Ego Tripping at the Gates of Hell

Randomly Yours, originally uploaded by nicolemonet2002.

I wish I had one of my favorite [romance] - [yes yes, I know] books with me right now. There's a line... or rather paragraph in it that could adequately describe the state I'm in right now.

The book? One Degree of Separation

The Author? Karin Kalmaker

The Line [liberally paraphrased]? If I don't start bleeding within the next few days, I'm killing someone... Where's my chocolate?

Ha! Sorry, I know Slight over share... However, things are crazy. I woke up Monday morning to the sudden realization that August 8th was rapidly approaching and I still had no idea where I was going to move! I blame Mark Twain. Why you ask? He assured me that I should continue putting off my search for a new apartment[slash]house as long as possible.

Well I did. And now I find myself with a not so slight migraine trying to figure out who exactly i can con into letting me borrow their car... So I can drive it roughly 750 miles round trip.... As you can imagine? Not an easy conversation. And if that fails? Amtrak!

However no matter what, I need to be in Sacramento by Monday and I need to have a definite place to stay by the end of the following week. All on a budget of... 1 credit card, [hopefully] at least a couple hundred dollars in my bank account, and a prayer.

Right.

If I can pass Statistics, I can make this work. Even if it requires an exponential increase in my daily coffee intake.

The Greatest Adventure...

...Is the one you write yourself. Or quite possibly the one you find yourself in unintentionally. And by great... I mean... Well, the most unbelievable.

Enough rambling? Well... I've spent the past three weeks fighting illness and stubbornly refusing to go the doctors. For multiple reasons that matter not. However, never underestimate the power of grandmothers. When they want you to do something, you do it. So I want to the doctors. Prognosis?

Insanely bad sinus infection coupled with daily asthma attacks.

Really it was great fun.

After I finally got that taken care of, I found myself on the train back to Sacramento, drinking Starbucks instant coffee and surprised by how good it was when I realized something Major.

I'm halfway to Sacramento. But my wallet is still in LA.

Shit.

The train pulls into Sacramento around 11:33 pm. The last local train stopped running... Only god knows when, but it's not running now. The taxi drivers have to stop themselves from sneering in disgust when I ask if they take checks. And none of my 'friends' can bring themselves to answer the phone.

And ok, sure.. It's practically midnight, but still.... *sigh*

So I'm thinking, all isn't lost. I'll just sleep inside the Amtrak station for a few hours then take the first local train out. Sounds like a plan right? Wrong. Try, the station closed 20 minutes later and I got kicked out. Time for plan B. What's plan B? - You ask. Stay up all night sitting outside. Where it's freezing. Windy. And threatening to rain.

Oh, and where the Amtrak Security Guard keeps talking to you like you're some kind of hopeless bum lurking around waiting to cause trouble.

By the time the train came at around 3:50, I had on a pair of skinny jeans with a pair of regular jeans on top of them. I had on a wife beater, two t-shirts and a hoodie. Yet I was STILL freezing AND extremely tired seeing as I taken medicine with a "Warning may cause drowsiness" label on it, while still on the train..

By time I got home, it was 4:30 something. I took some cold medicine. Prayed I didn't get relapse into a cold from spending the night outside. Heard the sudden pouring rain and was thankful I made it home in time. Then collapsed in my bed and fell asleep.

The moral of the story? Always keep at least $30 on your person. That way you can at least catch a cab home.

Bucks Coffee?

Bucks Coffee?, originally uploaded by nicolemonet2002.

So, everyone's heard the whispers about Starbucks' instant and dollar coffee. And I'm sure.... Everyone has also thought, "Great, there goes the quality." Or at the very least, I know I did. As a former barista and life long coffee drinker the very idea of instant coffee is a bit offensive.

Well while I was in LA for Spring Break I ran into a a few old friends [read baristas] and got my hands on a packet of instant Starbucks coffee; as well as a couple pounds of beans. Naturally, that packet of instant coffee was thrown to the bottom of my bag while I fantasized about: getting home, grinding the coffee beans, and then making the perfect cup of coffee.

So I know what you're thinking, "Well where does the instant coffee come in?"

Let me ask you, have you ever taken an Amtrak train and wanted coffee? If you have, you know that what masquerade's as coffee is nothing more then brown colored water. And it just so happened that on my ride back to Sacramento I had an insanely strong urge for a good cup of coffee.

So what did I do?

I got the instant Starbucks Coffee out and prepared to be underwhelmed by an instant coffee that was only slightly better then the brown water alternative offered by Amtrak.

Only I was completely blown away over the coffee. It smelled and tasted as if the coffee had just been freshly brewed. It was amazing. I almost felt a little smug. After all, while the rest of the train was stuck pretending they enjoyed the hot water they were drinking; while I was drinking this cup of amazing.

Now the only problem? You can only get these portably cups of amazing on the east coast.... That is, unless you do the smart thing and order online....