Epic Fail Before 7 a.m.

The kittens, the birds, my own unrest. These things wake me, lead me to stumble into the shower and closer to coherence. Dressed, primped, vaguely more alert, I stumble, drawn like moth to flame to the coffee maker.

What have I done? Taken the most recently-purchased pound of coffee to the office. There is nary a single bean in the kitchen (decaf in the freezer, not an option). Dismay -- at 6h15, the only option for the purchase of coffee is the Kroghetto.

To drive to the Kroghetto for only coffee beans is in violation of the summer principle: the car is used for transit to work, for transiting multiple people, for massive grocery hauls for parties, or for multiple essential errands wrapped into one trip. The car is NOT and expressly not for runs to the store for 1 or 2 items.

I broke the gas-is-$4 principle, and drove my sorry self to the Kroghetto. It's worth noting that a whole bean organic fair trade coffee not over-roasted by Starbucks does not exist at smallish Krogers located in neighborhoods of questionable repute. [I lived in this neighborhood. For the record, its repute is in great question.]

So here I am, drinking a multiple-origin organic "Serena" blend coffee. It's over-roasted six ways to next Sunday, even though it is supposedly a "medium" in Starbucks vernacular, not a "dark" or "bold", their words for burnt and scorched. The planning; the plotting. With a little more care I could be drinking something wonderful.

Anyone who can't taste over-roasted in a cup of coffee want to swap me for about 10 oz of premium, hippie-guilty-conscience-friendly coffee? I'll even mail it to you...