Windows 93
Re: Windows 93
Odd as it might seem I ran across an article just this morning whose headline claimed they found a way to extract water out of thin air. I did not read the article but I'd not doubt that it had something to do with microbes floating around. The biomass that creates electricity is likely something similar to what an electric eel can do to kill its prey. Then there are those bugs that can generate light on warm summer nights. It's fascinating to learn that many of the physics tricks we know about can be duplicated in organic form. Quantum physics has some very unearthly properties that are not well understood. What is known with certainty is that none of the strange phenomena that occurs at a sub atomic level has been observed on a larger scale. There is one experiment I know of where a pair of atoms can be in communication with one another over great distances; something known as quantum entanglement. Some Japanese scientists have been able to pair atoms that are on the moon and earth all at the same time. This suggests things can happen without the nuisance of time and distance, or the speed of light, being involved. Interesting stuff to be sure.
Re: Windows 93
I read a lot of those articles also, not that I understand much of what is said, but I can see the plausibility of many of the observations made in those articles.
Back when I used to do magic, we had all kinds of physics tricks used in the trade. More so on stage performances than on one to one tricks. Most folks know our money is non-ferrous, so cannot be picked up by a magnet. For this reason, we made heavy used of copper plated steel pennies for a few of our tricks. Plus we could cut real coins in ways that allowed them to be folded or hold something else. Some of these cost a pretty penny to have made also, hi hi. Some are more common and made in bulk to be sold by magic props dealers.
Even so, some of my best tricks were done using common everyday materials.
Back when I used to do magic, we had all kinds of physics tricks used in the trade. More so on stage performances than on one to one tricks. Most folks know our money is non-ferrous, so cannot be picked up by a magnet. For this reason, we made heavy used of copper plated steel pennies for a few of our tricks. Plus we could cut real coins in ways that allowed them to be folded or hold something else. Some of these cost a pretty penny to have made also, hi hi. Some are more common and made in bulk to be sold by magic props dealers.
Even so, some of my best tricks were done using common everyday materials.
Re: Windows 93
There is magic and then there is Magic. The former is what you have practiced in your younger days and would more properly be called illusion. While I'm not familiar with how magicians work their trade, I do know they too must comply with the same laws of physics as does everyone else. The perspective is the only thing that is different. Magic as practice by witches, wizards, sourcerers, and the like is closer to perversions of natural law than is the stage magic we know of today. Apparently we as humans have the ability to bend the laws of nature, as far as we know what those laws are. But, alas, not everyone can do it. Witches often got a bum rap because they knew things in their time that was not common knowledge and thus considered evil. They knew about herbal remedies, for example, and were not half bad at psychology too. All these bending of the rules, however, is carried to an extreme when we get into quantum physics. It seems that the laws we are familiar with do not apply when you get down to a small enough scale. It's all pretty fascinating and I'm certain one day we will be surprised to discover the world around us isn't what we think it is. Right now it's mostly speculation, but when you take things like time and distance out of the equation, anything can happen.
Re: Windows 93
I never messed with Majic, stayed far away from that for sure!
There are a lot of things today magicians do that I don't call magic or an illusion, much of it now is downright fakery, and actually impossible to do honestly, or within the laws of physics.
Much of magic is illusion and misdirection, get the people to focus on the right hand, while your left hand is what is actually doing the work to create the illusion.
Although I did do some stage magic, after taking over a couple of Silent Mora's routines.
I just didn't like traveling and living out of a suitcase in motel rooms. I was not cut out for that kind of life.
But I did enjoy doing private in-home shows, and street magic. I didn't need many props, because I used what the homeowner had on hand for me to use, and was a normal part of the stuff they always had around. The homeowner still needed to be aware of what I was going to do, so they handed me the right magazine from their shelf, or the right page of the newspaper laying there. Almost all of the tricks I did were super simple, but required a set-up. Even so, it really amazed people to no end, hi hi.
When I first met Debi, I had a Sucrets metal tin in my car filled with pieces of string I had rigged for a certain trick. Along with pieces of string of the same length not rigged to show before I did the trick.
Naturally, I showed her how the trick was done, and even then, she couldn't quite figure out why it worked, hi hi.
So I explained it step by step and how I did the rigging. Her response after seeing was, now that's cheating, hi hi.
Over time, she saw how about 2/3 of my parlor tricks were accomplished. But all the rest just took practice practice practice and more practice to get them perfected, since they were all just slight of hand, or finger manipulation, like rolling a coin back and forth down your fingers. Something I couldn't do any more with my arthritic hands, hi hi.
I saw a math trick done on TV once by Ma and Pa Kettle. It took me only a couple of months to memorize the routine. And I just loved to find a math teacher in my audience to come watch it up close, and who would interject you don't do math that way, it has to work both ways, which in this particular routine, it did, hi hi.
There are a lot of things today magicians do that I don't call magic or an illusion, much of it now is downright fakery, and actually impossible to do honestly, or within the laws of physics.
Much of magic is illusion and misdirection, get the people to focus on the right hand, while your left hand is what is actually doing the work to create the illusion.
Although I did do some stage magic, after taking over a couple of Silent Mora's routines.
I just didn't like traveling and living out of a suitcase in motel rooms. I was not cut out for that kind of life.
But I did enjoy doing private in-home shows, and street magic. I didn't need many props, because I used what the homeowner had on hand for me to use, and was a normal part of the stuff they always had around. The homeowner still needed to be aware of what I was going to do, so they handed me the right magazine from their shelf, or the right page of the newspaper laying there. Almost all of the tricks I did were super simple, but required a set-up. Even so, it really amazed people to no end, hi hi.
When I first met Debi, I had a Sucrets metal tin in my car filled with pieces of string I had rigged for a certain trick. Along with pieces of string of the same length not rigged to show before I did the trick.
Naturally, I showed her how the trick was done, and even then, she couldn't quite figure out why it worked, hi hi.
So I explained it step by step and how I did the rigging. Her response after seeing was, now that's cheating, hi hi.
Over time, she saw how about 2/3 of my parlor tricks were accomplished. But all the rest just took practice practice practice and more practice to get them perfected, since they were all just slight of hand, or finger manipulation, like rolling a coin back and forth down your fingers. Something I couldn't do any more with my arthritic hands, hi hi.
I saw a math trick done on TV once by Ma and Pa Kettle. It took me only a couple of months to memorize the routine. And I just loved to find a math teacher in my audience to come watch it up close, and who would interject you don't do math that way, it has to work both ways, which in this particular routine, it did, hi hi.
Re: Windows 93
When I was a kid I believed in magic, or trusted what my eyes saw and ears heard. I wasn't too old, still in single digits, when I learned that there is no such thing as magic. It's all a trick. I guess that was about the same time I learned the truth about Santa Clause. LOL You could say it's all deception in one form or another, but it's harmless. It's not intended to be malicious. We watch magic shows for the amusement value. Well, most of us do. That all means I would hesitate to say you were cheating at any of your performances. You did what had to be done to display the illusion.
You have a way of bringing up memories that I've not recalled for many decades. Such was the case when you talked about Ma and Pa Kettle. I believe they were on television but might have migrated there from old time radio days. To be honest I don't recall a lot about that pair other than the fact my parents like to watch the show, or listen to them on the radio. I'd never have guessed that they were into math puzzles, and it's interesting to learn that they got into that kind of thing. I'm thinking that Ma and Pa Kettle show was aired along with the Amos and Andy show. The two come to mind in the same thought for some reason, although I know they were entirely different characters.
You have a way of bringing up memories that I've not recalled for many decades. Such was the case when you talked about Ma and Pa Kettle. I believe they were on television but might have migrated there from old time radio days. To be honest I don't recall a lot about that pair other than the fact my parents like to watch the show, or listen to them on the radio. I'd never have guessed that they were into math puzzles, and it's interesting to learn that they got into that kind of thing. I'm thinking that Ma and Pa Kettle show was aired along with the Amos and Andy show. The two come to mind in the same thought for some reason, although I know they were entirely different characters.
Re: Windows 93
I honestly did not like magicians who really downright cheated, did things that really could not be done physically.
Now using props where one can hide inside, due to their misleading shapes, that's fair game.
Because it can be shown how it is done using physics or carpentry hi hi.
I'm not saying a magician should disclose how they do a trick to the general public, that would spoil it for everybody.
Amos and Andy, and the Mystical Knights of the Sea Lodge Hall. I remember it well! And the Honeymooners!
Wonderful, and wholesome shows back then, many of which made you think.
And of course we know how Alice Kramden wound up on the moon, hi hi.
Now using props where one can hide inside, due to their misleading shapes, that's fair game.
Because it can be shown how it is done using physics or carpentry hi hi.
I'm not saying a magician should disclose how they do a trick to the general public, that would spoil it for everybody.
Amos and Andy, and the Mystical Knights of the Sea Lodge Hall. I remember it well! And the Honeymooners!
Wonderful, and wholesome shows back then, many of which made you think.
And of course we know how Alice Kramden wound up on the moon, hi hi.
Re: Windows 93
I once saw a presentation on television by a magician who was able to make an entire city disappear. The scene was an audience full of people, which could have been outdoors now that I think about it, all viewing a city where the performance stage would normally be. I'm thinking it was Paris but it could have been NYC as well. Whichever one it was it was a big city. There was a lot of hoopla along with with trick because the show had to last the full 23 minutes it was being broadcast, or something. Much of it was talk about how incredibly difficult it was to make such a big place vanish. After the initial introduction by the "magician" a curtain behind him was closed and the view of the city could not be seen. He talked for maybe an additional 15 minutes before opening the curtain again with nothing but countryside visible instead of the city. I don't recall exactly how it was staged, but the view was not a projection. It was live. It had to be in order for the trick to be slightly credible. Well, there were ooohs and aaaahs and the show ended. The next day I read a review about how it was done. The audience and the stage were on a rotating platform. While the magician was talking to the audience with the curtain behind him closed the audience was rotated 180 degrees. Apparently nobody was aware of this while the performance was going on, but that was the trick of it all. My feeling about it all was very anticlimactic.
We used to watch Ralph and Alice religiously in our house. Gleason along with many other performers of his day were class acts. He said he put a lot of his childhood memories into the show, which is what made it plausible. I used to question the authenticity of the two room New York apartment being only a kitchen and a bedroom. As it happens I know somebody living in Manhattan today, in a two room apartment, all 700 sq ft of it, for the low low price of $1600/mo. That is going up once the pandemic is officially over. So, Ralph and Alice were ahead of their time in some ways.
We used to watch Ralph and Alice religiously in our house. Gleason along with many other performers of his day were class acts. He said he put a lot of his childhood memories into the show, which is what made it plausible. I used to question the authenticity of the two room New York apartment being only a kitchen and a bedroom. As it happens I know somebody living in Manhattan today, in a two room apartment, all 700 sq ft of it, for the low low price of $1600/mo. That is going up once the pandemic is officially over. So, Ralph and Alice were ahead of their time in some ways.
Re: Windows 93
Another magician did something similar at an airport, made a Boing 747 disappear. It was done the same way, only in this case the people were in a tent so they could not see the sky or other planes coming in to land.
In NYC they may have turned the platform to face Central Park, but since you said rolling hills, I suspect Paris.
I had an aunt and uncle who loved in a ONE ROOM apartment in NYC for nearly ten years before they could move into a TWO ROOM apartment at nearly triple the price. When he retired, they moved to St. Louis, but down in the city, near stores since they didn't own a car or drive for that matter. I only talked to him a few times, and he said within only 3 blocks from his apartment were clothing and shoe stores, a department store, and half a dozen grocers and three butcher shops. It was common for folks to walk to do their shopping, usually for something every single day. The exercise did them good, except for the weather, it gets really cold there.
His one bedroom apartment had a kitchen corner, the kitchen table, a couch against one wall, and the bed pulled down from the wall. The bathroom wasn't much bigger than a closet in the corner, but did have a four foot bathtub. The sink was on one wall, the toilet on the other wall, and the door opened between them.
The two bedroom apartment was very similar, except it had a double size bed, a chiffarobe for their clothes in the bedroom.
Outside the bedroom wall was a couch with two end tables, an easy chair in the corner opposite the kitchen corner.
In both apartments, all the plumbing was exposed, but his wife made long curtain type doilies that covered most of them.
The two bedroom apartment had one medicine cabinet over the sink, but that was about it. Plain and simple.
His apartment in St. Louis was like a mansion compared to their place in NYC. Much larger and nicer, no pipes, and lots of windows, with a big bathroom all tiled. Modern for the 1960s.
In NYC they may have turned the platform to face Central Park, but since you said rolling hills, I suspect Paris.
I had an aunt and uncle who loved in a ONE ROOM apartment in NYC for nearly ten years before they could move into a TWO ROOM apartment at nearly triple the price. When he retired, they moved to St. Louis, but down in the city, near stores since they didn't own a car or drive for that matter. I only talked to him a few times, and he said within only 3 blocks from his apartment were clothing and shoe stores, a department store, and half a dozen grocers and three butcher shops. It was common for folks to walk to do their shopping, usually for something every single day. The exercise did them good, except for the weather, it gets really cold there.
His one bedroom apartment had a kitchen corner, the kitchen table, a couch against one wall, and the bed pulled down from the wall. The bathroom wasn't much bigger than a closet in the corner, but did have a four foot bathtub. The sink was on one wall, the toilet on the other wall, and the door opened between them.
The two bedroom apartment was very similar, except it had a double size bed, a chiffarobe for their clothes in the bedroom.
Outside the bedroom wall was a couch with two end tables, an easy chair in the corner opposite the kitchen corner.
In both apartments, all the plumbing was exposed, but his wife made long curtain type doilies that covered most of them.
The two bedroom apartment had one medicine cabinet over the sink, but that was about it. Plain and simple.
His apartment in St. Louis was like a mansion compared to their place in NYC. Much larger and nicer, no pipes, and lots of windows, with a big bathroom all tiled. Modern for the 1960s.
Re: Windows 93
My two oldest granddaughters were raised around the Chicago area. When they got to college they both went to New York to study. One went to Fordham and the other to NYU. Upon graduation they never came back to the midwest. The younger of the two is living with a guy who came from St Louis, and his parents still live there. When he goes to visit them, about half of the times they come here too. The last visit was at Christmas time. These two gals are the ones who told me about how difficult it is to find a decent place to live in NYC. I've known other people from there who told me the same stories about rental units and the high rent they demand. Few, if any, New Yorkers want to leave, which is a huge contrast to Chicago where they are setting records for the numbers of people leaving not only the city but also the state. Just like I did.
Moving to downtown Chicago was an option. We would not need a car in that case and every kind of shop and store would be within walking distance or easily accessible via the elevated train system. The living downtown Chicago is somewhat better than NYC, but the costs meet or exceed that which occurs out east. There are no middle or low income rental units which is why we could not sustain retirement is such an environment. However, living here in Plain Vanilla O'Fallon I have grown to appreciate how accessible and available things were in and around the big city. I'd be lying if I said I don't miss all that. Shopping is not a favorite activity of mine, but I spent 72 years in a market where I could get anything I wanted just by driving there. Not so here. Then again, I won't run out of retirement funds like I would have up north. Well, not until the revolution and civil war breaks out. Not sure how anybody would survive that.
Moving to downtown Chicago was an option. We would not need a car in that case and every kind of shop and store would be within walking distance or easily accessible via the elevated train system. The living downtown Chicago is somewhat better than NYC, but the costs meet or exceed that which occurs out east. There are no middle or low income rental units which is why we could not sustain retirement is such an environment. However, living here in Plain Vanilla O'Fallon I have grown to appreciate how accessible and available things were in and around the big city. I'd be lying if I said I don't miss all that. Shopping is not a favorite activity of mine, but I spent 72 years in a market where I could get anything I wanted just by driving there. Not so here. Then again, I won't run out of retirement funds like I would have up north. Well, not until the revolution and civil war breaks out. Not sure how anybody would survive that.
Re: Windows 93
Nearly every block in NYC is like its own community, and once you get to know those in your area, you never want to leave.
They will tell you, all the hustle and bustle is not by them, hi hi.
If it was not so dang blasted cold, I really like my time in Canada, both cities I lived in while going to school.
And then when I did get out, it wasn't back to home yet, I had to go work at EPCOT in Florida next, so it was like going from the freezer to the frying pan, hi hi. But at least we didn't have to put up with Crockagators up in Canada, hi hi.
Perhaps it is a good thing I moved south. I heard the taxes on my old house I loved so dearly has crossed the 2,400 dollar point, which is more than I could afford now on my fixed income.
They will tell you, all the hustle and bustle is not by them, hi hi.
If it was not so dang blasted cold, I really like my time in Canada, both cities I lived in while going to school.
And then when I did get out, it wasn't back to home yet, I had to go work at EPCOT in Florida next, so it was like going from the freezer to the frying pan, hi hi. But at least we didn't have to put up with Crockagators up in Canada, hi hi.
Perhaps it is a good thing I moved south. I heard the taxes on my old house I loved so dearly has crossed the 2,400 dollar point, which is more than I could afford now on my fixed income.
Re: Windows 93
The killer expense for us old guys is real estate taxes. Medical bills will bankrupt you too, as you well know, but there is often some form of relief available in healthcare. Not so with taxes. As you too have attempted,I wanted to get a freeze on my real estate taxes up by Chicago, but nothing like that was available. The irony was that I did get about $300 knocked off my taxes just because I lived in the same house more than ten years. Then, too, that option was available to everybody.
The state representative for my district would come by every election cycle and I would complain to her about the taxes. She was very sympathetic and did in fact sponsor a few bills for senior citizen tax relief. One of them even got to the governor's desk, but he failed to sign off on it. So I lamented even more the next time she came around, but she too was frustrated. She did all she could, which turned out to be nothing. Her final advice to me was that if I could not afford to live there, I should consider moving. I was pissed at her arrogance, but it turned out to be the best thing she ever could have done for me. My tax bill was $10,000 on a 1500 sq ft house, the smallest house in the community. They have gone up since I left too. Down here I got 30% more living space at 1/3rd the tax rate. It keeps going up here too, but only a hundred or two each year that I've lived in Missouri. I'm sympathetic toward the people here who can't make it paying that much tax. But I don't feel much empathy given what I was used to before I got here.
The state representative for my district would come by every election cycle and I would complain to her about the taxes. She was very sympathetic and did in fact sponsor a few bills for senior citizen tax relief. One of them even got to the governor's desk, but he failed to sign off on it. So I lamented even more the next time she came around, but she too was frustrated. She did all she could, which turned out to be nothing. Her final advice to me was that if I could not afford to live there, I should consider moving. I was pissed at her arrogance, but it turned out to be the best thing she ever could have done for me. My tax bill was $10,000 on a 1500 sq ft house, the smallest house in the community. They have gone up since I left too. Down here I got 30% more living space at 1/3rd the tax rate. It keeps going up here too, but only a hundred or two each year that I've lived in Missouri. I'm sympathetic toward the people here who can't make it paying that much tax. But I don't feel much empathy given what I was used to before I got here.
Re: Windows 93
Ten grand, wow that is crazy high! Probably more than the house sold for when new, if it was an older home.
But then too, my brother sold his house for a similar reason. His taxes jumped from 1,800 up to 2,400 which is what prompted him to move onto his Yacht. But before he did that, he secretly slept in his office, which was not allowed, but he was careful not to leave any evidence. The room he used to sleep in, he set up like an emergency clinic for his employees, hi hi. So for that reason, a small bed was allowed. It looked more like a doctors office table though too, but much lower.
If I still lived in my old house, I couldn't afford the taxes there now either. And even here, it is getting harder to pay them.
But then too, my brother sold his house for a similar reason. His taxes jumped from 1,800 up to 2,400 which is what prompted him to move onto his Yacht. But before he did that, he secretly slept in his office, which was not allowed, but he was careful not to leave any evidence. The room he used to sleep in, he set up like an emergency clinic for his employees, hi hi. So for that reason, a small bed was allowed. It looked more like a doctors office table though too, but much lower.
If I still lived in my old house, I couldn't afford the taxes there now either. And even here, it is getting harder to pay them.
Re: Windows 93
The tax collector is an unforgiving mean bastard. If you default on your real estate tax there is no recourse. They take your home and sell it for back taxes. It doesn't matter what your personal situation happens to be. The tax man always gets his money. Then I read of some cities who have a problem with homeless people. They are typically homeless because they can't pay the freaking taxes on any house they might own. A few weeks ago I read about some city, it seems like it might have been Kansas City but maybe not, that build a community of tiny homes. You know, those homes that have a footprint about the size of the deck of a U-Haul trailer. They decided to be good governance and relocate some of those street people to the tiny homes, which as it turned out was a better deal than the shelters they ran for that purpose. It all sounded very nice until you remember that the reason those people are homeless is due to the real estate taxes for which there is no forgiveness nor exceptions.
I bought an acre of vacant land that a coworker from Motorola was selling off from his property. I paid the $39k he was asking without question and held onto that land for about ten years before we build our house on it. The house construction cost about $125K and we lived there for nearly 25 years. It sold for $365K two days after it was listed. That was the appraised value by the county assessor which is always low. I never did forgive the real estate agent for being such a dumb ass. We could have got a lot more but she, as is the case with all real estate agents, wanted to price it to sell quickly. Well, it did. The first year's tax was something like $1800 if I recall correctly. So the value of the house increased by 220%. The taxes increased by 550% over the same period of time. Amazing, eh?
I bought an acre of vacant land that a coworker from Motorola was selling off from his property. I paid the $39k he was asking without question and held onto that land for about ten years before we build our house on it. The house construction cost about $125K and we lived there for nearly 25 years. It sold for $365K two days after it was listed. That was the appraised value by the county assessor which is always low. I never did forgive the real estate agent for being such a dumb ass. We could have got a lot more but she, as is the case with all real estate agents, wanted to price it to sell quickly. Well, it did. The first year's tax was something like $1800 if I recall correctly. So the value of the house increased by 220%. The taxes increased by 550% over the same period of time. Amazing, eh?
Re: Windows 93
I don't know if it is still the same way or not, but it used to be, they could not take your home for back taxes until the amount of the tax equaled the assessed evaluation, which was usually half of what the home was worth.
I know I bought a few houses for renovation that were taken for back taxes, and all I had to do was pay the back taxes owed on it. But at least they came with no other encumbrances to worry about, just like the REO's I bought at auction. Got clear deeds!
I know, it is crazy how fast they add more and more taxes to real estate. And for what? To line their own pockets.
I know I bought a few houses for renovation that were taken for back taxes, and all I had to do was pay the back taxes owed on it. But at least they came with no other encumbrances to worry about, just like the REO's I bought at auction. Got clear deeds!
I know, it is crazy how fast they add more and more taxes to real estate. And for what? To line their own pockets.
Re: Windows 93
I can't say that I'm familiar with the tax laws enough to know when they can take your home from you. However, I do know the assessed valuation is a joke. I think they spend way too much time trying to calculate a formula that nobody can understand even when it's clearly written on the tax bill. They toss in factors that they clearly make up and have no basis in reality. My home back near Chicago always had an assessed valuation of about 1/3rd market value or less after the adjustments were made. There was a tax rate included in the formula as a separate line item, and the powers that be could brag that the tax rate has not changed or only changes slightly. Be that as it may, the number of dollars I have to pay could easily double because of the Black Magic equalizer adjustment they came up with. That equalizer was what determined how much revenue the county would collect, but there are any number of formulas that could be used more transparently and equitably. The fact is they need so much money to run the place and they cannot run on a deficit budget. So why it is necessary to make up some mythical evaluation numbers to collect that amount is beyond me. For example, they know the population count and they know what it costs to serve that population. Divide one number by the other and voila! You have a system where everyone pays their fair share. I don't think the government is a crooked as you suspect they are. However, I do believe there are a lot of stupid dummassess running it.
Re: Windows 93
Compared to when my grandpa was Mayor, and all elected positions were either voluntary or came with a small salary.
Today, most elected positions have a very high salary, and many perks on top of all the rest of the freebees they get.
What kills me, is every time there is a new administration, new departments are created, so they can hire their friends and supporters, and it seems none of those created departments ever go away, not even twenty years after they are out of office.
I don't doubt the Telegraph Office still has several running the office, heck and maybe even the Pony Express Office, hi hi.
Today, most elected positions have a very high salary, and many perks on top of all the rest of the freebees they get.
What kills me, is every time there is a new administration, new departments are created, so they can hire their friends and supporters, and it seems none of those created departments ever go away, not even twenty years after they are out of office.
I don't doubt the Telegraph Office still has several running the office, heck and maybe even the Pony Express Office, hi hi.
Re: Windows 93
You might be surprised to learn that Wells Fargo, the famous Pony Express company by that name, is still around and in business. In this century Wells Fargo is in the banking business, but I admit to not knowing if it's the same people who ran the express mail service. In any case several years ago Wells Fargo Bank was front page news. It seems they got involved with some shady loans, or something, and eventually a few of their executive management people ended up in prison. That bank used to manage my wife's retirement fund that was deposited with them by the insurance company she worked for. Fortunately she did not lose any of her retirement benefits when the bank took a deep dive.
The Pony Express Office is history now and days but the express mail service they provided is part of the current USPS. So, technically, they ARE still around but under a different name. The bank with the same name is still operating too for some reason. I guess even crooks need a place to store their booty.
The Pony Express Office is history now and days but the express mail service they provided is part of the current USPS. So, technically, they ARE still around but under a different name. The bank with the same name is still operating too for some reason. I guess even crooks need a place to store their booty.
Re: Windows 93
I think the Pony Express broke up into many different companies.
The Pony Express office in Kirkwood, later became a restaurant, was actually owned by Overland Stage Lines at one time.
11 Mile houses were popular during that era too, and Wells Fargo owned many of the stables associated with them.
What kills me is how the mail travels. Let's say two first class letters were mailed from the same big town to me, like from St. Louis. The one that is a bill seems to get to my mailbox in three days time, while the one containing the funds to pay that bill takes five days. Both postmarked on the same day too!
I no longer remember the fiasco behind the Savings & Loan breakups, but some of them were definitely shady, hi hi.
But several were so legit they were like saints too!
The Pony Express office in Kirkwood, later became a restaurant, was actually owned by Overland Stage Lines at one time.
11 Mile houses were popular during that era too, and Wells Fargo owned many of the stables associated with them.
What kills me is how the mail travels. Let's say two first class letters were mailed from the same big town to me, like from St. Louis. The one that is a bill seems to get to my mailbox in three days time, while the one containing the funds to pay that bill takes five days. Both postmarked on the same day too!
I no longer remember the fiasco behind the Savings & Loan breakups, but some of them were definitely shady, hi hi.
But several were so legit they were like saints too!
Re: Windows 93
I'm pretty sure some businesses pay the USPS a fee to give their mail priority. Then again, you are in business and would know about such things. In my mind it's like the ISP's who give priority to certain customers who come up with the big bucks. I think that discrepancy in delivery is being accented more and more these days with the USPS boldly telling people they are deliberately and purposely slowing down delivery of first class mail. Somehow that relates to cost cutting and efficiency along with removing drop off boxes and getting rid of high speed sorting machines. There are times when I get e-mail notifications from the utility companies warning me that my payment is due tomorrow, meaning they didn't get what I sent them a week or two prior. So I pay those online and then have a zero balance, or close to it, for the next month. I also wonder if the post office is not to blame in those instances because along with the warning letter comes an info-graphic telling me how to go paperless with automatic payments. All I can say is by delaying the posting of my payments they will not convince me to allow them direct access to my bank account.
Re: Windows 93
I learned the hard way, you never let anyone take automatic deductions from your account to pay bills.
It causes nothing but problems. What bills I do pay on-line I do so either using a credit card, or debit card to the credit card companies, but as a one time payment. No permission to extract any more funds, hi hi.
I don't know how it is possible for the USPS to claim they are losing money.
If you've ever studied logistics, they have the most profitable of all possible delivery types.
And one step below them were meter maids in cities with parking meters.
I never dreamed how much those gals in the little carts made for the city from parking fines.
I'll put it this way, it was 100 times more than I thought it would be!
And now, at least here, the parking meters put out a radio signal, so you see those little 3 wheel carts zipping from meter to meter instead of just going down the street once per hour. If that timer runs out, you have about 1 minute to feed it again, else you will see a meter maid heading your direction in hi gear, hi hi.
It causes nothing but problems. What bills I do pay on-line I do so either using a credit card, or debit card to the credit card companies, but as a one time payment. No permission to extract any more funds, hi hi.
I don't know how it is possible for the USPS to claim they are losing money.
If you've ever studied logistics, they have the most profitable of all possible delivery types.
And one step below them were meter maids in cities with parking meters.
I never dreamed how much those gals in the little carts made for the city from parking fines.
I'll put it this way, it was 100 times more than I thought it would be!
And now, at least here, the parking meters put out a radio signal, so you see those little 3 wheel carts zipping from meter to meter instead of just going down the street once per hour. If that timer runs out, you have about 1 minute to feed it again, else you will see a meter maid heading your direction in hi gear, hi hi.