[cellshock]

This is one of the most informative threads I've ever read on Sherdog, keep em coming!

I'll add one, though it's a tad bit too late: most "blockbuster" deals you get on Black Friday are simply an inventory purge, significantly comprised of merchandise that didn't sell well during the year mixed in with some current items for fluff.

In some cases, there are items that don't sell well in a particular region in the US, so the other stores will start to migrate product to the stores in other 'hot' regions in time for the holidays. Some stores start this process slowly over the spring and summer.

A LOT of corporate planning goes into Black Friday. A final copy of the flyer is usually in-store for store managers by the end of the summer. In some cases, some of the items are marked up a bit before the summer ends to cut losses.

[Evan Penso]

Really cool thread. I work at the Y so, I got nothing really except, I really don't care about your kids

[Fedor#1]

Originally Posted by Happy Boy

Not debating the technology, Im saying the people that bought those things were often total saps. I know this might be a semantic thing though, where Im from "sap" is like ar*ehole or whatever whereas I think in the US its like a sucker. Those customers were a nightmare to deal with generally.

When I say sap, I mean that person is usually an idiot. I noticed a lot of people get smart phones/ppc and dont use them fully

[Octavian]

Originally Posted by MT420MT

*Starbucks does not keep track of how much coffee is made, it takes nothing for them to give you a free cup so if you pay with exact change and just hand the cashier your money they could just pocket it.

I have trouble believing this but at the same time, I do... not sure how that's possible.

It would amaze me that such a massive company would have such little ability to control it's cost accounting and income.

oh wait, I thought private companies were perfect and devoid of complete ineptitude...... *sarcasm*

[Octavian]

Originally Posted by limp_dilznick

Insurance companies don't make money off of premiums, i.e. from actually insuring people.

For every dollar they take in premiums, they pay approx one dollar in claims / operating costs.

They make money by investing the money while they have it (i.e. after they take in the premiums but before they pay it out in claims).

This is called an underwriting profit and it's not too much of a secret but you make a good point. The underwriting profit is a critical aspect of many insurance companies; for instance, it IS AIG's business model (among other things, ~it's a massive conglomerate).

[El Gato]

I use to put in above ground swimming pools at a certain military base , we would go in and put them up out in the middle of nowhere , we weren't allowed to leave until the job was done . Then 5 or 6 months later we would go back and put new pool liners in them . They were putting toxic waste in the pools and letting it dehydrate into a thick sludge and putting the sludge and liner into some kinda of safty can . Yup that shit went right into the air .

[Octavian]

Originally Posted by Bababoey

Gasoline: That 30-40 cents extra you pay for "premium" is more then likely mixed with regular. When the gas truck filled the regular tanks full, they would put the extra into the premium tanks.

Umm... that's extremely illegal and gas stations are fined and shut down for that all the time

on a side note - most people don't realize the rising ethanol content in their gasoline... next time you're at the pump take a look, you might be surprised

Originally Posted by TatersaladJJ

1. because my friend was in the airforce and they investigated the crash
2.because I was staying in K.C. to visit my friend and I was pissed because i was paying 150 a night for a room and couldnt use their pool or hot tub.The manager told me the pool was vandalised,the younger guy who took us to me and my friend to the room said because there was sperm piles floating around the pool because Alicia Keyes was there the night before and had about 30 young men in her enterauge.

AWESOME!!!... I don't care if this is bullshit or not, I love it

Originally Posted by TatersaladJJ

do you by chance work for Sprint? They always fucked up my bill by 50% every month it never failed. They would have to adjust it then that would be wrong.Then the same fuck up would just carry over to the next months bill.

For the record, most to all of Sprint's customer service centers are actually in the Phillipines and you are most likely not or ever talking to someone who is an American or speaks English as their first language.

I dumped Sprint for this reason. Their customer service was absolutely horrendous, useless and inept.

Originally Posted by bonestheman

That Keystone Light is practically made the same as Coors Light and people pay more for Coors Light.

Granted, two shitty beers but I was a sales rep for Coors for six months.

Isn't Keystone simple the bottom of the barrel Coors? and Busch is just bottom of the barrel Bud?

Originally Posted by ShoelessRye

I don't know if this is A]a secret or B]True but somebody who would know this stuff once tried to explain to me that if you've ever worked for a big company they very likely took out a life insurance policy on you and still have it to this day and will cash in when you die even if you only worked for them for long enough to get the paper work written up. Supposed to be quite the money maker.

Boston University did this years ago. They would take out life insurance policies on incoming freshmen and then be super lax about policing drinking and other potentially dangerous practices.

Originally Posted by Happy Boy

Airport security can be a joke as well if you are a worker. I did baggage handling one summer and there was NOTHING stopping me getting anything I wanted through security. The security check is there but once they know your face they are so lax about it. I was only working there a week and at any time I could have made a homebomb and got it onto the apron where the planes are and in under 20 minutes been in the hold of a plane with the bags and the device to plant it. Scary stuff, made me feel uneasy when I travelled after that!!

to piggy back on this... I once had a damn nice pair of Timberland sandals stolen from my bag on my way back from Denmark

I'm sure those bastards pocket random shit all the time

Originally Posted by Tiger_vs_Mantis

The federal/academic subcontracting system is mostly a way to funnel public monies into private hands.

Yes.. most Americans have no idea but a good portion of the defense budget is simple a way of prolonging the life of American industry. The industry now is simple more complex and more specialized than before. Something had to step into the void of major Rust Belt industry and companies like Lockheed, Boeing, Raytheon stepped up to the plate. Like it or not, government spending and influence on the market quietly keeps many private sector jobs in existence.

Originally Posted by BERG

If you're ever on the subway/skytrain and it's stopped for a decent amount of time just assume somebody committed suicide. It happens regularly and people never hear about it.

Yup.. read an article last week here in Boston. Sure enough, a co-worker arrived at work 2 hours late because someone jumped on the track and the car took hundreds of yards or more to stop. The man was obliterated impact.

[Octavian]

-for investors... when you buy an ETF, you're not actually buying stocks listed in the holdings like you would in a way with Mutual Fund shares, you are buying a share that models the value of the given index based on volume and demand



-also for investors, most brokers are worthless shit that make the much of their money from moving your money around from company to company and fund to fund... some of the "best" brokerages will do little more with your money than an educated investor buying an index fund would do on their own... brokers you can trust are the ones that do not work primarily on commission

[Octavian]

ttt

[mahalo]

i worked two years as a valet driver. let's just say that from my experience:

1) if you leave any valuable items in plain view or glove compartment, they will be stolen.

2) when your car pulls up, we check for physical damages (dents, scratches, etc) and bring it up to the owner prior to driving away. some people scam the valet company to avoid paying the cost to repair their pre-existing damage.

3) if your car is sporty, we will test drive your car.

4) that mysterious dent or missing cd is our doing.

5) girls love it when you open the door for them. it's a good segue to get name, number, and ass.

6) if you're a regular customer and are notorious for being a no-tipper, we will steal stuff from you.

7) if a new guy doesn't know how to drive a stick shift, we will use your car for practice.

unless it's the only option, don't have your car valeted.