Coffee-shop Etiquette

So I had an interesting conversation with my father a few weeks ago. He had told me that sometimes he goes and gets a donut and then takes it too the coffeeshop to drink with his coffee. Now this particular coffeeshop has pastries but not donuts. There is a company in Salem called Great Harvest that does some really amazing breads and scones and muffins and cookies and they supply this coffeeshop with those tasty treats but they do not make donuts.

I told my dad that I didn't think it was correct to bring your own treats to a place that already has treats for you to purchase. I do not know store policy on this but it just feels wrong to me. Well today as I was beginning my morning job search and enjoying my super tasty Americano, I noticed a fellow come in wearing a suit and carrying a cup of Starbucks. Now, the perceived quality of Starbucks coffee aside, it really seemed like the wrong thing to me to carry in another companies coffee to drink in a coffeeshop that makes a totally different brand of coffee. I just do not understand why someone would do that.

To me it is like taking my Big Mac to Burger King. Who does that? Why would you do that? Are you that clueless about things? It just makes no sense to me. It probably bothers me more because of how much I love Broadway Coffeehouse  but I also know myself enough to know that if I was in another restaurant and the same thing happened I would be taken aback by it. It seems a real lack of common sense to me to not drink or eat from the place that you are meeting. They are kind enough to provide you a location and sometimes free wireless and other things. The least you can do is too purchase something from them. Because if you continue to not purchase things then it is quite possible that the place could go out of business and no one wants that.

So in closing please continue to patronize your local businesses and support your community. If you are in Salem then by all means give the Broadway Coffeehouse a try. If you like coffee you will not regret it. They serve Stumptown exclusively and that, my friends, is good coffee.

(Puts soapbox away) 

Direct Democracy

There was an article in yesterdays paper. The Oregonian to be exact that I linked to above. It is written about Direct Democracy in Oregon and asks if it is a good thing for the state. I think the author asks some good questions but his overall position is one that after 1912 all the good that the initiative system brought to Oregon politics was done and now the system has just brought us a bloated constitution and a budget that is out of control because state legislature is handcuffed by the whims of the public at large. In the interest of full disclosure I must add that I have been employed in the past by a signature gathering firm and will do so again if the opportunity presents itself.

I have to disagree. I realize there are problems with the system in Oregon. But, there are problems with every states system and nothing is going to make every voter happy. But DIRECT DEMOCRACY is what makes Oregon special. It is what allows the average voter to have a voice. I may disagree and often I do with where the money is coming from or what the particular issue is that we are going to be voting on. But, I get to vote. In other states I am not afforded even that. There are laws passed without any discussion or input from the voters who put the politicians in office in the first place.


To get rid of this would take the state backwards to a time when the elite where the ones voting and they liked it that way. Yes, Democracy is messy and ugly and that is how it should be. In truth if you want things to be run smoothly then we should install a benevolent dictator. Because, believe me, then things would run smoothly. The budget would be balanced, trains would run on time, and most likely Oregon would be a much quieter place to live. But, this idea goes completely against the so called origins of the United States. I believe that Direct Democracy serves the people best as messy as it is. It allows the people a voice and that voice is loud and sometimes unorganized and ugly but it is a voice.

As far as I am concerned, I would not have it any other way.

1-28-2010 (Thursday)

Good morning folks. It is Thursday and I am back on the train. I just decided that I did not want to drive today so I pulled into Wilsonville and here I am. I enjoy the driving but I was not feeling it today.

Pretty big things going on in my corner of the world. The Presidents state of the union address was last night. I didn't think that he said anything extreme or really thought provoking. If anything I think he has chickened out on his ideas of change and has begun to act just like any other politician and that is sad to me. But, I guess I should have realized that when he asked Joe Biden to be his VP. If anything said "Hey, I am going to say change but really it will be the same old, same old." The presence of Biden should have clued me in. Now granted I did not want the kind of change that McCain was pushing with Palin but I wanted something more then we have gotten from Mr Obama. I hope the next two years may allow for some of that.

In Oregon, the fallout from Measures 66 & 67 is building. It really felt like someone had died yesterday. Because everywhere I turned on Facebook there was someone expressing sadness at the bills passing. Now I realize that there were some pretty heated things being sad and statistics being thrown back and forth about job loss and such. But, the sad reality is that it really did not matter if these bills passed or not. Because in Oregon right now there would be, will be job loss. I think the biggest thing that the bills did was to decided from where that job loss was going to happen either the public or the private sector. The other big thing these bills did was to highlight the differences in what the people of Oregon think is good politics and isn't. When I looked at the county listings of the vote outcome it was pretty obvious that along the I-5 corridor and through the Willamette Valley these counties voted yes. But east of them and south it was a no vote. What this means is that the population centers of the state are controlling the future of the state. While I realize that this is frustrating for people I think that is Democracy and when the populace has a vote well sometimes you have to eat a crap sandwich.

I have also heard a few people mention, one on the radio, that they wonder about voter fraud. I hope that isn't the case. I like the vote by mail system in Oregon and I do not want it to change. I do not think there was voter fraud and until I hear actual evidence of such a thing I am going to continue thinking it was a fair vote that played out along party and population lines.

All of that being said. I think Oregon will get through this. The wheel keeps turning and life moves forward. Big business will stay and return to Oregon. We will get out of this recession and the jobs will come. I am confident of that. I do not think our state is going to go the route of California or Arizona. So hang in there Oregonians there is always sunshine after the rain but we all know that sometimes the rain lasts for several years.

Tuesday, 1/12/10

Hey everybody, here we are on day number two of the work week. I hope things are progressing nicely for everyone. I am doing okay on my end. I had to drive today because I am doing some courier work this afternoon and let me tell you I did not enjoy it. I realize that I have outlined on here before my love for the train. Some people probably wish that I would stop talking about it. But, on the days when I have to drive in I realize how much better it is for me to be able to relax a little bit and not be worried about what the obviously insane person in the car next to me is doing. "Hey! Hey! Stay in your lane! Knucklehead!"

I came to the conclusion today that a lot of my frustration in the car comes from the fact that I do not know where the other drivers are going. When I am on the freeway I tend to drive looking ahead to where my exit is going to be and I do what I can to get over into that exit lane with out forcing my way in or making others slam on their brakes. So I am always amazed when someone comes flying up beside and and forces their way in. Did they not realize this was where the exit is? Or, do they just not care? It is at times likes this that I wish for a megaphone so that I can ask them these questions in what I hope is the most polite manner possible.

We are gearing up for the 'Castle Doctrine' referendum at work. The simplest way to explain it is that going back to medieval times and some would argue that back to the Torah that a mans home is his castle and he has the right to defend it from trespassers. Some states have a clause that before a person can defend themselves or others in their home there must be no chance of retreat. Other states, Texas for one, allow you to pretty much shoot someone if they enter your home. You do not even have to be sure that your life is at risk. They broke in and you shot them simple end of story. The Oregon law will not go that far and it also cleans up some ambiguity in the way the present law is written. The one thing it does that I am the most interested in is that it will stop a land owner from being sued if someone gets hurt trespassing on their property.

I feel like I am okay with that. Having been a landowner I was always a little fearful that if someone climbed into our hot tub and drowned I would be negligent even if I hadn't given them permission and they were in effect breaking into the tub. So I will be watching the debate on this one with some interest. I believe that it will get on the ballot without to much trouble.

I also have been watching with some interest the debate on the two tax measures in Oregon. One raises the minimum tax on business and the other raises the income tax on people making over $100,000 and then $250,000 a year. The debate on this issue has been very heated with pro tax people saying that Oregon will be bankrupt if these do not pass and the anti-tax people saying that these taxes will drive business out of Oregon. I think the end result of this either way it shakes out is going to make things interesting.

Mundane Monday

Good Morning Oregon and the world!! I hope everyone is well this Monday after Halloween. I had an absolutely great drive this morning. While it was partly foggy there were areas where the sun was breaking through and those areas were very nice looking. Traffic was light and seemed to be flowing along nicely and overall it is shaping up to be one of those nice November days that are cold and clear. These are the kind of days that makes it nice to be an Oregonian. All of you who are not from here I would recommend that you come visit. But, please do not move here. It is hard enough trying to get the Californians out of here.

I mean really, I understand that California sucks but pick a different state. Maybe Arizona the weather is more your speed and it is so warm the the ladies wear much less clothing then they do here. It also gets dark and rainy here for a good 9 months out of the year. Oh it is horrible the people who were born here are all pale and hairy with a winter mane. Why just last week I saw a gentleman with a rain coat on and shorts underneath it. Now I ask you what person would want to live in a state like this. There are brewpubs on nearly every corner and the only thing that there appears to be more of then the brewpubs is the coffee houses. I do not mean the dreaded corporate dragon Starbucks either there are actually genuine locally owned coffee houses. I am pretty sure that Starbucks is like Kentucky Fried Chicken, I think they put a substance in their coffee to make you crave it fortnightly.

I have managed to avoid their evil by growing and refining my addiction to the beans of Java. The beans that give me life and intellect. Why just the smell of that freshly brewed cup of coffee is enough to begin to clear the fog from my mind. Then as the coffee crosses my lips and flows over my tongue and down into my gullet its true power is released. The transfer of energy begins and the coffee gives me its gift.

"Thank you Lord of Coffee, thank you for the power that you have given me today." Wait, what's that you say? I will need more coffee tomorrow and probably the day after that? Stronger doses? What does that mean? Soon I will be drinking black coffee like some kind of longshoreman. I highly doubt that. What would the point be if I am unable to add sugar and some cream to it? It does not even taste that good. That will not matter to me. I really doubt it. Oh, my head will hurt so much that I will dump the coffee into a glass and pour hot water over it so that I can get it into my body faster. Why, that doesn't make any sense. I would stop enjoying it. Oh, but I will not stop drinking it because my life will have no pleasure if coffee is not in it.

"It is by caffeine alone I set my mind in motion. It is by the Beans of Java that thoughts acquire speed, the hands acquire shaking, the shaking becomes a warning. It is by caffeine alone I set my mind in motion." (stolen from unknown source with apologies to Frank Herbert)

They sell coffee at the train station. I will get a cup there. Just to keep my hands warm of course. Just to keep my hands warm.

Thursday

Well first off I want to say thank you to the two readers who took the time to answer my question about going back in time. Both Joel and Travis highlighted some historical events that I did not even think of so that was pretty neat. I just wish more of you would have responded.

Well on my daily quest for radio diversity I heard some interesting things. On the liberal station they talked to one of the candidates for the upcoming Oregon Gubernatorial election a man whose name completely escapes me right now. Which does not bode well for him. In a state like Oregon with an ex-Governor running again as well as the founder of Soloflex and the former Secretary of State name recognition is going to be huge and the name of a former business man for Hewlett Packard with no previous government experience is not one that people know. I just heard his name no less then 10 minutes ago and I am totally drawing a blank. I can remember the other candidates names but I am going to opt to not name them for fairness sake.

On the conservative side of the dial they talked about the recent federal governments plan to not go after medical marijuana users. I thought that was fascinating for several reasons. Lets see, leaving aside the moral issues of the drug as well as the differing positions as to whether or not it should be legalised and taxes. I think it all comes down to states rights or Federalism. In Oregon voters have voted to legalize marijuana for medical use. That is our right as a state. Now my personal choices aside and in this case I am in favor of medical marijuana. The key for me is that the state decided not the federal government.

I realize that my position may not be consistent in that I am in favor of the federal government controlling some things. But, I feel that way primarily because the states control so little that any step toward letting a state decide is a good one. I understand that there are most likely bigger issues at stake then letting a state decide to allow the use of medical marijuana or not and it isn't that the federal government is saying that marijuana is legalized but it means that they are not going to be spending resources on pursuing sick and terminal people who just want a little bit of relief.

That is all I have this morning on a foggy Thursday. I hope everyone has a good day. I will talk to you tomorrow.