Two types of ring-terminals were purchased. I expect HH will use the "easy" ones to trouble-shoot and then "borrow" some heavy-duty crimpers to install the proper ones.
I went next-door to another Big-Box store and determined that the Kel-tec P-17 has very nice sights and is a super-handy size but the grip is quite long from backstrap to front-of-grip so it will probably not appeal to Mrs ERJ although it pointed very well for me. I also tried on several pairs of Teva sandals and determined that they are generously sized in the front of the sole and toe-box. That means that I could wear size 11 instead of size 12 if I ordered them on-line (at 65% of the price).
I am only slightly torn about not purchasing locally. The store is always running sales and I could probably catch them at that price if I wanted to work at it. It galls me that they don't set their prices at a level they can make a profit and not constantly change them. One of their competitors is just as bad. They have items that are on sale Saturday-thorugh-Thursday but never on Friday. Go figure.
Then I went to the next Big-Box store to stock up on coffee and oatmeal and chocolate bars and ibuprofen and toothpaste. While I was unloading the cart, the young man who was smoking a cigarette in the vehicle next to where I was parked finished and got out. To make conversation, I complemented his vehicle.
After a few sentences, I guessed he spoke Arabic...and I was right. He was from Jordan. The vehicle was the second one he has owned since immigrating. His first was a Jeep.
After another minute or so, it belatedly became clear to me that he couldn't speak English or understand English. His phone was translating from English-to-Arabic and he was reading what I was saying from his phone screen.
Ponder that for a moment. He has been here for years and survives based on a phone App.
Now consider that the supplier of the App is almost certainly tracking his GPS positions and that he probably agreed to it when he accepted the privacy statement.They have a log of that info stored somewhere. Also consider that the developer marketing the App is probably selling that information to every group that is willing to pay for it.
Neatly broken down by language. They might even be able to break it down by region based on dialect or how they pronounce "Marhaba" and other "tell words"...
He's using an app that sells his data.
ReplyDeleteOr about the same situation everybody reading this posting?
For fun I like to say "hey Siri" in my local coffeehouse to see how many phones respond.
We buy the tools that enslave us.
"After another minute or so, it belatedly became clear to me that he couldn't speak English or understand English." Wait a minute. Was he speaking English or showing you his phone? How was he telling you that this was his second vehicle?
ReplyDeleteVia the app on his phone.
DeleteThis happened a surprising amount when we traveled in Turkey, the using of phones as a translator. This was a new development to me as a foreign tourist.
DeletePhonics!
Delete"Buse T-Z" Arabic, something rude.
"Tell a ha T-Z" Arabic, another rude thing to say.
"Marhaba" Greeting.
"Chew money", "Onions for sale", "Come yon ha some ita" Korean.
"New musty car" Hindi and Urdu.
"Bonus Nachos", "Ban-yo Don-D?" Spanish.
If the other party believes that you are operating in good-faith they will be more willing to make an effort to work with you even if you sound like an Egyptian with a Texas accent (Omar Dessai) or somebody from the Punjab with a Mozambique accent (Dilip Bhalsad) or Korean with a Japanese accent (Young Jung Kim).
A buddy of mine is in charge of one of the kitchens at that big football college in EastTN. Last year is when it started. They come from Aramark out of Miami where they get their federal work permits. Aramark sends them to installations all over the country. They are trained to take pictures of the recipe in the corporate recipe book with their phone, and send it through google translate. Which will even convert cups into grams.
DeleteThey are recent illegal immigrants from south america. Half work, the other half are here for the free ride.
In retail, competition is fierce. Competitors joined at the hip. What one does, the other must do also, but with their own twist.
ReplyDeleteRetailers compete for mostly ignorant consumers who buy on emotion. One result is constant change. Consumers react positive to the controlled chaos. Change in product placement and product pricing, to name a few of many.
The informed, savvy shopper is not the target demographic. The antics of retailers create unfavorable blog posts.
We had a guy inflicted on us who was not-from-around-here with evidently minimal English and ZERO training on in-home personal care (think everything but medical stuff). I finally got the bright idea to let one Amazon Echo translate English to Arabic and another for the reverse. It actually kinda-sorta worked. We let him go after two painful weeks because technology cain't fix stoopid. The previous worker had never seen a sliding door; this explained his reluctance to use the can. The succeeding worker didn't know what a microwave oven looked like. Amazon has since removed some of the translating skill, dammit.
ReplyDeleteThe camel jockey isn't surviving from his app...he just uses it to avoid the effort of learning a new language. He SURVIVES from the free cash and goodies OUR government gives him using OUR money.
ReplyDeleteWinner winner chicken dinner!
DeleteIt was a pretty nice car. I assumed he had family or a girlfriend with a job as I doubted that government hand-outs would be enough to put him in a $25k, new(ish) Honda.
DeleteI am wrong on a frequent basis, so don't take that impression to the bank.
When I worked in a shipping dept for a large company, many of our over the road truckers could not speak English. Some days it was a nightmare to explain what dock to go to, or figure what shipment they were supposed to pick up. One driver called his dispatch on his phone, and we had a 3-way conversation, with dispatch translating. I don’t know how these drivers got a license, or negotiated deliveries and pickups, day after day. Don’t know if they could read road signs, other than recognizing ‘this group of letters is where I need to go.’
ReplyDeleteSouthern NH
The day is coming that anyone here illegally will be forced to leave. Under their own power or someone else's.
ReplyDeleteWe've seen what has happened to Europe. I don't think we'll allow it to happen here. It's only going to take one or two terror attacks by illegals, and they are all going to find themselves in a world of hurt. Even if the authorities try to shield them.
The only exceptions will be the ones who make a real strong effort to assimilate and prove themselves worthy.
Last november i was parked at a rest stop and an 18 wheeler hit my truck as it turned into a parking spot. The driver was chinese and had to use an app to communicate with me. It was unsettling. How does he read the signs?
ReplyDeleteFred: Why do you assume he can read the signs? The ones like pictographs would be easy; the ones with words like "Bridge Out 5 MI Ahead" might make the evening news.
DeleteI've been driving a chunk of I-90 regularly; one day, "LAST EXIT BEFORE TOLLWAY" changed to "EXIT LAST BEFORE TOLLWAY". It's been that way for a while.