Forecast for IAH tomorrow morning at my departure time (8:00 AM) is a 90% chance of heavy thunderstorms.

Well, I'd like to get Plat this year. The sole reason is that I have access to the "increased inventory" for Plats on reward tix.

It's bad enough as a Plat to find anything and I can't imagine finding something without it.

Of course, if one somehow scores a voucher, it's free money and can always be traded.

Anyone know a good car/van service in HNL? 10-12 people, cruise termination, Pearl tour, then drop at HNL for flight home. This is my pet assignment at the office today.

I always see Roberts buses running around when I'm in HNL.

The tipping in the PC thread has come back to life. :rolleyes:

I must say, I was very annoyed Monday afternoon at ATL when I didn't tip after ordering food at a counter, picking it up at a counter, and filling my own drink and the cashier said "Oh you don't want to leave a tip?" after I handed her back my signed credit card receipt. How did tipping go from being the extra little reward for excellent service it is in most other countries to an expectation by all food service workers in this country, and a legal excuse for restaurant owners to pay sub-minimum wage salaries to their employees and pocket more for themselves?

Two words: entitlement culture.

If you are seeking out ghetto Airbus experiences, might I suggest a TG A300 or an OK A310...

Well there's also the culture of greed that is the primary reason that such huge wage disparities exist in this country as well. The whole idea that it's acceptible and legal to pay below minimum wage to certain types of workers because they'll get tips is a large part of the problem. And the fact that those employees are paid so poorly to begin with is ridiculous.

The AA A300 F cabin was about the same, only smaller. In fact, you might have had an upgrade to AA's IFE. You had an actual video projector. I had an enormous CRT monitor mounted in the wall, with its back end concealed in a closet behind the bulkhead. Think 1980s Zenith or Curtis Mathes console TV stuck in a closet behind the bulkhead, with a cutout in the bulkhead around the TV screen so that you could see it in the F cabin. That was AA's idea of IFE on this particular aircraft.

Not that I'm defending it, but restaurant servers in the right place with the right skills are known to pull in some bucks. A guy I was in the Air Force with went to school by day and waited high-end tables by night. 21 years old, $85K/year. Granted, it's not the norm, but it does happen.

Then don't take the job.

I had a job for a while where the pay was $2.50/hour + tips and I worked my butt off and made decent money. Another guy working the same job just complained all the time about how the place that employed us made so much money and we got scraps... He was so bitter all the time that his attitude was obvious to the customers and his tips were crap.

What I don't agree with is business owners who pay less than minimum wage with no tips in deplorable conditions.

Tipping is a very touchy subject. We as a culture are very different from our counterparts. In many countries the tip is either a cost of the meal or is added at the end. In America it is an optional thing.

Some restaurants, mine included, pay at or above minimum wages for all employees with the BOH (Back of the House) employees making more per hour. This usually solves many problems but I have found that even our staff that makes more per hour than the majority of the servers in town still complain about the tips they make. That is the part I have never understood. The flip side of eliminating the tip concept and having people all paid at minimum wage is that all prices on the menu would go up. In LAS they increased server wage to minimum and all restaurants thus in turn raised their prices which I am sure inturn drove some customers away.

Being in the food business is a weird place to be. If you are in the right restaurant and city, as a server you will often make more than your manager who works 10 to 20 hours more than you as a server. This is one of the reasons I want to get out of the F&B business unless I go to a place with set hours or teaching were the times are more like 40 hours a week.

While we are on this topic, what do most of yall think about automatic gratuities on parties of 8 or more or for special functions? Does it make a difference to you if the person serving you is a student vs a professional server do you tip more or less?

That is BS, but it reminds me of my most recent dine at Tavern on the Green. They put a suggested tip on the check and they can kiss my ___ if they think I am going to tip 25% on overpriced food and drinks. This is why I hate eating out at restaurants.

I had a friend in LAS that was a cocktail server 4 nights a week at Casear's on the strip and was pulling down that amount of money a year working an 8 hour day. Of course the valets out there were making 50K a year. Made you want to not take a management job out there at times.

I'm working in a brand new building with brand new furniture. This client managed to find chairs for this conference room that look nice but are awful when you have to sit in them for more than two hours. These are rolling conference room type chairs, but they are plastic and have no cushions. I've spent three days in here and my back and butt are killing me.

I've never understand why anyone would (a) design such uncomfortable furniture and (b) buy it.