Chit-Chat: What's On Your Mind Today?

[Quof]

1 hour ago, Calvada said:

any cash I have in my wallet has to be arranged by denomination, with all the faces on the bills in the same direction

Only sociopaths do otherwise.  

[Bastet]

1 hour ago, Calvada said:

That means another thing I learned from her that I still do is any cash I have in my wallet has to be arranged by denomination, with all the faces on the bills in the same direction.

While I have no problem looking at my unmade bed (with or without sleeping kitty), I would convulse if my wallet was arranged any other way.

[nokat]

1 hour ago, Calvada said:

No, she was a bank teller.  That means another thing I learned from her that I still do is any cash I have in my wallet has to be arranged by denomination, with all the faces on the bills in the same direction.  Into her late 80s, my mom was always in charge of the cash box at bake sales and crafts sales at her church.  She was a whiz at adding and subtracting in her head, making change, and counting out the cash box at the end.

I had a check sent to me, and I didn't want to use the bank app, so I walked in with the check and wanting some cash back. The teller counted out the cash I wanted, all in a certain order, and facing the same way. She counted first for herself, and then for me.

I have my cash arranged a similar way.

[Mindthinkr]

11 minutes ago, nokat said:

I have my cash arranged a similar way.

Looks like those of us who do still carry cash do it that way. Which I think is the correct way. I put a rubber band around it too. I learned it that it makes it harder to pickpocket it that way. 

[fastiller]

When I was a kid, my Dad & Mum would have me arrange the bills in their wallets.  So, when I became a bank teller out of HS, I was sure to arrange the bills in my cash box all facing the same direction. I would SMH at my fellow tellers who did otherwise.  It was that job that had me doing cash breakdowns whenever I would deposit cash at the bank (which was often as my night gig was a bartender, so I had a lot of cash tips).

[Browncoat]

I learned to arrange bills by denomination and to face them when I was a cashier way way back in the day.  My bank tellers now tell me that facing them is not a thing any more, and when I do get cash, the faces are random.  They're all face up, but I immediately have to "fix" them so they're all the same orientation.

On second thought, I might have learned to arrange bills by denomination when I first learned to play Monopoly.  But facing them was definitely from the cashier gig.

[ebk57]

My cashier, then bank teller days taught me to do the cash thing properly.  Now, when I go to the bank for cash and they just hand me bills facing any which way, I will count them myself (which one should always do while in sight of the teller) while arranging them properly before I leave the window.  I like to set a good example...

Edited Sunday at 08:16 PM by ebk57
I was only 1 cashier at a time...

[BlueSkies]

I actually enjoy doing my own taxes.

 

Paying on the other hand is another story....  

[shapeshifter]

14 minutes ago, BlueSkies said:

I actually enjoy doing my own taxes.

"Enjoy" is not the term I would use. 
But I will continue to do my own taxes, cut my own hair, trim my own nails, clean my own home, prepare my own food, etc. etc. until I cannot.
There are moments in these endeavors when I feel a sense of accomplishment. 

[Bastet]

1 hour ago, BlueSkies said:

Paying on the other hand is another story....  

Paying means you did it right.  You don't want to owe estimated and not do it, but if at the end of the tax year you're writing a reasonably-priced check to the IRS rather than them writing one to you, it means you didn't give them more money during that year than you actually owed; it was yours, not theirs, to do what you wanted/needed for that time.

[BooksRule]

On 2/9/2025 at 9:47 AM, nokat said:

Country pork ribs with brussels sprouts. If you haven't already turned up your nose, it is such a good pairing. 

I slow-baked some country style ribs in the oven (slathered with BBQ sauce) yesterday and had the rest for lunch today.  They were good.  I didn't have any brussels sprouts on hand, but if I had they would have been a good match (roasted brown in the oven with the ribs). 

 

[Absolom]

3 hours ago, shapeshifter said:

I will continue to do my own taxes, cut my own hair, trim my own nails, clean my own home, prepare my own food, etc. etc. until I cannot.

I do almost all of that, too.  However, I don't cut my own hair and the world probably appreciates that.  I would probably look like a clown or worse if I did more than the once a year catch the stray hairs.

[shapeshifter]

3 hours ago, Absolom said:

I do almost all of that, too.  However, I don't cut my own hair and the world probably appreciates that.  I would probably look like a clown or worse if I did more than the once a year catch the stray hairs.

Understood. It's not for everyone. A professional friend gave me a few lessons, then I paid close attention when I got my hair cut until 2008 when I needed to "cut" my expenses. But it wasn't until the salon I was going to with some gift certificates shut down, followed soon by the pandemic, that I watched a few YouTube videos until I found one that illustrated how to give yourself a bob (Brad Mondo). I use 2 facing mirrors so I can see the back, but mostly a lot of tiny elastics. And I'm an ambidextrous portrait painter.

But if I was still living where the pre-pandemic hair stylist was, and if I could find her, I'd go back.

[Soapy Goddess]

13 hours ago, nokat said:

I read something about people from the US being like labrador dogs. We come up waving our tails and friendly. I know this is so true. I can make eye contact with someone in a grocery store, and the next thing we'll be having a conversation.

Having lived in several different areas of the country (U.S.), I also find friendliness to be regional.

[nokat]

3 hours ago, Soapy Goddess said:

Having lived in several different areas of the country (U.S.), I also find friendliness to be regional.

This is very true. In bigger cities you don't make eye contact. There are smaller areas that are very territorial. I'm now in a mid-sized city where it is very friendly.

[ABay]

When I first moved to CT after living in Ohio and western New York, I assumed the state motto was "Service with a snarl."

It's not that bad, really, just compared to the other places.

It also depends on why you're communicating. In my experience, people in large cities are almost always happy to give you directions and some will ask if you need help if you're wandering around looking befuddled or are obviously a tourist. Perhaps because the conversation is brief, purposeful, has a definite end point, and both parties can walk away when it's over.

[fastiller]

Ah, the old "West Coasters are nice but not kind; East Coasters are kind but not nice" conversation.

[Ohiopirate02]

Just now, fastiller said:

Ah, the old "West Coasters are nice but not kind; East Coasters are kind but not nice" conversation.

I love this debate because on the surface kind and nice seem like they are synonyms, but they really are not when push comes to shove. I personally would rather be around surly New Yorkers than overly nice Southerners. Because I know which one will help me when I'm lost or need a tire changed.

[Dimity]

1 minute ago, Ohiopirate02 said:

I personally would rather be around surly New Yorkers than overly nice Southerners.

Deliverance was set in the South.  Nuf said!

[shapeshifter]

4 hours ago, nokat said:

This is very true. In bigger cities you don't make eye contact. There are smaller areas that are very territorial. I'm now in a mid-sized city where it is very friendly.

I read (and it made sense) that people who live in places with congested foot-traffic would be quickly exhausted if they smiled and nodded to every person they passed.

In contrast, adjacent to homes I rented for 20 years, in a very rural area with no stop lights, it was common for drivers to wave at each other as they passed.

And even a step beyond:
Once I was in Iowa for a work conference, in a highway rest stop, washing my hands, and muttered how I should have rolled up my sleeves before getting my hands wet. The (presumably) Iowan woman in the restroom with me came over and rolled up my sleeves.
I still cherish that moment.

 

2 hours ago, ABay said:

It also depends on why you're communicating. In my experience, people in large cities are almost always happy to give you directions and some will ask if you need help if you're wandering around looking befuddled or are obviously a tourist. Perhaps because the conversation is brief, purposeful, has a definite end point, and both parties can walk away when it's over.

Yes. This👆.

[Anduin]

It's gone April here, which means it's April Fools Day. Be aware of all kinds of dumb pranks. Here's a good guide.

[nokat]

1 hour ago, Anduin said:

It's gone April here, which means it's April Fools Day. Be aware of all kinds of dumb pranks. Here's a good guide.

Dang it, I fell for it. I do love the song though.

[nokat]

My friend is trying to get me out more. I think she is rethinking this as I hit on too many guys. The one I actually liked was with a woman giving me eye daggers.  She's not a wife, but I think is a wannabe. If looks could kill though, I'd be buried in a shallow grave with her slamming the dirt with a shovel.

[Calvada]

On 3/30/2025 at 5:30 PM, Bastet said:

Paying means you did it right.  You don't want to owe estimated and not do it, but if at the end of the tax year you're writing a reasonably-priced check to the IRS rather than them writing one to you, it means you didn't give them more money during that year than you actually owed; it was yours, not theirs, to do what you wanted/needed for that time.

I had a co-worker once who could not understand this.  I said the goal is to break even, to owe nothing and not get a refund.  Of course, it never works out perfectly, most of the time I end up owing a nominal amount or I'm getting a nominal refund.  I couldn't get her to understand that getting a big refund meant the government had your money for months and was returning it to you without it earning a penny of interest.  But how would they pay for their family spring break vacation without that big refund??  

I had a family member who got huge refunds two years in a row.  They adopted two children born two years apart, but the adoptions were finalized in consecutive years, about 19 months apart.  They were able to declare all their expenses related to the adoptions, money they had saved during the years they were trying to get pregnant.  They used the refunds as a down payment on a larger house.  This was about 20 years ago; I don't know if the tax laws regarding adoption expenses are the same now.  My family member said getting those big refunds was wonderful, but not wonderful enough to consider a third child!