Brian and Libby's Blog

Sickness and new coffee

I think I am getting sick. I have that scratchy, painful-to-breathe feeling in my throat and although my left nostril seems ok, my right nostril is somewhat of a fountain. I would usually "plug" the fountin with a tissue of some sort and just let it chill in my nose rather than wiping it every 7-9 seconds, but I have learned that this is frowned upon in the workplace. Fortunately there are not a whole lot of people in the office this week... :) haha

Anyways, my job is sort of like the Office at times. We don't have a Michael Scott-like character, but we have a lot of the other characters, and things can be embarassingly absurd at times. Take, for example, my morning coffee ritual. They have free coffee here but I am physically unable to drink it anymore. It's Maxwell House or something but it tastes like sludge and I do have some limits when it comes to what coffee I will drink. So for a while I brought coffee from home but that gets to be a huge inconvenience. Buying coffee out is a treat for me; at $2 a day, I can't seem to justify it as a daily expense. Fortunately there is a cafe downstairs that brews Seattle's Best, and although it is a dollar for a cup of coffee (still beyond what my budget allows), the price drops to a mere 50 cents if you bring your own cup. Yes, we all carry our mugs downstairs, fill them to save 50 cents, and then spill as we walk back up the stairs, via the stairwell that will forever smell like hazelnut creme to me. It's pretty good though, and I can find fifty cents in one of Brian's pockets on any given weekday, so it's been working out for me.

You can imagine how pleased I was when I heard that we were getting NEW coffee upstairs in the kitchens, AND we were going to have the opportunity to choose it. This meant I would save my fifty cents a day, the burns on my hand, and the coffee stains on my pants. Hoo-ray! So the coffee distributing company really does come in and hang out in our kitchens all day with 4 varieties of coffee for us to taste and vote on. For me the choice is clear...the "fancy" something or other blend was phenomenal, bold and rich with a smooth finish. My co-workers however did not agree, and an overwhelming majority of them (84% according to our office services manager) voted on the Breakfast Blend. Let me describe it for you: IT TASTES EXACTLY LIKE THE CRAPPY MAXWELL HOUSE WE ALL COMPLAINED ABOUT FOR 4 YEARS. I have tried it 2 days in a row now and I'm not sure if they're actually still using the old coffee or what, but it officially sucks.

Why am I so upset about this you may ask? It's hard to say. Maybe I was ecstatic at the prospect of really good free coffee every morning on the same floor as my office with unlimited refills. Maybe I have no life. Maybe I just have no life at work. Maybe this is one of the most exciting things that has happened at work in a while and when it was ROBBED from me I had a hard time dealing with it...

posted by Libby @ 11:15 AM