Tip O' The Day

[Laffitupfzbl]

Ok, now I need a tip. For those of us living in the Midwest (maybe elsewhere, I'm not sure), there are these little ants. And once you get them, they are seriously hard to get rid of. We got them in our kitchen about June-ish, and I've been battling them ever since. I've tried commercially available remedies, as well as the old Borax with sugar and other home style suggestions. Anyone have ANYTHING that works? If we so much as leave a dirty glass in the sink, it's like the ant/picnic scene from the Tom and Jerry cartoons (doink, doink, doink, doink!). I mean, I'm a fairly clean person, but all this neurotic cleaning has been reminding me of my failed marriage to a Type A. Part of the reason for getting with a musician is being able to let go a little on the housework.

(Quick story, on our first date, he offered to drive. He had this crappy old Ford Escort that he named "Race-cort" and when I got in, it was all I could do not to flinch. Like, I was seriously grossed out. Later in conversation, it came up that he'd cleaned out his car for the date. Err... But, I learned to look past the barbarian that he once was. When he left for work tonight, he actually turned out all the lights in the house, so I know I'm getting through to him!)

[Boomer]

Fuzzy - you make me laugh so hard sometimes!!!!

Midwest. ants. Know about them. All too frequently. CALL THE EXTERMINATOR! When we bought our house two years ago we had a similar problem. While we are not exactly clean freaks, these little guys just pestered the crap outta me. I spent upwards of about $60 on varying remedies. Nothing worked. Called the exterminator - ants gone. But - I found two ant colonies in our backyard. Now I am a pyromaniac, because I ended up burning the colonies out by pouring gasoline down the ant hill. Thought they were gone. Gas didnt go down the hole deep enough, but now its November so I will most likely worry about it in the spring. An exterminator will probably run you about $50 or so for ants I am guessing. But - they will save you a TON of headaches, and you might be able to have them inspect the house to see if you may have other problems.

Our latest problem is wolf spiders. Those litle guys know winter is coming so I am seeing them come into the house a lot lately, like yesterday when my 16 yr old came running up the stairs all scared because she picked up a laundry basket in the basement, and one jumped towards her. She doesnt like spiders. My wife.....well, she wants a tarantula for a pet.

I have a "unique" family!

[NWoBHM]

Quote:Those litle guys know winter is coming so I am seeing them come into the house a lot lately

I read in the paper yesterday that spiders will not go anywhere near a conker shell - as this bloke is saying -

Quote:Basically it was that if you place a small conker behind each PIR detector, spiders will not go near them

[old honda rider]

Speaking of Tip O'The Day...

I tend to be a pretty good tipper in restaurants. Usually my tip to the server is in the area of 20%, because I know that the busboy, the chef and others usually get a portion of the server's tip take over the course of an evening.

Some have criticized me for that, saying, "You tip 20% even if the service is cruddy?" Well, it depends on HOW cruddy the service is and WHY it's cruddy. If it's because there are too few servers in the place (that happens a LOT) then I'll skimp on the tip but at the same time I'll speak to the manager or whomever happens to be running the joint and tell him/her that more staff is required. That's not the server's problem.

And if it's the server's first day and they're fumbling around but obviously trying to make a good impression, I'll tip generously and offer up a few encouraging words. (Reminds me of the story in Ghost Rider when some poor kid, first day on the job, filled Neil's motorcycle with diesel fuel.)

Regardless, if I'm not tipping well I'm talking with the manager and telling him/her why my tip is thinner than normal. After all, how can they do better if they're not told why?

Reason I tip well is purely enlightened self-interest. See, because I tip well I've actually had the good fortune of getting a table at a good restaurant when there are supposedly no tables available. And once in a while the chef may show up at my table and say, "We're trying out a new dish. Here's a sample. Tell me what you think."

So I'm doing my best to counter that old joke: What's the difference between a Canadian and a canoe?

A canoe tips.

[NWoBHM]

OHR - I tip generously too. Mainly becuase I remember being a young teenager working at a petrol station, and the unbelievable generosity of the punters to me. Sometimes on Christmas Eve, they would tip £5 - back in 1979 that was a huge amount of money, and meant I could actually put my dreams into reality when buying stuff I had always wanted, but might as well have been on the moon for all I could afford it.

[Neilbubbachuck]

Dude, I'm gonna have bad dreams about wolf spiders. What the hell is wolf spider doing chasing people around for? That's not normal man. Maybe we should talk bout a new place to live. Like Alaska where there ain't no wolf spiders.

[Mufasa]

A lady that works in my division calls them "wuff" spiders. Evidently she cannot say "wolf".
So I try to get her to say wolf as often as possible...

[HardwareGrl]

(11-08-2010 08:05 AM)old honda rider Wrote:  And if it's the server's first day and they're fumbling around but obviously trying to make a good impression, I'll tip generously and offer up a few encouraging words.

That reminds me of my first day on a "real job" not just a summer gig. I tried so hard to do good, but ended up feeling very foolish. And my dear Mom told me "Everybody at least once in their life is new at something. And right now its your turn".

[Laffitupfzbl]

"3 Wuff Moon Shirt" isn't as effective, I hear.

[Mystress Aynn]

If ever you see the phrase 'mechanic owned' in an ad for a car, RUN AWAY! FAST!!! After working on cars and trucks all day long, the last thing they want to do is work on their own stuff.