ASK DR. DISH: Tip the mailman?

By • November 30, 2010 • Musings, The Daily Dish

Question: Hey Dr. Dish, Are you still answering questions? (Wait — that’s not my question!) My question is about tipping during the holidays. It’s tradition that we locals put out beer and give money to the garbage man. But what about the mailman? Are there other people we are forgetting to tip?

Answer: First off, Dr. Dish is back — but I’m trying to figure out when. We’ve replaced Ask Dr. Dish with Cat Chat on Wednesdays. Right now I’m plugging in Dr. Dish blogs whenever I have space. But don’t stop sending me questions! I’m collecting!

OK, now to your question!

I was thinking about this the other day when I walked past a Salvation Army bell ringer outside Safeway. You don’t see them at any other time of the year. Which got me thinking about the other donations we tend to make during the holidays.

Namely, tipping or giving gifts to the people who make our lives a bit easier.

Postal workers, garbage men, firefighters, gardeners, lifeguards — yes, they get gifts, too — coaches, personal trainers, hair stylists babysitters. Sure, we might pay them already, but shouldn’t we give them a little something more during the holidays?

Truth is, it’s up to you.

Rule of thumb for folks to which you pay for a service: gifts should amount to the cost of a single service. For hairstylists, the gift should be worth a haircut; for a personal trainer, a single session.

For the ones who provide a free service — trash collectors, mail carriers, postal workers — a gift or cash between $10 and $30 is acceptable. But keep in mind, some government employees — even mail carriers — can’t accept cash or gifts exceeding $20.

The safest — and most economical — gift to give: food. Homemade or store-bought — most folks won’t complain about edible goodies.

Anyone have thoughts about this?

***

To read all of Cat’s blogs, visit www.nonstophonolulu.com/thedailydish. Follow Cat on Twitter @thedailydish or send her an e-mail at [email protected].

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Amber-Lynn Hyden's Top 5

By • November 29, 2010 • Food, Musings, The Daily Dish

She may be teeny-tiny, but KITV4‘s Amber-Lynn Hyden loves to eat. And yes, she can put food away!

The station’s cheery morning weather anchor says she she enjoys a “Breakfast Club” environment with a phenomenal behind-the-scenes crew and fellow co-anchors Mahealani Richardson, Dan Meisenzahl, Yasmin Dar and newcomer Kenny Choi.

Despite popular belief when the cameras are off, she isn’t out in the ocean calling it work. Amber-Lynn is also a feature reporter manning the Hawaii Going Green beat. Though most know her for being a surf and yoga enthusiast, she’s really a “foodie” at heart and says in a former life she, too, was an Iron Chef

Move aside, Cat Cora.

Here are Hyden’s Top 5 favorite spots to nosh:

Morning after the typhoon

Image 1 of 54

We got up bright and early and hit the streets of Taipei, mostly to survey the damage from Typhoon Soulik. Downed trees, lots of debris, but that's about it.

httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SRBYHECgRHw

***

To read all of Cat’s blogs, visit www.nonstophonolulu.com/thedailydish. Follow Cat on Twitter @thedailydish or send her an e-mail at [email protected].

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The value in 'not-to-do' lists

By • November 29, 2010 • Musings, The Daily Dish

All my life I’ve written lists.

Grocery lists, goal lists and — of course — to-do lists.

(I blame my highly organized dad, who lives by lists, too.)

My to-do lists can be pages long, too, with items like, “Finish progress report for interns,” “Mail Shannon’s birthday present (from November)” and “Buy new jeans.” It’s overwhelming sometimes to read through it every day. But I can’t imagine how I’d manage everything I do without in.

Until one day I read a tweet about the “not-to-do” list.

I Googled it and came across the blog of Timothy Ferris, author of “The 4-Hour Workweek” — a book I actually own — who wrote about these lists. He said “not-to-do” lists are often more effective than “to-do” lists for upgrading performance.

“The reason is simple,” he writes. “What you don’t do determines what you can do.”

He came up with nine habits — mostly for entrepreneurs and office workers — to stop now:

1. Do not answer calls from unrecognized phone numbers
2. Do not e-mail first thing in the morning or last thing at night
3. Do not agree to meetings or calls with no clear agenda or end time
4. Do not let people ramble
5. Do not check e-mail constantly — “batch” and check at set times only
6. Do not over-communicate with low-profit, high-maintenance customers
7. Do not work more to fix overwhelm — prioritize
8. Do not carry a cellphone or Crackberry 24/7
9. Do not expect work to fill a void that non-work relationships and activities should

The concept, I thought, was interesting. By writing things I shouldn’t do, I’m indicated the habits I have that are counterproductive to my goals — or sanity.

So here’s my “not-to-do” list for Monday:

• Do not watch any reality TV. At least for today. “The Real Housewives of Atlanta” isn’t helping me improve my life.
• Do not read e-mail messages and not respond. Just respond and get it over with.
• Do not drink Diet Coke after 6 p.m. All that caffeine and aspartame can’t be good for anyone.
• Do not skip lunch. Go out. Get out of the office. It will make the rest of the workday bearable.
• Do not come up with a dozen excuses to avoid running today. Just suck it up and do it. I’ll be glad that I did.
• Do not write another to-do list. Not until this one is done.

So what’s on your “not-to-do” list today?

***

To read all of Cat’s blogs, visit www.nonstophonolulu.com/thedailydish. Follow Cat on Twitter @thedailydish or send her an e-mail at [email protected].

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Survived Black Friday?

By • November 26, 2010 • Musings

There are a lot of shopping blogs out there — but nothing like this.

Most of them focus on deals, shopping tips and latest trends. In The Bag will be more focused on the experience of shopping, whether that’s a pet peeve about customer service or finding the perfect gift for the dad who has everything. We may talk about the best deals we find — but the focus will be on more the finding and less on the deals.

In The Bag will feature stories by Nonstop writers and guest bloggers several times a week. Join the conversation!

***

I can’t say that I’m a fan of shopping on Black Friday — today — the biggest retail day of the year.

For starters, I hate shopping. I’d rather point-and-click than look for parking, fight crowds, try on clothes and stand in long lines. It’s less frustrating to wait for a website to load than to deal with pushy shoppers and irate sales associates who wish they were somewhere but working at the mall.

I mean, who wants to fight with what some industry folks are estimating to be as many as 138 million shoppers hitting malls across the country this weekend, 4 million more than last year, according to a story in the Wall Street Journal? Not me.

And yet it’s 12:45 a.m. on Black Friday and I’m contemplating which malls to hit in a few hours.

It’s not because I have a long list of Christmas gifts and a limited budget, where fighting crowds at Walmart (above) is worthwhile. I want to go because, well, it seems like a lot of fun.

I’ve covered Black Friday for The Honolulu Advertiser, when I was a city reporter there. I got to talk to people who left their Thanksgiving dinners early to wait in line at Circuit City or Toys “R” Us to get the latest electronics and toys at the lowest possible prices. They were into it, sitting in line on lawn chairs and coolers filled with enough snacks and caffeinated beverages to last them a week. And I thought to myself, “One day, I’m going to do this, too.”

There’s something exciting about being part of an event like this, where you’re chasing sales, talking strategy with other shoppers and suffering along with everyone else — crowded parking lots, long lines, rain, stores running out of the sale items — that makes you feel you’re part of something so much bigger than you. (Or your wallet.)

I’ve already set my alarm and packed my bag, ready to take on the determined shoppers out there, who will likely be gone — and with all the good stuff — by the time I hit the mall at 4 a.m.

But at least I was there.

— Nonstop blogger and freelance writer Catherine E. Toth didn’t think she was much of a shopper — until she saw her credit card statement last month.

***

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FUUD: Afternoon tea at the Halekulani

By • November 26, 2010 • Musings, The Daily Dish

Most of us need to slow down.

We rush through our days like we’re trying to post world records. We just have too many things to do and not enough hours in the day. So we blaze through phone conversations, check e-mail while waiting in line at Foodland and drive three miles out of our way to pick up food through a drive-thru than deal with finding a parking stall.

We are — no pun intended — a nonstop society.

Which is why I love high tea.

It’s well paced, it’s relaxing and, most of all, it’s one of the few moments where we can sit down with friends — in my case, Halekulani’s new director of communications Diane Ako — and actually talk. No cell phones, no interrupting coworkers, no rush-hour traffic.

And it helps that the food is delicious.

Here’s what we ate:

no images were found

Afternoon tea at the Halekulani, 2199 Kalia Road. Hours: 3 to 5:30 p.m. daily. Phone: 808-923-2311.

***

To read all of Cat’s blogs, visit www.nonstophonolulu.com/thedailydish. Follow Cat on Twitter @thedailydish or send her an e-mail at [email protected].

Subscribe to Nonstop Honolulu on YouTube »

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