Business

Tech Rec: Tech Pouch by GForce

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I’ve been using this pouch for a few months now, and it has handled itself beautifully. The link takes you to its sales page on Amazon, but I found it for much less at Marshall’s. It was definitely under $10, and I think it was even $7.99, but I don’t recall exactly.

(c)2024

It folds in thirds for easy packing whether you’re traveling or just carrying it in your laptop bag. Unfolded it has three pockets. Two are zippered, the other folds over itself. As you can see, I use it for my external hard drive, phone and ear buds chargers, SD cards, SD card reader, USB-C adapters, and it can be used for much more.

I highly recommend this. 10/10 would buy again.

Fees, Fees, and More Fees

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I have a pet peeve that’s been gnawing at me lately. This has come up before, but then (many years ago) there was a law that prohibited this kind of thing, and apparently that’s not a law anymore, because it’s back.

What is this horrendous affliction that causes a disruption to my peeves?

Fees on a credit card charge.

What the hell?

I’m not talking about late fees, although those are out of hand, and I’m not talking about an automatic 18-20% gratuity added on for large parties, although six is NOT a large party.

I come into your store (or restaurant), and I pay your overpriced prices. And yeah, it doesn’t cost $20 for a cheeseburger and fries. Then tax is added on. If it’s a restaurant, a tip is added on. And then if I use a credit card, I’m charged a percentage of the total. I understand the reason – the business is charged by VISA or whomever for each transaction, but that’s not my problem.

That’s the cost of doing business.

As I said, a cheeseburger and fries are not $20, but I do understand that I’m not just paying for the raw materials of the edible food, I’m also paying for the table and the linens, the waitstaff, and the utilities, and whatever other overhead the restaurant has. Same for a stationery set for $12.99 in a boutique.

The fee charged by the credit card company to the business for the convenience of using a credit card is another expense, just like the electricity, the rent, the cleaning service, delivery and shipping costs, and anything else that costs you money to keep your business in business. I’m already paying for those things. If the lightbulb blows out over my table, will you charge me to replace it? I really hope not, but chances are that no, you wouldn’t because that’s part of the business supplies that you need to buy to run your business, just like the credit card fees (which are tax deductible by the way).

Or…don’t take credit cards. If I’m in a store, and I’m already paying $79, I don’t want to pay more than that. And let’s be honest, I don’t even want to pay that much.

Now, you could say that by offering purchases through a credit card, it is a convenience for me, or that the convenience goes both ways, and that may be true in the semantics, but if you don’t take credit cards, and I have no cash, then I can go somewhere else. It’s much more of a convenience for you to accept them rather than to lose a customer. And with these fees, I’m going to think twice about frequenting your establishment.

If you want more money to cover the cost of fees for you, raise your prices. People annoyingly did it politically by “claiming” to raise prices because they were now required to pay health insurance or when the minimum wage went up even if the business was already paying more than that or when eggs and tomatoes go up in price, they go up on the menu.

If you want to give a cash discount (like they do at the gas station), then offer a 10% cash discount for people paying cash instead of punishing the folks who use their credit/debit card.

/End Rant

Intentions

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​I don’t really  like resolutions. I think we’ve overdone that word. I like the sentiment of trying new things, and being a better person.

Resolutions – I don’t know, they’re almost a joke at this point. Have they always been this way? Or did people actually make a resolution intending to follow through throughout the entire year or at least for the first six months? It seems that whenever I hear someone make them, practically everyone in fact, they’ll state their resolution and then say something to the effect of, why bother or, as if, or I’ve already broken that one!

I rarely see anyone taking them seriously, and I think that has more to do with society than our personal willpower.

Lose weight.

Watch less television.

Less screen time.

Exercise.

Walk more.

Write more.

Go to religious services.

All are valuable, all are important, but I think that when we call it a resolution, we’re automatically setting ourselves up for failure.

Did you make resolutions this year? Yeah. Even the way we answer the question is with that Debby Downer voice, setting up the depression of stopping a habit rather than beginning a new focus.

Last year, I discovered two words that I really liked: focus and intention.

What will I focus on this year?

What are my intentions for 2019?

My plan is to use those words and those sentiments and make it part of my writing plan*. That asterisk is for me to explain that for most people they have business plans or school plans. I know that my writing is my business, but the words business plan don’t work for my mindset. As a writer, words are important to me on all levels, so for me my writing plan is my everything, my professional, my getting it done plan. What is your plan?

I’m going to spend the weekend thinking about my intentions, my focus, and my writing plan, and I will fill you in sometime after Sunday.