EdTankersley.com

I went for a couple of pints of Guinness with my buddy Josh last night, and watching him calculate his tip to the penny reminded me that this post was overdue.

This I believe:

• Nearly any server needs the money more than I do
• 20% is your starting point for tipping, only truly bad service (not bad food, bad ambience, ugly patrons) should influence your tip below 20%

With these principles in mind, here’s my 3-step, 5-second process to calculating your tip:

1. Round up your total (including tax) to the nearest dollar
2. Double the total, then divide by 10
3. Round up to the next dollar

That’s your tip. Simple. Let’s look at this step-by-step, using my $18.62 total for 2 pints and one fish and chips entree (beer-battered, of course):

1. Round up to $19
2. Double to $38, then divide by 10 to get $3.80
3. Round up to $4 to get the correct tip amount

Backing out the tax from my original total, I can assume that my food and drink total was around $17.20, so my $4 tip amounts to 23%. That’s an above-average tip, which is about where I want to start. If the service was good, I’ll throw in an extra buck or two. It’s only a buck or two but it increases the tip to the 30% – 35% range. That’s a good deal.

Now, let’s compare this with Josh’s process and the tip amount he arrived at:

1. Review the check to determine the pretax total of $17.20
2. Calculate 20%, using my simple “double then divide by 10″ trick to get $3.44
3. Add $3.44 to $18.62 to get your check total of $22.06
4. Realize that you saved only 56 cents for the effort of doing that math with two pints of Guinness coursing through your brain
5. Realize that for your 56 cents in savings, you demoted yourself from an above-average tipper to an average tipper

Isn’t it so much easier to just round everything up, do the simple math, and be an above-average to good tipper?

(photo by fensterbme)

This is an update on a post from exactly one year ago, announcing that my good friend Tom Fulcher had just found a kidney donor to make possible his life-saving kidney transplant.

Today is the one year anniversary of that successful surgery, a day that Tom calls his “kidney birthday.” And what a year it has been. After moving successfully through the initial weeks in which organ rejection is a concern, Tom has continued to do fantastic, an opinion shared by his doctor, his friends, and his wonderful wife Michelle (who donated a kidney last year as part of the donor chain that made Tom’s transplant possible). He’s active, vital, and funny. Making the most of his “rebirthday,” Tom is this weekend hiking the Grand Canyon with Michelle. Last week he and I took home the “trophy” and $40 first prize in the Tuesday night trivia contest at Rock Bottom Brewery, beating eight other teams, including one team of 10.

I feel blessed to have a good friend like Tom, and grateful that I can count on him being around for a long time. Happy kidney birthday, Tom. The next pint is on me.

Most people can, without thinking, form a possessive noun. You build one by adding an apostrophe and an “s” to a noun, as in “Occam’s razor” and “the cat’s meow.”

But things are different with pronouns. (Pronouns are those little words that stand in for nouns, such as he, she, it, they, us, him, her, you.) You NEVER use an apostrophe for the possessive form of a pronoun.

That bears repeating: You NEVER use an apostrophe for the possessive form of a pronoun. Instead, you use a different word. So the possessive of “me” is “mine” and the possessive of “he” is “his.” So far so good.

“It” is the problem pronoun. To form the possessive, “it” DOES get an “s” on the end, but it doesn’t get an apostrophe. Repeat after me: You NEVER use an apostrophe for the possessive form of a pronoun.
Here’s how to get it right for “its” and “it’s”:
• “Its” is possessive, as in “This web app is pretty, but I’m not sure about its usefulness.”
• “It’s” is a contraction of “it is,” as in “It’s time for mojitos.”

It’s confusing, I know, so any time you type an apostrophe, I recommend that you pause and remember that rule. I don’t need to repeat it again, do I?

What else trips you up when you’re writing? Let me know and I’ll try to shed some light.

This one gets me every time I go to a movie. The movie lets out, a stream of men queue up in the men’s room, and by the time I get my bladder emptied and arrive at the sink, it looks like New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina.

So let’s bring Leave No Trace principles to the restroom, gentlemen, with these simple guidelines.

1. At the urinal, you face a tough decision: Don’t flush and conserve water, or flush and be gentlemanly. I feel there’s room for discretion here. If it’s a fancy place, flush. If it’s a ballpark or movie theater or sports bar, and guys are lined up, give the Earth a boost and leave it.
2. No decisions at the sink. Splash as little as possible. Use soap. Actually wash your hands. This is not for show.
3. Take no more than two towels. Start with one, and if you need another, take another. You don’t need eight. You just don’t.
4. Now the tough one: Use the paper towel with which you dried your hands to wipe off the countertop. It takes less than two seconds, and if everyone does it, it will only take the one towel. Of course, everyone doesn’t do it, so that’s why you need to be the one who does.
5. Finally, throw the towel in the trash. Not on the counter. Not on the floor. Not NEAR the trash. Make sure it goes in. If you miss, get your own rebound and finish, even if it means bending over a little. The thing that separates us from the great apes is at stake here.

Have your own thoughts? Please let me have it.

But don’t bother to write if your message is a variation on “that’s somebody else’s job.” If you haven’t evolved beyond that mentality, you shouldn’t be using writing implements.

For me, it was about halfway into Obama’s inaugural address, as he expressed his hope for peace in this way: “…know that America is a friend of each nation and every man, woman, and child who seeks a future of peace and dignity, and that we are ready to lead once more.”

When was it for you?

My good friend Tom has been on kidney dialysis for the past few months, as his kidneys have essentially failed from a disease called PKD. He’s been on the transplant list for over a year.

Tom called me last night to tell me he is getting a kidney transplant this morning. He found out yesterday that he had a donor, and he went in at 5 a.m. today. This happened as the result of a paired donation program, and Tom’s wife Michelle will be donating a kidney next Friday as part of the arrangement. Here’s Michelle’s amazing story about the paired donation deal:

As a reminder, we are part of the paired kidney donation system. Some of you may be familiar given recent national and Valley media attention the last few years.  Our particular ‘chain’ includes 11 other donor/recipient pairs like Tom and me. We’re told this is the largest chain in AZ history!  Basically, live donors come forward anonymously or to support those needing a kidney with whom they have a connection. In our case, I have come forward and offered my kidney so Tom can receive one more quickly.  He has already been on the cadaver kidney waiting list one year. As a qualified donor, I will donate my kidney to somebody who is more blood, etc. compatible with me.  In turn, Tom will receive a more compatible kidney from someone he doesn’t know. For the last two months, Tom has performed home dialysis as his overall kidney function dropped to a dangerous less than 4%. This transplant will greatly improve his quality of life.  For that we are blessed and eternally grateful.

Wondering how our chain began? With one man. A generous human being came forward to donate anonymously as he witnessed the positive life changes of a friend post-kidney transplant. His loving gesture created a chain from which Tom’s kidney is made possible.  For more information about organ donation, please contact the gifted team at Banner Samaritan Transplant Services (Jennifer Boothby) at (602) 251-2742.  One person CAN make a difference.