Starbucks @ MindSay

Well, this story is kind of odd. I have been house sitting the past couple of days and will be for the next couple of weeks. The people I am sitting for are librarians. He is in tech services for the library. He set me up with the password to his wireless so I can be online at his house. All was well for a day until the internet went out.

Yeesh.

 

Normally not that big of a deal but I am making a birthday gift for a friend whose 60th party is on Saturday and I need the internet to get the gift done and I am running out of time. One of the things I needed to do before using the internet was scan some photos into my computer. I headed home yesterday to use the scanner there (didn't work...long story) and while being frustrated by technology, I happened to hear an advertisement for Inside the Actors Studio. I LOVE that show! I hardly ever get to see it because it is on Monday nights and I always work Monday nights. Anyhoo, yesterday's episode was featuring....drumroll please....BON JOVI! I super duper heart Bon Jovi and am, in fact, going to see him in concert in April. (I just got tickets last week!) Okay, so Bon Jovi is going to be on that show with the kickass James Lipton and they hardly ever (if ever?) have musicians on there. I was psyched--until I realized that I wouldn't be able to see it. The people I am house sitting for have TiVo but no cable, so SOL for me. Flash forward to Tuesday.

 

Since I didn't work until 6pm tonight I figured I'd use today to work on the present. Alas, no internet. So I tried to figure out a solution and what I came up with was this:

 

I would go home and use the free internet there. 'Cept, home is more than 20 minutes away. I figured that'd be pretty out of the way and I could find something closer. Then it hit me. I was staying mere blocks from Grand Avenue (a major shopping area) and they simply MUST have a Starbucks in that area. I thought I heard that S'bucks has free wifi--so I figured this would be cool. A nice hot chocolate (did I mention I don't drink coffee and am therefore unfamiliar with the counterculture that is Starbucks?) and some work on the gift then home for lunch. Turns out there is a S'bucks only moments from their house and I bought my Hocho and settled in. GRR. Guess I had heard wrong. They do have free wifi, but only if you are a member of some stupid buying program and would I like to sign up? Hell no.

 

Thinking quickly, I decided to travese the three miles to Hamline (by car, I wasn't that ambitious). I got here. Logged in and found that I couldn't download what I needed bc of Hamline's firewall. F$#%!

 

But then, aha!, there is always the public library. I know there is one only blocks away from Hamline. So I head there, go inside and log in. Everything was ticking along nicely when it suddenly booted me out of the system. I logged back in and tried again...seemed okay then I got booted again! WTF? The guy working there was 110 if he was a day and he couldn't help. So I configured my card to work at the St. Paul Public Library system (making five systems it is now active in-awesome!) and headed back to the car.

 

I don't use wifi very often in public and I was out of places to go. After all this time avoiding driving 25 minutes there and back I was now left with that as my only option. And realize that I had spent 90 minutes thus far running around town getting jack shit done. Homeward bound, I was.

 

I got home and let myself in at 12:59pm. I set my computer on the counter and grabbed the tv remote. I figured while it was downloading I could watch some mindless tv. I flicked on the tv and switched it to Bravo (they usually have reruns of Project Runway or Top Chef on during the day) and literally, at that second, a new program was starting. It was--no kidding--the Bon Jovi edition of Inside the Actors Studio! Holy shit!

 

I had spent the morning thinking what a waste it all was and how annoying my day was turning out to be. But, if I had come at 11 when I first started I would have been done and gone by 1pm and missed that episode. So, my powers of aligning the universe were alive and working subliminally the whole time and this turned out to be a great day. Synchronicity at its best.

 

Sometimes it totally pays to be the Mistress of the Universe.

 

In other news, I received an email from my buddy Jan and in it she told me that the coach of the Buffalo Bills was just fired. She was being funny--as she was the only person to defend the moron featured in this story. She claimed she was only playing devil's advocate, but since she is actually FROM Buffalo (or Bflo as Buffalonians say it) I have to wonder......

 

Man do I hope that this kid has enough sense not to buy another billboard to thank the powers that be for firing this guy. Can you imagine the rant I'd have to go on?

 

Thanks for the heads up Janny-Jan-Jan. (See people, that's how you get your name in lights!)

 

Plus, Jan has sworn fealty to the Mistress of the Universe, so she knows it is her duty to send interesting information my way....

For about a month now, I've been looking forward to my free birthday drink from Starbucks. And today I got it...barely.  Apparently, the kid who rung me up ran my card through and it charged it after I specifically told him about the complimentary birthday drink (ha ha?). 

So he said, "Yeah, I dunno it swiped the card."

And I said, "Well, could you get someone that's familiar with the procedure, because I don't want the drink if it's not free."

Basically, all is well now. But it was quite a narrow escape I tell you! ;)

This morning I went to Starbucks. They are giving away a free pastry w/the purchase of a beverage until 10:30 AM.

So...   I got a raspberry sunshine muffin and I'm thinking this is pretty good (the deal, not the pastry. It is not the best in the world).

Still, a free lunch is a free lunch (free breakfast in this case, yeah I know ;)).

So I get the frappucino that I PAID for and the whipped cream is melted. And the frapp kinda tasted watery. I'm like...what is this?? I can't believe the whipped cream was flat. It didn't taste bad, but since it wasn't fluffy, it's like a souffle that wasn't made right. And that is no souffle at all, but a baking disaster!

Suggested Tags: "free ice cream"
No, but I wish!! ;)

hi there, i just found this site and it is really cool. as far as starbucks v. mcdonalds goes i feel that this is just
the free enterprise system which we have in this country at work. Let the customers decide which kind of coffee
they want to drink  and what company they want to deal with.

as far as i go four dollars for a cup of coffee is just a little bit ridiculous

mike linley, sr
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