Early morning un-welcomed events

Thursday, approximately 3:15 a.m. I am awakened by a sudden rush of cat noise, most particularly Calvin's high pitched growl/meow. Bowie and Vinnie are in the bedroom with me, and as I get up, I hear Jake hissing something fierce... I assume one helluva fight is ensuing. In an unfocused haze of sleep and wake, I stumble out of my bedroom into the hallway to see Calvin crouching and Jake nearby, both are creating havoc at a third feline body that is sitting casually in the middle of the living, looking around. The third cat sees me and takes off out the balcony door from which he came and jumps off. It is the neighbors cat who figured out a way up to our balcony. I closed the door, congratulate Calvin on his fierce guarding of the homestead and stumble back into bed.

Thursday, approximately 6:30-6:45 a.m. My alarm wakes me at 6:30; as is the typical case, I lie in bed a few moments until I hear the coffee pot kick on... this morning, I drifted back to sleep shortly after waking and about 10-15 minutes later, woke again and got up. I stumble into the kitchen, my hair a wavy mess of curls that are 5 times larger than usual. I grab my very LARGE cup and put in the necessary Sweet n' Low and creamer... and turn to the coffee pot to see it mysteriously without coffee. The light is on that it has brewed. My first thought is I did not put water in the reservoir. I check and there is water. Nothing is hot. Panic ensues. I begin pushing buttons like a mad-woman, because, quite frankly, I am at this time of the morning without hope of coffee. It quickly becomes clear, to my utmost horror, that the Mr. Coffee has met its very end.

Now, with regard to that last, very sad occurrence, I ended up with another coffeepot from work... as a result of the office closing, there is no need for the non-leased coffee pot and I was told I could take it. It is very nice, nicer than I would have bought. My unfamiliarity did cause a slight moment of panic when I thought I set the auto brew this morning and there was no coffee again. Turns out, I didn't turn it on even though I had set it. At least there was coffee to be had this morning. The woman in Beaner's yesterday clearly did not understand the level of incoherence I had when I went rushing in. I was so out of it, I ordered a bagel--a food item that I rarely eat and ends up making me sick 9 times out of 10. Yesterday was one of those 9 times...

Starbucks Mindfuck

Last night, I desperately wanted to be warm... I was chilled to the core and thought--Hey, I want to be up doing some writing anyway, I'll get a coffee. And because there is some kind of warp twisted rule of the current longitudinal platform in which I exist, there must be a Starbucks within sight from any vantage point in which one is standing. So, mindlessly, I walked into Starbucks, got a large coffee and walked out. Many were doing the same thing, so I thought nothing of it. Until I took a sip of my coffee, complete with milk and sweet n' low, and remembered how much I really don't like Starbucks coffee. Their Sumatra is about the only thing I really like and they rarely ever have that brewed up. And I cursed myself because there was a Beaners right next door, and I actually like Beaners coffee. (Note: this is another sick and warped and twisted rule of the platform and that is there cannot be one coffee place isolated from another.)

Today, I was driving toward Trader Joe (where, by the way, I do actually purchase my coffee for home) and I see that they are building a new Starbucks along Washtenaw in Ypsi. This one is complete with a drive-thru... and I seriously thought, that will be nice, now I can stop and get coffee on my way to work when I forget to make it at home. And then I remembered last night... I don't like Starbucks that much and I typically stop at the Beaners on my way to work if I need a coffee AND this new Starbucks will make THREE that I pass in my 4 mile drive to work.

I don't know who the marketing genius is that works for Starbucks, but that is one evil bastard with a very keen and sharp mind, who I can only imagine is so caffienated as to be on the job 24/7 just churning out locations and pushing the Starbucks mentality into the veins of the American pop culture through his giant syringe. Starbucks has become to coffee in the mass consumer population as Kleenex has to facial tissues or Jacuzzi to hot tubs. Personally, I think their coffee tastes perpetually burnt and well, I don't buy Kleenex brand either, but like so many, I will whore myself out to Starbucks just because it is there. Sad. Very Sad.

In the words of one of my favorite chick-flicks, You've Got Mail: Starbucks is for people with no decision making ability....

Super genius rating: Starbucks: 4, Nikki 2