Hey, no one needs the blues of any kind. And if fuzzy cute and shiny holiday kitsch (two kinds!) works...

Famous art mirror trick: [link]

Um. I don't get it.

it's not really a trick, so much, but the King and Queen of Spain are in the mirror, right where the painting's viewer would be standing. It's a weird narrative moment, especially as the entire painting is kind of about looking back...but not at you.

Aha! That makes sense, now. I wondered who the people in the mirror were, but I thought maybe they were ghosts or something.

I'm a 20% tipper, more for stellar service and occasionally as low as 15% for seriously inept service (but even then I feel guilty about it). I've only ever not tipped once, at a diner in college when a friend and I had a just-missed-the-dining-hall-hours dinner and then spent nearly 40 minutes trying to signal the waitress to give us our check, while she steadfastly ignored us and flirted with a couple of truckers. Finally we just walked out without paying anything; if she'd given a shit, she could have chased us down, but she just didn't bother. The next time I went to that diner, she was gone.

And I still feel guilty about that.

The world of tipping is just craxy, no rhyme or reason. I'd never heard before about waitstaff getting taxed on what the IRS thinks they should be getting in tips regardless of the actual amount; that's just extra-craxy with craxy sauce on top.

One of my closest friends reentered the workforce after several years of toddler-rearing as a waitress at Max's Opera Cafe in San Francisco, working the lunch shift. Right by City Hall, the Opera House, the Symphony, and a shitload of state and federal government offices. The place was usually packed at lunch, and the only time she got a decent tip was when Maya Angelou and some friends stopped in for lunch and left her a 50% tip. The rest of the time, mostly city and state gov't muckety-mucks and society ladies lunching together, her tips varied between 2 and 7%. For seriously good service (Buffista attendees at the Zmayhem wedding know her as the matron of honor -- there absolutely could not be a warmer, friendlier, or more conscientious human on God's green earth, and she waited tables exactly the way she does everything else). When she told me that, right after quitting for a better job, I threw up in my mouth a little.

Also, I used to work for a doctor who always (I knew this because I did his travel reimbursements) tipped whatever would round his bill up to the nearest $10, whether the bill was $6.87 or $97.50. His office staff, lab staff and fellow docs tried to reason with him, but it just didn't take. It used to make my skin crawl to fill out his travel forms.

Holiday blues = teh suck. Sorry, y'all.

I missed where you're trying to get to, Jesse, but a lot of car services aren't taking reservations at all during the strike, at least not during the HOV-4 window.

I'm going to Port Authority, so I'm flexible about when. I figured I wouldn't be able to make a reservation, but I was wondering if it would even be possible to get a car before 11am. Sounds like yes. We'll see.

The world of tipping is just craxy, no rhyme or reason. I'd never heard before about waitstaff getting taxed on what the IRS thinks they should be getting in tips regardless of the actual amount; that's just extra-craxy with craxy sauce on top.

It's true. That said, I know I never knew anyone who got taxed on more than what they made - just more than they wanted to claim. Still sucks, and the possibility is there, for sure. My hunch is, as ever, it's the people at the lowest end of the totem pole who are most likely to get screwed.

The rest of the time, mostly city and state gov't muckety-mucks and society ladies lunching together, her tips varied between 2 and 7%.

Eek. That'd do it.

Also, I used to work for a doctor who always (I knew this because I did his travel reimbursements) tipped whatever would round his bill up to the nearest $10

I got so many of those in my (albeit, shortlived) waitressing career.

I usually tip 10% for so-so service. If the service is complete crap, I'll still leave a tip but I usually try to tell someone who can correct the problem.

My dad is stuck in whatever decade it was where 10% was good. Drives my mom and I nuts. When we call it to his attention, he's always a little abashed. But then, he forgets. We make up for it, and thankfully, for business trips 20% is assumed, so he usually always does it when putting it on the university card. But it is kind of annoying. I've had to run back into restaurants when we realize we left the tip to Dad.

A while back, a waitress at a Chicago restaurant got a $10,000 tip (I forget the exact amount - it was at least ten grand, maybe more). The customer was obviously rich. She and the customer had been discussing her plans to go to medical school (I don't remember if she was already a student).

ION, a rainbow trout with two mouths: [link]

I keep smelling skunk. And no, it isn't the gas additive. That smells different. It isn't outside...