I vaguely remember that day planners are what people once used to organize their lives before they used smartphones for that kind of thing. Apparently, no one in Jim’s town has had any need for one since 2009, so no one has noticed that they still have planners in stock from 2009. [More]
time travel
Someone Warn This Time-Traveling Cookie Box About The Great Depression
By 4.19.13
Who knew that they had delicious off-brand Thin Mints at the beginning of the 20th century? We didn’t. Yet John discovered this box of cookies that expired way back in 1914. Yet it has a UPC and brags that the cardboard is 100% post-consumer waste. What is this madness? [More]
It’s Like UPS Sent Me A Bill From 1953
By 10.23.12
Rick should not have needed to speak to six separate customer service representatives at UPS in order to pay his bill for an international package. He received a bill with no indication that they accept credit cards: only a stub to return with his check or money order. He doesn’t use checks and found this all very mysterious and old-fashioned. Instead of buying a money order, he called UPS to see why their international billing department couldn’t join the current decade. That’s when he became a strange sort of hot potato, passed around UPS as if his request were completely unheard of. [More]
Use The Clock And Google Voice To Actually Reach The IRS
By 8.8.12
Sure, it’s not peak IRS season right now, but there is quite a variety of reasons that you might have to deal with the ever-present government agency anyway. Tax Cat is out of the office, vacationing at his offshore kitty condo in the Cayman Islands, so it’s up to reader Christopher, a tax preparer, to serve us up with handy tax advice. See, sometimes you have to call the IRS. You can’t avoid it. But so does everyone else in the country. What Christopher figured out is that the IRS call center doesn’t have fixed hours like most. Its open hours depend on what time zone you live in. His solution? Use a Google Voice number to fudge what time zone he’s in, and call late in the evening when the business day is done for most of the continental U.S. [More]
Here’s A Great Deal On 2007 Consumer Reports Buying Guides
By 6.11.12
Thomas the Tank Engine books are timeless. But Consumer Reports buying guides have a definite shelf life, and we’re pretty sure that 5 years is past the expiration date. Victor spotted these on the clearance shelf at Target. “Of course it’s marked as-is,” he notes, “which is both unhelpful and completely unnecessary to state.”
UPS Sends Yet Another Package Back To 2009
By 4.26.11
For me, half of the fun in ordering things online is watching the package find its way to me through the shipping service’s online tracking system. The UPS package that Dean is waiting for won’t provide him with that pleasure, though, because it has apparently been sent back to 2009 for delivery. Well, that, or UPS continues to recycle its tracking numbers. [More]
Roku Uses FedEx TARDIS Service, Sends Package Back In Time
By 1.6.10
Roku and Fedex have done an amazing thing. They didn’t send Merujo’s new media player via Smartpost. They sent it three months back in time and to the wrong city and state. Or maybe they just can’t find the correct tracking number. [More]
Lowe's Travels To The Future To Discount Your Appliances
By 12.6.09
Mary was purchasing a washer and dryer set for her home at Lowe’s. Just as she was finalizing the purchase, a sales circular with a lower price on the very appliance she was buying dropped through the time/space continuum, and visited the store from the future. Or maybe an employee put it out early. Either way, the store’s manager very generously let Mary buy her washer and dryer for the much lower future price because of an employee’s mistake. [More]
