2013: Four Simple Goals

A blog I like to read called A Beautiful Mess blogged about the idea of Four Simple Goals.  Since 2013 will be nuts and the year of The Wedding, instead of writing a huge long list of things I want to accomplish I decided to keep it simple this year.  My goals are:

1.  Eat (at least) one vegetable a day.  I've been getting better about thinking about what I eat and trying to make better choices about what I eat.  I've lost a few pounds (hooray!) as a result, so something must be working.  I've been using an app where I can keep track of what I eat and what exercise I do, so it'll be easy to track this.

2.  Quit coffee.  I actually started this a few days ago, but the goal is to continue it into 2013.  I haven't had coffee since Wednesday.  So far so good!  I'm drinking black tea, which is better because it's less sugar and cream and less expensive since I can just get a tin of it instead of spending $10-15 a week on coffee.  The goal is to keep it going once work starts up again.  I'm allowing myself to cheat on weekends when there's a fun latte with crazy flavors involved (i.e., Starbucks, Gulu, Jaho)

3.  Finish my 5k goal and run the 5k outside in a race.  As I've noted, I've run several 5k's in the gym alone on a treadmill.  I'm also working on improving my time.  I'm at about 40-43 minutes right now, which is decent.  Once it's warmer and there's sunlight after work, I'm getting outside to keep it going and then I'll be signing up for a 5k in the spring or summer.  There's a breast cancer 5k I'm looking at or the Fiesta 5k in June.

4.  Finish the blue sweater and knit another fun sweater.  The blue sweater is about 60% done.  Maybe 70%.  But then all my friends made an unofficial pregnancy pact and had babies, and those babies needed hats.  So the blue sweater went into hiding in the closet.  Well now most people have had their babies, so it's time I finish it and wear it!  I also want to make another sweater for myself.  I might just do a plain thing, I'm not sure.  There are a few I'm eying and I have a ton of yarn asking to be used.


I'll keep this updated with how it's going.  I'm also still doing the 50/50 challenge, but that I'll keep separate from my goals.

Holiday Cheer, HC-Style

If you look outside, it doesn't look like December.  It doesn't even really feel like December inside from my apartment.  We have one pine tree candle, and we've purchased stockings to decorate, and we've even made a decent dent in the large canon of Christmas movies out there, but I'm just not in the Christmas spirit yet.  Today, though, I think that may change, as I'm returning to Holy Cross for the afternoon.

Ricky and even my coworkers sometimes tease me about my love for HC.  There's just something about that little academic paradise on a hill that sets my heart pitter patter, and it comes out even stronger in the wintertime.  Much like how Hogwarts always looked prettier at Christmas, Holy Cross feels and looks even prettier under a blanket of snow with greenery and advent wreaths.  Last night, HC hosted its annual tradition of Lessons and Carols.  I didn't steam it, but I'm sure it was merry with the choir singing and candles and greens everywhere.  I went a few times when I was in college, and it's a really nice experience.

This is a stressful time in the life of a Crusader, since classes are wrapping up and finals are going to be underway next week.  It was a lot of not sleeping for me and a lot of cramming to write all my papers and study literary themes or important plays.  We even had all of the student performances during the reading days, so those three days that I could have used as a jump start on papers were spent in the Pit, rehearsing one thing or another.  But it was still very nice, since it signified the end of a semester and visual proof of learning outcomes. 

There was definitely a social aspect to the end of the semester and finals.  Because no one had classes, big lunches used for discussing books and studying happened regularly.  Jess, Karin, Tim, sometimes Erin, and I would also spend hours in Hogan, buying cup after cup of coffee and writing papers on the couches.  At night, we'd all trek to Midnight Breakfast and stay for hours, soaking up all the free coffee they provided while eating egg sandwiches and hash browns.  This was the break we'd need, though often someone would have a book or a paper in hand to edit and hopefully not get coffee or maple syrup on.  It didn't matter what we were doing, we'd make sure we were there every night.  There was also a memorable time when our classmate Ed (now a monk!) was panicking about something and gave himself a bloody nose.

I know I discussed all of this last year, but the feelings of nostalgia came flooding back again.  Why?  My friend Tim has been teaching at HC all semester, and today is the last day of his fall semester.  He's celebrating with pizza (as only one can when you're finishing Milton) and then I am joining him for a later lunch somewhere in the city.  It's been exciting hearing him talk about being back in Worcester and starting on his career path, so spending time with Tim on the last day of classes seems appropriate.  It makes me remember all the winters in Worcester (or while I was in Worcester and he was studying in England) we've spent together.  The midnight breakfast, the coffees in Hogan, the Christmas party where he dressed up like Santa.  All of it.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that I think this trip to Worcester will be the beginning of holiday cheer that I need.  A walk around to look at the greens, see the manger, drink too much coffee with Tim... that'll all bring me to that frame of mind that's ready for Christmas and the holidays in general.  I'm glad that I'm doing it a little older, a lot wiser, a few more grays and a ring on my left hand, and that I don't have to stretch my margins out to get a paragraph onto the 10th page all while trying not to spill in my books so I can try to sell them back to the bookstore.

Every Sunday Morning...

I drink coffee, read Post Secret, and listen to this song.  It's a really nice to start the last day of the weekend and prepare for the week.  I highly recommend it.

Don't cry, shop girl. Don't cry.

I feel like so many womenfolk have their Nora Ephron movie, depending on how you grew up and also how old you were.  While I love When Harry Met Sally and Sleepless in Seattle, my Nora Ephron movie is You've Got Mail.  It's not her best, but it's certainly my favorite.  I was 14 when it came out, on the eve of high school and pining for future adult relationships with all their beauty and messiness.

I wanted to be Kathleen Kelly so badly.  Her cute haircut, her dream job (owns an independent children's bookstore, what's not to love?), her perfectly New York in the late 1990's wardrobe, and her very real trial and tribulations in love.  Oh, and her apartment.  Honestly, if I saw that her apartment was for sale for $10, I'd run away to New York City right now.  For awhile in college, I tried to pull off a similar haircut to Meg Ryan/Kathleen, but grew tired of looking like I was a dandelion on fire.

Kathleen's cleverness and beautiful prose gave me something to aspire for.  I wished I could be so observant and self reflect so well.  I also wish I could write beautiful emails on fancy laptops (we had just gotten a computer and the internet about a year prior, so that was quite appealing).  Sadly, 14-year-old me did not have the capability for that and spent too much time worrying about boys not liking her to craft beautiful email prose.

A sweet and nostalgic soundtrack of Harry Nilsson and Jimmy Durante, with a hint of Carole King, also made my heart soar.  I very much so wanted to have that great NYC life and find myself walking every morning to work, chipper and with a coffee in one hand, all the while singing The Cranberries in my head.

Obviously none of that happened to me.

I read somewhere -- probably NPR -- that Nora Ephron captures the melancholy of your 30's in this movie well.  Kathleen does not save her company and ends the movie unemployed and trying to figure out where to go next.  The ideal deus ex machina of Joe buying her building and letting her run it for free, or finding her a new store, does not happen.  Kathleen's longterm serious boyfriend leaves her for a news anchor (then again... she ends up with Tom Hanks, so it all works out).  Meg Ryan is not as young and perky as she was a decade earlier.  Kathleen's friends disappear, only to hear bits and pieces of their lives at their new jobs.  She can't keep the gang together, just like the shop.

But ultimately, and this might be why I love Nora Ephron movies so much, love and happiness prevail.  Kathleen and Joe court amongst coffee shops and farmer markets, until their "introduction" and plot payoff, to Harry Nilsson's beautiful and heartbreaking version of Over the Rainbow.  It was a mess and hard to get to that point, but Kathleen got there.  She got her happy ending.  All while wearing an adorable cardigan and linen dress.  All the bullshit she put up with at that point was worth it, as she tearfully melts into Joe Fox's arms.

And as I sit here, remembering Nora Ephron and this movie, I realize that she wrote the dream I have for myself, and I'm sure others have as well.  I dream for a messy life with sadness and failures, with melancholy and disappointment.  But that in the end, at the end of the day, there's love and happiness to make it all worth it.  That the good person lives a good life and can be liked and valued.  All while speaking beautifully and with punchy dialogue.

In closing, here is the ending of You've Got Mail, which always pulls at my heart strings and makes me misty.  Thanks, Nora, for bringing 14-year-old me this movie:

Back from Buffalo

Back from a whirlwind weekend in Buffalo for Erin's wedding.  I'll post more photos of it later, but for now... let's take a moment and take in the glory that was ALL THE TIM HORTONS I bought before hitting the road:

So let's break it down.  This is, from l-r, an iced coffee, ground coffee, a breakfast sandwich on a biscuit (so flaky and tasty, a million times better than Dunks) English Toffee Cappuccino mix , and two glazed sour creams.

And so you don't think my entire trip was spent eating doughnuts and drinking iced capps (other than the wedding itself) here's a hipstamatic photo Ricky took of our trip to the Falls.  How wonderful and creepy does that look??

Back at it

First day back at work after 10 days off is always hard.  A whole lotta coffee to get through today.  And tea.  And podcasts.

Midnight Breakfast

I learned earlier in the year that my college President would be retiring.  He put in 12 good years, and was all-around liked by the community, even naming a building after him in celebration of a job well done.  HC's website has been marking the "lasts" of Fr. McFarland's tenure, which is bittersweet for sure.  But today, I read about a "last" that for some reason hit really close to home.

Fr. McFarland is serving his last Midnight Breakfast with the senior staff at HC.  I don't know why, but this struck a chord with me, as Midnight Breakfast was one of my favorite memories of college.  Every night of Finals Week, staff and faculty members would stay out late and serve breakfast to the overtired, overworked Crusaders.  It was a nice way to break up days of stressful studying and paper writing (and for me, play directing) by meeting friends in Crossroads to read, edit papers, and drink way too much coffee while eating egg sandwiches.  I remember in those broke college student days making sure I budgeted enough in that last week to get orange juice, an egg sandwich, and that side of bacon to stuff into said egg sandwich. 

I know that others went regularly, but I mainly remember meeting up with my friends Tim, Jess, and Karin at Midnight Breakfast.  We were also the crew who spent way too much time in the campus center on couches, reading and drinking coffee and being slightly bitchy.  I also remember making plans to see people or study with certain classmates at Midnight Breakfast.  It was the place to go when being in your room or one of the libraries was a bit too much.

Fr. McFarland would always be there night one, happy to scoop out homefries to the busy students, always trading in his priestly attire for jeans and a plaid shirt.  I don't know why, but this always charmed me. 

So I'm sad to see Fr. McFarland leave the community, and it makes me think fondly of my four years at college all over again.  I only hope the next president enjoys his time at midnight breakfast, and has a trusty plaid shirt to don while scooping out eggs.

Halloween in Salem

The Halloween party I normally go to every October isn't happening this year, and for a moment it seemed as though Ricky and I wouldn't be dressing up this year. But then my friend Rachel, a fellow Salem resident, decided to throw a party. Costume ON!

I don't know what it is, though, but I've had some costume malaise this year. No costume idea felt right, or perhaps felt too daunting. I weighed a few ideas, but nothing stuck. I was feeling a Halloween grump. (take that, Christmas, you're not the only holiday with grumps)

On Monday, though, Ricky and I were going to Savers for his Halloween idea (a pirate... but a real pirate, like the ones that are in the ocean now) and they had flyers with Halloween ideas for people like me: people who have no ideas of their own, and also refuse to buy a pre-made costume. One of them was... the slightly overdone but also extremely idea of Holly Golightly.





Aaaaand we have a winner.


I realize that about a bajillion girls before me have dressed up as this iconic call girl, but I'm okay with it. It's easy to pull off (black dress! Big sunglasses! Tiara! Pearls! Cigs!) and easily recognizable. I'm hoping I still have my prom queen tiara, but it's a little doubtful. I don't think I'll get the dress or pearls quite right, but I think whatever I find will do. I also plan on going to Coffee Time before the party to get a couple of danishes and a small coffee to go to complete the look.

Photos will be posted after the party. If you'd like to go down memory lane to see past Halloween costumes, here's a search I did on my Halloween blog posts. I also noticed that I never blogged about last year's costume, so I may need to remedy that later in the week.

So long, farewell!

(I'm not going anywhere when it comes to writing this blog, never you fear)

As I'm sure everyone knows, last night was the season finale of Lost. I've tried several times to get into that show, and try as I might, I just can't. I read how the show ended, and I will not say how it ended... but really, JJ? It definitely had a huge cultural effect on our society, and will go down as one of the big shows of the 2000s.

Yesterday, Ricky and I spent some time remembering other great TV show finales over tea at Jaho. Some of our favorites were:

Newhart: It turns out Newhart was just a dream of Bob Newhart's character from The Bob Newhart Show. Wakes up in bed saying he just had the craziest dream about this weird little Vermont town where nothing made sense, and who turns over to tell him to go back to sleep but... Suzanne Plechette, his wife on The Bob Newhart Show. A - wait for it -mazing.

ER: I will say that this show went down in quality in the last few years (basically when Dr. Green died, in my book) but on a day when a lot of shit went down, an ambulance pulls up, and all the doctors spring to action. I loved this mainly because at a hospital, and especially this one, it's not going to end. Life will go on for these doctors, and there'll be years of drama for years to come. We just won't be there to see it. Life goes on in Chicago.

MASH: The war ends, and everyone goes home, and the whole episode has that strong feeling that these characters will probably never see each other again. This was, for me at least, hard to swallow, since they've been through so much. BJ and Hawkeye voice what we're all thinking, then that memorable aerial shot of "good bye" written out in stones.

Seinfeld: Neither of us really liked this one, it felt contrived and very cheesey. We both agreed they should have gone the ER route, since it should have been a finale about nothing.

Freaks and Geeks: We both freaking love this show, and thought it was cut short. We loved the following: the freak winds up playing D&D with the geeks, and they kind of meld into one; Nick and Lindsey have that moment of realization that they will never end up together; and then, that final moment with Lindsey and Kim. Over the sweet and simple song Ripple. Makes me cry so hard.

The Wonder Years: Kevin doesn't end up with Winnie, and his dad dies young. *sobs*

St. Elsewhere: This is a long joke between me and my friend Erin, that everything is just the daydreams of an Autistic child. Weird, way out in left field, but pretty awesome.

Quantum Leap: It turns out Dr. Sam Beckett is dead and has been dead all along, and his leaping is kind of like heaven/purgatory and that he can never leap home again. (dead all along? Gee, that sounds familiar...)

Six Feet Under: Showing how everyone dies? And that Claire lives a long, full life? Well played.

The Sopranos: Any show where Leo swears that the cable went out at the worst moment and we all freak out, then go "...ohhhh well played" when the credits roll is a-okay in my book.

Jaho

I've had the last two days off from work, so I decided to spend some time at one of my favorite haunts in downtown Salem, Jaho. Locals will read this and say "hold the phone, there are two Jahos... which one are you talking about". For the sake of ease, for this post I am talking about the Jaho across the street from Bunghole Liquors. At a later time, I'll talk about the wholesale vendor and coffee house Jaho down the street.

One thing I like about Jaho is that it seems to exist as a lot of different things to a lot of different people. When I was there, it appeared to be a microcosm of the population of Salem: college students, the retired, hip twentysomethings, artists, and families. If only a witch or a historical re-enactment was getting a bagel here, then it'd be complete. Usually when I visit here, I bring a book or some knitting, so I can sit back and people watch for an hour or so while I enjoy my meal.

I think this has to do with the wide range its menu covers. Jaho offers not only teas and coffees and baked goods, but also breads, desserts, sandwiches, salads, soup, an gelato. Yes, gelato. And from what I've heard, it's homemade.

Their coffees and teas are all pretty standard fare for a coffee house. I've had everything from lattes to tea to chai. All are good and what you'd expect from a coffee house like this, so I won't spend too much time on them. The desserts and baked goods are also standard fare and I believe made off site, so I won't discuss them either. They also seem to have a lot of bubble teas, which were wildly popular when I was in there last, but I opted not to have one, as the texture of tapioca freaks me out.

I recently had one of their lemonades, which was quite tasty. Jaho makes their lemonade fresh, and it tastes it. You can also get an added flavor to it. Upon the suggestion of the barista, I had an apricot lemonade. The apricot blended nicely with the lemonade and sweetened it up slightly. I'll definitely be back to try another flavor combination, such as ginger, watermelon, or chipotle.

Jaho's sandwiches are average. Mainly pressed sandwiches or clubs. I will say, I'm always very impressed with how crisp their bacon is, but it should be noted that it was clearly prepared at an earlier time. The sandwiches are not filling, and not really why you go there.

The gelato, however, is one to note. The flavors available change regularly, depending on the owner's mood, a barista tipped me off on. I'm a big fan of the pistachio, biscotti, and mint varieties. Portions are small for the price, but the flavors are so strong, you don't notice or really care.

The one down side to Jaho is the price, but this comes with the territory of a coffee house. Bagels are overpriced/highway robbery for the quality and size (think Lender's Bagels). Sandwiches are also overpriced for the size of the meal. A small club comes to over $8, perhaps $2 too many.

Night and Day at Sugar Mags

I'm back! I'm back! After a few week hiatus due to work, I am back with some new food reviews, music musings, and the like.

I've wanted to review this Gloucester fave for awhile, but I wanted to wait until I returned for a fresh bite to eat. Well, I got to go back for both breakfast and lunch two weeks in a row, so now I can do a meal vs. meal sort of review. So now the morning and afternoon review of Sugar Magnolias, a popular Gloucester haunt on Main St. Sugar Mags has been opened for years and is always packed for breakfast. Unlike other Gloucester breakfast restaurants, Sugar Mags tries to dress up old standards such as pancakes, eggs, and sandwiches. I'll break this review into Breakfast and Lunch:

Breakfast
Any Cape Ann resident can tell you that getting a table on weekends at Sugar Mags can take awhile or be at times impossible. Most recently, I went there for my birthday breakfast with Ricky. We lucked out this time and didn't have to wait too long, but I've had to wait for about 30+ minutes on busier weekends. A nice touch, though, is that there is complimentary coffee for patrons who need to stand around for a bit. But don't worry, as it's worth the wait.

Sugar Mags' breakfast menu is quite expansive, covering all staples such as eggs, pancakes, french toast, and omelets. Not only do they have traditional flavors, like blueberry pancakes and eggs benedict, but also twists on classics. The last time I was there, I got the crunchy French Toast, and Ricky got the Irish Eggs Benedict. Crunch French Toast is a thickly cut bread coated with granola, then cooked. The granola adds a distinctive flavor and texture, which was nice.

Irish Eggs Benedict is a favorite of mine as well. Instead of Canadian Bacon and an English Muffin, Sugar Mags serves a poached egg and hollandaise sauce over home made hash and grilled corn bread. This version feels far heartier than it's original counterpart. The hash is delicious on its own, but soars in the dish.

I also strongly recommend the Carrot Cake pancakes, plump with carrots and raisins and served with a maple butter. On a prior visit, Ricky and I split an order and had it with eggs. It may be a bit too filling and sweet on its own, but was a nice "palate cleaner" with our more savory dishes.

Prices were decent, especially for the large servings. Our egg dishes came with a generous order of hash browns. Service was spotty, and we had to wait a bit for a full place setting, but I blame that on the very crowded restaurant. Definitely worth a visit if you're in the area and looking for a creative twist on the traditional fare.

Lunch
The following week, we found ourselves back at Sugar Mags, only this time for lunch. It was a very different dining experience. Sugar Mags' lunch menu includes twists on favorites, such as chicken salads, clubs, and the like, but I feel it missed the mark ever so slightly. First off, seating was not an issue this second time around. I don't think it was a fluke, as I've walked past it on other weekends at lunchtime, and have seen many empty seats.

The sandwiches were interesting. I got the curried chicken salad, which included grapes and walnuts. The curry added an interesting flavor, and it was nice to have the grapes add a sweet note and cut down on spiciness. My guest got the chicken club, which he said was tasty, but appeared to be a little greasy and messy. Ricky got a buffalo chicken wrap, and had no complaints on spiciness and amount of blue cheese in the wrap.

The portions seemed a bit less generous at lunchtime. Fries were available, and were plentiful, but if you didn't opt to add fries, you got a single bag of Lays potato chips. Standard fare, and as Ricky said, a little disappointing if you know that a few hours earlier, you could be enjoying fresh hash browns. It seems a shame they don't provide their own chips, or a more substantial brand of potato chips.



All in all, while I didn't hate lunch at Sugar Mags, knowing how great breakfast is, I'd recommend you visit in the morning instead. You'll be pleasantly surprised with their dishes and the ambiance of the restaurant.

Where have I been?

I spent more time at this bench in Forrest River Park than I did being a blogger... my b.

Yes yes, I thought I was starting the year so strong by posting a lot and outlining goals and blah blah blah... then last week was crazy at work, and I disappeared. My bad.
I'll update you on some things in the last week:

--I played bocce in Forrest River park, which was awesome. Reminds me a bit of golf since we went through a course. A great workout.
--Began sewing project #2.
--Finished lace scarf #1, started lace scarf #2.
--Finishing tan sweater (yeah... THAT tan sweater)
--Bowled and it went really well.
--Danced up a storm at my old company's work party.
--PLAYED BEATLES ROCK BAND (thoughts in a later post).
--Had long but good discussions with my boyfriend about us and life.

Oh, and I found an amazing coffee shop near my work.

So... yeah! I've been busy...

Lynde Street Cafe

This past Saturday, Ricky and I decided to treat ourselves to breakfast out since we both had a good full week as part of our "Get Healthy in 2010" goal. While we both liked Reds a lot, I wanted to explore other breakfast places in the area, so we decided to try out Lynde Street Cafe, down the street from the Witch Museum.

Lynde Street Cafe may be a victim of bad location, since we never would have known this place existed if we didn't stumble upon it while talking a walk around downtown in a snow storm. It's very much off the beaten path and not as flashy or well known as Reds or Taste of Thyme. It's also less than a year old according to their website, so they don't have the legacy of the aforementioned restaurants.

One thing to keep in mind if you decide to try this place out: they are not opened on Sundays. I realize every restaurant deserves a day off -- especially since this one seems to be a family establishment -- but I feel like they're losing a lot of Sunday morning business potential with this day off.

Lynde Street offers both breakfast and lunch, but the decor is more geared towards lunch, I feel. The walls were an interesting green with glazed plates on the wall in a decorative pattern. We were one of a few couples in the restaurant at 10:30 -- again, I feel the result of bad location and newness -- so there was no wait. The server was also attentive, even though she forgot my order of orange juice.

I wish I could say that our breakfast was this hidden gem in the downtown area, but it was most decidedly average. The breakfast menu is only about a third of a page, while lunch takes over the rest of the two-page menu. The variety and cooking also reek of an afterthought. I got an egg sandwich with a side of home fries, tea, and an orange juice. Home fries are not listed as a side, but if you ask for them, they'll give them to you. Ricky ordered coffee and a spinach, bacon, and swiss omelet. All eggs are served with toast (he chose wheat) and home fries. Ricky said the toast was quite delicious and soft, but he felt the eggs were a bit dry and nothing special.

My meal could be best summed up as "lacking". I originally asked for cranberry juice, and they replied that they only had orange and apple. I originally asked for my egg sandwich on an english muffin, but they were also out of those, so I had to get it on a bagel. The variety of vegetables you could get in an omelet was also small. My eggs were also dry, but the soft grilled bagel helped mask it.

Loyal readers are now asking "but how was the bacon?" I'm sad to say it was a bit under cooked for my liking. Very soft and the flavors were almost lost with the dry eggs and bagel. I would not recommend getting it on a sandwich.

All in all, while a cheap meal, we both agreed that it was squarely average and that we probably would not be returning again for another meal. The lunch menu seems fuller, and hopefully is better prepared. Hopefully with time, the Lynde Street Cafe will fix their mistakes and improve their breakfast offerings.

A moral work victory

The fucking Keurig Coffee Maker is gone. GONE.

This is more a moral victory for me than anyone else. Back in the day, before I worked in Project Management and I was the lowly department assistant, my job became a catch-all for all the random jobs no one wanted to do or didn't think they should do. Order Christmas cards? Me. Figure out who gets how many pecans for the Christmas gift? Me. Police who's out sick? Me.

One thing I do not do, though, is anything involving food. This is refreshing, actually, because several of my old jobs did. I list:

Greenery: Barrista
Department of Theatre: Make coffee for majors
Kimball Dining Hall: Clean dishes and serve food
HC Admissions: Review restaurants and write podcasts about it. (less about the serving and more about the eating, so I can't complain)
WGBH: Make coffee and cater for meetings


My current job is not listed, note.

Back a few years ago, a colleague of mine came to my desk with this request: "The coffee machine is broken". I thought she first said that the copy machine is broken, so I offered to take a look at the toner and see what's up, and she said back in an annoyed tone "No, the coffee machine". I paused, a little shocked, and said that I don't do anything with the coffee machine. At this time, I didn't even drink coffee.

She then argued that I must know something about the coffee machine (underlying meaning: you're the assistant, and assistants do this sort of thing. I have several Masters Degrees, so I shouldn't have to stoop to this level) and if I could look at it. I countered with there's no way I'd help, because I've never used that machine before. I don't drink coffee, and I don't use the Keurig machine, but because the cafe rents the machine they might be able to help her.

It went like this for a few more rounds, then she wandered off, pissed off that I don't know how to do and fix everything. I told my friends outside of work about this, and every now and again I get texts asking me to fix their home coffee machines.

So when I got word that the machines were going to be retired because we're getting day-long coffee in the cafe, it warmed my heart. And it was gone today. Said coworker won't have to give me the stink eye every time she makes herself coffee. In the battle of Keurig, I WON BITCHES!!


Yeah, this was a random post.