What did I tell you?!

Everyone’s lives would be a lot more simple and successful if they just listened to me.

I site, for sake of example, this article at CNBC entitled JC Penney: We’re Sorry … Now Come Back and Shop. The basic gist of the article is that JC Penney’s attempt to reinvent themselves was an absolute bust. So much so that they lost 25% of their shoppers, due to advertisements and policies that left shoppers feeling alienated.

Now, refer back to a post that I made for this very blog entitle WTF JCP? where I wrote a review of 2012′s worst commercial of the year (in my humble opinion). Ironically, it was a commercial for a teaser campaign to introduce those policies that are now in the process of tanking the company. Sooo … while I was panning the commercial I went ahead and gave my two cents about the policies themselves. The following is a direct quote from that blog.

Ultimately, not only is it a flawed commercial concept but the policy that it represents may be flawed as well. Offering lower prices and fewer sales as a result may sound good but it’s going to require a big shift in the thinking of department store shoppers and I’m not sure it’s one their willing to make. Shoppers have a mentality for being “bargain hunters” who live for the “thrill of the hunt”. Their biggest thrill is when they score a great deal. With fewer opportunities to get their shopper’s high they may just go somewhere else, where they can get their fix.

All in all there’s no question that this is a desperate move by JCP. The only question is whether or not it’s a desperate move in the wrong direction.

See there. I told you so. If former Penney’s CEO Ron Johnson had been a follower of my blog he would have known how bunk his new policies were. He might still have his job and more importantly could have avoided demolishing a retail empire. The company was on shaky ground to start with. That’s why they tried a Hail Mary  The thing is, when you make a desperation play you have to make one that you know is going allow you to gain ground not lose it.

Down the long freeway.

People can tell you something is so but sometimes you don’t believe it until you find out for yourself.

For the last 7 years, Austin has been my home … more specifically, North Austin has been my home. Now many of you reading this are going to have no reaction to that, because you have no frame of reference for it. However, you should trust me. North Austin and South Austin are two very different places.

North Austin is very much what you would expect from a traditional city. Neighborhoods dotted with dozens of Starbucks and Wallgreens. It’s the technology sector. It’s where the Samsung plant is and tons of other tech companies too. This area has even been nicknamed by some as Silicone Hills. That’s the area I’ve always known, that’s the place I’ve always called home.

South Austin is … Well, I’m still discovering what it is. I’ve always heard it’s completely different from North Austin. I’d heard that it’s more like Austin used to be before it got big. I’ve heard it’s the place where they Keep Austin Weird. Honestly, I was intimidated by anything that was so foreign to the Austin I already knew.

However, recently I’ve stepped outside my comfort zone and gone down to South Austin. It’s funny how sometimes, when you step outside your comfort zone, you can find something more comfortable than what you had before. What I found, as a result of my adventures was a tiny bohemian coffee shop where the people were, hands down, the friendliest I’ve met in Austin. Which is saying something, Austinites are really pretty friendly no matter where you go.

South Austin makes the whole city seem so much smaller and closer knit. When you’re there you don’t feel overwhelmed by monolithic structures or overwrought with typical big city problems. (Except traffic, there is still tons of traffic.) South Austin is so warm and inviting I might even move down there someday. I’m considering it. It would be a wonderful way to be closer to the true heart of the city, The Austin that I’d always heard about, the one that everyone brags about.

At the very least, now I know where I can escape my everyday life and enjoy a good cup of coffee at the same time.

Happy Anniversary

When I logged into WordPress this morning there was a message waiting for me. It said Happy Anniversary. I thought it was nice of them to remember. I hadn’t (I’m a guy, I’m no good at remembering anniversaries.)

However, Happy Anniversary is a congratulations that should not just be reserved for me, I feel, but extended to all of you as well. I’d like to thank my 87 followers. I’d like to thank the readers who just wander across my blog by googling or searching wordpress. I’d like to thank the other bloggers who have quoted and reblogged my postings. It is because of all of you that my humble blog filled with weird observations and oddly worded phrases has carried on this long, and it is by leaning on that same strength, it shall hopefully endure much much longer.

They Beat the System.

Coffee and Technology are two words you wouldn’t necessarily associate with one another. The processes of growing, harvesting, and roasting coffee beans are all based on ancient traditions. However, there have been advancements in coffee technology, in the arena of brewing. It’s unavoidable. I’m sure you’ve seen them, the automatic brewing systems.

Keurig is the most popular of this new breed of coffee pot, and rightfully so in my not-so-humble opinion. It’s the brand of coffee machine that I have in my kitchen. As Keurig came up through the ranks there were a lot of other coffee systems trying to get it right, like Tassimo. Ultimately though, the Keurig reined supreme and Tassimo was proved to be a pretender to the throne.

… or to put it in other terms Keurig is Bluray and Tassimo is HDDVD.

Even now, other companies with other systems are trying to take a bite out of Keurig’s market share. There are new machines on the market. They’re manufactured under brands like Starbucks and Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf. Each one of these companies has their own size and shape of coffee delivery device (often referred to as a pod) that you put in every time you want to brew a cup. Needless to say you have to buy the specific pods that fit your machine, but perhaps not anymore.

I was walking down the coffee aisle of my local grocery store and I found something very inventive: Cameron’s Single Serve Coffees. I was confused by them at first. When I picked them up I looked all over the package for the obligatory statement, stating specifically that these were Keurig K-cups. I didn’t see that but the statement I did find was far more remarkable.

It seems that Cameron’s Single Serves are designed to work with multiple brewing systems. How? While other pods require you to exactly match the shape and size of the opening it fits into these single serve pods are flexible. The top portion has a foil lid and a plastic ring around the top (just like an ordinary K-cup) but the bottom half is made of a coffee filter type material. Therefore, it allows these pods to grow and fill a tall compartment like in the Keurig or spread and fill a wide compartment like you might find in one of the other systems.

The best part is that it’s delicious. It’s the only coffee I’ve ever had for my Keurig that I’ve actually taken the time and forethought to put it in the freezer. I got their donut shop blend and I love it. It’s the only coffee I’ve been drinking all week long. I can’t wait to go back and try the other flavors.

(Also, because it uses less plastic I can feel better about drinking Cameron’s because I know I’m putting less plastic into the environment.)

A delicious coffee, that’s better for the environment, and I can continue to enjoy it even if I change brewing systems someday? That’s a win/win/win.

Ask and Ye Shall Receive

I don’t mean to brag or anything … but I think God reads my blog. I know, I know. It’s arrogant of me to think that the Lord of all creation would waste His time checking up to see if I found that vintage sleeping bag I was looking for, or any other random thing I might blather on about.

However, consider this. Yesterday, I blogged that the weather in Austin was too perfect. Fast forward to today. The weather in Austin is decidedly imperfect. It’s overcast and a little windy. It’s not “bad weather” in my estimation. It’s simply less than perfect. (In fact, as I’m writing this skies darkened even more and a light rain has begun to fall.)

Am I saying that I’m certain that I, and my blog, influenced the All Mighty and influenced the weather by extension? No.

But I’m not certain that’s not what happened either.

Asleep in a bag of Doritos

When I surf the web sometimes I end up trailing off onto a tangent. I get it in my head that I want to find something so I search and search hoping to find it. Eventually, I give up and accept that it’s not going to happen. A few months or a year later though, I get it stuck in my craw again and then I’m off searching for this elusive item once more.

Today I caught myself doing just that. The subject? Sleeping bags. Yep, sleeping bags.

You see, when I was in high school I had this sleeping bag that was very attractive and quite comfortable. It was made to look like a giant bag of Doritos. The fact that it looked like a bag of snack chips was funny enough on it’s own. However, when you were in it you looked like you were popping out of a giant chip bag which just added humor on top of humor for me.

My sleeping bag is now long gone. I know not where. The last time I remember seeing it was my last day of high school.

I’ve since learned, in the course of one of my frenzied web searches, that my beloved sleeping bag was actually fairly rare and a collector’s item. Therefore, they never come up for sale on eBay. I can’t blame ‘em. If I still had mine I wouldn’t sell it either.

So, this is my process. I search, I don’t find. I get nostalgic, depressed, and frustrated all at once. The next step is that I search for a new sleeping bag that is as cool as my old one. This never works because there is something about the search term “fun sleeping bags for adults” that makes Google find the most mundane and nondescript sleeping bags ever.

Today a search of Etsy revealed some interesting results when I found a sleeping bag shaped like a slice of pizza. It was certainly amusing. I’d get it … if it weren’t $200. Two hundred dollars? It’s very appealing and obviously a quality made product but I’m not going to pay $200 for a sleeping bag I don’t even need in the first place. I doubt I would even pay that to get my Doritos bag back. (I know I wouldn’t/couldn’t in my current financial situation.)

It might be strange that a nearly 36 year old man wants a ridiculous old sleeping bag back (or one of equal ridiculousness). However, this is a classic case of nostalgia, pun not intended, not me being juvenile. I just want a sleeping bag that’s comfortable to lounge in or sleep in and gives me a chuckle when I’m not sleeping in it. I don’t see anything wrong with that.

In this country, in the modern day, we give up a lot. We give up wants and sometimes even needs. We give up creature comforts. We even give up ideals sometimes. You do, I do, everyone does. So, once in a while it’s okay to have a Picard moment, decide where the line in the sand has to be drawn, and pick something that you’re not willing to give up on.

Mine is a comfortable yet whimsical sleeping bag. What’s yours?

Too Perfect

The weather in Austin, Texas was too perfect today.

There was full sun, a light breeze, it was warm but not “hot” necessarily. Hearing all that you might be compelled to say “Well Josh, It sounds like the weather was just perfect. Why do you say that it’s too perfect?” Because when the weather is as perfect as it is today, it’s the kind of weather that wakes people from their winter slumber and encourages them to stumble outward and experience Spring once more. But the thing is, when I say “people” I mean all the people. Everyone.

So, while I don’t have a single thing to complain about regarding the weather itself. Perfect weather produces the unwelcome side effect of everyone in Austin being in my way. The walking trails are fuller than usual. There’s longer lines at the gas station, at the bank, at the Starbucks, and Jack in the Box.

Austin is a big city but you don’t realize just how big until the people who are afraid of imperfect weather decide to venture outside when the outside world isn’t outside their comfort zone any longer. The over abundance of people is a bit of a downer. However, I can take solace in the fact that it will be a matter of mere weeks, or even days, before it gets too hot for many Austinites. They’ll, again, return to their thoroughly air-conditioned homes to watch the summer pass by, through tinted, three ply, insulated windows. Leaving more intrepid individuals, such as myself, to run the streets of the city unabated.

In much the same way, nature is a fine place if it weren’t for all the trees. The city is a fine place if it weren’t for all the people.