The "Get Out of Dodge Fund" Edition

So I realized today that I talk a big talk. I've been running my mouth off about how I'm going to leave Tucson as soon as I have the money, well, I wasn't doing anything to get that money. So today, I fixed that problem. I officially started my 'Get out of Dodge Fund'. I thought I needed to do something fancy, like open a separate account to do it, but then I realized that the interest I'd earn on it was null and void and it was just better to grab an envelope and stash money away.

I would advise everyone to start their own 'Get out of Dodge Fund'.

It took all of thirty seconds and I feel loads better. My plan is at least $20 of every paycheck will go in this envelope and all my tips as well. Since today was payday and I worked, there is a total of $31, plus my Patron bottle of loose change. Although, the Patron bottle was supposed to be my 'bail money' fund, I figured it could pull double duty.

If I dip into this money at any time, I owe it what I took plus $20. So, hopefully it will grow faster than I anticipate. $20 a paycheck isn't much when you think about it, but some checks I will be able to put more in and in the next month or so, I should be able to add upwards of $100 every two weeks.

Now, while I don't know the specifics of how this money will be used, the general idea is in place. It's my money to do with as I please. I graduate soon. I will have no real ties to Tucson any more, none that can't survive a little time away from me, that is.

Not all Frozen Coffee Drinks are created Equal.

You don't walk into McDonalds and order a Whopper. You don't go through the drive-thru at Sonic and expect Taco Bell. You shouldn't walk into any coffee shop, expecting the same thing you'd get at Starbucks or Seattle's best. No, this isn't another 'Starbucks is ruining specialty coffee' rant. It's about customer expectations and education.

First and foremost, the coffee shop I work at has a frozen coffee drink selection. We call them Frappe's (Frapp-ie's). We have either a chocolate or vanilla powder base, you can get them with coffee (espresso) or without and your choice of flavors, the typical chocolate, caramel and vanilla or whatever other flavor your heart and our syrup selection desires. It's a pretty self-explanatory process, we throw the ingredients together into a blender and voila, 30 seconds later, you have your Frappe. No secret stuff happens to make frozen drinks oh-so-much better than their hot or iced equivalent. Just more sugar perhaps.

Most other coffee places have something similar. And those of us in coffee have come to expect some customers to order a 'Mocha Frappucinno' whenever they want their drink blended. That's where the problem lies. Let me tell you a story.

This morning a lady came through our drive-thru at Road Runner. Initially she ordered a Mocha, then said 'It's the Frappe, right?' I followed up with 'You'd like your drink blended, correct?', after an affirmative response, I rang her up, made her drink, collected the money and sent her on her way. About five minutes later, she walks through the door, drink in hand. The first thought that comes through my mind is 'What did I forget?'. Our conversation went something like this:

Me: Is something wrong with your Frappe?
Customer: It doesn't taste right.
Me: Alright, what seems to be the matter with it?
Customer: It tastes burnt. Burnt like smoke or cigarettes, with no chocolate taste.

Now, I hadn't had any other complaints about our espresso before. But I pulled a shot just to check if it was the coffee, and no, it wasn't. Now, I will admit that our Frappe's have a rather chaulky taste to them. It's the powder base we use and it's not very good at all. I tried her drink that I made and it tasted like our normal Mocha Frappe's. So I explained how we make them and that she was tasting the powder base and I would be happy to make her another blended mocha, sans the powder.

This is where I screwed up. I assumed that she knew that we, as Road Runner Coffee Co., would have slightly different drinks than what she was used to. Back to the story.

Me: (After making her another blended mocha) I hope this is more to your liking. Sorry about the other one.
Customer: (After taking a sip) It's still not right...
Me: What's wrong? What would make it better?
Customer: If it tasted like chocolate.
Me: Well, what sort of drink do you usually get?
Customer: I guess a Mocha Bruegaccino.

At this point, I was at a loss. I apologized again for the drink and she left. Brueggaccino's are Bruegger's frozen coffee drinks. I've never had one, so I have no idea what she was talking about, but I tasted the second drink I made and it tasted chocolatety, maybe a bit more than usual, but it was good and I had my co-worker try it as well and she agreed.

I guess the moral of this story is that you can't please everyone, not all frozen coffee drinks are made equal, and just because you can say a word, doesn't mean you understand what you're ordering.

Mixing business and family affairs

I almost walked out on my aunt today. When you treat me like an ungrateful employee, I'm going to act like it. I have had many conversations with my aunt about my feelings towards this job. I'm coming to loathe spending time with my family because I'm 'On the clock'. It's not good. So please, don't expect my attitude to change when you suddenly become 'Bitchy Boss from Hell'. I need this job and these hours. If I could get by without it, I would, but I can't. I've crunched the numbers and I have to stay for at least another month, preferably two.

I have never really liked my aunt, sure I can deal with her, put on a smiling face, but I never really liked her. Growing up, she called me 'Nicki' all the time and I can't stand the nickname any more. Anyone who knows me knows not to call me 'Nicki'. I took this position to get a relationship back with my cousin, and I have, and now I really would like to go back to the cool niece and cousin and not 'caregiver'.

Times are tough, but I really don't know if I can put up with this sort of treatment any more.

Some changes

First of all, I've changed my blog title! It's too reflect what I want to do with this blog. I want and need to start writing on a more regular basis and I figure the only way to do that is by focusing on what I know. Hence the new title: Caffeine, Nicotine and the Guillotine.

I chose Caffeine for the main fact that I work in coffee. Anyone who knows me has learned that coffee has moved from merely a hobby to a job and possibly future career choice for me. I want to expound on it, explore it and truly get to know it. I don't by any means consider myself an expert in the field, seeing as I set the bar outrageously high for myself. But I can make a mean latte and have the basics down. In the future, I hope to really immerse myself in the world of specialty coffee and hopefully find another passion in life.

Nicotine represents my biggest vice and another thing I want to focus on in this blog, working on myself. Anyone who knows me knows that I smoke. That's right, I'm an evil, evil smoker. I'm not going to lie and say I hate it about myself. It's not something I see myself giving up or changing any time soon. But I recognize that it's not in my best interest and will more than likely end up leaving me high and dry in the end. It's a problem for me, with me and I want to be able to talk about such things here and hopefully find ways to remedy such situations.

Lastly, the Guillotine. Now, to be frank, the choice of words might be a stretch for some. But it rhymes with Caffeine and Nicotine and is a rather good definition for the last major topic. Theatre. I won't go into how the word choice sums up my views on theatre, think about it, you're smart. See if you can make some connections I can't. And maybe someday in the future I can explain it to you.

So, please stay tuned while I work out the finer points of this blog, I shall be deleted/editing some of my previous blog posts and soon I hope to have a wider following than just my friends and family. It's late. I work in the morning and I'm tired. See you next time!

Sometimes I think that if I sit at my computer typing things, it makes me look like a very important person. Like someone who is connected to people all over the world, or running an ecommerce business, or that I'm a writer with some really important to say. I think in my heart of hearts I want to do something along those lines, or at least have some aspect of my life needing to be documented by type.

So instead of paying attention to my cousin and being a diligent caregiver, I'm sitting here on my laptop writing this blog in order to seem important or that I have something really cool to do. It's silly, I know. But perhaps if I do more of these little blogs, I'll develop into the important computer typer I want to be.

Once again, I've wasted letters writing useless nonsense for people to read. Or just for my own personal gratification. Maybe next time I'll have something insightful to say. Til then.

Agonizing over nothing

Some days, I don't even know why I try. I attempt to get a to-do list done and none of it gets done due to extenuating circumstances beyond my control that all seem to frustrate me beyond belief. And what few things I manage to get accomplished on these days goes horribly wrong and nothing like the smooth sailing I was hoping for. I find days like these so abysmal that I end up getting angry and hurt over the littlest of things, or even, nothing at all!

When I finally reach a breaking point, throwing in the towel on doing anything productive, even my ways of decompressing seem to fail. Food isn't appetizing, company is found lacking, either with or without, movies don't entertain, music isn't melodic, it all seems pointless. Sleep doesn't come either. At least not for a few more hours. But then I find myself completely devoid of caring about my so-called shitty day when I realize that everything I did was for and about myself. I wasn't coerced by someone to go to class, or grab a cup of coffee and read the tucson weekly, I made the choice to do it. And while I may still wake up tomorrow bummed a bit, I know that it was almost all my own engineering and I am content.

Perhaps I'm rationalizing myself out of feelings that need to be felt at times, but I'm so sick and tired of it that it's just easier to be content. I feel better being contented as well. Sleep will come easier tonight because of it. It's when I realize that I was frustrated and agonizing over petty shit that really means nothing in the grand scheme of things that I finally feel like I'm able to breathe and begin my day. The only thing I pity is that it normally takes me all day to come to this sense of contentment and now I have pretty much wasted a day.

This is a pretty sad post to be my first one in the new year, but considering the year that I've had so far, I'm pretty damned proud that I've made it this far without going off the deep end and beating something senseless. I'm going to go get another cup of coffee, or perhaps tea this time, and continue the evening in my contentment. Good night.