New Blogs

I have some new blogs that I've been posting to recently. I'm trying to break things up a bit by theme, and separate personal from professional, play from work. I've stopped writing business reviews in my main web design blog - Pleasanton Web Design Blog. Instead, I am posting favorable reviews and plugs in my Compare 4 Consumers Blog. The negative reviews go in ComplainerMan. My non work-related, fun-time posts go to The New Plate0Shrimp.

Against Self-Checkout - Now at Safeway!

In my previous post I mentioned that I'm not a fan of self-checkout, in grocery stores, or anywhere. Companies don't offer self-checkout because it's more efficient. It's not. They don't offer it because it is better for the customer. It isn't. It's a pain in the butt. The only purpose of installing a self-checkout is saving money by being able to fire checkers, and replace their labor with yours - the customer.

My fiance and I were driving back after picking up a malti-poo puppy from a breeder's agent in San Ramon. We took a wrong turn and ended up driving by Safeway on Bollinger Canyon Road. At that point he doggie wasn't feeling well and barfed all over my passenger, so I ran in to grab a roll of paper towels.

As with all stores featuring self-checkout, this was understaffed. Huge line in the express lane, and complicated rain-check transaction in the only other open check-stand. So, because of the urgency of the barf situation, after waiting in both lines, I bailed to the self-checkout. One item, on sale for $.79. I followed all of the prompts and entered all of the transaction information. After my ATM transaction was completed, however, the recorded voice kept demanding that I select a transaction-type. When I pushed on the screen nothing happened. So I just left. No one seemed to care. The "customer service" person was too busy in a personal conversation with her friend to notice.

Lucky Keeps the Penny (or Pennies)

I just got back from Lucky (formerly Albertsons), the only grocery store I've been to that uses self-checkout. Why a grocery shopper would opt to do the work themselves (unpaid) while replacing a paid checker who is now out of a job is beyond me. I'm sure Lucky loves not having to pay those checkers, and certainly doesn't mind making you do the work. But I digress.

So my boss at ADP told me yesterday that Clementine tangerines were on sale for $5.99 at Lucky. That's a savings of $2 over the Safeway price, so I went over to make the purchase. When the time came to receive my change of a penny, the checker said sincerely and with feeling "Thank You." I guess she meant "Thank you for the penny." Don't get me wrong, I didn't want the penny, but is the first time that a cashier at a major corporate enterprise has not offered to give me the change owed, even if it was just a penny.

There are two conclusions that can be drawn from this. 1) I was dealing with a renegade cashier who took it upon herself to take her till out of balance and not offer me my change, or 2) Lucky has instituted a policy of not offering change if it's a penny, or two pennies, or some other insignificant amount. Over tens of thousands of transactions this can add up, not to a lot of money, but something that adds to the bottom line. If this is official Lucky policy, however, I would rather the collect my pennies and give them to charity, rather than keeping them. The self-checkout already makes Lucky look like a low-end, miserly, bottom-feeding grocery store. They don't need this additional help.

Attack of the Walnut Thief

A couple of weeks ago we obtained come walnuts from my Mom's walnut tree. She said she never gets walnuts, because the squirrels get them first. So we picked a couple off of the ground, and then some off the tree that were about ready. I figured we could set them out on my porch to dry. I forgot that squirrels are everywhere!



Here's the little guy staring me down. They are HIS walnuts!



Can't quite get at them? Guess you aren't so smart after all!




Giving me the sideways eye.



No walnuts for you... yet.

Plate O' Shrimp from Repo Man

If you were wondering.

TechKnowHow Summer Computer Camp - Game Design 2

My son is an avid gamer, and a couple of years ago, when we lived in Fremont, I signed him up for a video game design summer camp through the City of Fremont Department of Parks and Recreation. He loved it, so when I saw TechKnowHow Summer Computer Camp - Game Design 2 listed in the City of Pleasanton recreation guide, I signed him up, along with his sister, who's now old enough. At $350 each, it is a little steep, but we are looking at the computer game design major at UC Santa Cruz.

Here's the summer camp description from the website, http://www.techknowhowkids.com/

Create your own computer games with interesting characters, storyline, music and settings. You'll learn how to animate objects & characters, how to use scripts for 3d graphics, fog & lighting, and how to add screen effects, such as snow and rain.

Your first game will be a role-playing (RPG) adventure game, featuring controls for navigation, items to collect, power-ups, and offensive and defensive powers.

Your second game will be a 3d game with a first-person point of view. Travel through rooms looking for prizes and avoiding obstacles. Select or design characters & bosses, add sound effects, music, health, score tables, and more.

Take home your games to play on a Windows-based PC at home.
(The 3d game requires a computer with a 3d video card and at least 16MB of video memory).

Class Prerequisite: To enroll, a student must have taken Game Design 1 or be at least 11 years old, due to the advanced lessons.

Note: There is a $10 materials fee in addition to the tuition for this course. This enables students to take home a registered copy of the game design software so that they can continue to make games on a Windows-platform computer at home.

The one week camp is held at Amador Valley High, here in Pleasanton. You could call it "summer camp for nerds," but MY kids aren't nerds, so I won't.

Baby Torture

I think this is hilarious. I still like cream of wheat and don't smoke, so I wasn't scarred for life!