I often wake up with a song going through my head. I don't know why this happens. The stranger thing the songs. Yesterday was good, I woke up to Led Zepplin's Immigrant Song — what a great way to start the day. But earlier in the week it was inexplicably the Golden Girls Theme Song. Gah!

I've heard them called earworms: songs that get stuck in your head and don't get out. So I'll share with you now the antidote, taught to me by my good friend Jane Manning. Thanks, Jane!

Sing David Bowie's song John, I'm Only Dancing. Not one of Bowie's better known songs, nor even one of his best, but remarkably well suited to this. I believe it's because the melody is kind of odd and not all that pleasant, so it's not going to get stuck itself. You kind of remember the melody and lyrics, but not quite, so that keeps you busy. It always does the trick.

I really don't like tipping. I'm not like Mr. Pink. It's not that I don't want my server or driver to get something extra. I just don't like the awkward social situation of deciding if this is a tipping situation, and if so, how much.

Two services have come up recently where I will happily pay a premium to not have to fret about too much or too little:

• Uber. Lots to like about this service but the act of just leaving out of my cab without paying is joyful. I always rate my drivers, good or bad. 98% of the time, it's good by the way.

• OrderAhead. Are you supposed to tip when picking up takeout from a restaurant? I've never known. Neither way feels right, so I usually end up splitting the difference and rounding up to some amount, say leaving a 6% tip, which is the worst choice. Either that's 6% that wasn't expected, or I'm inadvertently shafting someone.

Both of these services decouple feedback from money. Both avoid awkwardly changing money. I'd definitely pay a premium for that.

I wonder what other service business would benefit from decoupling feedback from money?

My family hasn't avoided the colds that are going around now. My way of fighting back is making chicken noodle soup. It's not too hard, it's satisfying, and it tastes great. The recipe belongs to Peninsula School and gets used at our annual Craft Fair. It's benefited from years of refinement.

I add more salt. I don't do peas. I've tried with rice but it got starchy and weird, stick with egg noodles.