I like that article. Walter seems like a nice guy.

What a horribly terrifying job though...

So, does the President have to buy his own food for the chef to prepare, or does that come with the government housing?

Bucky, my first thought was that it must be some sort of per diem, but then, who wants the job where you say, "Sorry, Sir, you've eaten all your food allowance for the month?"

Bucky - I believe the first family pays for their own food and beverages for themselves and any guests unless it is a state dinner, then tax dollars pay and you don't get to go. I am not sure if they are billed for a portion of the 80 staff at the white house.

25% Tip! Only twice in my life have I left such a thing, and tonight was one. Shabu Shabu (in Mission Viejo, CA) is the kind of hole-in-the-wall one-of that I think we need to declare an endangered species and try to preserve -- and maybe especially here in California where everything is part of a "mini-chain" (a word I have seen in the local guides) or a "restaurant group," which around here means something different than a local crazy man.

What fun (especially for a lonely traveler) to sit at a U-shaped bar, each seat equipped with its own hot pot and burner. The owner (an amazing local character who shares newly devised sauces with special customers and will gladly accept their offers of Sapporo and sake) blends hospitality, education (for a newbie like me) and marital advice from seat to seat in a seamless fashion -- until she has to dash back to the slicing station to deliver plates of translucent rib eye or pork belly. (H-Mart should have a slicer so sharp!)

The closest thing I have experienced to this is stopping in at Greg's bagels and having the owner compliment me on my choice of salmon that morning.

Kitkat - Thanks for that explanation.