Walmart, Spectrum, Grammar Groaning, saving money and daylight
By Chuck Wiser, I write the words to share what my eyes see and my heart feels
Pictured is Wiser and company, ready for anything
Five and Dime (also known as five-cent stores, dime stores, and ten-cent stores) is a type of store that was popular in the United States in the early to mid-20th century. They sold many different items, most of which cost five or ten cents. Many transitioned to general department store format by the mid-20th century. Today, the format has returned to popularity as the dollar store format. Popular five and dimes of the day included: W.T. Grant, Kresge’s, Newberry, Neisner Brothers (“Big N” in later years) and Woolworth’s.
My personal favorite was the one on Main Street in Friendship, NY. Not all memories of that are recallable but one very personal one, and which probably shouldn’t be shared, was of an incidence that taught me quite a lesson. My mother had given me a dime for some chore or another, and I went to the “Five and Dime” and spent the dime. I’m not sure what I bought, probably the favorite “Black Jack” candy. When I got home my mother asked me what I had purchased. I took an object out of my pocket and showed it to her.
Ironically, we were living on Elm Street at the time. She, being “Wiser than me,” knew right away that a dime would not have been enough to purchase the item that I showed her. It seems as though I had “sticky fingers,” and not just from the candy. I had decided that the little metal car, or whatever it was that I had, looked like I should have it, and slipped it into my pocket. I’m pretty sure that my butt was then quite pink when I was marched back to the store, likely held by the cuff of my neck collar. My mother made me return the item to the store proprietor, explaining that I had taken it without buying it. Lesson learned!
Yes! There were things that you could purchase that only cost a nickel or a dime, and even some that was known as “penny candy.” Those days are long gone except for the memories. Mostly favorable so they linger on (as memories do). I do also recall the box of chocolate candies that I found behind the “News, Nuts and Notions” store on the corner of Main and Water Street. It had been discarded from the store for some reason or another, but the candy tasted great to me.
Moving on, the upcoming month of November has some very favorable and significant dates, perhaps more so than any one other specific month, at least to me. Besides Veteran’s Day, and Thanksgiving, another event this year is the recently controversial Daylight Savings Time change that kicked in this spring, which reverts back to standard time on November 2nd this year.
Daylight saving time (DST) is the practice of advancing clocks forward by one hour during warmer months so that evening daylight lasts longer.
How It Works
- Spring Forward: In the spring, clocks move forward one hour (from 2:00 a.m. to 3:00 a.m.), shifting an hour of daylight from the morning to the evening.
- Fall Back: In the autumn (fall), clocks move back one hour (from 2:00 a.m. to 1:00 a.m.), returning to standard time.
- Mnemonic: People remember the shifts with the phrase: “spring forward, fall back”.
I had to share that cut/paste as is, and I love the last term Mnemonic. I realize that most people, other than me, have that particular word in their everyday vocabulary (wink, wink). For me, and as you know my favorite topic, Grammar Groans, I can’t let a word like that pass by without speaking about it. First off…How is it pronounced? My minds eye always sees it, and I pronounce it as “men-on-mick.” Going to my buddy Google, and its search engine, came up with the following specific letter breakdown. By way of my grammar lesson; A mnemonic (pronounced ni-MON-ik, with a silent “m”) is any technique, tool, or device—such as a pattern of letters, a rhyme, an acronym, or a song—used to help the brain encode and recall information.,
Please indulge me in this extravagant, long drawn-out, diagram of pronunciation. /n/ as in name, /ɪ/ as in ship, /m/ as in moon, /o/ as in sock, /n/ as in name, /ɪ/ as in ship, /k/ as in cat.
I apologize for that but found it to be interesting and a good representation as to learning something new, or different. Auto defect flagged the word “sock” thinking that “stock” would be better. “Sock it to him” as the phrase goes, so I will keep it.
As long as I am already dabbling in grammar groans, I will note a recent letter combination that came to mind as I was medicating a recent flare up of “psoriasis.” Why on earth would someone come up with a two-letter combination that makes absolutely no sense. How can you let a letter as cool looking as “P” become a silent partner in words like psoriasis, psychology, pseudonym, and psalms? No wonder non-English speaking people find it so difficult to learn our language. As an English teacher, I would never have gotten through a whole year’s syllabus or agenda as I would have side-tracked every lesson on the (our) language with those little detours into things that amuse me so much. At least the “ough” combination in words like “though, bought, and throughout” have 4 letters that are subject to different pronunciations that are tough to figure out.
My attention span was tested just now as I listened to a scanner call regarding a naked person in the road. Speaking of scanner calls. The scanner in our house is a delicate subject, only in so far that I turn it on and listen to it and my wife turns it off where it remains in that state until I realize it’s off. Noise “scatter” when the roaming signal gets stuck and buzzes is very annoying which triggers the turn off. I have now limited the possible “scanned” calls to just one specific channel source. No more “trucker calls” or other non-relevant ear interruptions. I believe that I have previously mentioned that there are occasionally things that I wish I hadn’t heard and that’s usually when something, or someone, personally known to us is involved in a live broadcast.
Having recently phoned in for refills for renewable prescriptions, I then got to replace the now emptied “pill bottles.” I typically remove the labels from the empty bottles prior to putting the bottles in the “re-cyclable” trash. Disposing of those containers, which I think is a complete waste. Small that they are, still, the waste could be eliminated. I see no reason at all why those plastic bottles couldn’t be returned for cleaning, sterilization and re-use. Literally thousands of those are discarded daily, when they, as far as I am concerned, could be recycled. I can understand that some may not be in a condition worthy of saving, but others are very lightly used. I do personally recycle a few of them.
The larger ones make convenient “nut, bolt, screws and other types of small items” savable, in case I should ever find a use for them. I can’t count the number of times that I needed one small screw or bolt, or spring, or cotter pin, that I was able to rescue from the bottle and re-use. One example. I recently needed just one tire tube valve “extender” and didn’t want to purchase a new one. I recall having saved one a while ago and did in fact find it in my “small junk depository.”
Speaking of “depositories” I have a new phone that I am dangerously tempted to smash and put in a waste depository. My older cell phone had become problematic, so I made the trip to the Spectrum office, where my mobile plan resides and traded my old phone for a new one. Not really realizing the consequences, I left with a shiny new “foldable” pocket sized phone. It didn’t take me long to fall “out of love” with it. The phone was fine “mechanically,” but my phone specification service provider wasn’t what I was used to. I now was on a “Motorola Razr” app that, to me is totally worthless. I greatly dislike the phones “different” operating system.
Actually, that trip to Spectrum, was two-fold. The original intent was to contest my recent TV/Internet billing cost that had skyrocketed to just under $200. The attendant was able to reduce my monthly payment by almost $30 and that included the new phone. I didn’t realize it at the time but there were “strings attached.”
I returned to the Spectrum office after a couple of weeks and said that I wanted to return the Motorola Razr phone and get something else with an operating system that was more “user friendly” such as Galaxy or Android. The attendant apologized (somewhat) and advised that if I switched, they would have to undo the “savings plan” and my bill would go back up to the $200 level once again. Somewhat in “sticker shock” I kept the phone and the subsequent “plan.” Further discussion revealed that after 90 days or something like that, I would be able to change phones, and subsequent operating systems. I put the phone back in my pocket and went on my merry way.
I probably then went on the typical Walmart shopping detour and picked up my normal snacking foods (and beverages). I did buy a couple of pre-packaged frozen “Breakfast Bowl” boxed “quickey” breakfast meal options. Fast forward another week or so and I have decided that the breakfast bowls, despite including Potatoes, Sausages, and Eggs were a little too dry when they were thawed and cooked in the microwave. AT $2 per meal they were not all that bad. However, I wanted to see if they could be touched up, or improved a little. Yesterday I picked up a couple of boxes of the same brand of Breakfast Bowl, but this time I got the flavor variety that included “Gravy.”
One last item which I will keep short regards a recently purchased order of frozen chicken tenders. 5 days in transit and storage resulted in the meat being completely thawed with dry ice having evaporated, upon receipt by us. Chicken is one of those foods that can be particularly problematic if not handled or “kept” properly so I submitted a “Return” claim and got our purchase funds replaced. I normally would risk it and eat some anyway, but not this time.
As I reach the end of this Wrambling I have now psychologically (or not logically) talked myself into being hungry. Upon completing this I think I will give the new Breakfast Bowl with gravy a try. If you have any comments, cares, questions or concerns email me at IM.Wiserdad@gmail.com
Speaking of Great Deals…..
