12:56:29 PM
I finally found someone who uses more parentheses than I do!   :)

I use a lot of parentheses, too. You might not have noticed it, though, as I usually don't post several paragraphs unless it's the OP of a thread.

I also use a lot of semicolons.
Clinched, minus I-93 (I'm missing a few miles and my file is incorrect)

Traveled, plus US 13, 44, and 50, and several state routes

I will be in Burlington VT for the eclipse.

english si

Quote from: abefroman329 on November 23, 2018, 06:09:30 PMI was disappointed to see Black Friday is a thing in the UK now when I traveled there two years ago.
90% of it is emails from firms who have discounted Thursday-Monday (Cyber Monday after all). Outside a few independent shops trying to increase footfall, it's just supermarkets selling 'discounted' TVs that they charged a lot for in the first place, so the offer isn't very good.

There was that one bit of argie bargie at ASDA Wembley a few years ago, but otherwise it's next to nothing - it came, but didn't stick. My local Tesco had maybe 10 TVs at the beginning of the day, placed near the entrance with the former price and the offer price, but that's it - I saw a TV or two in trolleys, and there were only three left, but it was after lunchtime, so they didn't really go quickly. More publicity and hype was given to the fact the Christmas trees had arrived (as it was a month before), and more space at the entrance to the pallets of boxes of Christmas chocolates they moved in Nov 1 and have slowly gone down (that will speed up soon, especially as the offer they have on them only has about 2 weeks left),

kphoger

Quote from: Steven Wright
Sometimes you can't hear me, it's because sometimes I'm in parentheses.
Keep right except to pass.  Yes.  You.
Visit scenic Orleans County, NY!
Male pronouns, please.

Quote from: Philip K. DickIf you can control the meaning of words, you can control the people who must use them.

jeffandnicole

Quote from: 1 on November 27, 2018, 12:58:03 PM
Quote from: kphoger on November 27, 2018, 12:56:29 PM
I finally found someone who uses more parentheses than I do!   :)

I use a lot of parentheses, too. You might not have noticed it, though, as I usually don't post several paragraphs unless it's the OP of a thread.

I also use a lot of semicolons.

I'm usually using a lot of parentheses as well (to fine tune my points, usually). 

formulanone

Quote from: kphoger on November 27, 2018, 12:56:29 PM
I finally found someone who uses more parentheses than I do!   :)

Sparker is also fond of them (so I've noticed from my occasional abuse). (And misuse.)

abefroman329

Quote from: kphoger on November 27, 2018, 01:03:39 PM
Quote from: Steven Wright
Sometimes you can't hear me, it's because sometimes I'm in parentheses.
I hate when my leg falls asleep during the day, because that means it'll be up all night.

ET21

I go out with friends mainly, but avoid shopping malls. This year I was driving to Wisconsin so I missed all the mall nonsense
The local weatherman, trust me I can be 99.9% right!
"Show where you're going, without forgetting where you're from"

Clinched:
IL: I-88, I-180, I-190, I-290, I-294, I-355, IL-390
IN: I-80, I-94
SD: I-190
WI: I-90, I-94
MI: I-94, I-196
MN: I-90

webny99

Quote from: kphoger on November 27, 2018, 12:56:29 PM
I finally found someone who uses more parentheses than I do!   :)

Well, he closes more parentheses than you, but I'm not sure he opens more than you.  :rofl:

I use plenty of parentheses, too (and sometimes I wonder if readers forget that it's a parenthetical and have to go back and piece everything together (like they are doing now, no doubt  ;-) )).

jon daly

I've used brackets, too (when I've had a parenthetical thought within a parenthetical thought,) but it never got to the point that the thoughts were so nested that I had to resort to {braces.}

kphoger

Quote from: jon daly on November 28, 2018, 08:30:33 PM
I've used brackets, too (when I've had a parenthetical thought within a parenthetical thought,) but it never got to the point that the thoughts were so nested that I had to resort to {braces.}

I stopped caring long ago about nesting different shapes of brackets–instead just nesting round brackets (parentheses) inside other round brackets.  I tend to use square brackets and curly brackets (braces) for uses other than parenthetical phrases.
Keep right except to pass.  Yes.  You.
Visit scenic Orleans County, NY!
Male pronouns, please.

Quote from: Philip K. DickIf you can control the meaning of words, you can control the people who must use them.

english si

Went to the shops today - the amount of 'Black Friday' signs surprised me - not least as the offers they promoted were on until tomorrow (as the end of the month), and started the Monday before Thanksgiving - so nearly two whole weeks. Some even had 'Cyber Monday' (which the UK has had from day 1) even though it was in the physical shop.

I guess it's just branding for the "do your Christmas shopping early" sales that have been around for a while, but it irritates me that they just don't call it whatever they called it in the '00s and save 'Black Friday' for deals specific to the day.

Scott5114

Quote from: Rothman on November 27, 2018, 09:01:58 AM
Quote from: Brandon on November 25, 2018, 04:31:58 PM
Quote from: Rothman on November 25, 2018, 12:58:06 PM
Shop online.  I finally got sick of shopping and not finding what I wanted.  Online, ypu can find anything.

Then you get it, find it's broken from the shipment, find it doesn't fit, & then you've got to return it.  I'd rather see it, touch it, then buy it.
I haven't had any issues with the few times I have had to return things.  Don't think I ever paid anything to return something to Amazon.

I was going to ask where on Earth he was buying something from that required he pay return postage. Most of the returns my wife has done (I am usually too lazy to return things and will just repurpose them or give them to someone that can use them if possible) have either emailed us a prepaid return label to affix to the package, or will simply tell us to throw away the wrong or damaged item.

The only time I would expect to pay return postage is if I was simply returning an item that there was nothing wrong with (e.g. I didn't want it anymore, I wasn't paying attention and bought the wrong thing, etc.).  It would be unfair to expect the merchant to cover the cost of my error in those situations anyway.

Quote from: jeffandnicole on November 27, 2018, 01:03:53 PM
Quote from: 1 on November 27, 2018, 12:58:03 PM
Quote from: kphoger on November 27, 2018, 12:56:29 PM
I finally found someone who uses more parentheses than I do!   :)

I use a lot of parentheses, too. You might not have noticed it, though, as I usually don't post several paragraphs unless it's the OP of a thread.

I also use a lot of semicolons.

I'm usually using a lot of parentheses as well (to fine tune my points, usually). 

I tend to overuse em dashes (–) myself.
uncontrollable freak sardine salad chef

kphoger

A co-worker of mine mentioned just the other day that he bought an item on Amazon from a vendor that stipulated "no refunds for any reason."  His item was shipped to an entirely different state.  That vendor also apparently has a lot of poor reviews stating that their items were shipped to completely different addresses as well.  When he called Amazon, they said they'd attempt to get the money back from the vendor.
Keep right except to pass.  Yes.  You.
Visit scenic Orleans County, NY!
Male pronouns, please.

Quote from: Philip K. DickIf you can control the meaning of words, you can control the people who must use them.

abefroman329

Quote from: kphoger on November 29, 2018, 02:25:24 PM
A co-worker of mine mentioned just the other day that he bought an item on Amazon from a vendor that stipulated "no refunds for any reason."  His item was shipped to an entirely different state.  That vendor also apparently has a lot of poor reviews stating that their items were shipped to completely different addresses as well.  When he called Amazon, they said they'd attempt to get the money back from the vendor.
And that is exactly why I'd rather buy from Amazon than directly from the vendor: I'd expect Amazon to perform some sort of due diligence on my behalf to get my money back.

sparker

Quote from: formulanone on November 27, 2018, 01:24:13 PM
Quote from: kphoger on November 27, 2018, 12:56:29 PM
I finally found someone who uses more parentheses than I do!   :)

Sparker is also fond of them (so I've noticed from my occasional abuse). (And misuse.)

Yeah -- it -- and my propensity for semicolons -- comes from years of writing academic papers  -- and later position papers for clients.  A lot of my post-posting edits come when I realized I haven't closed a parenthesis, or the phrase would be better served by a semicolon.  OK -- I'm also guilty of using double-dashes on a pretty regular basis, for much the same reasons as the other stuff.  Oh well, I'm not about to change my writing style after 50+ years of submitting various pieces -- to reiterate an overused phrase, it is what it is! 

slorydn1

Quote from: sparker on November 29, 2018, 06:14:10 PM
Quote from: formulanone on November 27, 2018, 01:24:13 PM
Quote from: kphoger on November 27, 2018, 12:56:29 PM
I finally found someone who uses more parentheses than I do!   :)

Sparker is also fond of them (so I've noticed from my occasional abuse). (And misuse.)

Yeah -- it -- and my propensity for semicolons -- comes from years of writing academic papers  -- and later position papers for clients.  A lot of my post-posting edits come when I realized I haven't closed a parenthesis, or the phrase would be better served by a semicolon.  OK -- I'm also guilty of using double-dashes on a pretty regular basis, for much the same reasons as the other stuff.  Oh well, I'm not about to change my writing style after 50+ years of submitting various pieces -- to reiterate an overused phrase, it is what it is! 

Besides parenthesis (I mean, we all use them) my guilty pleasure is periods of ellipsis......

That comes from almost 22 years of sending PIN messages (aka teletypes in a much older era) where we don't actually type in full sentences (hell sometimes not entirely complete words, either)-but we still really feel the need to show that one thought has ended........

I am sure this drives the grammar Nazi's nuts but hey, this isn't the final exam for my doctorate in Language Arts, either.
Please Note: All posts represent my personal opinions and do not represent those of any governmental agency, non-governmental agency, quasi-governmental agency or wanna be governmental agency

Counties: Counties Visited

jon daly

Quote from: sparker on November 29, 2018, 06:14:10 PM
Quote from: formulanone on November 27, 2018, 01:24:13 PM
Quote from: kphoger on November 27, 2018, 12:56:29 PM
I finally found someone who uses more parentheses than I do!   :)

Sparker is also fond of them (so I've noticed from my occasional abuse). (And misuse.)

Yeah -- it -- and my propensity for semicolons -- comes from years of writing academic papers  -- and later position papers for clients.  A lot of my post-posting edits come when I realized I haven't closed a parenthesis, or the phrase would be better served by a semicolon.  OK -- I'm also guilty of using double-dashes on a pretty regular basis, for much the same reasons as the other stuff.  Oh well, I'm not about to change my writing style after 50+ years of submitting various pieces -- to reiterate an overused phrase, it is what it is! 

I use three hyphens --- to represent a dash. I know there's a way to do it with ASCII, but I'm not the coding type.

hotdogPi

Quote from: jon daly on November 30, 2018, 05:54:43 AM
Quote from: sparker on November 29, 2018, 06:14:10 PM
Quote from: formulanone on November 27, 2018, 01:24:13 PM
Quote from: kphoger on November 27, 2018, 12:56:29 PM
I finally found someone who uses more parentheses than I do!   :)

Sparker is also fond of them (so I've noticed from my occasional abuse). (And misuse.)

Yeah -- it -- and my propensity for semicolons -- comes from years of writing academic papers  -- and later position papers for clients.  A lot of my post-posting edits come when I realized I haven't closed a parenthesis, or the phrase would be better served by a semicolon.  OK -- I'm also guilty of using double-dashes on a pretty regular basis, for much the same reasons as the other stuff.  Oh well, I'm not about to change my writing style after 50+ years of submitting various pieces -- to reiterate an overused phrase, it is what it is! 

I use three hyphens --- to represent a dash. I know there's a way to do it with ASCII, but I'm not the coding type.

On a Mac, it's shift-option-minus for an m-dash (the typical one) and option-minus for an n-dash. It's not quite as easy on Windows, though.

Also, it's not ASCII; ASCII only contains the characters you can type on your keyboard normally (plus a few non-printable control characters), as it has to fit within 7 bits.
Clinched, minus I-93 (I'm missing a few miles and my file is incorrect)

Traveled, plus US 13, 44, and 50, and several state routes

I will be in Burlington VT for the eclipse.

qguy

Quote from: 1 on November 30, 2018, 06:00:55 AM
Quote from: jon daly on November 30, 2018, 05:54:43 AM
Quote from: sparker on November 29, 2018, 06:14:10 PM
Quote from: formulanone on November 27, 2018, 01:24:13 PM
Quote from: kphoger on November 27, 2018, 12:56:29 PM
I finally found someone who uses more parentheses than I do!   :)

Sparker is also fond of them (so I've noticed from my occasional abuse). (And misuse.)

Yeah -- it -- and my propensity for semicolons -- comes from years of writing academic papers  -- and later position papers for clients.  A lot of my post-posting edits come when I realized I haven't closed a parenthesis, or the phrase would be better served by a semicolon.  OK -- I'm also guilty of using double-dashes on a pretty regular basis, for much the same reasons as the other stuff.  Oh well, I'm not about to change my writing style after 50+ years of submitting various pieces -- to reiterate an overused phrase, it is what it is! 

I use three hyphens --- to represent a dash. I know there's a way to do it with ASCII, but I'm not the coding type.

On a Mac, it's shift-option-minus for an m-dash (the typical one) and option-minus for an n-dash. It's not quite as easy on Windows, though.

Also, it's not ASCII; ASCII only contains the characters you can type on your keyboard normally (plus a few non-printable control characters), as it has to fit within 7 bits.

In Windows, ensure number lock is on, then hold the ALT key down and type 0151 for an m-dash and 0150 for an n-dash. (It's usually expressed as ALT+0151 and ALT+0150.) Just about any alternate character, as they are known (like é, ñ, ö, ê, ç, ï, etc.), can be inserted with an ALT+4 code.

Or you can open the Character Map function and cop something fro there.



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