Have you ever had one of those days where nothing seems to go right? We did recently, and, of course, things started to go wrong because we were in a rush to get things done. My daughter had a school assignment that need printing, and, as always, she left it to the last minute to print if off – and I do mean the last minute, just before leaving for school. Do you think I could get that darn printer to work?
After much frustration and hair pulling, my daughter calmly informs me that it’s okay – she’ll print it off at school. Now why didn’t she think of that first? Of course, that didn’t fix the printer. As it turns out, we needed a new computer network cable – a cheap component that brought everything to a halt.
Yes, I do like coupons. Before I spend a cent I look around for a coupon. A discount is a discount and being on a limited income, I need to save every cent possible. I worked out one day – if you spend $200 a week, and received a 5% discount across the board, that’s over $500 in a year. I spend more than $200 in a week, and I reckon I am averaging closer to 10% in discounts than 5% – that’s closer to a $1000 a year in savings.
Take the gamestop coupons. There’s 16% of some products, $10 off if you spend $69.99 on another product – that’s way more than 5%. If you’re like me, and you like coupons, check what’s available online. You’ll be surprised at how much you’ll save.
Are you a good neighbor? I try to be, but sometimes you can get burned, often by simple thoughtless acts. My next door neighbor is getting on in years and finds it hard to get around. We often pick up the odd grocery item for him when he asks, and we sometimes mow his lawn when it looks like it’s getting out of hand – it’s a small yard so I just tack it on to my regular mowing. He has a special car service that takes him to the doctors and for shopping, so we haven’t been landed with that task – until last week.
His car service wasn’t available so they asked us if we could run him to the doctors for his checkup and repeat medication. We were going into town, so decided, why not. Never again. We don’t smoke, but here was old Henry, puffing away on cheap cao cigars, blowing out the back end (talk about rotten egg gas), and carrying on like a foul mouthed teen. It will take a month to get rid of tobacco smoke, another month to clear our noses of the rotten egg gas, and as for the kids, they have had a few choice words added to their vocabulary. Never again – sometimes it pays not to be a good neighbor.
Refurbished computers are those that have been restored to as new condition. They come from one of two sources, either as used lease computers, or as warranty failures. Either way, these computers are refurbished and thoroughly tested before being sold on to new owners. The question that is often asked is an honest one – can I trust one of these computers, or should I buy a brand new one?
From experience, refurbished computers are really no different to brand new computers, with two exceptions. The first exception is pretty attractive – they are cheap in comparison to a brand new computer. The second exception is a slight worry because it does reflect on reliability. Refurbished computers don’t always come with the same warranty periods as a brand new computer. However, as I mentioned, my experience has always been positive and I’ll always prefer a refurbished computer to a brand new one.
Big supermarkets learned very quickly that computer technology not only made the checkout process faster and smoother, it also made the process of stock control and re-ordering much easier. While this technology has been driven by large supermarkets, that doesn’t mean the corner store has to stay behind. Today, barcode scanners come in a range of sizes, some small and portable and easily used by small corner store.
There are intermediate barcode scanners that can be permanently mounted on checkouts for those slightly larger retailers, and they can be very cost effective. Customers have now become accustomed to these devices and they tend to trust them more than the old fashioned cash registers. Those registers relied on the operating keying in the right prices – and we all make mistakes. Technology has simplified the checkout process – and even small one person stores can now use this technology.
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