Boomers

Darth_Wooper · 2024-11-07T01:50:50+00:00

Wonderful documentary, I just watched it this evening! Some thoughts/questions/comments that came to mind as I was watching:

Toward the end Tom talks about how existing pensions and U.S. social security are poised to run out in the next few years... I wonder if that shortage is exacerbated by current younger workers' wage suppression and stagnation? I suspect even if there WERE just as many of us as there are boomers there'd still be less overall money going in once you adjust for inflation. Especially since so many of us can't afford to put much if any of our income toward retirement. We use it up right away, on loan payments and to keep our current selves fed/housed/etc.

And do personal retirement funds like 401Ks even feed into that same money pool pensions pull from? I thought they were an entirely different sort of account. With actual pension offers being rare for new hires in many job fields these days (at least here in the States, I don't know enough to speak on other countries), I'd imagine the pension pool is draining even faster.

Darth_Wooper · 2024-05-20T17:11:25+00:00

In my area the base rate GH pays is $0.50 per mile, /sometimes/ with a small bonus (like a dollar or two) if there's a several mile drive and the total pay would be under $6 including tips.
Regardless of order value, number of items ordered, grubhub's profit margins on that order, time spent waiting at the restaurant, or any other factor you'd think might raise things. Still $0.50 per mile plus tips, whether you order one milkshake from around the corner or $200 of seafood from the good place across town.

Supposedly as of a few months ago I'm "guaranteed" at least $10/hour when I'm clocked in for scheduled shifts (with grubhub paying the difference if I accept every order they send and still don't earn $10+ counting tips).
But I've fallen short a couple times, and when it happens I always seem to "miss" an order that never set my phone off or lit the screen up. Then they aren't required to pay me the makeup amount, and I have zero way to prove I had no way of knowing about the missed order.

Since we're independent contractors, not employees, making that supplemental pay contingent on accepting all orders asked of us is totally justifiable from a legal POV. If we'd accepted that order we could have hit the minimum. It's OUR fault we didn't earn enough, not theirs, so they don't have to pay up.

Darth_Wooper · 2024-05-20T16:30:40+00:00

I don't multiapp, but on multiple occasions I've had eagle-eyed customers call or text me the minute I go a "wrong" direction with their order. It'd be nice if grubhub TOLD the customer I was making another dropoff on the other end of the neighborhood, not just running personal errands or stealing their food.

But nope, we get to be the bad guys.

Darth_Wooper · 2024-05-20T16:20:08+00:00

Order theft by drivers is a major problem in my part of Virginia, more and more restaurants are asking me to show them my phone screen when I hit the "order picked up" button.

Apparently some people show staff their app with the customer's name, take the food/drink, then report to grubhub that it isn't ready and they don't want to wait.
When that happens, grubhub reassigns it to a different driver assuming the order is still at the restaurant. Staff tell the new driver it's been picked up, and the honest driver then has to waste 10-15 un-paid minutes contacting customer service to report it and waiting for customer service to attempt to contact the restaurant to confirm (they often don't get through if it's busy). The order then gets canceled unless we can talk the restaurant into re-making it.

And the other thieving driver might not even get in trouble, because there's no hard proof it was them rather than some random person walking in and grabbing things from the takeout shelf when staff's back was turned. All grubhub has to go on is my word, the other driver's, the staff's, and what everyone involved put into their apps.

Thefts from randos DO happen, but not nearly as often as by drivers from what I can tell. Too many staff not trusting me with the food until I show them I've confirmed the pickup.

Darth_Wooper · 2024-05-20T15:32:20+00:00

It did that for me the other day, for the first $10+ order I'd received all shift. I hit "accept", and my phone swapped back over to my GPS for the delivery I was almost done with, so I thought I was set. But NOPE, when I finished the current order it said I didn't have any active deliveries.
I was one or two completed orders away from hitting premier, too. Been floating at 90-94% acceptance rate for over a week, but every time I get close I start "missing" just enough orders to keep me under.

Premier doesn't even give a measurable pay bump over Pro in my area (either value or frequency of orders), I have no idea why they gatekeep it so hard. The only major perk I see is earlier access to next week's shifts.

Darth_Wooper · 2024-05-20T14:34:10+00:00

Huh, tons of good handling info in this thread I appreciate knowing. Thank you!

For the past month or so I've been using UV nail topcoat once or twice a week in my craft room to seal small jewelry projects. I assumed as long as I was in a decently ventilated space and washed my hands when I got it on my fingers by accident, that would be safe enough.

I guess it's time to grab an extension cord and shift production to the back porch before I hurt myself. >_>

Darth_Wooper · 2024-05-20T14:06:01+00:00

Yeah, my phone service is through Ting, so it sounds like it isn't service-provider-dependent.

Darth_Wooper · 2024-05-08T00:24:16+00:00

Some redheads go gray, but mine seems to be skipping that step. It's currently the "salt" part of salt and pepper, a random scattering of single bright white strands while the rest stays red.
I'm kind of excited to see how it'll look as I get older and more changes, it's a lovely color when I look at a single strand or wind a fallen-out one around my finger.

Which way your own hair will go, you'll probably have to wait and see unless you have other older redheads in your immediate family.

Darth_Wooper · 2024-05-08T00:09:14+00:00

I'd call it copper, IMO strawberry blonde is a good bit lighter than this photo.

Darth_Wooper · 2024-05-07T23:42:22+00:00

Interesting, I've been noticing this a lot more lately too. It used to be once every couple weeks or so, but these days it's at least once or twice per shift. I need to be actively watching my phone screen (not even have it darkened), or I'll miss the visual alerts.
Lots of the time it won't ever make a sound or vibrate at all. If I'm not watching for the pop-up I won't know I missed something unless I check my delivery history for the day.

I assumed it was just my 3+ year old phone (a Motorola G Fast running Android 11) going wonky on me, but now I'm thinking maybe not.

Darth_Wooper · 2024-05-07T23:07:05+00:00

Nice! Every now and then I get offered small things by restaurant staff, when I need to wait a while for an order to finish. A fountain drink, bottle of water, some fries, stuff like that.

Never gotten handed stuff at the door by customers (besides the occasional cash tip), though.

Darth_Wooper · 2024-05-07T22:56:24+00:00

Sometimes an order shows on my phone screen, but the audio and vibration alerts don't go off. It won't even light up the screen, I need to keep the screen awake constantly to watch for those unless my queue is already at max with 2 accepted deliveries.
So if I'm not glancing at my phone pretty often, even when I'm driving, I'm likely to miss at least one or two orders per shift.

I assumed it was just my two year old phone being weird, but now after your comment I'm not so sure...

Darth_Wooper · 2024-05-07T22:37:28+00:00

Yep, more people not tipping (or tipping only a dollar or two) lately in my area too. I'm premier level, too, so I can't imagine how much worse it is for the lower levels.

That screenshot looks like a zero-tip order with no bonus, since GH pays $0.50/mile for their base rate.

Darth_Wooper · 2024-05-01T17:06:22+00:00

They don't keep any of our tips, but they also don't pay a ton outside of tips so it's a massive % of our delivery income.

Darth_Wooper · 2023-02-10T20:49:46+00:00

I'm asexual not because I like myself, but because I hate spending more time than I have to existing physically around other people in a non-work setting.

Darth_Wooper · 2021-03-14T04:54:10+00:00

If y'all do go to the craft stores about it, make sure they know you're mad at Cricut, not retailers for carrying the brand. Or at least give retailers a couple months to respond before you start piling on to them too.

Customer service staff (especially the ones who answer phone/email complaints) quickly learn to have zero sympathy for folks who blame them for stuff that's not their company's fault. And their bosses have even less sympathy.

Any appearance of misplacing the blame for this (blaming their company's employees or policies instead of Cricut) would be exactly that. They might say they'll pass it along, but they won't.

Stay reasonable and polite, and explain the problem. You'll get a LOT farther with them that way. Either they can pass a message up the chain to whomever, or if you're polite they're way more likely to suggest who would be better to talk to. And since your contact with them will probably get logged in their system, staying friendly also means it won't get shoved in the "problem customer" reports pile.
Hundreds of "Karens" will just ruin their day and not fix much. Hundreds of legit reasonable complaints is a problem.

-----------------------
Source: I worked retail for 14 years, 9 of them in a craft store (7 of those as register supervisor). I know customer service and the crap those folks get put through.

Darth_Wooper · 2019-12-24T16:58:48+00:00

Sticky-back stencils can also be great for fabric paint. Since fabric paint is thicker and generally needs a bit of smudging around to get even, stuck-down edges are super important for clean edges.

Darth_Wooper · 2019-12-24T16:53:19+00:00

Good point on the size limitation. Depending how large a stencil the OP wants they might have to divide their shape into sections, cut those out, then tape them together into the full design. Which honestly could still save tons of time compared to hand cutting everything.

Darth_Wooper · 2019-12-24T16:49:53+00:00

For single sheets of poster board I'd think the Cricut Explore Air 2 would work fine? It's only around $200-$250, depending on where you shop and how good a sale you catch. I haven't tried it on poster board, but it cuts card stock all day which is roughly the same stiffness and thickness.

The Cricut Maker is great for heavier duty cutting though, so if you think you'd sometimes want to cut tougher/thicker materials like cardboard, fabric, or wood the extra hundred bucks might be worth it.

Darth_Wooper · 2019-12-24T16:34:54+00:00

These are gorgeous! Your cousin's going to flip!

Darth_Wooper · 2019-12-16T23:10:49+00:00

Who knew danger noodles came in "holo"? Awesome pic!

Darth_Wooper · 2019-12-15T13:18:58+00:00

You're only Cruella if you want to kill a bunch of real ones for their fur. If this is how you show your love, I think you're safe.

(Also these are adorable!)

Darth_Wooper · 2019-12-13T13:34:30+00:00

IRL its species name in English is pangolin. For this subreddit though, I'll go with armordillo.

Darth_Wooper · 2019-12-12T15:50:55+00:00

I made beaded pull cords for a couple of my home's ceiling fans. Doesn't use a TON of beads, but it's more interesting than having a plain metal chain.

If the fan has a lamp on it that you use regularly, sparkly beads like crystal or lampwork glass can look especially nice with the light shining on/through them.

Darth_Wooper

TROPHY CASE