So trivial, yet it really ticks you off.

[tonyb]

I've been increasingly seeing this on Amazon's used books--a seller will have the best price on the book by a dollar or two, but instead of $3.99 or $4.99 for shipping, will charge upwards of $25 for S&H. First time I saw it, I thought they were mailing the book from overseas, turned out to be Ohio.

I’m reminded of a time I (almost) bought a back issue of a special-interest magazine from the publisher of that magazine. The “price” was the cover price, but the S&H was something as absurd as what that bookseller wanted to charge you. I have a hard time believing that the time it takes the office flunky to put that magazine in a flat-rate envelope, plus the cost of postage ($5.95 via Priority Mail, I think it is) in any way justified that charge.

No thanks, I said.

 

[GHT]

You gotta wonder if the ads for crap like the nineteen dollar and ninety-five cent touchscreen purse (but wait, there’s more!) are aimed at the same people who are digging through the couch cushions on the last couple days of the month.

Digging through cushions eh? Definitely a case of: Too much month at the end of their money.

 

[GHT]

I’m receptive to the counter argument that alcohol (and pot) consumption comes at a great societal cost and for that reason stiff taxes are justifiable.

Tobacco is sold in the UK under stringent conditions and what you say about high taxes goes much the same for us. When I quit smoking in 1968, 20 cigarettes of a popular brand cost a fraction shy of two shillings. In 1971 our currency went decimal, two shillings translated into ten pence. Like the cent and dollar, we now had one hundred pennies to the pound. At around that time it was estimated the about 82% of the nation were smokers. Fifty years later with tax hikes pushing the cost of a similar packet of twenty cigarettes, the price wasn't far short of ten pounds and by comparison, just 17% of the nation are smokers.

Furthermore, your perception of the cost of the damage in healthcare terms, as well as your own health, far outweighs the damage done. On our side of the pond our NHS has to pick up the tab, that's why the price is set so high. The fallout to that cheaper tobacco products get smuggled in.

 

[tonyb]

^^^^
Oh yeah, the black marketeers can be relied on to exploit that opportunity.

Among the people (quietly) opposed to pot legalization were those in the illicit trade, which was quite profitable. The now-legal product sells for less than half what the illicit weed cost pre-legalization, even with all those taxes piled on.

I’ll admit that I’m unclear of what you mean by “Furthermore, your perception of the cost of the damage in healthcare terms, as well as your own health, far outweighs the damage done.”

We can view as a model for damage control our experience with tobacco over the past several decades. You tax it; you make it difficult to indulge the habit (in some places it’s illegal to smoke even outdoors in public places, such as parks); you impose harsh penalties on those who sell to minors (most smokers pick up the habit in their teen years); etc. And you make clear as can be that the habit’s harmful effects aren’t really just the nanny-staters’ wish to run your life for you, no matter how much you might wish to believe that.

Stiff taxes discourage use for many, but certainly not all. I hear that in some jurisdictions smokes are running upwards of 10 bucks a pack, yet people of modest means are still smoking a couple packs per day. So yeah, it’s a regressive tax. And so are taxes on liquor. So it’s not all to the better.

There’s a ballot measure in Colorado that would put a stiffer tax on nicotine vaping products. I read that the kids are more into vaping than smoking these days; proponents of the tax say it will discourage the practice and perhaps save some from developing a decades-long addiction.

Get ’em while they’re young, dontcha know.

 

[Edward]

Maybe this should be on the corona virus thread, but my Missus and I have, to the best of our ability, followed our government's guidelines throughout the lockdown, (I prefer house arrest.) Does anyone else feel that mask wearing is nothing more than a placebo? Believe you me, I do not advocate not wearing a mask and with a retired paramedic in the house it would be folly in the extreme not to follow the guidelines, but I can't help but wonder if the mask is giving us all a false sense of security.

I lan to the view that some people do take more risks thinking a mask makes them invulnerable, but that's a world of difference from the notion that a mask does nothing. It has been shown in research tests tat even a basic cotton bandana can cut the risk of transmission by as much as 50%. I guess it's a bit like saying a motorcycle helmet can't stop you having an accident, but you are very significantly less likely to die of a head injury if you do wear one. Where it does differ - and where the problem reallyl ies imo - is that too many people seem to think of the mask as protecting themselves - and therefore feel entitled to flaunt the rules, claiming only to be risking themselves. The problem is that the primary purpose of the mask is to prevent the spread from especially asymptomatic people to others. I wish they expained that better - though alasit seemsthere are still the selfish types who would still see avoiding risk to other people as no reason to comply.

That's very kind of you to ask. Thank you.

The vet really couldn't tell much. The physical examination suggested that everything was relatively ok for a 12yr old cat, though there was concerning weight loss. She's just under 8 pounds where as three years ago she was 11. Bloodwork showed her kidneys were fine (THAT was a relief) but that there was evidence of pancreatitis. So she was sent home with something to settle her stomach and an appetite stimulant (a vaseline like goo that gets applied inside the ear). We have since gotten some pain meds . The stimulant took a day to kick in which was nerve wracking as she's just a bag of bones and is quite zombie-like (indicative of pain?) and sleeps (in the back of a hallway blanket closet) just about all the time. The appetited meds kicked in and she seems to want to eat a lot, but reluctantly. She likes the brothy chicken I cooked for her. Hopefully things will brighten soon. I try to be hopeful, but she's so frail and fragile which makes it difficult.

DAMN THESE PETS!!! They get into our lives and hearts so! Much as she's been a major pain in the ass throughout her life (she's a calico), I've developed a close bond with her in recent years, and she has a special bond with my wife and son (ESPECIALLY with him) too. We understand that 12-15 is the typical life span, but the beginning of the end hurts nonetheless. Life will go on though, and we will be better for having had her in our lives.

Quite so. Good she's not in the kidney issues zone. My little Marlene spent the last eight monthsof her life on kidney meds (bless her. she ate her tablet right off my hand after the first two weeks). She might have lived years longer, but she was born with abnormally tiny kidneys for a cat, so that's how it goes. I hope your girl is picking up now. Many cats, if they take to the meds / diet can have a very long life. A friend's late ginger tom had a bit of a dodgy system all his life and had to take meds for his last few years, but he still made it to almost eighteen, and had a godo quality of life right up until very shortly before the end.

Finished binging S1 of Peaky Blinders yesterday. Pretty good show, but I'm not sure if I'll continue. I liked how the show wrapped up in episode 5.

There are a few points they could have ended it, but so far (five series in) I've yet to be disappointed they kept it going. The writer hassaid he'd like to end it with the first air raid siren of WW2 sounding over Birmingham. Me, I felt an appropriate ending would be Tommy's son's conscription papers arriving, heralding the start of the cycle all over again. I'm cheery like that.

Mine were potato chip sandwiches. Two slices of bread, a little mayo, and a layer of potato chips. Usually when my older sister was babysitting me; I don't think I've eaten one in the last five decades.

About ten years ago some place in Belfast restyled itself as a "crisp sandwich cafe". No idea if it's still there. Not had one in years, but I do recall it was a favoured lunch of mine during a prolonged period of writing a decade ago. I doubt the wife would allow it to happen now!

Apropos of the VAT vs. "plus tax" controversy mentioned in this video, having lived in the U.S. all my life, I find the VAT concept creepy.

I'm indifferent to the VAT vs Sales Tax concept - gotta pay either way.... It does, however, drive me up the wall when in the US, having to remember everything costs more than it actually says it does on the label.... I assume when that's your cultural norm you don't notice it, but I found it a real pain!

VAT or value added tax was an easy 8% when introduced. We used to have the American style purchase tax. VAT got hiked a couple of times, it now stands at 20%. We were told that it was to harmonise VAT across Europe, yeah right.

They harmonised the mechanism with VAT (all to do with the single market), but the actual level at which VAT is set remains up to individual nations. I've never been aware of it being lower than 15% in the UK, though it has varied between that, 17.5% and 20% in the last couple of decades. I certinly wouldn't miss paying it myself, though to be fair I also want the services it pays for!

How I agree with you about add ons. At the risk of Lizzie's ire, I hate booking fees. If I can't actually buy at the advertised price because there are handling fees, booking fees and any other creative fee that we can think of, then you shouldn't be allowed to advertise the product at the price minus those fees. Our airlines are past masters at it.

The EU gave the airlines fair warning; the airlines refused to play fair, so the law waschanged to force them to give the full price of the flight upfront. My sole regret (though I understand the reasoning) is that the EU courts decided that hold baggage charges could legitimately be separate, the trade off being that those who don't need hold baggage as a service don't need to pay for it. To my mind, the real racket is what they charge for "exces baggage". A couple of years ago we flew to Aberdeen from Gatwick. They wanted to charge us £90 in excess baggage for something like 4kgs over. We bought a nice carry-on bag for £40 (which we still have and use regularly), moved some bits around and got the plane with no extra charge.

What drives me mental about flying are the idiots who think they're being clever by being too cheap to pay twenty quid to put their bag in the hold... then you see them in Boots, airside, spending well over that on shampoo, sun cream, and all the other liquids they couldn't bring through security. Then they force their way to the front of the queue and take up all the space in the overheads (or squash your stuff if you are lucky to get in first) with their right-to-the-limits hand luggage (a 737 was never designed for any passenger to have more than a coat and handbag or small briefcase). And as if that's not enough, as soon as the plane lands, they want to stand up in the aisle, meaning that if you aren't in the window seat you're forced to stand up to let them out - and usually there isn't the room to sit down again.

Honestly, commercial air ptravle could make a Sartrist of the Dalai Lama.

EDIT: “Buckle up. We’re giving away FREE belts.”

That’s the headline on a Facebook ad for Tecovas, the Western boot company. But they aren’t giving away anything. You gotta buy the boots (a few hundred bucks) and they throw in the belt at no additional charge. Which is cool, I suppose, to have a new belt to match your new pair of s*** kickers, but it isn’t in any way FREE, in all caps or otherwise.

Depends how you define free, really. That ad wold probably pass muster here in the UK (the Advetising Standard Authority is pretty titght on these things) as long as it was clear that the free belt was contingent on a further purchase. If you only found the latter out when you got to the website to order, that would be a no-no. Equally, if they charged you an unreasonable amount for P&P of a 'just pay the postage' item, you'd be in trouble. It seemsa reasonable standard to me, but then there will always be those blinded by the ide of 'free' to the fact that it really isn't.

 

[Edward]

There's a strange psychology at work when it comes to these kinds of fees. We charge a $2 per ticket processing fee for tickets to events ordered online or by phone, because offering those services requires us to pay thousands of dollars a year for an internet-based processing service that we'd otherwise not need and have no use for, and honestly would like very much to be rid of forever. But if we abolished that fee and just raised the price of tickets purchased online or by phone by $2, we'd be crushed by a barrage of outrage from the Karen contingent who think it's just DESPICABLE that we'd TAKE ADVANTAGE of THE ELDERLY WHO CAN'T STAND IN LINE, or who LIVE ON THE ISLANDS AND CAN'T GET INTO TOWN, or whatever.

And yet, if you break the price down as "Regular Price plus $2 processing fee," they gladly pay it and don't kick at all.

Explanation?

Interesting psychology. I too often rail about "booking fees", but if I felt there was actually something being done for that money rather than just a gouge it might be different. Don't even get me started on the GBP4.00 "handling" fee - which you have to pay for many evnets in the UK irrespective of whether you have tickets posted out, pick the up at the box office, or even print your own.... And as for every single theatre in the UK levying another GBP1.00 "Restoration Charge"....

^^^

This reminds me that the practice in the UK and Europe is to price items in shops including all taxes. It says 45.95 on the tag, you pay 45.95 at the till.

Yes, I absolutely loathe, when in the US, having to remember that everything will cost more than it says it does on the shelf. I really don't understand why they do that - who does it benefit?

Since Amazon was mentioned, I find it obnoxious that if you look at something long enough or too many times, or leave it in you cart too long, the price goes up.

I've found it goes both ways. I often leave stuff in my Amazon basket for months at a time, and it does tend to go down as well as up over time.

 

[tonyb]

I lan to the view that some people do take more risks thinking a mask makes them invulnerable, but that's a world of difference from the notion that a mask does nothing. It has been shown in research tests tat even a basic cotton bandana can cut the risk of transmission by as much as 50%. I guess it's a bit like saying a motorcycle helmet can't stop you having an accident, but you are very significantly less likely to die of a head injury if you do wear one. Where it does differ - and where the problem reallyl ies imo - is that too many people seem to think of the mask as protecting themselves - and therefore feel entitled to flaunt the rules, claiming only to be risking themselves. The problem is that the primary purpose of the mask is to prevent the spread from especially asymptomatic people to others. I wish they expained that better - though alasit seemsthere are still the selfish types who would still see avoiding risk to other people as no reason to comply.

...

Look on the bright side. The undertaker’s kids will have a lovely Christmas.

 

[KILO NOVEMBER]

I'm indifferent to the VAT vs Sales Tax concept - gotta pay either way.... It does, however, drive me up the wall when in the US, having to remember everything costs more than it actually says it does on the label.... I assume when that's your cultural norm you don't notice it, but I found it a real pain!

You pay the tax either way, but I find it salutary when the taxes I pay are right in front of my face. Hidden away in VAT, I think you become inured to how much your public servants are dinging you every time you buy something.

For those who style themselves as sympathetic to "the people" (which always includes some people, but not others), sales and VAT are what economists call "regressive taxes". That is, it bites most deeply into that part of "the people" who must spend a very high proportion of their income (as opposed to savings) to keep body and soul together.

One of my favorite taxes shows up every Saturday when I have breakfast at a local diner. Like most U.S. states, Virginia has a general sales and use tax, so that's on the bill, the town in which the diner is located also imposes a tax on restaurant customers. This shows up on the bill as "meals tax tax", which always makes me chuckle when I read it.

 

[Trenchfriend]

SUV, the new husband midlife-crisis car?

 

[tonyb]

SUV, the new husband midlife-crisis car?

It's gotten to where the SUV and something called a "crossover" (SUV lite, pretty much) is the car of our times.

 

[MisterCairo]

SUV, the new husband midlife-crisis car?

SUV in Canada is simply the new minivan (aka people mover). This mid-life crisis will involve a Jaguar XF in British Racing Green...

 

[Zombie_61]

Since Amazon was mentioned, I find it obnoxious that if you look at something long enough or too many times, or leave it in you cart too long, the price goes up.

Hmm, I haven't noticed this. If I'm interested in something on Amazon but not ready to buy, I put it on my Wishlist. The price usually drops as the "new" wears off, and with a little patience I can usually get whatever the item is for a more reasonable price than it originally listed for...if it doesn't sell out and disappear first.

 

[Edward]

Look on the bright side. The undertaker’s kids will have a lovely Christmas.

Ha, now there's a business I'd be happy to get into.... if only I didn't have to deal with the bodies. Everything else about it would be fine, but I'm not a one for dealing with the bodies.

You pay the tax either way, but I find it salutary when the taxes I pay are right in front of my face. Hidden away in VAT, I think you become inured to how much your public servants are dinging you every time you buy something.

For those who style themselves as sympathetic to "the people" (which always includes some people, but not others), sales and VAT are what economists call "regressive taxes". That is, it bites most deeply into that part of "the people" who must spend a very high proportion of their income (as opposed to savings) to keep body and soul together.

There's certainly a broader political argument to be had about in it in terms of fairness (a key part of long-running debates across Europe as to which products should be VAT exempt, for one thing).

One of my favorite taxes shows up every Saturday when I have breakfast at a local diner. Like most U.S. states, Virginia has a general sales and use tax, so that's on the bill, the town in which the diner is located also imposes a tax on restaurant customers. This shows up on the bill as "meals tax tax", which always makes me chuckle when I read it.

Diner culture is one of the things I loved in the US. Interesting to compare the listings of local and federal taxes, which is different in the UK for obvious reasons.

Hmm, I haven't noticed this. If I'm interested in something on Amazon but not ready to buy, I put it on my Wishlist. The price usually drops as the "new" wears off, and with a little patience I can usually get whatever the item is for a more reasonable price than it originally listed for...if it doesn't sell out and disappear first.

I tend to find that as well. Ebay is interesting in that regard too - with some things I watch at fixed prices, I've noticed I'm increasingly being offered 10% and 25% and whatever off on those as listings wear on. Online sellers in general may be doing well out of the pandemic (online shopping as opposed to bricks and mortar soared here in the UK during lockdown, and that hasn't reversed since), but I suspect a lot of them individually must be hurting given many folks have less to spend right now.

 

[Lean'n'mean]

SUV, the new husband midlife-crisis car?

No, that would be the SAV.

 

[Turnip]

In Germany it’s rather the Soon Urn Vehicle, vast majority driving these things appear to be 70+, the transfer in and out is sooo very comfortable.

Disadvantages are those bombers often to get awkwardly parked, if possible over two slots and blocking half of street, and not switching traffic lights because Karl Heinz or Hannelore can’t survey their cars anymore, stopping too early, meters away from the contact loop in the track.

 

[LizzieMaine]

WHen we did our drive-in theatre over the summer, we required people calling in for tickets to specify the type of vehicle they'd be using -- it was necessary to assign larger vehicles to back rows so as not to block the view for smaller vehicles. Very very telling it was, how often the owners of monster-sized SUVs got sore because they couldn't have a spot right down front regardless of how many people they'd block behind them. One of our parking crew came to me and told me what exactly he'd been called by one of these drivers, and it wasn't "friend" or "neighbor."

 

[tonyb]

In this climate it’s easy to argue the practicality of an SUV.

 

[Trenchfriend]

I think we found out in Germany, why the SUV were so popular. These are the people, which can not more step out of a classic car with their ... ass.

 

[tonyb]

In Germany it’s rather the Soon Urn Vehicle, vast majority driving these things appear to be 70+, the transfer in and out is sooo very comfortable.
...

An old girlfriend’s dad, who is in his 90s now (and who really shouldn’t be driving at all, in old GF’s opinion) got himself a Lincoln Navigator for just that reason.

 

[KILO NOVEMBER]

The last time I bought a car it was a smallish Ford SUV. Not only is it easy to get in and out of, it has enough headroom that I don't have to remove my hat to do so.
My wife recently bought a hybrid Toyota SUV (RAV4). It seems bigger than mine, but I still have to remove my hat.