Tipping in cash also helps ensure the employer isn’t taking a cut, and that the tip is actually going to the person to whom it is intended.

::whisper:: undue pressure ::/whisper::

Agreed! A friend of mine grew up around the building trades and went straight into construction out of high school, already at least semi-skilled. He bought his first house at 19. They weren’t kidding when they talked about “gold collar” jobs.

I went to a suburban high school where it was basically assumed that you would be going to college, unless you were one of those “outcasts” who disappeared into the vo-tech cohort at first opportunity. My senior year, people would ask “what are you doing next year?” with the assumption that they meant “what school are…

Great analogy! I was more back office than managing the employees, but I couldn’t agree more. Being a private club, a lot of our regulars are older members, and seeing a bartender on their phone would drive them nuts. The couple of times I filled in behind the bar, it was all I could do just to keep up!

My girlfriend and I have been searching for ways to reduce our waste, and I picked up some beautiful furoshikis on Amazon this year. They are wonderful for small- and medium-sized gifts, and for someone like me who absolutely hates using wrapping paper (I’m just so awful at it), it is a great alternative. I am trying…

My 2010 Vizio is working just fine and plays 1080p with the rest of them. Sure, the bezel is kind of big compared to all the new models out today and the remote doesn’t really work anymore, but I have other remotes. The only irritating thing is the PS3 remote I have will control the TV but will not turn it on, so I…

Used to help run a private club, and I’ve heard horror stories about maggots in lines at other places from the guys who came in to clean our lines. I try not to think about it, but I sometimes wonder when I go to places that are poorly kept. It’s one thing to be old and in disrepair but clean, but a dirty bar makes me…

Where is your own After photo, you monster?!

Thank you for this amazing recipe!

Letting the dog out while dressed in pajamas and a robe in southcentral Pennsylvania is a nice way to start the process. Gets the blood moving a bit. I often found a dip in cold water helped during my swimming/lifeguarding days.

I got a 52 pack of shop towels from the auto section at Costco for maybe $15. I use an old 5 gallon Rubbermaid trashcan for the dirty ones. When the bin gets full, I toss it in the washing machine with lots of bleach and clean it on the hottest setting. It has cut way down on our paper towel use.

Absolutely, it’s just about pandemic. He must have picked up a mutated form of the unprecedentedly virulent strain of Obama Derangement Syndrome. Tragically, a good family friend was infected and developed a tic where he would randomly shout “BENGHAZI”, “KENYA”, “MUSLIM”, or “WHERE’S THE BIRTH CERTIFICATE?!”, and then…

Orin Kerr had a great piece on Lawfare that basically destroys that argument too, while giving a great primer on the Fourth Amendment and why judges already assume informants are biased when considering affidavits.

And Carter Page had already left the campaign by the time the warrants were issued. This whole thing is a ridiculous own goal. The sad part is, the Trumpsters will probably buy the narrative as they are desperately grasping at straws, or they’ll just say it was an epic troll.

One strategy that has worked well for me: make a bourbon soda instead of drinking bourbon rocks.

You have an awful lot of opinions on how other people should live their lives.

Meal prep is a constant struggle, but saves so much money. I get into it for a while, and then I let it slip, especially around the holidays when weekends fill up so quickly. But a few dollars on coffee, a few dollars on breakfast, $10-15 on lunch, and soon we’re talking about $3-500 a month, instead of bringing…

At the suggestion of a friend, I cleaned up my Amazon wish lists and have made most of them public. If I am researching something, I’ll save it to a private list, or if I am looking at something as a gift for someone else, I have another private list, but now I have most of my “wants” on public-facing lists and I have…

I am amazed that this is even a thing, but I guess I shouldn’t be that surprised. Why is basic courtesy so elusive? Put other people’s comfort before your own, and have a modicum of self awareness.