[speaker001:] all right
[speaker002:] well like I told you before  and you're talking about credit cards
[speaker001:] um-hum
[speaker002:] we put ours up I mean I had a delightful evening one night cutting a bunch of those suckers up
[speaker001:] um I wish I had
[speaker002:] well you should try it
[speaker001:] well I it was done for me after a while I had a uh I had a business going and this was back in the eighties I don't know if you remember the gold and silver prices and all that but uh I had a coin shop and everything was going great while gold and silver was up and it started falling
[speaker002:] yeah
[speaker001:] so I started paying expenses and stuff on my credit cards and things got worse and worse and finally boom
[speaker002:] you lost your business oh God what a nightmare
[speaker001:] yep yeah yeah it was I ended up going into bankruptcy you know it was one of those things uh oh it'll get better next week you know things will pick up and so there I was in old bankruptcy court
[speaker002:] well you weren't charging gold and silver were you you can't do that can you
[speaker001:] oh yeah yeah
[speaker002:] oh you can
[speaker001:] oh yeah yeah I was buying from other dealers and uh you know they take payment any way they can get it
[speaker002:] oh that's a nightmare
[speaker001:] yeah course on on stuff that I was on merchandise that I was buying on cards it was I was getting the money back because I was selling it I wasn't buying you know just to hold onto it um but it was things like you know rent and phone bills and advertising and all that other good stuff that ate them all up
[speaker002:] um
[speaker001:] so
[speaker002:] well I remember before I got married you know when you graduate from college they'll send you all those credit card applications you know of course you fill them all out because you're honored right and uh
[speaker001:] um-hum um-hum sure
[speaker002:] I had stuff for like Sanger Harris and you know it got up like to couple of hundred dollars and I thought well that's okay cause all they wanted was ten dollars a month right I wasn't thinking a thing about it
[speaker001:] um-hum yes that's the way they suck you in
[speaker002:] yeah I was just stupid and every time they had a sale there I was because you know got get such good bargains
[speaker001:] um-hum um-hum
[speaker002:] and I don't know
[speaker001:] well just today in the mail I got uh I got got my guaranteed acceptance by uh American Express
[speaker002:] oh yeah we've been getting those
[speaker001:] yeah
[speaker002:] I went back to school and got my Master's and they started sending those things to me again
[speaker001:] yeah as soon as your a graduate student they get your name
[speaker002:] yeah they did
[speaker001:] and uh course I guess I guess I've been purged from their records I used to have an American Express uh back when I had my business I got one
[speaker002:] uh-huh
[speaker001:] and they they goofed up bad on my first on my very first bill because I was using the American Express strictly for the travel expenses
[speaker002:] yeah
[speaker001:] and the bill would come in and I'd pay it and the very first bill I paid it and then I got this nasty letter from them saying you're overdue pay so I I said well it just crossed in the mail so I didn't do anything about it Two weeks later I get another letter even nastier and said we're going to turn this over to our attorneys if you don't pay and I looked at that and I said uh-huh so by this time my checks had come back from the bank so I made a copy of the check that they had cashed
[speaker002:] hum
[speaker001:] attached it to their letter and sent them a nasty letter with the card cut in little bitty pieces saying thanks but no thanks
[speaker002:] and now they weren't check in
[speaker001:] yeah they were I tell you they don't talk about they're charging that enormous fee every year
[speaker002:] now what is it now
[speaker001:] it's up to fifty five on the gold card it's eighty five for the Optima oh I'm sorry fifty fifty
[speaker002:] what do you mean fifty five you mean fifty five dollars
[speaker001:] yeah for the green card and it
[speaker002:] but then what's the interest
[speaker001:] well now that's the card see
[speaker002:] and interest is like eighteen or something
[speaker001:] oh yeah yeah it's um well of course on the green card you have to pay it when the bill comes in so there isn't any but on the Optima card it's um let's see right now it's running at about it's not too bad it's actually it's about sixteen and a half percent which is pretty good as far as credit cards go
[speaker002:] yeah well credit cards
[speaker001:] well they're dangerous
[speaker002:] you know my parents don't hardly use them
[speaker001:] hum-um mine don't either mine don't either they have um my mom has a uh has a MasterCard and a Visa card and that's it
[speaker002:] I've got all my gas cards because I don't want to carry money around I'll do that
[speaker001:] yeah yeah now I I do use gas cards
[speaker002:] now Impact is kind of bad too though
[speaker001:] yeah yeah yeah
[speaker002:] you know especially if you get forget to record those little suckers
[speaker001:] oh yeah exactly uh plastic is just too easy I mean that's the that's the whole problem with it um have
[speaker002:] uh-huh well and you're tempted if you've got cash a little bit of cash and you don't have enough for the purchase right
[speaker001:] yeah
[speaker002:] of course you got to charge it and keep your cash
[speaker001:] sure naturally that's I got in all kinds of trouble doing that
[speaker002:] what what are you saying oh uh my husband says I might buy it but I I don't really usually consider that an option
[speaker001:] well
[speaker002:] maybe that's how we got in trouble
[speaker001:] having having having been out of the credit game for some years now I've I've gotten used to either paying in cash or not getting it and uh
[speaker002:] yeah but it's hard isn't it
[speaker001:] well it is but I I I'm kind of uh grateful for the experience because it's taught me a lot of restraint uh
[speaker002:] well it makes you feel good when you whip out the cash instead of your plastic
[speaker001:] yeah exactly I I um I just went out and got a new VCR yesterday
[speaker002:] with cash
[speaker001:] with cash
[speaker002:] and it it's do you work with TI
[speaker001:] no no I wish I did
[speaker002:] no yeah you could have got a discount couldn't you
[speaker001:] yeah I could use a discount I have to wait for the things to go on sale
[speaker002:] but there's always a sell
[speaker001:] yeah especially on electronic goods
[speaker002:] yeah
[speaker001:] especially now
[speaker002:] what is that thing I saw Circuit Circuit world or something
[speaker001:] oh Circuit City
[speaker002:] Circuit City have you been in that
[speaker001:] yeah they they're not their prices aren't that terrific they they used to be but they've gotten they've got to pay for all that national advertising now
[speaker002:] oh it's national
[speaker001:] um-hum
[speaker002:] I think I've seen two around Dallas
[speaker001:] yeah they're they're all over the country now they uh they they used to be good I remember when they first opened up they did have good bargains
[speaker002:] well what else
[speaker001:] I don't know if you have a place there called uh or you probably have something similar we call it Service Merchandise
[speaker002:] yeah in Garland
[speaker001:] you you got Service Merchandise yeah it used to be Service Merchandise was the place to go
[speaker002:] uh-huh
[speaker001:] and uh Circuit City came along and that was the place to go to get your TVs and washer and dryers and refrigerators and all that and then after the years went by they just sort of kept creeping up on price and actually Service Merchandise is cheaper than them now so so so much for Circuit City
[speaker002:] sure okay what else can we talk about who do you work for
[speaker001:] I don't I'm a graduate student I'm a professional student
[speaker002:] we were talking about that just today
[speaker001:] it is it's it's great
[speaker002:] we could be just lifelong students
[speaker001:] it is great I love it
[speaker002:] where are you going to school
[speaker001:] NC State
[speaker002:] what's that
[speaker001:] uh North Carolina State
[speaker002:] so you're on Spring Break
[speaker001:] not yet ours don't ours doesn't start until uh next week
[speaker002:] so where are you
[speaker001:] where am I
[speaker002:] yeah
[speaker001:] what do you mean where oh in Raleigh
[speaker002:] oh okay
[speaker001:] yeah good ole the burgeoning metropolis of Raleigh
[speaker002:] yeah
[speaker001:] what what a dead place yeah
[speaker002:] is it
[speaker001:] I've got a nice little business at home and I sit around and tinker with that most of the time
[speaker002:] so what are you getting your degree in
[speaker001:] um uh human factors
[speaker002:] and what do you do with it
[speaker001:] not a thing
[speaker002:] well what is it
[speaker001:] uh its it's it's really looking at systems and design systems and seeing how people interact with them huh
[speaker002:] so it's sociology
[speaker001:] it's well it's more psychology and engineering uh my my master's is in industrial engineering
[speaker002:] so you're working on your doctorate
[speaker001:] yeah
[speaker002:] oh lord
[speaker001:] yeah PhD in human factors
[speaker002:] oh that'll that'll sound wonderful won't it
[speaker001:] well
[speaker002:] get you a little name plaque
[speaker001:] oh yeah IBM uh I mean uh a lot of people use human factors folks but IBM is what I'm looking at right now
[speaker002:] aren't aren't they laying off several thousand people
[speaker001:] they might be but not at not at the human factors level
[speaker002:] well I heard it on the news today I could swear it was IBM
[speaker001:] there there um no as a matter of fact the IBM right here or in Carey which is a little suburb of Raleigh just just hired one more human factors person doggone it if they'd just waited a little bit longer it could have been me
[speaker002:] hum how much longer do you have
[speaker001:] um I'm I'm I'm going into thesis or going into the uh dissertation this summer
[speaker002:] and get that done this summer
[speaker001:] uh I'm going to start this summer I probably won't finish it until the end of the year but uh I'm I'm trying to get a uh
[speaker002:] ooh
[speaker001:] a uh intern position with IBM right now so that I can find an area to do my dissertation in it's hard finding an area to do a dissertation in this field
[speaker002:] because you
[speaker001:] but
[speaker002:] why there been so much work done already
[speaker001:] yeah that's that and and it's it's limited application in some respects um consider in the area that we're in here there's a lot of places that use human factors people most