Coffee Intervention

Welcome to the 6^th floor.

Today's contributors are: Sara, Tabitha, Frank

Subject: Sara and her Joe

Sara's sitting at the table with her laptop and a cup of coffee, tapping away at the keys. Frank's watching television, and Tabitha is making herself a sandwich in the kitchen.

“So Sara, how's Joe?”

“Joe? Who's Joe? Are you dating someone new and didn't tell me?”

“I have no idea what he's talking about. I'm not dating anyone that I know of.”

“I meant your coffee. It seems like I never see you without that coffee mug or Starbucks cup anymore.”

“That's not true! Yesterday I had a Juan Valdez cup!”

“Have you tried..and I know this will sound odd, a good night's sleep? It's not like you have work to get up for.”

“Good night's sleep? That's so 1920s.”

“1920s? Did they historically sleep more in the 1920s?”

“I don't know. Maybe?”

“I guess it was during prohibition. If they couldn't stay out until four drinking, I guess they could get to bed early.”

“Either way. It's a problem when you go to bed after Frank does.”

“Is there something inherently wrong with going to bed at 5am? You know, I wouldn't get this kind of criticism of my schedule in Las Vegas.”

“Well can't you even go to the dentist at 3am in Vegas? But this isn't Vegas, this is New York.”

“It's the city that never sleeps!”

“If it laid off the coffee, it'd be able to sleep!”

“Did you know that the first Starbucks opened in New York in 1994, the same year Friends started?”

“I think I did hear that actually.”

“Very telling.”

“So I'm keeping my coffee then. Besides, It's almost a sin for a programmer to give up things like coffee.”

“Well, the first web cam was created to see if the coffee pot was full so they didn't have to get up.”

“I've always wondered about that. I mean, if everyone could check the coffee pot, and no one got up if it was empty, how'd they ever get coffee?”

“I'm sure the secretary probably started filling it up.”

“Exactly.”

“We're moving towards that culture right? Soon we'll be able to query are fridge contents from a web browser, probably even turn on the oven too. We'll be able to cook dinner from our computer.”

“That would be excellent!”

“Lazy bums! There is some benefit to not sitting on the couch all day you know.”

“There is?”

“Blasphemy.”

Tabitha just rolls her eyes, and takes her sandwich into her room.

Free Wireless

Welcome to the 6^th floor.

Today's contributors are: Ann, Sara, Frank, Billy.

Subject: Free Wireless Zone

“Hey, did you know CBS has created a huge free wireless area from Times Square to Central Park South between 6^th and 8^th avenue? I love it!”

“No I didn't. That's pretty cool. It works everywhere?”

“Yup, laptops, phones, handhelds.. Can sit down anywhere and browse the World Wide Web.”

“Dude, no one calls it the World Wide Web anymore.”

“Oh whatever. I connected from a Starbucks just north of Times Square today. Screw you T-Mobile!”

“The rates for the T-Mobile hot zones aren't even good if it's your only Internet provider. It's crazy. Occasionally I'll utilize a free connection in the park, but not in the winter. I'll have to check out this CBS zone.”

“I was only on it for a little while, but there are some ads and all, which is no big deal. Oh, and in some cases there are zillions of wireless signals floating around midtown that you sometimes have to restart or refresh the search a lot to find the good ones.”

“Maybe I'll take my laptop out and do my job searches outside of the house. Make myself feel like I was productive if I'm not home.”

“I know the feeling, I don't think I could ever work from home.”

“I dunno, sleeping until noon. Making my own hours. Taking breaks whenever the hell I want. I dig it.”

“Your job is a lot cooler than ours though.”

“Well, that's true. Working distracted never cost either of you thousands of dollars either though.”

“Nope, not yet.”

“I wish I had thousands of dollars to risk!”

“Speaking of free wireless, do you know what I found out recently? Panera Bread's free wireless now has peak time limits! I was at one in the afternoon, and it kicked me off and said I'd used my 30 minute quota for the peak lunch crowd!”

“Oh, that sucks. No workaround? Restarting or anything? I wonder if you could use a proxy to trick it into thinking it's a different computer. Probably not.. Maybe it simply checks your computer name? Too simple..It probably checks your mac address. Oh well. Guess Panera Bread is off the midday wireless list.”

“I'm rarely up at that time anyway, but what if they do it during the dinner rush too? That's lame! It said something about wanting you to get up to make table space for other customers.”

“I guess that makes sense. It'd be nice if you could do something like entering a receipt number to get an extra hour or something.”

“Yeah. I'd gladly buy another mocha or a cinnamon bun to sit there longer. Now I'm just going to go there less in general.”

“That's what makes this CBS zone thing so great. Legitimately free wireless. I can deal with ads, there are ads everywhere. It's gotten to the point where things look weird without ads.”

“Yeah. I agree. I have to test it out more to see if it's really reliable. It's only been up like a month or two, so they probably still have some bugs in coverage or something.”

“Probably need some time to get the kinks out.”

“Maybe now I'll have less boring people hanging around in Starbucks nursing a latte for six hours on their laptops while I'm trying to get a table to hang with Scott on his breaks. They can all run away to Times Square. I'm sure they'll find plenty of inspiration there.”

“Six hours? That's kind of crazy. I usually at least order a second drink to nurse when I'm hanging out all day!”

“Scott tells me there are some that order plenty throughout the day when they hang out. I worry for their health though. Some of them easily ingest in excess of a gram of caffeine.”

“Damn. I don't know whether to be impressed or worried.”

“I don't know either, but now I want a mocha.”

“Let's go visit Scott and get some coffee.”

Flavor of the Week

Welcome to the 6^th floor.

Today's contributors are: Billy and Scott.

Subject: Flavor of the Week

Billy walks into Starbucks, nods to Scott, and takes a seat in one of the empty chairs. Shortly after Scott walks over with a Starbucks cup and hands it to Billy, who tastes it.

“Gotta be the Pumpkin Spice Latte. That was easy, I knew you'd choose that.”

“Drat! I have to be more unpredictable.”

“Not surprising, I'm sure Starbucks has been drilling you about the new seasonal stuff all week.”

“Hmm. Maybe they have. It's hard to tell, I don't really listen much.”

“I can tell, you have a customer at the register waiting for you.”

“Eh, that's just Max. No hurry, I already know what he wants.”

“A mind reader now? Impressive.”

“It keeps things interesting. I will not bring you a cookie!”

Max: “Actually Scott, It's Monday. I'm thinking peppermint mocha.”

“It's Monday already? My My.”

“I guess you're mind reading skills aren't up to snuff. And you ARE going to bring me a cookie when you come back.”

“It was my pick this week Maximus. I'll let it slide, but next week, it's all me.”

Max: “You got it pal.”

Scott mixes up Max's drink, makes some more small talk and then returns with a cookie for Billy.

“Here is your cookie. Careful, or I'll make you pay next time.”

“You wouldn't!”

“Try me. What are up to anyway? You don't usually stop in on Mondays.”

“Oh. Well Ann and Tabitha are still sick. I figured I should keep out of the germ infested apartment a bit. Caffeine helps combat disease right?”

“Certainly! You've never seen anyone sneeze while drinking coffee have you?”

“Well, actually.. Yeah, I have.”

“Oh. Well then we're screwed.”

Mocha Mania

Welcome to the 6^th floor.

Today's contributors are: Ann, Tabitha, Scott.

Subject: Mocha Mania

“Ann! Tabitha! Glad you're home. Someone had called and ordered a whole bunch of Frappachinos, and then called and canceled five minutes after he was supposed to pick them up. I took five of them with me when I left for you guys.”

“I'm not sure I'm in a coffee mood, and Frank, Billy and Sara are all at work.”

“I'll have one, what kind are they?”

“Java Chip. You have to have one or two Ann, you can't let good coffee and chocolate go to waste can you?”

“I'll have one, if you have one.”

Time Passes...

“Why are you baking?”

“I'm too jittery. Have to expend the energy somewhere.”

“I just hope you're not making something like espresso brownies.”

“I am going to make chocolate chip snickerdoodles. Oddly enough we have the ingredients for them.”

“Why aren't you hyper Scott?”

“I think I'm immune. There have been days I've drank espresso like water at work. I must have built up a tolerance.”

“I wish I had a tolerance. Although, had I eaten lunch maybe I wouldn't feel as jittery.”

“You're speed walking around the couch. You're going to wear a hole in the carpet.”

“You're juggling sticks of butter that Tabitha needs for her cookies. Maybe you're not as immune as you think.”

“He's probably just gotten better at dealing with it.”

“By channeling it into juggling? Do you juggle Mochas for your customers Scott?”

“No, but I preform slight of hand on their money.”

“Ha! Now give me the butter, I need to cream it for the cookies.”

“Come and get it!”

Scott heads into the living room with it, and Tabitha gives chase and tackles him. Scott loses his balance and collides with Ann, who was still pacing, and they all crumble into a heap on the floor.

“Ouch. Get off of me!”

“Nice tackle, the Jets could use you.”

“Thank you. Now give up the butter.”

“I dropped it when you tackled me.”

“Here it is, it's smushed into my shirt. Does butter stain?”

“Only the salted kind.”

“Great, now I have to go to the store. You two behave while I'm gone.”

“Without you here to tackle us, I think we'll be fine. I'll have you know I was almost in the end zone.”

Tabitha sticks out her tongue at Scott and walks out the door.