When I’m given free stuff I tip as if I paid for it. So if part of a meal is comped, for example, I’ll use the original subtotal, pre-discount, to figure out what to tip.

If I’m only getting drinks (coffee, alcohol etc.) I default to a $1 tip per drink, and if given a free drink I’ll add on to that while factoring the cost of what I’m given. But if any food is involved I start at 20% on the subtotal, then round up or down to the nearest 50¢ or $1 depending on how long I stay at the establishment and how much the subtotal is.

For takeout, I’ll tip less since I’m spending much less time in the establishment; I might round the total up to the nearest $5 or $10 depending on how much I spend.

And for delivery, I have basically never ordered for delivery in my entire adult life, and don’t plan to, I’d rather just go and pick up whatever I order. I was a pizza delivery driver before UberEats and the like were common and quickly got a feel for that etiquette (people were usually pretty generous) and decided it was a luxury I could live without.

Compared to you I guess I’m a bit cheap but I’d still tip the same even if front-of-house people were making more money, unless they explicitly tell me not to tip them (which has happened before). I don’t think people should feel bullied into tipping, because I think the business should be paying them the living wage instead, but just like at any other job good performance should always be rewarded.

I mostly know of him from Behind the Bastards, a podcast about prominent historical figures (usually 1800s through present). The twist, apart from their regular Christmas “Non-Bastard” episodes is of course that these influential people actually behaved questionably at best during their time. I really think Robert’s research and storytelling are great, he and the guests he brings on really can make an hour fly by sometimes. Most of the biographies are split up into a couple parts, with people like Kissinger and Vince McMahon having such dubious pasts to earn them 6 parts each.

Anyway, the interview with the AI home assistant dude was from another podcast which he frequents, called It Could Happen Here, a more news-oriented podcast. Both of the podcasts can be found on YouTube, published by Cool Zone Media. I believe they did 3 episodes of CES coverage for this year, the final part contained the interview. After all the dunking Robert talks about another interview he had at CES which was a lot more uplifting.

Robert’s interview with the AI home assistant robot guy this year was unintentionally amazing, the dude was dressed like Jordan Peterson (ie. an insane person) but had all the interviewing skills of a parboiled potato. And he had no clue that Robert was clowning on him so hard.

Kind weird to think that’s what’s happening tbh

Not the lowest, for sure, but I’m going to put my hat in for auto technicians. Master techs can make over $100K in southern New England but the cost of tools can easily rival college tuition by the time you’re a master tech. Everything except proprietary equipment and the car lift needs to be bought by the technician, which can cost thousands of dollars. Health insurance is prohibitively expensive, the flat rate pay system means you only get paid when you complete jobs, and it’s an ergonomic nightmare because you’re picking up heavy objects and working in cramped areas all day.

As someone who whose fiance was a mechanic until last year, I think it’s really disingenuous to hear so many people say that the trades are your fast track to making money. Very little of that $150/ hr that you pay goes to the person working on your car. For every lift the shop has they’re taking 80% or more off the top of that $150/ hr, and if the job takes longer than expected the mechanic doesn’t make any more money. In fact they’re losing money because they’re stuck figuring out a solution instead of moving on to the next car.

And don’t even get me started on tool loans. It’s straight up worse than student loans because they’re classified as personal loans. My student loans all hover around 5% interest, but right now personal loans go up to 18% depending on the term. The only saving grace I can think of is that they’re usually dischargeable in bankruptcy.

I really could go on all day about how broken it all is because I’ve lived it secondhand for a while now, and now that I’m trying to gain more of these skills for my classic motorcycle hobby it’s all so obvious. Not sure if the other trades like plumbing and welding have the same “take out loans to pay for tools to make money to pay for the loans, then learn more skills within the trade to make more money, and then take out more loans for tools to do the more advanced work” cycle but no one ever mentions this when they talk about how this kind of work is so lucrative.

Don’t get me wrong, college is really badly overpriced in the US, but the trades absolutely can be just as expensive once you’ve made it your career. And I don’t want to dissuade people from considering it as a career, either, but it’s a monetary risk that you need to really sit down and calculate before you take the plunge, just like college.

Yeah, the marbling is crazy, you can cook it and cook it and you’ll never run out of fat in it. I only did a couple minutes on each side though so it was extremely rich. Even a ¼lb was probably a little too much when I had it. Non-hamburger beef is more of a treat to me at this point, I think I enjoy it a lot more when it’s a rarer occasion.

Yeah, I don’t usually like arguing semantics but the serotonin thing grinds my gears since there’s so many causes and treatments to depression and serotonin isn’t even involved in many situations.

The most expensive thing I’ve had that was really notable (as I’m sure I’ve ordered something pricier and thought nothing of it) was half an A5 wagyu steak from Wegmans. I think it was originally around $250/lb but it was on a manager’s special sale. I think it was around $80 for a ½lb, which is genuinely insane to me knowing that manager’s special means it’s the last chance to buy something before it goes bad.

Anyway, it was really good. A very odd experience though because afterwards I kinda stopped craving/ cooking/ ordering beef for a couple months. It was like I achieved some superlative thing and was just done with the concept of beef for a little bit. A strange reaction to such a positive experience, that said I do still eat beef occasionally.

No

Yeah, the wording of OP’s question is dumb for this reason. What person on this planet has done literally only evil things? A better question would be more like “What billionaire is genuinely a good person and why?” Personally the size of my list of “overall good” billionaires is a rounding error but at least the thread would be more interesting.

I think the policy is pretty weak for such a well-loved (up until this week) company. Guess that’s the way the industry works: put up with mediocre pay and benefits because you’re “doing what you love,” or if I’m feeling really jaded I’d say something like “abusing the workers’ passions for the industry.”

Some of this is very boilerplate handbook wording but I gotta say some of these benefits are very average at best, especially the time off situation. This is from the perspective of a US government worker, where I regularly see my friends get hired in the private sector and receive much better time off.

And at least in southern New England, there’s some straight up illegal rules in here, notably discussion of wages. Around here you cannot be ordered by anyone not to disclose what you make.