Slow day?

[Drakantus]

not a single post in here from today!

 

[Buck]

There are a few, but not many. At a quick glance, you posted as did Gilbo and Pradeep, and now me. But it happens sometimes, many times I'll be here sipping on a drink but won't say anything.

 

[Bartender]

When it's slow I get the chance to do some proper cleaning and mend any broken furniture. With my assistant out, it's made things busier for me, so a little slow-down is nice.

Anything special I can get you Drankantus?

 

[Mercutio]

It has been slow.

Unfortunately for me I've been spending less time at my desk lately, which makes the daytime posting rather difficult.

 

[sechs]

I've actually had stuff to do. Not anything that pays, mind you....

 

[Buck]

Bartender, you can get me another beer and a shot of Bourbon, thank you much.

Slow day you say? Not today. Outside of my regular routine of helping customers with their computer issues, I'm helping an elderly friend with her phone service. She arranged for the phone company to disconnect her old number on Sunday and for the new service to connect today. Woops, they missed that one by a long shot. Instead, they assigned her that phone service dates that were supposed to be for her cable - same company; the almighty Cox. Hence, she is in her new house without regular phone service. What a shame too, here is an 80+ year old woman that is needs a phone in case of emergency.

Getting someone competent at Cox was fun. The first joker that I spoke with took my phone number and said he would call me back. I'm calling him from this elderly woman’s house using my cell phone. So I give him my home phone number to call me back. I race home, check no messages, and wait. After 90 minutes I call Cox back and find out that prince-of-the-retards from Cox leaves a note in the case: ‘Customer has a message machine.’ Why didn’t he leave message? I’ve been waiting here for over an hour for nothing because your crack-pot customer service representative doesn’t know how to leave a voice message!?! Next I get the old ‘this is technical support, so I can’t really help you, let me transfer you to the customer care department.’ Okay. After another bout of hold music I get a real winner. He was as useless as a tit on a bull. He flat out couldn’t help me with anything and told me that I needed to talk with technical support. Ha! I put a stop to that move and quickly got a hold of his supervisor.

Otis was at least willing to help. But guess what, it was now passed their dispatch hours so he couldn’t arrange anything definite. Plus, tomorrow is completely booked for all of the telephone technicians, and they need to make a personal house call to activate the service. I asked, “So you’re saying that you don’t have the ability to make accommodations for situations like this? What kind of service organization is this?” (A few other choice words came out in a tactful but forceful manner.) Otis is making definite plans for his boss, Sue, to call me back in the morning with some concrete arrangements. I have their extensions if I need to call either of them.

Anyway, this elderly lady has my cell phone, and knows how to use it, if she needs to make or take calls.

After a little Johann Strauss and wee bit of Bourbon, I feel better. Now it’s time for bed. I need rest for my discussion with Sue.

 

[Fushigi]

If she doesn't do a ton of calling, get her a cel phone & ditch the land line all together. Better flexibility, like having it available when she's out and about.

You'd think with the competition for phone service (RBOC, Cable, Cel) companies would make an effort to satisfy customers. :evil:

 

[Buck]

She does a lot of calling; with many family and friends spread around the whole country.

 

[Platform]

Here's at least 29 posts for today...

 

[Buck]

Well, I received a call from Stephanie this morning, a service technician will be coming around between 10:00 a.m. and 12:00 p.m. to setup the phone.

 

[mubs]

You're a good man, Buck.

 

[Howell]

I wouldn't trust my elderly to a cell phone but several cell companies allow unlimited minutes within their own company.

 

[Buck]

You're a good man, Buck.

Thanks mubs.

I wouldn't trust my elderly to a cell phone but several cell companies allow unlimited minutes within their own company.

I wouldn't either. It would make for a nice second phone line, but not primary.

 

[Groltz]

This month's award winner for creative use of tethered helium balloons.

 

[CityK]

Thanks for sharing that Groltz, I got a good chuckle out of that.

 

[Handruin]

I've seen that before somewhere else, but it cracks me up every time I see it. :mrgrn:

 

[Mercutio]

I imagine this is probably making the rounds on news sites y'all read.
Just the same, after work today I'm going to get a nice stack of 'em, just to be annoying.

PUT YOURSELF in Mike Bolesta's place. On the morning of Feb. 20, he buys a new radio-CD player for his 17-year-old son Christopher's car. He pays the $114 installation charge with 57 crisp new $2 bills, which, when last observed, were still considered legitimate currency in the United States proper. The $2 bills are Bolesta's idea of payment, and his little comic protest, too.

For this, Bolesta, Baltimore County resident, innocent citizen, owner of Capital City Student Tours, finds himself under arrest.

Finds himself, in front of a store full of customers at the Best Buy on York Road in Lutherville, locked into handcuffs and leg irons.

Finds himself transported to the Baltimore County lockup in Cockeysville, where he's handcuffed to a pole for three hours while the U.S. Secret Service is called into the case.

Have a nice day, Mike.

"Humiliating," the 57-year old Bolesta was saying now. "I am 6 feet 5 inches tall, and I felt like 8 inches high. To be handcuffed, to have all those people looking on, to be cuffed to a pole -- and to know you haven't done anything wrong. And me, with a brother, Joe, who spent 33 years on the city police force. It was humiliating."

What we have here, besides humiliation, is a sense of caution resulting in screw-ups all around.

"When I bought the stereo player," Bolesta explains, "the technician said it'd fit perfectly into my son's dashboard. But it didn't. So they called back and said they had another model that would fit perfectly, and it was cheaper. We got a $67 refund, which was fine. As long as it fit, that's all.

"So we go back and pay for it, and they tell us to go around front with our receipt and pick up the difference in the cost. I ask about installation charges. They said, 'No installation charge, because of the mix-up. Our mistake, no charge.' Swell.

"But then, the next day, I get a call at home. They're telling me, 'If you don't come in and pay the installation fee, we're calling the police.' Jeez, where did we go from them admitting a mistake to suddenly calling the police? So I say, 'Fine, I'll be in tomorrow.' But, overnight, I'm starting to steam a little. It's not the money -- it's the threat. So I thought, I'll count out a few $2 bills."

He has lots and lots of them.

With his Capital City Student Tours, he arranges class trips for school kids around the country traveling to large East Coast cities, including Baltimore. He's been doing this for the last 18 years. He makes all the arrangements: hotels, meals, entertainment. And it's part of his schtick that, when Bolesta hands out meal money to students, he does it in $2 bills, which he picks up from his regular bank, Sun Trust.

"The kids don't see that many $2 bills, so they think this is the greatest thing in the world," Bolesta says. "They don't want to spend 'em. They want to save 'em. I've been doing this since I started the company. So I'm thinking, 'I'll stage my little comic protest. I'll pay the $114 with $2 bills.'"

At Best Buy, they may have perceived the protest -- but did not sense the comic aspect of 57 $2 bills.

"I'm just here to pay the bill," Bolesta says he told a cashier. "She looked at the $2 bills and told me, 'I don't have to take these if I don't want to.' I said, 'If you don't, I'm leaving. I've tried to pay my bill twice. You don't want these bills, you can sue me.' So she took the money. Like she's doing me a favor."

He remembers the cashier marking each bill with a pen. Then other store personnel began to gather, a few of them asking, "Are these real?"

"Of course they are," Bolesta said. "They're legal tender."

A Best Buy manager refused comment last week. But, according to a Baltimore County police arrest report, suspicions were roused when an employee noticed some smearing of ink. So the cops were called in. One officer noticed the bills ran in sequential order.

"I told them, 'I'm a tour operator. I've got thousands of these bills. I get them from my bank. You got a problem, call the bank,'" Bolesta says. "I'm sitting there in a chair. The store's full of people watching this. All of a sudden, he's standing me up and handcuffing me behind my back, telling me, 'We have to do this until we get it straightened out.'

"Meanwhile, everybody's looking at me. I've lived here 18 years. I'm hoping my kids don't walk in and see this. And I'm saying, 'I can't believe you're doing this. I'm paying with legal American money.'"

Bolesta was then taken to the county police lockup in Cockeysville, where he sat handcuffed to a pole and in leg irons while the Secret Service was called in.

"At this point," he says, "I'm a mass murderer."

Finally, Secret Service agent Leigh Turner arrived, examined the bills and said they were legitimate, adding, according to the police report, "Sometimes ink on money can smear."

This will be important news to all concerned.

For Baltimore County police, said spokesman Bill Toohey, "It's a sign that we're all a little nervous in the post-9/11 world."

The other day, one of Bolesta's sons needed a few bucks. Bolesta pulled out his wallet and "whipped out a couple of $2 bills. But my son turned away. He said he doesn't want 'em any more."

He's seen where such money can lead.

 

[Buck]

Great article Merc. I've paid large debts off with $2.00 bills, but it was a private transaction. Oh, and yes, many times they are sequentially numbered because they never get used. One of the banks needed extra time (2 days) to get my 100 of those bills. They're usually new too.

 

[Will Rickards]

Speaking of best buy....

I went to this best buy to buy a dvd movie while in Northern Jersey (near new york). As I head for the checkout, the checkout lanes are blocked by a very long row of tvs or something with just a one box hole to allow people to file into the checkout lanes. So I get in the 'line' where like 5 other people were waiting. But the dude next in line is just standing there while there is a free cashier at the end. So I travel around the barrier and walk up to the free cashier. And she tells me the line starts back there and isn't going to ring me up.

I'm just glad my local best buy isn't as idiotic as that one.

 

[mubs]

Never seen a $2 bill. :-(

This country has too much litigation. But this Mike fella should sue Worst Buy and the cop, who, of all people, should know the law. The cop could at least have treated him with decency till everything got sorted out. Looks like in this case, guilty until proven innocent.

 

[Mercutio]

If you happen to visit Thomas Jefferson's plantation, Monticello (which is now a national Park IIRC), you'll find that all change given from your admission fee will be in $2 bills or smaller amounts.

 

[Splash]

Visit the Clinton Library and you might get some of these...

 

[i]

I don't know if the 2003 series $2 bill was ever decided on or not.

mubs, you can at least view some small images of $2 bills at the Bureau of Engraving and Printing's website.

And of course, if you're really desperate, you can also buy uncut sheets of $2 bills directly from the B.E.P.

Years and years ago (it may have been pre-2000) I remember someone posting on Slashdot about how they had some family-member give them a sheet of uncut $2 bills every year for their birthday. They would then take this sheet - and a pair of scissors - and go shopping. For hilarious effect, after picking up some small item or two, they'd go up to the counter to pay. At this point, they'd pull out the sheet - and the scissors - and cut off enough $2 bills to pay for the item. You can imagine the clerk's reaction.

I wonder about the legality of doing this, otherwise I'd try it myself for a laugh. Assuming you don't cut the bills perfectly to their normal size, one bill will be slightly oversized, and one will be slightly undersized. Now, if more than 50% of a bill is present, it's still accepted at banks. So you're ok with one of the bills. But the other bill is less than 100% of it's normal size - and you've made it that way through your own action. I'd have to wonder if that doesn't qualify as intentional mutilation of currency, which I think is frowned upon (at best). And if you've got Secret Service agents turning up because the store management is clueless, I don't think you'd want to take the chance of having even slightly defective currency with you.

Then again, it turns out Steve Wozniak claims to have a similar story here. I don't know what to make of a story that includes a line from him stating, "You can begin to see why many people don't believe this story when I tell it."

And then there's the famous $2 bill Taco Bell story.

So much fun, and all for just $2.

I think I'm going to order a sheet.

 

[i]

Oh hey, it turns out the B.E.P. has larger photos of the $2 bill here.

I'm still chuckling as I try to picture Steve Wozniak handing a bogus photo ID to a Secret Service agent that features Woz as a "Laser Safety Officer". Wearing an eye patch. For the "Department of Defiance."

That's a classic.

 

[i]

And look! The US Mint offers a bag of two thousand, $1 dollar coins for the low, low price of $2490.00, via their online store! Only $7.95 for shipping! What a deal!

If I'm ever in the market for a cheap used car, I'd love to try paying for one with a few of those bags.

 

[Buck]

Full size uncut sheets (32 subject) make for nice wrapping paper.

 

[mubs]

Thanks for the posts, i, very interesting!

 

[Will Rickards]

Full size uncut sheets (32 subject) make for nice wrapping paper.

Very Expensive wrapping paper at $64 face value and $85 cost from BEP

 

[Mercutio]

Speaking of bags of coins...

My uncle did the "pickup truck full of pennies for alimony payments" a couple times.
Why no, it wasn't an amicable divorce.

 

[Buck]

“Chick flicks”, what are they all about? There’s one playing in my house right now, so I’ve been willfully (and told) to leave. That seems to be good and bad. First, it’s bad, because I would like to see a movie. However, it is good because: (1) I saw a small glimpse of the movie and it is worth missing if your not a chick (bird or whatever ladies are called in your part of the world), (2) I get to try some of my Chandelier XO Cognac (mighty fine I might add), and (3) I get to chat with SF members that are normally not synchronized with my time zone (currently I only see time – howdy time).

 

[Buck]

Sorry, I was in my office and away from the bottle, it’s Claude Chatelier XO.

 

[time]

... I get to chat with SF members that are normally not synchronized with my time zone (currently I only see time – howdy time).

Sorry Buck, I've been vigorously removing my remaining hairs while trying to deal with nVidia RAID under Linux.

I'm glad you have recourse to some fine liquor when under siege by a female contingent.

 

[ddrueding]

I've had 2 consecutive shifts call in sick at the game center...I know what I'll be doing for the next 14 hours :roll:

 

[Mercutio]

I'm packing to move out of my house.
What a lousy way to spend a weekend.

 

[LunarMist]

Where are you off to, Merc?

 

[Groltz]

I'm packing to move out of my house.
What a lousy way to spend a weekend.

Didn't you just move in there about a year ago?

 

[Handruin]

Moving to Canada?

 

[LunarMist]

Candana? Why?

 

[ddrueding]

Well my 14-hour day turned into a 20-hour workday out of 24-consecutive waking hours. I now have 2 hours to sleep before Monday starts...this is going to hurt.

Moving for any reason in particular Merc? New city or just new digs?

 

[i]

Ouch. Good luck. I hate sleep deprivation. (I hate sleep itself too, but what can you do?)

And yes, I'll second (or third, or fourth) the question to Mercutio ... what's up?