2manybikes

I'll start the"best kind of water bottle cage mounting bolts?".

Bah Humbug

Always, always have extra coffee tucked away in the pantry.

2manybikes

Scary close to a disaster!! You just made it.

RPK79

I kind of wish the "Hot Topic: xxx" thread titling had caught on.

RollCNY

When leaving a tip at a restaurant, do you calculate the % pre-tax or post-tax? I have always done post tax, but am now concerned that I may be being overly gratuitous.

BillyD

The local Phoenix cyclists don't ride in the sun during summer. It's insane, really. There's no moisture in the environment, so the environment is sucking all the moisture out of you as you ride along. I don't know the particulars, but a 5 gallon camelback might be the only way to ride for an hour in the sun out there. lol The local guys don't do any serious riding until the sun goes down in the evening.

I have not ridden there. I haven't been able to find a rental shop that rents road bikes my size, and I have no interest in hybrid riding.

I'm picky.

rpenmanparker 

An important question, but either answer is correct if you are okay with it. Much more puzzling is how to deal with the tip line on a credit card slip at a counter service restaurant. No tip, partial tip...? None if you pick up your food at the counter and bus your own table is the usual rule. What if you order at the counter but they deliver the food to the table? And bus the tables for you? There is no easy way to know the salary structure in such a place and whether the service staff depends upon tips for their living. I have always guessed it was just extra and declined to participate. Sometimes I will give 10% in a place I frequent a lot and know the staff well. The fact that some places print a cc slip without a tip line and others do print a tip line is a real puzzle to me.

But more generally I hate the USA tipping protocols. I would much rather have the cost of service undertaken by the management and added to the bill as part of the food price. There is no reason that I should be responsible for rewarding someone else's employees directly. Your restaurant, your employees, your responsibility to pay them and guarantee they do a good job, not mine.

And what about valet parking that you pay for. Does that ALL go to the restaurant or parking lot so a tip is still necessary? I dunno.

Roll, aren't you sorry you brought this up?

RPK79

Post-tax. I usually do a lot of rounding as well to simplify the calculation.

Example: Total post tax = 38.74 -- 10% = 3.87 so my tip is going to be between $8 and $9 -- I would tip $8.26 for a grand total of $47.00

BillyD

Service staff always depends upon tips for a living. ALWAYS.

You're a cheapskate. 10% is outrageous.

Unrealistic attempted rationalizations for being a cheapskate.

rjones28 

There is technically coffee in the house, but it's decaf.

#notreallycoffee

LAJ

Correct

Bah Humbug

Remember, Colorado is super dry as well, and can get over 100* in the summer. I know of which I speak. An hour or a bit more is fine, absolutely... anything after that is crushing. Same here, honestly: I broke down and started carrying a hand-strap water bottle any time I'm going more than an hour in the summer now. Getting home as a dessicated husk is no fun, and probably not good for me.

Bah Humbug

#fact

#thatdoesntcount

LAJ

I round up too.


@BillyD, I think ol @RPK79 was using the 10% as the base figure, so doubling the amount to 20% would be easier. Then he rounded up to make the total bill figure even. That's how I do it too.

BillyD

At best I drink my coffee half-decaf, sometimes all-decaf if I'm going to be out. Running to the bathroom once an hour gets really old.

No, I was responding to Robert who stated he tips at the 10% rate.

LAJ

It's forecast to be 90-ish for the 40K TT on Saturday. I am debating whether to take a bottle or not. I likely won't, but I am pretty sure I'll be thirsty by the end of that rascal.

rjones28 

When I was last there, for about a month, I just went down to Tempe and bought a cheap college-kid bike. I sold it back to the shop at the end of the visit. Net cost was about $50.



I'm not picky.

Bah Humbug

Facts, facts, and more facts. Now, it would be theoretically possible to change the structure so that waitstaff doesn't depend on tips, but unless you know for a fact that a place pays its waitstaff a living wage straight-up... tip them. I usually put mine between 20 and 25%; the only time I'm under 20% is when the service is bad. Even then I'll give 10% or so. I have days at work I screw up too, and I still deserve to be able to pay for groceries.

Pirkaus

Decaf coffee is as bad as light beer

rjones28 

Those places usually have a tip jar. I throw in a couple of bucks.

RPK79

Correct. The actual tip percentage in that example is 21.32% which is above average.

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What is worse riding in extreme humidity or extreme dryness? It's always humid here in MN and on hot humid days the sweat just pours off of you and gives you no cooling at all. I can't imagine that is preferable to hot dry climes.

rjones28 

@RPK79 did not say he leaves a 10% tip. The tip in his example is approximately 21.321613% of the post-tax total.

#math

Bah Humbug

Every hour? It hits me, like, once and then I'm good.

LAJ

My mistake. I was just going with the 10% deal, and thought it was @RPK79's thing you were referencing. I agree! He's a cheap-ass, and needs to quit eating professionally made food, if that's how he rolls.

RPK79

I know @BillyD already stated the 10% was directed at @Robertpenmanship, but let me just say that if I ever tipped 10% (unless the services sucked!) my wife would kill me. She works for tips.