Skip to Content

Click on a label to read posts from that part of the world.

Map of the world

Recent Comments:

TripAdvisor Review Costs Hotel Employee His Job {Gadling}

Oct 14th 2012 4:10PM I doubt the offense. Bartenders know there are covert checkers, and anything more than maybe ONE uncharged beer for a good tipper would be too risky.
Actually, ASKING ahead for a big tip would be insane.
Besides... A $20 tip for free TAP beer? That's 5-6 tap beers by itself. The "patron" would have to drink 7 beers to be ahead of the cost anyway right?
By that time he/she should/would be shut off !
Like "Judge Judy" says: "If it doesn't make sense, it's not true."

The reviewers big list of gripes seems designed to emphasize the phony "Good point."

Space Travel Update: Man On Mars, Soon {Gadling}

Jun 4th 2012 1:33PM that's the same speech they gave to Columbus

BarkOff review: A dog of a product {WalletPop}

Sep 30th 2010 2:41PM Dogs? Nah. Their brains are geared to....BARK,BARK, Bark at nothing! For cats though, I had some success. Ferals in my area think my yard is a great potty. Yelling at them works but then I become the "barker" at 11:00 PM. This silent thing actually worked on MOST of them. 3 out of 4 Stopped immediately in their tracks on first "buzz" then left when it continued. One cat however never seemed to notice. AT ALL! Deaf cat? Not to my yelling but.. THe ultrasonic thing never fazed it.

Ramen Noodle Recipes for College Campus Cooking {Kitchen Daily}

Aug 10th 2010 5:36PM 2 min way: I buy one of those large size frozen bags of meatballs at "Club stores," & a bag of frozen veggies. Meat, starch, vegetables &.... "nukeable" in minutes! Recipe: Mix together in bowl. Heat in my $39 microwave. Buying meatballs and veggies by bulk & cheap noodles = Easy and about a buck less than Macburger per serving.

Ramen Noodle Recipes for College Campus Cooking {Kitchen Daily}

Aug 10th 2010 5:28PM 2 min way: I buy one of those large size frozen bags of meatballs at "Club stores," & a bag of frozen veggies. Meat, starch, vegetables &.... "nukeable" in minutes! Recipe: Mix together in bowl. Heat in my $39 microwave. Buying meatballs and veggies by bulk & cheap noodles = Easy and about a buck less than Macburger per serving.

Are intelligent tires in your future? {Autoblog}

May 1st 2010 5:39PM Re Smart tires. Has anyone realized this may be a way for tire makers to opt out of warranty/liability situations ? I.E. : "Well, the customers tires were under inflated by one P.S.I. " Or... "He/she han't had their tires balanced "recently"
Talk about "Cost effiency?" >>>> WE will pay for the technology, "They" will benifit! If this "INFO" isn't already going into "Black Box" computers, you can bet it sure will soon?
Fast Forward.. 2015. Your on I 195 and your tire blows off it's rim.
The manufacturer claims your tire was under inflated by a tenth of a PSI so.... It disclaims reponsibility?
Well, maybe YOU can sue the gas station.... saying their air thingees must have been off when you filled up on air every three days? Yeah, right!
Better yet... the manufacturer of your air pressure guage? ( I own three, and they all read different.) Maybe there will soon be "Air pressure" stops every 2 miles on I 195 just in case your dashboard warning light comes on suddenly?
Not hard to imagine.... The reconstruction police say YOU were at fault in an accident where some idiot "Jacked Up" on you, or he ran a Stop sign because.... "If your tires were inlated properly, you "might" have been able to avoid the accident."
ETC. ETC> ETC?

Please Tip Your Waiter! {AOL Jobs}

Mar 18th 2010 5:52PM I'm a former "Server"( YEARS ago.) It put me through college. Now I'm the "servee" often because I make a VERY good living. Ideally, there'd be a better way but... It is what it is? Yes, it cost a fortune to eat out. The steak you can buy at Stop and Shop for $9 bucks cost upwards from $20 at a restaurant.True? When I figure in the Gas cost to cook my $9 steak, and my usual hourly pay, (I'm a lawyer. Need I say more?)
It seems a bargain to me. I know, I know.... Not everybody makes a six figure pay. But the point is... Eating out is an adventure and entertainment luxery? While in college, I brought a date to a Broadway play. $125.00 a ticket bore. We hit a nice restaurant after and sampled cuisine to die for. The waiter was SO funny, the meal ( $95.00 including tax and drinks)saved the night!!! My date ( And future wife) was so gushy on me afterwards Folks nearby groused: "Get a room!"
That wasn't in my wallet available then, but we uhh, managed in my old Chevy. We went back for our Anniversary and I double tipped him
( 40%) Point is.... Nobody HAS to eat out in a restaurant. It's an occassional splurge thing right? ( While I was "serving" I splurged on my first laptop without cursing that Bill Gates was likely gettig 20% of the price.)
Try to remember... Waiters and waitresses are real hard working people with real problems in their lifes, just like you and me. (Recently, I saw one in the parking lot bawling. Her manager allowed: "She had a stillbirth last week.") People, they are servers not Servants! 15 minutes earlier, I had seen "Marie" bravely smiling to a group of eight very rude customers. Me? That's why I quit waitering. (" I'm just trying to be pleasant and bring you food. Why do you talk down at me like I'm a lower form of life or something?" ) For $3.75 an hour, it was only bearable because of the realy sweet customers.
P.S. I went back in the restaurant after and quizzed Marie about her tip out of curiosity. She didn't want to discuss it.
" Please, I got customers waiting." She sighed.
I pressured her manager. He flipped through his tabs and found... Eight people. A $355 bill ( Mostly drinks Marie had shuffled back and forth) and.. The bartender noted: A $12 dollar tip. ( Which she had to share with the bartender!)
So... She practically enslaved herself for an hour to verbal abuse, rude and sexually annoying comments, all the while why her body and soul was recouperating from a stillbirth, for half of $12 and her hourly wage of $4.25? The sad thing is... If she had kicked the "Host" in the nuts like he deserved, Marie woulda served prison time?
I can't make everybody's life perfect, but... I Ordered a coffee from a still smiling Marie and left her A $200 tip "For the assholes you have to deal with."
The shell shocked stunned look on her face as I left was worth WAY more than the $250.00 I spent on the Broadway play. Maybe she'd not have to worry for one month about meeting her rent? Whatever? If I overtip sometimes ( $5 or $10 extra) My gut feeling is... Even when I was struggling waitering, "If I'm going to do this eating out thing, I'm going to do it right?" Yeah, I may have eaten popcorn for a few nights afterwards but... That extra few dollar tip might have made the difference between some waitress not eating one night at all? Before meeting my wife, I dated a lady who actually grabbed up half my tip off a table, and put in in HER purse, saying... "That's too much?" "Shaleen" was model gorgeous, and I'm not usually a "Macho man type" but.... That really ticked me off! For all her beauty, her attidude made her look ugly in my mind.
My take is: Be a gentleman always.
But Shaleen sent me over the edge. I called her a cab!
The rest of the story? Her dad freeked out on me. He was the head of the law firm I was trying to get into. He railed on me for five minutes about disrespecting Shaleen, my ears burning, my future probably in limbo at best. then he added... "But I need someone with integrity in my practice."
Huh? Turns out... "Dad" waitered his way into college too. He said: "I should be in prison today for Murder, but surprisingly I'm defending others." My dad-in-law ( and my wife) are Afro American. ( I'm Caucasian.)
Our waiter History seemed to "Bond us".
Shocker. I thought he hated me? We traded "Horror stories" awhile, and decided to go re visit Marie the waitress.
Short version: She rushed on me with a near breath stifling hug and revealed she had married the manager and was blessed with three beautiful chilren now. Cool enough?
Then Marie blabbered out how I had saved her life! Hunh?
Apparently Marie had been out there in the parking lot in despair, her rent two months behind, her body strained from the stillbirth. her landlord about to evict her to the streets. Apparently, she was minutes from jumping off a pier in hopelessness.
My tip wasn't enough on it's own, but it gave her hope. A few days later, she freekin hit a "Scratch card" for $20,000!
After taxes, she put the $13,000 left into the restaurant,
( Which was on the fringe of foreclosure) and the place was doing "Great."
LOL... Marie said her first son will be named after me.
I laughed to her... "You want to call your kid Stoopid?"
I love my wife. She kisses great. But... Wohhh whoooo!
Kisses aren't always a sexual thing. Sometimes....
A woman can kiss you in a "certain way" that.......
Well, It made me cry that TWO women in my life could look at me that way. ( Though differently.)
Next time you eat out, think on this... "If I leave a 10% tip, I'm good. If I leave 20%, some waitress I'll likely never see again will be thrilled. If I leave a bigger tip, I just might have made someone's day? Possibly a single mother might then get her kid a %5.00 Teddy bear from Walgreen's?
If your lucky enough to please YOUR kids, and spend a teensy bit more, will the 5 bucks more break you? Or.. will it maybe just make someone's bleak day a teensy bit better?


Wendy's Employees Save Customer's Life {Slashfood}

Jan 4th 2010 7:31PM T o Jalepeno, Worry pas. Most, if not all States have a "Good Samaritan" law that covers "laymen" from being sued for aiding others. Only professionals, ( I.E. Doctors, nurses, EMTs and Paramedics are at risk from litigation. ) And even then, the professionals could only be sued if their aid was deemed irresponsibly done. Actually, the "pros" are more at litigation risk if they ignore someone at risk. Trust me, if I was without a pulse, I'd certainly prefer a good try than nothing at all. That's the way the Good Samaritan Law works... The courts DO recognize that with mere minutes between life and death, a sincere attempt beats doing NOTHING. THOUSANDS of folks have been at the brink of death and saved by "Non-Pros" doing CPR awkwardly. Personally, I'd hate to hear an EMT say... "He/She might have survived if someone had done CPR on him/her.
( Because I/We feared a lawsuit.) In some cities, an ambulance response time might be beyond the four to six minute difference. The statistics support this. Even if done not exactly to the Red Cross protocols, some have survived. The laws are on your side. Your choice... Try or someone dies... For SURE! If your daughter or son was at the border of life or death, How would you feel if you knew help was availiable, and no one dared try? Laymen cannot be sued for inadequate CPR in emergencies! Thousands of people are alive and walking because some did!
You can potentially be a hero, or.... Rue your wimpiness forever more?
A lawsuit worry versus... Some body's brother, sister, Dad or Mom DIES!
The Law of the land says....... NO culpability, At all! Bonus... You can sleep better, Knowing you were a good enough person that............ You tried!

The truth is... Even if not done "perfectly,"

100-Year-Old Athlete Breaks Shot-Put Record {That's Fit}

Oct 17th 2009 9:16PM I told her!... If you ate your veggies you can shot put 15 feet. But.Would she listen? Noooo!

Five myths about the economy hopefully cured by the recession {Daily Finance}

Sep 26th 2009 5:35PM Re # 5 This "downsize it" attitude is the biggest most cowardly thing that has happenned in the USA. I had a new "manager" ( AKA Axman) come in to our place and BRAG how he fired people, . "Lean and mean" was his motto. ( Translation... "Make four do the work of 7" ) Translation 2... "If I have to can 50 to keep MY job... OH f...ing well?" Well... He fired the most hard working, smartest, work detailed, guy that everybody on the line respected because "Mike" had seniority and made few K more than his replacement. "On paper" the Axman saved 1000's...In reality>>> Without Mike, the place went to hell and no one in Mgmt could figure out why. We lost accounts because we were late on deliveries. Quality suffered because Mike's cheaper replacement was too busy Ass wiping instead of supervising. The replacement's attitude was.. "Well, I'm not a freekin babysitter!" The American worker hasn't lost work attitude for no reason... It all starts from the TOP! It's only in the last 10 years or so that I heard OFTEN on the floor... "WEll, Management doesn't give a s..t, why should I? " The "suggestion box" disappeared because it became a source of grief for managers. "It took up too much time hearing all the whinies." Oddly... When I walked into the offices, I used to OFTEN see managers chatting their golf game, or ... Exchanging the latest nudies they found on the "Net".
Want to talk "productivity?" Show me a manager who talks the walk and and I'll go ..."Oh yeah,that old We're a TEAM" crap again. Show me a manager/super who actually makes a difference, and I WILL give 110% Case in point... Busting my knuckles to strip a mold with a wood implement, my "super" Mike had Maintenance make up a much more useful aluminum one. Closest I've ever come to hugging a boss! 8 hours a day, 5 days a week, half my waking hours made a bit easier by a boss who actually cared? Lead me into "battle" Mike.I'll follow! >>> "For lack of a nail, the shoe was lost. For lack of a shoe, the horse was lost. For lack of a horse...Etc." When a company is failing..It's the same old story... "We can't compete against foreign labor." Where would the USA be today if our anscestors had that attitude? When our Co. was family owned, They fought.They had pride and said... "We'll find a way." And DID! Today, our management's attitude seems to be... "I got a decent severance package. What? Me worry?"
I'm an American worker. Tell me... "WE are a team" and I'll smile at the meetings. So will most of my co-workers. Life is good? After the meetings ... We'll all grumble... "Same old B.S." That's the truth bub.
Why? Because it IS! We may not be College graduates,or Judge Judy, but.. we're not as dumb as we look. It's always the same old story... Foreign competition is the bad guy. You know what?... Give me the nail for the shoe, and...the shoe for the horse, and S>O>B> I'll bet we can kick ass on those "foreigners."
Let's re-look on the cost of overseas oversight. Shipping, duties, etc. Just maybe...."Made in the USA" can be whittled into something "Cost-effective?"
What "Us" USA workers have seen, and sensed, so far is...... It's easier for managers to just throw up their hands, lay off a bunch, ( Always the easiest way out, on paper) and ... Give up.
And yet.. perhaps...A few "Nails" might make the difference between a bankruptcy and The "Holy Grail?"
( "Return on Assets Employed." )
As grief filled as a suggestion box might seem....... 10 manager minds versus a 1000 employees.... If there is a one in 10,000 chance a really good idea comes up, that's still a whole lot better odds than winning Powerball?

Profile

  • Abe
  • Member Since Jan 27th, 2008

Are you Abe? If So, Login Here.

Activity

Autoblog
1 Comment
ParentDish
2 Comments
Gadling
2 Comments
Slashfood
1 Comment
That's Fit
2 Comments
Switched
1 Comment
WalletPop
1 Comment
AOL Jobs
1 Comment
Daily Finance
1 Comment
Kitchen Daily
2 Comments