SW dispatch

It's (all) about the coffee

Finally, a superb breakfast and a great cup of coffee.

Breakfast was an omelet with an actual fruit cup instead of a leftover canned fruit cup. The omelet was light and airy and yet full of the fillings I asked for. The coffee was a light-roast S.American (my favorite!) picked from 4 real selections and 2 fakey-decaf selections.

Finally. For the past couple of weeks, I've been up early in Vegas and various parts of Arizona only to find that all breakfasts are crappy. Which is not too much of a surprise, but you know what? Somewhere there should be a solution. (Admittedly, the $5 steak-n-eggs breakfast at Bill's in Vegas was perfect after the night of $1 margaritas, but that's unusual breakfast. Same with the In-n-Out burger second breakfast on Sunday of New Year Fest.) There is at least one more place in Vegas to check out, and I'll be in LA for at least one early breakfast, but really? I've got to work to track down a place for a great breakfast? And why can't anyone make coffee? Anywhere? This is what drives folks to Starbucks (that and the ubiquity of Starbucks as an "alternative".) Their coffee is way above average, but it pales in comparison to a true coffeeshop. (That said, I've not tried the Clover yet. Anyone up for a fieldtrip to Boston? Oh wait... since the Starbucks TakeClover denies the existence of non-Starbucks Clovers, we have to sleuth to be reminded of places like Cafe Grumpy in my own pseudo-backyard.)

Anyway, the point is that coffee, with or without this Crazy Clover Machine (or the other Crazy Machine) has complex flavors and the notion of "coffee-flavored" is reductionist at best. Like all else, variation is beauty. The normalization that we humans put into the process (witness our mass-produced, easily palatable but ultimately non-distinct food-products at any (non-)local chain restaurant.) is artifice. Manifestation of the human need for an illusion of control over the future (much like cellphones used to call folks when you arrive at a destination and find yourself GASP! All Alone for a minute or two. Instead of accepting divergence, we ask our gadgets to verify the veracity of that patently false [equa/assump]tion: all=alright). The preference for the known over the undiscovered country (if you don't know that reference, I'm not pointing it out for you. Go to school, read a book or get flagellated with a folio until it passes through your extra-thick skull) pervades even our selection of food.

Oh, and the cinnamon rolls are really good with a Stout Coffee rather than a regular cup.

Lesson: Take pride in your work, whatever it is. Encourage others to do the same. As Atmosphere tells us in "Guarantees" The only guarantee in life is life worth dying for." Or take the wisdom that k-os lays out for us in "Valhalla":

"The life you've been looking for is the one that you've led."

So... stop giving me compromised coffee, assholes.