The proposed hotel and stadium are bad enough, but this?

In addition the the proposed downtown stadium and hotel, the Harrison Square Project will also include a "specialty coffee shop". There are already quite a few places to go downtown where you can go to get overcharged for coffee. Starbucks, Dash-In, Higher Grounds, the main library branch, and Indiana Tech are all places that I can name off the top of my head. Feel free to mention any I left out. You can also get coffee at any of the restuarants and gas stations. This is a well supplied market, and I doubt our local economy can be helped by any appreciable amount by the addition of another place where "I love you" and $4,52 can buy you a voodooberry Iced Vanilla Mocha with two Splendas and nonfat creme.

Most coffeehouses suffer from a limited life expentancy. Their consumer base consists of teenagers, recovering alcholics, artistic types, yuppies, and me. Only the yuppies have much in the way of the kind of disposable income that it takes to keep a place alive. Often, people will order one beverage, sit and chat for a hour or so, then leave. They don't order shot after shot like one would expect in a bar. A crowded bar is WAY more profitable than a crowded coffeehouse. Starbucks is the exception of course, because they have brand recognition.

One side note: I can get coffee cheaper when I make it at home, but I'll go to a coffeehouse for the atmosphere. So when I pay more than $2 for coffee, it is the atmoshpere that I am paying for and not the coffee. So I don't really understand why people buy expensive coffee through the drive-thru.

Hawaiian Tobacco Party

DISCLAIMER: I am neither encouraging, discouraging, nor condoning this behavior. I am simply making note that it is taking place in Hawaii and may be of interest to people on both sides of the smoking ban debate. It seems that some of these bars are deliberately violating the ban.

Matt Kelty speaks at Mensa Meeting

Matt Kelty spoke at Saturday's Mensa meeting. I attended as a card carrying member, and got to take pictures. To the left is the best picture that I took. I think I could have gotten a better photo if I brought my Canon AE1 instead of using my cell phone. On the other hand, the only way I can take a picture in the evening and post it the same night is if I take it with a digital camera. I sacrificed image quality in the name of expediency.

He talked about decreasing the role of government, which is very refreshing to hear from a frontrunner in the mayoral race.

Snow

I did make to work on time during the blizzard. All I had to do was dig my car out and leave ten minutes early. The fact that the rest of you pansies stayed home and out of my way also helped. And I did it while driving this car.

It's a 1995 Suzuki Swift, which is a rebranded version of the Geo Metro. The best thing about this car is that it's easy to push when it gets stuck. The bad part is ground clearance. While I was at work, it snowed even more. I was fine getting home until I got to the side street that I lived on. The snow reached to the front bumper, so I stuck the car in first gear and revved it. I only had one block to go, but by the time I got home the car was overheating and steam was coming out from under the hood.

My car got plowed in again, and I broke my cheap plastic snow shovel trying to dig it out. Some neighbors were willing to dig out my car for ten bucks, so I took them up on the offer. I certainly couldn't buy a new snow shovel until I could move my car.

My computer is fixed.

My computer is my primary source of communication and entertainment. Without this computer, I might as well be reading a book.

This is my first blog post since I brought my computer back home yesterday. When the thing first broke, I thought that I might have to buy a new PC. I had been wanting to upgrade anyway, so I thought I would wait until I got paid again. However, I get paid every two weeks, and my last check covered my very first mortgage payment.

During the two weeks I shopped around, looking at computer ads printed on the piece of dead tree that is delivered to my door step everyday. I called the computer shop to see how much a new PC would cost.

Two days before payday, I figured correctly that there would be at least a two day wait before the computer shop would get a chance to even look at it. So I took it in. It was three days before they looked at it. And it turned out to be only a bad power supply. It only costed $90 to fix. I could have had it fixed all along.
Two weeks I spent fretting that all the files on this computer were gone forever. I'm going to start backing up the important stuff. I'll do it tommotow.

My computer broke.

I'm at a friend's house watching the Super Bowl and rooting for the Bears. I have a lot of friends who are Colts fans, so I will forego the smacktalk. The rainy weather will give the Bears the edge. This is why I like teams that play outside.
I understand that the Colt's new stadium will have a retractable dome. Here's some advice. Leave the dome open until November. Then during the playoffs, leave the dome open while playing the Chargers and close the dome while playing the Patriots.

I need to get my computer fixed, so I can check my email on a daily basis and do my taxes. Some technophobes will say that we have become dependent on technology. It's true. Just try going without indoor plumbing. Now, when I go home to my computerless house, I party like its 1989.