The Reservation Game

WaiterRant analyzes a new service in the restaurant biz:

If you’ve read my blog you know I hate customers who call at 7 on Saturday night and demand the best table in the house to be readied for them by 8. Not only are these people suffering from delusions of grandeur, they forget the simple economy of restaurants. There’s a limited number of choice tables. Chefs, owners, and maître d’s try and ensure heavy spending regulars get the nicest tables. It’s a simple business tactic. Regular customers make or break a restaurant. Loyal patronage can and should be rewarded. Setting tables aside for rich connected regular patrons lowers the numbers of tables available for mere mortals. That’s a fact of life. Some foo foo New York eateries require reservations be made weeks, if not months, in advance.

Of course, instant gratification Yuppie types can’t wait for anything. They’re always trying to get around reservation roadblocks. An article in today’s NY Times discussed a new internet service called PrimeTime Tables. For a fee this service will snag that coveted eight o’clock table you’re so desperate to have. The service secures reservations at fancy restaurants in advance, often making them under a fake name. When a frantic Yuppie needs a last minute reservation the service sells them the time slot. Once the slot’s sold, PrimeTime changes the reservation to the new diner’s name or the diner has to use the fake name PrimeTime made the reservation under. Sneaky huh? Sounds like ticket scalping you say? The Manhattan District Attorney’s office says it’s not illegal.

Read the rest here.

Lawyers in Love

There is now a dating service for lawyers: Lawyers in Love.

A Vast Improvement

If the following constitutes a noteworthy improvement, you can imagine what the work environment was prior to the reform:

Faced with a surge in turnover of its associates, the prestigious law firm Sullivan & Cromwell LLP has been putting on a charm offensive to hold onto junior lawyers.

The crash course in etiquette went into high gear at a partners meeting last February. To deal with low associate morale and high attrition, a confidential slide presentation reviewed by The Wall Street Journal urged partners to say things like "thank you" and "good work" to associates they supervise.

What else should partners do? "Return associates' phone calls as quickly as you would a partner's or client's," said one bullet. "Be sensitive to not canceling associates' vacations," said another.

Read the rest of the Career Journal article here.

Low Tech Planners

If you share my reluctance to go techie with a daily planner, check out Kathy Sierra's description of her use of a Moleskine PDA (pictured above).

My alternative: Use one of the Circa notebooks from Levenger. [Note: I tried to link to the page at Levenger, which has marvelous stuff, but gremlins prevented it. Just try www.levenger.com and click on Circa Folios at the top.]

I print off the Microsoft Outlook calendars, punch them with a Circa punch so they can be easily inserted and then have sections for my other projects as well as frequently used phone numbers.

For those who haven't encountered the Circa notebooks: They permit you to remove or insert pages and, if you get the paper punch, you can also insert notecards and papers of various sizes.

Other people in our office have also gotten hooked on the system.

Renault Rising or Ford Falling?

Renault may edge out Ford to become the third largest car manufacturer in the world.

Remembering the Tonkin Gulf Incident

I found this American Heritage article on the U.S.S. Maddox and the Tonkin Gulf incident to be of more than usual interest.

[One of the officers who played a significant role in the incident, Richard Corsette, was my former brother-in-law. A great guy and an extraordinary officer, he passed away around a year ago.]

Free to Choose via the Internet

I'm not sure how long this access will last, but you can watch Milton Friedman's Free to Choose public television program via the Internet at the Idea Channel.

[HT: The Wall Street Journal ]

Note to the Boss: Why We Don't Respond Honestly When You Ask, "How's It Going?"

1. We've noticed that bad things tend to happen - perhaps not today or tomorrow, but eventually - to people who answer honestly.


2. We suspect, due to our experience with another employer or manager, that bad things will occur.


3. We see that a dishonest but upbeat answer will cause you to leave us alone. That is good.


4. We think the real answer is so obvious that if you had a smidgen of sensitivity it would already be noticed.


5. You usually ask that at moments when you are rushed and it is evident that a short, positive, response is expected.


6. You've made it clear that positive people are preferred and it doesn't take much to be labeled a negative person.


7. You are the personal friend of a few of the reasons why we hate it here.


8. You are the problem.


9. Your boss is the problem.


10. We cannot trust you to keep anything confidential.

Appalling Presenter Manifesto

Rowan Manahan takes some pokes at PowerPoint - loud cheers, hats tossed in air - and presents his Appalling Presenter Manifesto.

An excerpt:

Ass Narcissism - "I’m just going to turn my back on you now and read all my slides off the screen. Enjoy the view!"
Tolstoy wannabe - "I know that I can fit the entire text of War & Peace onto the next three slides. Thank God for sub-bullets!"
Myopia - these presenters literally cannot see beyond the end of their nose and so fail to notice that their audience is either asleep or has gone home.
Tunnel vision - those who can see only the one person in the audience who is smiling and nodding out of sympathy, not the other 99 who have fallen asleep/gone home.

Quote of the Day

The art of progress is to preserve order amid change, and to preserve change amid order.

- Alfred North Whitehead