Remember When
Quote: Dieter
We weren't "supposed" to accept anything larger than a $1 coupon if it wasn't bound into the booklet. Had to be torn out in front of us, preferably by us, or refused.
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Never knew that. I carried them around in my wallet with the rest of my money and was never questioned about it. But like I said I only used them in a place where I'd been going for 20 years. Everybody abused the food stamp program, it was just too easy. The day of the month that the food stamps came out was a busy day for us because we carted people back and forth to the liquor store all day long and believe me they weren't buying bread and milk.
Quote: DieterQuote: EvenBobQuote: DieterI believe that change was concurrent with the next generation of the family taking over operations, and food stamps being replaced with payment cards.
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Back in the '80s when I had the cab company I would take food stamps whenever they were offered because I always got a deal and it was better than no money at all. So if the ride was $5 the guy would give me $10 in food stamps and I would accumulate them and take them to my local grocery store and buy groceries. You were supposed to have a special ID but they knew me for years so they never asked me. This kind of thing was done everywhere by merchants who took food stamps for cigarettes, liquor, lottery tickets. Food stamps looked like money and they were money.
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We weren't "supposed" to accept anything larger than a $1 coupon if it wasn't bound into the booklet. Had to be torn out in front of us, preferably by us, or refused.
$1's could be issued as change, so they were fair if unbound.
Did it happen anyway? Yeah, and then whichever agency checked those things started spot checking us with "secret shoppers" and the like. This demonstrated worry about the wrong kind of fraud, IMO.
Not DT, so I'll stop my political tangent just there, hopefully short of me taking a week off.
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We were like the only place in the area that would not accept loose stamps above $1. It irritated people to death. Looking back probably because they bought them on the street.
Quote: EvenBobQuote: Dieter
We weren't "supposed" to accept anything larger than a $1 coupon if it wasn't bound into the booklet. Had to be torn out in front of us, preferably by us, or refused.
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Never knew that. I carried them around in my wallet with the rest of my money and was never questioned about it. But like I said I only used them in a place where I'd been going for 20 years. Everybody abused the food stamp program, it was just too easy. The day of the month that the food stamps came out was a busy day for us because we carted people back and forth to the liquor store all day long and believe me they weren't buying bread and milk.
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Some of them got sold for cash; some got used to pay for unlicensed day care.
I'm sure a few must have been used in strict accordance with program rules and guidelines.
Quote: Dieter
Some of them got sold for cash; some got used to pay for unlicensed day care.
I'm sure a few must have been used in strict accordance with program rules and guidelines.
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Some of them probably actually got used for food. A lot of them got sold for cash, I essentially bought them for cash. I traded $5 worth of service for a $10 food stamp. It's one of those issues where everybody's doing it and you're not going to get in trouble so why not. I'd rather get the $10 food stamp than nothing. I had a couple drivers that tried to pay their Op's with food stamps and I didn't stand for that. Op's are what a driver pays for leasing the cab for 12 hours.
Quote: EvenBobQuote: Dieter
Some of them got sold for cash; some got used to pay for unlicensed day care.
I'm sure a few must have been used in strict accordance with program rules and guidelines.
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Some of them probably actually got used for food. A lot of them got sold for cash, I essentially bought them for cash. I traded $5 worth of service for a $10 food stamp. It's one of those issues where everybody's doing it and you're not going to get in trouble so why not. I'd rather get the $10 food stamp than nothing. I had a couple drivers that tried to pay their Op's with food stamps and I didn't stand for that. Op's are what a driver pays for leasing the cab for 12 hours.
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The poverty industrial complex runs wide and deep. Food stamps, EIC, WIC it all adds up. Oh yeah also Sec 8. You are talking maybe $20000 per adult per year.
WIC was crazy. V people had a load of those checks and they were good for months but they rushed to cash them at expiration to the point if the store closed 5 min early on expiration day and the person was locked out the store was in trouble.
Who wouldn’t buy food stamps at a discount from coupon price? Or WIC items? It’s all that complex and without it many neighborhoods would fall to third world conditions fast. Doing the tax prep job showed me this
Talking to the drivers in the taxis I took they have to work 12 hours a day just to make it, just to scratch out a living. In the '80s you could easily make $300 a week, that's with no taxes, $300 cash. Now to make $350 a week they have to drive 12 hours a day and pay taxes out of that. They also have to pay for their own gas which is something we never had to do. So they're making less take home money than we made in the 1980s and everything costs three times as much. So they're pretty much living at poverty level. We had the taxi for 12 hours but nobody ever worked 12 hours, a typical shift was 8 or 9 hours. Not anymore.
$300 in 1985 is the same as $931 in today's money.
Quote: EvenBobSpeaking of the cab company, I was hurt in February and couldn't drive and had to take a taxi a couple times to the clinic for my appointments. Talking to the drivers, it's a whole new world out there. Back in the '80s we had half a dozen drivers on first shift who'd been there since the 1950s and had raised families and bought houses on what they made driving a taxi. They even drove almost new cars, they couldn't buy new cars because the car dealership would turn them into the IRS and none of them ever paid taxes because the IRS had no idea what they were doing. In those days we didn't collect Social Security numbers because drivers were independent contractors.
Talking to the drivers in the taxis I took they have to work 12 hours a day just to make it, just to scratch out a living. In the '80s you could easily make $300 a week, that's with no taxes, $300 cash. Now to make $350 a week they have to drive 12 hours a day and pay taxes out of that. They also have to pay for their own gas which is something we never had to do. So they're making less take home money than we made in the 1980s and everything costs three times as much. So they're pretty much living at poverty level. We had the taxi for 12 hours but nobody ever worked 12 hours, a typical shift was 8 or 9 hours. Not anymore.
$300 in 1985 is the same as $931 in today's money.
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Different industries fall into this kind of trap. When I got into pest control the great years were a couple years before. In 1996 or so we found a pile of old contracts from 1992 and found we were charging the same to less! When I left in 2002 I was getting $100 for a termite report for real estate. When I bought a house in 2012 I paid $40 for one!
It is weird how it happens so slow you do not notice.
Quote: TigerWuMaybe the taxi industry just failed to adapt to technology, I don't know.
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That is a huge part of it, but the reality is in most places taxis had their business so locked up that they did not need to bother much with you and your five block ride or ride to the middle of nowhere where you have a home poker game to go to. (True story there)
I do not know if "jitney" is a local or national term but they were big in the black neighborhoods where the cabs didn't bother going. Jitneys were ride share before there was ride share.
Quote: AZDuffman
Different industries fall into this kind of trap. When I got into pest control the great years were a couple years before. In 1996 or so we found a pile of old contracts from 1992 and found we were charging the same to less! When I left in 2002 I was getting $100 for a termite report for real estate. When I bought a house in 2012 I paid $40 for one!
It is weird how it happens so slow you do not notice.
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With tree and limb removal it's the opposite. In the '80s you could get a big limb cut down and it was very reasonable. Today you practically have to take out a mortgage on your house to get it done. Last year I got an estimate on getting a big catalpa tree branch that was looming over the top of my house removed and I almost choked when the guy told me how much it was going to be. Screw that, I went down to the next County and found one of those Fly by Night cash guys and he did it for a fraction of the cost. You got to pay cash and you get no receipt but he gets it done. Last fall I was finally getting rid of my old furnace from 1985 in the basement and I called around and they wanted me to pay them $100 to come haul it away. I did the same thing in the next County south of me and the guy came and got it for nothing and told me he was going to sell it for the scrap and it was well worth his time for the money he was getting. My doctor's office calls me periodically to remind me that I need to make an appointment for a visit and looking at my insurance they charged $30 for that phone call now. Are you kidding me? It's a freaking phone call but the woman making the call is conveniently a certified nurse so my insurance company has to pay for this new scam. Sit around and make phone calls all day and make $30 a pop.
Quote: EvenBob<snip>With tree and limb removal it's the opposite. In the '80s you could get a big limb cut down and it was very reasonable. Today you practically have to take out a mortgage on your house to get it done.<snip>
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EvenBob,
So you're saying having a limb removed costs an arm and a leg??? That DOES seem excessive ;-)
Dog Hand
P.S. No charge for trimming your post for my reply!
Quote: TigerWuRide sharing has decimated the taxi industry. It's kind of surprising they've lasted as long as they did. There's nothing exactly special or skill-intensive about driving someone in a car from point A to point B. Years before Uber or Lyft were around, I remember thinking, "what's stopping me from putting an ad on craigslist or somewhere offering to drive people around for money? How come I never see other people doing that? Why has no one thought of doing that?" Maybe the taxi industry just failed to adapt to technology, I don't know.
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I remember seeing a documentary a long time ago regarding London Taxi drivers
They had to pass a test regarding their knowledge of navigating London and the test was very hard
I'm guessing that knowledge isn't very useful these days with Google maps.
I heard the famous Hollywood sign did not get many tourists because it's a complicated drive
I hear these days it's a popular tourist spot due to Google maps.
I'm big on Google maps
They've actually saved all my driving all over the country in Google history. I can track and see all my trips on a map
they had an incredibly powerful forward - Gus Johnson - who completely shattered and demolished 2 backboards with his shocking dunks
they had Jumping Johnny Greene - an early high flier - who I would be willing to bet could go to the top of the backboard
and then they got Wesley Unseld and the absolutely breathtaking - Earl The Pearl Monroe
I attended the Bullets first home game with Monroe - if somebody other than Monroe had the ball many in the crowd would shout "Give it to Pearl_____!!!!!_______why don't you give the ball to The Pearl_______?????____________________________________(-:\
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before software and computers capital gains taxes were higher
it was very complicated to figure out capital gains obligations accurately with their instructions on their forms - at least for me back then
actually figuring capital gains should be pretty simple - but as I recall their instructions on how to do it were very cumbersome
I gave up - I just winged it for many years - I basically took a guess on the very, very low end
I'm about 100% sure I was wrong on the low end and they never came back at me about it
maybe they couldn't figure it out either................(~:\
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Heart transplants? Pre-1980 or so this was big news. Heart/lung later than that.
"Test tube baby" was a term in the late 70s and lots of concern of the ethics of it at the time, much of which is still ongoing.
"Baby Faye" who lived weeks with the heart of a baboon.
The artificial heart, which was spoofed in "Robocop"
The last 2 never went anywhere and were probably don on the basis of "well, you will not likely survive long but it may help someone in the future."
Today little makes news like these did back then. New miracle procedures not the same big deal.
Quote: AZDuffmanRemember when what are today common medical procedures made big news?
Heart transplants? Pre-1980 or so this was big news. Heart/lung later than that.
"Test tube baby" was a term in the late 70s and lots of concern of the ethics of it at the time, much of which is still ongoing.
"Baby Faye" who lived weeks with the heart of a baboon.
The artificial heart, which was spoofed in "Robocop"
The last 2 never went anywhere and were probably don on the basis of "well, you will not likely survive long but it may help someone in the future."
Today little makes news like these did back then. New miracle procedures not the same big deal.
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We might have different definitions of the term common.
Quote: mcallister3200Quote: AZDuffmanRemember when what are today common medical procedures made big news?
Heart transplants? Pre-1980 or so this was big news. Heart/lung later than that.
"Test tube baby" was a term in the late 70s and lots of concern of the ethics of it at the time, much of which is still ongoing.
"Baby Faye" who lived weeks with the heart of a baboon.
The artificial heart, which was spoofed in "Robocop"
The last 2 never went anywhere and were probably don on the basis of "well, you will not likely survive long but it may help someone in the future."
Today little makes news like these did back then. New miracle procedures not the same big deal.
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We might have different definitions of the term common.
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Heart Transplants and in vitro are daily things now.
What I remember about linoleum is bubbles and bumps in flooring, but perhaps the flooring in that old house was poorly installed.
…and cold floors.
Quote: mcallister3200Might explain why my health insurance feels like it’s for a 80 year old instead of 40.
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ever heard anybody say:
"I got a really great deal on my insurance"___________________really doubtful_____________:)
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https://www.forbes.com/sites/robertpearl/2021/03/01/how-health-insurance-became-americas-biggest-hustle/?sh=6880f1dc476f
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Quote: lilredroosterQuote: mcallister3200Might explain why my health insurance feels like it’s for a 80 year old instead of 40.
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ever heard anybody say:
"I got a really great deal on my insurance"___________________really doubtful_____________:)
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https://www.forbes.com/sites/robertpearl/2021/03/01/how-health-insurance-became-americas-biggest-hustle/?sh=6880f1dc476f
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Right now Medicare is a bargain. The annual deductible is around $300 and the monthly premium is around $140. My supplement coverage, which fills the gaps in Medicare, costs me $64/month, but that deductible is around $2,400.00. however, if I were to buy a lower deductible plan with virtually no deductible, that premium would go up to over $200/mon. So, my premium savings equals the deductible and I have yet to pay out anywhere close to the gap $$$.
Guess what?? A health insurance great deal.
tuttigym
80286, 80386, 80486, then Pentium. It mattered because software was developing so fast that the new, fast machine was half useless in about 2 years. By the mid-2000s it did not matter much because whatever you bought handled everything with the exception of gamers and a few real power users.
It is fun to see movies from that era and how old the then fancy machines look now.
Quote: AZDuffmanRemember when the new computer with the new CPU chip was a big deal and you actually paid attention to hard drive size when you bought that new computer?
80286, 80386, 80486, then Pentium. It mattered because software was developing so fast that the new, fast machine was half useless in about 2 years. By the mid-2000s it did not matter much because whatever you bought handled everything with the exception of gamers and a few real power users.
It is fun to see movies from that era and how old the then fancy machines look now.
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It still mattered when we were spec'ing workstations for CAD operators.
Surprisingly minor component differences on the processor and graphics system could cripple productivity.
Quote: DieterQuote: AZDuffmanRemember when the new computer with the new CPU chip was a big deal and you actually paid attention to hard drive size when you bought that new computer?
80286, 80386, 80486, then Pentium. It mattered because software was developing so fast that the new, fast machine was half useless in about 2 years. By the mid-2000s it did not matter much because whatever you bought handled everything with the exception of gamers and a few real power users.
It is fun to see movies from that era and how old the then fancy machines look now.
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It still mattered when we were spec'ing workstations for CAD operators.
Surprisingly minor component differences on the processor and graphics system could cripple productivity.
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CAD. I remember way back a buddy had the CAD GM was using. Took a then insane 17 floppies to store it. I never tried using it but pirate software like that was everywhere back then.
one of my fave shows when I was a little kid - "The Rifleman" - great opening
Big Chuck Connors was the star and he played in the MLB for a couple of years - even hit 2 homers - see stats below
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https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/c/connoch01.shtml
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Quote: lilredrooster.
one of my fave shows when I was a little kid - "The Rifleman" - great opening
Big Chuck Connors was the star and he played in the MLB for a couple of years - even hit 2 homers - see stats below
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https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/c/connoch01.shtml
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Chuck Connors as the Rifleman killed on average 2.5 people in every episode. And he was never convicted of anything and never went to jail. Try and get away with that now.
Quote: EvenBobQuote: lilredrooster.
one of my fave shows when I was a little kid - "The Rifleman" - great opening
Big Chuck Connors was the star and he played in the MLB for a couple of years - even hit 2 homers - see stats below
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https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/c/connoch01.shtml
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Chuck Connors as the Rifleman killed on average 2.5 people in every episode. And he was never convicted of anything and never went to jail. Try and get away with that now.
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Another irrelevant meaningless post.
tuttigym
Quote: tuttigymQuote: EvenBobQuote: lilredrooster.
one of my fave shows when I was a little kid - "The Rifleman" - great opening
Big Chuck Connors was the star and he played in the MLB for a couple of years - even hit 2 homers - see stats below
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https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/c/connoch01.shtml
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Chuck Connors as the Rifleman killed on average 2.5 people in every episode. And he was never convicted of anything and never went to jail. Try and get away with that now.
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Another irrelevant meaningless post.
tuttigym
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LOL! Irrelevant doesn't mean what you think it means.
Quote: EvenBob[Chuck Connors as the Rifleman killed on average 2.5 people in every episode. And he was never convicted of anything and never went to jail. Try and get away with that now.
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You wouldn't be able to get away with that now. What's your point? What a nonsensical comment.
Quote: TigerWuQuote: EvenBob[Chuck Connors as the Rifleman killed on average 2.5 people in every episode. And he was never convicted of anything and never went to jail. Try and get away with that now.
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You wouldn't be able to get away with that now. What's your point? What a nonsensical comment.
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Seriously? Point is you could never get away with that on TV now, having a prime time show that kills two people or more per episode. Point is, this is the kind of stuff we were exposed to as kids in the 1960s. A total fabrication of what the old west was like. Look at the opening scene of Gunsmoke where Matt Dillon shoots somebody in the street in a gun duel. Fact is, that never happened even once in the old west. There's not a single record anywhere of two men going into the street and drawing down on each other. It's a fantasy, just like The Rifleman was a fantasy. Point is, you can trace the extreme violence in this country as starting from 50s and 60s Westerns on TV.
If you need anything else explained, just let me know. I don't usually enjoy wising people up, but for you I'll make an exception.
Quote: EvenBobFact is , that never even happened once in the old west. There's not a single record anywhere of two men going into the street and drawing down on each other. It's a fantasy,
linked is a list of Old West gunfights from Wikipedia - dozens of them - probably a great many didn't make the list
and also a list of Old West Gunfighters - hundreds of them - Wiki states that some listed were never actually gunfighters - which of course implies that many were
also linked for your enjoyment is a description of one of the gunfights - the one at Hide Park
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Old_West_gunfights
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Old_West_gunfighters
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gunfight_at_Hide_Park
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Quote: lilredroosterQuote: EvenBobFact is , that never even happened once in the old west. There's not a single record anywhere of two men going into the street and drawing down on each other. It's a fantasy,
linked is a list of Old West gunfights from Wikipedia - dozens of them - probably a great many didn't make the list
and also a list of Old West Gunfighters - hundreds of them - Wiki states that some listed were never actually gunfighters - which of course implies that many were
also linked for your enjoyment is a description of one of the gunfights - the one at Hide Park
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Old_West_gunfights
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Old_West_gunfighters
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gunfight_at_Hide_Park
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The gunfight duel like at the beginning of Gunsmoke where two gunslingers met in the street to see who could draw the fastest and kill their opponent never happened. It's a Hollywood invention. Glad I made you look all that up though, LOL. I actually heard this way back in the early 1970s on the Paul Harvey radio show. He did a whole show on the fantasy of the Old West.
Quote: EvenBobQuote: lilredroosterQuote: EvenBobFact is , that never even happened once in the old west. There's not a single record anywhere of two men going into the street and drawing down on each other. It's a fantasy,
linked is a list of Old West gunfights from Wikipedia - dozens of them - probably a great many didn't make the list
and also a list of Old West Gunfighters - hundreds of them - Wiki states that some listed were never actually gunfighters - which of course implies that many were
also linked for your enjoyment is a description of one of the gunfights - the one at Hide Park
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Old_West_gunfights
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Old_West_gunfighters
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gunfight_at_Hide_Park
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The gunfight duel like at the beginning of Gunsmoke where two gunslingers met in the street to see who could draw the fastest and kill their opponent never happened. It's a Hollywood invention. Glad I made you look all that up though, LOL. I actually heard this way back in the early 1970s on the Paul Harvey radio show. He did a whole show on the fantasy of the Old West.
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of course tv and movies do not (often) portray actual events with any degree of real truth
I thought you were implying that there weren't gunfights at all in the Old West
and of course there were
very few would expect a tv show with fictional characters to be an accurate representation of reality
who would believe that_____?_____certainly not me_________even as a child when I enjoyed the show I didn't really believe the show depicted reality
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Quote: lilredroosterQuote: EvenBobQuote: lilredroosterQuote: EvenBobFact is , that never even happened once in the old west. There's not a single record anywhere of two men going into the street and drawing down on each other. It's a fantasy,
linked is a list of Old West gunfights from Wikipedia - dozens of them - probably a great many didn't make the list
and also a list of Old West Gunfighters - hundreds of them - Wiki states that some listed were never actually gunfighters - which of course implies that many were
also linked for your enjoyment is a description of one of the gunfights - the one at Hide Park
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Old_West_gunfights
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Old_West_gunfighters
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gunfight_at_Hide_Park
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The gunfight duel like at the beginning of Gunsmoke where two gunslingers met in the street to see who could draw the fastest and kill their opponent never happened. It's a Hollywood invention. Glad I made you look all that up though, LOL. I actually heard this way back in the early 1970s on the Paul Harvey radio show. He did a whole show on the fantasy of the Old West.
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of course tv and movies do not (often) portray actual events with any degree of real truth
I thought you were implying that there weren't gunfights at all in the Old West
and of course there were
very few would expect a tv show with fictional characters to be an accurate representation of reality
who would believe that_____?_____certainly not me_________even as a child when I enjoyed the show I didn't really believe the show depicted reality in any way
.
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Yet I very specifically mention the gun duel at the beginning of Gunsmoke where two men face each other and gun each other down in a fair fight. What you implied from that is not my problem. Aren't you glad you brought all this up? There's no such thing as irrelevancy. What one person considers irrelevant another person devotes his life to and makes a living at. Irrelevancy does not exist, it's all in the eyes of the beholder. Just because you find something irrelevant means nothing.
I actually enjoy reading this kind of thing much more than tv and movies right now
from the Wiki link:
"The shootout in Benson, Arizona was one of the last great gunfights in the Old West
On February 27, 1907, the Arizona Ranger Harry C. Wheeler attempted to detain a man named J. A. Tracy in the town of Benson, Arizona. Tracy resisted arrest and opened fire on Wheeler, but the latter armed himself and a gunfight ensued. When the shooting was over, both Tracy and Wheeler were badly wounded, however, the former died of his wounds and Wheeler fully recovered."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shootout_in_Benson
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Today she looks haggared and beaten up from spending more than half her life in prison. She was even shipped to the NYS system who can better handle celebrity inmates. I recently watched an interview from a couple years back and she is really a person you would not want to be around.
