Minor things that bother you

[jeffandnicole]

Returning from a four week vacation that I enjoyed and desperately needed, only to come back to four consecutive weeks of work feeling like I've been fed to the woodchipper. It feels like I was being punished for having fun and actually having a life.

I'm pretty fortunate - When I'm gone, my staff takes care of the work so I usually have little to come back to.  I get, on average, about 150 emails a day.  148 of them will have no use to me when I return.  The problem sometimes is locating the 2 that do. 

[jeffandnicole]

....

*  An item gets rung up under the PLU for a similar but more expensive item.  The classic example is broccoli crowns (charged by weight) rung up as broccoli (charged by bundled unit, each unit having approximately the same weight)--this is how you wind up paying almost eight dollars for three tiny crowns.

One thing I like at Wegmans is that the scales in the produce department will print out a barcoded label if you punch in the PLU, so the cashier simply scans that barcode when you get to the checkout. No doubt some people cheat the system by punching in the wrong PLUs, such as punching in a cheaper type of apple because the cashier won't notice, but on the whole the system speeds up the checkout if people actually use it (and some people just flat-out won't print the labels).

Those things are ripe for abuse. 

The few supermarkets in my area that did use them removed them.  The opportunity to put in a cheaper code, or weigh something, print the sticker, then add more product to the bag, occurs way too often.  Of course, it's possible for someone to put in the incorrect code at the register, but at least there they may feel their being watched a little more closely.

[1995hoo]

....

*  An item gets rung up under the PLU for a similar but more expensive item.  The classic example is broccoli crowns (charged by weight) rung up as broccoli (charged by bundled unit, each unit having approximately the same weight)--this is how you wind up paying almost eight dollars for three tiny crowns.

One thing I like at Wegmans is that the scales in the produce department will print out a barcoded label if you punch in the PLU, so the cashier simply scans that barcode when you get to the checkout. No doubt some people cheat the system by punching in the wrong PLUs, such as punching in a cheaper type of apple because the cashier won't notice, but on the whole the system speeds up the checkout if people actually use it (and some people just flat-out won't print the labels).

Those things are ripe for abuse. 

The few supermarkets in my area that did use them removed them.  The opportunity to put in a cheaper code, or weigh something, print the sticker, then add more product to the bag, occurs way too often.  Of course, it's possible for someone to put in the incorrect code at the register, but at least there they may feel their being watched a little more closely.

No doubt. Oddly, though, they don't seem to be a huge problem at the Wegmans I visit, probably because a lot of people just don't use them at all—which, in turn, is just one more thing slowing down the biggest waste of time at the grocery store (standing on line to take everything out of the shopping cart so that a store employee can rearrange it all and put it back in the cart).

The Giant near our house has similar scales, but I find them annoying because Giant doesn't post the PLU numbers on the pricing signs the way Wegmans does. tmoore952 mentions tapping a picture on the screen, but I find it's faster just to punch in a four-digit code than it is to have to page through a bunch of photos or to search for the product (and searching causes problems when Giant uses a different name for a product than everyone else does—for example, I recall searching for "fennel" didn't turn up any results because Giant insists that it's called "anise" and at the time I didn't know that). Plus at Wegmans I find not everything shows up when you try to use the product images. Obviously it helps that the PLU codes are standardized from store to store, so if you know that bananas are 4011, it's easy to punch that in on the scale.

[jeffandnicole]

Obviously it helps that the PLU codes are standardized from store to store, so if you know that bananas are 4011, it's easy to punch that in on the scale.

And they never change.  My wife worked at a supermarket briefly in the 1990's, and still recalls the more popular codes when we started using self checkouts.

That was the highlight from working there.  She started to recognize some regular customers, and knew their personalities.  What she hated was food stamp days, trying to figure out what was and wasn't eligible.  In NJ, many supermarket food items aren't taxed, so that was another issue.  Even though they had scanners, there's still some things that had to be manually entered and she had to know to hit the tax or non-tax buttons  And smoking was still allowed indoors, so the break room was a fog of smoke.  She would eat her lunch in her car.

[kphoger]

I find it's faster just to punch in a four-digit code than it is to have to page through a bunch of photos or to search for the product (and searching causes problems when Giant uses a different name for a product than everyone else does—for example, I recall searching for "fennel" didn't turn up any results because Giant insists that it's called "anise" and at the time I didn't know that).

Fennel and anise aren't even the same plant.  They have similar flavors, but they're two different things.

At my store, the produce shelves label yuca root as yucca root, which are not equivalent.  Yuca and yucca are not at all the same thing, and most species of yucca don't even have edible roots.

[roadman65]

I hate when a server in a restaurant does not remove your completed meal plate until everyone else is finished. From what I was told at Sonesta Hotel, when employed by them in the early nineties, that that practice is something of a protocol that the upscale has always done. It's considered rude, in the upscale world, to remove a plate before the entire party is not done eating.

Meanwhile to others ignorant of upper class protocol, they think it's poor serving to let you observe your own empty plate for several minutes after you completed yours, especially when your server has seen that plate in front of you several times.  Some even hold it against their server at tip time and not tip them as good feeling the upscale act is just as rude as high society considers early removal as such.

[ZLoth]

Some even hold it against their server at tip time and not tip them as good feeling the upscale act is just as rude as high society considers early removal as such.

This brings up a minor irritation with me and food servers. I want to emphasize that last part.... "food servers", not "servants". If anything, they need a smile, and those necessary phases, "Please" and "Thank you". From what I have observed, it is not a easy job especially when they bear the brunt of the customer complaints for issues that is out of their control. If anything, I'm a little more generous with the tipping when they are working during a holiday.

[roadman65]

Oh yeah, and servers are forced to work on holidays so their bosses, who have the day off, can make even more money.   


When I was a kid, most restaurants were expected to be closed or with a skeleton staff on both Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. So if you vacationed during the Holidays, you had to make sure you were aware of hours and such before making your dinner plans, or be prepared to dine in a hotel facility who had to keep open so that their customers can eat. In fact the Red Lobster restaurant in Pine Hills, Florida closed Christmas Eve to give their staff a Christmas party in December of 1976. We had to eat at a hotel restaurant for dinner that particular Christmas Eve.

Now in high tourist areas, hotels and free standing restaurants have big promotions on those days to offer the general public and the days of limited hours are totally unheard of.

[kphoger]

Oh yeah, and servers are forced to work on holidays so their bosses, who have the day off, can make even more money.   

When I was a kid, most restaurants were expected to be closed or with a skeleton staff on both Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. So if you vacationed during the Holidays, you had to make sure you were aware of hours and such before making your dinner plans, or be prepared to dine in a hotel facility who had to keep open so that their customers can eat. In fact the Red Lobster restaurant in Pine Hills, Florida closed Christmas Eve to give their staff a Christmas party in December of 1976. We had to eat at a hotel restaurant for dinner that particular Christmas Eve.

Now in high tourist areas, hotels and free standing restaurants have big promotions on those days to offer the general public and the days of limited hours are totally unheard of.

I'm on the fence about it, but I lean toward agreeing with you.  However, I should point out that, depending on how big the holiday crowd is, the servers (and waiters) who are "forced to work on holidays" might also "make even more money" that way.

[roadman65]

Oh yeah, and servers are forced to work on holidays so their bosses, who have the day off, can make even more money.   

When I was a kid, most restaurants were expected to be closed or with a skeleton staff on both Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. So if you vacationed during the Holidays, you had to make sure you were aware of hours and such before making your dinner plans, or be prepared to dine in a hotel facility who had to keep open so that their customers can eat. In fact the Red Lobster restaurant in Pine Hills, Florida closed Christmas Eve to give their staff a Christmas party in December of 1976. We had to eat at a hotel restaurant for dinner that particular Christmas Eve.

Now in high tourist areas, hotels and free standing restaurants have big promotions on those days to offer the general public and the days of limited hours are totally unheard of.

I'm on the fence about it, but I lean toward agreeing with you.  However, I should point out that, depending on how big the holiday crowd is, the servers (and waiters) who are "forced to work on holidays" might also "make even more money" that way.

It is now, as holidays were once about the nature of it, but this world has made it out presently to be for commercialism.

[kkt]

I hate when a server in a restaurant does not remove your completed meal plate until everyone else is finished. From what I was told at Sonesta Hotel, when employed by them in the early nineties, that that practice is something of a protocol that the upscale has always done. It's considered rude, in the upscale world, to remove a plate before the entire party is not done eating.

Meanwhile to others ignorant of upper class protocol, they think it's poor serving to let you observe your own empty plate for several minutes after you completed yours, especially when your server has seen that plate in front of you several times.  Some even hold it against their server at tip time and not tip them as good feeling the upscale act is just as rude as high society considers early removal as such.

I have a mild preference for the server collecting the plates together when we've all finished a course, so we don't interrupt our conversation more often than necessary.

[Rothman]

I think I value efficiency most when it comes to restaurant service.  Have little patience with condescending snootiness.

[jeffandnicole]

I hate when a server in a restaurant does not remove your completed meal plate until everyone else is finished. From what I was told at Sonesta Hotel, when employed by them in the early nineties, that that practice is something of a protocol that the upscale has always done. It's considered rude, in the upscale world, to remove a plate before the entire party is not done eating.

Meanwhile to others ignorant of upper class protocol, they think it's poor serving to let you observe your own empty plate for several minutes after you completed yours, especially when your server has seen that plate in front of you several times.  Some even hold it against their server at tip time and not tip them as good feeling the upscale act is just as rude as high society considers early removal as such.

I have a mild preference for the server collecting the plates together when we've all finished a course, so we don't interrupt our conversation more often than necessary.

This is probably one of the hardest things about any profession:  Customers have differing opinions, including those at the same table.  The server is simply doing what's protocol at the restaurant.  It's not up to them.  If someone really wants their plate removed, they can inform the server to remove it.  But I also know some have the opinion that they are paying for the service of being waited on, and they are not to touch their finished plate as that's the server's job to remove it.

[Scott5114]

I'd rather the plate hang around for too long than the opposite, when the server keeps nagging you about taking the plate away when you're still picking at the last of something. It's not like the plate is in the way of anything if I'm not doing another course afterward; it's not like I need the room to do a 1500-piece jigsaw puzzle right there on the table now that I'm done eating.

[roadman65]

I hate when a server in a restaurant does not remove your completed meal plate until everyone else is finished. From what I was told at Sonesta Hotel, when employed by them in the early nineties, that that practice is something of a protocol that the upscale has always done. It's considered rude, in the upscale world, to remove a plate before the entire party is not done eating.

Meanwhile to others ignorant of upper class protocol, they think it's poor serving to let you observe your own empty plate for several minutes after you completed yours, especially when your server has seen that plate in front of you several times.  Some even hold it against their server at tip time and not tip them as good feeling the upscale act is just as rude as high society considers early removal as such.

I have a mild preference for the server collecting the plates together when we've all finished a course, so we don't interrupt our conversation more often than necessary.

This is probably one of the hardest things about any profession:  Customers have differing opinions, including those at the same table.  The server is simply doing what's protocol at the restaurant.  It's not up to them.  If someone really wants their plate removed, they can inform the server to remove it.  But I also know some have the opinion that they are paying for the service of being waited on, and they are not to touch their finished plate as that's the server's job to remove it.

But people are different. Most aren't familiar with protocol especially plate removal. I can see Scott's point when they nag. A server shouldn't ask when there are still crumbs, but also some customers expect without  asking for you to remove the plate. People are brought up differently and many are unaware of other protocols than they're used to. It happens even in small civic groups as well.

One such group removed tuxedos as their official dress because others thought it was too overkill and snobbish. Most who wore the Tuxedo and liked it felt honored to wear as the organization was a patriotic institution.  Yet the ones who dislike didn't see it was honorable, but saw that it didn't belong in a civic capacity when the average male don't have a tux in their usual wardrobe and the fact the high society uses that particular suit to expensive gala events.

You are not going to please everyone and no matter how much we try, we are not going to agree on culture.

[D-Dey65]

You open your mobile device's camera app and point it at the code, then tap on the box that pops up and it takes you to the website.

Well, as I've mentioned in an earlier post on the subject, the majority of times nothing happens. And the one time it did, it wouldn't stop sending me websites, even when I didn't want them. 

[zachary_amaryllis]

Phone number for you?

(776) 867-5309

If Jenny lived in Fort Morgan, she could be 970-867-5309.

Wikipedia claims there is a pizza joint in Fort Collins with that number.

Could be Totally 80's Pizza. I didn't even know we had that prefix, unless they [did stuff] to make it appear here.

[TheHighwayMan3561]

The US 12 "corner cut" in southern Wisconsin.

[Scott5114]

Clark County, NV has a population of 2.2 million people. Clark County, WA has a population of 500,000. I currently have an IP address that geolocates to well within the boundaries of Clark County, NV.

Why, then, when I search for some aspect of how the county government works, does Google consistently return search results for Clark County, WA ahead of Clark County, NV, even when I explicitly include 'nv' in the search?

[tmoore952]

Clark County, NV has a population of 2.2 million people. Clark County, WA has a population of 500,000. I currently have an IP address that geolocates to well within the boundaries of Clark County, NV.

Why, then, when I search for some aspect of how the county government works, does Google consistently return search results for Clark County, WA ahead of Clark County, NV, even when I explicitly include 'nv' in the search?

When I googled "Clark County" (no state), my top return is Clark County NV.
But it sounds like your search is more extensive.

I would guess that whatever you are additionally putting in for ""aspect of government" (whatever it is, examples being "parks" or "taxes") that it is hitting on the WA site.

[Scott5114]

My exact search was clark county nv ballot drop off sites (I've never lived in a jurisdiction that really does vote by mail and I was curious whether drop-off sites were plentiful enough that they were convenient to access). It looks like Google might be prioritizing Clark County WA because it actually provides a list of drop-off locations, while Clark County NV just says you can drop the ballot off at any polling place and that a list of additional locations will be provided in the mail with the ballot.

Still, though, it's a flaw in the ranking algorithm if the amount of content available is given a higher priority than whether it actually matches the search terms.

[Big John]

I was looking for the height of the St Louis Gateway Arch so I said "Height of St Louis Arch" and I got the answer in meters, I then typed in "Height of St Louis Arch in feet" and still got the answer in meters.

[GaryV]

I was looking for the height of the St Louis Gateway Arch so I said "Height of St Louis Arch" and I got the answer in meters, I then typed in "Height of St Louis Arch in feet" and still got the answer in meters.

Per Final Jeopardy this week, the distance between the base of the towers is the same as the height.

[GaryV]

NPS confirms it https://www.nps.gov/jeff/faqs.htm

How tall is it?
The Arch is 630 feet (192 meters) tall; 630 feet is also the distance from leg to leg at ground level.

[webny99]

My exact search was clark county nv ballot drop off sites (I've never lived in a jurisdiction that really does vote by mail and I was curious whether drop-off sites were plentiful enough that they were convenient to access). It looks like Google might be prioritizing Clark County WA because it actually provides a list of drop-off locations, while Clark County NV just says you can drop the ballot off at any polling place and that a list of additional locations will be provided in the mail with the ballot.

Still, though, it's a flaw in the ranking algorithm if the amount of content available is given a higher priority than whether it actually matches the search terms.

This is probably far-fetched, but I wonder if it's either interpreting nv incorrectly (on the off chance it means something else in a voting context) or ignoring it entirely because it's not capitalized.