Posted on 19th January 2010 by Ben Krasner in Day to Day Goodies
Annoyances
On the occasion where I swing through McDonald’s for a quick breakfast – come on, you know you love McDonald’s breakfast – I always have to remember to avoid their “new and improved’ premium coffee. To me, it is so terrible that if I forget and just go with my default “coffee…” response at the drive through I end up driving away with a steaming hot cup of something that I will thoroughly not enjoy dumping down the drain.
Their old coffee was fine: simple, basic… hot coffee in a cup. After Starbucks showed everyone that people would buy ultra-caffeinated, over-priced and truly horrendous coffee if you just made it sound and look cool, McDonald’s made the smart business decision to try to take some of that market share and claim it as their own. Only thing is, not all smart business decisions leave a pleasant taste in the mouths of everyone and often there are those on the outside looking for something else. Apparently, this is where I am situated.
I’m not going to call McDonald’s new coffee the worst coffee I’ve ever had – it’s not. I’ve had worse. But this is easily the worst coffee that I have had which has had so much time, effort and marketing behind it. It seriously makes me long for a can of Maxwell House or any of the other typical off-the-shelf brands. It’s so bitter and leaves a horrible after-taste behind it, for me, almost like it’s been blackened. Every time I make the mistake of getting a cup, I try to make it more palatable. Add sugar – no. Add more sugar – no. Add sweetener – no. Add water – no. Poor it out and dilute it with another more favorable coffee – no. Dare I add cream… ? Why? Coffee is not supposed to need cream, or vanilla, or chocolate or Frapp-a-shit-o or anything else along those lines… it’s supposed to be a morning cup of coffee; period!
This morning was one of those mornings where I made this mistake and I am still paying for it. Even a piece of Extra Spearmint gum has not gotten rid of the disgusting taste in my mouth. Thank god it’s almost lunch time; I can eat something and brush my teeth to change this awful taste into something fresher and cleaner. Blech.
On a more serious note… I’m glad that this is the biggest problem of my morning. No traffic accidents, no earthquake devastation , no joblessness, no asthma problems and no ice damming or roof leaking – I’m pretty thankful, today.
Posted on 9th October 2009 by Ben Krasner in Day to Day Goodies
Annoyances, Ohio Turnpike
So, I decide to take the turnpike route on my way to work this morning. After cruising along for the normal amount of time I exit and look forward to quickly paying my $0.50 toll. Instead i come upon cars an trucks backed up all the way down the exit ramp a bit and ‘organized’ in two columns. Upon quick guesstimate I figure I am probably in for about 10 minutes of clutch-riding-never getting-out-of-first-gear fun, when the entire turnpike ride took only about the same amount if time.
For those that don’t already know, deciding to take the turnpike route to work, for me, is about the same as deciding to order food through a drive through window or via the phone rather than walking into the place to order from the counter. On the one hand things are supposed to work smoothly and more quickly as people are generally of the same ilk in drive through – all looking for speedy service and potentially placing quicker (smaller) orders. Yet, on the other hand, you know there could be a soccer mom in front of you ordering a car-load of happy meals – some no pickle, some no onion and some with a specific toy – or an employee of the establishment who just doesn’t have their act together who could brig your plans for “faster and easier” to a screaching halt. So, too, is my decision to take the turnpike to make things faster and easier a decision that can just as easily get me into a situation that actually takes longer or which makes the ride that much less enjoyable. And today was just one of those days.
There were three toll lanes open for those exiting the turnpike at the Lorain – Elyria exit where I jump off onto route 57 that takes me to I-90. Two lanes were marked for ticket payers (those without EzPass) and one for only EzPass users. Each of the ticket lanes had 30 or so cars backed up, but there sat the EzPass only lane – practically unused. Only an occaisional vehicle drove through the lane to pay while rolling through at about 15 mph. It was just begging all of us ticket payers to take notice of the obviousness of the situation. An if it wasn’t obvious enough, it sure became so when two tractor trailers hauling covered cargo rolled right through and disappeared into the distance while we all kept waiting to move the next 10 feet.
