We need to talk about tipping (and it's not what you think)
PLUS: Where to find cheap cruises, how to shorten Libby e-book wait times, how to rescue a phone that won't charge properly, and more!
DISCLAIMER: Some of the links included herein are affiliate links (usually those in bold blue type), meaning if you make a purchase via one of them, I may get a small commission. I promise you, now and forever, that I won’t choose deals based on whether there’s an affiliate option available.
Hello, hello! It’s been a minute, so I thought I’d drop a little weekend update. The book is coming along; I plan to be done by the end of June, though it’ll likely be a couple months after that before it’s available to order (nudge-nudge, wink-wink). Should make a great holiday gift item for all the pickleball players in your life. 😜
QUICK HITS
🚢 I’m generally not a fan of cruises (though I took a European river cruise last year and it was wonderful), but I’m probably in the minority there; lots of people love them. If you’re in that category, you need to know about Vacations To Go, the ultimate discount-cruise hub. Start by clicking 90-Day Ticker to see all the latest last-minute offers. Recent example: Seattle to Alaska, 7 nights, Norwegian Cruise Line, $449 per person! You do need an account to peruse the deals, but that requires little more than an e-mail address.
🍎 Can’t make heads or tails of all the apple varieties at the store these days? Check out Applerankings.com, which, to be clear, is all about the fruit, not the tech company. Come for the hilarious explanation of their ranking system, stay for the equally hilarious reviews of individual varieties. (That said, no way does Honeycrisp outrank Pink Lady. I’ll die on this hill.)
💰 True story: I just collected $85 that was owed me by two businesses, except I had no idea it was owed me — not until I looked at the Unclaimed Property website for the State of Michigan. After supplying a bit of information and completing a bit of paperwork, a check arrived in the mail about a month later. Your mileage may vary, of course, but it’s absolutely worth visiting the site for your state (which you can find via Unclaimed.org). Believe me, I was skeptical, yet here I sit, $85 richer.
📚 Do you like checking out e-books using the Libby app, but frequently find there’s a waiting list of weeks or months? Here’s a tip: Add more libraries. Your local branch may be partners with many others; ask your librarian for a list, then venture into the app, tap the center icon (three stacked lines) followed by Add Library. You should be able to connect with other branches using your local library card number and PIN. There’s also a handful of libraries you can add even if you’re not local to them: Chicago Public Library (use their zip code, not yours), Broward County, and Harris County. Happy (and hopefully faster) reading!
Have I been tipping wrong my whole life?
I think we can all agree tipping has gotten out of hand; this CNBC story about “guilt-tipping” says it all. While I have no problem adding 20% to the bill for good service at a sit-down restaurant, I draw the line at tipping when someone hands me a donut from behind the counter.
But that’s not what I want to talk about. During a recent guys’ weekend in northern Michigan, we went out for dinner and drinks. When the checks came, someone asked what everyone was tipping; someone else pointed at the pre-tax total and said he was tipping based on that. “Otherwise you’re tipping the government.”
The rest of us sat there with our jaws hanging open. The pre-tax total? Six out of seven of us had never heard of that before; we’d always tipped on the total-total. It honestly never occurred to me to do otherwise.
Needless to say, I wondered who the crazy person was, me or my old college roommate. A little Googling produced this tidbit:
According to the etiquette experts at the Emily Post Institute, tipping at a sit-down restaurant or buffet should be calculated on the pre-tax total (15%-20% and 10%, respectively).
Well, knock me over with a feather. So I just have to know: How many of you already do this?
If you have any thoughts to share on the subject, I’d love to hear them! Click/tap the button below to leave a comment.
Better iPhone photos, every time
The more I use my iPhone, the more I realize how many little features I either ignore or overlook. For example, as you may know, when you swipe down from the center of any apps screen, it brings up the Search tool — along with four “Siri Suggestions,” which are basically the most recent four apps you’ve searched for. What I never realized is that if you tap Show More, you get eight suggestions. How did I miss this? (Thanks to my buddy Robert for the great tip.)
With that in mind, I bring you something lots of iPhone users never bother to do, but should: Use the magic wand. (I’m assuming there’s a similar tool available for Android; apologies for not knowing anything about it.)
Whenever you take a photo, tap the little thumbnail to open it (or open up the Photos app and view it there), then tap Edit. You’ll see a little magic-wand icon right below the snapshot. Tap it to instantly enhance the image’s brightness, color balance and more, then tap Done to accept the changes. In my experience this almost always yields improvements — and yet I routinely forget to do it.
Before you replace your phone cables (or phone), read this
Recently I tested a drone that required plugging a controller into my phone. But the connection was flaky; every time I plugged the cord in, it would sort of fall out a bit. I’d hear a successful-connection tone, then the drone app would tell me “controller not connected.”
You’ve probably encountered this as well with charging cords: You plug one in and hear that charging tone, only to lose it when you put the phone down. And you probably thought, “Bad cable!” Or, worse, “bad phone.”
Believe it or not, the answer is probably lint. Over it time it builds up inside there, resulting in exactly the kind of scenarios described above.
Fortunately, there’s a simple fix: Grab a wooden toothpick and very gently “swab” the inside of that charging port. (Seriously, don’t scrape or apply pressure; you don’t want to bend or damage the metal pins in there.) And even after you fish out a couple little tufts, keep going; you’ll be amazed at how much lint can get crammed in there.
I should be doing this on a regular basis (every month or so), but I rarely remember — hence my issue with the drone cord. After a quick cleaning, the plug inserted cleanly into the port and stayed there; problem solved.
Let me know if this works for you!
PLAYLIST
Here’s what I’ve been watching and reading over the past couple months:
📺 Colin from Accounts (Paramount+): Let me be clear, this is not a show about accounting, accountants, or anything to do with business. Rather, it’s a single-season gem, a funny, heartwarming, occasionally heartbreaking story about two people brought together by… oh, just go watch it. Thank me later. (And here’s good news: a second season is in the works.)
📺 Silo (Apple TV+): A slow burn, but well worth watching if you’re into dystopian sci-fi, and with plenty of surprising twists along the way. That said, the book was better; the series is based on “Wool” by Hugh Howey. I recommend either one!
📺 Slow Horses (Apple TV+): I slept on this British spy-show for too long, in part because I judged a book by its cover: The name sounds dull, and Gary Oldman’s grizzled, greasy visage is a pretty big turn-off. But the first 10 minutes play out like a Mission: Impossible movie, and from there you get a taut, fast-paced thriller that’s also quite funny at times. Best of all, there are three seasons already in the can, with a fourth on the way.
📺 The Newsroom (Max): I don’t know why I decided to rewatch Aaron Sorkin’s ill-fated HBO show, but it’s even better than I remembered. (It’s also shockingly prescient about the world we live in right now.) If you love big speeches and unbridled idealism and hilarious arguments that would never take place in public but do anyway, this is your show. It’s also unabashedly liberal; if that’s not your thing, this is definitely not your show.
📗 4 3 2 1, by Paul Auster: Talk about a two-hander: 4 3 2 1 spans a thousand pages, with paragraphs that run for miles, precious little dialogue, and a format that practically requires note-taking. Normally I’d be turned off by a lot of that, but this epic novel does such a brilliant job with style, structure, and storytelling, I couldn’t put it down. It’s sort of like Sliding Doors, but times four. My advice, as always: Don’t read the summary; just grab a sample chapter and start. The more you know in advance, the less delightful the revelations along the way. (Thanks to my brother Bill for the awesome recommendation!)
📗 Thanks a Thousand: A Gratitude Journey by AJ Jacobs: Did you ever stop to consider just what’s involved in getting that morning cup of coffee into your mouth? This author did, and he attempted to thank every single person along the way, from bean-grower to barista. It’s a short, entertaining read, one designed to help you appreciate the little things. It worked for me; I’m better for having read it.
Thanks for reading Deal Secrets! Questions? Comments? Hit me up on Twitter or Facebook, or shoot me an e-mail. I’ll do my best to respond to all inquiries! Want to show your support? Buy me a coffee!
I tip on pretax amount. Usually 20%. Exceptional service 25%, poor service 0-10%. Very rarely 0%. Some restaurants now add 2-3% service charge for back of the house personnel. I exclude that as well when calculating the tip.
I learned from my parents (long ago) to pre-tax tip as long as an easy way to calculate 15% tip (10% + half of that amount). The basis is arbitrary; remember you're tipping for the service you get/got. I generally tip 20% currently but adjust up (usually) or down depending on the server.