In article <bJ8%I.38585$tG6.15715@fx39.iad>, JF Mezei
<jfmezei.spamnot@vaxination.ca> wrote:

> > Yes, the risk of getting infected that way was always very low.
> >
> >> The fact that the virus remains active after its supporting
> >> droplet has evaporated in the air also points to
> >> virus remaining active for longer on any surface.
> >
> > Yes, but you don¹t get much virus that way.
>
> Wrong.

he's not wrong

> The original SarsCoV2 required a fair amount of viral load. You
> get a lot of virus from touching a surface that has a lot of virus on it.

nope, plus it doesn't live long on a surface, so anything you might get
is dead.

> When you allow a droplet containing a lot of virus to evaporate, the
> virus then disperse as their float in air. So when you breath in, you
> have greater chances of breathing in a virus, but lesser chance of
> breathing in a lot of virus (such as when standing in front of a person
> shouting).

nope.

> What has changed dramatically with Delta is that you need to ingest a
> much smaller viral load to trigger the disease, so the odds of getting
> sick by breathing in small amount of floating virus in air have increased.

nope.

> But this has never decreased the ability to catch it from a surface.

surface transmission is not a major vector.

On 2021-09-11 10:29, nospam wrote:

> they don't cross check each transaction with the manifest. that would
> take far too long.

You don't know that. Consider when you pre-purchase meals on board. The
flight attendant checks you seat numnber and knows you get the sandwichg
for free.

And for all you know, when you buy on credit card, they enter your seat
number on their handheld POS. So reconciliation can be made if needed.

Rod Speed <rod.speed.aaa@gmail.com> wrote:
> Rob <nomail@example.com> wrote
>> sms <scharf.steven@geemail.com> wrote
>
>>> The EU interchange fee cap doesn't apply to Amex, which is probably why
>>> Amex acceptance in Europe is much lower than Mastercard or Visa, see
>>> <https://www.adyen.com/blog/eu-interchange-fees-cap>.
>>>
>>> In the U.S. a lot of small businesses don't take Amex because of the
>>> high fees, while larger businesses can negotiate low merchant fees with
>>> Amex.
>
>> On debitcards here there is no transaction
>> fee anymore, only a fixed fee per time period.
>
> Can you spell that last bit out a bit more please ?

The store pays a fixed amount for the facility to handle debitcard
payments, but they don't pay anything per transaction.

In article <YP8%I.38587$tG6.11064@fx39.iad>, JF Mezei
<jfmezei.spamnot@vaxination.ca> wrote:

> > they don't cross check each transaction with the manifest. that would
> > take far too long.
>
>
> You don't know that.

i do know that.

where's your proof that they cross-check it?

the reality is that fraud for a $5 cookie or $10 snack is not common
and not worth worrying about.

> Consider when you pre-purchase meals on board. The
> flight attendant checks you seat numnber and knows you get the sandwichg
> for free.

that's not the same thing.

> And for all you know, when you buy on credit card, they enter your seat
> number on their handheld POS. So reconciliation can be made if needed.

people can switch seats.

in fact, during the early part of the pandemic when flights were empty,
it was common for pax to switch their seat to maximize their distance
between each other, or just to stretch out on an entire row.

with crowded flights, people who have separate seats will often ask to
switch so that they can sit together.

Carlos E. R. <robin_listas@es.invalid> wrote:
> On 11/09/2021 14.22, Chris wrote:
>> Carlos E. R. <robin_listas@es.invalid> wrote:
>>> On 11/09/2021 11.24, Chris wrote:
>>>> AJL <noemail@none.com> wrote:
>>>>> On 9/10/2021 4:10 PM, Carlos E. R. wrote:
>>>>>> On 11/09/2021 00.18, AJL wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>>>> I still find checks very handy. It's an easy way to transfer money
>>>>>>> to an individual without needing to know anything but his name. No
>>>>>>> app info required. For example I generally mail checks in birthday
>>>>>>> cards to grandkids around the country because it's safer than
>>>>>>> mailing cash and I know that they got them when the check clears.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> That would backfire here.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Kids can have a bank account, and you normally need a bank account
>>>>>> to cash a cheque (and it goes into your account). However, the kid
>>>>>> can not withdraw a cent out of his own account till he is of age. No
>>>>>> exceptions.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> An cashing a cheque without an account, into cash, incurs a high
>>>>>> fee.
>>>>>
>>>>> Here the parents can countersign the check and use their phone to
>>>>> deposit it into their account (no bank trip required). They can then
>>>>> later go to the store with the kid to buy the gift, give him cash, or
>>>>> combine the money with other cash gifts to buy something really special...
>>>>
>>>> That was banned here decades ago as it's easy to steal people's cheques
>>>> that way. Only the account payee can cash/deposit a cheque.
>>>>
>>>> Gifting money is easy via direct deposit to their bank account.
>>>
>>> But not to kids, at least in my country. They can not withdraw from
>>> their own accounts a single cent till they are 18.
>>
>> That does seem really very odd. How are kids supposed to manage their
>> money? Many 15+ year olds have jobs and need to get paid here. How does
>> that work in Spain?
>
> Simple: no jobs. Forbidden for minors.

16 yo aren't minors here. At 16 you can leave home, leave school, get
married, vote in some elections and of course get a job and pay tax. You're
limited in how many hours you can work, however.

> Having a minor working is considered an abuse and the employer could be
> jailed.

Really?! No one can get a job before they're 18? Not even casual work?

On 9/11/2021 1:30 PM, Mayayana wrote:
> "sms" <scharf.steven@geemail.com> wrote
>
> | > I'm curious about the numbers with cash back. Last I
> | > heard, AmEx was charging 4% to merchants and MC/Visa
> | > were charging 1.2-2%. So 3% cash back doesn't add up.
> |
> | I doubt if any merchant would accept a card that had 4% fees. Even 3.5%
> | would be unusual, except perhaps for a card-not-present American Express
> | transaction.
> |
> | You can see the fees here:
> |
> <https://www.fool.com/the-ascent/research/average-credit-card-processing-fees-costs-america/>
> | (scroll down to the table).
> |
>
> That says it can go as high as 3.45% + 10 cents for AmEx.
> Not so far under 4%. It also mentions that they dropped their
> fees in 2018. AmEx have been famous for their fees. I was
> once in a restaurant with a friend who wanted to pay for dinner.
> She gave them an AmEx card and then predicted they'd reject
> it. Sure enough, they came back and said it wouldn't go through.
> She persisted. It went through. She explained that they did
> that to get people to use other cards in order to pay a reduced
> fee.

I had a restaurant ask me not use the Costco Visa card once. They know
that rewards cards have higher fees and since so many people have the
Costco Visa the restaurants recognize it easily. Other rewards cards are
not so recognizable.

> | As to how a bank can pay 2-3% cash back when they're not collecting
> | nearly that much in fees, it's because enough card holders are not
> | paying off their balances in full each month and are paying hefty
> | amounts of interest.
> |
> That theory doesn't hold water. There's no reason
> for them to keep a customer they're losing money on, no
> matter what else is going on. I'm guessing there's some
> combination of kickbacks and data selling that makes it worth
> their while. Especially since some offer more cash back
> for purchases through a phone account. It seems likely
> that merchants are making deals with them to offer kickbacks,
> essentially running a 1-2% off sale in order to get more
> overall sales.

Yeah, but once they approve a customer they aren't likely to cancel
their card just because they pay their bill in full every month. They
know from your credit report if you're carrying a balance. There was one
card discussed on Reddit that had very high cash back but was only being
offered to people that carried big balances, but most of the cards with
the highest rewards are marketed to customers with very high FICO scores
and that are the least likely to carry a balance.

Sure they sell your information to marketing companies that try to sell
you stuff. I was just talking to my neighbor today about the cycle of
solicitation materials in the mail. The mailman came up and handed us
our mail. We both went to our blue recycle bin and threw most of it
away. But think of the jobs it generates: tree planters, fertilizer
company workers, loggers, paper mill workers, ink makers, print shops,
truckers, postal workers, waste collection workers, and recycling center
workers.

JF Mezei <jfmezei.spamnot@vaxination.ca> wrote
> Rod Speed wrote

>> Yes, the risk of getting infected that way was always very low.

>>> The fact that the virus remains active after its supporting
>>> droplet has evaporated in the air also points to
>>> virus remaining active for longer on any surface.

>> Yes, but you don’t get much virus that way.

> Wrong.

Nope.

> The original SarsCoV2 required a fair amount of viral load.

Delta does too.

> You get a lot of virus from touching a surface that has a lot of virus on
> it.

Very few surfaces have a lot of virus on it and touching
it picks up very little of the virus on it and very little of
what you do pick up from the surface ends up where
it matters, in your nose or your eye etc.

You get far more virus where it matters with aerosols.
.
> When you allow a droplet containing a lot of virus to
> evaporate, the virus then disperse as their float in air.

Wrong again, it stays on the surface. And most of what
end up on a surface isn't droplets anyway, its virus on
the hands of the other person who touched the surface.

> So when you breath in, you have greater
> chances of breathing in a virus,

Much more risk of that with an aerosol.

> but lesser chance of breathing in a lot of virus (such
> as when standing in front of a person shouting).

Utterly mangled all over again with aerosols.
.
> What has changed dramatically with Delta is that you need
> to ingest a much smaller viral load to trigger the disease,

But you ingest very little from a surface.

> so the odds of getting sick by breathing in small
> amount of floating virus in air have increased.

With aerosols, sure, but not from surfaces because
you ingest very little virus from a surface.

> But this has never decreased the ability to catch it from a surface.

Yes, but the risk of ingesting it from a surface
always was much lower than from an aerosol.

Rob <nomail@example.com> wrote
> Rod Speed <rod.speed.aaa@gmail.com> wrote
>> Rob <nomail@example.com> wrote
>>> sms <scharf.steven@geemail.com> wrote
>>
>>>> The EU interchange fee cap doesn't apply to Amex, which is probably why
>>>> Amex acceptance in Europe is much lower than Mastercard or Visa, see
>>>> <https://www.adyen.com/blog/eu-interchange-fees-cap>.
>>>>
>>>> In the U.S. a lot of small businesses don't take Amex because of the
>>>> high fees, while larger businesses can negotiate low merchant fees with
>>>> Amex.
>>
>>> On debitcards here there is no transaction
>>> fee anymore, only a fixed fee per time period.
>>
>> Can you spell that last bit out a bit more please ?
>
> The store pays a fixed amount for the facility to handle debitcard
> payments, but they don't pay anything per transaction.

Thanks for that. Doesn’t happen here, australia, yet,.

On 09/11/2021 02:19 PM, Chris wrote:
> Carlos E. R. <robin_listas@es.invalid> wrote:
>> On 11/09/2021 14.22, Chris wrote:

>>> That does seem really very odd. How are kids supposed to manage their
>>> money? Many 15+ year olds have jobs and need to get paid here. How does
>>> that work in Spain?
>>
>> Simple: no jobs. Forbidden for minors.
>
> 16 yo aren't minors here. At 16 you can leave home, leave school, get
> married, vote in some elections and of course get a job and pay tax. You're
> limited in how many hours you can work, however.
>
>> Having a minor working is considered an abuse and the employer could be
>> jailed.
>
> Really?! No one can get a job before they're 18? Not even casual work?

Not sure about the legality of kids mowing lawns for money (my 10-YO
cousin made a bundle doing that 60 years ago!) but if you pay the kid in
cash there's no functional way of preventing it.

I don't think kids do stuff like that any more. Back in the dark ages
the kid up the street sold figs in season for 50 cents a big and caught
gophers for you at 50 cents per corpse.

In California back when I knew about such things you could get a work
permit if you were under 18 and in high school IF the school approved.
I THINK the minimum age for that was 16 and work was something that you
needed a social security card etc. for -- stuff that companies demanded
for official employees. BUT if you had graduated from HS you could work
without a work permit no matter how young you were. If you were 18 or
over there were no restrictions. I got my first job at 16, but I lied
about my age.

My daughter got a temporary summer job when she was 14 taking customer
satisfaction surveys over the phone for a local auto dealer. She lied
about her age too.

--
Cheers, Bev
"Never keep up with the Joneses. Drag them down to your level.
It's cheaper." -- Quentin Crisp 1908 - 1999

On 2021-09-11 17:02, nospam wrote:

> nope, plus it doesn't live long on a surface, so anything you might get
> is dead.

It lives longer on a surface that is not porous than in air. (because it
remains surrounded by water for longer).

>> But this has never decreased the ability to catch it from a surface.

> surface transmission is not a major vector.

1- in part because it was the first measures against transmission and
easy to do.

2- it remains a transmission vector so you can't just let your guard
down and pretend you can touch door handles and then touch your eyes
witout risk.

JF Mezei <jfmezei.spamnot@vaxination.ca> wrote
> nospam wrote
>>> But this has never decreased the ability to catch it from a surface.

>> surface transmission is not a major vector.
> 1- in part because it was the first measures
> against transmission and easy to do.

Nope, it never was a major vector.
> 2- it remains a transmission vector

Only a very minor one. Aerosols are a much bigger problem.

> so you can't just let your guard down and pretend you can
> touch door handles and then touch your eyes witout risk.

But its stupid to ignore the much bigger risk of aerosols.

In article <shj704$fu2$1@dont-email.me>, sms
<scharf.steven@geemail.com> wrote:

> I had a restaurant ask me not use the Costco Visa card once. They know
> that rewards cards have higher fees and since so many people have the
> Costco Visa the restaurants recognize it easily. Other rewards cards are
> not so recognizable.

they're not allowed to do that.

if they accept visa cards, they must accept *every* visa card. they
can't pick and choose only the cheap ones.

In article <7y9%I.12693$dI3.12416@fx10.iad>, JF Mezei
<jfmezei.spamnot@vaxination.ca> wrote:

>
> It lives longer on a surface that is not porous than in air. (because it
> remains surrounded by water for longer).

no it doesn't.

On 2021-09-11 08:04:22 +0000, Rob said:
> Rod Speed <rod.speed.aaa@gmail.com> wrote:
>>> Kids can have a bank account, and you normally need a bank account to
>>> cash a cheque (and it goes into your account). However, the kid can not
>>> withdraw a cent out of his own account till he is of age. No exceptions.
>>
>> Bizarre. We have the reverse, banks are encouraged to get kids
>> to open a bank account when they are in primary school and
>> they are free to do anything they like with the money in them.
>
> The same here! Having a bank account is seen as part of the education
> of a kid, to know and understand how that works. It is very normal
> for a kid to have a bank account for their own savings (e.g. from
> such birthday presents) and they can get a debit card and pay things
> in stores. Also when they have their first job e.g. in a supermarket
> they need such an account to receive their salary. So by then they
> have to be accustomed to its usage.

I got a bank account in primary school (the kids' bank books and
deposits were collected at school, the bank processed them, and
returned the bank books the same day) and I still use the same main
account number *cough* *cough* decades later, although now different
sub-account numbers due to the bank discontinuing various account types
over the years.

I can't remember if we could withdraw money ourselves or needed a
parent's signature ... either way it was at the bank, so as primary
school kids would have been taken there by a parent anyway. I do
remember withdrawing money by myself when at secondary school.

I did also get an account with another bank when I went to university
because of some freee offer or other (fee-free credit card probably),
but I closed that not long after finishing university. (A few years
after that the bank ceased to exist after being taken over by another
bank.)

Those are the only two bank accounts I've ever had.

On 2021-09-11 10:34:24 +0000, Carlos E. R. said:

> On 11/09/2021 03.32, Rod Speed wrote:
>> Carlos E. R. <robin_listas@es.invalid> wrote
>>> AJL wrote
>>>> Frank Slootweg wrote
>>
>>>>> Basically you can't compare the European/EU payment systems with
>>>>> those of the US. The US is way behind, sometimes decades ('checks'
>>>>> anyone?), and is not really catching on.
>>
>>>> I still find checks very handy. It's an easy way to transfer money to an
>>>> individual without needing to know anything but his name. No app info
>>>> required. For example I generally mail checks in birthday cards to
>>>> grandkids around the country because it's safer than mailing cash and I
>>>> know that they got them when the check clears.
>>
>>> That would backfire here.
>>>
>>> Kids can have a bank account, and you normally need a bank account to
>>> cash a cheque (and it goes into your account). However, the kid can not
>>> withdraw a cent out of his own account till he is of age. No exceptions.
>>
>> Bizarre. We have the reverse, banks are encouraged to get kids
>> to open a bank account when they are in primary school and
>> they are free to do anything they like with the money in them.
>> No credit card until they are older tho, mostly 18, some banks 16.
>
> Yes, they are encouraged to have one, since birth. Traditionally, money
> gifts at put there "for your university".
>
>>
>>> An cashing a cheque without an account, into cash, incurs a high fee.
>
> Exception: cashing at the same office where the cheque was emitted.
>
>> New Zealand has scrapped checks completely now. We, Australia are
>> getting close to that with few stores accepting them anymore. We still
>> have bank checks for high value transactions like buying a car. 
>
> I have not seen a cheque perhaps in two decades now. I suppose you can
> still have them, but no idea.

I haven't used a personal cheque in decades (mainly when at university
to pay for the fees, etc.), but a bank cheque was an easy way to give
money to someone else without needing to withdraw cash.

I do still have a "cheque account", but it has never had an actual
cheque book with it.

On 9/11/2021 1:35 PM, Mayayana wrote:
> "AJL" <noemail@none.com> wrote

>> I just say no thank you [to store credit card offers].

> If the stores were responsible they wouldn't be offering cards on the
> spot like that in the first place.

The stores are in business to make money. If you sign up for their
credit card, they make money. mission accomplished...

On 9/11/2021 12:07 PM, Rob wrote:
> AJL <noemail@none.com> wrote:

>> A paper birthday card with a few comments hand written by me,
>> mailed in a paper envelope with a birthday sticker, and a paper
>> gift check enclosed, just seems a little more personal to me than
>> a happy birthday text with a link.

> It seems like mainly the elderly stick to that here, and send some
> money or a gift card.

I'm 3 months from my 80th birthday. Do I qualify?

> But the next generation talks to the grandchildren via WhatsApp and
> sends them money using the bank app.

What about the kids that don't have phones? Use the parents phones I
suppose.

> The postal system is in decay. Each year the tariff for sending
> mail is newly determined, it looks like by the formula of "how much
> revenue do we want or need" / "how many letters do we still expect
> to handle this year" causing an exponential rise in the stamp price
> that ends when the last person wanting to mail a card or letter has
> to pay te entire postal service revenue :-)

Judging from my mailbox the PO makes most of its money from junk mail.
And unfortunately unlike my phone I can't filter most of it out...

On 9/11/2021 12:03 PM, Rob wrote:

> We have no cashier services anymore. Even at bank offices (which
> hardly exist anymore) you need to get your cash from an ATM. In a
> larger bank office there is a sideroom with one or two ATMs where you
> can possibly withdraw larger amounts in a bit more secure
> environment than out on the street.

My bank's outside ATMs (2) allow $1000 US per day cash withdrawal. Or
you can go inside and get more. Within 5 miles of my house I would
estimate that there are at least 15 full service brick and mortar bank
branches. I live in a suburb of the 5th largest city in the US so
perhaps that makes the difference?

On 9/11/2021 10:57 AM, Frank Slootweg wrote:
> AJL <noemail@none.com> wrote:

>> I hold my shares directly. No broker.

> Perhaps 'broker' isn't the right term. The company was Computershare
> and the shares were held in electronic form.

Computershare holds some of my stuff too. All dividends are
direct deposited to my bank account. Much better than years ago when
they mailed those (cough cough) obsolete checks... ;)

nospam <nospam@nospam.invalid> wrote
> sms <scharf.steven@geemail.com> wrote

>> I had a restaurant ask me not use the Costco Visa card once.
>> They know that rewards cards have higher fees and since so
>> many people have the Costco Visa the restaurants recognize
>> it easily. Other rewards cards are not so recognizable.
> they're not allowed to do that.

But do that anyway. Same with discounts for cash.
> if they accept visa cards, they must accept *every* visa
> card. they can't pick and choose only the cheap ones.

Bullshit.

nospam <nospam@nospam.invalid> wrote
> JF Mezei <jfmezei.spamnot@vaxination.ca> wrote

>> It lives longer on a surface that is not porous than in air.
>> (because it remains surrounded by water for longer).
> no it doesn't.

Yes it does.

Your Name <YourName@YourISP.com> wrote
> Rob wrote
>> Rod Speed <rod.speed.aaa@gmail.com> wrote:

>>>> Kids can have a bank account, and you normally need a bank account to
>>>> cash a cheque (and it goes into your account). However, the kid can not
>>>> withdraw a cent out of his own account till he is of age. No
>>>> exceptions.

>>> Bizarre. We have the reverse, banks are encouraged to get kids
>>> to open a bank account when they are in primary school and
>>> they are free to do anything they like with the money in them.

>> The same here! Having a bank account is seen as part of the education
>> of a kid, to know and understand how that works. It is very normal
>> for a kid to have a bank account for their own savings (e.g. from
>> such birthday presents) and they can get a debit card and pay things
>> in stores. Also when they have their first job e.g. in a supermarket
>> they need such an account to receive their salary. So by then they
>> have to be accustomed to its usage.

> I got a bank account in primary school (the kids' bank books and deposits
> were collected at school, the bank processed them, and returned the bank
> books the same day) and I still use the same main account number *cough*
> *cough* decades later, although now different sub-account numbers due to
> the bank discontinuing various account types over the years.

> I can't remember if we could withdraw money ourselves or needed a parent's
> signature ... either way it was at the bank, so as primary school kids
> would have been taken there by a parent anyway.

I walked to mine unaccompanied, across the highest volume
highway in the entire country too, right from the first year.

> I do remember withdrawing money by myself when at secondary school.

> I did also get an account with another bank when I went to university
> because of some freee offer or other (fee-free credit card probably), but
> I closed that not long after finishing university. (A few years after that
> the bank ceased to exist after being taken over by another bank.)

> Those are the only two bank accounts I've ever had.

I've got dozens of them, because I used to chase the highest
paying interest rate accounts until they are now derisory. And
often do sign up for those stupid enough to pay me substantial
money to open a new account. And don't usually bother to
close accounts because of the new ID verification hassles.

Just opened another one a few moments ago, to allow me
to deposit a checks by taking a photo of the check. Only
took a few moments to open the new account online.

Your Name <YourName@YourISP.com> wrote
> Carlos E. R. wrote
>> Rod Speed wrote
>>> Carlos E. R. <robin_listas@es.invalid> wrote
>>>> AJL wrote
>>>>> Frank Slootweg wrote
>>>
>>>>>> Basically you can't compare the European/EU payment systems with
>>>>>> those of the US. The US is way behind, sometimes decades ('checks'
>>>>>> anyone?), and is not really catching on.
>>>
>>>>> I still find checks very handy. It's an easy way to transfer money to
>>>>> an
>>>>> individual without needing to know anything but his name. No app info
>>>>> required. For example I generally mail checks in birthday cards to
>>>>> grandkids around the country because it's safer than mailing cash and
>>>>> I
>>>>> know that they got them when the check clears.
>>>
>>>> That would backfire here.
>>>>
>>>> Kids can have a bank account, and you normally need a bank account to
>>>> cash a cheque (and it goes into your account). However, the kid can not
>>>> withdraw a cent out of his own account till he is of age. No
>>>> exceptions.
>>>
>>> Bizarre. We have the reverse, banks are encouraged to get kids
>>> to open a bank account when they are in primary school and
>>> they are free to do anything they like with the money in them.
>>> No credit card until they are older tho, mostly 18, some banks 16.
>>
>> Yes, they are encouraged to have one, since birth. Traditionally, money
>> gifts at put there "for your university".
>>
>>>
>>>> An cashing a cheque without an account, into cash, incurs a high fee.
>>
>> Exception: cashing at the same office where the cheque was emitted.
>>
>>> New Zealand has scrapped checks completely now. We, Australia are
>>> getting close to that with few stores accepting them anymore. We still
>>> have bank checks for high value transactions like buying a car.
>>
>> I have not seen a cheque perhaps in two decades now. I suppose you can
>> still have them, but no idea.

> I haven't used a personal cheque in decades

I haven't for about a decade now. I used to keep a single
blank check in the wallet in case I ever needed to and
did eventually need it when the dinosaur operation that
sold the best new pads for my swamp cooler couldn't
accept any card at all, just cash or checks. That check
was pretty battered by the time I needed to use it given
that it had been in the wallet for decades and the
merchant was pretty dubious about it but it worked fine.

> (mainly when at university to pay for the fees, etc.),

Prior to that I only used checks to pay for the newspaper delivery
account until they eventually accepted electronic payments.

> but a bank cheque was an easy way to give money to someone else without
> needing to withdraw cash.

Not that easy given you have to show up at
the bank to get it and they aren't free either.

> I do still have a "cheque account",

I do too but don't bother with a check book anymore.

> but it has never had an actual cheque book with it.

I did have. Not sure if those checks still work.

On 9/11/2021 2:52 PM, JF Mezei wrote:
> On 2021-09-11 17:02, nospam wrote:
>
>> nope, plus it doesn't live long on a surface, so anything you might get
>> is dead.
>
> It lives longer on a surface that is not porous than in air. (because it
> remains surrounded by water for longer).

nospam is wrong of course™.

"Coronavirus May Stay for Weeks on Banknotes and Touchscreens"
<https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-10-11/coronavirus-can-persist-for-four-weeks-on-banknotes-study-finds>.
But that study was on plastic currency, not paper money.

"Laboratory simulations have revealed that human influenza virus,
rhinovirus, rotavirus, hepatitis A virus and norovirus can be
transmitted through banknotes and coins. Similar simulation data with
regard to SARS-CoV-2 are lacking. Hence, in the absence of hardcore
evidence, making a definite statement is not possible. However,
considering the widespread magnitude of the pandemic and the remarkable
stability of the virus on smooth surfaces, it would be prudent to err on
the side of caution and to consider it as a potential mode of
human-to-human transmission and accordingly take all necessary precautions."

<https://pmj.bmj.com/content/96/1137/427>.

In article <iq4tdfFr043U1@mid.individual.net>, Rod Speed
<rod.speed.aaa@gmail.com> wrote:

> >> I had a restaurant ask me not use the Costco Visa card once.
> >> They know that rewards cards have higher fees and since so
> >> many people have the Costco Visa the restaurants recognize
> >> it easily. Other rewards cards are not so recognizable.
>
> > they're not allowed to do that.
>
> But do that anyway.

some might try, knowing that they will likely get away with it because
most people don't know that they're not allowed to do that.

it's not difficult to file a complaint, which can potentially result in
their merchant account being pulled.

> Same with discounts for cash.

not the same thing, and that's allowed.

> > if they accept visa cards, they must accept *every* visa
> > card. they can't pick and choose only the cheap ones.
>
> Bullshit.

it's not bullshit.

<https://usa.visa.com/dam/VCOM/download/merchants/5-important-rules-ever
y-merchant-should-know-052615.pdf>
Accept All Visa Cards
To offer the broadest possible range of payment options to
cardholders, merchants must accept all categories of Visa debit,
credit, and prepaid cards.

<https://www.businessinsider.com/stores-credit-card-companies-battle-fee
s-2018-9>
Since the "honor all cards" rule in retailers' contracts with Visa
and Mastercard stipulates they must accept all credit cards in either
network, retailers cannot keep customers from using these premium
cards, which can charge swipe fees of up to more than 2% on a whole
transaction.