Re: Shopping problems

January 21, 2005

I remember those days very well. When and I were first married,

there was a grocery store that delivered and we could get anything from

there. I actually think we were more independent back then since shopping

wasn't the hassle that it is today.

cv

uyeast

>>> > infection

>>> > > > >> > > >

>>> > > > >> > > > Hello

>>> > > > >> > > > I know this is not a cool topic,

> but I

>>> > guess

>>> > > it's common

>>> > > in

>>> > > > >> > females,

>>> > > > >> > or

>>> > > > >> > > do males get too?

>>> > > > >> > > > and how can it be controlled?

>>> > > > >> > > >

>>> > > > >> > > > [Non-text portions of this message

> have

>>> > been

>>> > > removed]

>>> > > > >> > > >

>>> > > > >> > >

>>> > > > >> >

>>> > > > >

>>> > > >

>>> > >

>>> >

>>>

>>>> --------------------------------------------------------------------

>>>> -----

>>> > > -

>>> > > > >> > > ----

>>> > > > >> > > >

January 21, 2005

I remember those days very well. When and I were first married,

there was a grocery store that delivered and we could get anything from

there. I actually think we were more independent back then since shopping

wasn't the hassle that it is today.

cv

uyeast

>>> > infection

>>> > > > >> > > >

>>> > > > >> > > > Hello

>>> > > > >> > > > I know this is not a cool topic,

> but I

>>> > guess

>>> > > it's common

>>> > > in

>>> > > > >> > females,

>>> > > > >> > or

>>> > > > >> > > do males get too?

>>> > > > >> > > > and how can it be controlled?

>>> > > > >> > > >

>>> > > > >> > > > [Non-text portions of this message

> have

>>> > been

>>> > > removed]

>>> > > > >> > > >

>>> > > > >> > >

>>> > > > >> >

>>> > > > >

>>> > > >

>>> > >

>>> >

>>>

>>>> --------------------------------------------------------------------

>>>> -----

>>> > > -

>>> > > > >> > > ----

>>> > > > >> > > >

January 21, 2005

Denver has a delivery and lets just say I don't like to use it.

Because they drop items in the store and then say they won't know the

difference.

I saw this happening when I was shopping and it happened to someone else.

then the price is unreal for delivery.

If you get the wrong thing then you play the game on when they can come back

and pick it up.

Drove me nuts.

--Dar

--Every Saint has a Past,

Every Sinner has a Future

uyeast

>>> > infection

>>> > > > >> > > >

>>> > > > >> > > > Hello

>>> > > > >> > > > I know this is not a cool topic,

> but I

>>> > guess

>>> > > it's common

>>> > > in

>>> > > > >> > females,

>>> > > > >> > or

>>> > > > >> > > do males get too?

>>> > > > >> > > > and how can it be controlled?

>>> > > > >> > > >

>>> > > > >> > > > [Non-text portions of this message

> have

>>> > been

>>> > > removed]

>>> > > > >> > > >

>>> > > > >> > >

>>> > > > >> >

>>> > > > >

>>> > > >

>>> > >

>>> >

>>>

>>>> --------------------------------------------------------------------

>>>> -----

>>> > > -

>>> > > > >> > > ----

>>> > > > >> > > >

January 21, 2005

Cy,

Yes I remember those days of the old markets that delivered stuff. As for

shifting item locations, yes it is ad that supermarkets feel the need

relocate items. At first I thought it was just to promote impulse buying,

and that IS part of the equation. But the fundamental principle here is that

the longer a store can keep you shopping, the more items you will buy. The

thinking goes that for every 10 minutes you spend in the store, you are

likely to buy at least $10 more in merchandise. (It could be higher now,

this idea has been around for years.) This is why it's so important to

develop a shopping list and stick to it, despite the relocation of items you

wish to buy. This will cut your grocery costs down if you tell yourself that

yo uwill only buy what's on your list. If there's something you like that

you see by surprise, you tell yourself " Well, that's nice, but I'll put it

on my list for next time. " I try very hard not to giv into impulse buying.

And in some cases when an item is relocated, you can't find it without some

help, and then it's aggravating trying to get that help, or even worse,

walking out of the store without the item you wanted. Wouldn't it be nice if

stores would quit this practice? Fat chance.

Bill

January 21, 2005

Bill,

I know what you mean by not being able to learn a foreign language in order

to carry on a conversation in it. I did not learn until I was 38 years of

age that I had a hearing disability, and that is probably why I am one of

the world's worse spellers today and have always been.

Re: Shopping problems

>

> Cy,

>

> Unfortunately, the caliber of help in a store is not dictated by how smart

> that person is, it's how CHEAP they are. Employers don't consider a

> person's

> ability to read or communicat anymore, all they consider is keeping the

> bottom line black. They will put up with subgrade help as long as it's

> cheap. And you know what's really aggravating? (Here I go on my soapbox

> for

> the day, and please, I'm not meaning to slam race or nationality, but just

> to make a valid point.) So much of the help these days is expected to be

> bilingual. OK, that's fine, but when I actually find help only to find

> that

> person speaks Spanish but NO ENGLISH, I'm in a pickle. What happened to

> the

> BI-lingual? See, it's OK if they can speak Spanish, but it doesn't matter

> if

> they don't speak English. We just have to " give them a break " and " be

> understanding. " Oh I better stop now before I really get going on this.

> It's

> what I run up against as I look for work, the " Spanish " issue. And with my

> mild hearing impairment I doubt I'd ever be able to learn Spanish well

> enough, as it's hard enough understanding the way some people speak

> English.

> So, as the Spanish say, " que lastima. " (I probably spelled it wrong <G>).

>

> Whew!

>

> Enough venting for one day. Think I've heated up the apartment with my hot

> air......

>

> Bill

>

January 21, 2005

Bill,

Yup, you got it pegged...

Way back in the 60s K-Mart had a practice of keeping you in the check

out line as long as possible for the same reason. They had lines marked

by ropes and rails. I don't care if there were only two people in the

entire store you were going to be in the check out line for about

fifteen minutes.

Wal-Mart now seems to be practicing the same tactics in that they just

don't open up additional check out lines although the lines are probably

20 minutes long.

Crystal and I figure it is about $100 for each hour you spend in

Wal-Mart...

You are absolutely correct in that you can save a lot of money by

sticking strictly to your shopping list.

Knowing your prices is another way to save a lot of money. Stores have

" lost leaders " which they will advertise in order to get you in the

door. If you only purchase those items which are, indeed, a bargain and

leave the rest alone you will be much better off.

Albertson's is very good at jacking up the price in order to reduce it

and mark it as a sale item - many times for more than it sold for in the

first place.

Now, as a blind consumer we are at a tremendous disadvantage because we

may not have easy access to a store as other folks do. We may not be

able to just hop in and pick up the bargains and we may not have access

to the prices which are usually posted in fliers and newspaper

advertisements.

To paraphrase an old saying " It is really hard to remember that your

original mission was to find out how many carbs the items had when you

are completely frustrated by just trying to find the stupid product in

the first place. "

Cy, the very Ancient Okie...

Re: Shopping problems

Cy,

Yes I remember those days of the old markets that delivered stuff. As

for

shifting item locations, yes it is ad that supermarkets feel the need

relocate items. At first I thought it was just to promote impulse

buying,

and that IS part of the equation. But the fundamental principle here is

that

the longer a store can keep you shopping, the more items you will buy.

The

thinking goes that for every 10 minutes you spend in the store, you are

likely to buy at least $10 more in merchandise. (It could be higher now,

this idea has been around for years.) This is why it's so important to

develop a shopping list and stick to it, despite the relocation of items

you

wish to buy. This will cut your grocery costs down if you tell yourself

that

yo uwill only buy what's on your list. If there's something you like

that

you see by surprise, you tell yourself " Well, that's nice, but I'll put

it

on my list for next time. " I try very hard not to giv into impulse

buying.

And in some cases when an item is relocated, you can't find it without

some

help, and then it's aggravating trying to get that help, or even worse,

walking out of the store without the item you wanted. Wouldn't it be

nice if

stores would quit this practice? Fat chance.

Bill

January 21, 2005

Harry,

I always had hearing problems because i was born with rubella syndrome

(German measles.) Despite that, I have always been a good speller. I

attribute this in part to my being a print reader (large print) but also

because I was forced to learn Braille. When you reinforce the way a word

looks in both print and Braille, it helps you to spell better.

Unfortunately, too many kids today rely on spelling a word the way JAWS

sounds it out, and I can see this as I read e-mails. The " phonetic " spelling

is one of our worst literacy problems which especially impacts the blind and

visually impaired. It affects the sighted to almost the same degree, both

because of laziness and lack of education in our schools. But the godsend of

JAWS to help us communicate on the computer creates new ways words can be

spelled that go unchecked making those who don't spell check, look

illiterate.

Back to my original point though about learning another language. When you

have nerve deafness, as I do, the problem is that you may hear the sounds of

words being formed, but it's impossible to process these sounds fast enough

to have them be meaningful so they literally go in one ear and out the

other. Really fast speech even in English is out of the question when it

comes to understanding it or responding to it. So to learn another language

with a whole new set of sound formations with this road block already in

place is just not something I can deal with.

To make matters worse, when I was younger and trying to learn Spanish, I'm

sure my blood pressure was higher as I was also proportionately more

overweight, and that I think lowered my hearing acuity. Now as an adult I

know my blood pressure always needs attention, as does diabetes, etc., so I

can take better care of me. But I'm sure all those years of higher than

usual BP left its mark on my hearing curve.

And no, hearing aids don't completely solve the problem. It's not the VOLUME

of the voices as much as the brain's ability to receive the nerve impulses

to process into something meaningful, and then to process them. Let me put

it another way. Someone can say something to me from across the room and I

hear them talking but, not anticipating what they are saying, I'm not quite

rady to process their words so they just whiz by. OK, say my wife says " what

do you want to have for lunch " ? OK, I know she said several words that ended

with " unch " , which rhymes with " lunch " but I will ask again? Now I can

recognize there are going to be more than three words that end in " unch " so

I've come to expect somewhat what I'm going to hear. This is an

over-exaggeration of what I'm getting at but it's the principle of the nerve

deafness process acuity process that would keep me from learning another

language where the various syllables seem to be so much quicker and

variable.

Again, I digressed from the original thread. But did any of this make sense?

It doesn't solve anything, but did anyone make sense from it??

Oh well, back to making up my shopping list.....in English.

Bill

January 21, 2005

This reminds me of the poster I saw way back when I was in school.

Picture this: A man is standing waste deep in water in the middle of the

swamp. He is surrounded by several snapping alligators. The caption of the

poster says, " Pay no attention to the alligators. Remember your task is to

drain the swamp. "

Re: Shopping problems

>

> Cy,

>

> Yes I remember those days of the old markets that delivered stuff. As

> for

> shifting item locations, yes it is ad that supermarkets feel the need

> relocate items. At first I thought it was just to promote impulse

> buying,

> and that IS part of the equation. But the fundamental principle here is

> that

> the longer a store can keep you shopping, the more items you will buy.

> The

> thinking goes that for every 10 minutes you spend in the store, you are

> likely to buy at least $10 more in merchandise. (It could be higher now,

>

> this idea has been around for years.) This is why it's so important to

> develop a shopping list and stick to it, despite the relocation of items

> you

> wish to buy. This will cut your grocery costs down if you tell yourself

> that

> yo uwill only buy what's on your list. If there's something you like

> that

> you see by surprise, you tell yourself " Well, that's nice, but I'll put

> it

> on my list for next time. " I try very hard not to giv into impulse

> buying.

> And in some cases when an item is relocated, you can't find it without

> some

> help, and then it's aggravating trying to get that help, or even worse,

> walking out of the store without the item you wanted. Wouldn't it be

> nice if

> stores would quit this practice? Fat chance.

>

> Bill

>

January 21, 2005

Yes, it makes perfect sense to me. BTW the hearing disability I learned I

have is the fact that I do not hear any sounds over 6000Hz, which is due to

nerve damage.

Re: Shopping problems

>

> Harry,

>

> I always had hearing problems because i was born with rubella syndrome

> (German measles.) Despite that, I have always been a good speller. I

> attribute this in part to my being a print reader (large print) but also

> because I was forced to learn Braille. When you reinforce the way a word

> looks in both print and Braille, it helps you to spell better.

> Unfortunately, too many kids today rely on spelling a word the way JAWS

> sounds it out, and I can see this as I read e-mails. The " phonetic "

> spelling

> is one of our worst literacy problems which especially impacts the blind

> and

> visually impaired. It affects the sighted to almost the same degree, both

> because of laziness and lack of education in our schools. But the godsend

> of

> JAWS to help us communicate on the computer creates new ways words can be

> spelled that go unchecked making those who don't spell check, look

> illiterate.

>

> Back to my original point though about learning another language. When you

> have nerve deafness, as I do, the problem is that you may hear the sounds

> of

> words being formed, but it's impossible to process these sounds fast

> enough

> to have them be meaningful so they literally go in one ear and out the

> other. Really fast speech even in English is out of the question when it

> comes to understanding it or responding to it. So to learn another

> language

> with a whole new set of sound formations with this road block already in

> place is just not something I can deal with.

>

> To make matters worse, when I was younger and trying to learn Spanish, I'm

> sure my blood pressure was higher as I was also proportionately more

> overweight, and that I think lowered my hearing acuity. Now as an adult I

> know my blood pressure always needs attention, as does diabetes, etc., so

> I

> can take better care of me. But I'm sure all those years of higher than

> usual BP left its mark on my hearing curve.

>

> And no, hearing aids don't completely solve the problem. It's not the

> VOLUME

> of the voices as much as the brain's ability to receive the nerve impulses

> to process into something meaningful, and then to process them. Let me put

> it another way. Someone can say something to me from across the room and I

> hear them talking but, not anticipating what they are saying, I'm not

> quite

> rady to process their words so they just whiz by. OK, say my wife says

> " what

> do you want to have for lunch " ? OK, I know she said several words that

> ended

> with " unch " , which rhymes with " lunch " but I will ask again? Now I can

> recognize there are going to be more than three words that end in " unch "

> so

> I've come to expect somewhat what I'm going to hear. This is an

> over-exaggeration of what I'm getting at but it's the principle of the

> nerve

> deafness process acuity process that would keep me from learning another

> language where the various syllables seem to be so much quicker and

> variable.

>

> Again, I digressed from the original thread. But did any of this make

> sense?

> It doesn't solve anything, but did anyone make sense from it??

>

> Oh well, back to making up my shopping list.....in English.

>

> Bill

>

January 21, 2005

Oh if they had those busses here,

it would help my knees so much.

--Dar

--Every Saint has a Past,

Every Sinner has a Future

Re: Shopping problems

>

> When I was living in Baltimore, we had a really neat delivery service

> though

> it was short-lived. You would call in your order and set up a delivery

> date.

> When the items were delivered you would pay for them plus a nominal

> delivery

> charge, and for the most part it was pretty cool. Except that sometimes

> you

> didn't get the brand you specified and had to put up with it.

>

> Then one fine day we got this letter in the mail saying the delivery

> service

> was bellying up. Of course a lot of people like myself complained about

> the

> demise of the delivery service and suddenly it was going to be revised

> because of " popular demand. " Except for one small catch. The previous

> $2.50

> delivery charge was now something like $15, and if I remember right, you

> had

> to prepay the delivery charge. Bye-bye delivery service. We started doing

> our own grocery shopping and taking it home in a cab.

>

> And back here in Riverside, we still go to the grocery store with a little

> cart, get our groceries and then board the bus back home. Fortunately, our

> buses here don't have steps, it's just flat so you can rol the cart right

> on

> to the bus. Works for us.

>

> Bill

>

January 21, 2005

Oh if they had those busses here,

it would help my knees so much.

--Dar

--Every Saint has a Past,

Every Sinner has a Future

Re: Shopping problems

>

> When I was living in Baltimore, we had a really neat delivery service

> though

> it was short-lived. You would call in your order and set up a delivery

> date.

> When the items were delivered you would pay for them plus a nominal

> delivery

> charge, and for the most part it was pretty cool. Except that sometimes

> you

> didn't get the brand you specified and had to put up with it.

>

> Then one fine day we got this letter in the mail saying the delivery

> service

> was bellying up. Of course a lot of people like myself complained about

> the

> demise of the delivery service and suddenly it was going to be revised

> because of " popular demand. " Except for one small catch. The previous

> $2.50

> delivery charge was now something like $15, and if I remember right, you

> had

> to prepay the delivery charge. Bye-bye delivery service. We started doing

> our own grocery shopping and taking it home in a cab.

>

> And back here in Riverside, we still go to the grocery store with a little

> cart, get our groceries and then board the bus back home. Fortunately, our

> buses here don't have steps, it's just flat so you can rol the cart right

> on

> to the bus. Works for us.

>

> Bill

>

January 21, 2005

Hi Bill,

Yes, lost leaders is an old, old trick. Now, as for the long check out

lines I mentioned, I have seen a particular Wal-Mart just simply not

open up lines although there were associates who are cashiers available.

It is just another tactic to keep you in the sotre so you might remember

that you really wanted to look at the CD collection or whatever.

Some folks will go do a little more shopping in hopes the lines will get

shorter in a " little while " .

We have a chain of stores through Oklahoma, Arkansas, Colorado and

Kansas I believe called " Sav-A-Lot " .

Their prices are much lower and they are consistant. They also produce a

price list which you can take home with you. The prices seem to be

consistant throughout the store's different franchisees.

Canned veggies are mostly 29 to 33 cents. (anyone remember when

typewriters had the cent sign?).

Their Velveta look alike is considerably cheaper than Wal-Mart's

offering and it is much less salty.

Perhaps this group will spread out even more. I think they are the next

generation of the old IGA concept, independently owned stores buying

from a single source in order to get a better price.

Cy, the Ancient Okie...

Re: Shopping problems

Cy,

" Loss leaders " is an old tactic that every retailer uses. If we can go

in

and buy only those items, the store loses out and we get a really good

bargain.

Stalling you in a checkout line is more a function of not hiring enough

labor than other reason, though if you stay in that line long enough

you'll

buy those tabloid magazines or gum or candy that is staring you in the

face

on either side. But again, I resist the " impulse buying " that the store

is

trying to entice me wtih. For one, I don't need the tabloid, even though

I

could actually read one though my wife can't. I don't need the gum

because I

usually don't buy it anyway. And none of that stuff is on my list.

About Albertson's: Yes they do jack up prices a lot, that's why I don't

shop

there. I shop at a store that does NOT use a club card, has fairly

consistent overall prices without all the gimmicks, and I feel I get a

good

deal of groceries for the money evey time. Too bad Stater Brothers is

not a

national chain, but rather, it's a Southern California chain that's been

arond for 60 years. I don't have to play games going in there, but I

still

have to be just as defensive toward impulse buying as anywhere else.

Bill

January 21, 2005

Hi Bill,

Yes, lost leaders is an old, old trick. Now, as for the long check out

lines I mentioned, I have seen a particular Wal-Mart just simply not

open up lines although there were associates who are cashiers available.

It is just another tactic to keep you in the sotre so you might remember

that you really wanted to look at the CD collection or whatever.

Some folks will go do a little more shopping in hopes the lines will get

shorter in a " little while " .

We have a chain of stores through Oklahoma, Arkansas, Colorado and

Kansas I believe called " Sav-A-Lot " .

Their prices are much lower and they are consistant. They also produce a

price list which you can take home with you. The prices seem to be

consistant throughout the store's different franchisees.

Canned veggies are mostly 29 to 33 cents. (anyone remember when

typewriters had the cent sign?).

Their Velveta look alike is considerably cheaper than Wal-Mart's

offering and it is much less salty.

Perhaps this group will spread out even more. I think they are the next

generation of the old IGA concept, independently owned stores buying

from a single source in order to get a better price.

Cy, the Ancient Okie...

Re: Shopping problems

Cy,

" Loss leaders " is an old tactic that every retailer uses. If we can go

in

and buy only those items, the store loses out and we get a really good

bargain.

Stalling you in a checkout line is more a function of not hiring enough

labor than other reason, though if you stay in that line long enough

you'll

buy those tabloid magazines or gum or candy that is staring you in the

face

on either side. But again, I resist the " impulse buying " that the store

is

trying to entice me wtih. For one, I don't need the tabloid, even though

I

could actually read one though my wife can't. I don't need the gum

because I

usually don't buy it anyway. And none of that stuff is on my list.

About Albertson's: Yes they do jack up prices a lot, that's why I don't

shop

there. I shop at a store that does NOT use a club card, has fairly

consistent overall prices without all the gimmicks, and I feel I get a

good

deal of groceries for the money evey time. Too bad Stater Brothers is

not a

national chain, but rather, it's a Southern California chain that's been

arond for 60 years. I don't have to play games going in there, but I

still

have to be just as defensive toward impulse buying as anywhere else.

Bill

January 21, 2005

Harry,

That is where I coined it from.

Cy, the Ancient Okie...

Re: Shopping problems

This reminds me of the poster I saw way back when I was in school.

Picture this: A man is standing waste deep in water in the middle of

the

swamp. He is surrounded by several snapping alligators. The caption of

the

poster says, " Pay no attention to the alligators. Remember your task is

to

drain the swamp. "

Re: Shopping problems

>

> Cy,

>

> Yes I remember those days of the old markets that delivered stuff. As

> for shifting item locations, yes it is ad that supermarkets feel the

> need relocate items. At first I thought it was just to promote impulse

> buying,

> and that IS part of the equation. But the fundamental principle here

is

> that

> the longer a store can keep you shopping, the more items you will buy.

> The

> thinking goes that for every 10 minutes you spend in the store, you

are

> likely to buy at least $10 more in merchandise. (It could be higher

now,

>

> this idea has been around for years.) This is why it's so important to

> develop a shopping list and stick to it, despite the relocation of

> items you wish to buy. This will cut your grocery costs down if you

> tell yourself that

> yo uwill only buy what's on your list. If there's something you like

> that

> you see by surprise, you tell yourself " Well, that's nice, but I'll

put

> it

> on my list for next time. " I try very hard not to giv into impulse

> buying.

> And in some cases when an item is relocated, you can't find it without

> some

> help, and then it's aggravating trying to get that help, or even

worse,

> walking out of the store without the item you wanted. Wouldn't it be

> nice if

> stores would quit this practice? Fat chance.

>

> Bill

>

January 21, 2005

Harry,

That is where I coined it from.

Cy, the Ancient Okie...

Re: Shopping problems

This reminds me of the poster I saw way back when I was in school.

Picture this: A man is standing waste deep in water in the middle of

the

swamp. He is surrounded by several snapping alligators. The caption of

the

poster says, " Pay no attention to the alligators. Remember your task is

to

drain the swamp. "

Re: Shopping problems

>

> Cy,

>

> Yes I remember those days of the old markets that delivered stuff. As

> for shifting item locations, yes it is ad that supermarkets feel the

> need relocate items. At first I thought it was just to promote impulse

> buying,

> and that IS part of the equation. But the fundamental principle here

is

> that

> the longer a store can keep you shopping, the more items you will buy.

> The

> thinking goes that for every 10 minutes you spend in the store, you

are

> likely to buy at least $10 more in merchandise. (It could be higher

now,

>

> this idea has been around for years.) This is why it's so important to

> develop a shopping list and stick to it, despite the relocation of

> items you wish to buy. This will cut your grocery costs down if you

> tell yourself that

> yo uwill only buy what's on your list. If there's something you like

> that

> you see by surprise, you tell yourself " Well, that's nice, but I'll

put

> it

> on my list for next time. " I try very hard not to giv into impulse

> buying.

> And in some cases when an item is relocated, you can't find it without

> some

> help, and then it's aggravating trying to get that help, or even

worse,

> walking out of the store without the item you wanted. Wouldn't it be

> nice if

> stores would quit this practice? Fat chance.

>

> Bill

>

January 21, 2005

Harry,

Wow! You DO have profound nerve deafness. I can still hear things up in the

treble range but my cutoff is probably 14,000 Hz and my biggest deficit is

in the voice range.

Bill

January 21, 2005

Cy,

Part of the problem with not opening up more checkstands even with help

being available is that cashiers are on a quota system (like so many lines

of work these days). If you are ringing up groceries, you'd better ring up

500 items an hour or else. If someone opens up a check stand and rings up

say 75 items and then the lines thin out and there's nothing to check the

rest of that hour, the cashier still didn't meet quota. So channeling the

anticipated amount of work versus a quota output becomes part of the

problem. Better to keep a long line for the cashiers already on the floor

than to have a bunch of fast moving lines where all the cashiers come up

short in their quota. That would net the manager having a " Come to Jesus "

meeting with his district supervisor and probably cost him some of the

paultry end-of-year bonus he might get. Yes some of the stalling is geared

to inducing more impulse buying, but it's mostly about labor cost (number of

cashiers) versus output (how much you rang up) and about mapping out the

workload. Not an easy task.

Bill Powers

January 21, 2005