I don't understand the tip jar at locations where I, the customer, do all the work. For instance, there is a buffet near my office I sometimes visit for lunch. As per usual buffet protocol, I start at one end of the long line and get my tray, plate, fork, napkin, etc. Then I go through the line and serve myself. At the end of the line is a lady at a cash register. All she does is take money. (Drink cups are by the soda machine, which you get yourself) But sitting right in front of the register is a tip jar, labeled as such in large font. I can't help but wonder, does she expect me to tip her for taking my money? I mean, seriously? I do all the work. About the only thing I imagine would make sense would be to leave a tip on the table for the busboy. I just don't get it.
While I'm at it, I don't understand the tip jar at the bar, on the bar. If I have to walk up to a bar and stand there waiting to get a drink, should I really have to tip anyone? I tip a waitress for walking a drink the 20 feet from the bar to my table, which seems a bit much to begin with. But if I have to get up and go fetch my own beer, seems like I ought to get a break.
Maybe I'm just anti-tipping. I think I'd rather just pay an all-in cost, tax, tip, service charge and everything. That way I know what I'm getting in to when I look at a menu. Less guilt that way, too.
Or maybe I'm just cheap.
Thursday, August 26, 2010
Sunday, August 22, 2010
The Service Charge
What is the deal with "service charge" at a hotel?
I stayed at a hotel recently, and I ordered something to my room. There was the charge for the food, plus a $4 delivery charge, tax, 18.5% service charge which had a comment from the hotel indicating it was for the server, but then there was a line for "tip". I ask you, if service charge is for the person delivering the food, what is tip? I kind of feel guilty leaving the line blank, so I always put something there. I think folks delivering food to my hotel room get a 30% or greater tip, just for dropping something off.
What do you do?
I stayed at a hotel recently, and I ordered something to my room. There was the charge for the food, plus a $4 delivery charge, tax, 18.5% service charge which had a comment from the hotel indicating it was for the server, but then there was a line for "tip". I ask you, if service charge is for the person delivering the food, what is tip? I kind of feel guilty leaving the line blank, so I always put something there. I think folks delivering food to my hotel room get a 30% or greater tip, just for dropping something off.
What do you do?
Where have I been...?
Well, probably not a good way to get a following going...post a few times then take a month or two off. I suppose now I'll know who my faithful followers are...
Wednesday, June 16, 2010
Conference Mumbo Jumbo
I have to post one more thought today. I'm disappointed there wasn't a widespread re-alignment of colleges in the various football conferences. I like it when things get mixed up, and to have the brakes get put on kind of lets me down. I'm not an Aggie or Tea Sipper, so I really have no dog in this hunt, so I guess I shouldn't care. But I did like the idea of it all.
What is interesting is folks are crying foul, first about the potential move of several teams, now about UT staying with the former Big 12. They cry, "it's all about the money." Well, duh. Isn't it always? When isn't it about the money? I mean, it takes money to make these programs run, doesn't it? Is it supposed to be a bad thing to make the choice that gets a school the most money? Seems like that is the job of the administration, and the athletic director. These folks ought to wake up and smell the coffee. Football is what makes the money, and football pays for all the nonsense other sports that only the parents of the athletes care about. Without the payola there would be no badmitten, or lacrosse or whatever else. So instead of complaining, these folks ought to be saying thank you.
And besides, who wouldn't take the money? I am pretty certain that folks who say, in that snide voice "they" always take, "it's all about the money," when confronted with a potential pile of cash would do what ever it takes to get the payoff. Jealousy, I suppose.
What is interesting is folks are crying foul, first about the potential move of several teams, now about UT staying with the former Big 12. They cry, "it's all about the money." Well, duh. Isn't it always? When isn't it about the money? I mean, it takes money to make these programs run, doesn't it? Is it supposed to be a bad thing to make the choice that gets a school the most money? Seems like that is the job of the administration, and the athletic director. These folks ought to wake up and smell the coffee. Football is what makes the money, and football pays for all the nonsense other sports that only the parents of the athletes care about. Without the payola there would be no badmitten, or lacrosse or whatever else. So instead of complaining, these folks ought to be saying thank you.
And besides, who wouldn't take the money? I am pretty certain that folks who say, in that snide voice "they" always take, "it's all about the money," when confronted with a potential pile of cash would do what ever it takes to get the payoff. Jealousy, I suppose.
Gulf Oil Spill
Thank you to the Worn Out Accountant for inspiration for today's entry. The oil spill has been on my mind a lot, and I've read quite a bit about it. Here's my take.
I'm sure there will be all sorts of new rules and regulations enacted to clamp down on drilling, if drilling in the gulf is ever allowed again. This is the sort of knee-jerk reaction we Americans tend to take. Obama has stopped not only all deep water drilling, but all gulf oil drilling. I'm sure all the oil industry employees appreciate that, and it really is a grand idea what with unemployment so low and all...(!) It is a close-the-barn-door-after-the-cow-gets-out reaction. But I digress.
The deep water rig itself did not cause this spill. It was, as most of these things go, human error. To be more accurate, it was a series of human errors that lead up to this event. I'm not going to try to convince any of you that that is the correct summation, you should read all about it yourself and decide. But that's my take. So blaming drilling itself is a waste of time. Drilling for oil, last I checked, is a dangerous exercise. Drilling for oil a mile deep in the ocean is extremely difficult, and dangerous. Companies need to study this event, learn from it, and make sure they follow proper procedures to make sure it doesn't happen again.
So let's all stop demonizing BP. Did their folks screw up? Yes. Is there a disaster in the gulf? Yes. People died, and that is tragic. Marine life is in jeopardy, and that is a shame. But if we are going to demonize companies that cause bad events, BP needs to take a number. Are we going to demonize all the fast-food companies that fill our fellow Americans with food that makes us all fat, diabetic, rife with high blood pressure, etc? Didn't think so. But that is a post for another day.
I'm sure there will be all sorts of new rules and regulations enacted to clamp down on drilling, if drilling in the gulf is ever allowed again. This is the sort of knee-jerk reaction we Americans tend to take. Obama has stopped not only all deep water drilling, but all gulf oil drilling. I'm sure all the oil industry employees appreciate that, and it really is a grand idea what with unemployment so low and all...(!) It is a close-the-barn-door-after-the-cow-gets-out reaction. But I digress.
The deep water rig itself did not cause this spill. It was, as most of these things go, human error. To be more accurate, it was a series of human errors that lead up to this event. I'm not going to try to convince any of you that that is the correct summation, you should read all about it yourself and decide. But that's my take. So blaming drilling itself is a waste of time. Drilling for oil, last I checked, is a dangerous exercise. Drilling for oil a mile deep in the ocean is extremely difficult, and dangerous. Companies need to study this event, learn from it, and make sure they follow proper procedures to make sure it doesn't happen again.
So let's all stop demonizing BP. Did their folks screw up? Yes. Is there a disaster in the gulf? Yes. People died, and that is tragic. Marine life is in jeopardy, and that is a shame. But if we are going to demonize companies that cause bad events, BP needs to take a number. Are we going to demonize all the fast-food companies that fill our fellow Americans with food that makes us all fat, diabetic, rife with high blood pressure, etc? Didn't think so. But that is a post for another day.
Tuesday, June 15, 2010
Bad Drivers
I have an issue with bad drivers. Really, I have an issue with incredibly bad drivers. Here's an example. I was driving to work this morning and was downtown, on a 4 lane one-way street heading south. I was in the 2nd lane from the left, and there was a car slightly ahead of me, in the 3rd lane from the left. At an intersection with another one way street, which ran west, which was left-to-right as I was driving, the guy next to me proceeded to turn left into on-coming traffic. This bold move meant he turned right in front of me, with no blinker. And when I laid on the horn he didn't stop, slow down or anything. He just kept cutting across my bow and heading the wrong way down a one-way street.
Come on, picture this in your mind. Seriously, try it. You're driving down the street and a car turns left right in front of you, cuts across 3 lanes of traffic, to drive the wrong way down a one-way street. Let's figure out how many stupid moves this was. One, turned with no signal. Two, turned from what was effectively the 3rd lane. Three, turned onto a one-way street heading the wrong way. Fourth, despite being honked at really loudly, didn't so much as acknowledge any of these bad moves.
Let me put a cherry on top of this. A police officer was standing on the side of the street one block up. He didn't so much as bat an eye at this rogue maneuver.
Other bad moves that I have an issue with include: when turning left, the driver swerves the car right initially as if he were driving an extended length fire truck or tractor-trailer; riding up one's tailpipe when someone is making a right turn; and, sitting idle most of the time through a protected left turn, then darting out to make the turn at the last second leaving those cars behind you to wait through another light cycle. This is by no means an exhaustive list.
Come on, picture this in your mind. Seriously, try it. You're driving down the street and a car turns left right in front of you, cuts across 3 lanes of traffic, to drive the wrong way down a one-way street. Let's figure out how many stupid moves this was. One, turned with no signal. Two, turned from what was effectively the 3rd lane. Three, turned onto a one-way street heading the wrong way. Fourth, despite being honked at really loudly, didn't so much as acknowledge any of these bad moves.
Let me put a cherry on top of this. A police officer was standing on the side of the street one block up. He didn't so much as bat an eye at this rogue maneuver.
Other bad moves that I have an issue with include: when turning left, the driver swerves the car right initially as if he were driving an extended length fire truck or tractor-trailer; riding up one's tailpipe when someone is making a right turn; and, sitting idle most of the time through a protected left turn, then darting out to make the turn at the last second leaving those cars behind you to wait through another light cycle. This is by no means an exhaustive list.
Monday, June 14, 2010
Keeping Your Distance
I wasn't really sure what to write about for my first true post, then this morning it hit me. Let me digress for a moment. I tend to have what I'll call "Larry David Moments" from time-to-time. If you're not familiar with Larry, Google Curb Your Enthusiasm. It's a show on HBO about a guy whose life is pretty much one big awkward moment. So this morning I was hit with one of those moments.
Back to post...My question is, how close do you have to be to someone before you have to wave and/or say hello? I find that if you are too far away they may not see you, in which case you appear to passers by to be waving to an imaginary friend. But if you are fairly close but don't wave or say hello it becomes awkward, almost tense...like a wave stand-off.
The other day I was in a parking lot walking past a guy I know I've met several times. I say past, but we were probably 20 feet apart, walking in the opposite direction but converging. I looked him square in the face, made eye contact for a good second, then waved. No response. I felt like an idiot. I turned my attention, but then looked back to see if I had registered to him yet. A good 2 seconds went by, we were probably 10 feet past each other, then he looked at me again, so I said hello. Then he finally registered that he knew me. Or at least pretended to. So I decided that if I'm not within about 10 feet of someone I'm not making contact.
Fast forward to this morning. I was walking to work along the sidewalk, and perhaps 50 feet in front of me is a lady I knew, walking my direction. I put on my best "I don't see you yet" routine...looked at the clouds, birds, other buildings, etc. I wanted to close the gap to at least 20 feet before making eye contact and waving. But as I swung my head around to catch a glimpse of how close we were, she started crossing the street, and moved along without a wave. Now I worry that I snubbed her, and she'll tell her colleagues I'm rude.
I guess I can't win. So again, what is the appropriate distance to acknowledge someone, and do you wave, say hello, or both?
Back to post...My question is, how close do you have to be to someone before you have to wave and/or say hello? I find that if you are too far away they may not see you, in which case you appear to passers by to be waving to an imaginary friend. But if you are fairly close but don't wave or say hello it becomes awkward, almost tense...like a wave stand-off.
The other day I was in a parking lot walking past a guy I know I've met several times. I say past, but we were probably 20 feet apart, walking in the opposite direction but converging. I looked him square in the face, made eye contact for a good second, then waved. No response. I felt like an idiot. I turned my attention, but then looked back to see if I had registered to him yet. A good 2 seconds went by, we were probably 10 feet past each other, then he looked at me again, so I said hello. Then he finally registered that he knew me. Or at least pretended to. So I decided that if I'm not within about 10 feet of someone I'm not making contact.
Fast forward to this morning. I was walking to work along the sidewalk, and perhaps 50 feet in front of me is a lady I knew, walking my direction. I put on my best "I don't see you yet" routine...looked at the clouds, birds, other buildings, etc. I wanted to close the gap to at least 20 feet before making eye contact and waving. But as I swung my head around to catch a glimpse of how close we were, she started crossing the street, and moved along without a wave. Now I worry that I snubbed her, and she'll tell her colleagues I'm rude.
I guess I can't win. So again, what is the appropriate distance to acknowledge someone, and do you wave, say hello, or both?
Saturday, June 12, 2010
First Blog
Welcome to the Blinking Dog Blog.
First question you may ask is, "why Blinking Dog?" Well, have a look at my avatar. This is my dog, on her first bird hunt (dove) many years ago. I snapped this photo, and of course she blinked. Well, I said to myself "that blinking dog..." and I kind of liked it. So I've used Blinking Dog as an online persona ever since. So that's that.
Thanks for reading. I envision this blog as a forum for me to share some thoughts, probably rant a bit and maybe tell a story or two. I welcome your thoughts and feedback. Let's just establish a few ground rules from the start. First, let's keep it civil. Sure, healthy debate is fine, but harsh attacks and extreme profanity are not necessary and will get your comments deleted. Second, I intend to maintain my anonymity on this blog. Remember, I'm Blinking Dog online. If you know me, don't use my real name or those of my family members. And for the love of God, with all the hacking of people's personal info, let's keep mine and yours - personal info that is - confidential. No reason to give folks an easy job of stealing our identities. Deal?
I look forward to more posts to come.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)