“The ego doesn’t give itself up for dissolution easily, does it. And that’s what he was really facing at the download, the letting go of that often insatiable or irrational driving push that powers so many of our behaviors and actions. There was a growing sense of impending relief at the prospect of being rid of that often inexplicable decision making entity that lived just beyond his conscious provenance, and was so often all too overly helpful in chiming in on decisions of what to do when there were several choices of action. Kind of like separating from an overly nagging wife. Might not be so awful to let it go. A better night’s sleep would perhaps be a worthy consultation of his total self on this cusp of the possibly most radical adventure undertaken yet, in a life of considerable adventures already won and lost. The waitress at The Morning Joe, that local hang for the sleep deprived and those who were perennially late for work, eyed him differently this following day.
“You don’t look like the midnight tiger got your tail, but the cat certainly has your tongue this morning, eh?”
“Mmm, yeah”, was all Lars reluctantly summoned.
“Well, Ashton Clarke go with you and have a better week now, ya hear.” Mindy liked that retro look and sported a small name tag on her breast pocket with a happyface for a tagline. The regulars knew the more they grumped the better it made her feel when she coaxed a smile from them before they left. It had become almost a social custom.”

…rAndOm…or…RaNDoM…

i’m tired***Most crazy…brazillian and columbian, all from arabia—dutch treat :roll: :wink: i love coffee :smile:

In the mid-90′s – Starbuck’s opened a store 2 doors down from my office in Glendale, Ca. My partners and I were [ecstatic] at first! We could walk in for a really good cup coming into work, and didn’t have to concern ourselves with making Folgers and so forth in the office – we could get right to business with a great tasting drink to boost us along…

Pretty soon, we had to get to work 30 minutes early to account for waiting in line behind 20-30 people ordering a Venti half-caf Mocha Frappacino with a quarter fraction pump of something, and extra foam…and determining the proper flavor of Scone, and asking it it was wrapped in environmentally friendly and recycleable paper…

Finally, after observing all the fascinating social interaction and decision making that those ahead of me seemed to live for – and it was my turn to be asked ‘What can I get started for you today?’…my answer was always the same. I JUST WANT A CUP OF COFFEE PLEASE – BLACK!!!! 10 seconds later I was on my way…forget going back for a refill later…not enough time in the day…

Now I’m so sophisticated that I sometimes opt for an Iced Vanilla Latte in the afternoon when it’s 100+ outside (I live in Palm Springs now) – but the experience of standing in line hasn’t changed much…

Back in my days as a US Marine we referred to coffee that was very poor quality as a cup of Joe.
Which fits with your explanation that coffee was the drink of the common man in the 1930′s. During the Depression people couldn’t afford to buy coffee as often as today and they would re-use their coffee grounds over and over with the quality of the coffee thus produced getting lower each time.