4 bucks might be dumb, but $2.50 for crappy coffee is dumber-er

McDonalds had the nads to erect this sign within sight of the Starbucks headquarters. Nice. It makes me chuckle, but let's look at the facts.

I'm not a coffee snob. I drink coffee out of a plain ol' drip coffee maker most mornings with powdered creamer and sugar.

It was early a.m. a day or two back and I needed some coffee to keep me alert while doing the email inbox grind. I wanted something with a bit more flavor, and Starbucks closes at 10 p.m., so I hit McDonalds for some of their gourmet coffee. I ordered caramel flavored cappuccino. Simple right? Expresso, steamed milk, cream on top, and some caramel drizzle in there for flavor, all neatly placed in a coffee cup with a sippy lid.

What did I get? Coffee in a coffee cup, a frappuchino lid (the ones with domed tops and large hole for a straw) with whipped cream piled up to the top of the cone so high it was peeping out the straw hole. Errr - have you ever drank hot coffee through a regular straw? They'll be treating you for 3rd degree burns on your tonsils. We all know the stories of how hot McDonalds coffee is after all.

When she handed me the drink, she kinda shook it and said "hmm...that just don't feel right. Don't feel like theys 'nuff coffee in thar fo' a large"... I should've been tipped off then that she left the steamed milk out.

I got home and dumped it into a large coffee mug, took a sip and about choked on the sickly sweet caramel flavoring. With no milk to mellow it down, it was just a bitter black coffee flavor with caramel drizzle.

I drank it all. I needs mah caffeine.

Moral? If you want gourmet coffee, go to Starbucks. Go to McDonalds if you want a farkin' hamburger.

(Since this is a poker blog, let me toss in a bankroll update. Well over my $2000 goal, and still have a couple of weeks to pad it (or lose it!) before 2008 is finished. I'm happy. Small stakes hobby that entertains and gives me a year end cash balance. Sure beats stamp collecting.)

'Tis the season of giving...

This wouldn't fit under the tree, but it's my gift!



2008 Honday Pilot SE 4wd

Our Blazer has ~180k miles on it, and it was becoming increasingly unreliable. After spending another $1500 this month to keep it on the road, we figured enough was enough.

FYI - if you're watching the news about steep cuts in car prices, they're not joking. We got between $7000 and $8000 off MSRP. Granted, we told them our next stop was Carmax for a 2006 Pilot if we couldn't get a great deal on a new one.

It was the perfect time to buy a 2008 Pilot for sure. Besides the troubles the car industry is facing, this is the time of year they're trying to clear the 2008 models off the lot to make more room for their 2009's.

I've never bought a new vehicle, since you lose a ton of the value as soon as you drive it off the lot. This deal was just too hard to turn down though, and it was kinda nice seeing "40" on the odometer.

Lest this post seem "selfish" rest assured that I don't normally ask for much or get much on Christmas. I really get a kick out of giving. We're making 3 Angel Tree kids very happy this year, and even bailed my mother in law out a bankruptcy fix. Maybe I'll post about that later...

November has come and gone...

....without a single blog post. I kept meaning to swing over, but just never did find the time.

CEREUS rocks. CEREUS network was formed at the end of November, joining the player bases of Absolute Poker and Ultimate Bet. They also added heads up 7 card stud tables, which is wonderful.

On the webmaster end of things though, it was a huge headache. For over a week our rakeback stats were not able to be updated, while all the nickname changes, retracking of players, so on and so forth was muddled through.

With rakeback earnings from November, and barring a crappy run in the next few days, I'll have hit my $2000 goal for the year. It ain't much boys, but I don't play much either.

When I first went full time in poker marketing with our poker strategy site, I was able to play hours of poker each day "working from home". That's no longer the case. I barely have time to blog about, much less play poker. This is a good thing though. I'll have plenty of time to play after I retire. :)