A bottle of vodka?

April 28, 2008 9:04 PM

Do you suppose a bottle of vodka is a sufficient thank you for someone who puts together a new computer for you, goes and buys it, loads xp, Office, and whole bunch of other software, then brings it into work with the promise that if I bring in my hd he'll transfer all files over whilst at work? A bottle of vodka?
posted by mattoxic to human relations (41 comments total)

A really good bottle of vodka.
posted by typewriter at 9:06 PM on April 28 [1 favorite]

No.
posted by whoaali at 9:07 PM on April 28

A.) Make sure the recipient enjoys vodka. And B.) yeah, a really good bottle. (If there is such a thing.) Other spirits make better gifts in my opinion. Scotch?
posted by wfrgms at 9:09 PM on April 28 [1 favorite]

Yes, with two caveats:

1). A really nice bottle of vodka

2). You know for a fact that he'll really enjoy it. Some people don't dig vodka and could care if it is fancy or not. Some people don't drink at all. If you aren't sure, then the answer is no.
posted by Bookhouse at 9:10 PM on April 28

It depends whether the recipient likes vodka. From the tone of your question, I'm guessing you are the recipient, and you're perplexed/insulted by the gift?... I'd think it was an inappropriate gift if you were a recovering alcoholic or a known teetotaler, otherwise what's bugging you about it?
posted by amyms at 9:10 PM on April 28

I take it it's you mattoxic who did all the computer work. If not, please ignore the following.

No, a bottle of vodka's not enough, if we're talking the market value of these professional services. On the other hand, between friends, zero payment would have been enough. If you had wanted to be paid market value for your work, you should have arranged the price beforehand.
posted by JimN2TAW at 9:10 PM on April 28

He drinks vodka, this I know, I don't know if he drinks scotch- which would be my choice.

I'm after a thank you gift- if I wanted to pay market rate I would have gone to the market to seek professional services.

This person is not a professional, he's doing me a favour.
posted by mattoxic at 9:15 PM on April 28

Top shelf vodka, sure.
posted by pompomtom at 9:19 PM on April 28

A professional's vodka.
posted by Jairus at 9:20 PM on April 28 [1 favorite]

If he drinks vodka mixed with something, you could do a bottle of nice vodka, plus a shaker and whatever his favorite mix is. Or one of those vermouth spritzers that no one would ever buy for themselves...
posted by hammurderer at 9:21 PM on April 28 [1 favorite]

The following applies between guys: favours should be repaid with favours, and gifts with gifts. Favours and gifts should not be interchangeable, lest situations as described here arise.

If you're the potential vodka-giver, don't. Just say "thanks a million, I owe you". And when the favour gets called-in, don't you dare not rise to the occasion.

If you're the vodka-recipient, half-jokingly say "thanks for the vodka, and I'll be calling on you for help in the future".

I have no idea what the protocol should be between women. But between a man and a woman, well....hmmm ;-)
posted by randomstriker at 9:23 PM on April 28 [1 favorite]

Deed is done, now a gift for my local bottle shop owner who stood patiently aside while the answers were posed.

Thanks all.
posted by mattoxic at 9:27 PM on April 28 [1 favorite]

i'm voting for a nice shaker set/vermouth spritzer/something that will last, with hammurderer.

cocktail shaker

shot set

nice shaker

possibly a less expensive bottle of the sauce as well.

on preview: seconds, seconds i say!
posted by ncc1701d at 9:31 PM on April 28

I'm going to go ahead and say not even close. The thing is, you either 1) don't know enough about what parts to buy that he had to go and buy them for you, taking him from the "friendly counsel" range into full on professional assistance, or 2) he is your buddy and you just made him do your bitchwork of driving to the store because...why?

No, the next night you all go out, you need to buy his drinks/food for the entirity of the night. And you're still making out ahead.
posted by GooseOnTheLoose at 9:49 PM on April 28 [1 favorite]

Throw in a dinner with that vodka and it sounds like you're done :)
posted by doctor.dan at 9:52 PM on April 28

I don't see an answer for this, so i'm askin': You actually bought+paid for the PC right, and it's not like he's giving you the PC completely for free, right? And the bottle of vodka is just a gift for services rendered (and not the physical hardware), right?
posted by yeoz at 10:11 PM on April 28

A skilled person can put together a PC from bits and pieces in an hour or so. Two, if something goes wrong. Three+ if something was bad out of the box, required troubleshooting, diagnosing, tromping back to the store to fetch a replacement.

Installing Windows is a guaranteed 45 minutes of sitting there, waiting to answer prompts and enter information. Then, Office. I haven't installed Office in some time, but I'd estimate... 20-30 minutes if loading from a CD or DVD? A 'whole bunch of other software' probably took another hour or two, all there babysitting, watching for the myriad of prompts that come up during every install. Windows Update probably took another good hour, depending.

File transfers from one HD to another are easy enough, but even if he's using a drive enclosure to let him use firewire or USB instead of opening the case it's not an entirely pleasant process. Add to that the fact he has to dig around for files that might be strewn about the hard drive, making sure not to miss something vital.

Is 4 to 8 hours of favor equal to a bottle of Vodka? Maybe. I'd say no. Is 4 to 8 hours of favor equal to a bottle of Vodka to him? We can't make that call.

And on re-review... If he paid out of pocket for anything, even gas, the answer is a resounding no. Especially when the day comes where he winds up begged, coerced or otherwise trapped into supporting the PC he built as a favor.

I don't do these favors anymore, because I always wound up with the short end, no matter what the recompense was.
posted by Rendus at 10:26 PM on April 28

A bottle of decent ($20 & up - I suggest Tito's, if you can get it) vodka that you've infused yourself with one of his favorite flavors would make a pretty great gift.
posted by item at 10:34 PM on April 28

Oh. I see you're in Australia. Probably not much Tito's down there.
posted by item at 10:35 PM on April 28

What did you expect? If it's a favor, who the hell would complain about a THANK YOU GIFT?
posted by rokusan at 10:57 PM on April 28

Buy him a 12 year Macallan. Vodka as a gift is for frat boys and drunks.
posted by felix betachat at 11:08 PM on April 28 [4 favorites]

What did you expect? If it's a favor, who the hell would complain about a THANK YOU GIFT?

Bullseye
posted by mattoxic at 11:11 PM on April 28

jesus, mate! what's wrong with a slab of VB?
posted by UbuRoivas at 11:22 PM on April 28

I think it depends on how the favour was given to your friend. Did he tell you that he'd do it as a favour or did you ask him to do it for you as a favour? If you asked him to do it I'd expect more than if he offered his services as just a favour between friends.

In the end though if you asked him for the favour I think you owe him at least a nice bottle of vodka. If he told you that he'd do it for you then a bottle of vodka is more than he should expecting.

Of course this is all assuming that the two of you are friends. If you're just acquaintances/strangers then I think you owe him at least that bottle of vodka.

Not sure if that made any sense at all.
posted by woolylambkin at 11:25 PM on April 28

yo a nice bottle of someone's preferred drink is the universal thank you gift.
if its a favor he shouldn't be expecting to get paid.
posted by swbarrett at 11:31 PM on April 28

I'm surprised pompomtom didn't suggest a bottle of vodka and some kahlua.

Personally, I would have thought a bottle of decent red is a more universal currency. Isn't the difference between reliable and very good vodka mostly just marketing?
posted by wilful at 11:40 PM on April 28

wilful: no, the difference is mostly a matter of whether you put it in the freezer or not.
posted by UbuRoivas at 11:55 PM on April 28

>Isn't the difference between reliable and very good vodka mostly just marketing?

No. The difference can be up to 20%abv.
posted by pompomtom at 1:25 AM on April 29

I would do all that for a bottle of vodka.
posted by fire&wings at 3:11 AM on April 29

jesus, mate! what's wrong with a slab of VB?

Ubu, I want to thank the guy, not poison him.
posted by mattoxic at 3:28 AM on April 29 [2 favorites]

Did somebody say Vodka? Tito's, Thor's Hammer, Russian Standard. Top Shelf is mostly crap. I live in a Russian/Armenian community and have sampled hundreds of vodka, that top shelf stuff is crap compared to other things. Just don't go for the "grape" vodka, nasty shit... And don't be afraid of bottles that you can't read, some good stuff there.
posted by zengargoyle at 3:31 AM on April 29

a friends family who are from the ukraine gave me a bottle of vodka for playing tour guide in bali for them a couple days. i would have done it anyway, in fact i probably volunteered my services, and i thought the bottle of vodka was perfectly fine recompense. especially as it was very nice bottle of vodka (though not particularly expensive by us standards, $40 i think they told me?)

that was all a lead in to recommending a good vodka: lex vodka, produced by nemiroff (a popular uber-brand of vodka in ukraine apparently) it comes in a fancy bottle (with a special one-way spout so chincy bar-owners cant fill it back up with smirnoff once it's been emptied), it tasted GREAT to me (i just drank the whole bottle over a few nights in straight shots, they were actually delicious) and if a group of aged upper-middleclass ukrainian lushes say it's the best vodka in the former ussr, then it imagine it must be about as good as it gets.
posted by messiahwannabe at 3:48 AM on April 29

Some people just like doing big favors for people. It's hard to pay them back appropriately. Did you beg the guy to do this? I've had a relative stranger help me out with computer stuff before. He just seems into it and seems to like me and helping me. It's not really possible for me to pay him back appropriately. I think it depends on whether he offered to do this for you, or you asked him.
posted by sully75 at 4:08 AM on April 29

I know the gift has already been purchased, but why has no one gone over the difference between grain vodka and potato vodka? I'd been brought up to believe that the latter was superior. Am I wrong?
posted by Gungho at 4:41 AM on April 29

Seconding Tito's Hand-Made Vodka. There's a reason it tends to win competitions.

Assuming he likes vodka, that is.
posted by DoctorFedora at 5:15 AM on April 29

Why don't you get the vodka and then say, "And I threw in a set of these coasters."

The coasters, of course, would be, like, ten or more $5 bills folded in half, stacked and wrapped in plastic. to look like they were packaged.
posted by lpsguy at 5:52 AM on April 29 [2 favorites]

If you just pirated all the software, then yes.
posted by arnold at 6:04 AM on April 29

This vodka better come in a velvet sack.
posted by cowbellemoo at 6:25 AM on April 29

If he likes vodka? I mean, a case of beer is considered appropriate for helping someone move, and I'd rather build a computer than lug a couch around.
posted by dagnyscott at 7:21 AM on April 29

Sounds like you knew what answer you wanted to hear beforehand.

That said, you still have the option of taking him out for a nice dinner/lunch, which, when added to the vodka, makes your thank-you a bit more compelling.
posted by yellowcandy at 10:27 AM on April 29

So, OP, you've already bought the vodka. You're the best judge of whether or not it will be well received. But I advise you to emphasize, when giving the gift, that you will return the favour anytime it is needed.

Sounds like you knew what answer you wanted to hear beforehand.

That applies for about half the questions posed on AskMeFi...not that there's anything wrong with that. Sometimes we know the answer but need to know we're not alone in our thinking, sometimes we need better articulation of our reasons. Other times the question is really open ended.
posted by randomstriker at 11:41 AM on April 29