Random 5 for June 8, 2025 – Wildlife, tipping, people, robins, nature

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Hungry, hungry chipmunk!

A new friend – I’ve had a bird feeder here since we moved. We have all sorts of birds and a few squirrels. If we leave it out overnight, it gets emptied, so we have raccoons or some other critters too. Yesterday I saw a chipmunk on it. First time ever! The little guy could almost crawl in the feeding holes. Sorry the shot is so blurred but that’s the best I could do with my phone. It was taken from inside a window for fear of scaring him.

To tip or not to tip – We had our patio pavers cleaned and sealed. It’s done in two parts and neither part takes long. It’s a 6-to-7-hour job total. When completed we are expected to pay the balance (minus the deposit required). We knew this but there was something odd that my spidey sense was picking up. Both workers came up to the door for the “bill presentation.” We gave them the check and profusely thanked them for a great job. Two days later we got an email from the company explaining how to “tip” them properly (in a sealed envelope separate from the payment check). Obviously the email was too late, but we were stumped. When we have workers here for any length of time, we will spring for lunch and have a continuous supply of cold water, but we don’t tip (unless someone goes above and beyond the agreed to project). The project was expensive with very little supply cost. Do we tip for everything these days? These guys were not making minimum wage!

Peopley! – I had great expectations of “getting stuff done” yesterday. We had someone coming to set up firesticks for our TV. Other than that, I had a list of chores to do but that was not to be. We had someone surprise us with a visit that tossed my schedule out. The day was spent with people (guests and workers) milling around. I forgot how happy I am with my quiet, peaceful life.

Last crop of robins

They moved! – About two years ago, I had robins roost in the under structure of my deck. They had babies. We had a good viewing experience from inside the house without bothering them. The beloved husband blocked the area so they couldn’t roost there again. They didn’t do any damage, but they got upset whenever we used the basement doors. I saw that they built a nest in next door neighbor’s deck understructure. It’s a perfect place because she never uses her basement door. They are still hanging around. That makes me happy.

Everything is beautiful! – With all the rain we’ve had in the past two months, everything is green and growing. The flowers are glorious and it makes me happy to be alive.

So how was your week? Who do you tip?

65 thoughts on “Random 5 for June 8, 2025 – Wildlife, tipping, people, robins, nature”

  1. I know – the tipping thing is just crazy anymore. Glad your birds found a close place to nest so you can still see them but they aren’t too near your door 🙂 Your new chipmunk friend is so cute!

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  2. The tipping thing has become rather ridiculous-even my favorite coffee shop features a panel at the checkout counter for a tip. I grew up in an age where tipping was for wait staff when they provided exceptional behavior, not for calling out your name to pick up your latte.

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  3. I’ve never tipped workmen or handyman guys. Sometimes I’ll offer them snacks or give them an extra ten or twenty for coffee or lunch if they are here long enough or it was an exceptionally good job…but yea, that’s crazy to have received an email requesting it!

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    • It was more suggesting it with instructions on how to do it. I don’t give money but will provide lunch if someone spends several days here but not for a few hours on two different days. The weird part was we got the email several days AFTER the job was over.

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  4. Tipping has gotten completely out of control in the US. I tip in restaurants, my hair cutter and, often, but not always, hotel maids. When we were traveling in Europe in 2023, we loved how tips were not expected. They are paid a fair wage and the customers are not expected to supplement their salary. A friend of mine had some plumbing work done. When she paid, the plumber had one of those tablet payment systems with a tip line. Ummmm nope.

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  5. I think tipping culture has gotten a little carried away lately. I absolutely tip when I go out to a sit-down restaurant; servers are juggling multiple tables, bringing food, refilling drinks, and really working for it. But in fast-food settings like McDonald’s or Chipotle, where the food is often premade and just handed over, I don’t usually tip.

    I used to tip for coffee, but that’s changed too. Now that many cafes have machines where the “barista” just pushes a button, it feels less like a service and more like a transaction unless they’re truly swamped or go out of their way, I skip it.

    Haircuts are a different story. I always, always tip my stylist. It’s a personal service, and the tip reflects both the quality of the work and my appreciation for the time and effort they put in.

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    • It’s been interesting to see who tips who. I tip those who aren’t well paid (food servers mostly) and those who go over and above. I recently changed hair stylists because the one I used increased her rates. For me it wasn’t worth the cost although I liked her cuts. I found someone a lot less $$ and I like her cuts too. If I was getting something special that’s a different story.

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  6. I’ve tipped folks who deliver appliances or heavy items to our second floor, but I’ve never been told it was expected. When I walk in and pick up pizza slices at our favorite place, I decline tipping. They don’t do anything except ring up the sale. We have had a tremendous amount of rain so the plants and the weeds are all prospering. 🙂

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    • It is another rainy week here. I can feel mushrooms coming on! Your tipping habits seem normal. We tip at our pizza place because they treat us special but we don’t at other pizza places.

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  7. We don’t tip house workers like that. We had our driveway resealed and no one expected a tip. They did their job and got paid. I stick to tipping wait staff, hair stylists, and taxi drivers for the most part. Everyone else should be getting paid for their work. People need to stop with the extra tipping so they get the hint. All our flowers are blooming now as well. It’s pretty. I’m loving it.

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    • That is a good tipping policy. We’ve had a lot of work done here and we didn’t tip except for a lunch and lots of water. With the current price of haircuts here, I’m not sure why we tip. My hair takes 30 minutes to cut and blow out yet it costs a lot. They say we pay for the knowledge and skill but there are a lot of jobs with knowledge and skill that don’t get tipped. Back in the day haircuts were cheap.

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      • Agreed. I rarely get mine cut anymore. About twice a year, I get highlights and a cut to cover the gray. I usually just trim the ends myself. I wear it up all the time anyway. I don’t waste time on hair and makeup like I used to!

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        • I recently changed hair stylists and saved $30. I didn’t go to a walk-in either. My old one was great but my hair doesn’t need great. It’s wavy and does it’s own thing no matter how you cut it!

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  8. Interestingly we seem to be in a no tip zone……we’ve tried to tip the guys who clean our gutters, power wash the house – they say “thanks but we don’t take tips”…….we had some trees cut down a few years ago and that was the last time someone accepted a tip for a HUGE job that they did.

    Hugs, Pam

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    • Wow! I didn’t think there was such a thing as a no tip zone. We didn’t tip for a large landscaping project we did when we first moved here. It was a 3 day event and the guys worked hard. All were Latinos (and I’m hoping they haven’t been deported), didn’t speak much English but really did a great job. I’m sure they were well paid that that was one group I may have tipped just because they cleaned up so well. Side note — all the stuff they planted thrived.

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      • Interestingly most of the “crews” that do work of any kind around here are latino….They work hard and always clean up after a project……they DESERVE a tip but refuse it – might be a company policy and even though they’re out on a job without a supervisor they honor the policy. Now that says a whole lot!

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  10. I just brought our returnables to our local recycling depot…where I did all of the work to clean, sort and return as requested. When I received my (very) small bottle deposit return, I was asked for a tip. Seriously! Tipping definitely has gotten way out of control.

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  11. That tip thing is annoying. The total fee should be in the estimate. We need our pavers done but can’t afford it at this time. I worry about finding a reputable company, and hopefully one that doesn’t expect a tip!

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    • Good luck. We used a company we had used at the last house. They do a great job but are $$. They also have a waiting list. We plunked down a sizable deposit last August with the hope of being one of the first ones in the spring. Our turn came up the week before last for the first part. It’s very weather dependent work. Overall we are happy with the job and the guys were great. We were gobsmacked by the tipping thing.

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  12. Okay, that tip thing is annoying! The fee should be in the estimate and that’s it. Sheesh. We need our pavers done but can’t afford it at this time. I also worry about finding a reliable and reputable company. And hopefully not one that expects a tip!

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  13. Hmm – that was a tad nervy to inform you of preferred tipping protocol at the “bill presentation” – wow! I have never tipped any contractor here, not gotten a bill that asked for a tip. I’ve offered water, but most of them carry along those red-and-white Igloo coolers and refuse. Unfortunately, I don’t have any chipmunks around this neighborhood. One day on Facebook, Van Gogh, the Chippie showed up in my Feed and I followed. That chipmunk is cute, spoiled and treated like a prince. 🙂 “My” robin used to nest in the elbow of the coach light over the mailbox and I couldn’t get out the front door. And the mailbox got messy, especially when they dropped mud and dead grass when nest building. I always blocked the elbow area once April arrived, but this year, it didn’t try nesting so it saved me a job. I got new gutters installed last Fall and the one near the front has a bend and I worried she’d nest there, as I’m no fan of climbing past the second step of the stepladder, so I’m grateful she didn’t go seize that opportunity. I’d rather deal with ants … still dwindling, maybe due to the weather, but I found two alive and kickin’ today.

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    • Most do carry an Igloo with food and water. Most of them brown bag lunch and work through but I had one who ate out every day using up an hour. He also quit early making his workday short. We stopped using him for projects. He had health issues (you may remember from my posts) and became unreliable. I had 2 ants last week by the kitchen sink (my least favorite place to get them). Squish!

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      • I have asked every woman I know that is single, widowed or has a husband who is disabled/in a nursing home whom they use for a handyman – they all respond that I never need help for anything. I said “for gutters – you can’t go years without cleaning them or do you have a leaf filter?” Nope, they don’t get them done … I finally gave up and have found a landscaping company to clean the gutters, bring a load of mulch and new retaining wall on the side and I’ll have to hire someone to do a small porch repair the guy from last year with the attitude was supposed to fix. It shouldn’t be that difficult. I remember your guy. We had the woman painter/wallpaper hanger who arrived late, left at 2:30 – 3:00 p.m. to pick her granddaughter up at school, had long lunches and smoke breaks outside and whenever she had a hot flash, she ran outside for 15 minutes to cool off (it was September/early October). My mom offered a fan to keep her breaks at a minimum, but she opted to go outside. I am leery of any contractors anymore. As for the ants, I think it’s the weather because normally once you see the last ant, they’re done until the following Spring. I had one today – dropped from the ceiling onto the table – ugh. Squish!

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        • I don’t know how they can go without a handyman unless they have a relative or neighbor do things as a favor. When I was younger (a lot younger) I did a lot of stuff I wouldn’t do now but I still couldn’t install garage door openers or change out appliances.

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          • No, no relatives … each one said no relatives helped them either. I know some have kids out of state but you have things come up. I agree with you. I would not clean gutters and there are men who won’t do them. My boss had a two-story house and was on the roof while cleaning gutters, slipped and fell and got shingle rash on his bare legs and had to go get a tetanus shot … he said he’d been doing gutters, climbing on roofs since he did the gutters at his childhood home decades before.

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  14. Chipmunks are so cute. Tipping has gotten out of control. I tip for delivery of food and in restaurants, but I’ve never heard of tipping for work done on your home.

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  15. I love chipmunks. When I was a kid, a couple of chipmunks visited our campground and delighted us by eating some of our snacks as we looked on.

    I was going to say I was sorry you lost your robins, but I’m glad they found a place near by with no scary door slams.

    Everything is beautiful here too–green and bright with flowers and mostly blue skies. It’s a great time of the year.

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    • I wondered if that was to be sure it didn’t get mixed up with the payment they were also picking up. I doubt many people pay with cash. The do big jobs.

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  17. I don’t tip workers unless we ask for something extra or they do something above and beyond. If a company sends a “tip” envelope, I don’t think they are paying their employees fairly. They should build wages into the initial bill. Just my thoughts. It is hard to accommodate birds and other critters in harmony.

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    • This wasn’t inexpensive. The materials used were not $$$ so I wondered why they would expect a tip. Those guys should be making good money. They can do more than one job a day.

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  18. We had a coffee out the other day to a place we rather like as we can take the dog and there is plenty of space. Apparently it has recently changed hands (no notices of new management that we could see) and card payments now have the option to include a tip. For coffee? A meal in a restaurant yes, we always do, at least 10 to 15% of the bill, rounded up. I hope this doesn’t mean we shall have to find another favourable venue if they push the point. We have already stopped going to one since they put their coffee prices up by 50p a cup, and the cafe we used to go to where you had the ‘sausage for the dog 50p’ button on the till also put their prices up, which added at least £4 to our bill on what we used to have. That was almost the equivalent of a third person at the table.

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    • I pick up coffee every day. It’s not inexpensive coffee. I tip once a week. I know they pay their employees well for part time work. You can always chose not to add a tip for a small purchase depending on how much service you got. I was astounded when I went to a food truck and there was a recommended tip on the bill. There was NO service. I walked up, ordered and was handed my food. No one delivered it to a table or gave me water. I understand having a tip cup there for orders that deserve a tip.

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  20. I am pretty sure I have never seen a chipmunk at a bird feeder!
    We do give cash to workers at the completion of a job… mostly because we are so excited and shocked they showed up to do the job on time! But yes, if they do a great job, respect our home and us, we like to give them something. We give consistently to our painters, gave to the installers of our hurricane windows, the man who services our HVAC and to handymen that we have used since we moved in. At Christmas we gift cash to people that do stuff for us year round… the mail lady, our yard guys, the man that does our pool maintenance and our bug guy who has been with us since 2018. I guess that’s not tipping but we totally appreciate the work they do for us. That’s crazy with the paver guys and I would never use them again.
    Our week was rainy… a little over 8 inches in three days! We needed it!

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    • That’s a lot of rain! You are a very generous person. I don’t tip cash to house workers but try to do something nice for them like lunch (if they don’t annoy me). I do tip for personal services (hair, food, etc.) and do the Christmas thing (or at least I did) for people who do services for us all year.

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      • Back in Missouri we did the same thing you did… get a pizza, maybe throw some burgers on the grill. That doesn’t seem to work here because it’s so hot that outside workers don’t want to eat and risk not feeling well. Most people just want to go out and sit in their vehicle and take a rest and hydrate! It’s hard to find someone that’s both reliable and does great work. I think we are so appreciative because we have come to the realization that we are not able to do the things we used to do. Your “spidey sense”… I like that 🙂

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        • I get that. It’s hard to get good help. We are here 4-1/2 years and are on our 3rd carpenter. He’s not cheap but he’s good. The first one had a breakdown and disappeared without finishing projects. The second one died (he was really great). We are hoping the third one is the charm. He’s much younger than us so maybe.

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  21. I do tip the folks that deliver. Possibly because corporations don’t care about anything but increasing CEO salaries and profits, appliances like our stove will be delivered to your door, but not installed–they don’t even offer installation as an option. So if you want a large item brought in your house, a tip is necessary/expected. Plus, as you say, most of these folks aren’t making much money and the disparity is getting worse. In 1965, a CEO made 21 times what a typical worker made. Now? 290 times a typical worker. If minimum wage had kept up with inflation, it would be anywhere from $26 to $33 dollars an hour. I try and level the playing field wherever I can.

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    • I can’t remember tipping for delivery except for food. We did tip the movers. They worked hard and did a great job of not dinging our stuff. I agree the the disparity is getting greater making it harder for people at the low end to buy a house, car, etc. or even get an education to move up.

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  23. It’s gorgeous and green here too, BUT we are dealing with Cicada Brood 14 so it is NOISY. Deafening some days. Meaning we’re staying inside rather than enjoying nature’s beauty.

    Do we tip for everything these days? I’ve never heard of workers around or inside your home wanting to be tipped. Rather presumptuous, but maybe a new trend… that I’ll ignore.

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    • They didn’t spend much time here so we never thought about it. We didn’t tip our kitchen contractor (here for 8 weeks) but gave him our old washer and dryer. Our bathroom reno had different people coming and going so there was no lunch and definitely no tip.

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