And, another quick shout out to my Local Purveyors of Caffeine...

Dear Dictaphone,

This morning, when I was running around, dealing with errands and urgent phone calls and such, I had a shocking realization. I hadn't had any coffee yet! Then I had another, much more pleasant recollection... I had a free coffee available on my Biggby card! And I was about to drive past the Spectacular Sparta Biggby Shop. Huzzah!

I pulled in to the parking lot and went inside, because it's much more entertaining that way. And people are less irritated when you can't make up your mind than if that happens in the drive-thru. As I entered the store, the Brilliant Beth Ann saw me and gave a genuinely excited "Hey, it's you!" type hello. Which was pretty gratifying. She may not remember my name, but she recognized me as a Person to be Happy to See.  She also has referred to me as "The one with the blog!" Having many years of retail experience, I understand how easy it is to have customers all blend together. I also know that the fact that I was recognized at all is impressive. Actually, if she remembered my name, it might be a sign that I've spent far too much time there. It should take at least a little while longer for that to happen.

I ordered my coffee (A Super Avalanche Latte with two extra shots of espresso), chatted a bit about some Good Things going on right now, got my drink, then went on my way.

And honestly, the rest of my erranding, indeed, the rest of my day thus far, has been better for this interaction. It's pretty impressive what a difference a simple excited greeting can make to a day. So thanks Beth Ann! This good mood is for you! (And the rest of the folks there, of course.)

Props to Biggby in Sparta (aka - Coffee Happiness and entertaining music)

Dear Dictaphone,

Today I find myself hanging out at Biggby Coffee in Sparta. Had a couple hours I had to kill outside the house, and a computer to work on, so I figured, hey, why not? The people here are friendly, and most importantly, they are a Major Supplier of Caffeine for Ingestion. All that, and they have WiFi too! And power outlets, which help when Various Electronic Devices (other dictaphones) require replenishment.

So I'm sitting here, drinking my Super Mocha Caramel with two extra shots, watching one laptop run updates, and listening to the music play. I asked the Notorious Nicole* if they pick their own Music, and was informed that this is what gets sent through by corporate. Corporate has good taste. Perky upbeat fun stuff. Which particularly works for me because yesterday I discovered that the song "I can see clearly now" when plugged into Pandora, will return a music list that has oodles of 50's bubble gum pop and other reggae infused and similar fun stuff. Apparently I'm in the mood for light perky but not completely without substance music.

So if you see me today, and I'm at least remotely semi-conscious, you can credit that to my local coffee shop.

*nicknames are completely my own fault, I do not know if Nicole is indeed Notorious or not, but it sounded good, and I will now remember her name whenever I see her.

Also, the awesome image is copyrighted to the person who created it. I have it linked to the source. I like it, but it is not of my creation.