English Language & Usage: Multi-Layered Discourse Room

7:32 AM

Hey guys. Not US resident but wonder the difference between national holiday and observance: http://www.timeanddate.com/holidays/us/

There's also local observance and state holiday but aren't they same? Local = state

There's also "season" which is what? Holiday too?

I see a lot of what is mentioned there is not "mainstream" too...

rahstame

7:58 AM

Hello guys

I have a question

Can you tell me how can I improve my questions:

What is your ultimate SEO frustration? and how did you cope from it emotionally?

Matt E. Эллен

8:32 AM

@rahstame "How did you cope with it emotionally?"

the other question is fine.

ADG

8:58 AM

anyone williing help me improve some of my english sentences?

@MattE.Эллен you here?

RegDwigнt

10:23 AM

@EllieKesselman papaya rhymes with Isaiah. Coincidence? I think not.

Robusto

12:10 PM

@RegDwigнt No it doesn't either. Not in English, anyway.

Mitch

12:31 PM

@Boris_yo 'observance' probably means (in the sense that I don't know I'm guessing from looking at the entries that are called 'observance' to the ones called stat or national holiday) that business don't close for them, that the government doesn't officially close offices. E.g. St Patrick's day, some people 'celebrate' it by drinking a lot and some people have a parade that day, but most everybody still goes to work that day.

If you look at the four items that say 'season', they are astronomical events that say when a season changes, spring, summer, fall , winter.

RegDwigнt

1:11 PM

@Robusto interestingly, Robusto doesn't rhyme with joke in any language.

I'm noticing a sudden influx of chat help requests above.

Must be the International Matt Ellen Help Day.

Matt E. Эллен

at ADG noooooooooooooooooooooooo

RegDwigнt

@MattE.Эллен you forgot to prefix that with an "at ADG".

Matt E. Эллен

:D

I've unforgotten

RegDwigнt

See, much more helpful now.

I'll be here all day to help you help me help you help others.

Matt E. Эллен

thanks

I always need help helping other

RegDwigнt

1:16 PM

Notice how here, I am using "all day" in the Middle-English meaning "will suddenly commute with no prior notice, then play World of Tanks for the rest of the night".

Matt E. Эллен

oh. that's a good note to have

RegDwigнt

Yes, so good that in Middle Ages, they had them attached to their fridges.

Matt E. Эллен

in the Middle Ages fridges were called Scotland.

RegDwigнt

Interestingly, "scot" is Russian for "livestock".

That explains the tradition of freezing meat, I guess.

Matt E. Эллен

yup. tradiotion: explained.

if only all traditions could be explained so easily

RegDwigнt

1:28 PM

> A team from Queen Mary University of London and Imperial College London looked at more than 17,000 songs from the US Billboard Hot 100. They found three music revolutions: in 1964, 1983 and 1991.

Actual paper.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

Interestingly, scot is the English word for tax, so that makes Scotland the land of taxes

RegDwigнt

The land of livestock and taxes. Who wouldn't want to go.

Robusto

@RegDwigнt Lies!

Matt E. Эллен

that's why they can afford to allow the locals to go to uni for free

Robusto

@Mr.ShinyandNew安宇 And scot was the Old English word for pig, btw.

Matt E. Эллен

1:31 PM

> The evolution of western pop music, spanning from 1960 to 2010, has been analysed by scientists.

deemphasis mine

Robusto

Oooh, pinch me!

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

@Robusto it gets better and better!

Robusto

I can't wait for the results of the scientific analysis of pop music so I can find out whether I enjoyed my teen years or not.

RegDwigнt

@MattE.Эллен I like how the BBC article puts the whole "the Beatles changed US music" spin on it, and stick to it like a child to a lolly. While in reality what the paper says is that the developments had already been in place, and the Beatles just surfed along with everyone else.

Robusto

@RegDwigнt Yeah, this. They were simply on the crest of the wave.

But they were synthesists, and borrowed freely from the then current idiom.

RegDwigнt

1:34 PM

@Robusto you enjoyed your teen years OVER 9000, said some scientists.

Robusto

I'm going to wait for the definitive results.

RegDwigнt

Definitive results can only be provided during office hours on Judgment Days, but you keep not partaking in raptchas, so screw you we're not telling you anything.

Robusto

I mean, what if I thought I had enjoyed them only to be told I hadn't really enjoyed them at all? That could be disastrous.

Oasis - Waiting For The Rapture (album version)

►

I wonder if Oasis enjoyed themselves or not?

RegDwigнt

@Robusto Yeah. They should make an Emmerich movie about it.

@Robusto they certainly did not enjoy one another, I can tell you.

Robusto

Maybe that's because everyone was always comparing them to the Beatles. They thought they had to live up to the angst.

RegDwigнt

1:39 PM

Everyone is always comparing everything to the Beatles. As an online discussion grows longer, the probability of a comparison involving the Beatles approaches one.

Even Hitler compared everything to the Beatles.

Johan Larsson

2:02 PM

@Rob, next victim was a springer spaniel yesterday. Loke pulled and gf braked, we still had to wait a couple of minutes for the spaniel to catch up after 15 km.

Matt E. Эллен

@RegDwigнt that's similar to what the Beatles would have said, but not quite the same.

Cerberus

Hello, hello.

Matt E. Эллен

Why do I say goodbye?

RegDwigнt

I say I don't know.

George Pompidou

@MattE.Эллен most likely because sometimes you go away from other people or they go away from you and this is customary

RegDwigнt

2:14 PM

That's unsimilar to what the Beatles would have said.

George Pompidou

grr. I just got wrecked by a sudden downpour immediately when I got off the bus, and it stopped immediately as I entered my house.

RegDwigнt

Could have something to do with houses having rooves.

Matt E. Эллен

@GeorgePompidou all my troubles seemed so far away. now it seems as though they're here to stay

George Pompidou

mopes around and drips rainwater from clothes and hair all over my luxury goods

@MattE.Эллен surely there is an omitted clause in which the troubles go from far away to here.

RegDwigнt

Just don't drip it onto your credit card, lest you can't afford new luxury goods anymore.

George Pompidou

2:18 PM

otherwise that makes no sense.

oh, but see, unlike Bargeld, if my credit card is ruined I will just receive a new one at no cost.

RegDwigнt

Same with bargeld.

George Pompidou

so if your Bargeld is stolen or burned, who will give you new ones?

RegDwigнt

Also, lol @ "no cost".

George Pompidou

yes, literally, at no cost

RegDwigнt

@GeorgePompidou see, that's the root of your problems. Me, I just don't lose or burn money.

George Pompidou

2:20 PM

you are fortunate enough to live in a place where robbery is infrequent.

RegDwigнt

Precisely. A place where nobody carries credit cards, and so robbers are not interested in robbing.

George Pompidou

that's illogical.

RegDwigнt

That's perfectly logical.

George Pompidou

robbers are interested in cash. they cannot do anything with a stolen credit card.

they don't know the pin.

and it will be cancelled.

RegDwigнt

Their choice is to steal ten bucks from me, or 3000 using your credit card. Guess which they'll pick. You have three tries.

George Pompidou

2:21 PM

you just have no idea how credit cards work, and yet you continue to rag on them.

if they choose the credit cards, they'd be dumb and get away with nothing.

RegDwigнt

You just have no idea how conversations work, and yet you continue to participate in them.

George Pompidou

do some research man. stolen credit cards are a thing of the past. they are useless.

I welcome you to come over and take my credit card and try to use it for something if you really don't believe me or some basic internet research.

RegDwigнt

Do some research man. More money gets stolen using stolen cards than using stolen money.

George Pompidou

in which universe? you have still not explained to me how anyone could steal money from me by stealing my credit card.

RegDwigнt

I welcome you to come over and take my 10 bucks and try to use it to get 3000 bucks from my account if you really don't believe me or some basic internet research.

George Pompidou

2:23 PM

you have not explained how they will know the pin, you have not explained how I will in any way be liable for the fraudulent charge if they somehow telepathically obtain my pin.

RegDwigнt

@GeorgePompidou in which universe? you have still not explained to me how anyone could steal 3000 bucks from me by stealing 10 bucks.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

@GeorgePompidou They don't steal money from you. They steal it from the credit card companies and vendors.

*usually they don't steal it from you.

George Pompidou

they do not know the pin, and therefore cannot use my credit card. which part of this do you people not understand. I've said it multiple times.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

Since your card company usually covers you for that.

RegDwigнt

they do know the pin, and therefore use your credit card. which part of this do you george not understand.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

2:25 PM

@GeorgePompidou Calm the fuck down. I'm a Canadian, I've had a credit card with a pin longer than you have.

RegDwigнt

I could do this all day long.

George Pompidou

but they don't.

that's just false. they do not know my pin.

RegDwigнt

No, you do not know your pin.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

So does that mean they can't make purchases online?

George Pompidou

and if they do know my pin, then good for them. I still lose nothing, whereas you lost 10 euro. 10 euro > 0 euro.

by my calculations, you lose.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

2:25 PM

Does that mean you can't use tap-and-pay?

George Pompidou

@Mr.ShinyandNew安宇 yes, you need an address. and tap and pay is not a feature on my card.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

Does that mean there are no places anywhere that use mag stripe?

@GeorgePompidou If you think that stops them, then you are naive.

George Pompidou

look, the bottom line is that Reg lost 10 dollars and I lost nothing!

Matt E. Эллен

you can still use mag strip in the UK, in Tesco

George Pompidou

from being robbed!

RegDwigнt

2:26 PM

@GeorgePompidou no, I have not lost 10 dollars. Which part of "I have never lost any cash" do you not understand. I've said it multiple times.

George Pompidou

in the event of both of us being robbed, I will lose less than you.

RegDwigнt

Nope.

George Pompidou

I will lose the amount which you lost less than you.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

@GeorgePompidou You lost nothing, assuming the best outcome for you, except several hours of your time calling your bank, getting your card cancelled, disputing the charges since it was stolen, and then calling anyone who uses that card for recurring bill payments and updating them to a new number.

RegDwigнt

I will lose whatever cash I carry. You will lose whatever your daily limit is.

George Pompidou

2:27 PM

actually, that's also wrong.

Matt E. Эллен

I will lose less than either of you if either of you is robbed

George Pompidou

it takes me 10 minutes to dispute a charge and order a new card, and I do it on americanexpress.com

which is something called a website.

which exists now.

RegDwigнt

it takes me 10 minutes to drop out of this discussion, and do it on stackexchange.com.

which is something called a website.

which exists now.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

It has happened to me several times, that I have had to replace card numbers, either because some website got hacked or some vendor's pinpad got hacked, and the card company called me to report suspicious activity on my card. It always results in at least a few hours of work.

George Pompidou

and really, Reg, you keep saying that it actually costs me something when I say it's free of charge. but you seem to not understand that in general prices are already set and are the same for either of us, whether or not we use a credit card. so yes, it's "free" by any reasonable definition of "free".

RegDwigнt

2:29 PM

And I still won't have lost 10 bucks, mind you.

George Pompidou

@Mr.ShinyandNew安宇 then you have the wrong credit card company. I've never spent more than 5 minutes on the phone with Amex, or 10 minutes online.

I'm sorry to say that you're getting bad service.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

@GeorgePompidou No, you are misunderstanding.

RegDwigнt

@GeorgePompidou and really, George, you keep saying that I seem to not understand things, but you have no idea what things I do or do not understand.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

It's not the card company that's the problem.

It's the fact that I pay my bills with my card

When I lose a card I have to then call all those places and give them new payment info

George Pompidou

in any case, I've had no problems with my credit card company. they treat me the better than any company I've ever dealt with.

they bend over backwards to make sure I'm satisfied.

RegDwigнt

2:30 PM

Sucks to deal with such awful companies, then.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

Although sometimes the phone call with the card company takes a while. Usually it's fast.

George Pompidou

@Mr.ShinyandNew安宇 American Express does this for me.

like I said before, I'm sorry to say that your credit card company has bad service.

RegDwigнt

See, that's one thing I can afford that you can't: dealing with companies that treat me better than a credit card company.

I win again.

I can afford more things than you.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

@GeorgePompidou Wow. now if only most places took amex, it might be worth getting.

RegDwigнt

Exactly all places everywhere take cash.

George Pompidou

2:32 PM

most places where you have to pay bills do.

it's just small businesses where you go in person who don't, and for them Citibank provides me with a Visa card.

@RegDwigнt cash is from the middle ages, Reg. join us in the 21st century.

RegDwigнt

Of course they do. Citibank are the worst scammers in history. Do some basic internet research.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

@RegDwigнt In Canada every place takes credit cards. It's much more convenient even for small purchases, especially with tap-and-pay. And as George says, the prices are the same for me as for you, since basically nobody cash-discounts, and I get 1-4% back on every purchase with my credit card.

George Pompidou

I don't need to. I've only had good experiences with them.

RegDwigнt

@GeorgePompidou credit cards are from 1960 America. Join me in 21st century Europe.

George Pompidou

they treat me almost as well as Amex.

Mitch

2:33 PM

If you're having trouble with cash or credit, just give it to me, I'll take care of it for you.

RegDwigнt

@GeorgePompidou famous last words.

Good thing we have them written down now.

Mitch

Send in bitcoin, my PGP key is '1'

RegDwigнt

@Mitch but will it blend?

George Pompidou

if I have a bad experience with them, I will just go to another bank. I don't see the problem. but I don't think I will because both of my parents have had Citibank for decades and have had no issues.

Mitch

Oh right, good for smoothies too.

@GeorgePompidou banks? pfft. invest in yourself.

RegDwigнt

2:35 PM

If I have a bad experience with the NSDAP, I will just go to another party. I don't see the problem. But I don't think I will, because both of my parents have had NSDAP for decades and have had no issues.

Mitch

I eat a lot as part of fiducial responsibility

Cerberus

@Mr.ShinyandNew安宇 If I lose my bank card, I still get to keep my account number, so I never have to change payment information anywhere.

Mitch

It's tough on CFO's but it's a job.

George Pompidou

Reg keeps telling me things about other people and other eventualities. what I have works great for me, though, so I don't really understand anything.

now he's bringing up Nazis.

great.

Cerberus

Reg is trolling you, silly.

George Pompidou

2:36 PM

I'm out because that's offensive.

Mitch

Oh Reg? that's his thing, to tell people stuff.

Cerberus

Has been for a quite a while.

RegDwigнt

@Cerberus see, they don't have these. They are not "cool". You don't get "free" flights to Australia after spending 100000000 dollars.

Cerberus

He didn't mean it.

Mitch

Also Cerb.

George Pompidou

2:36 PM

oh, well, great.

I'm still satisfied with my situation.

>.>

Mitch

@RegDwigнt What? Somebody gives away free flights? Excellent!

George Pompidou

<.<

RegDwigнt

George is a funny guy. He really doesn't understand a word.

Cerberus

@RegDwigнt Why not? I spent 100000000 dollars on a flight to Australia once, and then I got the flight for free!

Mitch

@Cerberus Exactly. Comes with free air

George Pompidou

2:37 PM

I mostly just spend my points on upgrades to first class.

RegDwigнt

@GeorgePompidou I do not tell you anything about anyone. I do not tell anyone anything. I repeat after you. Have been for a full 20 minutes now.

George Pompidou

I think that's the best use.

Cerberus

@Mitch No, the air was $5/can.

RegDwigнt

@Cerberus that's the funnest thing about trolls. You can troll them back and they won't notice. In fact they'll be more upset than their original victim.

Cerberus

Luckily, I managed to do with 2 cans over the entire flight. I merely passed out just before landing.

Mitch

2:38 PM

@Cerberus Ahhh.. Canadian air... fresh and piney. like Christmas all year.

Cerberus

@RegDwigнt True...

Mitch

@Cerberus I sleep so no need for any cans at all.

Cerberus

But quite honestly I haven't seen George troll for a while now.

RegDwigнt

Because you only just entered this room, you dog.

Cerberus

He has been rather fine, don't you think?

That is possible.

RegDwigнt

2:39 PM

Sniff around in the corners of the transcript.

Cerberus

You owl.

I feel better now that you have reowlified.

Mitch

@RegDwigнt Are you talking about the plush toy trolls, or the industrial waste trolls? It's important, I have a bet riding on it.

RegDwigнt

@Cerberus the last two or three times I came across him, he kept telling everyone that he was better than them. Literally, in these words.

Cerberus

@Mitch Oh, the piney air was triple that.

Mitch

@RegDwigнt Wait, he's raising his leg on it.

Cerberus

2:40 PM

@Mitch Oh, sleep, as in put to sleep?

George Pompidou

@RegDwigнt I don't think this is fair. you keep bringing up credit cards, you're the troll. had you not brought them up a second and a third time, these conversations would not have happened.

RegDwigнt

@GeorgePompidou I don't bring up anything.

Cerberus

@RegDwigнt Oh, too bad I missed all the fun, then.

George Pompidou

Cerberus is right in that I'm rather fine.

RegDwigнt

You jump onto subjects of your choosing.

Cerberus

2:41 PM

I was in isolation in the woods.

Mitch

@Cerberus that's how it works, right?

RegDwigнt

I brought up 5000 subjects today. You were the one to jump onto this one particular one.

George Pompidou

@RegDwigнt yes you do.

Cerberus

@Mitch You seem suspiciously awake.

Not to mention alive.

Mitch

@RegDwigнt Yeah, you tend to hold it's head underwater til it stops thrashing.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

2:42 PM

@Cerberus Yeah I wish the credit card companies would make it easier to get more numbers so that I could compartmentalize the damage in situations like that. But here the problem is that banks still support cheques, and cheques require your account's actual account number, and paying by bank account means your account number is out in the wild, and it's rife with abuse, so I don't use that method.

RegDwigнt

@GeorgePompidou no I don't.

Mitch

@Cerberus looks around well yeah, I'm not dead now.

Cerberus

@Mr.ShinyandNew安宇 What could thieves do with your account number?

Here we all give out account numbers to any and all companies.

Mitch

@Cerberus number crimes

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

@Cerberus They could withdraw money.

That's how cheques work.

The banks, overall as an industry, are not very good at protecting the account holder in those situations.

Mitch

2:43 PM

walk up to old ladies and say ".9999999... = 1 is a lie".

RegDwigнt

When I talk with Rob, or Cerberus, or Matt, or Mitch, or Shiny, we will discuss fifty different things in one minute. When I talk to George, he will only ever talk about credit cards. Every damn time. All day long.

Nice try, Amex CEO.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

It's worse in the US, they are way more into cheques than we are.

Mitch

@Mr.ShinyandNew安宇 what is the etymology of 'kiting checks' ? Kite like the bird or kite like the toy?

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

@Mitch I don't know

Cerberus

@Mr.ShinyandNew安宇 How? With cheques? I think cheques were abolished decades ago here?

RegDwigнt

2:45 PM

@Mr.ShinyandNew安宇 yeah and then they'll tell me I should move to the 21st century.

Writing numbers on sheets of paper, and they call that salary.

Mitch

@Mr.ShinyandNew安宇 it's messed up. It's the 21st century and people here are scanning checks then faxed to a person who reads it over a phone.

RegDwigнt

Hilarious.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

> "write a fictitious check," 1839, American English, from 1805 phrase fly a kite "raise money by issuing commercial paper on nonexistent funds;"

Mitch

@Mr.ShinyandNew安宇 I think some one specific person used it as a funny metaphor and it stuck. like mud

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

@Cerberus Yes, like I said. It's really dumb. The account-to-account banking system is based on cheques, even electronically. You have no idea just how fucked up it is.

Mitch

2:46 PM

I didn't know checks were that old.

I thought everything was invented immediately before I heard about it the first time.

Like donuts.

or nutella.

RegDwigнt

Or Mitch.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

But on the bright side, in Canada we have another way of paying with your bank account, called "Interac", and it eliminates some of the problems of cheques for retail transactions, but has not had as much uptake for web-based or other kinds of payments.

RegDwigнt

I heard of Mitch a couple years back for the first time.

Mitch

@RegDwigнt No I had heard about that before.

@RegDwigнt I wasn't born yesterday.

RegDwigнt

@Mitch But I have not. And since you had not been invented back then, neither could have you.

Cerberus

2:47 PM

The worst think you could do with my bank account number is fill it in someplace where they accept "authorizations" and order some stuff. Then I would simply tell my bank to cancel the payment and it wouldn't be my problem.

Mitch

@RegDwigнt oh shit disappears in a puff of illogic

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

Credit cards are the most convenient way, and until the marketplace is repaired so that credit card fees are more transparent, for an individual consumer the credit card is the most economical way (assuming you don't pay an annual fee or carry a balance)

Cerberus

@Mr.ShinyandNew安宇 Ah, this thing where you can't simply wire someone money?

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

@Cerberus Yeah we don't do that much.

"wiring" money

Cerberus

But you can do it?

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

2:49 PM

In the last 10 years there have been various solutions, none of which are cheap, easy, secure, and ubiquitous.

RegDwigнt

@Mr.ShinyandNew安宇 unlike cash, cards require a damn lot of infrastructure in place. Like gas, say. Going by car is the most convenient way for as long as you know gas stations are a thing.

Cerberus

I think we have always been able to wire money to private persons here, at least for many decades. It used to be done through some cheque-like paper, I think, but that was long ago, at least I never used those as an adult.

RegDwigнt

Failing that, going by foot is actually better.

Cerberus

@RegDwigнt No.

Going by dog is much better.

RegDwigнt

@Cerberus Yes. That's why you have four of them. That's how better it is.

If you didn't want to go by foot, you'd have four cars instead.

Cerberus

2:50 PM

Or you'd fly.

Or travel on someone's back.

RegDwigнt

No, you'd.

I never'd.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

@RegDwigнt Well, yeah, that infrastructure is really useful though. Like the internet.

Cerberus

@RegDwigнt Wrong. We are all travelling on someone's back.

RegDwigнt

@Mr.ShinyandNew安宇 sure. Gas stations are useful, too. Even for people with no car like myself. I'm just saying they have to be created first. And there's no such thing as a free gas station.

Cerberus

On the backs of several animals, actually.

Recursively.

RegDwigнt

2:52 PM

It's dogs all the way down.

Cerberus

No, it's elephants down, and, eventually, a turtle.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

The problem with the modern credit-card infrastructure is that there are too many layers of fees and the retailers have difficulty passing certain fees onto customers. Hell, some cards have higher transaction fees just because, and to the retailer there is zero advantage to accepting that card over another, because you just pay more for the same transaction. But the retailers are forced to accept all cards by the issuing banks...

RegDwigнt

@Cerberus I will have none of this Islamistic world view.

George Pompidou

@RegDwigнt literally likewise

RegDwigнt

@GeorgePompidou nope.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

2:54 PM

So (hopefully) eventually regulation will force the card companies to be more transparent and to allow retailers greater freedom in pricing, and then the market will be fairer, and some credit card species will go extinct and prices will drop slightly.

RegDwigнt

Look how I'm having with everyone the discussions they want to have. You want to talk about metathesis, I will talk about metathesis. But you do not want to. Or perhaps you can't afford metathesis, because you spent it all on free flights.

Cerberus

@RegDwigнt Can you point me to a specific sura?

RegDwigнt

When you wanted to discuss Romanian, we discussed Romanian. But apparently you never want to discuss Romanian again, and who am I to force you.

Cerberus

@Mr.ShinyandNew安宇 I can wire money directly to anyone in the EU right now.

RegDwigнt

@Cerberus Yes. For 3000 dollars. In cash.

Cerberus

2:56 PM

How about in cache?

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

@Cerberus I would have to investigate how to do that here. Honestly it's not something I do often.

Cerberus

Or cachet?

RegDwigнt

@Cerberus I will accept cache for 3000 dollars. In cash.

Cerberus

@Mr.ShinyandNew安宇 I rarely do it either. But when booking tickets for a vacation or something?

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

I'd say the most common ways to send money here are cash, cheque, paypal, ... ? dunno.

@Cerberus credit card

Cerberus

2:57 PM

But within Holland, I do it all the time.

Mitch

@RegDwigнt My lifehackr advice... eat the thesis crumbs in the cushions that come from eating metathesis in front of the TV.

Cerberus

@Mr.ShinyandNew安宇 A private person renting out a house in France is unlikely to accept credit cards.

Mitch

@Cerberus Oh. Holland. I'd expect that much from you.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

I only pay cash or cheque for very few things. Like, a contractor came over to do some work on my house. I don't know if he takes credit cards, not all do. So it's cash or cheque.

Mitch

@Cerberus What would they expect... cash?

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

2:58 PM

@Cerberus cheque. Rent is always cheques

Cerberus

But I susppose large companies around Europe will accept credit cards online, most of the time. But only large multinationals, I'd expect.

@Mitch Thank you?

RegDwigнt

@Mr.ShinyandNew安宇 I do that all the time. But usually it's hidden under layers of abstraction. (Like, a press of a button because you already gave your banking details to PayPal once.)

Mitch

bank transfer?

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

except large rental corporations may accept other forms of payment such as Interac.

Cerberus

@Mitch No, I just wire the money to them directly.

Mitch

2:59 PM

@Cerberus ha ha. no. It was intended as an insult. I guess it didn't work. Dangit.

RegDwigнt

@Mr.ShinyandNew安宇 a private person in France won't even know what a cheque is, despite your vain attempts to spell it in Frenchese.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

@RegDwigнt Yeah, so, for me my layer of abstraction is my credit card. Every website accepts them. Every retail store accepts them, even coffee shops. Many service providers accept them.

Cerberus

@Mitch Yes. I log into my banking site (using a special device: not a mere password, of course), I fill in their account number and the amount, and press "transfer".

Mitch

@Cerberus or to the gites service

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