It boils down to what exactly do you want to measure. Downloads, license purchases, activations, and actual use are all different things. Then there is the organization that is looking at Internet traffic through its switches. About the only reasonable comparison one can make regarding operating systems is relative, e.g., 90 times more Windows than Linux. This simple ratio should be fairly consistent regardless of what is being measured. I'd have to go along with the uncertainty surrounding computer hardware that actually has Windows installed. The first laptop I ever bought came with Windows 7 installed. The first thing I did was make an image and then remove Windows from that computer. Does that count as a Windows install or not? LOL
All I can say is that Windows presence dominates the computer world. You could argue, and I often have, that smartphones are computers and very few (if any) have Windows installed. I'd have to guess Window would not dominate the computer world if you included all the mobile devices in the count. I won't even attempt to guess what's going on in the virtual cloud world.
Avatar Issues
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Re: Avatar Issues
Actually Windows does not dominate the computer world, it only dominates the desktop marketplace.
Counting all servers, except the mainframes and supercomputers, I'll give Windows 30% and Linux 70%.
But if you pull in the private server farms, not accessible to the public, then it make a big jump to over 90% Linux, 10% Windows.
Counting all servers, except the mainframes and supercomputers, I'll give Windows 30% and Linux 70%.
But if you pull in the private server farms, not accessible to the public, then it make a big jump to over 90% Linux, 10% Windows.
Re: Avatar Issues
Kellemora wrote: I know most of the numbers you read anywhere are usually just picked from air, hi hi.
Does it really matter? None of the popular operating systems are going to become extinct in our lifetimes, nor in the lifetimes of our grandchildren.
Re: Avatar Issues
Hmm. Unless I'm misunderstanding what you mean. There are many OS's that are no longer around or in use.
Not to far in the future we won't actually have LoT OS's anymore.
Computers and devices will simply connect and use whatever OS is on the server they connect to.
I think many computers will eventually become nothing more than display devices.
Not to far in the future we won't actually have LoT OS's anymore.
Computers and devices will simply connect and use whatever OS is on the server they connect to.
I think many computers will eventually become nothing more than display devices.
Re: Avatar Issues
Neither Windows nor the Linux kernel will expire any time soon. I would think you are correct that the nature of computers will change well before the end of this century. If operating systems disappear, it will be due to Artificial Intelligence taking over. Intelligent devices will create their own advanced methods to prevent us humans from interfering with them. I see just the opposite scenario than yours. Computers will turn into sensual machines (with feelings) and cater to our whims before we even know we have any whims. I'd not be surprised if they learned how to program us instead of the other way around. There will be no need for servers. The client/server age will die like dinosaurs.
Re: Avatar Issues
I was reading an article published by Minnesota College Consortium, that AWS is looking to link all cloud computing systems together. AWS is already the biggest cloud computing provider! But all cloud systems could benefit by being connected together as a single cloud, reduce redundancy, accelerate access, and expand available storage. The cloud could be better organized for both private and business, plus have a larger database of public data available.
Another article along those same lines, but talking about search engines. It said greed is ruining the purpose of search engine look-ups. Each search engine provider is maintaining their own storage of the websites they crawl. Many of these are already using separate cloud storage accounts to hold the data they collect for their users, and much of the data they present to their users is outdated and unreachable. Wasted time and space is the result for all users. If search databases were made public and merged into a central area used by all search engines, it would alleviate much of the burden placed on the overall network.
The thing nearly everyone is concerned about, besides safety of course, is who will run a centralized storage service and what will happen if they go bankrupt or the centralized place get destroyed. A couple of the comments said they would have 15 to 50 redundant locations all with the same data, either accessible or as backup resources.
Somebody else said the U.S. Government has over 20 different locations in at least 5 different countries where their data is backed up in its entirety. I don't know if that is true, since I know a lot of military records were permanently lost at the fire in the St. Louis storage facility, but those were paper records too. They were supposed to have copies on microfiche stored in 10 different locations, but apparently not since they said the data was unrecoverable.
Another article along those same lines, but talking about search engines. It said greed is ruining the purpose of search engine look-ups. Each search engine provider is maintaining their own storage of the websites they crawl. Many of these are already using separate cloud storage accounts to hold the data they collect for their users, and much of the data they present to their users is outdated and unreachable. Wasted time and space is the result for all users. If search databases were made public and merged into a central area used by all search engines, it would alleviate much of the burden placed on the overall network.
The thing nearly everyone is concerned about, besides safety of course, is who will run a centralized storage service and what will happen if they go bankrupt or the centralized place get destroyed. A couple of the comments said they would have 15 to 50 redundant locations all with the same data, either accessible or as backup resources.
Somebody else said the U.S. Government has over 20 different locations in at least 5 different countries where their data is backed up in its entirety. I don't know if that is true, since I know a lot of military records were permanently lost at the fire in the St. Louis storage facility, but those were paper records too. They were supposed to have copies on microfiche stored in 10 different locations, but apparently not since they said the data was unrecoverable.
Re: Avatar Issues
A super cloud covering the entire planet would be a wonderful thing. In practice it's difficult, if not impossible, to get any two people to agree on something, much less likely that 195 countries will agree. Russia today is trying to privatize the Internet in that country and I doubt they would be willing to share what they know with the rest of the world. In theory a centralized database is a grand idea, however.
I think the US Federal Government, whatever that is, does have redundant data stored in locations scattered about the earth. That which is in those cabinets is what would be necessary to run the country in case of a disaster. Military records would not fall into that category, although it would have been nice to preserve all that information.
Projections about the future are fun but I doubt there is a lot of accuracy in them. What I'm envisioning here is based on what I know today, but technology is developing at an exponential pace. There may be things beyond AI and quantum computing to take over the way we do things. Look back toward your youth and you will quickly realize how primitive things were in those days. Your grandchildren's children will be looking at us with those same eyes. I would love to be around to see it happen. But, alas, I am only human.
I think the US Federal Government, whatever that is, does have redundant data stored in locations scattered about the earth. That which is in those cabinets is what would be necessary to run the country in case of a disaster. Military records would not fall into that category, although it would have been nice to preserve all that information.
Projections about the future are fun but I doubt there is a lot of accuracy in them. What I'm envisioning here is based on what I know today, but technology is developing at an exponential pace. There may be things beyond AI and quantum computing to take over the way we do things. Look back toward your youth and you will quickly realize how primitive things were in those days. Your grandchildren's children will be looking at us with those same eyes. I would love to be around to see it happen. But, alas, I am only human.
Re: Avatar Issues
Heck Yogi, just look at all of what we've seen in our own lifetimes and how they have changed.
Let's just look at the grocery store for an example.
Our local grocer, although they had a manual monster of a cash register, still wrote down each item you bought on the paper bag, totaled up the order, then entered the total with the cash register keys. Then they would add the sales tax, which was just a couple of mills, and put those mills in a glass jar next to the register.
Jump ahead only five years and they had a new cash register that printed out receipts. They rang up each item, hit sub-total, moved a shift lever and they added the tax, then hit the total button. The drawer would pop open and they would make your change.
Jump ahead another five years and the cash registers now did journalizing and posting to their account record, early computer days.
Jump ahead another five years and the cash register is now a complete POS computerized system that does everything from inventory control, to customer statistics, plus take your money.
Jump ahead another five years and now they want you to do all the work using their Self-Service checkout stands For FREE!
Most folks don't realize that at Self-Service Gas Stations we get something like a 10% discount on the cost of the gas to this day. So technically, we are paid to pump our own gas! This was how they managed to get Self-Service Gas Stations started and the rules have never changed. It's been so long, most folks don't remember all the hassle of the transition with insurance companies and local laws that had to be altered. All of this came with a big price to the oil companies.
But we don't see our poly-tick-ians or local officials involved in the transition from Cashiers to Self-Service, thus no discount for being used as a Slave by the companies who add them.
But let me add something else. Ordering Kiosks are different than Self-Service Checkouts and in a big way.
You still have to look over a menu to place an order. If the menu is on paper, you have to memorize what you want to order and tell the wait staff. On a Kiosk, when you decide on each item, you just hit a button. In this case it is a convenience to you not to have to remember. When you are done you hit the Place Order button rather than waiting for a wait staff member to come by and write down your order. Again, this is a convenience.
However Self-Checkout is NOT a convenience. You still have to unload your cart one item at a time across a scanner, then place it on a scale to verify then bag your purchase, often always on a scale also. You are doing the work normally performed by others and doing it for free. You are the cashier, the scanner, and the bag boy. This is physical work you are performing for a company for FREE and without workman's comp insurance or benefits.
When you work for a company with no pay, no insurance, and no benefits, this is worse than Slave Labor!
At least Slaves got housing, food, and some medical care. What does the store give you? Nothing, absolutely nothing!
Let's just look at the grocery store for an example.
Our local grocer, although they had a manual monster of a cash register, still wrote down each item you bought on the paper bag, totaled up the order, then entered the total with the cash register keys. Then they would add the sales tax, which was just a couple of mills, and put those mills in a glass jar next to the register.
Jump ahead only five years and they had a new cash register that printed out receipts. They rang up each item, hit sub-total, moved a shift lever and they added the tax, then hit the total button. The drawer would pop open and they would make your change.
Jump ahead another five years and the cash registers now did journalizing and posting to their account record, early computer days.
Jump ahead another five years and the cash register is now a complete POS computerized system that does everything from inventory control, to customer statistics, plus take your money.
Jump ahead another five years and now they want you to do all the work using their Self-Service checkout stands For FREE!
Most folks don't realize that at Self-Service Gas Stations we get something like a 10% discount on the cost of the gas to this day. So technically, we are paid to pump our own gas! This was how they managed to get Self-Service Gas Stations started and the rules have never changed. It's been so long, most folks don't remember all the hassle of the transition with insurance companies and local laws that had to be altered. All of this came with a big price to the oil companies.
But we don't see our poly-tick-ians or local officials involved in the transition from Cashiers to Self-Service, thus no discount for being used as a Slave by the companies who add them.
But let me add something else. Ordering Kiosks are different than Self-Service Checkouts and in a big way.
You still have to look over a menu to place an order. If the menu is on paper, you have to memorize what you want to order and tell the wait staff. On a Kiosk, when you decide on each item, you just hit a button. In this case it is a convenience to you not to have to remember. When you are done you hit the Place Order button rather than waiting for a wait staff member to come by and write down your order. Again, this is a convenience.
However Self-Checkout is NOT a convenience. You still have to unload your cart one item at a time across a scanner, then place it on a scale to verify then bag your purchase, often always on a scale also. You are doing the work normally performed by others and doing it for free. You are the cashier, the scanner, and the bag boy. This is physical work you are performing for a company for FREE and without workman's comp insurance or benefits.
When you work for a company with no pay, no insurance, and no benefits, this is worse than Slave Labor!
At least Slaves got housing, food, and some medical care. What does the store give you? Nothing, absolutely nothing!
Re: Avatar Issues
Much of what you say about grocery checkout lanes is true. They came into being for the same reason the gas stations went to self-service, i.e., the cost of labor. When you pump your own gas and bag your own groceries, the store does not have to pay somebody to do it. Because the cost of doing business is less, they can pass that savings onto their customers. The discount at the gas pump, by the way, was artificial. It was an incentive to get people to switch. Self-checkout at the grocery never had to offer that incentive. The reason being is that some people prefer the fast lane. The benefit of self checkout (usually) is that you don't have to stand in line to wait your turn. You also avoid your loaf of bread being packed in the bottom of the bag with a bunch of canned goods on top of it. The cost of your time spent not waiting in line is your discount and payment.
Regardless, all the above misses the point. The gas station and the grocery store are only pretending to be there to serve your needs. The real reason behind their existence is to maximize their profits, thus the effort to reduce labor costs.
Your only revenge for the above is to pay with a credit card. Oh yes, I know, they are passing that cost onto you in the form of higher prices. However, most credit cards these days offer some kind of cash back benefit. That would be your discount wherever you use the card.
Regardless, all the above misses the point. The gas station and the grocery store are only pretending to be there to serve your needs. The real reason behind their existence is to maximize their profits, thus the effort to reduce labor costs.
Your only revenge for the above is to pay with a credit card. Oh yes, I know, they are passing that cost onto you in the form of higher prices. However, most credit cards these days offer some kind of cash back benefit. That would be your discount wherever you use the card.
Avatar Issues
Self-checkouts actually defeat the way I shop and take a whole lot longer to use than a cashier.
Unlike most folks who may buy one or two of each item. Even though it is just me and the frau, I usually buy in cases, or close to it. Depends on the items of course as well. I buy singles or doubles of a lot of things too.
It's actually easier for me to shop this way. It's the stores lack of inventory why I'm often forced to buy less of something than I went in to buy, which is very annoying to me.
I have a whole stack of rain checks sitting in the slot on my counter because the store just can't ever keep enough inventory in stock to even buy four of something I prefer to buy 12 to 15 of at a time. The reason for the rain checks is they put the item on sale at 4 for X or 3 for X, but only have 0 to 2 on the shelf to sell.
Because of this, and the big stink I raise with the store when they refuse to sell a product to me at the sale price because they don't have the quantity needed, the stores HQ has given me a plastic card, about the size of a credit card, that says they have to give me the sale price if they can't supply the goods, or a rain check. It has a scan code on it too for verification. Most of the cashiers have never seen such a card, however it does something really great too. They don't have to find a supervisor who can override the scanned price, it brings up a window that lets them enter the sale price. Saves time! Also lets the home office know they didn't have enough stock to cover their advertised sale.
My Credit Card is a no annual fee, no interest, cash back that get deposited straight to my saving account.
Love it! I also get 0.5% more cash back from a promotion I signed up for. So instead of 1, 2 or 3% it is always 1.5, 2.5 or 3.5% Initially this required spending over 500 bucks per month, but after a year they reduced it down to 300 bucks a month which I'm always over that amount, because I have the frau put things on it too and she pays me back for those items.
Unlike most folks who may buy one or two of each item. Even though it is just me and the frau, I usually buy in cases, or close to it. Depends on the items of course as well. I buy singles or doubles of a lot of things too.
It's actually easier for me to shop this way. It's the stores lack of inventory why I'm often forced to buy less of something than I went in to buy, which is very annoying to me.
I have a whole stack of rain checks sitting in the slot on my counter because the store just can't ever keep enough inventory in stock to even buy four of something I prefer to buy 12 to 15 of at a time. The reason for the rain checks is they put the item on sale at 4 for X or 3 for X, but only have 0 to 2 on the shelf to sell.
Because of this, and the big stink I raise with the store when they refuse to sell a product to me at the sale price because they don't have the quantity needed, the stores HQ has given me a plastic card, about the size of a credit card, that says they have to give me the sale price if they can't supply the goods, or a rain check. It has a scan code on it too for verification. Most of the cashiers have never seen such a card, however it does something really great too. They don't have to find a supervisor who can override the scanned price, it brings up a window that lets them enter the sale price. Saves time! Also lets the home office know they didn't have enough stock to cover their advertised sale.
My Credit Card is a no annual fee, no interest, cash back that get deposited straight to my saving account.
Love it! I also get 0.5% more cash back from a promotion I signed up for. So instead of 1, 2 or 3% it is always 1.5, 2.5 or 3.5% Initially this required spending over 500 bucks per month, but after a year they reduced it down to 300 bucks a month which I'm always over that amount, because I have the frau put things on it too and she pays me back for those items.
Re: Avatar Issues
My credit card expenditures always exceed $2500 a month. If it drops below that Mastercard calls 911 and sends them to my house to be sure I'm still alive. LOL Everything possible goes on the card which is shared by both me and my wife. Likewise no fees or interest is assessed, but I prefer to keep them out of my checking account. I take the points and cash them in when I choose.
You have a special situation where it benefits you to hassle the till tart for that corporate discount. Nine times out of ten I'll stand in line instead of go to the empty auto-checkout bay. That's because I rarely buy less than 20 items to take advantage of the speedy exit. Plus, I don't like dealing with robots, even though they do have a human overseer on duty. We don't consume a lot and buying food in bulk would mean a lot of it would go past it's "use by" date. I prefer to shop every day for every meal, but here in O'Fallon that's a bigger hassle than it was up north. The idea is to have fresh good on hand all the time; well, fresh as possible. Certain items I can't get in the local stores are purchased in lots online. It's a 50/50 chance that it costs less online, but at least I can get what I prefer to consume.
You have a special situation where it benefits you to hassle the till tart for that corporate discount. Nine times out of ten I'll stand in line instead of go to the empty auto-checkout bay. That's because I rarely buy less than 20 items to take advantage of the speedy exit. Plus, I don't like dealing with robots, even though they do have a human overseer on duty. We don't consume a lot and buying food in bulk would mean a lot of it would go past it's "use by" date. I prefer to shop every day for every meal, but here in O'Fallon that's a bigger hassle than it was up north. The idea is to have fresh good on hand all the time; well, fresh as possible. Certain items I can't get in the local stores are purchased in lots online. It's a 50/50 chance that it costs less online, but at least I can get what I prefer to consume.
Re: Avatar Issues
With just the frau and I eating, and I eat very little, we don't buy anything perishable in bulk.
But things we do eat a lot of like certain types of soup, or veggies, canned goods, we usually buy by the case and/or in six-packs if possible. Plus snack items. I buy Pringles by the case, even though I only eat four to six chips at a time, perhaps twice a day. We also reuse the Pringles cans a few times before they end up in the trash, if they end up in the trash that is. Heck, in the garage, holding nails, I still have the Blue Jean Pringles cans from Hearty Pringles back in the 80's.
Round cylinder cans waste space, so a lot of my storage has given way to rectangular heavy wall boxes.
Mostly we use them for biohazard waste, and as much insulin as the frau uses, she fills them up fairly fast. Once filled they get sealed and dropped off at her doctors office in the biohazard bin. I think from there they go to an incinerator where afterward the plastics and metals may be recycled. Don't know for sure, but I doubt it all goes to ashes and metals.
Nearly everything we use gets recycled, sometimes after we use it for other purposes first.
Naturally all of our aluminum cans, pie tins, candy wrappers, etc. all go to the aluminum guy who pays us.
He also takes the brass, copper, and other metals, but not steel.
If it is steel we stop at a place on the way to the aluminum guy. Steel doesn't bring much, we probably spend more in gas, but as I said, we pass his place anyhow, so we stop in and get a few bucks there too.
Almost all paper that comes into our house is shredded in our paper shredders and used as mulch under the bushes or elsewhere, and large cardboard is laid out between the garage and the fence where I feed the birds. Our deck hides the fact we place the cardboard boxes there, and this way I don't have to mow that area either.
Small pasteboard boxes, like cereal boxes, cake boxes, soda cartons, etc. we used to shred and use along the fence in the front yard. But more recently we flatten them and bundle them up into 25 pound piles and take them to another recycling center once we get around 200 pounds worth. At 200 pounds they give us 5 to 10 bucks, under 200 pounds nothing, we know he gets like 20 bucks for it, but you have to have like 10,000 pounds of it, hi hi.
They also take all of our plastics, and if you have it sorted by hdpe types, you get their best price, which can be anywhere from 20 to 50 cents a pound. Recycle prices change on a daily basis so we watch their signs, hi hi.
But things we do eat a lot of like certain types of soup, or veggies, canned goods, we usually buy by the case and/or in six-packs if possible. Plus snack items. I buy Pringles by the case, even though I only eat four to six chips at a time, perhaps twice a day. We also reuse the Pringles cans a few times before they end up in the trash, if they end up in the trash that is. Heck, in the garage, holding nails, I still have the Blue Jean Pringles cans from Hearty Pringles back in the 80's.
Round cylinder cans waste space, so a lot of my storage has given way to rectangular heavy wall boxes.
Mostly we use them for biohazard waste, and as much insulin as the frau uses, she fills them up fairly fast. Once filled they get sealed and dropped off at her doctors office in the biohazard bin. I think from there they go to an incinerator where afterward the plastics and metals may be recycled. Don't know for sure, but I doubt it all goes to ashes and metals.
Nearly everything we use gets recycled, sometimes after we use it for other purposes first.
Naturally all of our aluminum cans, pie tins, candy wrappers, etc. all go to the aluminum guy who pays us.
He also takes the brass, copper, and other metals, but not steel.
If it is steel we stop at a place on the way to the aluminum guy. Steel doesn't bring much, we probably spend more in gas, but as I said, we pass his place anyhow, so we stop in and get a few bucks there too.
Almost all paper that comes into our house is shredded in our paper shredders and used as mulch under the bushes or elsewhere, and large cardboard is laid out between the garage and the fence where I feed the birds. Our deck hides the fact we place the cardboard boxes there, and this way I don't have to mow that area either.
Small pasteboard boxes, like cereal boxes, cake boxes, soda cartons, etc. we used to shred and use along the fence in the front yard. But more recently we flatten them and bundle them up into 25 pound piles and take them to another recycling center once we get around 200 pounds worth. At 200 pounds they give us 5 to 10 bucks, under 200 pounds nothing, we know he gets like 20 bucks for it, but you have to have like 10,000 pounds of it, hi hi.
They also take all of our plastics, and if you have it sorted by hdpe types, you get their best price, which can be anywhere from 20 to 50 cents a pound. Recycle prices change on a daily basis so we watch their signs, hi hi.
Re: Avatar Issues
I think you are being as friendly to the earth as it is possible to be. It's a big hassle to recycle the way you do, and I think that's the main reason more people don't do it. When we first moved down here there were two trash bins for our use. One for trash and one for recycled goods. Now that the Chinese no longer want our scrap plastic, the city of O'Fallo has drastically cut back it's recycling program. They take no paper products of any kind and only certain types of plastic. Tin and aluminum cans are OK too. I can literally go six months before I fill the recycle bin 3/4 full. I'm surprised the guy who drives the collection truck still has a job. About one in ten houses, or less, bother to put out the recycle bin now. We used to take the paper products to a collection center at the other end of town, but they relocated to some other town and all that paper now goes to the landfill. Doing all this is cheaper for the city of O'Fallon, especially since they use the next town over service for recycling. Do you think my monthly trash collection bill has gone down? HAH!
About the only benefit I can see to what you are doing is that you get reimbursed for all your trouble. It's also wonderful that you are conscientious enough to not pollute the environment, but you are only a single family. The masses around you have no such concern would be my guess.
About the only benefit I can see to what you are doing is that you get reimbursed for all your trouble. It's also wonderful that you are conscientious enough to not pollute the environment, but you are only a single family. The masses around you have no such concern would be my guess.
Re: Avatar Issues
Because Alcoa Aluminum's Smelter for recycled cans is only about 10 miles away, we get top dollar for aluminum cans from the recycling centers around us.
Despite the fact there are at least four of them along Maryville Pike near us, we often still have to wait, 3rd or 4th in line to turn in our cans.
Then go over to the other line if we have scrap aluminum or other non-ferrous metals.
The recycling centers pay about 1/3 to 1/2 of what they are selling it to Alcoa for, however, Alcoa is who dictates their daily price. And this is how the recycling centers make the most money too. They pay us the daily adjusted rate, but they only send a truck to the smelter when the daily price is super high. They may let four or five full tractor trailer trailers sit in their yard until the price is high. That's a gimmick too, if the price is not high enough and they are running out of space we only get about 1/3 of the daily price for aluminum.
I drink a LOT of soda, 12 to 15 cartons a month by myself, plus what the frau and visitors drink. So we have a lot of cans collected and smashed down each time we go. We often get anywhere from 30 to 50 bucks when we bring in the cans. Another 5 bucks for clear glass, and perhaps 10 bucks for sorted plastics. Pet plastic only fetches about a buck or two, but we have a lot of HDPE2 plastic too, and get about 4 to 6 bucks for that when we take it in.
The thing about pasteboard and plastics is, you have to have 200 pounds for them to pay you. So pasteboard is tied up in 25 lb bundles, and plastics are just stored in large cloth sacks, about the size of a duffel bag with tie strings at the top. When we have a dozen or so of these filled with all the same kind of plastic we take it with us on an aluminum can run.
If we didn't do it that way, it wouldn't be worth making the extra stop, even though we go right by the door.
Despite the fact there are at least four of them along Maryville Pike near us, we often still have to wait, 3rd or 4th in line to turn in our cans.
Then go over to the other line if we have scrap aluminum or other non-ferrous metals.
The recycling centers pay about 1/3 to 1/2 of what they are selling it to Alcoa for, however, Alcoa is who dictates their daily price. And this is how the recycling centers make the most money too. They pay us the daily adjusted rate, but they only send a truck to the smelter when the daily price is super high. They may let four or five full tractor trailer trailers sit in their yard until the price is high. That's a gimmick too, if the price is not high enough and they are running out of space we only get about 1/3 of the daily price for aluminum.
I drink a LOT of soda, 12 to 15 cartons a month by myself, plus what the frau and visitors drink. So we have a lot of cans collected and smashed down each time we go. We often get anywhere from 30 to 50 bucks when we bring in the cans. Another 5 bucks for clear glass, and perhaps 10 bucks for sorted plastics. Pet plastic only fetches about a buck or two, but we have a lot of HDPE2 plastic too, and get about 4 to 6 bucks for that when we take it in.
The thing about pasteboard and plastics is, you have to have 200 pounds for them to pay you. So pasteboard is tied up in 25 lb bundles, and plastics are just stored in large cloth sacks, about the size of a duffel bag with tie strings at the top. When we have a dozen or so of these filled with all the same kind of plastic we take it with us on an aluminum can run.
If we didn't do it that way, it wouldn't be worth making the extra stop, even though we go right by the door.
Re: Avatar Issues
Before I was old enough to work I did various things to earn extra money. I ran a shoe shine service and a car wash and a grass cutting service, none of which lasted more than a few months. LOL Those also were the days when grocery stores would pay you to return empty glass bottles from soda. There probably was some kind of law that made them do it, but I know an empty qt soda bottle would bring 5 cents. A six pack was worth something like 10 cents. I really don't recall exactly, but I do remember scouring the neighborhood for empty bottles. It amazed the daylights out of me how many bottles I could collect in one afternoon because they were all laying in places I could reach from the local sidewalk. After collecting them I'd wash them and put them in my Radio Flyer red wagon to walk them over to the A&P store. The first couple times they were amused but paid me what the going price was. I'd often leave with over $1 in my pocket. 
But then they caught on to what I was doing and demanded that the soda bottles be in those cardboard carrying cartons because that's what they were short of. So, it was a little extra work but I managed to scrounge up enough cartons. Then they finally asked me where I was getting all these bottles. Being the honest kid I was I told them exactly what I was doing. Then they said they can't give me the money unless I bought the soda in their store. That's when I switched to taking them to the Kroger store. Kroger was a lot farther to walk so I didn't do that very often. For some reason they never complained about the qt bottles.
In those old times the news came to us printed on paper. Chicago had three major newspapers and we subscribed to two of them. On Sundays we bought the Tribune outside of church because all the sales mom was interested in were in the Trib. I learned that there was a junkyard a couple miles from our house which would pay for newsprint. It was only something like 50 cents per Cwt which was not worth the walk with my red wagon. I couldn't put that much paper in the wagon even if I wanted to pull it that far. My uncle offered to take me there in his car a time or two, and that worked out well. But that too didn't last very long. Only made two or three trips as I recall.
And that's my whole experience with direct recycling, which wasn't called recycling in those days by the way.
But then they caught on to what I was doing and demanded that the soda bottles be in those cardboard carrying cartons because that's what they were short of. So, it was a little extra work but I managed to scrounge up enough cartons. Then they finally asked me where I was getting all these bottles. Being the honest kid I was I told them exactly what I was doing. Then they said they can't give me the money unless I bought the soda in their store. That's when I switched to taking them to the Kroger store. Kroger was a lot farther to walk so I didn't do that very often. For some reason they never complained about the qt bottles.In those old times the news came to us printed on paper. Chicago had three major newspapers and we subscribed to two of them. On Sundays we bought the Tribune outside of church because all the sales mom was interested in were in the Trib. I learned that there was a junkyard a couple miles from our house which would pay for newsprint. It was only something like 50 cents per Cwt which was not worth the walk with my red wagon. I couldn't put that much paper in the wagon even if I wanted to pull it that far. My uncle offered to take me there in his car a time or two, and that worked out well. But that too didn't last very long. Only made two or three trips as I recall.
And that's my whole experience with direct recycling, which wasn't called recycling in those days by the way.
Re: Avatar Issues
I used to subscribe to the Chicago Sun Times back in the late 1970's.
There was a reason I did so, but I don't remember what it was any more.
Could have been because I advertised a Car Electricity Adapter I sold in their paper.
Like you I had several small jobs I did on the way home from school, mostly emptying trash cans, or cleaning and refilling the shave cream machines at the barber, and carrying out their waste to the dumpster or burn pile.
Then naturally after I got home I had to work in the greenhouses.
We had a deposit on soda bottles back then, so most stores took them in without question.
However, they did not take 10 ounce bottles because they did not sell 10 oz bottles.
No problem, we had soda machines at the flower shop and greenhouses that were all 10 oz bottles.
So any we found we could put in a case, and when that case was full, it was added to the batch the soda driver picked up and CJ would then pay us for the case of bottles.
I only sold newspapers on a street corner for one winter season when Ron was sick.
It was too much work for too little money. But luckily I landed a job at the Drive-In Theater for Friday and Saturday nights.
I actually loved that job. Learned how to do many things, so could fill in for missing folks. It's where I learned to do short-order cooking also. Which of course eventually led to my being a cook at a local ice cream shop and restaurant.
Didn't pay as much as the drive-in did, but it was steady work for every night of the week.
The cut flower shop closed at 5:30pm and I could run across the street in time to clock in before 5:45 for the 6pm trade.
Food stopped at 7:30pm and then I worked the ice cream windows until 9pm when they closed.
There was a reason I did so, but I don't remember what it was any more.
Could have been because I advertised a Car Electricity Adapter I sold in their paper.
Like you I had several small jobs I did on the way home from school, mostly emptying trash cans, or cleaning and refilling the shave cream machines at the barber, and carrying out their waste to the dumpster or burn pile.
Then naturally after I got home I had to work in the greenhouses.
We had a deposit on soda bottles back then, so most stores took them in without question.
However, they did not take 10 ounce bottles because they did not sell 10 oz bottles.
No problem, we had soda machines at the flower shop and greenhouses that were all 10 oz bottles.
So any we found we could put in a case, and when that case was full, it was added to the batch the soda driver picked up and CJ would then pay us for the case of bottles.
I only sold newspapers on a street corner for one winter season when Ron was sick.
It was too much work for too little money. But luckily I landed a job at the Drive-In Theater for Friday and Saturday nights.
I actually loved that job. Learned how to do many things, so could fill in for missing folks. It's where I learned to do short-order cooking also. Which of course eventually led to my being a cook at a local ice cream shop and restaurant.
Didn't pay as much as the drive-in did, but it was steady work for every night of the week.
The cut flower shop closed at 5:30pm and I could run across the street in time to clock in before 5:45 for the 6pm trade.
Food stopped at 7:30pm and then I worked the ice cream windows until 9pm when they closed.
Re: Avatar Issues
You were way more ambitious than I was, but then, your family had a business you needed to work. I did all those small time jobs before I reached the age of 12. At that age I was old enough to get a paper route to deliver the Chicago American afternoon newspaper. The alternative was delivering the morning newspapers, the Sun Times and the Tribune. Those routes were much bigger and demanded more time that I didn't have in the morning. A lot of people didn't want the afternoon route because that paper made the carriers do the collections. In essence I was buying newspapers from a distributor and paid him once a week. I had to collect the subscription fees from my customers which consumed a lot of time, BUT, most of them also gave tips. This brought my weekly earnings to $7-$8 which was high living for a 12 year old in those days. Some customers were a problem and I had to get the distributor involved a time or two, but it was all worth it come Christmas time. I always collected more than $50 that week.
There was a fourth afternoon newspaper, the Daily News, which didn't do so well. They closed down somewhere in my middle teen years. If I am not mistaken Chicago only has the Tribune and the Sun Times left, both of which have a heavy presence on the Internet. You can't get into the Tribune site without a subscription, however. Never did like those guys anyway. LOL
There was a fourth afternoon newspaper, the Daily News, which didn't do so well. They closed down somewhere in my middle teen years. If I am not mistaken Chicago only has the Tribune and the Sun Times left, both of which have a heavy presence on the Internet. You can't get into the Tribune site without a subscription, however. Never did like those guys anyway. LOL
Re: Avatar Issues
I never had a route, and didn't actually work for the newspaper, so wasn't included in the "Old Newsboys" listing.
Ron Ramlow is who had rights to the street corner, and I technically only helped him out when he was out sick for a couple of months. Seems like I had to pay something like $12.50 for each bale of daily newspapers, and only got two of them each day. Naturally we never sold all of them. The top and bottom paper was usually damaged, and I don't think they counted them anyhow. The man who delivered the bales must have got paid from Ron's account, because I never had to pay him. But I did have to give Ron 30 bucks per day, and I could keep the rest, which really wasn't much, perhaps 4 or 5 dollars is all. Ron did not have the weekend paper account, some older man had that and his two sons helped him at the intersection. On the opposite corner, diagonal from Ron's corner was the man who sold the Globe Democrat aka Republican Paper. Ron's corner was the St. Louis Post Dispatch aka the Democratic Paper.
By the time I was around 15 years old, no papers were sold from street corners anymore, at least not in Des Peres. But they had these metal paper boxes outside of nearly every store and shop, and sometimes on on the street corners that had higher foot traffic.
I have no idea who sold the Extra Editions that came out later in the day on some days. It was never the same person working the corner that I recall.
OK, now don't laugh at this next one. Somehow I got roped into selling GRIT Newspapers by a cousin of mine.
Back then, most housewives did not work, so going door to door wasn't so bad. But we only made like a nickel for each paper we sold, and normally only one house out of 20 would take the paper.
My cousin knew exactly which of the people on his route did buy the paper regularly, and I had to get a new route going myself in a new subdivision. I don't recall ever making more than 50 cents on a Saturday of hitting all the houses in that subdivision, but like my cousin, I kept a list of who did buy. I had one old lady who always watched for me to be coming down the street on my bike. Yeppers, I quit walking and only went to those on my list using my bike. I think she's the only one who really liked that paper, hi hi.
Ron Ramlow is who had rights to the street corner, and I technically only helped him out when he was out sick for a couple of months. Seems like I had to pay something like $12.50 for each bale of daily newspapers, and only got two of them each day. Naturally we never sold all of them. The top and bottom paper was usually damaged, and I don't think they counted them anyhow. The man who delivered the bales must have got paid from Ron's account, because I never had to pay him. But I did have to give Ron 30 bucks per day, and I could keep the rest, which really wasn't much, perhaps 4 or 5 dollars is all. Ron did not have the weekend paper account, some older man had that and his two sons helped him at the intersection. On the opposite corner, diagonal from Ron's corner was the man who sold the Globe Democrat aka Republican Paper. Ron's corner was the St. Louis Post Dispatch aka the Democratic Paper.
By the time I was around 15 years old, no papers were sold from street corners anymore, at least not in Des Peres. But they had these metal paper boxes outside of nearly every store and shop, and sometimes on on the street corners that had higher foot traffic.
I have no idea who sold the Extra Editions that came out later in the day on some days. It was never the same person working the corner that I recall.
OK, now don't laugh at this next one. Somehow I got roped into selling GRIT Newspapers by a cousin of mine.
Back then, most housewives did not work, so going door to door wasn't so bad. But we only made like a nickel for each paper we sold, and normally only one house out of 20 would take the paper.
My cousin knew exactly which of the people on his route did buy the paper regularly, and I had to get a new route going myself in a new subdivision. I don't recall ever making more than 50 cents on a Saturday of hitting all the houses in that subdivision, but like my cousin, I kept a list of who did buy. I had one old lady who always watched for me to be coming down the street on my bike. Yeppers, I quit walking and only went to those on my list using my bike. I think she's the only one who really liked that paper, hi hi.
Re: Avatar Issues
I'm not sure what a GRIT paper is, but I did have a second paper route in addition to the Chicago American. This second route only delivered once a week, which was a Wednesday or Thursday. It was light on content but had a ton of adverts to supposedly prep the people for their weekend shopping sprees. Every house in my territory had to get a paper and each apartment building had to have one for each flat. The pay was minimal as I recall and the hours were long in that there sere several hundred homes I had to deliver papers to. Seems like I got six or eight bundles dropped off in front of my house each week. I don't think there were 100 per bundle, but it could have been that much. I did that for less than a year because the Chicago winters were brutal for paper carriers, even young energetic ones.
I never worked a paper stand but I do recall them being at busy intersections. They were replaced by the metal self serve boxes as was the case where you lived. The boxes could be placed in more locations and they were self-serve which cut out the middle man. I recall more than once standing around the paper stand talking to the guy while we warmed our hands over the fire he had going in a metal drum. Wouldn't doubt that he lived in that paper stand too, but I was too young to know about homeless people.
I never worked a paper stand but I do recall them being at busy intersections. They were replaced by the metal self serve boxes as was the case where you lived. The boxes could be placed in more locations and they were self-serve which cut out the middle man. I recall more than once standing around the paper stand talking to the guy while we warmed our hands over the fire he had going in a metal drum. Wouldn't doubt that he lived in that paper stand too, but I was too young to know about homeless people.
Re: Avatar Issues
GRIT was a family newspaper they advertised in comic books for kids to sell to their neighbors door to door.
We had a newspaper in town called the Des Peres News and Views. This was a free paper, but you could pay to have it delivered to your door via the USPS.
They tried using kids to deliver one to each house in a subdivision for a couple of years. But I think they only paid like 3 cents per house, and it had to be taken to the door, unless the folks bought this little tube that mounted under their mailbox to stick it in. Not many had that tube though.
After that didn't work out, or because the delivery drivers for the Globe Democrat managed to get them to let them deliver them along with the Globe, they would slip the News and Views into the same plastic sleeve along with the Globe.
Apparently the Globe frowned on that and they had to wrap them separately, which of course was not cost effective for the newspaper delivery drivers so they stopped delivering the News and Views.
Unlike back home where the newspaper trucks toss the newspaper into your front yard as close to the stoop as possible. Down here you MUST HAVE a plastic newspaper box for the newspaper or they won't deliver it to you.
And come to think of it, I've not seen a newspaper truck now in a long time. I guess most folks are getting it on-line.
Also, you can print out newspaper coupons by going to the newspaper website. Some coupons you can get without subscribing to the newspaper, but most coupons require a subscription to download.
Nearly every grocery store or high traffic business has a row of newspaper boxes out on their sidewalk.
Including boxes for all the free papers too!
We had a newspaper in town called the Des Peres News and Views. This was a free paper, but you could pay to have it delivered to your door via the USPS.
They tried using kids to deliver one to each house in a subdivision for a couple of years. But I think they only paid like 3 cents per house, and it had to be taken to the door, unless the folks bought this little tube that mounted under their mailbox to stick it in. Not many had that tube though.
After that didn't work out, or because the delivery drivers for the Globe Democrat managed to get them to let them deliver them along with the Globe, they would slip the News and Views into the same plastic sleeve along with the Globe.
Apparently the Globe frowned on that and they had to wrap them separately, which of course was not cost effective for the newspaper delivery drivers so they stopped delivering the News and Views.
Unlike back home where the newspaper trucks toss the newspaper into your front yard as close to the stoop as possible. Down here you MUST HAVE a plastic newspaper box for the newspaper or they won't deliver it to you.
And come to think of it, I've not seen a newspaper truck now in a long time. I guess most folks are getting it on-line.
Also, you can print out newspaper coupons by going to the newspaper website. Some coupons you can get without subscribing to the newspaper, but most coupons require a subscription to download.
Nearly every grocery store or high traffic business has a row of newspaper boxes out on their sidewalk.
Including boxes for all the free papers too!