Housewarming

What a beautiful day it was.  We were expecting either chilly and overcast or sunny and nippy.  It was sunny with a light breeze and comfortably warm.  It’s getting closer to sunset now, and cooling off, so I’ve hunted for my blanket to wrap myself in and get cozy because I was out (more later) and shortly after we got back, I felt the drop in temperature.  Jerry is pretending to sulk at me because I was out this afternoon.  He’s on my feet, chewing on his toy bone, hiding it under a cushion or Don’s blanket, and then digging it out and having zoomie attacks 😆 I know that I spoil the little monster, but who wouldn’t?  I’ve negotiated a break to type, and he’ll let me know when I’ve exceeded the time limit!  Don is still not feeling great, and is in a lot of pain when he sits due to a spider bite in an inconvenient spot (he’s very allergic) which has swollen badly.  I have tried getting him to seek medical attention, but at this point I’ll save my breath to cool my tea… He’s now glued to a sports game, giving off little snores every so often.  I’ve just been able to lower the volume a little; much more and I’ll be accused of trying to turn it off.  No comments!

I slept long and well last night, although I drank over a half litre of water in the night (it’s in a measured bottle) I also ate a bit — leftover cheese pizza, lots of fruits, el pastor tacos, flan and apple pie.  I’m starting to have cravings, so I’ll work on those tomorrow so I don’t get hunger pangs.  Happily all the patients — my friend and my nephew — are recovering nicely and should be returning to “normal” shortly.  Thanks for all the prayers and positive healing thoughts sent out for them.

I was at a housewarming party this afternoon for a couple who just bought their house and moved in within the last 2 months.  They’ve done a lot, and much remains to be done but we had a lovely time in their spacious garden.  He explained that they’ve spent a lot of time on the patio this summer, and it’s easy to understand why!  They’ve got some beautiful mature trees, plus a lot of flowering plants (and loads of poison ivy!) all of which make for a very relaxing place to sit.  There were quite a lot of people, so I met a long list of new names and faces plus reconnecting with some familiar ones.  Such a lovely afternoon.  We’ll have to plan something quieter for a proper catch up later on.  I’m so pleased and excited for them; we’ve often talked about how much they were looking for a house and the vagaries of the housing market, so it’s fabulous that they got this almost-in-the-country home.  Congrats M&M!  I bravely opted for a sleeveless dress, and my sister-friend (who was driving) thought I was nuts and would be cold, but it worked well; the sun was out and I was warm until I got home.  We were also lucky enough to catch the Snowbirds flying over as they performed at the Gatineau airport!

I got a meme asking, “what’s a scam that’s so normalized that you don’t realize it’s a scam any more?”  After about a half second, I thought, “tipping.”  It’s so ingrained, but so wrong, and nobody seems to see the problem!  I’ll start with the new excess, where you’re asked to tip for self service!!!  I mean, there I am, doing the work of a now-unemployed cashier being prompted to enter a tip!!!  Tip jars at the cash for fast food and coffee counters?  Really?  Worst of all is the expectation of a tip in a restaurant.  Why not set the prices up by the 10% and, I don’t know… maybe PAY STAFF APPROPRIATELY?  I can see adding a charge if a group of 8+ books at a restaurant because there may be a need for an extra person to help out with the numbers; that’s fully reasonable.  But for dinner for 2, after having the chutzpah to charge $25+ for an entrée that cost you $2.50 to make, you expect me to then pay your staff because you’re too cheap to do it?  I can also see charging extra to serve wine that a customer brings in themselves, as you’re losing the cost of the $12 bottle of wine that you’re charging $55 for 🙄 but then expecting a tip in addition is just greed.  Personally, I’d prefer to tip the chef if the meal is exceptional; the waiter just gets it to me safely, which is why the restaurant should be paying them fairly.  Let’s just touch briefly on the scam of delivery fees PLUS “driver’s tip” — according to the app’s fine print, the prices listed on the app are already increased anywhere from 15% - 25% “to account for delivery charges” and you STILL charge a delivery fee?  Shouldn’t that go towards the driver?  But no.  There’s an additional “100% of your tip goes to the driver” line… who gets the delivery fee?  For myself, I tend to add “no tip” almost everywhere.  I’m not tipping the cashier at Tim Horton’s for getting my tea order wrong.  Nor am I tipping the supermarket to use self service (I look for a human cashier instead.  And sadly, they don’t get tipped either.)  I tip the minimum at most restaurants UNLESS I book a large group OR I have additional needs (being moved to a more comfortable seat, away from bar stools/stairs, etc) OR the waiter remembered my name and managed to hit the sweet spot between hovering and neglect, so my water glass was kept filled, plates cleared discreetly, etc without me having to hunt for them or request that they be called as I’m waiting to cash out or something.  I’m not draconian, I just don’t think that I should be personally responsible for the salary of the establishment’s staff.  I have, on several occasions, requested to speak with the chef and slipped them a gratuity for an outstanding meal.  My socialist self thinks that workers deserve their pay from their employer, not their clients!  Please feel free to disagree with me and explain why society thinks that this over reliance on customers to pay the staff of a business is a good idea.

The gentle snoring is getting a little louder — it’s almost drowning out the referee’s whistles!  I think that bedtime is galloping up, and the little dog is a small ball on his blanket so I’m off.  Good night!