Many of my liberal friends would argue about the wisdom of Ford's pardon of Nixon. The article linked here puts his position in his own words.
I for one have always felt that he did the best he could with a miserable situation. It may well be that this one decision cost him the election in '76, but I don't think so. Ford will neer be known as one of the great presidents. But he was a steady hand at the wheel during chaotic times.
Wednesday, December 27, 2006
Tuesday, December 26, 2006
Kick the $3.75 daily habit
Earlier this month I made the decision to stop going to Caribou Coffee for my daily $3.75 latte'.
I had been trying to convince myself that I enjoyed this extravagance by telling myself that the people wee so friendly and all that I was paying for the expreience, not the coffee which in fact I could make for myself.
Then I had the experience of being treated rudely by one of the employees at my daily stop.
This is a place that I frequented enough that the employees all knew me by name. I spent in excess of $100/month at this location.
But on the morning of the first Saturday in December I stopped in at my usual time and ordered my usual large skim decaf latte'.
After about 5 minutes, Steph, the coffee jockey that morning sniped at me that my drink hd come up 7 minutes ago and that someone must have taken it. While her tone was rude, I ignored it at that point and told her that I hadn't even been there 7 minutes and that I was okay with the mix-up and could wait.
She said something- I don't remember exactly what- that mad eit sound like it was my fault that someone else took my drink.
After 10 minutes of watching person after person getting their drinks- remember that these people are well aware of who I am- she placed the latte' at the far end of the counter and called out "lg decaf latte'".
I did not get so much a s an apology for the mix-up or even an acknowledgement of my existence.
I told the staff at that point that I believed the whole episode to be very rude and that if I did not return that would be why.
Having been convinced that a small amount of familiarity and politeness is not something one should expect to pay for I decided to create for myself a new morning routine.
Breuggers Bagels- just across the street- has a reasonable cup of coffee that would fit the bill for lee money. I went in to discover a promotion going on currently that offers a travelling mug that would provide free refills through 2007. The cathc was that the mug was being offered for $99.
In less than 1 month I have had that same mug refilled already 37 times. If each of those replaced a $3.75 latte' I have already made my initial payment back.
This means that for a reasonable sacrifice - having to add my own skim milk to my coffee and having to clean my own mug- I am in a position to receive free coffee for the coming year.
Add to this that the folks at Breuggers offer a friendly environment as well. Even if the decide to take me for granted that would be only fair since my main ambition is to maximize my value for the next 370 days.
Think of what I can do with the $1200 I will save in 2007- If Neil is listening a concert would be a good idea- I am willing to travel as needed.
I had been trying to convince myself that I enjoyed this extravagance by telling myself that the people wee so friendly and all that I was paying for the expreience, not the coffee which in fact I could make for myself.
Then I had the experience of being treated rudely by one of the employees at my daily stop.
This is a place that I frequented enough that the employees all knew me by name. I spent in excess of $100/month at this location.
But on the morning of the first Saturday in December I stopped in at my usual time and ordered my usual large skim decaf latte'.
After about 5 minutes, Steph, the coffee jockey that morning sniped at me that my drink hd come up 7 minutes ago and that someone must have taken it. While her tone was rude, I ignored it at that point and told her that I hadn't even been there 7 minutes and that I was okay with the mix-up and could wait.
She said something- I don't remember exactly what- that mad eit sound like it was my fault that someone else took my drink.
After 10 minutes of watching person after person getting their drinks- remember that these people are well aware of who I am- she placed the latte' at the far end of the counter and called out "lg decaf latte'".
I did not get so much a s an apology for the mix-up or even an acknowledgement of my existence.
I told the staff at that point that I believed the whole episode to be very rude and that if I did not return that would be why.
Having been convinced that a small amount of familiarity and politeness is not something one should expect to pay for I decided to create for myself a new morning routine.
Breuggers Bagels- just across the street- has a reasonable cup of coffee that would fit the bill for lee money. I went in to discover a promotion going on currently that offers a travelling mug that would provide free refills through 2007. The cathc was that the mug was being offered for $99.
In less than 1 month I have had that same mug refilled already 37 times. If each of those replaced a $3.75 latte' I have already made my initial payment back.
This means that for a reasonable sacrifice - having to add my own skim milk to my coffee and having to clean my own mug- I am in a position to receive free coffee for the coming year.
Add to this that the folks at Breuggers offer a friendly environment as well. Even if the decide to take me for granted that would be only fair since my main ambition is to maximize my value for the next 370 days.
Think of what I can do with the $1200 I will save in 2007- If Neil is listening a concert would be a good idea- I am willing to travel as needed.
Friday, December 22, 2006
Oh the things they will say...
take a look at Media Matters review of the stupid things conservatives said in 2006.
Friday, December 01, 2006
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