I Think the Coffee Machine at Work is a Dude!

Flavia Machine via dickster1961

We have a Flavia machine in my office.  For those of you who do not know what it is, it is a single serve brewer that uses individual pouches to brew a cup of coffee or tea.  It can also be used to make cappuccinos and mochaccinos by combining two different pouches.

Unlike my Keurig K-Cup brewer, the Flavia machine has a sensor under the spout to prevent the brewer from brewing if there is nothing beneath the spout to catch the hot liquid.  I hate to admit this, but there has been more than one occasion when I began brewing a K-Cup and forgot to place a mug under the spout.  What a mess!  Sometimes you just operate on automatic first thing in the morning, and accidents happen.

Recently, I have been having a few issues with the Flavia machine at work.  As you can see in the picture above, when the machine is brewing, the liquid flows straight down, directly into the mug.  On more than one occasion, the machine has been a little less than accurate with the brewing of my beverage.  Instead of the drink flowing straight down into my mug, the drink sprayed either behind the mug or off to the side.  Not only do I not get a full beverage, but then I have a mess to clean up.

It reminded me of my when my son was learning to urinate in the toilet.  Let's just say that his aim wasn't the best.  Not that I myself am not subject to occasional bad aim, especially if I wake up in the middle of the night and need to relieve myself.  Sure, I have all sorts of reasons...er excuses.  Perhaps I didn't turn on the light because I didn't want to disturb anybody, perhaps I was sleepwalking, or I just didn't put on my glasses and couldn't see.  So that is the reason I think the coffee machine at work is a dude.

Locked Out

I hate when I do something stupid.  Well, maybe stupid is too strong a word.  Maybe a better term would be absentminded or forgetful.  I tend to do most of my absentminded stuff in the morning before I have had my morning fill of coffee.  Though that doesn't mean that I am immune from it at other times of the day.  My wife says that I suffer from Craft disease-I "Can't Remember A F---ing Thing."

One example of my early morning forgetfulness due to lack of coffee actually occurred while trying to prepare my first cup of joe.  I fired up the Keurig coffee maker, put in a K-cup, and pressed the brew button.  The only problem was that I forgot to put a mug on the Keurig to catch the coffee in as it brewed.  Thankfully it wasn't too much of a mess.

The coffee making fiasco only happened once, well nearly twice but I caught myself the second time.  Most of my early morning forgetfulness involves keys, as in, forgetting to put my keys in my pocket before heading out the door to work leaving me locked out of my car and my house.  Fortunately, each time this has occurred, the wife has been home and I had my cell phone with me so that I could call and wake her up to let me back in.

I had another incident with getting locked out of something when I got my current car.  After the car salesman dropped the car at our house, I was checking things out.  Most of my recent vehicles had automatic locks so that you locked the car by pressing a button on your key chain.  This one has good old fashion manual locks.  As you can probably guess, I put the keys down inside the car, shut the door, and locked the keys in the car.  We had to have roadside assistance send out an emergency locksmith Calgary.

Of course, getting locked out of your car or house isn't the only reason you might need a locksmith Calgary.  Our house is getting up there in years.  We had a front door lock that kept sticking.  Sure, we could get in, but it was getting harder and harder to turn the key.  Another problem is that my wife suspected that her sister, who had a spare key, was sometimes visiting our house when we weren't home and helping herself to a thing or two.  So, we ended up changing the lock on the door.

I haven't had any recent bouts with my early morning forgetfulness.  I try to make sure that before I head out the door that I have everything I need before closing the door.  That means patting myself down to make sure I have the keys and the cell phone. Still, my wife still maintains that I am suffering from Craft Disease as I tend to forget some small details of conversations she claims we have had.  At least I haven't locked myself out of anything recently.

San Francisco Bay Coffee

Back in January, I took advantage of some gift cards and cash Christmas present to purchase myself a Keurig coffee maker to replace my little Mr. Coffee 4-cup drip coffee maker.  I really do love the convenience of being able to pop a single K-cup into the brewer to make one cup at a time.  Each cup is brewed fresh, and there is none of that burnt taste that sometimes accompanies a cup of coffee that has been sitting on the heating element of my old Mr. Coffee machine.  Some of my favorite varieties are Tully's Kona Blend, Green Mountain Nantucket Blend, and Dunkin Donuts brand coffee.

The one thing that I do not like about the Keurig coffee maker is the cost of making a cup of coffee.  I usually go to Target to pick up my K-cups.  They have 18 count boxes that usually sell for around $11 or $12 per box.  So, a cup of coffee ends up costing me 60-65 cents per cup.  My local Giant grocery store sells 12 count boxes for around $9 per box, or 75 cents per cup.  So, you can see why I usually go to Target.  I am considering buying a box of 80 from BJ's Club Warehouse for $40 to get my cost down to 50 cents but that is just too much to lay out at one time.

As I mentioned on Sunday, my wife and I drove out to visit our son for a bit.  After our visit, we needed to stop at the grocery store to pick up our weekly groceries.  Since hitting the Giant was going to be much later than my usual grocery shopping trip, I did not want to make two stops by going to Target to pick up my coffee supplies.  I decided to bite the bullet and get a box at Giant by paying a bit more per cup for the convenience of making just one stop for shopping.

During my trip down the coffee aisle, I saw a variety of coffee that I had not seen before, San Francisco Bay Fog Chaser.  They had a 12 pack box for only $6.49, or a little more that 50 cents for a cup.  I figured it was a small price to pay to take a chance on something new for my coffee fix.  I brewed my first cup of it this morning for my commute into work.  I have to say I was quite satisfied.  It is a rich, deep brown brew with a full bodied taste.  Just the way I like it.

There was one other thing that I noticed about the San Francisco Bay coffee.  When I opened the box, I noticed that this was not your ordinary K-cup.  If you are not familiar with K-cups, they are a small shot sized plastic cup of ground coffee with a built in filter.  When you put it into the brewer, a hole is punctured in the top and and bottom.  Water is forced through the top hole and empties out through the bottom for your cup of coffee.

The San Francisco Bay coffee did not have the plastic cup.  Instead, it had the familiar lid and in place of a cup was a sealed filter pouch containing the coffee.  You can see the difference in the picture above.  Upon closer examination of the box, I noticed that the company, The Rogers Family, is very concerned about environmental issues.  They have listed on the box a number of their projects to help improve the environment when it comes to the making and processing of their coffee.

I do not go out of my way to purchase "environmentally friendly" products.  The reason is simple.  Those things usually end up being more expensive.  The San Francisco Bay coffee is an item that is both environmental friendly, and in this case is actually less expensive.  Plus it is a great cup of coffee.  It is going to be one brew that I will be buying on a regular basis.

I Love Coffee

Image via WikipediaI love coffee, but it hasn't always been that way.  I guess you could say that it was an acquired taste for me.  When I first started drinking hot, caffeinated beverages in the morning, I started with tea.  Drinking tea was an adventure for me.  I really got into trying all of the different varieties of tea available in the grocery store.  My favorites have been Earl Grey and English Breakfast teas. 

Eventually, I moved on to drinking coffee in the morning.  My approach to drinking coffee mirrored my sense of adventure when I went out to discover coffee.  Instead of going with the standard ground coffee that you can get in the grocery stores, I ventured out to the gourmet coffee shops to see the wide variety of coffees available.

I bought myself a nice little coffee grinder and bought my coffee in whole bean format.  Grinding my beans gave me a fresher taste to my morning brew.  I tried all kinds of different coffee; Kona from Hawaii, Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee, coffee from different parts of Africa and South America.  Eventually, I moved on to Starbucks drinks.  This time of year, I love Egg Nog Lattes.  It is a rare treat for me these days, as I have moved back to drinking grocery store coffee.

I have been thinking a bit more these days about going back to more variety in my coffee.  Every now and then while browsing the store shelves, I look at the wide variety of Keurig K-cup coffees that are available and think I would like to get a Keurig machine to replace my little 4-cup Mr. Coffee coffee maker.  Since I am the only coffee drinker in the house, the Keurig machine and the 4-cup Mr. Coffee is perfect for me for the small amount that it makes. 

In addition to the K-cup coffee, I was browsing my local Giant grocery store last week and looking at the variety of coffees that they had available in their coffee aisle.  They had Kona blends, Sumatra blends, different South American and African blends.  They are a little more expensive than the Columbian ground coffee that I have been getting, but not that much more.

I don't think that I will ever go back to grinding my own beans again, but I would like to add some variety back into my coffee drinking.  One of the few things that I would like for Christmas this year would be a Keurig coffee maker.  With their My K-cup filter, I can also use my favorite ground coffee to make a cup as I need them. 

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Saving Money

Image via WikipediaA few years ago, we went through a particularly rough financial stretch.  I won't bore you with all of the ugly details, but suffice to say it was an extremely difficult time.  It was particularly tough on me whenever anybody wanted to do something special, especially if it was a gift for somebody or a very special event for a family member.  We just did not have the extra times.

During that stretch of time, I learned to save money whenever I could.  I went from buying Starbucks Coffee drinks on a daily basis, and sometimes twice a day, to brewing my own, usually with store brand coffee.  Forget about going out to lunch, I was the brown bag king.  Whenever I would go to the grocery store, with a few essential items, I would only buy sale items or store brand items to save money.

One of the biggest expenses a family has would be their auto expenses and maintenance.  It was tough even to have cash available for even basic maintenance.  Repairs and things like tires were even more difficult.  A financial adviser that I had spoken to had recommended buying used tires instead of new the next time I needed tires.

About two years ago, I had my first experience with buying used tires.  My initial impression was positive, so much so that I even wrote a blog post about it.  I desperately needed two tires for my wife's car.  New tires would have been nearly $100 plus all of those nice little extras the tire shops add to the final price.  When I bought the used tires, the two cost me about $80 compared to well over $200 for new.

Unfortunately, one year later, I ended up needing to replace those two tires, and needed two more of the original tires.  I started to think that in the long run that new tires would have been cheaper in the long run, but I still did not have the money to do so.  I bought two more used tires for the front of the car, and then a few months later I bought two more used tires for the rear of the car with the hope that they would last until I could afford to buy new tires.

I was starting to see that all four tires would need to be replaced soon.  Fortunately, I happened to have a little spare cash available right now.  Earlier this week, my wife called me to inform me that she had skidded on the road.  Thank goodness there was nobody around her and there was no damage to the car.  She had already asked me to take her car to Jiffy Lube for service, so this morning after doing that, I took her car to BJ's for four new tires.

Our finances are a little better than they were a few years ago, but they are still tight.  I still look to save money whenever I can and probably will the rest of my life. Whenever I happen to have some spare funds around, I am very reluctant to part with it because I am concerned that an emergency could arise and not be able to pay for it.  However, from here on out, safety is one area where I can't afford to scrimp.  

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Early Christmas Vacation

Image via WikipediaI slept a little bit later than I usually do this morning.  Normally, on the weekend, I get up around 8 am.  When my son is home, I usually get up a little earlier because he tends to be an early riser.  This morning, however, I must have been particularly sleepy because I didn't crawl out of bed until 9:30.

I got up and took care of my usual morning business; brushed my teeth, showered, etc.  After getting dressed, I headed downstairs to fire up the old laptop and fix myself a pot of coffee.  I was going to have a couple cups of coffee, and do a little web browsing before heading out to do my weekly grocery shopping.  Then it was going to be a relaxing day of watching football.

As is so often the case in my life, things don't always seem to go exactly as I planned.  Just as I was about to pour my first cup of coffee, Mrs. Dickster comes walking down the steps to inform me that she had just received a phone call from my son's school asking us to come pick him up.  Needless to say, we were somewhat surprised as his Christmas break was not to begin until December 23rd.

I called the school to speak to the person who had made the request.  She requested that we come pick him up and bring him back after the Christmas break on January 3rd.  We were informed that he was being completely non-compliant and was hitting other kids.  My son has had a history of slapping at people in the past, and we definitely do not condone that behavior, but he usually does not go out of his way to hit others. 

We knew it was going to be a difficult transition for him to be living away from home.  However, I do have to say we were completely taken aback by the request to come get him this early.  For the most part, we have gotten positive feedback from the staff at the school and the dorm.  He has been doing well in class, and had been making some strides in the dorm life. 

There have been some concerns about his eating, but for the most part they said he seemed to be adjusting.  When I spoke to somebody earlier this week, they told me that he had been interacting more and more with the other kids.  My wife had to take some medication out to the school on Thursday, and she saw him from a distance and said he looked happy.

Of course, the holidays are a particularly stressful time of year for anybody.  I guess it can be particularly stressful for a special needs child away from home for the first time.  The hope is that after holiday season when things settle down a little bit at school that he will be able to adjust after things return to normal.  I hope so, though getting him back will be difficult. 

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Pillsbury Orange Sweet Roll Giveaway

Most days, breakfast for me consists of taking a travel mug of coffee and a couple granola bars in the car when I make my morning commute.  It is a rare opportunity for me to have a nice, leisurely hot breakfast.  It is exceedingly rare for us to do it together as a family.  Pillsbury products make it easy for you to have a good breakfast with the family.

The Pillsbury Company and MyBlogSpark recently sent me a special VIP gift pack to try Pillsbury's Orange Sweet Rolls.  The gift pack included a coupon for a free package of Pillsbury Orange Sweet Rolls and a photo album for keeping all those sweet family memories in one place.  This morning, I was able to take advantage of that free coupon and cook up a batch of Pillsbury Orange Sweet Rolls.

It brought back a lot of childhood memories for me.  Most days, breakfast for us growing up was a quick bowl of cereal.  On special occasions, or some Sunday mornings, we would get a special hot breakfast.  Sometimes it consisted of pancakes and often times, it consisted of hot Pillsbury Cinnamon Rolls. For some reason, I always thought they must be hard to make, but Pillsbury makes it simple.  It only takes about 15 minutes to serve some hot gooey sweet rolls.

There is no reason not to be able to start making special memories with your family, even as hectic as things get these days.  In fact, Pillsbury and MyBlogSpark are giving me the opportunity to let one of my readers get started by providing a VIP gift pack for me to giveaway.  Just post about your favorite breakfast memories, along with an email address that I can contact the winner to get their shipping information.  I will select the winner randomly on Sunday, March 14th.

Arrested For Being Nude At Home

I recently started using Twitter.  On my Blackberry, I use TweetCaster by Handmark to read and send my tweets.  During lunch today, I was reading a few tweets when I read one that caught my eye.  It was particularly interesting because it is a local story to the DC area.  Tip of the hat to Leslie Blanchard at The Progressive Patriot who sent the original tweet. 

Last week, a man in Springfield, Virginia was arrested and is facing indecent exposure charges for being nude in his own home.  He was home alone last week and at 5:30 in the morning went downstairs to make himself some coffee.  Since he was in the privacy of his own home, and alone, he did not feel the need to get dressed first.  Unfortunately, a woman and a seven year old child were passing by and saw him through his window.  The woman called the police, and they arrested him.

I don't know about you, but depending on the time of day, I do not always have clothes on when I am in my house.  There have been times when after showering in the morning, if the laundry is still in the basement laundry room, that I have gone downstairs to get clothes,  I have stepped into the kitchen on some of those occasions to start the coffee brewing so that it would be ready when I finish dressing.  Fortunately, I have curtains in the window, so I don't think anybody can see in. 

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