Sunday.

[elfs]

A Distant Starbucks
Hosted on Flickr!. Click to enlarge.

I don't know if you can make it out in the split photo I posted left, but that's a photograph of a Starbucks store. The left half of the image is taken with no zoom; the right half I closed in on the logo so you can see it clearly. It's attached to the only drug store within walking distance of my house (so it's the drugstore Omaha uses for all her epilepsy medicines even if they frequently screw up either the pill count or the insurance billing). I'm standing 65 yards from the place, right next to the new Starbucks attached to the grocery store. No, they're not closing the one in the photo down. They're keeping both open. They assume that some people are just so damned lazy that they'll willfully buy coffee from the Starbucks at the QFC Grocers that they wouldn't have bought if they had to walk across the freakin' parking lot, and that this will be beneficial to the business of both establishments!

That does it. Whenever I have the option, I'm buying my coffee from the Olympic Roaster down the street. Especially since Starbucks has been inviting maroons like Jonathan Wells to blather on their "The Way I See It" cups. They claim Wells is a "notable contributor to his field." What field is what I'd like to know. They invited him!

Zinc strip.
Hosted on Flickr!. Click to enlarge.

Anyway, I spotted this new construction while Omaha and I and the kids were all out shopping. It was the first fully beautiful day of spring and we took good use of it. I cleaned the the retaining wall on the southwest corner of the house (who knew there was one under all that overgrown ground cover?) and then cleared the moss from the garage roof. I think the zinc strip has lost its potency; either that, or the moss has grown immune and arrogant to the zinc, because it's growing over this chemical that supposedly exists just to keep it down.

 
Hide and seek.
Hosted on Flickr!. Click to enlarge.

We have a strange oak tree. It keeps its leaves all winter long. It kept them through Windstorm 2006!, when we lost all power for days. It drops its leaves at the beginning of spring to make room for new buds, and then I have to rake them all up. Kouryou-chan loves it because it gives her a leaf pile big enough for her to jump into and bury herself completely. Yes, Kouryou-chan is indeed in both photos.

Yamaraashi-chan, however, is too old for such nonsense. At nine, she just wants to sit outside under the tree and read all day. If she had her druthers, she'd rather be inside, actually, but Omaha and I said in no uncertain terms that we were all going outside to get a little sunlight.

Not a lot of cooking, cleaning, or writing. Vacuumed up the floors upstairs, now routine as Spring springs and inundates us with arboreal bukkake. Omaha and I did find time to game.

Comments

[lucky-otter.livejournal.com]

I recall being at an intersection in NYC where at one corner, there was a Starbucks. At another corner, there was a Starbucks. At a third corner, there was construction. And yes, they were putting in another Starbucks.

[casualprofessor.livejournal.com]

This sounds similar to Waverley Place in Greenwich Village, with at least one Starbucks every block. I stopped working in that area about 4 years ago, but back then if you stood at Broadway and Waverley, you could see three Starbucks.

[acelightning.livejournal.com]

[featheredfrog.livejournal.com]

Didja know that the B&N coffee shops are NOT (owned by) $tarshmucks? They simply server their coffee and use the same equipment - they're owned by B&N. At least that's the explanation I get when I ask "where's the tip jar".

Whatever you think of the company, and Foamy aside, It's nice to tip your barista...

[acelightning.livejournal.com]

[sirfox.livejournal.com]

The east coast Safeway grocery store chains often have a starbucks inside, as well as a full cafe attached to the outside as well. While it does seem silly, the one inside the grocery store often has no line.

I admit, i do get stuff there, but only the peppermint mocha frappuchinos. It's more like a mint chocolate milkshake with coffee aftertaste.

Oak keeps its leaves all winter

[(Anonymous)]

If the leaves are green, I suppose it could be
some kind of live oak or scrub oak? Not common
in WA that I know of, but you can see
them in California, Arizona, etc.

Here in semi-mountainous Oracle, AZ the local oaks
keep their green leaves all winter,
even if many inches of snow fall on them,
and finally in spring drop and replace
their leaves.

Re: Oak keeps its leaves all winter

[omahas.livejournal.com]

In fact it's actually a Maple Oak tree...Elf has a tendency to forget the kind of plant life that exists on our property at times. ;)

[http://users.livejournal.com/_candide_/]

Okay, Starbucks is now on my 5h1t-list.

Not, mind you, that I went there all that frequently, anyhow. Where I work, I have far better alternatives within not too far of a walk (Leonidas, Financier Patisserie – both of which serve Illy). And

here at home, there's Hudson Valley Roasters, which roasts all of its own beans, in the store, every Monday (mmmm... yirgacheffe). They server pretty good food, too.