#it would be cheaper to just pay even like 100$ to actually keep it

[fur-sure-suits]

Hi. I’m not dead lol

I’ve been trying to 3d model some armor for my hippogryph suit, but the modeling program I’m using (zbrush core mini) wants me to pay a fucking subscription fee to import the fursuits head base into the program so I can use it as a base. So I actually know the dimensions of what I’m fucking working on. Importing should be a basic fucking feature for ANY COMPUTER PROGRAM. And if you can’t tell, I hate subscription services. (I’m tempted to put services in quotes)

Also one of the locking magnets in my printers ams keeps coming loose. So I’m going to have to buy a new part. On a printer I’ve had for four days 🙃

So my creative process is kinda slow rn. Ugh

So I’m still around, I’m trying to work on projects in the studio, but keeping motivation is really hard with all these minor obstacles -__-

Honestly I have some animal minifigures/toys that I’ve been meaning to paint just for fun, so I might do that until that new part comes (and to take a break from printing

[nerdyfangirlingbooks]

Every now and then I remember the times I would mention to my flatmate that I was thinking of buying myself something reasonably expensive (that I had been eyeing up for months and had budgeted for) and she'd tell me that I shouldn't spend that much money on something I didn't need and it would be stupid etc etc while she regularly impulse bought things that cost at least as much and she would use once (while complaining that she was under a lot of financial stress and couldn't afford <$3/week for 2 months for a rental washing machine when ours broke). She is... perhaps not my first call for financial advice

[alex51324]

Another good one from Vox about the upcoming Trump Tariffs, and what they might mean for your near-future spending.

The first thing to understand is that tariffs absolutely do not do what Trump thinks they do. Trump has pitched tariffs as a way to lower prices, which is simply...wrong. He also seems to be under the impression that tariffs are a way to make foreign companies pay taxes to the United States. That is also wrong.

A tariff is a tax on imported goods. The usual reason for imposing a tariff is to protect domestic production from being undercut by cheaper imported goods--if Domestic Company A can produce widgets for $10 a dozen, but Foreign Company B can do it for $8 a dozen, you impose a 20% widget tariff, and Company A and Company B's widgets both end up on the domestic market at the same price. That way, Company A has no particular reason to move their widget factory to another country where it might be cheaper to operate, thus keeping jobs, wages, and prices at the current level.

Economists debate whether tariffs are actually a good way to achieve these goals; however, even if we assume it does, you can probably see a few problems. First, and most obviously, lowering prices is nowhere in the definition of what people who really like tariffs say that they do. On the contrary, they are intended to prevent prices from dropping due to cheaper imports, and they do that because the tariff is paid not by the foreign manufacturer, but by the domestic distributor, who typically passes that cost directly to the consumer.

Second, if we were going to use tariffs to support American manufacturing, it would have been a good idea to do that back when there was some American manufacturing left to protect. Like around the time Trump was in kindergarten, would have been a great time to start. Even 1980 might not have been too late.

If--and this is a big if--heavy tariffs on imported goods are maintained for a long time, it could happen that tariffs eventually slowly start to bring manufacturing, and manufacturing jobs, back to the US. It could happen.

But if it did, it would take a lot longer than four years. And what happens in the meantime, is that prices on everything we import will skyrocket. And what we import includes most of our clothing, electronics, household items, large appliances, small appliances, cars, children's toys--just about anything you can name. And a fair bit of our food. (We also export a lot of food, so unless climate change wallops us real hard in the next few years, we don't have to worry a whole lot about actual food shortages, but it will not be surprising if we see higher prices and less selection as a result of tariffs, let alone other policies that Trump has discussed.) While Trump has been (of course) light on policy specifics, some numbers he's floated are 10-20% tariffs on imported goods in general, rising to 60% on Chinese goods, and 100% on imports from Mexico.

Some sources are suggesting that, since tariffs are such a completely boneheaded idea that will not do any of the things Trump claims to believe* they will do, surely someone will manage to explain this in a way that he can understand, before he actually imposes them. The author of the Vox article above thinks that's unlikely, and that having made such a big deal about tariffs on the campaign trail, Trump will charge ahead with them anyway. I don't know.

However, the point is, if you're thinking about a major purchase, you might want to do that before January 20. Especially if it's something where the manufacturing is concentrated in China, like laptops, phones, that kind of thing. According to the article, the Consumer Technology Association is saying prices in that category could go up as much as 40%, if Trump follows through on what he's floated.

And he might not! We simply do not know. However, my laptop has started doing that thing where you have to wiggle the charging cable to get it to connect; in the before-times, I'd figure I have a few months before I really have to worry about it, but as things are, I'm keeping an eye on the Black Friday sales.

(*There's some speculation that what Trump actually wants to do is weaken China's economy, which happens to be something that Putin would like to see. Another possibility is that he has some idea about reducing America's reliance on/relationships with other countries, as a way of furthering some goal of his. Or maybe he just wants to start selling Trump-branded phones, IDK.)

[dvandom]

Let's talk about tariffs

One way or another, we're getting more of them soon, so it's a good idea to spread the word regarding how they work. Note, this is a simplified explanation without nuance, but nuance is the sort of thing that you gotta be rich to exploit in this case.

Here's the basics: a tariff is a tax assessed at the point of import, and paid by the importer. Tariffs always make prices go up.

Say a company orders a bunch of stuff that would otherwise cost them $100 each. Adding on their other business expenses, they will sell each for $150, with some but not all of that extra $50 being profit. Let's say at most $20 of it is profit.

Now a 20% tariff is applied, and the company has to pay $120 each. If they want to keep selling them for $150, that will eliminate their profit and might even require selling the things at a loss. So they have to raise the price. Maybe they only raise it to $160 rather than $170, but they gotta make a profit or they get bought out by venture capitalists and gutted.

The original supplier could lower their price too, but again there's only so much they can drop before they're losing money on the deal too.

Why would a supplier even want to do this? Well, let's say that the domestic competition can supply the thing to retailers for $115. The foreign supplier can stay competitive by dropping their cost by a few bucks, so that after the tariff is applied they cost $114, or even $115 but sell it on the grounds of the retailer already having advertised their version. Small, targeted tariffs can coerce foreign suppliers into taking a cut to their profits. But even in this case, no one's going to be buying $150 products on the shelf anymore, it's just that both foreign and domestic versions will be $160-165. The price has gone up a little. Maybe not the full 20% of the tariff, but a noticeable amount.

That was the sort of tariff we mostly have right now, in 2024. We're also ignoring the fact that things are so interconnected that there may not BE a purely domestic version of a particular thing, just companies with completely foreign production versus those who buy all the parts abroad and assemble them domestically. In that case, everyone's getting hit by the tariffs.

However, the "I Love Tariffs" incoming President has threatened things like 100% or higher. This is the sort of tariff you apply when your goal is to protect a domestic company and to hell with the consumers. (Actually banning imports or setting quotas can also do this, but it's harder to enforce. IIRC, Japan has import restrictions on rice so that they don't completely outsource their food supply.)

A 100% tariff means that in the example above, it now costs the importer $200 to pay for each of the things in their order, so even if nothing else changes they'd have to charge $250 each to get the same amount of profit (and a smaller profit MARGIN). Does this mean they'll just go buy the $115 domestic version? Well, they'd like to, but now the domestic version is $160 or $180, because the domestic companies can just crank up their profit margins while staying cheaper than the alternative. Domestic companies are not driven by a desire to serve the public, they're legally required to make as much money as they can (this is a big problem lately, stockholders can sue if they think a company is passing up on profits). Thus, when punitive tariffs raise the price of imports to stupid levels, domestic suppliers (even those who miraculously have their entire supply chain within the country) will run up the price too.

All of this money will come from consumers and go into the pockets of the government. Do you trust the incoming administration to spend this windfall on helping the people hammered by massive spikes in inflation? I sure don't.

[90s-2000s-barbie]

I wanted to post my more in-depth thrift tips.

I had an ask a while ago asking for my advice on tips. And I’ve had this in my drafts for a while just to make sure I really added everything I wanted to. So I’ve been going to thrift stores and garage sales my whole life but really picked it and collecting up as a hobby in 2009. Starting with basics. When I personally thrift, I go to local flea markets, thrift stores, garage sales, church sales, goodwills, any place near by that re sells used items. It’s cheaper in person than looking online. 100%.

My Main Rules:

Never pay full price. This stuff is USED and older for that matter. I don’t care if people think it’s rare, it’s used. Some things are on their last legs of life. I can’t tell you how many times I bought a vintage item or even clothes and they break, tear ex as soon as u get home, test it out, wear it then it breaks! It happens!) always keep that in mind. I also like to keep E6000 clear glue around just in case it’s something I can fix. (If u also try E6000, make sure to follow instructions on bottle exact and it will hold up forever. I glued heavy glass and it’s still together years later)

Only possibly think of spending a little more if the item is in a box and old stock or if it’s super meaningful to you. BUT if u use my tips, u can find old stock in boxes cheap even or decent priced when thrifting. I only pay little more or seek something out if it’s meaningful to me or extremely sentimental. (Old favorite toy or I got rid of and want back, something I always wanted and can now cause I’m 30! Ex….) 😂 otherwise, I don’t buy if the price isn’t right.

If you aren’t sure if it’s actually vintage, look for the year on the item, tag ex, or if u have a phone, look it up, look up the brand! Some super old stuff don’t have years on them too so keep that in mind, helps to use google.

I feel like if u go thrifting enough, u will find whatever you are looking for eventually so if the price isn’t right, don’t buy! You will probably see it again eventually and if you also do this as a hobby, u have a lifetime to come upon it again. lol

Go when u can afford it or really want to. I use to go WEEKLY, I would find things every week cause they constantly have different stuff. lol but now I have bills now and things are expensive, so it’s just not realistic for me anymore. I go once or maybe twice a month if I’m lucky. BUT I will admit, u will find a lot of items if u go weekly and can get first dibs but it can get pricey as it all adds up of course.

Leave no stones unturned. So when I go to the thrifting, I look EVERYWHERE. I spend HOURS. lol Sometimes u find the best stuff in the weirdest spots! I found a ADULT Powerpuff girls sweater from 2000 in the kids xl section! I’ve found vintage bedding on random clothing wracks. Sometimes things get moved, you will be surprised on what u will find.

So this use to be one of my rules when I had a better phone plan lol but if I feel like I’m questioning a price on an item, I use to look it up on eBay or google. (If you use eBay, their is settings they show what items actually sell for and not just what they r listed as. THIS HELPS. Sometimes people put insane prices but they definitely aren’t selling for that much! Helps to see the actual value if u need to.)

If u go to garage sales or flea markets, don’t be scared to ask for prices or make offers. If u like it, ask! If the price isn’t right, just say thanks and go on ur merry way. Key is always be nice and respectful if they don’t budge on price. You’ll probably see it again. lol. Least u asked! I use to be too shy to ask and I’d regret it! Also I’d go home empty sometimes cause of it. But now, I seem to really connect with people and try to be nice, talk to them like a potential friend! Sometimes the interaction makes my day and I can get a laugh out of some people. Even sometimes being nice and funny person can go a long way with others. One time I went to a small town and it was the last day of garage sale weekend and people just seemed so nice and liked me, they gave me stuff for free it kept happening throughout the day! lol Sometimes people won’t budge on prices though and that’s fine. And other times, people just want stock or items gone! lol They want money, they don’t wanna take the junk back inside their home and I get it! lol for example, one place gave me stuff for free cause she was trying to get rid of kids toys, her kids had so much she gave me stuff for free, some powerpuff girl plushies for 25 cents! One time, I had a guy tell me a doll I was looking at was worth $200. (Which He was right they sold for that much in box, I looked it up when I got home) he said was worth $200 but he was asking $20 cause he wanted it sold. He had no attachment and needed extra cash as he kept buying to resell but hasn’t sold much. I told him she’s cute but idk. I kept looking at his other items. Finally when I walked away, he shouted $10! I bought her up! lol One day, I bought a giant box of McDonald’s toys, (second photo from top right above the TMNT bag) for $2 for the entire Box!! Completely full! Was a family at the flea market that was just having a garage sale so to speak, they were moving so they didn’t want anything! lol Also an example too of the opposite scenario, an older lady was selling all spice girls dolls in box for $80 dollars all together (at the time the whole lot was cheaper on eBay, they were $45 for the lot and this stuff wasn’t popular so it just wasn’t selling at the time.) I asked price of baby spice alone and she wouldn’t split the band. I said ok thanks and went on my merry way! I later in life got 3 of the girls for $10 to $6 a piece in box. lol

HAVE FUN. This is my hobby. I’ve been doing this as a hobby since 2009! Of course it takes a while to get as much as I have. But I really only recommend thrifting if u REALLY enjoy it and collecting. You really have to enjoy it and to keep going! It’s like a treasure hunt to me! I do it as a collector cause it’s a blast. I‘ve met such interesting people, I’ve seen such cool things even if I didn’t bring it home and couldn’t afford the item. It’s fun! It’s so exciting to find something on a shelf u haven’t seen in years. Also fun to find things u forgot existed or just speak to u personally! I literally buy anything that just feels like it belongs with me anymore. I fall in love with the moment I look at it. I use to think, oh people will think I’m weird? and I still remember those items I passed up YEARS later and say why did I leave that behind? lol 😂 It’s such a cool hobby. I can tell u what I paid for just about everything! 😂 I remember it all cause I really do love it and I LOVE deals.

Also, all the pictures above are mine and things I thrifted, do not steal! If u have any questions about how much I paid for some of these items, or have any questions in general, don’t be afraid to ask. If u wanna know tips about thrifting on toys, clothes, ex, please ask! I will try to help to the best of my knowledge. The 2nd photo, 6th, 7th, 9th and 10th photo are perfect examples cause it’s everything I got at ONE flea market or thrift store, just one stop. Sometimes I find full collections! Each photo are from different days but are definitely good examples. Also if I forget anything I feel is super important to add, I’ll probably post another part 2 or something. ❤️ hope this helps someone.

I think it it would be cool, if any followers decided to thrift or if you use any of my tips and find some cool stuff, to make a post and tag me! Show me ur cool finds, what tips helped the you the best if u feel like adding that.

[supercantaloupe]

okay don giovanni review from last night. under the cut bc it's me. tldr the vocal performances were great, leporello carried the show, one of the most insane productions i've seen thus far but somehow in a new bizarre direction from normal. good snacks.

first of all i don't care how much wine you offer i think it's kind of ridiculous to charge $165 for a base ticket price for a performance that 1. isn't even in a concert hall or theater 2. is a concert performance rather than a staged performance (which was not advertised ahead of time) and 3. was not even a full production because they made the absolutely mind boggling decision to cut 100% of the recitative and replace it with Some Guy sitting on the stage narrating the plot between every 1-3 numbers

i did not pay that much gd bless. the student ticket was way cheaper.

the narration wasn't even good it was weirdly ungenerous to the women (like how do you even make elvira out be a "women, amirite" thing and also vaguely imply anna was into it in a production with zero acting? well they figured something out) and i don't think it even explained well enough what happens between each number to truly give a first time watcher a good idea of what's actually going on. not to mention that it absolutely kills any sense of momentum in the plot and makes the entire show drag like hell, because you have to wait between every single aria for either Some Guy to talk at you for three minutes straight, or wait awkwardly while people onstage walk off and people offstage walk on. it was so painfully clunky

they had a piano up there but since there was no recit it's not like she was accompanying much of anything. in practice what it ended up being used for was 1. the mandolin part for deh vieni (acceptable in the absence of a mandolin player; they were working with a limited chamber ensemble of musicians so i get it) 2. the party music at the end of act i (egregious fault imo because it absolutely kills the vibe of the scene and completely obfuscates the way the music is supposed to be adding to the tension and chaos with its different instrumental groups playing in different meters)

and 3. used to give singers their notes when the vocal line of their arias start on beat 1 measure 1, which they otherwise would have been able to get from the preceding recits (which is imo painfully amateurish for an ostensibly professional production)

all the numbers in act i were there although the narration was so bad i got jumpscared by fin ch'han dal vino because i forgot it was supposed to be there and thought we had skipped over that point in the plot. act ii had some really bizarre additional cuts made, notably they just entirely skipped over meta di voi and vedrai carino. it was like masetto and zerlina fuck off for the entirety of act ii save for, like, mille torbidi (they VERY briefly mentioned masetto getting beat up in the narration and i don't think they mentioned vedrai carino at all, they just skipped straight from deh vieni to sola sola. and also there was a painful awkward pause before deh vieni because i think the pianist forgot she was supposed to play there and the narrator jumped ahead to the next chunk of plot explanation too early). kept both dalla and tesoro (i'm fine with this ottavio was quite good though could've used a bit of ornamentation imo), kept mi tradi, kept non mi dir (more on that in a bit). no per queste which is probably a good thing not only for the show itself but also my head would have absolutely and irreversibly exploded if they had, probably

the whole thing kind of felt underrehearsed. like a quarter of the time it seemed like people didn't know what they were doing or had to be reminded where to be at that point in the show. and there were a few moments throughout where the orchestra struggled to keep up with the singers, but i really don't think they had much time to rehearse together, honestly.

and then, to my utter shock, the finale was actually really good?? like. insane compared to the rest of the show thus far. though it helps that 1. i absolutely love the harmonieband arrangements of cosa rara/i litiganti/non piu andrai, after possibly the draggiest non mi dir i've yet experienced it was like a breath of fresh air to hear that (and non mi dir was actually well performed i liked this anna but considering how much the Entire Show was dragging, the fact that they cut meta di voi and vedrai carino, AND the fact that they promised this act would be short, it felt crazy to me to keep it at that point.)

2. leporello and the don were by far the best performers of the night. so much so that i sought them out during the post show reception to tell them how great they were and enjoyed their performance. which i usually do not do, but in this like, high school recital ass production value. unbelievable relief that the final scene is dominated by the two actors in the show who most remembered that they can, and in fact Should, be acting. so much more movement and physicality and expression from those two compared to most everyone else. leporello especially, his actor apparently specializes in comedic bass roles and it shows, he was the standout all night

and 3. for the first time in the entire production they made an interesting decision regarding the physical space and staging! they had the commendatore sing from up on a balcony overlooking the audience in the foyer. the bar admittedly was set very low in the previous act and a half but the finale reminded me that i actually like this show again which is appreciated

though they then threw another curveball at me by Cutting the sextet at the end. which like didn't even piss me off at that point i was just baffled. like the don sinks down in agony and leporello sinks down whimpering in fear and the orchestra cuts off. and i'm expecting an awkward pause while they quietly get up and shuffle off so the rest of the cast can come back but nope. big orange title slate appears on the big screen behind them and the audience breaks into a roaring applause and the announcement of the wine and dessert reception. felt like i was in a fever dream

i will say the desserts were very nearly almost worth the bullshit that was the preceding show. they were so good. thank you austria for your dedication to pastry. and because i don't drink and couldn't appreciate the free wine offered i had to indulge in my own manner. spread contained chocolate oat bites (tasted as much like espresso powder as chocolate and coated in coconut, 4/10), almond sponge cake (classic, 7/10), cardamom apple bread pudding with caramel cream (not enough cardamom but otherwise very tasty and autumnal, 8.5/10) and honey cake (11/10. i don't know how they made this so good. i want more right now so much). i take both my mozart opera and my desserts very seriously.

anyway overall the production was. i would say frustrating. the singing quality was Really Good (leporello was the clear standout, probably followed by the don though i prefer my dons with a lighter voice but technically he was very good, then probably ottavio, then maybe masetto or anna. the commendatore was great but he's in it so little it's hard to compare)

i just wish they could have, like, actually done a full production. it would have been so great if they had gotten to tell the actual story and had been fully allowed to act. when there Was acting were the best moments of the show, and it's really unsurprising that most of that came from leporello, the absolute legend.

[chettercheese-the-fnaf-lover]

Idea 3: Pizzaplex is an engineering disaster waiting to happen.

An idea that I don't see brought up at all, is the idea that the Pizzaplex is not constructed well.

Remember in FNAF 6 when the tutorial unit said this?

"There may be times when you purchase something of questionable quality, and we don't blame you. Cutting corners is just good business."

Keep this statement in mind while I bring up my next point. As someone who's taken an engineering class, when you are constructing a building, there are a VERY large number of codes (rules) that you need to follow for every conceivable part of it.

Fazbear Entertainment would probably find it a lot cheaper just to pay off the people inspecting the plex than to actually put money into making sure everything is up to code.

They would also try to construct the building as cheaply as possible, trying to "cut corners" wherever they could. They use substandard materials and contractors that don't double-check their work. They built the mall itself over the subterranean remains of their old restaurant, despite this making the ground very unstable.

This all works in my mind because Fazbear Entertainment has been proven to follow the "be as cheap as possible" and "maximize profits by any means necessary" approaches many times in the past.

Here is just one example of a code being violated, according to Section 1006.2.1.1 of Utah Building Codes, "Three exits or exit access doorways shall be provided from any space with an occupant load of 501 to 1,000. Four exits or exit access doorways shall be provided from any space with an occupant load greater than 1,000." We only see 2 public exits in the game, and the Pizzaplex likely holds well over a thousand people at any one time. What's worse is that one of the exits, the only one designated for emergencies, requires a VIP pass in order to be used.

If Fazbear Entertainment is willing to do this to cut costs, who knows what else they have done?

It's why, in my mind, I don't have Gregory live at the pizzaplex after the 3-star ending. Freddy would calculate that it is statistically safer for Gregory to live in his box than at the plex. He instead lives with Vanessa, creating opportunities for them to grow closer.

BTW This has happened in real life, even down to the shoddy construction and profit maximization. It was the Sampoong Department store collapse. Link

DUUUUDE I REMEBER TALKING TO MY GIRLFRIEND ABOUT THIS- in the tales of the pizza plex there was a rumer that it was built over some sort of sink whole but i'm 100% sure it's actually built over the fnaf pizza sim location or maybe even THE FUCKING SISTER LOCATION LOCATION BECAUSE OF THE SCOOPER IN THE RUIN DLC i will die on that hill lol

[lys-9-10]

When you realize you did not understand your own fanfic at the time of writing it.

This is both a humbling and extremely satisfying realization... About a year ago, I wrote "No Strings Attached," a Les Mis fanfic in which Grantaire essentially shows Éponine that friends don't keep tallies of favours. But here's the thing. At the time of writing it, I 100% kept favour tallies with my friends. If I paid for a friend's meal and they said they'd pay for the next one, but the one they paid for was $5 cheaper ... I would notice. And feel resentful. And it's not even like I was writing this fic b/c I knew favour tallying was something I struggled with, and therefore wanted to ruminate on that theme. Nah. The incongruence/hypocrisy just didn't occur to me (Which I find so baffling now). It's only recently, as I made a couple new remarkable friends, that I experienced what NOT tallying favours looks like. Before Halloween, we were all working on our costumes together, and I remember marveling over way we would just ask each other for things and/or offer things, without expecting anything to be repaid: "I'm heading to the mall, want me to look around for your flowered shirt?"

"I'm at Walmart, anyone need something?" - "Yes pls pick me up a large bottle of white glue."

"I have a brown leather bag you can cut up for your wand handle." "Anyone got beads, white paint, and chopsticks?" etc It sounds so, so dumb ... like, who would worry about repaying beads, white paint, and chopsticks? Who would worry about being repaid for a bottle of glue? But believe me -- prior to these 2 ppl, I would. So ... I guess I'm feeling grateful for these 2 friends, who taught me what my fanfic actually means.

[nickgerlich]

Back To Size...Again

I laughed yesterday when I read another installment of the “Size Matters” debate. Earlier this week we read about how some people were “disappointed” that the Burger King Whopper in photos was not anywhere near as big as the ones being served.

And now comes an interesting retail debate being played out between JC Penney and Macy’s, both time-honored participants in the effort to keep Americans clothed and their homes filled with housewares. Both chains have suffered through some very tough times this century, with both shuttering numerous storefronts.

Interestingly JC Penney was acquired in 2020 by what may appear as strange bedfellows, competing major mall owners Simon Property Group and Brookfield. The duo just allowed Authentic Brands Group to buy a 17% stake in the company.Apparently the threesome thinks the JCP brand still has a lot of value.

But for Simon and Brookfield, though, buying Penneys ensured they would have at least one major tenant in their enclosed malls, a wobbly proposition if there has been one the last few decades. Even more intriguing is that, while Simon and Brookfield are up to their necks in retail, they actually don’t know anything about how to run a store.. They just know how to manage malls.

JC Penney is Middle America, though, and on par with another giant in the field, Kohls. Together, they provide affordable products to a huge portion of the US. But JCP has made one mistake after another, first ditching weekly sales in favor of EDLP (Everyday Low Prices), then reinstating the old model, and also being one of the first to offer their complete catalog on a Facebook page more than a decade ago. As forward-thinking as that was, we simply were not ready for it. Recently, JCP lost its beauty collaborator Sephora, who jumped ship and moved over to rival Kohls.

Penneys just announced they are putting $1 billion into operations and the customer experience, improving everything from the technology running it all, to supply chain matters and merchandising. They are trying hard under the new owners to pull out of bankruptcy, but revenues and profits are dropping fast. Rather than close more stores, they are doubling down. And, perhaps most importantly for this discussion, they are not going to shrink stores.

Macy’s just entered the chat, because they are doing the opposite. Instead of trying to operate massive mall anchor stores, they are going the downsize route, with pared-down storefronts now opening in strip malls. Rents are cheaper, and at least on paper, access is probably easier than having to deal with behemoth malls. Apparently they figure they can increase sales per square foot by focusing on best-selling products, and getting rid of the rest.

But the comparison ends abruptly there, because Macy’s is more on par with Dillards, and while these two also carry clothing and housewares, they are at very different price points compared to JCP as well as Kohls. If you like Thanksgiving parades, Macy’s is your pal. Well, as long as you are good with paying nearly $100 for a Polo shirt.

Given the inflation we have endured the last couple of years, as well as lingering fears that a recession is still right around the corner, consumers are delaying a lot of purchases as long as they can. Market uncertainties can make people do that, and any time we can kick the can down the road so to speak, it makes sense.

And that’s where JCP and Kohls look to have good upside potential. An uncertain economy means that people are more willing to trade down if they buy at all. The problem for JCP is achieving relevancy among its target customers, many of whom have allowed the name to slip from top-of-mind to out-of-mind. It is teetering on the same dowdy image that Sears acquired by selling clothing that my dearly departed old aunt would wear. That’s not a good look, unless you are 80.

The opportunity is there for JCP, though, especially given the economic uncertainties. The fact that its ownership group is investing $1 billion is extremely good fortune for a company that would have otherwise become another entry in the book of dead retail chains. It’s just that this money must be spent wisely, from a complete makeover in merchandising, to a fashion-forward digital presence as well. That’s not to say it needs to mimic F21 or H&M, but it does need to work on its coolness factor.

I have been to the Amarillo Penneys store in the last few years, and all I can say is that it is a train wreck. It was a little more than two years ago when I last visited, and I walked out in disgust, it was that bad. Merch was strewn all over, garments were hanging haphazardly, stockouts were rampant, and it looked like nobody gave a sh*t. At that point, I did not either.

Sure, being owned by mall owners is a lot like being owned by the government. You’re probably not going to fail. It’s also a mutually beneficial relationship. Here’s to the new Macy’s on its way to a smaller footprint across America, and to JCP with its continued format. May they both find their way through the morass of today’s economy.

Dr “With Or Without Me” Gerlich

Audio Blog

[literaticat]

Hey Jenn. If a writer went on to Amazon and bought like 100 copies of their own book to distribute to friends/family or just to keep in case it goes out of print - are they doing anything wrong? What if they bought a crazier number - like 1,000 copies? Would the publisher find out or would it stay anonymous/Amazon (or whatever bookshop) sale? Would you be accused of trying to inflate sales numbers? Are you required or obligated to buy direct from publisher instead? What if cheaper online?

If an author did that, they would not be doing anything wrong per se -- but they also wouldn't really be helping themselves.

First because if you really just wanted a bunch of extra copies, most of the time, publishers offer authors a special discount (generally 50% off, sometimes more! check your contract!) -- these books don't count toward royalties and are meant to be for personal use, not to be re-sold. But if giving them away or hoarding them is what you want to do, that's probably a better option than buying from a bookstore.

Second, if your goal was actually to "inflate sales", you'd be losing a lot of money, because while ordering a bunch from the bookstore WOULD give you royalties, you'd be paying a great deal more than you'd possibly earn, even if the books were discounted. And giant orders from one store are typically flagged as "bulk sales" which don't count toward the NYT or anything, so like -- what's the end-game?

(If you really REALLY wanted to inflate sales for NYT purposes, you'd have to be crafty and order some copies from LOTS of bookstores. However, you'd likely need to buy four to ten thousand or more in one week to affect the NYT, anyway, depending on the category, sooooo.... uh it just doesn't seem like a great use of your money, or time for that matter!)

[sludgedyke]

@lavendermanna

1) CORRECT, it was intended as the successor to cassette tapes, and as a more portable companion to CD, as tapes were to vinyl records, in a way. all the convenience of tapes and CDs in one package :3

2) ebay and Japanese proxy shopping! with some luck you can find a recorder in decent shape on ebay for an okay price (I shoot for about $100 or less when possible) and $50 or less for playback only models like the one in my post. I've also used a proxy service for yahoo! Japan auctions called buyee.jp because you can usually find players bundled with accessories (in-line remote, charging dock, battery sidecar) in good shape for a decent price as well. highly recommend budgeting for that though bc Japanese sellers love to over-pack orders which is nice for keeping ur order safe but the package dimensions + weight are used to calculate shipping so you may end up paying more than you would expect (shout out to the seller who sent me a Nintendo switch cart by itself inside of a massive box and a huge bundle of bubble wrap. fuck you dude this could've been an envelope 🖕) anyways I think NetMD is worth it for getting into minidisc bc it's so easy and quick but they tend to be a bit more expensive than pre-NetMD recorders because of their popularity. on the plus side this also means you can find an older recorder for cheaper than NetMD devices. oh and avoid most Location:Japan listings in ebay bc chances are they're just relisting a yahoo Japan auction item they don't even have, for twice as much as you'd be likely to pay if you bought it from Yahoo auctions urself.

3) so there's actually two methods for recording discs, one is live dubbing, which is to say connecting a recorder to the audio source with either analog line-in connection or a digital TOSLINK cable (or a 3.5mm jack microphone on some models) OR later model recorders that have a feature called NetMD in which you can plug in through USB and upload your tracks. it used to be a proprietary software but some enthusiasts have reverse engineered their own program accessible through Chrome based browsers (rare Firefox L) that allow you to upload music even easier. I use a usb-c to mini usb cable and the web app installed on my Android phone to burn most of my discs when I don't feel like doing a live recording just bc it's way faster. live recording can be a vibe though, I love recording my record collection so I can take them with me on the go :3

ebay search for MD recorders

buyee search for Net MD recorders

buyee search for MD players (only bc the players are much thinner and less scary to carry around than ur precious recorder. less wear and tear as well on ur recorder as well)

web minidisc pro (for recording through NetMD) and WMD guide to learn how to use it, and the rest of the wiki is useful for researching models while you shop

minidisc wiki discord and finally the official wiki discord! everyone's real friendly in here, come on in and join us sometime, there's tons of seasoned MD enthusiasts who are ready to help with any problem or question you could possibly have :)

[randum-famdoms]

Been spending the day looking for things to try and remake my old Kaminari cosplay on a budget. I wanted to do either Reki from Sk8 or Akechi from p5 this year but both would require almost entirely new materials (and reki would require buying a skateboard because I do not do shit by halves).

I had so many PLANS for this shit. but noooooo I had to get in a car crash and destroy my annual cosplay budget. Of course. So instead, remaking Kaminari it is. He was my very first cosplay and holds a special place in my heart, and I was planning on redoing parts of him anyway so this is as good of an excuse as any.

regardless tho, shits still expensive. my old jeans no longer fit, and while i have a good shirt and a sweatshirt that would work, id been planning on buying a yellow and black varisty jacket and ironing lighting decals to the arms. buuut….. jeans and varisty jackets are both expensive. plus i need a new wig because my old one is a cheap amazon wig rather than an actual cosplay wig. and I need to keep this under $100 US.

id also wanted to pierce my ears for this because i found some really sick lightning dangle earrings, but uh. yeah that's nit happening on this budget. so i was like "okay, ear cuffs and clip ons it is!" but somehow all the nice ones are even MORE expensive than paying for both the piercing and earrings? like no joke, the combo of 2 cuffs i liked best are almost $100 by themselves! thats fucking insane!!! no hate to the sellers on etsu tho, they're handmade and I respect the craft.

Anyway, the wig will be $30, I found some cheaper earrings that I like (tho not as much) for ~$20, Lightning decals come out at $20 as well, coloured contacts are $18, jacket is $40, and new jeans are $20….

Yeah, something has to go. It’ll probably be the earrings, they’re just fun. But that still totals 128, and that isn’t even calcuating shipping and tax. I might nix the jeans, except I’ve been wanting some new ripped black jeans anyway. So it’s probably gonna be the jacket and decals, sadly. They would’ve looked so damn cool, but I can always save up to get them another time. Right now the wig and contacts are the most important things, mainly the wig tho cause the contacts won’t last forever. Who knows, maybe I’ll bite the bullet and go slightly over budget to get the jacket and decals plus wig and go without contacts.

Really I just felt like complaining. This isn’t important at all lol, but it brings me joy and I’ve been a bit lacking in that lately so realising that I can’t even afford to do what I was envisioning for my one cosplay this year kinda sucks. Regardless, I’m determined to make it look cool. I’ve had practice styling wigs now, and kaminari’s can’t be harder than Nagito.

[medicinemane]

Get real tired of my mom

I ask her if she can like... actually do some laundry if I bring it down to her so we can store clean stuff in an organized way instead of dirty trashbags full of it

Answer is basically "I guess", though she made very sure to tell me not to put it in the middle of the dinningroom because that would be in her way for doing yoga... cause you know, the default is to assume I fuck everything up and am just kind of a selfish asshole with no forethought

(Only reason I'd do that is if I was trying to like... actually fucking make her help, but I don't tend to be that petty)

So I go and I clean out this... it's not the nastiest thing I've seen by a long shot, but it's a hamper that has a lot of some kinda powder in the bottom and a bit of fly prints around the side, and I spend like 15 minutes scrubbing it down the best I can with hydrogen peroxide and then finishing with rubbing alcohol to... to hopefully at least kill anything gross on the bits I couldn't get fully clean (cause I suck and I can never get anything totally clean)

Then, I go to eat one of the things she picked up from arby's. The other day she discovered that she could stop by the grocery store, pick up bread and meat and make herself a sandwich and have more food for home for cheaper than fast food... so she 100% is never doing that again

Whatever, she gets some and she (for once, there's plenty of times she doesn't and basically fuck me getting diner) brought me home some stuff... which as I expected I found that she ate one of, cause she can eat anything in the house, so the best thing is to always eat something I can actually stomach

But you know... that's not even the part that irritates me most with it, it's that she couldn't even throw out the fucking wrapper

Like... just take it 2 feet to the trash instead of leaving it on the stove

If it wouldn't be super disruptive and just kind of cruel, I'd legit just go tell her to get the fuck out. Like... you don't help me clean up after you, you constantly make a mess, she's legit one of the main reasons I'm constantly saying how worthless I am (and the people most responsible were her parents, who she'd literally take me over to so they'd give her money, so like she indirectly has a part in the rest of it), so... why the fuck should I keep letting you stay here?

Life would be so much fucking easier without you here, I might actually be able to clean the place up... I might be able to enjoy some quiet... I might not have to play therapist to the person who said no one could ever love me... you know?

Like 1200 bucks, that's why. Cause I'm a useless loser who doesn't have an income and can't act on any of the shit that might make me money. Legit that's a whole lot of the reason to let her stay

...the other reason is I'm not heartless and I'm not gonna kick someone out that would probably just go die if I did, but... I don't fucking know

You know, she spends money on a personal assistant for her writing... her writing which makes like... $12 some months

She makes herself miserable taking on like 3 projects every month, and every month swearing that's the end of it, she's not gonna over fill her plate again, and then doing the same thing next month. None of them are her own projects, almost none of them make money, almost all of them are trying to get into charity anthologies for exposure

Which is part of why she can't help me, cause she's always too tired because she's got all these big important projects that she... that she straight up pays money to get into and to have a PA promote

No offense to the PA, sure they do a great job, more it's offense to someone spending money we don't have... and you know... I could even deal with all this, all this, if she'd just... not spend money at walmart to buy stuff I get cheaper at costco... give me money for costco so I can do stuff like... pick up more hydrogen peroxide and rubbing alcohol so I stop having to ration them... pick up toothpaste so I don't have to ration it... if you're gonna blow money on the writing fine, but at least don't blow money on inferior shit from shitty companies

Anyway, I'm just kinda worthless trash and need to blow my brains out already

A gun costs a lot, but frankly it would be a good investment if it got rid of me

[charity-angel]

My local hospital has a couple of bus routes that run past the main entrance. But their stops aren't actually near the entrance.

On top of that, the main entrance is a quarter-mile road with narrow footpaths and dropped/cut kerbs so steep they're impossible to navigate by wheelchair.

Any wheelchair user has to use the road itself. And, surprise, it's the main entrance of a hospital - that road is pretty busy.

Basically, no one with a mobility impairment of any kind can use public transport to get to the hospital. Parents with sick kids in prams or pushchairs, or who are sick themself but can't leave their child unattended while they go to an appointment, either risk life and limb, or can't use public transport.

The truly stupid thing is that there is a bus stop right at the actual entrance to the hospital building. It is only served by the free shuttle bus that runs between the three local hospitals. It does not stop anywhere other than those hospitals.

Why can the local services not take a tiny detour and use that stop? I mean, the next nearest hospital does that - there's about 10 different services stop there, and share the stop that the shuttle bus uses.

(Don't get me wrong, the disabled parking situation is equally comical, so it's not just public transport users they're discriminating against - it's all disabled people)

--

But that's not even the funniest part. My local hospital has what might be deemed fairly "normal" services. To see a neurologist or endocrinologist (to use my own personal examples), I have to go out of area. That out of area hospital is a 2 hour journey by bus (about 40 by car), and still, the bus doesn't go into the hospital grounds. In this case, the hospital is built in a dip, with the road running higher up. Much higher up. As in, my manual-wheelchair-using ass couldn't manage it.

There are buses I could change onto that do go into the grounds (I believe - never seen one), but do you know how much of a PITA it is just to get onto a bus as a wheelchair user? And how much you run the risk of there being another wheelchair user in the only space you can occupy?

Also, very much worth mentioning - in the UK, wheelchairs are not secured in any way to the bus floor. This isn't much of an issue for someone who uses a heavy power chair, but the rest of us have to cling on for dear life at every turn. And it's a VERY windy road from my town, over the Pennines, to the hospital. I actually have purchased some items to create tie-down points because riding the bus for any significant length of time is exhausting.

And the really, really fun part? Basically any testing my doctors want doing means I can't take my meds beforehand. And, like with diabetics, if I don't take my meds, I'm not legally allowed to drive. All the appointment letters cheerfully tell me I can drive afterwards, but gloss over the fact I can't drive myself TO the appointment.

And, of course, these appointments are really early in the morning (my meds literally keep me alive - they can't deprive me for too long), so the bus I'd have to catch to get there on time doesn't even exist.

And the really, really best part? Because I have to go out of area, I can't get the non-emergency ambulance transport I technically have the right to request, because it's across a regional ambulance service boundary too.

I'm well and truly screwed, every which way. I 100%, at almost 40, have to rely on my parents for transport to my appointments. I literally CANNOT get there without them.

(there are other life dramas associated with that particular thing, but they're not relevant here)

What if I didn't have that support? My literal only option would be a taxi, and who the heck can afford that? It's a 35 mile round trip, plus the waiting time where they can't take another fare. But paying for that wait time would definitely be cheaper than me having to pay for 70 miles of taxi trips (them going back to their home base, then another cab coming out to collect me).

And this is in the UK - the land of (mostly) free healthcare. I can't even imagine what this would be like in the US. I'd probably qualify for Medicare or Medicaid, and thus be luckier than some, but even so...

Cannot believe that it would take two hours, 30 minutes of which are spent walking, to get from my house to the physical therapy clinic on public transit and 13 minutes by car, with construction backups. Except I can believe that. Totally. Because our public transit is a fucking disgrace.

Even if I was willing to take two hours to get somewhere, I can't walk for half an hour so I can get to physical therapy for my fucked up ankles. That's insane.

No, not everyone has "the same 24 hours" and no, we don't need to make cars harder to get or more expensive to run.

When people talk about how it's harder for poor people to access medical care, this is part of it too.

Also, if you can't get to something like PT for pain relief, which your doctor wants to try before meds that actually help...wouldn't buying painkillers off the street seem a lot more reasonable? Like maybe it would be the only option?

I'm not in that situation but boy is it real.

[37-children-of-the-dreams]

Also, sorry I'm spaming you with it, but again, I'm sorry and I dont have anyone to share, just other fact, that when I messaged admin to tell him to delete my posts about selling things in one famous group, he said that I actually didnt done anything wrong and that I dont need to pay attention to all those fuckers, but main thing is, these dudes were doing same to everyone here as I searched, and they're like mafia, they're bosses and most famous dudes in local fandom, and if they joined your group, it would be honor, but problem is, they're awful people, and no one would do anything about it, and so admin understand that they're doing bad things, but because of them being bosses he can’t block them so his group wont get bad reputation and wont be in black list. I'm in black list of my local monsuno/bakugan fandom now, but now I'm actually happy about it. But they still messaging me trying to insult me even sometimes as buyers. And these figures, they werent ever sold by 300$ or even 100$, these bosses selling them to each other for 1$ but for everyone they make a lot of posts that they selling figures for 1000$. So, by the fact, these figures werent ever sold by such high price, but they just bully everyone and others under control of bosses too say to someone who wants it cheaper that it's impossible and they should kill themselves. So they just made no choice for anyone to find cheap figures for cheap, and so only people can do is to being mad at situation and when seeing same dudes like them bullying them that they have no chance of finding this figure at all.

And maybe some people see it too, and it would be help for them to know they're not alone and have understanding here, cause only we saw is bullying. And also, here, death threat is not reason for Police to do anything.

Well then… You keep your stuff and be glad you’re black listed from them because from what I can see, they might as well kill the fandom and also might be scalping stuff. Which would mean that the best way to destroy them is to not engage with them.

It’s wrong that scalping isn’t a crime since that can cause economical problems in the long run, but really just make them realize that if they can’t sell, they can’t get money.

Now, any chance you have a Demise toy? I don’t think I have the money, but I just want to know if you have one.

[terrykimura]

Today I found out: my expensive ISP is actually not expensive.

This is a long one.

I use Nuro 光, a "2 Gbps down!" Internet Service Provider that uses dark fiber cables to the home, not the nationwide Flet Hikari shared fiber optic infastructure that most other ISPs use for the last mile. I have a thing for voting with my wallet for ISPs (and cellular service, too) that don't impose a multi-year minimum contract period or egads, a multi-year renewed contract period that requires you to cancel the service in a specific ten-minute span every twenty-four (or, like, thirty-six) months to not incur a cancellation fee. Therefore, I opted for the expensivest Nuro 光 tier that imposed no minimum contract period, for 6,100 JPY a month (61 USD at the mental exchange rate 100 JPY per USD, or about fifteen cents with today's weak yen).

Up until then I was using a provider called enひかり https://enhikari.jp/ on the Flets Hikari fiber infrastructure that also imposed no minimum contract period, for 4,620 JPY per month (46.20 USD). I had nothing to complain about! I work at an Internet content delivery service company, though, and had taken an interest in trying out the fabled Nuro 光, so when we moved from Kanagawa to Hokkaido I took the opportunity to sign up for Nuro 光. There was no last mile infrastructure to my new house, though, so they had to spend four months setting it up, and four months of no Internet connectivity for a work-from-home content delivery engineer was problematic. So, I took enひかり with me when I moved, while waiting for Nuro 光 to finish stringing fiber to my building.

When Nuro 光 finally went live in my house, a comparison from the same computer connected to each Wi-Fi access point (the trusty enひかり on the left, and the new, fabled Nuro 光 (with 802.11ax, even!) on the right):

This made me very sad.

I ended up staying mostly on the enひかり connection for most of my Internet connectivity, both on and off work, though I had to keep the shitty 6,100JPY-per-month Nuro 光 contract because it comes with a 44,000 JPY (440 USD) construction works fee charged over the course of twenty-four months, the cost of which they also credit back to your bill to keep you from cancelling this no-minimum-contract-period service - the moment you cancel, the remaining credit disappears, and you need to pay the remainder of the construction works fee in a lump sum.

One day, on a hunch, I switched to Nuro 光 to test whether some internal tools I had trouble accessing through my company VPN on the enひかり connection would work through the same VPN connection on Nuro 光 (which would make no sense, from a network perspective). Lo and behold... they all worked just fine on Nuro 光. (╯°□°)╯︵ ┻━┻

Later, household finances became tight enough that I had to get rid of one of the two ISPs. Nuro 光 the expensiver (and slower!) connection was the obvious choice... save for the fact that I kinda need access to those internal tools to do my job. The day I called to cancel enひかり was not a good day.

I initially signed up for Nuro 光 using kakaku.com, which comes with a cashback of a whopping 60,900 JPY after eleven months of use (although it looks like that particular campaign is now gone). I'd actually forgetten all about that cashback until five days ago, when the notification email arrived in my inbox and I went through the process to get the money into my bank account.

So today, I sat down to calculate actual cost for twenty-four months of use (to run down the clock on the construction works fee and the credit for the same amount), less the signup cashback bonus.

It comes out to just over 3,500 JPY per month, which is actually cheaper than enひかり was.

So, for the next thirteen months, I will continue using Nuro 光 with no reservations about the cost 🎉 I also need to set up a reminder to switch to another ISP in July, 2024.