Farewell tour

It's ironic. I cant STAND the taste of coffee, black.

Didnt even drink it into adulthood, not until - *counts*- around 1992.

That year I had to be awake to support users at the job, so I needed to something to clap me awake by the time I walked into the door at AT&T..

20 oz Maxwell House cups from the GATE convenience store. A lot of mocha creamer. A lot of sugar.

Voila.

Coffee addict.

3-4 Venti Starbux a day at the height.

I would start my day with the requisite New York 10 oz cup at the donut or bagel shop or cart, then rush out to the Starbux (Deloitte Headquarters had Starbux ground roasts at every machine too), then an afternoon Starbux to relax, then one at night.

Minimum.

But in 1997 (and earlier if I had been paying attention), physical complications from high-blood pressure started becoming apparent.

I ended up in the hospital.

I didnt slow down.

In 1999 however, one fine day.. it felt as if my fingertips were about to burst.

Hypertension is a funny word for some serious shytte.

Thats when I made the connection.

I cut back on sodium, sugar and caffiene.

Specially coffee.

I cut back to one cup a day. 2, if I cheated.

And thats been my pattern till now.

The past few weeks, Ive been sick, and the thought of coffee made me queasy, so I didnt have any for nigh on 2 weeks.

Ironically, even with the hacking, coughing and phlegm.. the tell tale signs of hypertension abated.

Whoa.

Messages dont come any clearer.

Give up coffee.

So, I am.

Or, if I cheat.. I will get one of the smallest cups.

Hey, once an addict, always an addict.
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Losing my religion

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All the coffee Ive loved before...



Little Italy



Borders @ WTC #7



Timothy's Coffee, Times Square

Didnt I read somewhere that Timothy's went bankrupt?



Somewhere on Broadway and 89th, Upper West Side



Bayonne's Pride Bakery, Bayonne NJ

I went less for the coffee, and more for the love from the Sicilian Ladies.

They took care of me.



Garment district



Donut shop, Nostrand and Empire, Brooklyn.





43rd and 7th Avenue



On the A Train, one fine morning.



A 7-11, South Florida



Nooo, never been THAT bad. (Riverside, Jacksonville Florida)



Birthday Breakfast @ Midnight@ Baghdad Cafe, SF



Coffee with the Kellys @ Au Coquelet in Berkeley.

When George first took me there, I didnt even have an inkling that this would subsequently be a major hangout spot for me.

All he said was "I have to take you to my favorite coffee shop".



Ironically, I never had ANY coffee in Seattle. Didnt have time.



I wanted to check out the coffee shop Kate had worked at once upon a time, but it was shut down by the time we got there. :-/



Rainbow Donuts, Berkeley



The prototype Coffee and a Donut, recommended by cops everywhere.



The Cafe Macchiato that killed Stella.

Cafe Meditarranium, Telegraph Ave, Berkeley



The typical morning scene at Au Coquelet



Cafe Roma, North Berkeley



Barnes and Nobles, El Cerrito

(For people unfamiliar with the layout of the East Bay, go North, and the sequence goes Oakland > Berkeley > Albany > El Cerrito > Richmond as you go North along the water.)



Touchless Gas and Car Wash, Berkeley - between downtown and The Campus



Berkeley Espresso, North Berkeley

My current coffee hangout joint.

Well, no - the current joint is Peet's. But no more.



Man, its been a lotta coffee.