I drank the entire pot
When I was booking a flight to Cleveland for Christmas this
time around, I wasn't dreading it as much as I usually do when
planning to leave town. I'm not sure why, maybe I have a soft
spot for that town. I grew up near it, not really in its suburbs,
more in the "exurbs"
which has become a popular term for such cities. That place
I don't care if I ever see again, but the Greater Cleveland
Area still holds a lot of interest for me.
My trip was a little slanted in that I still had work to
do while I was there. Because my sister's house is one of
12 remaining locations in America that does not have broadband
internet access, I had to go to the dreaded Starbucks for
the first couple of days into my visit to work. This worked
out pretty well, the Starbucks was mostly uncrowded, and the
people who were there tended towards the AARP set. It seems
even in Cleveland the concentration of Starbucks is still
far too high; when I told my sister I needed to be dropped
off "at the Starbucks near your house" she asked,
"Which one?"
While New York made it through Christmas relatively unscathed,
Cleveland got hit hard. Snow was everywhere and it was insanely
cold most of the time I was there, de-motivating me from venturing
far from my basement room with fake fireplace and cable TV.
I only had one night to hang out with people I was not related
to on one occasion, meeting some folks at another coffee house.
This was Arabica, a Cleveland chain that may be feeling the
capitalist pressure of the Starbucks juggernaut. This particular
coffee house was closing forever that night, so some friends
of friends were playing some music to send the place out on
a good note. Later we went to a bar in Ohio City where I somehow
did not pay for a single drink the whole night. I don't know
if this is customary for the natives of this burg or not,
but I will not discourage the practice.
The rest of the trip was pretty basic: eating a lot, a screening
of Meet
the Fockers (it's a dumb movie but a good way to
pass time with the family without actually having to talk),
more TV, and finally, presents. My nieces got the home version
of Dance Dance Revolution, which in practice less resembles
the fluid dance stylings one sees on TV and more closely looks
like a community theater version of Riverdance. But the kids
love it, and I guess it's encouraging that it's so popular.
But Americans are still too fat.
I got a new coffee
maker, which was sorely needed around the house. Besides
the fact the old one leaked water all over the place, I had
always felt sorta of guilty that Buzz was always forced to
make the morning coffee by virtue of the fact that he gets
up earlier than me. But now, assuming I remember to set it,
the new coffee maker will automatically kick in so the sleep-addled
no longer have to concentrate until later in the day.
I thought I took a lot of pictures
on my trip, but as usual it appears that well over 50%
of them were of pets.
Posted By Jimmy Legs
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