[reeftool]

In Australia, almost every servo is self serve. One pays after filling up unless it is a pay at the pump servo. None of that malarkey you described above. On tour in the USA, even at pay-at-pump servos, I had to go inside and prepay because the pumps didn't accept our 4-digit post codes.

Unfortunately, in recent years the number of drive offs at self service increased to the point that nearly every gas station is prepay. So you pay at the pump or go inside. Most pay at the pump stations ask for your postal zip code. That's a security feature that's supposed to help prevent a stolen card from being used.

[MarkJerling]

Here by us they're now rolling out new clever software and surveillance cameras that automatically detect the registrations of vehicles that have previously been driven off, without paying, at any gas station owned by that supplier, anywhere in the country. If the system detects such a vehicle, it instructs the pumps not to dispense fuel to that vehicle, unless the driver prepays.

[RichardS]

I think those numbers were branded on people, not tattooed.

This one was a tattoo.

Regards,
Richard.

[Tonytee]

I think those numbers were branded on people, not tattooed.

They were not branded or tattooed. Their forearms were stamped with indelible ink to make sure it would never be removed. I know this because I met a survivor (Austrian Jewish Lady) in Italy and she told me that is what happened. Needless to say I nearly passed out cold when she told me and it was her husband who caught me before I hit the ground. Many world shaking events have happened in my lifetime, nothing came close to moving me so profoundly as this experience. Not even 9/11.

Rgds,

Antonio

[RichardS]

They were not branded or tattooed. Their forearms were stamped with indelible ink to make sure it would never be removed. I know this because I met a survivor (Austrian Jewish Lady) in Italy and she told me that is what happened. Needless to say I nearly passed out cold when she told me and it was her husband who caught me before I hit the ground. Many world shaking events have happened in my lifetime, nothing came close to moving me so profoundly as this experience. Not even 9/11.

Rgds,

Antonio

Thinking back, it probably was indelible ink. Looked like a tattoo.

[Tonytee]

Thinking back, it probably was indelible ink. Looked like a tattoo.

Yes, you are correct. As efficient as the Nazis were, can you imagine how long it would take to tattoo six million people? Add to that approximately two million more that consisted of Catholics, Africans, Asians, people with alternative lifestyles, and anyone else they could round up for use as slave labor, including the elderly and sick.

Thanks very much for your input.

Antonio

[wombat2go]

I believe US credit cards at last have the electronic chip so signing is no longer necessary.

Correct

I just returned from 3 weeks Australia and Taiwan.
I used my Amex everywhere and used the slots on gasoline pumps at service stations without problem.

Of about 12 uses, the card was refused at a local coffee shop in Eaglehawk Vic and at a small place between Shepparton and Wangaratta.

The owner of a beer store in Albury let out a grumpy expletive whenn I handed the Amex, citing "rip off"
(I didn't reply in the same tone about the price of his 6 pack which in Australia is more than 3 times $-wise of the price here in Michigan!)

At Circular Quay Sydney the restaurant advised of a 2% surcharge on the Amex.

To ride around Sydney I had to fund a Opal card with my Amex -$20 twice! in order to get from the international terminal to Town Hall.
Now it shows a balance of the second $20 charge which is indeed a rip off for visitors because who knows it I will ever use the card again.

Here in the USA this summer I have had 3 cases (that I caught) at 2 supermarkets of the cashiers overcharging on the cards by running item/s twice.
I suspect it might be a scam going on here but I was not sure whether they just made a mistake.

So I check the tab closely now.
But I would never pick up an occurence like TonyTee's o/p

[p38arover]

Some places here have a 3% surcharge on Amex and you are right about the rip-off train travel cost to/from the airport. Those stations, while on the CityRail network, aren't owned by CityRail so the operators charge a mint to use them.

I recently came back from Hong Kong and when going to the airport, one can check one's luggage onto one's flight at Hong Kong railway station* - a much better system.

* Unlike the media, I refuse to call them "train stations" - they were always railway stations when I was growing up and when I worked on the railway.

---

Last edited by p38arover; 10-19-2016 at 10:12 PM.

[RichardS]

Yes, you are correct. As efficient as the Nazis were, can you imagine how long it would take to tattoo six million people? Add to that approximately two million more that consisted of Catholics, Africans, Asians, people with alternative lifestyles, and anyone else they could round up for use as slave labor, including the elderly and sick.

Thanks very much for your input.

Antonio

No worries, Antonio. When I thought about the logistics, I realised that tattooing that number of people would take too long. However, there were tattooing kits where all you had to do was slot a few tattoo stamps into a holder, ink them up and stamp them onto a victim's chest or forearm. I looked it up. Seems like the efficient Nazis worked out a way to tattoo large numbers of people in a short amout of time.

There are many articles referring to the process. However, journalists being journalists, they don't know what basic words mean. They refer to people being branded with a tattoo. Yeah. OK. Definitely not branding.

We lived in Melbourne (Oz) until a year ago. Many concentration camp survivors moved there. It was considered to be the end of the world - as far away from Europe as you can get and still be civilised. Some of them tried Tasmania, but soon moved back to Melbourne My mother-in-law worked in fashion and knew many Jewish refugees. Some of them escaped before the really bad times. Some of them were concentration camp survivors. She worked closely with photographer Helmut Newton Helmut Newton - Wikipedia and his business partner, Henry Talbot Henry Talbot (photographer) - Wikipedia. I met Henry Talbot many times at my mother-in-laws lunch parties. Lovely guy. After meeting these people, I became very interested in how the survivors had established new lives in Australia and how they took on protective colouring and merged with the local population. The #1 thing about these people is that they are/were survivors.

Regards,
Richard.

[Tonytee]

No worries, Antonio. When I thought about the logistics, I realised that tattooing that number of people would take too long. However, there were tattooing kits where all you had to do was slot a few tattoo stamps into a holder, ink them up and stamp them onto a victim's chest or forearm. I looked it up. Seems like the efficient Nazis worked out a way to tattoo large numbers of people in a short amout of time.

There are many articles referring to the process. However, journalists being journalists, they don't know what basic words mean. They refer to people being branded with a tattoo. Yeah. OK. Definitely not branding.

We lived in Melbourne (Oz) until a year ago. Many concentration camp survivors moved there. It was considered to be the end of the world - as far away from Europe as you can get and still be civilised. Some of them tried Tasmania, but soon moved back to Melbourne My mother-in-law worked in fashion and knew many Jewish refugees. Some of them escaped before the really bad times. Some of them were concentration camp survivors. She worked closely with photographer Helmut Newton Helmut Newton - Wikipedia and his business partner, Henry Talbot Henry Talbot (photographer) - Wikipedia. I met Henry Talbot many times at my mother-in-laws lunch parties. Lovely guy. After meeting these people, I became very interested in how the survivors had established new lives in Australia and how they took on protective colouring and merged with the local population. The #1 thing about these people is that they are/were survivors.

Regards,
Richard.

I suppose when a person does the math, it does seem feasible. It all started in 1933 and right to the end of the war in 1945. Eight million people divided by twelve years comes to approximately 56,000 inked arms per year. Also, if it was done 24hrs, a day and seven days a week, I suppose it could happen. Well, in fact, it did happen. In regards to the survivors, are they really survivors? How do they go about moving forward into a new life? The survivors claim that the fortunate ones, are the dead.

Many thanks for the reference information, very interesting.

Antonio

[RichardS]

Correct

I just returned from 3 weeks Australia and Taiwan.
I used my Amex everywhere and used the slots on gasoline pumps at service stations without problem.

Of about 12 uses, the card was refused at a local coffee shop in Eaglehawk Vic and at a small place between Shepparton and Wangaratta.

The owner of a beer store in Albury let out a grumpy expletive whenn I handed the Amex, citing "rip off"
(I didn't reply in the same tone about the price of his 6 pack which in Australia is more than 3 times $-wise of the price here in Michigan!)

At Circular Quay Sydney the restaurant advised of a 2% surcharge on the Amex.

To ride around Sydney I had to fund a Opal card with my Amex -$20 twice! in order to get from the international terminal to Town Hall.
Now it shows a balance of the second $20 charge which is indeed a rip off for visitors because who knows it I will ever use the card again.

Here in the USA this summer I have had 3 cases (that I caught) at 2 supermarkets of the cashiers overcharging on the cards by running item/s twice.
I suspect it might be a scam going on here but I was not sure whether they just made a mistake.

So I check the tab closely now.
But I would never pick up an occurence like TonyTee's o/p

Most small businesses in Australia will not accept Amex because of the fee that Amex charges the business on every transaction. Up to 10%. Naturally, when they are forced to accept Amex, perhaps because it's a condition they have to accept, they get a bit grumpy when 110% of their profit goes in Amex fees. Recovering part of the Amex fee with a 2% surcharge seems quite reasonable to me. The larger businesses such as the petrol companies and the major supermarkets have sufficient power to tell Amex to shove their fees. If you want to use a credit card in Australia, use Mastercard or Visa. My bank has issued me with a Mastercard Black and a companion Amex Black. I use the Amex card wherever I can because I get double points. However, if it's not a major supermarket or petrol station, I always ask if they are getting ripped off before I use my Amex card. It's the polite thing to do.

What beer were you buying in Albury? If it was an American beer, it could be that the wholesale price was 3 to 4 times the retail price in America.

[Biro]

We have Psychic Fairs near here. I wonder if they know I won't be attending?

When I worked at a news/talk radio station in Orlando, Florida, back in the 1980's, a psychic did a nightly show for a while. I always used to say to my colleagues "If he's really a psychic, how come he doesn't know I think he's a butt-head?"

[redrockcoulee]

I do not remember ever signing if I used the chip and I do like the tap as I do not have to try to read the machine as some of the instructions are made for younger eyes (or for when I have my reading glasses). I did write a cheque last week when I renewed our vehicle registrations as they charge a fee for debit or credit cards.