The OFFICIAL Unofficial Achewood Message Board
Trivial Pursuits => Wild Card => Topic started by: Asherdan on June 27, 2008, 04:02:24 pm
-
(http://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/s--k5m636Zb--/m5dvkzj95cd6xl0k4nnx.gif)
-
I needed a new laptop anyway, so we used it for that. I've had problems with it, though - I'm afraid the money was cursed.
-
I had mine direct-deposited into my savings accounting to keep it out of sight.
Although it looks like my 3G iPod may finally be dying, so maybe I'll finally buy one of those fancy new ones with a color screen and clickwheel. But it could just as easily be that I just need to reinstall iTunes, as my only problems are with syncing.
-
I owe money, due to arts grants (which are untaxed). A painful amount of money.
Thankfully my life has taken such an odd turn that my skills got me a plum job working for a medical microbiologist "in my free time." See scientists are brilliant, but they don't' necessarily speak English as a first language. They write papers about how they cure disease, but they don't necessarily know how to use syntax and grammer, etc. to explain to other people how they did it. They are also more interested in curing diseases than, say, filling out a government form.
The gig apparently pays quite well, double what I make at the children's theatre, for much less actual time dedication. I'll work in the lab a bit, then I can work from home after things are established. It's apparently my job to hire my self, and am trying to track down the government sanctioned pay scale information, forms etc to contract myself.
If there is any way I can possibly see the Ebola monkeys, it would be so cool. I imagine they behave thusly (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8md51JnCNFQ) but I'll probably never know. Too much security clearance. But I'm good at talking my way into things, so we'll see.
-
I imagine they behave thusly (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8md51JnCNFQ) but I'll probably never know.
Well golly, that was disturbing.
-
For some reason, the baboon was more unsettling than the capuchins. Maybe the snout?
-
I was fine till they got to the French bulldog.
-
I owe Uncle Sam $1201.
My stimulus check will be $1200.
I sent my taxes in with $1.
-
We got some money back this year -- we claim one less deduction than we're entitled to because we had to pay so much one year that I decided it's better to give the government an interest-free loan every year than to underpay even by a little bit. (Pedro and I had five jobs between us over the course of that year, it was rough.) So we got back about $700, which is a little higher than I like but it all went to debt anyway. We put half the stimulus check towards paying off the rest of Pedro's student loans and spend the other half on our fabulous vacation.
It probably would have been smarter to pay off some credit cards, but I felt it was our patriotic duty to put at least some of it back into the economy.
-
Everybody at my work just got $100 Visa card as a summer "pick you up." I hate the logistics of using these things, so I think I'm going to use it to buy $100 gift card from Harris Teeter and use it to buy 2 weeks worth of groceries.
-
This was the first full year ever that I've worked for only one employer for the full year and so was basically taxed exactly right. With getting way over-taxed on casual rates I normally get back close to a grand, this year? $108. That stung a little bit. Then I looked in my savings account and realised it more than balanced out.
-
Everybody at my work just got $100 Visa card as a summer "pick you up."
WTF. Why don't I ever have jobs where they do that?
-
WTF. Why don't I ever have jobs where they do that?
Well, it's annual review time. So the cynics among us figure we're being buttered up for smaller/fewer raises.
-
Yeah, the buttered up part sounds aboot right.
Every February we get a reminder to log in to the company health care providers website and complete the health survey. They mail you one of those $100 Visa cards as a carrot for letting them browbeat you with how unhealthy you are and to try to motivate you to do things so you won't die, or at least incur health care costs.
I figure it's a double effort to keep the workers alive and prevent cost from having to train replacements and trying to avoid expensive health services usage.
Wow. They just tell us if we don't complete the forms, they drop our benefits.
-
Everybody at my work just got $100 Visa card as a summer "pick you up." I hate the logistics of using these things,
Yeah, it's hell finding a retailer who'll take VISA. I mean, who takes debit cards these days?
-
I hand you a hundred dollars on plastic and you cannot make a purchase that exceeds the remaining value on the card, and since most stores have minimum purchase amounts for charge cards, it can be difficult to spend all of the money and then the company evaporates the money with fees. I actually don't mind this, I use the cards for online purchases I make with small operations, so there is no chance someone can steal my credit card number and spend me into oblivion.
-
Wow, that sounds like a huge pain in the ass. Any of you who want those $100 plastic bonuses taken off your hands, I'd be happy to take care of it for you.
-
Wow, that sounds like a huge pain in the ass. Any of you who want those $100 plastic bonuses taken off your hands, I'd be happy to take care of it for you.
I'll take care of it in a gorilla suit for half that.
-
Yeah, it's hell finding a retailer who'll take VISA. I mean, who takes debit cards these days?
The issue is finding a store that can do split payments. If I use the card for groceries one week then I'd have like $42.67 left on it. So the next time I get groceries I'd have to tell the cashier, "I want to charge $42.67 on this card and the the rest on a different card." A lot of places can't operate this way, due to their equipment or the cashier's lack of knowledge, which makes it a pain in the ass unless you happen to be able to spend exactly the entire amount exactly all at once. And restaurants and gas stations tend to reject these cards entirely as they have to guess how much to authorize the card for, and if the guess is more than the card's value then it's declined.
So typically I use these cards to buy regular gift cards at my grocery store or Amazon or whathaveyou just to avoid that hassle.
I've talked to several of my coworkers who have said they plan to use the cards for one purchase, as close to $100 as possible, then just write the rest off as not worth the effort. Which is of course exactly what Bank of America wants them to do. I mean, I appreciate the gesture and all, but couldn't they have just given us cash like they do at christmas?
I actually don't mind this, I use the cards for online purchases I make with small operations, so there is no chance someone can steal my credit card number and spend me into oblivion.
I'm going to assume that you're talking about porn sites here. Or prescription drugs. Or both. Maybe you like to take pain killers and hang out at CoHF.
-
I'm going to assume that you're talking about porn sites here. Or prescription drugs. Or both. Maybe you like to take pain killers and hang out at CoHF.
Im just going to say Im a capitalist and I enjoy the exploitation of transactions that are not illegal at the point of purchase.
Like the black dude in Shawshank Redemption, I am well-known in my circles as a man who can get things. (You want to sell an organ? I know a guy. You want to buy research chemical analogues of otherwise illegal drugs. I know a guy. I make things happen.)
-
just dump the thing in your paypal account and buy a t-shirt every once in a while
-
just dump the thing in your paypal account and buy a t-shirt every once in a while
Thats actually a great loop hole to turning it into cash. I have a paypal debit card, but you cannot use these gift cards at ATMs.
-
In a sort of related side note, with Mastercard (in Canada anyway) if you have a credit card with a credit on it, you just go to the issuing financial institution for a cash advance in the exact amount, and they should simply put the money in your hand. I have done this before without difficulty.
-
Or you can have them mail you a check, if you call their corporate number. I have done this with MC and Visa, without difficulty.
-
Or you can have them mail you a check, if you call their corporate number. I have done this with MC and Visa, without difficulty.
The type of Mastercard I worked for didn't offer this. I think that option varies from issuer to issuer, or it may be a Canada/US thing.
-
Research indicates that people who are given "free money" and spend the money on a gift for someone else are happier afterwards (and stay happy longer) than those who spend it on themselves, regardless of the amount. Pedro can give you a citation if you like. I think it's from The Tipping Point.
The point is that it's now possible to perform random acts of kindness for purely selgiraffe reasons.
I'm sure Cappy can elaborate.