Local News Headline: "Nasty Night Coming"

We are gearing up for a big storm here. They are expecting strong winds, snow and perhaps freezing rain. We hooked up the horses to the wagon and went to the local general store to load up on provisions. Ok, we hopped in the van and went to Fred Meyer. Rob, such a gentleman, dropped me at the door and about 20 minutes later finally found a parking spot and the very edge of the lot and skated in to find that I was almost done with our shopping. I made sure we had things that we can cook on the camp stove if needed as the last time we had strong winds, the power was out for a long time. We were lucky to only have it out about 24 hours, others had no power for almost a week.

At the store I ran into one of my neighbors who was so worried about the power and what to do about the food in the fridge. Duh, their garage is totally an icebox right now, probably too cold! I figure the laundry room in my house is a tad bit warmer than the garage, so we can just make that area the fridge. I don't think food spoilage will be an issue.

The store was a zoo. I don't think I've ever been there when they had all 22 registers open. They had 4 u-scans, 4 Express lanes, and the rest were miles long. No one wants to be caught unprepared.

We are prepared with flash lights and candles and logs for a fire. We can cook out doors as long as the wind doesn't knock us down. I have my lexan coffee press and my jet boil stove that boils water in 90 seconds. As long as there is coffee we can survive.

The cats won't like the wind and won't like not having the heat registers blowing on them. But they will survive by cuddling with us. Not that we want to cuddle Figaro. We heard terrible squawking in the back today. Fig had a bird. A beautiful woodpecker. This is the second bird I've seen him with this week. We also had to very large mice left at the door. I know that cats are just doing what cats do, but I still makes me sad. My neighbor to the back, heard the commotion, saw what was going on and closed her curtains. I bet she hates my cats.

Please don't let us lose power. I can deal with the weather, I just hate being without lights and heat!

Winter Storm Watch 2008.....

Danger Jim from the local TV station warned us of the impending winter storm coming our way. We need to gear up for the worst cold for 50 million years...or something like that. He stands at the beach, waves crashing around him, the wind whipping his perfect hair. Oh, the wind, gusts to 100, no, 60, no, 45 mph are expected. It will be a winter wonderland when we get up.

At 6pm, we took Nik to a friend's house and on the way we saw a transformer or insulator explode on a electric pole, there was about 3 bright flashes. We were impressed, having never seen this before. Of course this meant her friends were in the dark. Luckily they were all going to church. (yes, my daughter was going to church and we were going to a party, sinners all the way)

Well, we were at this party and got home at 11:45pm last night and there was a dusting of snow on the ground. We snuggled up, warm in our bed. At 5:30am the cats got me up. As I let them out, I braced for the impact of being snowed in....eh, there was a sloppy wet dusting of snow, er, slush on the lawn and it was raining. The cats spent about a minute out, then plopped down in front of their bowls for breakfast. I fed them and went back to bed. I chatted with Rob about "Winter Storm Not 2008" and told him a fed the cats so if he got up before me not to fall for their terrorist demands.

I crashed until 9am. Came down to the aroma of coffee and scones (love the man who cooks!). He informs me that he also fed the cats. Then smacks himself in the head. "But they acted like they were starving! I forgot what you said!" Now our well fed cats are sleeping off their feeding orgy by laying on the heat registers.

I'm happy, there is no snow, we have power, I got coffee and scones and Rob is planning on cooking dinner too!

What the Buck?? er, Starbuck

A while ago I wrote about a problem I had with Starbucks and that I did not have a satisfying experience at one of their stores. I had emailed their customer website to explain my situation. They promised me free drink coupons. This was in September.

Last week I emailed them again and said this: "I have to tell you that I did appreciate the sentiment behind the kind email that was generated due to my poor customer service experience. I was touched that you thought to send coupons for free beverages. I probably would have returned to Starbucks if I had ever received the coupons but after 2 months I figure it's become a non issue and I'm not going to get them. We had a great time together and I'm sure we will see each other from time to time but I'm just one customer and losing my business will not effect your company's bottom line and I do prefer other coffees and mostly just patronized your stores for the convenience."

Then the next day I read this in the Seattle Times: Profit takes big hit as Starbucks readjusts to bad economy
It's been a rough year for Starbucks, which saw a 97 percent profit drop in the fourth quarter and a sharp decline in traffic and spending at U.S. stores.

So now I'm feeling guilty that my boycott really may have effected the company and I feel badly for sending such an unfeeling email when they are definitely suffering. So I am going to go back to Starbucks and use those coupons that came in the mail yesterday. Okay, that won't help their bottom line at all, but I get free coffee and that's what is important.

Appliance Angst

Have you seen the commercial about the washer that stores 6 months of laundry soap in a dispenser? How do they know it's 6 months worth? We do tons of laundry, way more than my sister who lives alone does. So is this based on what the average family does in 6 months? And I want to know how dirty these so called 1.5 kids get. I want he machine that folds it and puts it away.

How come my coffee maker only stays on for 2 hours? I don't drink it that fast and I'm always having to microwave the last few cups because the damn thing shuts off. Ok, so I bought the cheap model, but I'm constantly killing Mr Coffee and I'm not going to burn out an expensive one.

Why doesn't my toaster toast the same every time? I can toast 2 slices and then put in 2 more and these are always darker than the first pieces. Ok, cheap model here too....maybe a pattern?

Why does my vacuumn cleaner make weird noises but I can never figure out what it is? And why does it smell like the belt's burning but when I take it apart, I can't find anything and it's fine when I put it back together?

And why oh why, does my toilet only keep running when I don't stay and wait to see if it will run but it won't keep running if I wait?

How come 5 minutes of sex seems like a blink of the eye but 5 minutes in the microwave is forever when you're hungry?

Starbucks

I had an incident at Starbucks yesterday. It's my own fault. I expect bad things to happen so they do and then I huff and puff about it. I should just know better.

I was on my way to work (I like saying "work" as I haven't "worked" outside the home for 6 years, I'm so proud) and I figured I had more than enough time to cruise thru Starbucks and get my favorite drink - Grande Mocha Frappuccino Light. They are only 140 calories, are artifically sweeten and I like the taste. Ok, a regular cup of coffee with splenda and coffeemate is only 35 calories but it's not as fun and tasty.

I pull into the drive thru and there are a couple of cars in line. The car in front of me goes to order and I've rolled down my window to wait my turn and can hear her ordering. She must have been the last person in the free world to have never been to Starbucks before. She is asking for descriptions of the drinks and the food and is getting feedback from the toddler in the carseat. Finally she completes her order and its my turn to order. I say "a Grande Mocha Frappuccino Light please". She says, "Grande Mocha Frappuccino." I say "a Grande Mocha Frappuccino Light". She says, "Grande Mocha Frappuccino." I say, "Light" She says, "Right" At this point, I should have figured out my order was doomed.

I pull up behind the lady with the tot and she is being handed her drink and goodies. She takes a sip of her drink and I hear her say, "oh, this isn't what I wanted, let me have a latte instead and could you make a cocoa for my son." The barista takes back her drink and makes her new ones, gets more money and finally they go on their merry way. I get to the window and pay. She says, "coming right up". She tries to hand me my drink and I say, "That's not a Grande Mocha Frappuccino Light!" She says, "It's a Grande Mocha Frappuccino." I said, "Light" She says, "You said Right" I said, "I can't have this drink, it has too much sugar and I'm not allowed to have it." She says, "Oh, I guess we can make you a new drink." It's now been 15 minutes in the Starbucks drive through and I am going to be so late to my job now. So I said, "Just give me back my money, I don't have time to wait for you to make me my drink." She says, "I'll have to get someone to open the register." Finally I get my money and go on my way. I'm 10 minutes late to work and it wouldn't have been a big deal except I had to pick up supplies and be somewhere ASAP.

And do you know what is truly pathetic? After I finished where I needed to be, I went to Starbucks for that damn Grande Mocha Frappuccino Light. I was fixated on it. I had to have it! And I enjoyed it thoroughly. And what is more pathetic, I am sitting here, practically drooling, thinking about going out and getting another Grande Mocha Frappuccino Light this morning before I do anything else.