Old Fashioned - or just different? (part 3)

Now - remember that comment about people who don't remember phone numbers - and have them all stored on their phones? I do that too. But I also have it one better.

My truck/SUV (whatever you want to call it). It has all of the bells and whistles. 3 antenna - one for the AM/FM, one for the XM Satelite Radio and one for the GPS for the on-board navigation system.

I don't use the navigation system very much - the data on the DVD is about 2 years old - and some of the road work/changes here - have already made it obsolete (I think it was obsolete the day I took it off the lot) - besides you really have to work to get lost in this town.

Streets in Phoenix - roads that run North-South are numbered - roads that run East-West are named. Further helping is that there is ONE NAMED North-South road - Central Avenue. To the West of Central - are AVENUES - to the East - are STREETS. Oh - and they don't change the name of the street - just because it doesn't go through all of the way - for example - Deer Valley - runs East-West - except where it would have gone through either a reserve or a hill/mountain. But when it stops for one of those - it picks up again on the other side - same road - same lattitude - same direction.

Unless you completely lose track of which way you are going - and if you have a compass in your rear view mirror - you can't do that either ;)

So the only time I use the Nav System is if I am trying to go someplace new and different - and I can just put in the address - and I will get the map w/ turn by turn directions. And an estimate on how long it is going to take to get somewhere (very important when you are carting a toddler around - who doesn't like her car seat for any longer than she absolutely has to be in it).

Old Fashioned - or just different? (part 2)

So - Cash - the old adage that "Cash is King" is slowly sucumbing to modern technology. For years it seemed like Fast Food (and strip clubs) were the last bastion of Cash only. But no more. Every single fast food restaurant will take ATM/Credit now. Not only because every one else does - but this also allows the 'convenience' to the customer who might be short on cash.

Here's where the old fashioned question comes in - since I deal in cash - nothing ever turns out to be a round dollar amount. So there is loose change. I have a small change purse - where I keep maybe $2 worth of coins - so that when the total of my purchase is X.23 - I have the 23 cents to give the cashier.

Well - I was at the window at Chick-Fil-A on Monday - and the total of my breakfast - w/ a Diet Coke (no ice - it is cold enough coming out of the fountain w/o it - and since they use foam insulated cups - it stays cold long enough for me to finish it on the drive to the office) is $5.15. So I have my cash ready - and usually some coin to try to speed the process along. It was the beginning of the week - so I didn't have small bills - just a $20 - but I did have 20 cents. So I figured I would give her the twenty and the 20 cents, and I would get back 3 fives and a nickel (have you seen the new nickel yet?) - to give me some small bills for the rest of the week.

Now - this is where I swear Math (being able to add or subtract in your head) is a lost art.

She starts counting out change - and I see two fives come out - then she starts counting out ones - four of them. And then she starts puling coins. Finally hands me the change - and says "$14.95" - and I look her like she is smoking something - because she had entered the number on the register - and was just counting out what it had told her. Unfortunately - this seemed to be her first day - actually handling the whole transaction - and I think the fact that I questioned what she was doing - nearly put her over the edge. All I wanted was the correct change - the measly little dime more. I got it - but it got me thinking - has Math finally become a lost art?

Look at society now - cell phones - you don't have a number to call - you have a name (or even a face) to select and push dial. How many of these people would be lost without having to just push a button?

TTYL - when we discuss what a hypocrite I am about that last statement.

Old Fashioned - or just different?

The other day on my way to work - I stopped (ok - didn't stop - did Drive Thru) to get Breakfast on my way to work.

"Hello - my name is Robert and I have a Chick-Fil-a addiction. I can't drive past one without ordering something. For breakfast - it is the Chicken Egg and Cheese Bagel, and for lunch/dinner - the caesar salad wrap. When one opened near my office in Chantilly I was there every morning - and the staff began to expect me to come by. One of the girls actually asked my name - so not only did I know them - but they knew me. That was a mistake. My wife was shocked to learn that the staff knew my name - she knew that I would learn their names - since it was on their shirts - but how did they learn mine?"

But I digress.

The one thing that I have noticed when I first came to Arizona almost two years ago - is that just about every place takes Debit/Credit cards - even drive thru fast food. Now I don't get that - if the purchase is under $10 - I prefer to pay cash. Mainly because -I don't like having to pay fees for the use of my own money - so using the Debit card is not that convenient. Sort of the same thing about using the credit card - I don't feel the need to finance my fast food meal.

(I have been poor between jobs - and it wasn't fun)

I carry cash - usually enough to get me through a couple of days - after the learning the lesson the hard way a couple of times while travelling. First it was getting held up due to weather on a flight home - and having to stay at a budget hotel away from everything incl ATM's, restaurants, etc. The second was forgetting to get cash before heading out on a business trip (Sky Harbor - doesn't have any ATM's out on the concourses past security - they are all before security).

So I take Friday's attitude towards cash

== DETOUR ==

Friday? Who is Friday? Friday is a courier in a Sci-Fi novel by the same name - Friday, by Robert Heinlein

It is one of my favorities - something I can get lost in and forget about my day.

She is a courier who specializes in getting info from anywhere to anywhere. So she knows how to use cash to grease the skids of a bureaucracy to get where she is going without leaving a trail.

Well - she goes on vacation - and forgets her own rule - and finds that a power struggle has left her without any $$$ (credit isn't just denied - the cards are zapped)!

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OK - so you know now I like to carry cash - and something about my morning drive-thru stop that started this rant.... but I think I have taken enough of your time today.

Stay tuned.