Mundane News

[rockyroller]

Thanks - it's my mum who is in the hospice. She's been there a week now and I'll be down there tomorrow plus any of the days she's still with us, hence the filing of my tax return this evening.

In the UK self-assessment tax returns are due by 31 January, or 31 December if you want the Inland Revenue to collect the tax over the 2024-25 financial year rather than a one-off payment.

I forget that everything I do taxable income-wise is now via the PAYE (pay as you earn) system apart from honorariums (untaxed), interest (part-taxable) and prize wins (also untaxed). eBay sales depend on whether new stock was purposely bought to sell at a profit so I'm OK-ish there (will have some tax to pay on this next year).

As a result I should really do my return ASAP as I will get a tax refund on professional expenses and charitable donations.

Hopefully they'll just put the tax refund into my bank account rather than requesting a detailed breakdown of everything. That's hassle I could do without at the moment.

used to do my own taxes. gave it up when I inherited some money

best of circumstances for your Mom. you're not alone. we lost our Dad a over a year ago. he had a fall & 2 months later he was gone. hang in there

 

[deptfordmarmoset]

@deptfordmarmoset - the Honda CR-V I won does the same, along with telling me off if my driving is poor. I can't turn the stuff off and basically I drive too fast / too close / too stupidly / etc. However it gets confused with cars in other lanes so I'm rarely doing any of the things I'm being told off for doing. It's like being at home with SWMBO

It is possible to turn off most of the safety systems; they're probably hidden in your vehicle settings. The problem is that once you've powered down, they all return to a default "on" setting. I think that's to do with safety regulations.

 

[Speicher]

May I ask for some of your opinions about craft shops and charity shops.

A local person is taking over an existing shop that sells "craft" items. In addition to selling craft items she is hoping to introduce a small "charity" section of items.

She is hoping that volunteers will help on the small charity side of things. She is not sure yet which Charity to support, and thinks it might change over the course of twelve months. I think she should decide on which (two?) charities to support. They should be local ones relevant to the community, for example the Community Cupboard and/or one other, rather than changing too often.

When you have a till in a shop, can you put codes (on the price label) so that the shop has one till, and at least two codes, possible more for different categories. These would be the main shop, the small charity section, and possibly one or two others if she is stocking crafted items made by other people.

Her main strategy is "keep it local". She would like to receive opinions from people.

To be different to all the other Charity shops, I am going to suggest that she accept small amounts of yarn, fabric, and haberdashery etc. Do you have any thought on this, or knowledge of tills?

Edited to add: When I have read your opinions, I will be emailing her with my thoughts, but I am interested in what other people think.

 

[classic33]

Grey is a shade not a colour.

Black is an absence of colour with white being a mix of all the visible colours by our brains, technically white is a colour. Since grey is somewhere between black and white, then I'd say grey is a colour.

Wiki describes grey as
"Grey or gray is an intermediate color between black and white. It is a neutral or achromatic color, meaning literally that it is "without color"..."

 

[Mike_P]

May I ask for some of your opinions about craft shops and charity shops.

A local person is taking over an existing shop that sells "craft" items. In addition to selling craft items she is hoping to introduce a small "charity" section of items.

She is hoping that volunteers will help on the small charity side of things. She is not sure yet which Charity to support, and thinks it might change over the course of twelve months. I think she should decide on which (two?) charities to support. They should be local ones relevant to the community, for example the Community Cupboard and/or one other, rather than changing too often.

When you have a till in a shop, can you put codes (on the price label) so that the shop has one till, and at least two codes, possible more for different categories. These would be the main shop, the small charity section, and possibly one or two others if she is stocking crafted items made by other people.

Her main strategy is "keep it local". She would like to receive opinions from people.

To be different to all the other Charity shops, I am going to suggest that she accept small amounts of yarn, fabric, and haberdashery etc. Do you have any thought on this, or knowledge of tills?

Edited to add: When I have read your opinions, I will be emailing her with my thoughts, but I am interested in what other people think.

I would have thought the craft shop item would be the normal barcode scan at the till so immediately their would be a different input required to sell any price labelled charity items which depending on the till itself different departments could be recorded. Remember a now closed shop in Wakefield that had different goods on each floor with the till transactions being appropriately allocated.

 

[postman]

Those things always look like torture devices to me.

Once broken in they are a thing of beauty.

Do you dunk them?

Not a good idea.

 

[Speicher]

I would have thought the craft shop item would be the normal barcode scan at the till so immediately their would be a different input required to sell any price labelled charity items which depending on the till itself different departments could be recorded. Remember a now closed shop in Wakefield that had different goods on each floor with the till transactions being appropriately allocated.

The people who might volunteer on the charity side, might not be techo savvy. I think pricing the donated items would be with a hand-written price sticker rather than a bar code.

So as you suggest, anything with a bar code would be "shop" items, and hand written stickers is for the donated items. From my experience as a volunteer working with tills, if you are not using them everyday, you can easily forget how to use anything other than the most basic functions.

 

[KnittyNorah]

As it's a craft shop selling 'items', then I think she should 'specialise' in the charity section, with crafty materials as you suggest, and also books about craft, half-finished kits etc. Beads, fabrics, yarns, threads, equipment from crochet hooks and sewing needles to looms and knitting machines. Maybe, if there's enough space, she could find someone who could offer basic lessons on using a sewing machine, or how to knit. Or any other craft. I taught someone how to use a drop spindle at a group I go to.
What part of the country will it be located in?

 

[classic33]

The people who might volunteer on the charity side, might not be techo savvy. I think pricing the donated items would be with a hand-written price sticker rather than a bar code.

So as you suggest, anything with a bar code would be "shop" items, and hand written stickers is for the donated items. From my experience as a volunteer working with tills, if you are not using them everyday, you can easily forget how to use anything other than the most basic functions.

Make certain to use different colour pricing labels.
Think of them as "Reduced" and normal price labels.

 

[Jenkins]

I have just polished my boots.

 

[KnittyNorah]

They are a real step above in favour it's the orange blossom water that really up's the game.
The recipe is one of James Mortons from How Baking Works.

I'll look for it in the library.

 

[Mike_P]

Make certain to use different colour pricing labels.
Think of them as "Reduced" and normal price labels.

Would the craft shop items have a price label ?

 

[simongt]

My Optician has sent an email suggesting I may like to book 'a festive consultation'.
Wonder if that means that my drop dead gorgeous optometrist may have a sprig of mistletoe above the consulting chair - ?

 

[tyred]

I managed to fit a twelve mile ride in between serious showers. Pretty stormy though. Still feeling good on the bike compared to recently. No coughing fits!

 

[Reynard]

Mild and grey here chez Casa Reynard.

Did not sleep particularly well. Just too tired. I am having a "not doing very much" kind of day. Currently sat here listening to Arsenal v Brighton.

Had a chicken, cheese & pesto toastie for luncheon, along with an apple, a peach and two