Harbor Freight Tools -- I'm paying cash!

A few days ago I was at the local Harbor Freight Tools , the discount big box store for tools. Harbor Freight is obsessed with collecting information on you with the intent of email spamming or filling your mailbox with junk mail.

To be fair, I have a sentimental feeling for U.S. Postal workers. My late dad retired from as a carrier. However, I also have a problem with receiving multiple, mostly the same weekly mailing. And, I have zero use for more spam email. Add, to that the weekly bundle of circulars dumped into the foyer of my condo building which include HFT circulars.

With this in mind I have a habit of annoying the HFT cashiers by challenging them when they ask me for my phone number. I rarely buy anything expensive at HFT almost always paying cash. When the cashier asks for my number I tell them "I'm paying with cash." They're usually confused, then annoyed by this response. I'm supposed to just automatically comply and tell them my number with a smile.

Reminds me of years ago when I was in the habit of donating blood and the intake nurse would ask: Name? ... Social ..." -- as in Social Security Number. Then, in 2006, someone stole a Red Cross Laptop with containing sensitive ID info. Fortunately, the data was encrypted. Suddenly, . the American Red Cross realized it had no need to take down SSNs.

In the most recent HFT episode the dude wanted to know why my paying with cash had to do with anything. My response to him was why do I need to give out my phone number if I'm paying with cash. His retort was then to point out the obvious, he's 'reading from script'. Then informed me, as if I needed to know, he would only be working at HFT for a couple more weeks.

Hey, Roche Brothers!, Ask EVERYONE to support the Children's Hospital

I have a real pet peeve with New England based Roche Brothers supermarket chain. Yes, they have some of the best muffins around, the reason I keep four packs of their orange cranberry muffins in the freezer. I have 1/2 a muffin with my morning coffee.

That's not my peeve.

Roche Brothers rewards you five cents ($0.05) for using a reusable bag in place of plastic bags. Target does the same thing.  I make a habit using reusable totes on principle. I'm doing my tiny part  to reduce plastic waste in the environment

Here's my peeve.

Periodically, Roche Brothers will ask if I would like to donate my tiny five cent reuse bag rebate to Children's Hospital. Sure it's also a nickel and this shaming exercise likely makes me look like a selfish jerk if I say no.

I say no anyway.

Here's why.

Roche Brothers only asks re-usable bag users to give back the nickel. They don't ask plastic bag users to donate a nickel or anything. I see this tiny nickel rebate as a tiny token reward for my tiny part adding less plastic trash to the environment. I usually tell the cashier that much if I'm the only one on line. I did once refuse returning the nickel then offered to donate my spare change.

I did once email Roche Brothers about my peeve.

They replied with the predictable corporate drivel asserting most of their customers were happy with the policy. I doubt any other customer has ever written Roche Brothers about this. I doubt, other than silence, Roche Brothers has any clue what customers think of this little shaming exercise.

Want raise money for Children's Hospital Roche Brothers? Ask ALL customers to donate their spare change.

No Tiger, respect is earned and not owed

Recently, when asked about his relationship with Donald Trump, pro-Golfer Tiger Woods responded

 

 "Well, he's the president of the United States. You have to respect the office. No matter who is in the office, you may like, dislike personality or the politics, but we all must respect the office.'' -- Tiger Woods on President Trump: 'We all must respect the office'

First the statement is ambiguous. Woods was asked about the man in the office. That said, regardless of whether you're speaking of the man or the office he occupies respect is earned and not owed. 

 

Rant: Dust. DST. So annoying

Last night I was out till 1AM trying to image Comet 41P  and four galaxies M51, M81, M82. If I haven't mentioned already I'm an intermediate amateur astronomer, really sky gazer. I use a Celestron 8 mounted on a really nice AVX mount. I love this scope.

So why the rant? First, like other amateurs astronomers I'm no fan of "daylight saving time". First the name is stupid because nothing is saved, especially the energy since DST encourages people to jump in their cars after returning from work.

Darkness is just shifted later into the night which means I have to stay up that much later to enjoy my avocation.Nothing I can do about this non-energy saving government policy gift to the retail and outdoor industry.

Anyway about the annoying dust. I should have checked my imaging camera earlier in the day and cleaned the surfaces. I captured what would have been a really nice image of galaxy M81 were it not for the big black dust shadow marring the image.

Comet 41P/Tuttle–Giacobini–Kresák

Galaxy M-51

Galaxy M81

Galaxy NGC2403

Should you default to Amazon?

I don't order items from Amazon that often. That, said one of the best places to read reviews is Amazon.

Frequently I find better deals at other vendors that get overlooked by Amazon defaulters especially Amazon Prime members.

For example B&H Photo and Video in New York charges no sales tax outside of the Big Apple and offers free expedited shipping for items over $49.

Bezos is already filthy rich. Consider spreading some of that wealth and maybe even getting a better deal. 

RANT: Why does a book about a one minute workout need to be 270 pages?

On one of my favorite science podcasts,   Quirks & Quarks  the author of the book

One-Minute Workout was interviewed. I'm a heavy library user and promptly went online to see if the local branch had the book. As expected, on checking the table of contents, the book was in the mid 200 pages in length.

I'll find a magazine article or two  that summarize the gist of the book. I suspect publishers push authors to fatten books to justify the price of the book. At least one Amazon reviewer has described the book as repetitive, a common characteristic of fattened books.

Why I won't be doing McDonald's BFast all day or morning

One morning I was driving back to Massachusetts from Maryland on Route 15. There's a McDonald's right on the highway where I planned to stop for a sausage biscuit with egg and a hot chocolate. It was 10:55,  I was on line and the breakfast menu was active. 

Behind me I could hear a guy saying to his family that he hopes they switch to the lunch menu at 11. Can I repeat I was already on line. One would think a store manager would have enough customer savvy to respect a customer already online. He would not. At exactly 11 the guy switched to the lunch menu and simply refused to honor my request to order from the breakfast menu.

Ticked off I swore off McDonald's for more than a year. Then I broke down stopped at a McDonald's for a sausage biscuit with egg. To my disappointment the recipe had changed. The biscuits are less buttery and less tasty. On a different occasion I decided to try a breakfast burrito. I can see why they're  only a buck. The egg is okay but the sausage is short on flavor.

No wonder McDonald's has been losing visits.