Coffee Spills

Ten dollars worth of donuts

2009-07-12T11:28:00.003-04:00

As I was leaving the coffee shop this morning I overheard two young boys--9 or 10--talking. One boy was husky (chubby) the other wiry, and both were on small bikes. The heavier child said to the other, "My mom gave me $11 for donuts, but I only spent $10." He handed the smaller child the sack who opened it and took one.

Staying connected

2009-07-05T05:30:00.003-04:00

I asked if they were e-mailing each other, but they said not--just checking in while the kids slept. Waking up with some great coffee.

Cool today, possible rain

2009-07-02T09:45:00.002-04:00

These t-shirts for sale at Coffee and Cream in Lakeside would feel good.

How an 8 year old sees it

2009-06-25T09:22:00.002-04:00

On my way to the coffee shop this morning my neighbor's 8 year old grandson was walking a few steps behind me. "Have you got a big day planned? I asked. "Oh yes," he said with enthusiasm. "I'm on my way to get doughnuts." (Patio Restaurant serves fabulous warm doughnuts in the morning, freshly made.) "How about the other activities?" "Oh yes, I've been coming here for eight years and there's so much to do."

Schedule change

2009-06-22T09:41:00.001-04:00

I had a new walking plan for our summer at the lake. Part of this glorious plan was inspired by the coffee shop which this year isn't opening until 8 a.m. instead of 6:30 last summer. So I was going to get my walk in along the lake before it got hot. But on my way there today at 8 a.m., I see that the new proprietor of Abigail's is opening at 6 a.m.

Day Care

2009-06-20T18:32:00.003-04:00

We were waiting for the rain to stop so we could make a dash for the parkihg lot. She told me the day care is $250 a week. Wow. That's $13,000 a year--even if there's a tax deduction, that's pretty pricey. There's a sliding scale based on income, so the more you make, the more you're paying for the parents who are barely making it, so paying less. But everyone's connected in some way with the university, so that's not much diversity. Smart kids and the care takers all have degrees. She thinks it is really odd that when the parents have a week or two or even a holiday off, they leave the child/children at the center anyway. "Don't they want any time with their kids?" she asked rhetorically.

My children had the best money can't buy--me.

She's dating five men!

2009-06-18T09:07:00.002-04:00

He thought they had a relationship, he said. Well, maybe not exclusive, but he didn't know there were four others plus an ex-husband calling several times a week. She called him to say she had a "boyfriend." So that more or less ended it, which is how I heard about it at the coffee shop. Her mother takes care of her, houses her, and drives her places because she's on permanent disability. Apparently, neediness is quite appealing these days.

What would I do?

2009-06-17T09:11:00.000-04:00

How have you been--haven't seen you for awhile. Are you still working? I asked. Yes, I turned 70 in May, but what would I do? she sighed. She's a recent widow, and has probably been working since her teen years in the restaurant business--her co-workers are like family--I hear about them and their trials and foibles, too.

I have no life anymore, she said

2009-06-14T11:12:00.004-04:00

Her mother is 88 and the daughter (single, no children, 60-ish) is her chauffeur, companion, and at her beck and call. I realize not everyone--in fact very few--were fortunate to have a mother like mine, but I sure wish she were here so I could take her to church, and to the grocery store, to the library, to the doctor, to concerts, or where ever she wanted to go.

Vanity Plates

2009-06-13T18:01:00.003-04:00

"I don't have vanity plates anymore," she said, as she looked at a car in the parking lot through the window. "I got so tired of people telling me they'd seen me at the hair dressers, or the library or the grocery store. I had no privacy."

Getting children to read

2009-05-30T20:29:00.002-04:00

I had breakfast with another retired librarian from a different metropolitan area today. She told me that their local PBS station was doing a reading campaign for children. So many poor families, she said, had no books at all in the home. So the station was contributing DVDs about reading to the families because they all had the latest in viewing equipment.

Hmmm. Books in the hands of children. What an interesting concept, just when libraries are giving up on them and encouraging everyone to use e-content.

O Blessed Holy Caffeine Tree

2009-05-25T18:27:00.001-04:00

For those who love the holy bean, check out this site to hear it beautifully sung.

Time to call?

2009-05-23T15:08:00.002-04:00

The problem with cell phones is you overhear conversations that 1) are meant for someone else, and 2) you only hear one side. What in the world was this about? "I haven't talked to my Grandma in two years." The woman appeared to be about 45. I wonder just how long she thinks grandma is going to be around, and what will she say at the funeral?

Stepped on

2009-05-15T20:45:00.002-04:00

When I asked how she was doing, she said she'd been stepped on by a horse. Not her horse. She doesn't own one. But one at Marmon Valley. When I was a young woman, there were a number of horse farms where now we have northern suburbs, but it didn't take long to get there. Marmon Valley is where I think my daughter went to camp. And was thrown from a horse and broke her elbow. It's still crooked.

Listening calisthenics

2009-05-05T15:44:00.002-04:00

You've heard of active listening? "Sometimes known as empathetic listening, active listening is where an individual confirms that they have heard and understood by paraphrasing the information back to the speaker." Today I saw calisthenic listening. Two women were sitting across from me. One asked the other a question. When she answered (I couldn't hear, only see) the questioner began with the Ohs and Ahs, then the hand waving, head nodding, finger pointing, knife slicing (the air) body bending, earring bobbing, eye blinking, eyebrow lifting, hand clapping, facial contortion, loud laughter and subtle giggles. It worked; the other woman soon said nothing.

How many years is it?

2009-04-27T08:36:00.003-04:00

At first I thought it was 1974, so that would make this a tidy 35 years we've been meeting for coffee, but then we began tracking where our daughters were in pre-school when we met at First Community Church Harried Housewives Bible study group, so we think it's been since 1972. In either case, that's a lot of girl talk.

Hope I misunderstood

2009-04-25T18:20:00.003-04:00

Two women were discussing something about their jobs, and the 9 or 10 year old daughter of one was sitting near-by. Work problems and physical danger during pregnancy came up, and the one commented about how she had done something dangerous (not sure what it was--didn't hear that part) during her pregnancy with her daughter, who overheard this. The daughter said, "Why did you do it?" And her mother said, "I was a xxxxx xxxxxxx and I had to go."

Hmmm. Not a good message.

Great legs

2009-04-18T08:41:00.005-04:00

No one has ever suggested I have them. I had short, stubby legs as a kid, and still do. Fat does shift around. My waist is now larger than my right thigh, but that wasn't the case for many years. Small waists and pear shape are definitely the healthy plan, but that's not how you get attention. Here's what one of those waist to hip calculators says:

Your shape puts you at reduced risk of coronary heart disease, diabetes and stroke. Frequently referred to as pear shape, you tend to keep fat off your midsection and more on your hips. Your body does not convert this lower body fat as readily as midsection fat, which keeps cholesterol down.Recently I've seen a stunning blonde at the coffee shop. Don't know her age, but if she's not 40, she's at least close (either side). She has long, long legs; high high heels; short short skirts. I'm not usually a leg watcher, but I tell you, she is something else and turns a lot of heads.

I don't know her career track, but it's somewhere at the bottom (or else she's the boss of a small company) because they send her to pick up the morning snacks. Yesterday it was bagels; today it was 8-10 cups of orange juice. I may not have great legs but I gave up being a go-fer when I was 21 and the secretary in a tool and die company.

Rachel's in Oregon, Illinois

2009-04-14T20:13:00.003-04:00

Rachel's at 113 North 4th Street opened sometime since the last time I visited in 2007, and expanded into the former pizza shop so is now a very handsome coffee shop/lunch room spot open Monday-Saturday. Lots of yummy things on the menu, and a handsome decor. We visited Saturday morning--early, maybe 7 a.m.

Is that your cell phone?

2009-04-03T19:40:00.002-04:00

We were all reading our papers. Music. Fire in the fireplace. I kept hearing a cell phone, but there were only the 3 of us in the store, and I don't have one. "Is that your cell phone?" I asked. She looked startled because I could tell she didn't hear anything. She reached in her coat pocket. Looked at the message, and called back.

I think it's the rock music that gives us seniors better hearing than the boomers.

Should she walk away?

2009-04-02T09:08:00.005-04:00

Saw an old coffee buddy today. She'd moved out of town last year to take a vice president job in another state. She's back. Fired. But did really well on the severance package.* She found too many errors in their finances (she was hired for her business skills) and was apparently a threat to HR and CEO as well as CFO. Anyway, her condo is still for sale and she's thinking maybe foreclosure might be the way to go. She's done everything right all these years, but Obama's "deals" are only for those who didn't do the standard 20% down, the fixed rates, who didn't pay all their bills on time, or who supported the various bond issues. Also, she's going to be very careful about how much she earns in the future. "It won't pay to earn more than $100,000," she sighed. And maybe it will have to be less than that? She says she is horrified at how fast he's dumped us all into socialism. And this is what small business is saying, folks. This is the future of our country. Small business is what drives the economy--even Obama's teleprompter said that not long ago.

*Her compensation package is called a contract--and that's what Congress is in the process of dismantling, not just for AIG and auto makers, but for you too, especially those of us with pensions. Once we throw out valid contracts that specified AIG's pay scale, none of us are safe. I don't care if someone earns $20 million + stock + cavorting at Barney Frank's dinners. That's up to the board and shareholders to decide, not Congress. Then if Congress decides to loan that company money instead of letting them go bankrupt, it needs to honor prior agreements or get them rewritten legally, and not pass an after the fact law.

I wish my wife were here.

2009-03-28T11:32:00.004-04:00

While we were on the Holy Land Cruise, Steps of Paul, somewhere on the Mediterranean Sea, I was having coffee on deck 9, early of course, just like at home. At the next table I over heard two men about 60 years old talking.

"I wish my wife were here. She'd have a blast. She just wouldn't know she was having a blast."

Nashville, Indiana

2009-03-20T18:06:00.003-04:00

"Nice coat," I said as we both refilled our coffee cups.
"Thanks. I got this in Nashville, Indiana." He did a half twirl.
"Oh, we were there once. Artist colony, right?"
"Yeah."
"Brown County?"
"I think so."
"Our daughter was a baby--now she's 41."
"Oh."

Dress for success

2009-03-02T18:23:00.002-05:00

I think people are dressing better. Suits and sport coats are coming out of the closet. Must be job interviews or networking. If nothing else, looking like you have a place to go and people to see should help the disposition.

Father and son

2009-03-01T18:17:00.002-05:00

A father and his teenage son were sitting next to me by the fireplace yesterday. Dad recognized me from Caribou, one of my other spots, and said he stopped there after his morning workout. So we chatted a bit. They were familiar with Lakeside--his grandparents had once owned a cottage on Peach.

Today I think I saw 15-20 UALC first service people and one from X-Alt. We should have called a committee meeting.