The totally off-topic thread

[Mal]

It sometimes amazes me to see some shop assistants calculate change... eg if I buy an item for 4.50, what change would I get from a fiver?

 

[anat0l]

It sometimes amazes me to see some shop assistants calculate change... eg if I buy an item for 4.50, what change would I get from a fiver?

How long does it usually take them?

 

[Mal]

How long does it usually take them?

Longer than it should...

 

[anat0l]

Longer than it should...

Well, I'd usually give someone 'instant' or 3 seconds tops to work that out.

Put it this way, what range of times does it take them to do it, in your experience? If we're getting into minutes, it starts to go from a joke to worrying...

Of course, most of them have the "safe haven" of a cash register or POS terminal (I think some stores have a "policy" where even if the shop assistant can calculate the change in their head, they still must "rely" on the machine to calculate it for them, i.e. to "prevent" dishonesty or what not)

 

[Mal]

OK, its simple to you and me
... but sometimes you have the experience of seeing the whole transaction worked out via calculator. Maybe thirty seconds. Probably less...

 

[anat0l]

OK, its simple to you and me
... but sometimes you have the experience of seeing the whole transaction worked out via calculator. Maybe thirty seconds. Probably less...

I should've provided an example of "funny first, then very worrying"...

[video=youtube;d70iQfN39JI]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d70iQfN39JI[/video]

 

[TheEmu]

It sometimes amazes me to see some shop assistants calculate change... eg if I buy an item for 4.50, what change would I get from a fiver?

Here's a little game to play:
Wait until the shop assistant has run up the sale and then offer partial change.
For example: Sale: $13.75. Tender a $20, wait for them to ring it up, the register will tell them $6.25 change.
At that point offer 75 cents in addition to the 20 or even $3.75: 9 out of 10 won't know what change to give you!
Sad but true.

 

[JohnK]

Still maintain that having good mental maths (or at least estimation skills) is essential. Yes, everyone has a calculator these days, but everyone also has "fat fingers", amongst other silly things we do that lead to an incorrect answer. Answering six multiplied by seven should not require a calculator......

I agree.

I love maths. I knew my 12 times table, and more, when I was 4 or 5. When we came to Australia I used to go grocery shopping with mum and I used to keep a running total of the groceries in my head and tell her exactly how much it would cost before we went to cash register.

These days I only use a calculator if I want precise answers. I am good with fractions, I am good with currency conversions, I am good with multiplication up to 3 digits x 3 digits, I am good with division. In my spare time I run numbers through my head. I love finding patterns in numbers.

If I had my time all over again I would do something useful with my skill instead of wasting it....

 

[Skyring]

I cannot imagine what speed she must have been doing in her small car but she took out a 7" high concrete block. Her car is a write off.

I had to check Wikipedia to see how big that was. Then again, I was thoroughly over all that twelve of this and twenty to the pound stuff on 14/2/66, and my memory was never much good to begin with, IIRC.

 

[Skyring]

If I had my time all over again I would do something useful with my skill instead of wasting it....

You'd be the bloke that hacked into the casino security cameras to see what hands the other players had.

You wouldn't be just counting cards, you'd be multiplying them.

Ah, if I had my time over, there'd be a few changes made. I'd spend my time actually listening to the French teacher as a preparation for my trip thirty years later instead of ogling the cute girl in the second row.

 

[Skyring]

It sometimes amazes me to see some shop assistants calculate change... eg if I buy an item for 4.50, what change would I get from a fiver?

Ah, that's easy. As a cabbie, I'd say the machine's working and there's a ten dollar minimum.

Plus ten percent.

 

[Skyring]

BA plane looks like a 747 ?

It's lost weight. Qantas will find their A380s going the same way if they stinge on the snacks much more. My last flight I got a bunch of fried fingernails and some salty goop to dip them in.

 

[Mal]

They sell them in the English lolly shops over here. Crisps as we called them in UK or chips as you call them over here, they are not really haute cuisine but I love them. Funny what you miss

Oh. Like this?

Very yummy (for crisps). I think I have a new favorite...

 

[Major]

The next one was a bridge too far?
Fans of old pommy war movies can groan…now.

I spent some time in Arnhem a couple of years ago and walked over the John Frost Bridge. Fascinating area

 

[medhead]

(I think some stores have a "policy" where even if the shop assistant can calculate the change in their head, they still must "rely" on the machine to calculate it for them, i.e. to "prevent" dishonesty or what not)

Or to allow for proper accounting and reconciliation. Even as a barman for an army mess I had to get that magic print out from the till each night.

 

[Pukka]

Oh. Like this?

Very yummy (for crisps). I think I have a new favorite...

Lol you can tell by the packaging they're a classy product

 

[Princess Fiona]

Oh. Like this?

Very yummy (for crisps). I think I have a new favorite...

Pickled Onion Monster Munch are my absolute favourite

 

[QF WP]

At ease... happy wife, happy life. Hell hath no fury like a woman without endorphins... and chocolate.

Or diamonds or jewellery...

 

[markis10]

Or diamonds or jewellery...

Funny you should bring that up.......and speaking of toys, suggest the Apple store refurbished options be looked at via Velocity shop and earn for a good saving over the store option, there is enough time

 

[Cruiser Elite]

A trip to China will always throw up the unexpected - was their last week and arrived into Shanghai to discover news that 300 diseased dead pigs found upstream in Huangpu River (Shanghais dringing water supply) - number since amended to 13,000 - could be many more also - we will never know - Chinese authorities not averse to telling porkies - good enough reason to drink Tsingtao instead of water huh?

However not the point of this post - saw this car carrier in a higway fuel stop between Nanjing and a factory in which we are producing about an hour out of town:



Coming from a background in transport industry this knocked my socks off - I stepped it out - approx 36mtrs length tip to toe. Max length permitted under Vic Law for prime mover / single trailer combo:



When in China if you are not looking at something amazing - either wait 2 mins or look in another direction - never a dull moment.