Get in / Get out

COVID19 - School Closure - Day 157  School Reopens - Day 183

My garage door opener busted yesterday.  It was here when we first moved in... and even then I thought it was old.  It was a Sears brand.  Not gonna find a replacement anymore.  Thought about heading over to Home Depot to pick one out and install it myself.  Then I remembered the time I had to replace the chain and what a pain it was to go back and forth to find the right parts.  

Decided to "Yelp" it..... and of course...  dozens of places popped up.  That's when I remembered a few years back, the springs to my door broke and I had to blindly find a garage door maintenance guy.  That experience was amazing... I even recommended it to a couple of friends.  So I promptly searched all my texts for "garage door" and lo and behold... the place I recommended just so happens was the first place that came out on my Yelp search (which only has 75 rates???)

I checked out their website for 10 seconds... and decided to call.  The lady was.... nice.  Not the most professional... but it felt like I was talking to a neighbor.  After about 30 seconds... I got the information I needed...I said "Y'know... I'm not even gonna shop around. When's the earliest you can get someone out here?"  

Lucio was great.  He came, he replaced, he left.  And when I gave him a little tip... he was genuinely surprised.  "Wow... I really didn't expect this."  He was speechless.  

I was so impressed with the overall experience... I gave them a 5 star rating on yelp.  Then I started looking at my previous ratings.  Turns out... I wrote one for them back in 2017.  And as I read all my other posts... I realize there's one term I love to use when it comes to 5 star rating...."Get in / Get out."  Hmmm... 

Haiku

So many options

Good service is hard to find

My garage door works

我们会随时为您服务

COVID19 - School Closure - Day 157  School Reopens - Day 135

We took the plunge at bought a Karaoke machine from China... fairly advanced one.  Touch screen, online database, nearly endless inventory.  But it was a leap of faith.. what if something went wrong? How do you ship it back? What if I had a question? How to deal with customer service? Do I call long distance? Speak in Mandarin?

That moment... I felt a huge rush of shame.  That I would need someone to translate for me to speak to Chinese customer service.  Sigh... To my relief... customer service is done through Whatsapp!  Ohhhh what a wonderful experience.

It was free.  They responded right away... 9AM my time which was 1AM their time... assuming they're in China.  Via text...they were so prompt.  So polite.  Almost 180 when compared to Tech Support at work. 

[9:16 AM] ANZ: 您还有别的问题吗？

[9:16 AM] H: 谢谢你

[9:16 AM,] ANZ: 不客气的

[9:16 AM] ANZ: 有问题可以随时联系我们

[9:16 AM] H: 现今没有。

[9:16 AM] ANZ: 我们会随时为您服务

唔駛找

COVID-19 - School Closure - Day 88

What's the biggest tip (percentage wise) you've ever given? 

I still remember at Vegas.... we'd leave a $5 chip for our dealer ever so often.  Then one time, I go to Reno I won a nice hand and tipped a $5 chip (cuz it was a $5 table).  The dealer's eyes popped out.  And Big Bro whispered, "$1 is enough."  

One time in Chinatown... while buying pastries at a bakery... there was a white dude that spoke perfect Cantonese.  At the end... after paying the cashier, he so subtly said, "唔駛找."  So cool.  I thought that only happened in the movies.

Few years later, I did that in a Chinatown bakery.  Paid in cash and the change was about $0.80.  I echoed those famous words, "唔駛找."  The lady chastised me for being dumb.   

Today... Joyce let me out to go buy some takeout so I went to Tai Pan to get some Dim Sum and PAB.  I was going to pay cash to minimize the exchange and let them keep the change to help out a small business.  The bill came out to be around $31.  I gave her 2 twenties... hesitated for one split second and once again said, "唔駛找."  

The lady said... "吓。 三十一蚊咋喎！

I smiled (behind my mask), winked (behind my shades), and nodded my head (underneath my hat).  

"得喇， 唔該晒。"

And as I was walking out... I heard her say, "八蚊都唔要。"  

Tip Etiquette (Revisited)

Day 1 at Disney… we forget to tip the cleaning lady.  Oops!!  No harm no foul.  We were running off too early in the morning to notice.  Gotta get to Star Wars land! 

Day 2… left a two hole dollars.  Cuz…well, that’s what I leave for the Denver hotels.  Ouch! 

Night 2… our conscience hits us hard.  We looked online and see that general practice is $2….. PER PERSON!!!!!!!!!!!  For a higher end hotel…. It’s $5!!!!!  Gwwwwwarrrrssssshhhh!  Who wrote this website?  

Night 2… they only gave us 3 towels.  So we called and asked for another towel. The lady brought it for me…and stood outside obviously waiting for a tip.  Hehe… I wasn’t gonna tip!  They’re fault.  They knew we have four people, why give 3 towels?  Is it to make an extra buck??  Cuz they suspect that’s the only way to get something from us??   I didn’t have any cash.  So I grabbed the towels and shut the door.  Hehe… 

Day 3 and 4…. We decided to drop a $5.  Still too cheap??  I’m soooo blacklisted. 

Phone Etiquette - Part Trois

Saw a missed call on my phone and immediately I texted the caller. Turns out it was a Misdial. This is one day after I tease people texting when replying to a missed call... heh.

Mood: excited

Phone Etiquette (Revisited)

Wrote a little bit on Phone Etiquette a few weeks ago and the fact that we text / IM someone before calling them. Last night.. we were playing a home-made Amazing Race with the kids and the first challenge was for them to call someone from Eden Fellowship and read the bible together, then say a quick prayer over the phone.

Neither of the people they called picked up.  But within a short while... both of those people, instead of calling me back... TEXTED me and asked, "What's up?!?"

Interesting............

Side note: The kids figured out that Momma is also part of Eden Fellowship, so they called her instead. I needa be more careful next time.

Mood: Contemplative

Tip Etiquette

Phunny... never thought I'll have enough material to start an "Etiquette" series.  But why not??  I'm in audit... compliance is my middle name these days.

We begin today with a story from The Sports Leader... where during the slowest sports day of the year... we hear the story of a golfer who won a championship and pocketed $1.29M for his winnings.  The rule of thumb is, you give your caddy 10% of your booty... in this case, $129,000.  But the golfer hired a temporary caddy, down in Mexico no less, and ended up giving him only $5000.  Which triggered me to wanna jot down... some recent thoughts on tipping.  (added one day later -- The golfer ended up giving the caddy $50k.  Short of the $129k....but better than $5.)

Growing up... restaurant tips has always been 10%.  It's easy math.  But over the years, the 10% has climbed up to 15%.  Nowadays, restaurant almost always print out 18%, 20%, 22% as suggested tipping amounts.  Having been in the service industry... and dad being a waiter all his life, a lot of workers live and die on the tip, not the salary.

Some restaurants have learned to automatically add an 18% tip to parties of 6 and more.  Which I'm totally against... There goes the incentive of quality service,  right???

Well... how much do you tip???

Hotel cleaning service - This comes up all the time at work.  A couple bills daily?? Or do you leave a big amount when you leave?  Problem being... hotels rotate cleaning persons.  The day you don't tip... might be one person.  And the next day, a different person who cleans pockets a bigger tip.  I personally don't like ppl coming into my room during my stay, so I leave the "Do Not Disturb" sign up on the door until I checkout.

Valet/Bell Service - I hate both of these.  I can park myself, thank you very much.  And give me a cart, I'll take up my own luggage.  But when some hotels force you to valet/bell service... do you slip a $5 (OUCH!?!?)  Or do you go with number of people in your party?? The $1 doesn't even go anywhere these days.

Room Service - in the spirit of the hotel stay... how much do you tip if you want some towels, a blowdryer, or some extra linens?? But what gets me is...these amenities should be in your room already.  By them failing to have it prepared, I'm being punished by having to push $1-2 to them??? Hate it... but if I happen to have $1-2, why not.

Haircut - I used to look for haircut places that was $7-$8.  That way, my tip is what rounds up to $10.  But with inflation and minimum wage rising, haircuts are now $10-$12 (for me).  I went to a $10 haircut place where I dropped a $20.  The barber had the gall to give me two $5 in change.  What??? Does that mean I have to give a 50% tip??? Heck no!!! I asked for change.  A more pragmatic barber would give me one $5 and five $1's.  I can't blame the guy for trying.

I recently met a friend of a friend who's a hairstylist (not barber) and I asked him what's the Rule of Thumb.  His answer.... 10%.  Wow... I was floored.

Pho - for the longest time.  I was taught to not have to give a tip.  What do they do?? They drop off a bowl of soup and that's it.  But the past two years... I've upgraded it to 10%.  It helps that a lot of Pho places take credit card.  If it were cash....

Take out - Here's a conundrum.  They did NOT serve me.  One bit.  So why pay the service charge?? Well.. restaurant rule of thumb is, the tips are shared amount the waiters, busboys and the kitchen staff.  So I wasn't exactly served nothing... I guess I owe it to the chef to drop some money.  As much as it kills me, I generally go with the round up to the nearest dollar in the 5-10% range.  It's embarrassing when I put ZERO, or do the empowering "line".  I've also noticed that the cashiers nowadays slyly look at the receipt you just signed.  They're expecting it... oh yes... they are.

Buffets - So they come 1-2 times the entire meal to take your dirty dishes away.  If they showed me where I can bring my dishes, I don't have to tip at all!!!! Right?!?!?  So with Sweet Tomatoes, the buffet place we fancy the most... I generally go with $1 / person.

Taxi / Uber / Lyft - was outside a director's office and I couldn't help overhearing that for a $30 taxi ride, he tipped $10.  WOW!! That's 33%.  Upon asking him why... his answer was priceless.  "We are very blessed for working where we work.  These guys really do depend on your tip to live.  And trust me, they will remember."  I'm not as bold as he is.  Nor do I make the money he does.  But it makes complete sense, especially when it's part of per diem anyways.

To be continued...

Mood: frugal

Phone Etiquette

NN hit a milestone yesterday... She's in 4th grade and she made her first phone call to a friend.

It was an interesting exercise.  She forgot her textbook at school...and I said, "Let's call your friend to see if they can take a picture of the assigned reading and assignment."

Mommy immediately texted her friend's mom to see if they can talk... doesn't that defeat the purpose of a phone call? How far we've come...even at work... that we send an IM to someone prior to calling.  Whatever happened to calling for the sake of calling?? It's not like we call and ask if we can text.  After an hour of waiting... we tried calling unannounced.  No answer.

By this time... mom wasn't in the room anymore.  So I decided to just start calling her other friends. First of all... she doesn't know how to dial someone's number.  I had to show her the keypad... and read the numbers off to her.  I took several tries...We finally found one that actually picked up.  And it got weird... which made me compelled to sit by NN's side.

I told her, "Ask for your friend."

Now... NN was holding the phone by her chin like a walkie-talkie... cuz that's what she's been doing since she was born to speak to her grandparents.

When the other party picked up... I'm sure they were surprised too.  Her friend's dad kept saying, "Hello?? Hello??"  Probably expecting a telemarketer or something.

Nn did good. She politely asked for her friend... and she even spoke in Chinese!!

Her friend's dad played it cool.... and handed it to his daughter.  And you can tell it was a monumental moment for them too.  Cuz you can hear their mom and dad sitting right next to her.

Nn and her friend go off on 5 minutes of conversation... talking over one another.  And with us being on speaker... we were somehow dragged into the conversation, as much as we tried to whisper.  Her parents were coaching her... just as I was coaching NN.

Then after all was said and done... it came time to hang up.

Hanging up is an art.  How do you end a phone conversation and hang up??  I personally still struggle through this sometimes, especially when speaking to {someone special}.  Hanging up is such an ultimatum.  With casual friends or colleagues, it could be simple   But NN and her friend were having problems.

It may seem natural to go with the typical "Talk to you soon...bye." or should it have been "Thanks for our help, see you at school tomorrow."  Or if it's at night, do you add in the words, "Have a good night."  And if you're really polite, "Help me say Hi to so-and-so."  Oh by the way.... NN has never physically hung up before.  Back in my days... you hang up, by putting the receiver onto the phone .  But with a smart phone, you have to know to click on the BIG RED BUTTON.  

I'm sure all this will come to her soon... just in time for the phone to evolve to the next technology.

All in all... a special moment for me.  Cuz in due time (if NN and SW is anything like us), they'll be on the phone until the wee hours of the evening.  They won't have to call POP-CORN, to get the call via Call-Waiting without waking up the house.  But whatever new trick is up their sleeve, I want to figure it out before they do.

Awwwww... my NN is growing up right in front of my eyes.

Mood: proud

Gift Etiquette

Something I started when I officially became a technical lead... I kept the tradition of handing out lai-see to my team during Chinese New Year.  Something funny / awkward I just noticed.

I've always been taught... and I teach my kids... to never open a lai-see in front of the person who gave it to you.  Why?? Dunno. But when I handed it out to my team, mostly Caucasians, including my boss.... they opened it in front of me.  Good thing I put a $2 bill in there... so there's an element of surprise.  Had it been a $1... or even a $5, they'll shrug it off. Like that one time Dario opened it, saw a $1, and handed it to the coffee club guy. Heh..

I met with one of my Korean mentees today and gave him a lai see.  He was so surprised and elated to get a red envelope, he was smiling from ear to ear.  Then he said, "I don't know what to do. Do I open it?" I went onto explain what I teach my kids... and what my other co-workers do.  I said, “Go ahead! Open it.” He ended up saying, "Nah...I'll save it for later."  Cute kid.

Then I met with my another mentee... raised in a very traditional Chinese household. Received the lai-see, said "Thanks", and put it away.  No questions asked.

Mood: elated