What's a Caffeine Junkie to do

Starbucks was one of the fastest growing retailers of the past decade. For years independent coffee shops complained every time a Starbucks opened in their neighborhood but now the complaints are turning into joy. This year there will be 600 fewer green and white Starbuck logos. The coffee chain is closing 600 of it's 11000 US stores. The economy has finally kicked the King of Venti Soy Lattes and afternoon Frappaccinos. Of the 600 stores to close, two are among the 60 stores in Austin TX with one of the Austin closings being a store I go to on a regular basis. I guess I should not complain too much I'll only have to travel four blocks to the next nearest store. Things could be much worse! In Mississippi 41% of all the states Starbucks will be closing. I sure hope Mississippi does not send all their caffeine junkies to Austin for caffeine addiction treatment. Austin needs to reserve all it's treatment centers for real addicts not a bunch of sissy latte drinkers.
I used to set for hours drinking coffee and watching all the worldly trends in a Starbucks but I finally got tired of all those Mom's pushing baby strollers while ordering lattes and cooing over their rug rats while shoving organic chocolate milk into their tiny soon to be caffeine addicted hands. Just the thought of that sight make me want to put milk in my coffee. Oh God, I hope I am not turning into one of those Soy Latte people!
My mom used to drink coffee and she really enjoyed it but I don't ever remember her drinking it out of a paper cup. She always used a cup and saucer and if she wanted to be a little risky she drank hot tea or hot chocolate. Today there are so many coffee choices at Starbucks you need to learn a special language just to order your Java. I always order the same thing, a short drip no room. Anyone who is not jacked up on caffeine would never know that means a small cup of black coffee, no sugar, no cream and fill the cup all the way to the top with coffee.
I do not care how good a person you think you are every one of us has at least one addiction. In my case it's caffeine and maybe sugar but the sugar thing is another story unto it's self. So brew another pot and pour me a cup.

Feet Are Made For Walking

There is no question that getting around downtown Austin TX can be dangerous not only for drivers but for pedestrians also. It struck me while I was waiting to cross the street at the intersection of Martin Luther King Blvd and Guadalupe street in Central Austin that luckily it was a thought that struck me instead of an automobile that struck me! People are always in a hurry to turn right and drive through the cross walk. I guess it never occurs to the driver that their right to turn right is based on a pedestrian's right.
I like to walk, sometimes walking as many as 75 city blocks in a day as I cross back and fourth across downtown Austin. When you walk you notice things you would never see if you were driving by in a car or setting on a bus seat as the bus cruses by. For me the best time to be afoot in central Austin is on a Saturday or Sunday as Winter is fading into Spring with the sun rising or setting through the clouds.
If one wants to experience the walking culture just head for the University of Texas campus. 50 thousand students and everyone of them seems to be walking at the same time making the campus one giant bee hive of activity with hardly any automobiles moving . Sometimes I wonder why anybody would want to own a car but I know better because with out a car I would not be able to make the 75 mile round trip from my house to downtown Austin.

Patriotism

America just had it' 232nd birthday, setting into motion all the Fourth of July rituals. Fireworks, parades, flags, picnics and pageants all helped bind America together on it's birthday. July Fourth is a holiday of patriotism with many citizens proclaiming their love of country yet the rockets red glare of today's media is focuses on the Presidential candidates past service to country. Should John McCain have to defend his military record? Of course not! Should Barack Obama have to explain why he did not serve in the military? Of course not! Each man has as much patriotism as anyone but patriotism is sometimes hard to show. Patriotism lies in a persons heart making it hard to prove. When ever the political patriotism argument arises it's always a matter of who is the most patriotic. America may be that city on a hill but it can always use a little correction from time to time no matter how patriotic the presidential candidates think they are. True patriotism is built around greatness, sacrifice and the desire to improve through change. It's like any love, a private commitment that can't be forced but can be enticed.
Happy birthday America! I honored you by displaying your flag and singing your anthem several times. I will forever be grateful for the liberty secured by my forefathers and will never take freedom for granted. Do I need to prove my patriotism? Of course not!

Barbecue Expert

Lots of people will be barbecuing on July the 4th but only a few know how to do it correctly. True Barbecue is very complex. Its a slow method of cooking meat in an enclosed space with low indirect heat and smoke. The best BBQ emerges from the pit still moist and tender even after cooking 18 hours. The meat has a flavor of smoke, fat, meat juices, and spices that have been rubbed, soaked, mopped or injected into it.
I have never had the patients to cook something 18 hours. Maybe that's why I do not know the first thing about Barbecuing. I want to eat within 20-30 minutes after starting the cooking process, that why I stick to grilling burgers. I figure that kind of cooking is relative harmless because the only thing I need to do is keep from setting myself on fire when I light the charcoal. Barbecue Purist call my kind of cooking a "Sissy Fire". Just because I use a fork and knife to eat my grilled meat instead of the hands the experts use, does that make me a sissy? Texas BBQ experts have no use for sauce and neither do I, that fact alone should qualify me to be at least half a BBQ expert. I have been to a few Barbecue Cook Offs and as far as I can see one need only three things to become a Barbecue Expert. #1 Folding lawn chair #2 A koozie #3 Plenty of beer to put into the koozie. I can buy all three of those items at WalMart! So before I go to the next BBQ Cook Off, I'll stop at WalMart and buy myself a Barbecue diploma.