Tipping 101!

This afternoon, Kinky called and asked Tony and I to go to lunch with him in Kerrville. Tony and I arrived first at the restaurant, and Kinky arrived five minutes later. Our lunch was fun, because during our lunch, we kept being interrupted by Kinky fans wanting to say hello, shake his hand, or to get an autograph! And, near the end of our meal, a couple walked over to our table, and introduced themselves to us, they shook our hands, said some kind words to Kinky and then the man said, “Cousin Nancy, my wife and I, want to let you know that we loved reading your book—it was great.”

Well, that sure did make my day! Near the end of our meal, Kinky was telling us about hating to leave tips, because he is always worried that he hasn’t left enough—so he has made it simple—he always leaves a tip for half of what the bill is.

“Tony and I always tip at least twenty-five percent,” I told Kinky. About that time, the friendly waiter walked up to give us our bills. Kinky put his hand out, and I grabbed the bills. “Kinky, lunch is on us, today,” I said. “You get to take care of the tip!” We all broke into laughter.

After paying for lunch, we went outside to the parking lot, and decided to meet up, over at Wolfmueller’s Book Store, after we each had run some errands.

On our way over to Wolfmueller’s Books, Tony and I spotted a burgundy Toyota FJ for sale, at a dealership—across the street from the HEB! Tony and I have been dreaming about buying one of those FJ’s for ourselves, for quite a while now, and we decided that we would go check it out, after leaving Wolfmueller’s.

Tony and I arrived at Sandy’s and Jon’s store first. Sandy greeted us at the front door, and she invited us to sit down in some chairs near the checkout counter for a visit. Then Sandy walked over to the stairs, and hollered down to Jon, who was working in their Bargain Basement. “Jon, Come on up! Cousin Nancy and Tony are here!”

“Tell them I’m not here, and I’ll hide down here, in the basement—until they leave!” I hollered. A woman customer, in the store, heard me and she burst out laughing as did Sandy and Jon. After Jon had risen to our level, the four of us went over to the chairs for a visit, and that is when I noticed this book on the table—“Complete Chinese Horoscopes” by Kwok Man-Ho! “Can I buy this book?” I asked. “Is it for sale?”


“It is now,” Sandy quipped. “It just came in, and I have just priced it. Eight dollars.”

I paid for the book, and then Jon asked Tony and I to go out to the parking lot to see his brand new Tacoma Toyota truck. Tony and I followed Jon outside to check out his new pickup, and I loved the color—indigo blue! His truck was loaded out to the hilt, too! I could see why he and Sandy loved it, and I’m sure that they are going to really enjoy it.

Kinky showed up, admired Jon’s truck, and then on our way back into the store, Jon said, “Kinky, I watched Geraldo, and you weren’t on it?”

“I wasn’t on Geraldo,” Kinky said.

“Jon, that’s good, that you didn’t say you saw Kinky on Geraldo, and tell him that he was great on it,” I teased.

Kinky visited with us, but after a couple of phone calls, he decided he needed to get back to the ranch so— he left. The four of us went over to the chairs and sat down to visit.

“I can’t wait to read this book,” I said. “Sandy, what sign are you?”

“I’m a Taurus,” Sandy replied.

“No, not for that astrology—Chinese,” I said. “What year were you born?”

“1950.”

“Sandy, you’re a Tiger.”

“Jon, what year were you born?”

“1945.”

“Jon, you’re a Cock,” I said. “Tony is a Horse, and I’m a Rabbit! I love being a Rabbit—it’s one of the luckiest signs!”

After discussing our signs for a little while, I changed the subject. “Jon, does your truck have a name?”

“No,” Jon said, with a smile. “Why?”

“In one of my favorite Feng Shui books, it recommends that everyone name their cars and trucks. It says that giving your car a name will help your car be more in tune with you—and protect you. Ours are named.”

There was a lot of laughter, and then I changed the subject again. “Tony and I want a Toyota FJ Cruiser, and we just saw one for sale!”

“What’s an FJ?” Sandy asked.

“They are the coolest jeeps made!”

Sandy went to her computer and typed in Toyota FJ. “Wow!” Sandy said. “I love the blue one, they call it Voodoo Blue! Jon, look at this!”

We all got up, and went over to the computer, to view the pictures of the FJ. After looking at all of the colors, Sandy told us that she wanted a blue one, like Tony did. “I want the Sandstorm color, and now we need to go, so we can actually take a look at the one for sale.” We said our good byes and left.

When Tony and I arrived at the dealership, we parked Buttermilk, and walked straight over to the burgundy FJ. Kay, a nice woman, walked up to us, and introduced herself to us, and asked us if we wanted to take a look inside the FJ. We told her yes, and then we introduced ourselves to her.

“Oh my god! You’re Cousin Nancy!” Kay said, as she unlocked the FJ. “I listen to you every Thursday morning on ‘The Harley Show!’”

Wow, I thought, two in one day—I felt honored. Tony climbed inside the FJ, and while I was inspecting the backseat—he fell in love with the vehicle. Kay offered to let us take it for a test drive, but we declined, because we needed to get groceries and get back to the rescue ranch. Kay gave us her card and then we bid her farewell.

We drove across the street, parked Buttermilk, and then we went inside HEB to speed shop. In less than twenty minutes—Tony was driving us back to the rescue ranch, while I talked to Jon on the phone. I told him all about the FJ.

About a mile after passing the orange restaurant, you will not believe what happened next! A burgundy FJ pulled up behind us at the last signal light, and followed us nearly all of the way back to the ranch! “I think it’s a sign,” I said to Tony.