An old post, from February. But new to you!

Today we are on a bump in the road north of Tulsa, which is a bump in the road north of Oklahoma City, which is not a place you would want to go if you have any say in the matter. However, the hotel we were dumped in is quite nice, one of the La Quinta marks and features a lady who picked us up from Jude's Health and Java House, which we had jogged to along an autodisaster of a road. She drove a late 90s Lexus, which still seems like a nice car if you keep it clean. Jude's should have a halo over it. Not only do they pour ristretto shots as with all the rusty goodness of someone who has seen a photo of Seattle or Rome, but they make soups with hyphenated names.

Due to the existence of some family members in this area, we learned that Jude is quite a guy and this is his second store. As I imagined folklahomans to be quite against the idea of a tiny cup of coffee for $2, we was pleasantly surprised at their acceptance of our very non-heartlandish habit. Those who are in their 80s and have lived in the center of the continent their whole lives frequently count full-blooded Native Americans among their Grandparents. Back east, there were not as many Natives around that time. Something James Madison or whatever.

mystarbucksidea.com

In case you missed this on their site:

Starbucks is consistently among the worst espresso experiences these days, which was not the case a few years ago. This is the most important issue for me, and the reason I'm always lukewarm to my Starbucks experiences these days. Their PR stunt from last month of closing the stores for 3 hours to re-train employees did nothing at the POS in my recent experience. I would not have noticed it had happened were it not for all the media coverage.

The La Marzocco grinder and auto-tamper system along with a proper espresso machine produces excellent shots and appears to be nearly as quick and easy for an employee. This system can also be tuned by a caring employee to make longer or shorter, deeper or lighter drinks according to a customer's preference. My hunch is that the routine maintenance on a real espresso machine is more complicated and specialized required by these made-like-McDonald's super-autos that Starbucks uses.

As Peet's does quite a bit of volume on the west coast and in Boston, and I can't imagine that the La Marzocco system would be a great hinderance, especially in locations where SBUX is competing with other espresso sellers.

What happened to the Starbucks system of 5 years ago? That was a clear reminder to customer and employee of Schulz's "one cup at a time" philosophy, which has COMPLETELY disappeared with all this automation.

--mike

http://www.flanabrand.com

My Hero(es?)

I am displaying some things like those pictured from a little while
ago, and can't remember if these are the same novelty music performer
or if one is a boy or something. I remember a carnival and singing, or
something, and these people, or person, doing a dance routine.