Trip two is west coast, but we are not sure on exact places yet. It will get finalized today and Monday.

oooh! Fancy! I know you'll be swamped but if it is nearby i'd love to see you for a meal.

I get dinged and extra x% for paying with a credit card all the time.

I always liked gargling with warm salt water, It's miles better tasting than gargling with a mixture of hydrogen peroxide and Lavoris, that's for sure. Used to have to do that when I had chronic sore throats of indeterminate origin.

Is it midnight yet? And why can't I get the newest "Harry Potter" if it's midnight SOMEWHERE? I mean, I'm pretty sure it's midnight by now in New Zealand or Australia or the "Lost" Island. What's the point of time zones if I can't get them to work for me for a change?

Rumor has it that a few were sold in Indianapolis early yesterday. But the buyers weren't naming the bookstore.

We tend to pay our restaurant bills with a debit card but tip in cash. I waited tables for a while--and while some waitstaff do make good money, I'd rather them not have to pay taxes through the nose just because they're worried Uncle Sam can track their credit card receipt totals.

When I worked in a flower shop, we had a minimum amount that could be charged to credit cards. I think the credit card fee was 5% at that time (but that was easily 10 years ago).

I prefer my bill to be placed on the table without my asking--just because it seems whenever I'm in a hurry and have to ask for it, the server never seems to show up and I have to flag someone else down to get my bill and get out of there.

What is WITH the sore throats? I was giving advice to meara last night, and this morning I wake up with a sore tonsil. But I think it is just irritation, not infection. Probably slept funny and snored or something.

Lalala. Don't want to do anything.

Finally...and I know you've all been waiting...a crappy picture of the overhead bin warning sign in my cubicle.

[link]

I'm okay with minimum amounts, et al. What I'm really not okay with is having a service charge leveraged against me for debit card usage. Multi-especially when they don't tell me, but I just read it on the receipt.

My reflex isn't so much to pay cash as it is to give someone else my money.

msbelle, that's the price you pay for snogging meara. Sorry.

Sue, that looks like...well, head impalement. Complete with blood spurtage.

ita, do you mean a service charge from the vendor, or from your bank?

Some convenience stores will charge you if you use your debit to pay for something under $5.

it's 'illegal' (though I suspect that's a strong bit of propoganda on the credit card companies' part) for me to express a preference to my clients for receiving payment by cash or check.

Well, if it is illegal, then all the antiques dealers I've met don't know it. Everybody I've talked to will take a credit card, but will offer you an instant discount if you can pay via check or cash. I presume they set their prices to include the credit card fee, but so prefer cash deals that they'll lose that extra profit to acquire and keep a cash-paying customer.

a crappy picture of the overhead bin warning sign in my cubicle.

You're right - it looks like a rod or something has come out of the wall or ceiling and impaled the guy in the head.

eta: head-impalement x-post.