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Showing posts with label Starbucks. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Starbucks. Show all posts
Friday, September 23, 2011
Coffeehouse observation No. 344 – Funny barista rant song!
[OK,
this is funny. True, he might go a little overboard, but haven’t we all wanted
to rant like this about something or other. Too bad Starbucks couldn’t take a
freakin’ joke. – KM]
Thursday, January 20, 2011
Coffeehouse observation No. 257 -- Starbucks’ Trenta: Everything you need to know about the 31-ounce cup | AOLNews
Coffeehouse observation No. 257 -- Starbucks’ Trenta: Everything you need to know about the 31-ounce cup | AOLNews
[Seriously, anything this big really should come with a lifeguard. – KM]
Thursday, November 18, 2010
Crossing fingers after phone interview marred by no bars, technical problem
I had a fairly good telephone job interview this morning, despite equipment problems on both ends.
And despite me stumbling over some of the questions.
Some of the problems started this morning when I tumbled out of bed and checked my cellular phone to make sure that it had charged overnight. I was immediately troubled to see no bars, not one.
“OK, don’t panic,” I said to myself, of course, leaving out here the expletives. “I’ll just whip up some congee, grab a shower, and check the bars again. Perhaps a T-Mobile tower is down or something and it will take a bit of time to get it up again. If all else fails, I’ll make a run to Starbucks, troll for a cell signal, and pirate some Wifi. And just sit in my CRV for the interview.”
Yes, I do sometimes have extended conversations with myself.
Congee, check.
Shower and shave, check.
Car keys, check.
Laptop and cell phone, check and check.
Cell phone bars, not so check. Still no bars.
So, off I went for the Starbucks. As I drove closer, I checked the bars and the signal seem to be coming in strong. Great!
I circled the Starbucks in the Miracle Mile in Stockton and head back to my apartment to go over notes before I planned to return to the Starbucks in time for my interview call.
Funny thing, though, as I drove back to the apartment – I started getting more bars. Eureka! A strong signal. Perhaps, just, perhaps, T-Mobile fixed the glitch and I’ll be able to receive the interview in a non-stressful environment sitting at my writing desk in the living room of my apartment.
There I sat for more than an hour going over “20 Most Asked Questions In A Job Interview” – of which, the interviewers would later ask only one of the “20 Most Asked Questions In A Job Interview” – and tried to relax just a bit before my 9:45 a.m. call.
Everything was going well enough when I took another look at my cell phone at 9:30 a.m. and – PANIC! No bars, again! Ugh!
I scooped up my laptop, a notepad, a couple of pens, and my cell phone and headed downstairs to the garage. There I jumped into my CRV, cranked up the engine, and headed – at only slightly excessive speed – to the nearest Starbucks where earlier I had found a strong signal and where I could pirate WiFi. (I say “pirate,” but Starbucks provides free WiFi. Using “pirate” is an attempt at making me more edgy. Did it work?)
I parked in the same spot I had earlier, but the cell signal was at only two bars. I didn’t want an every-other-word experience during the interview. I drove around the block trolling for a stronger signal and found one – very nearly in the same spot I had been before going around the block. Time: 9:44 a.m.
OK, quick drink of water. Pull out the computer for the notes on the “20 Most Asked Questions In A Job Interview.” Pull out the pad of paper to write down the names of the people on the search committee conducting the interview. Go online for a quick check of email.
It was then that the phone rang. I let it ring again, popped open the cell phone, paused – “Hello. … Hello. … Hello!”
Nothing. Great! Well what else can go wrong?
I tried dialing back a couple of times, but all I got was the ear-piercing tone of a fax machine. Great!
OK, don’t panic, don’t panic, don’t panic … DON’T PANIC!
Oh, wait, the phone’s ringing again.
“Hello. … Hello. … Hello!”
Oh, crap, not again.
One more attempt to call them. More piercing sounds. OK, OK, OK, I’ll shoot an email to the person who arranged the interview. Under the circumstances, maybe – just maybe – we can reschedule the telephone interview.
The email was very nearly set to send when the phone rang one more time. By this time it was five or 10 minutes after the scheduled appointment
OK, don’t panic. Let it ring again.
“Hello”
“Hello, Keith. Sorry for that bit of technical problem …,” said the woman on the other end.
Sheesh, that was close. I’ve been out of work for 20 months now and I cannot afford to miss an interview for any reason.
The half-hour interview went well enough, I think, especially since it took place over the phone as I sat in my CRV with a laptop balanced on my knees.
I stumbled on a few questions. It’s a marketing job and my experience is in straight-up journalism, but several of the interviewers have newspaper experience, so they may have cut me some slack. They gave me verbal feedback and laughed where they should have, so it wasn’t all bad at all.
The job would be with a leader in its field and I think skills I honed as a columnist, opinion page editor, editorialist, and essayist could come in handy. The problem would be in having time to write about all the positive aspects. That’s a bit of a change considering all my work experience is in newspaper where much of the news is not good.
Well, I’m crossing my fingers. It appears it will be about 30 days before I find out if I was selected, so I’ll be patient and continue my search in the meantime.
And despite me stumbling over some of the questions.
Some of the problems started this morning when I tumbled out of bed and checked my cellular phone to make sure that it had charged overnight. I was immediately troubled to see no bars, not one.
“OK, don’t panic,” I said to myself, of course, leaving out here the expletives. “I’ll just whip up some congee, grab a shower, and check the bars again. Perhaps a T-Mobile tower is down or something and it will take a bit of time to get it up again. If all else fails, I’ll make a run to Starbucks, troll for a cell signal, and pirate some Wifi. And just sit in my CRV for the interview.”
Yes, I do sometimes have extended conversations with myself.
Congee, check.
Shower and shave, check.
Car keys, check.
Laptop and cell phone, check and check.
Cell phone bars, not so check. Still no bars.
So, off I went for the Starbucks. As I drove closer, I checked the bars and the signal seem to be coming in strong. Great!
I circled the Starbucks in the Miracle Mile in Stockton and head back to my apartment to go over notes before I planned to return to the Starbucks in time for my interview call.
Funny thing, though, as I drove back to the apartment – I started getting more bars. Eureka! A strong signal. Perhaps, just, perhaps, T-Mobile fixed the glitch and I’ll be able to receive the interview in a non-stressful environment sitting at my writing desk in the living room of my apartment.
There I sat for more than an hour going over “20 Most Asked Questions In A Job Interview” – of which, the interviewers would later ask only one of the “20 Most Asked Questions In A Job Interview” – and tried to relax just a bit before my 9:45 a.m. call.
Everything was going well enough when I took another look at my cell phone at 9:30 a.m. and – PANIC! No bars, again! Ugh!
I scooped up my laptop, a notepad, a couple of pens, and my cell phone and headed downstairs to the garage. There I jumped into my CRV, cranked up the engine, and headed – at only slightly excessive speed – to the nearest Starbucks where earlier I had found a strong signal and where I could pirate WiFi. (I say “pirate,” but Starbucks provides free WiFi. Using “pirate” is an attempt at making me more edgy. Did it work?)
I parked in the same spot I had earlier, but the cell signal was at only two bars. I didn’t want an every-other-word experience during the interview. I drove around the block trolling for a stronger signal and found one – very nearly in the same spot I had been before going around the block. Time: 9:44 a.m.
OK, quick drink of water. Pull out the computer for the notes on the “20 Most Asked Questions In A Job Interview.” Pull out the pad of paper to write down the names of the people on the search committee conducting the interview. Go online for a quick check of email.
It was then that the phone rang. I let it ring again, popped open the cell phone, paused – “Hello. … Hello. … Hello!”
Nothing. Great! Well what else can go wrong?
I tried dialing back a couple of times, but all I got was the ear-piercing tone of a fax machine. Great!
OK, don’t panic, don’t panic, don’t panic … DON’T PANIC!
Oh, wait, the phone’s ringing again.
“Hello. … Hello. … Hello!”
Oh, crap, not again.
One more attempt to call them. More piercing sounds. OK, OK, OK, I’ll shoot an email to the person who arranged the interview. Under the circumstances, maybe – just maybe – we can reschedule the telephone interview.
The email was very nearly set to send when the phone rang one more time. By this time it was five or 10 minutes after the scheduled appointment
OK, don’t panic. Let it ring again.
“Hello”
“Hello, Keith. Sorry for that bit of technical problem …,” said the woman on the other end.
Sheesh, that was close. I’ve been out of work for 20 months now and I cannot afford to miss an interview for any reason.
The half-hour interview went well enough, I think, especially since it took place over the phone as I sat in my CRV with a laptop balanced on my knees.
I stumbled on a few questions. It’s a marketing job and my experience is in straight-up journalism, but several of the interviewers have newspaper experience, so they may have cut me some slack. They gave me verbal feedback and laughed where they should have, so it wasn’t all bad at all.
The job would be with a leader in its field and I think skills I honed as a columnist, opinion page editor, editorialist, and essayist could come in handy. The problem would be in having time to write about all the positive aspects. That’s a bit of a change considering all my work experience is in newspaper where much of the news is not good.
Well, I’m crossing my fingers. It appears it will be about 30 days before I find out if I was selected, so I’ll be patient and continue my search in the meantime.
Thursday, October 14, 2010
Starbucks tests how coffee cups fare in NYC’s recycling stream | GreenBiz.com
[I like small coffeehouses over the chain places, but this story about Starbucks on GreenBiz.com is worth spreading around. Below are the first couple of paragraphs and a link to the rest of the story. – KM]
Click to read the rest of the story by Jonathan Bardelline on GreenBiz.com
OAKLAND, CA — Starbucks is using New York City as a testing ground for recycling its ubiquitous coffee cups. If successful, it could mean the 3 billion cups it uses each year could go to recycling bins instead of landfills.
During a nine-week test, which started in mid-September and runs through November, 86 Starbucks locations in New York City will provide in-store recycling bins for cups and send them off to be recycled.
“We are testing the capability of the infrastructure to handle and accept our cups in the system,” said Jim Hanna, Starbucks' director of environmental impact. Starbucks (NASDAQ: SBUX) has a self-imposed goal to only provide reusable or recyclable cups by 2015.
Click to read the rest of the story by Jonathan Bardelline on GreenBiz.com
Wednesday, September 29, 2010
Coffeehouse observation No. 208 – National Coffee Day! National Coffee Day!
I’m having computer problems today or I most definitely would have mentioned that today is National Coffee Day! Viva, National Coffee day!
Here are a couple of links to National Coffee Day info. I’m guessing American laborers will never get a day off for National Coffee Day, but perhaps one day it will gain the status of, say, Groundhog Day.
National Coffee Day | Punchbowl
National Coffee Day: Facts you didn't know about your cup of joe | ThirdAge
For National Coffee Day, Dunkin’ Donuts brews up its biggest coffee prize ever for the ‘Ultimate Dunkin’ Donuts Coffee Fan Contest’ | PRNewswire
National Coffee Day on Facebook
10 coffee facts for National Coffee Day | IndyPosted
Go to Coffeehouse Observer for more coffeehouse observations.
Here are a couple of links to National Coffee Day info. I’m guessing American laborers will never get a day off for National Coffee Day, but perhaps one day it will gain the status of, say, Groundhog Day.
National Coffee Day | Punchbowl
National Coffee Day: Facts you didn't know about your cup of joe | ThirdAge
For National Coffee Day, Dunkin’ Donuts brews up its biggest coffee prize ever for the ‘Ultimate Dunkin’ Donuts Coffee Fan Contest’ | PRNewswire
National Coffee Day on Facebook
10 coffee facts for National Coffee Day | IndyPosted
Go to Coffeehouse Observer for more coffeehouse observations.
Sunday, May 23, 2010
Looking back at ‘Emerald Kingdom invades’
Looking back at ‘Emerald Kingdom invades’
http://coffeehouseobserver.wordpress.com/
http://coffeehouseobserver.wordpress.com/
Wednesday, May 5, 2010
Coffeehouse observation No. 117
The proprietor of empresso a little bit ago quietly asked two young women to leave. They each came into the coffeehouse with Starbucks drinks. Why on this green Earth would you go into a coffeehouse and settle down at a table to drink a beverage from a competing coffeehouse? When invited to a friend’s for dinner, do you bring your own food? When you go to a doctor’s office, do you bring your own physician? How very rude. … And the thing is, I don’t think that they understood the breach in common sense.
Go to Coffeehouse Observer for more coffeehouse observations.
Go to Coffeehouse Observer for more coffeehouse observations.
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