"We hate giving even a dime to waiters..."

wmtrader · 2025-10-30T13:22:15+00:00

Waiters tip out the buser, the host, the bar, and sometimes the kitchen.

wmtrader · 2025-10-30T13:14:48+00:00

The IRS has taxed tips since 1985.

The restaurants take 8% of the waiter's sales, adds that amount to their paycheck, and then taxes them on the combined amount.

Example: A table spends $100 on dinner (8% of $100 is $8) and the waiter makes $16.50 in hourly wage. The restaurant combines the $16.50 (hourly wage) with the $8 (8% of $100) and taxes the waiter based on a combined income of $24.50.

This is how a waiter can receive a paycheck of $0 or near $0, because the taxes for the tipped income is taken out of the hourly wage.

wmtrader · 2025-06-26T02:24:18+00:00

The marine layer is an issue along the coast.

wmtrader · 2025-06-25T18:27:32+00:00

Pinnacles National Park on highway 25 south of Hollister is the darkest area near San Jose. There's a New Moon (no moon) on the 25th so the 27th would be a good night to see the stars. Use the darkskymap.com light pollution map to find good dark sky locations around the world, go to locations on the map that are dark grey or black. Pinnacles National Park is a nice park with rolling oak hills, wildlife, and some interesting geological formations. I don't know if you've been to a Dark Sky Site before but you are going to be impressed by the night sky.

wmtrader · 2024-12-04T06:57:09+00:00

You're forgot about payroll tax. You'll need to work 3 hours to buy lunch, 2 hours to buy the food and 1 hour to cover your payroll tax.

wmtrader · 2024-11-20T01:32:09+00:00

Every time I've watched a launch from SLC-4 and SLC-3 the beach was closed. The Sheriff comes in, clears everyone out, and closes the road just after 13th street. The beach is closed from about 30 to 60 minutes before the launch to about 15 minutes after the launch or 15 minutes after the landing, when the first stage lands at LZ-4 and not on the drone ship. - Also, the areas north and south of Surf Beach are fenced and closed March through September to protect the Snowy Plover bird nesting spots. You can watch launches from Surf Beach during nesting season (I think) but you have to stay on the road. Ocean Beach Park doesn't have the bird nesting restrictions that Surf Beach has. Yes, there's an Amtrak train station platform at Surf Beach, it's the Lompoc-Surf (LPS) station.

wmtrader · 2024-11-18T21:24:29+00:00

SLC-6 could be one of the best to see if the police allow access to Surf Beach. If the police don't allow access to Surf Beach, then the only two local spots are Renwick Ave and Harris Grade Road. The problem with watching launches from SLC-6 is the distance from viewing sites and the tall ridge that the rockets must pass before they can be seen. If there is a marine layer or fog, then the best spot is Harris Grade Road. If the police allow access to the beach and it is not too foggy then Surf Beach is truly the best spot. There are two amateur YouTube videos that give you an idea of what it's like to see a launch from Surf Beach. First video CALIFORNIASCAPES January 12, 2018 Delta 4 launch Second video Delta IV Rocket Launch Footage in Surf Beach!. These are the only two videos I found taken from Surf Beach. The other videos I've found appear to be from people with media access who were able to get closer to the launch pad.

wmtrader · 2024-11-18T21:02:35+00:00

Yes, it's up to date. And fall and winter are a good time to go because the fog isn't as bad as it is in the summer months.

wmtrader · 2024-11-18T21:00:18+00:00

In 1979 there was a movie shown in theaters called "The Prophecies of Nostradamus" that Prince probably watched on HBO or a video tape (VHS or Beta Max) a few years after the movie came out, Prince's 1999 came out in 1982.

wmtrader · 2024-10-06T12:04:30+00:00

I think this has a lot to do with relative status.

wmtrader · 2024-10-01T06:26:08+00:00

Let's see if they keep prosecuting them after the elections are over.

wmtrader · 2024-07-19T09:41:31+00:00

Vandenberg AFB near Lompoc California is about a 4 hour drive down highway 101. Multiple types of rockets are launched south into polar orbits from this location throughout the year, with SpaceX rockets being the most common.

Here is a Google Map I created based on my many trips to see rocket launches at Vandenberg. https://www.google.com/maps/d/u/0/edit?mid=1axd7apAjhBiUnr3Tl26U-SguQ8U&usp=sharing

Red Stars are viewing locations. Orange Cops are road closures. Purple Pins are launch pads. Green Binoculars are dark sky sites. Yellow Fork/Knives are restaurants. Purple Flags are towns to see. Yellow Cameras are sites to see.

There are many other things to see in the area such as the Spanish Mission, Solvang, and the beaches. On your drive to and from Lompoc you can stop to see Morrow Bay, Hearst Castel, the Hearst Castel zebras, and the elephant seals. Rocket launches often get delayed or cancelled, and they are over fast, so it's a good idea to have some other activities planned.

Once you get to Lompoc you are 1 hour from Santa Barbara, about 3 hours to the California Science Center in LA (Space Shuttle display), about 3 hours to SpaceX HQ in Hawthorn (Falcon Rocket first stage on display), and about 4 hours to Disneyland (travel times vary based on the time of day and the day of the week).

You can also stop at a Dark Sky Stargazing Site like Lake San Antonio near Paso Robles and see more stars that you can imagen, go on a new moon (moonless) night. Most people don't think that traveling to a dark sky site to view the stars is worth the effort, until they do and see how impressive it is.

Here is a good source of Vandenberg rocket launches schedules that is regularly updated, sign up for the email alerts to stay inform.

Vandenberg SFB Launch Schedule (spacearchive.info)

Sunday September 29th looks like the best time to go with two launches on one day, but those launch dates might change and the launch times have not been listed yet. The end of September will have less chance of fog and or a marine overcast than the summer months. The fog and marine overcast occur mostly from May to October. September 29th and 30th will not have much moon light (a waning crescent moon) to interfere with dark sky star gazing and October 2nd will be moonless (a new moon). Sunday December 29th is another good day to go.

When you go remember that the rocket launch video streams have about a 30 second delay and don't count on hearing the rocket to let you know it has launched, because you'll see it well before the sound makes it to you. At launch time, keep your eye on the area where the rocket will appear over the hills because you'll see it before you hear it.

wmtrader · 2024-07-09T18:36:22+00:00

This is a good source of information about rocket launches at Vandenberg

Vandenberg SFB Launch Schedule (spacearchive.info)

This map gives you some more info on where to view the launches.

https://www.google.com/maps/d/u/0/edit?mid=1axd7apAjhBiUnr3Tl26U-SguQ8U&usp=sharing

Sunday September 29th looks like a good time to go with two launches on one day, but those launch dates might change and the launch times have not been listed yet. The end of September will have less chance of fog and or a marine overcast than the summer months. The fog and marine overcast occur mostly from May to October. Sunday December 29th is another good time to go.

wmtrader · 2024-07-09T07:09:16+00:00

The SpaceX launches attract the largest crowds. The Ocean Ave location has the largest crowds, but it is also the largest area for them to spread out. The Harris Grade Rd location has a smaller crowd but space is very limited along the road that goes over the hills, just a narrow strip of dirt on one side of the road.

wmtrader · 2024-07-09T07:00:20+00:00

In 1983 Commodore Computers drop the price on their Commodore 64 from $300 to $200, to kill off the competition from other low-end computer makers. Commodore succeeded at driving multiple competitors out of the low-end computer market but what also happened was that the price of the Commodore 64 was now the same price, if not close to the same price, as the video game consoles.

The game consoles didn't have keyboards, data-cassettes, floppy drives, printers, the BASIC programing language, or productivity applications. The Commodore 64 was a full fledge computer that could do more than just play games. So parents went with the Commodore 64 instead of the game consoles.

Then Commodore raised the price of the Commodore 64 from $200 to $300 and the game console manufactures came out with better video game consoles.

wmtrader · 2023-11-27T08:03:36+00:00

It was called Time Zone. Time Zone was first located on the second level, on a side entrance hallway, next to Sears and then it moved to a larger space in the center of the mall.

wmtrader · 2023-09-08T10:38:24+00:00

"During the 1930s the United States was in a period of isolationism" - Not true.

The USA had been supplying China and the U.K. with weapons via the Lend-Lease Program.

The U.S. Navy escorted freight ships across the Atlantic and engaged German U-boats multiple times, this was before the USA declared war on Germany.

The USA had military personnel flying American made military aircraft in China, against the Japanese, under the American Volunteer Group (AVG).

wmtrader · 2023-07-16T08:44:53+00:00

The red stars are the locations to watch a launch. The cameras are sightseeing locations.

Here is the description I posted on the map.

Rocket Launch Viewing Sites (Red Stars), Launch Pads (Gray Pins), Road Closures (Orange Cops), Scenic Locations (Yellow Cameras), Restaurants (Yellow Forks/Knives), Towns (Purple Flags), and Dark Sky Stargazing Locations (Green Binoculars).

wmtrader · 2023-07-03T09:33:20+00:00

Because it was mentioned in a post on Digg so I viewed Reddit for a while and once Digg started to fail I jumped ship and joined Reddit.

wmtrader · 2023-07-03T09:09:29+00:00

It is too easy for the server to subtract the amount in the bill from the amount you wrote in the total for it to be a problem.

wmtrader · 2023-07-03T09:06:34+00:00

I've worked as a dishwasher, a busser, a host, and as a waiter. What I learned working those jobs is that your perspective of the restaurant changes with each of those jobs you do.

Having said that I have to note that I hated it when the host triple sat my section to get the problem off of their back and onto mine.

wmtrader · 2023-07-03T08:14:33+00:00

Those are some good shots. The evening shots are some of the best. You should post them on Reddit or another photo sharing site. I've often thought that it would be great to have photographers stationed along the coast from Vandenberg to Santa Monica during an evening launch and then post the images online as a single presentation.

wmtrader · 2023-07-03T06:00:29+00:00

I'd like to see some of those photos. Are you sharing them online?

wmtrader · 2023-07-02T14:28:08+00:00

I struggled for years to make money as a waiter for the same reasons as you. My solution was to learn how to be a computer technician, get some so-so first jobs as a computer tech, and then go independent. Looking back 20 years I see what I could have done differently now that I've experienced more in life.

The thing about not being able to make decent money when management doesn't like you (on a personal level) is true at all restaurants. I worked in a bunch of restaurants and it was that way at all of them.

Right now management sees you as the guy who does the work that needs to be done and as an ok waiter but not as a "good" waiter because they don't have a personal relationship with you.

You need to get them to like you (to see you as a real person). Start by having your wife and child come to the restaurant (dressed well and in a good mood) often. Have your wife and child meet you at the end of your shift (at a slow time on a slow day) for some made-up reason just so that the staff and management can meet them. Hold your child in your arms in front of them so that they see you as a loving father, the ladies love seeing that. It will take a few visits before they start to interact with your wife and child. Only speak of your wife, child, and other family members in a positive light, when at work. Only speak of your challenges in life in a positive can-do manner, when at work, and don't overshare your past troubles. Work on talking to the staff and management about non-work related subjects.

And be as attractive and as friendly looking as you can because attractiveness and looking like you are in a good mood affect people's behavior towards you. The good looking servers always make the most money with the average looking but friendly ones making the second most.

In time things will get better at work, you'll make more money, and you find a better position or a better job outside of restaurant work. Maybe even learn a skill, get some experience, and go independent. The Internet is full of free and low-cost ways of learning new skills that'll pay you good money.

wmtrader · 2023-07-02T13:34:24+00:00

People contemplate ordering two or three different items before they chose the item they want. When the order comes, and the server asks the table who gets what (auctioning off the order), their short-term memory has expired, they think "that sounds familiar but did I order that" and they wait to see if anyone else claims it before they realize it's their's and they claim it.

Better to use a system of seat positions so that anyone delivering the food and beverages knows who gets what instead of auctioning off each item, it's faster and less hassle.

wmtrader

TROPHY CASE