TIPS - To Insure Prompt Service

 

CNN has recently run some articles about “the tipping culture” which have gotten me to start thinking…

 How did American consumers get suckered into paying a portion of an employers wage to their employees?  Why does the government that requires a minimum wage let food service owners blow it off?  And why does the tip depend on the price of what you have ordered?  Service will be the same if your ordered filet mignon or chicken pasta. 

 The last few times we’ve eaten out I’ve paid attention to the amount of time the server has directly been serving me. 

 After being seated, one is handed a menu and asked about drinks… 45 seconds max.

 In hopefully less than 5 minutes returns with drinks and asks for your order…  2 minutes including getting the drinks poured.

 Ten to fifteen minutes later (or more) brings out food… 3 minutes to put food on tray, carry over, and set down.  Any time spent getting items that should have already been available is on them.

 If you are lucky, a zip by check of your drinks mid-meal.  30 seconds.

 End of meal check to see if you want dessert.  15 seconds.

 Back with check... 15 seconds.

 Bye bye!

 You have seen this person less than 7 minutes. 

 Now lets say you had a nice steak- that will be about $50 or more total costs.  The little electronic pad wants you to tip 18% or 20% or 25%.  Going the middle road, that is $10.  Now figure they turn 6 tables in an hour and that everyone’s bills are similar or more.  This server has earned $60 an hour.

Even worse is when there is a tip expected running a cash register.

 My friends who were once servers said it was good money…  yeah, I think so.  

 Other countries expect waitstaff to provide good service as a standard. 

 I’ve decided enough is enough.  Good standard service will get 10%.  GREAT service will get more (since it is such a rare thing).  Crappy service will get nothing… and I won’t be back there either. 

 Don’t even get me started on places that CHARGE a fee for groups over 6!

Wind Storm Aftermath

I'd say there was outages.  As I said before, we got our power back in 3 days.  It took 6 days for our service area (4 counties - a bit over 108,000 customers) to be all back.

Not an uncommon sight.

We had the new state wind record.

Ugh.

And there were people who had the nerve (stupidity) to complain their power wasn't on in a few hours.

In so many places good neighbors got the roads opened up.

Minor injuries here.

These guys do NOT get paid enough!

So many snapped poles to replace.

Especially hard where the lines went thru the woods.

This is OUR aftermath.  A trunk full of food heading to the dump.  Our insurance pays up to $500 (no deductible).  We lost more than that but it certainly helps.

Cuteness Overload

 Finally feeling better.  Super busy with Medicare/Tricare good news and getting our fridge and freezers restocked.  So I am sharing the sweetest thing I've seen lately... an ambush...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ad25P7Nlf2I&list=FLsMi6-SCXJFblgAR0rFFc_Q&index=3    

It's Been...

A long 2 weeks actually.

Got a ton of things finished in late February.  Letting a lot of stuff go, the attic is dejunked.  We demolished our deck in prep for future replacement.  The jerks we bought our house from "fixed" the deck with PINE.  Yep, that didn't last long...  And we've done a lot of culling and reorganizing in the garage.  Not finished as we are waiting on HazMat Day.

 March has been no picnic so far.  I've had a sinus thing going since the first.  Then on the 3rd we were hit by THE wind storm.  Record wind of 79 MPH.  Power went off at 1pm and it was gone for 71 hours.  We lost all of our cold storage food (checking insurance on that) AND I got food poisoning from one of the restaurants we ate at.

 I need a vacation!!

Humorous Break

 Been doing a lot of necessary meetings and paper work the last few days.  My brain is TIRED so I'm just going to share some funny signs from El Arroya restaurant in Austin, TX.

Enjoy!

Review: The BEST tweezers ever

 One of Himself's super powers is attracting splinters.  Splinters of every size, shape, and length one could imagine driven in as to be nearly impossible to remove.

Then I came across this little jewel...

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09D9N1D22?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details  

They are amazing, better than I expected!  The tips are super thin and sharp so they can get where they need to be.  They have a great grip too.  You get 2 pair for $9.  I recommend them highly!

Getting My Chain Jerked

 

What is it with people?? 

 A little bit ago I had three items to get rid of.  They would not fit into my car for me to take where I normally drop off charity items.  So I decided to try Facebook marketplace.  I put really low prices so they would move quickly.

 HUGE mistake!

 Each item got the "is this still available?" button clicked about 50 times but no replies when I answered Yes.

 Each item got at least 5 insane offers.  Say it was worth $40, but I asked only $20.  These donkeys would "offer" $5.  One person even suggested I just give it to him.

 Each item got 3 "I want it".  Pick up times were set... and they never showed.

 ONE person came as he said he would.  I GAVE him one of the other items free (he was thrilled!).  The third item I managed to stuff into the car to give to my usual person.

 I talked to someone else after that and the same thing happened to them.

 Which is why I give things to my decluttering buddy instead!