it is about time starbucks!

times finally aren’t so good for starbucks. about three years ago i tried to give starbucks coffee up – let me repeat that. i tried giving up “starbucks coffee”, not “coffee” – i’m not that crazy :) it wasn’t that i didn’t enjoy their coffee, in fact i love their coffee. i’m not one to order a frappucchino, a mocha, etc. – i just want a cup of black coffee with nothing added to it & in my opinion starbucks coffee quality & taste is consistent & rocks.

so why did i try to give it up? starbucks was becoming to commercial. it started feeling like a fast food shop – how quick can we turn a customer in/out appeared to be their driving concern. drive-thru windows were even installed. OK, i’ll admit that drive thru can be convenient at times. ever try sitting at a starbucks to actually do work? have you noticed that it’s always freezing inside starbucks & loud? you think that’s an accident? heck no, they want you in & out that door as quickly as possible. so they crank down the air & turn up the music & people leave because they can’t concentrate. the straw that broke the camels back was when they introduced t-mobile & *not* free internet - i was so pissed! then more food items started showing up (none of them good for you), they started selling walls of merchandise to include $1,500 espresso machines, CD purchases, & over-priced odwalla drinks, water, etc. most importantly of all these things – a tall coffee costs over a $1.70! i was checking out starbuck’s menu one afternoon & if you order anything other than a tall coffee or a espresso shot you are in for a $2+ drink. most drinks on their menu range from $3 - $4 bucks! give me a break!

the problem i ran into while trying to give up starbucks... other coffee spots were convenient given my location & the coffee was usually hit or miss day-to-day. it also seemed that ever corner i turned someone was giving me a starbucks card as a present so how could i avoid free coffee?

so i continue like so many others to frequent starbucks on a daily basis. how do i afford it? you’ll love this – the credit card kristin & i use is a starbucks rewards card. we don’t earn air miles – we earn starbuck’s points. for over two years now we’ve been fortunate enough that we’ve never had to “pay” the high dollars at starbucks due to the plethora of points that we earn each month.

we’ll i’m not the only one that has been frustrated by starbucks obviously & as a result starbucks IS now starting to feel some pain due to all their “dirty” tactics. they claim to serve their consumers – yeh right! gouge them for every dollar you can & get them out as quickly as possible has been their approach for too long!

it was just two weeks ago that they brought back their original CEO that took them to the top. early this month they fired jim donald & they reinstated howard shultz. if you own starbuck’s stock then you know that on jan. 4th their stock price was sitting at $18.11. the stock had fallen over half of its value since may 5th of 2006 when it was at its peak of $39.63 a share.

upon hearing this news i visited starbuck’s website & the home page was nothing but a letter from their CEO howard shultz explaining to consumers (aka investors) how he was going to turn things around & serve his customers ethically. you can still find the letter on their website but it no longer makes up their main page.

oddly enough starbucks is supposedly feeling the crunch from dunkin donuts & mcdonalds. i hear mcdonald’s coffee is actually really good & cheap; however, it goes against everything i believe in to visit a mcdonalds. as for dunkin, there is only one that i know of in austin & it’s out of my way to visit. i have been reading a lot about dunkin & how they have been working on changing their brand image recently. they’ve always been the coffee/donut shop for the common man. while i think they still stand by that statement, they are changing things up to draw more consumers (yuppies that are frustrated with starbucks) through their doors.

so this morning i heard something on NPR about starbucks that really peaked my interest. starbucks is going to offer a $1 cup of coffee. i have repeated it over & over that a cup of black coffee should *not* cost any more than a buck. unfortunately for me starbucks is only rolling this promo idea out in its seattle store locations to see how it’s going to work & probably more importantly whether they can sustain at selling coffee at this price. i think it may actually work for them & more importantly us – the consumer! now how about turning that A/C down & providing us some free internet shultz!

additional information about starbucks if you are curious:

- 1971: first stoor opened in seattle
- 1982: howard shutlz gets involved
- jul. 03, 1992: starbucks IPOs for $0.71 – 165 stores
- 1999: starbucks buys TAZO tea (ever wonder why they sell TAZO?)
- 2000: shultz steps down & orin smith becomes CEO
- 2001: the starbucks card that we all have learned to love makes its appearance
- 2003: starbucks acquires seattle’s best
- 2004: t-mobile hot spots installed (bad (greedy) move)
- 2005: orin smith retires, jim donald takes charge
- may 05, 2006: starbucks is at it’s peak $39.63 – 12,440 stores!
- jan. 04, 2008: starbuck’s stock is at $18.11 (less than half of what it was worth in may ’06)
- jan. 04, 2008: starbucks sells naked juice brand (cutting loss leaders)
- jan. 04, 2008: starbucks stops offering organic milks (cutting costs & inventory)
- jan. 07, 2008: donald is fired & shutlz is brought back in as CEO
- jan. 23, 2008: trying $1 coffee in seattle stores

- jan. 23, 2008: starbuck’s stock is at $18.67 (well, we are headed into a recession folks)

cramp!!!

i felt like a million bucks when i woke up this morning! it was nice to have the day off from training yesterday (i did light weights & pilates at home last night). i woke up at 5 to 5 & didn't need to be out of the house until 5:45 so i started the coffee, made some oatmeal, & hopped online to pay some bills & attempt to catch up on some home budgetary items.

i met ed at 6am for hill repeats. we choose to stay away from wilke as i'll be doing 3M this weekend & we wanted to change things up anyway. i don't recall the street name but it's just a few blocks shy of coming to wilke & it starts with a long steady incline & then jets way up. it was good, i got my lucky 7 repeats in.

great day at the office too (first time i've introduced work to my blog). it involved a lot of talking & not e-mails, responding to fires, or writing docs all day. i had a 2 1/2 hour lunch with my boss at kenobi sushi (a new sushi restaurant in the arboretum where dan mcclusky's used to be) & when i returned to the office i took gene, one of our senior systems architects, over to the steeping room in the domain where we enjoyed a reserve oolong tea & edamame while we discussed the R&D required for a pretty cool new project that i can't talk about publicly (NDA & stuff). i do enjoy being able to step outside the office to work; especially really focused work where the effect of a new environment lets you explore new ideas.

finally & why i started this blog... so i left the office just in time to make it down south for 7:10 swim practice with t3. it was freezing - 36 degrees & i prior to stripping down to swim i was only wearing a short sleeve shirt & a thin jacket - i should have checked the weather more closely this morning. i suppose the news of dropping short term interest rates by the federal reserve & the ongoing talk about a recession distracted me. back on track brian - get to the point!

2000 meters into my swim my left foot cramped up. i was able to shake it off luckily & keep going. then 500 meters later my left calve totally seized up & it hurt like hell! i was helpless in the water & done for the night. the calve muscle basically locked up for a good minute & now two hours later & it is still sore. lesson to be learned here - stretch & ensure you have the right balance of electrolytes in your system. i suppose i'll have to start taking nuun again.

long story short - cramps suck & so does 36 degree weather!

dogs & dinner

this past saturday eryn & alex invited us over for dinner. eryn suggested we bring payton so we did! from the get go the dogs were chasing one another. well actually, payton was chasing saci (acronym for the school that eryn & alex attended in florence) the entire night. well not exactly all night, alex locked saci away in her crate just prior to sitting down for dinner - poor dog locked away on her home turf while payton was left to roam freely!

minus the dog frenzy we had a great time & the food was amazing - i took multiple pics! i've never seen a salad with so many fruitful colors. we started with some homemade soup that was sprinkled with roasted pine nuts & complimented with bruchetta (made with a soft pumpernickel bread). in between soup & salad we had a variety of olives. then the salad came & it too was awesome - so many colors folks! have you ever had blackberries in a salad? if you haven't you must try it. then to the main course - salmon! & finally a medley of frozen fruits whipped into a homemade sherbert & coffee made with a real french press.

lucky for me, eryn made a lot of everything & given the training i was in for the next day & what i had experienced that morning i wasn't shy with eating two bowls of soup, 3 pieces of bruchetta, 2 plates of salad, & 2 1/2 pieces of salmon!

when payton finally calmed down alex let saci out of her crate. we ended up watching 'knocked up' - kristin & i hadn't seen it before. we started with 'superbad', but kristin wasn't enjoying the humor all that much.

to sum up the night: the food was amazing & when you let dogs crash your party you shouldn't expect to have long deep conversations & resorting to a movie can be a good fall back plan :)

bikini fans

i'm surprised that i'm talking (blogging) so much about the green bay game too... it really was a disappointment. i mean, this is probably favre's last year & for them to go the super bowl against the patriots would have made for such good marketing & hype. how in the world did they loose at home in that crazy weather?

enough with the game, how about those bikini girl fans? did you miss seeing these girls on the camera yesterday? how nuts will fans get? is it really worth it to be on TV? my answer is yes!

for 2 minutes they probably froze their nipples off - literally ;). in that two minutes their faces, well their bodies, were seen by millions & now with all the web attention they've probably been viewed & talked about by hundreds of millions. granted, it's not the most respectable thing to be known for. of course, it wasn't like they were stripping - millions of women wear bathing suits everyday around pools & beaches. it's the cold weather aspect that makes it a "big deal." their stunt worked & they've created a lot of fun chatter & probably brought smiles to a lot of faces.

i suppose if fans are going to show off their bodies for the camera i prefer it be "bikini girls" versus the usual overweight fat man that's drinking his beer & eating a mouthful of chili dogs with his buddy.

comfort food

green bay lost BIG tonight (even NY times sent me a "news alert" about it) & now kristin is down in the dumps. i'm a bears fan remember & even i was pulling for green bay. i'm quite shocked that the giants upset green bay at home in the zero below temperatures. this could very well be favre's last game.

i recall some years ago when philadelphia knocked green bay out of the playoffs - kristin became a real football fan that day & she realized for the first time what a BIG loss feels like. unfortunately she revisited that feeling again today. we were going to have a super bowl party if green bay would have made it too.

oh well... maybe i can cheer kristin up with some comfort food. i think it's time for kale, edamame, tempeh, & mashed heart-shaped sweet potatoes! i recall that it brought a smile to kristin's face a couple months ago when i first put this treat together :)

avocado + fish tacos

how could i forget the avocado? avocado is a must on fish taco night. whole foods had a sale on tilapia last week & we must have had fish tacos three nights this past week. kristin says the are "easy" & i just think they are amazing.

so what makes the perfect fish taco at our house?

3 tilapia fillets cooked on a pan with diced tomatoes & green chillies, whole wheat (burrito size) tortillas from whole foods, avocado obviously!, fat free sour cream, black soy beans, & optionally queso fresco.

lucky for us the fillets were on sale again this weekend & i foresee a good number of nights with fish tacos this week!

i'd post a pic but some how i've missed taking one & all the google image results don't come close to what we put together. i'll take a pic later in the week & post it.

week2 - CDA training in 2008

mon
- pure pump class + abs (1-hour) (6:30 am)
- spin class at pure (55 min) (5:30 pm)
- 2-mile on the treadmill (20 min) (6:30 pm)
tue
- 3,000 meter swim with t3 (5:45 am)
- 7-mile jog on the treadmill (53 min) (8:15 pm)
wed
- 3-mile lake jog with payton (30-min) (6:30 am)
- bike trainer at pure (1-hour) (7:30 pm)
thu
- spin class at pure (45-mins) (12:00 pm)
- treadmill at pure (15-mins) (12:50 pm)
fri
- yoga/pilates at pure (45-mins) (12:00 pm)
sat
- 11-mile run from town lake to 46th & back (1-hour & 20-mins) (9:00 am)
- total body workout w/ focus on legs at pure with ed (1-hour & 30-mins) (11:15 am)
- 3-mile run with cisco the local neighborhood dog (30-mins) (2:00 pm)
sun
- 2800 meter swim with t3 (1-hour & 15-mins) (8:00 am)
- 43 – 44 mile mansfied damn loop from lost creek & 360 (2-hours & 30-mins) (10:15 am)

total training time: 14-hours & 42-minutes

twenty six

i wish i was talking about a marathon... oh btw, i don't think i'm doing the AT&T full marathon. maybe the 1/2 marathon just for fun & to get some of the energy that comes with a race of that size.

the twenty six i'm referring to was the temperature this morning. my buddy colleen blogged about her morning too & she was reporting 18 degree weather - i think she was just being *extra* dramatic or maybe her temperature gauge is just broke :)

yesterday was already a pretty cold morning too, but i didn't have to strip & swim & then jump on my bike & ride in it. i suppose sometimes you just do what you've got to do! i was at lost creek country club to swim with t3 just before 8am & i was in the water 15 minutes later. when that tarp comes off the water & the steam rises from the pool all you want to do is jump in. we swam for about an hour & 15 minutes. ed had setup a mansfield damn loop leaving from lost creek & 360 so we quickly changed over into our warmest biking gear after jumping out of the water & we took off.

the full finger gloves, long tights, & head band i purchased paid for themselves BIG time today. i still need some booties or something because my feet were frozen for the whole ride. it wasn't my best ride (more to come in my next blog) by any means; it was however a good mental experience for me & for that i'm very thankful that i got out there & did it!

how many more months of this cold weather?

yoga was overdue

this past friday i took my first yoga class of the year. i actually goofed the schedule at pure & it turned out to be a yoga/pilates class & in all honesty i liked it more than just the plain hatha flow yoga i attend occasionally.

this second week of ironman training, along with work (which like a lot of folks i know right now is consuming a lot of time & it is full of deadlines), dog training (payton is great - it just takes a lot of work - kristin is being a real trooper with him!), considering a home purchase, trying to sell a car, my father coming into town this past week, both of my folks coming into town next weekend for the 3M 1/2 marthon, & trying to spend time with the one i love was all just wearing on me.

the yoga was great!. i went at lunch on friday & the breathing & stretching really helped. i'm not sure which one was better - they were both needed! i've decided from this point forward i'm going to include yoga/pilates into my weekly routine. i really want to try out bikram yoga which is supposed to make you super sweaty & is considered a very tough workout.

an update on my eagle entrepreneurs - 2008 take II

the attached pic & story date back to early december actually. it was the first time i visited roland's lakeline watersports shop. i was blown away with his inventory & the custom kayak racks he had built to show off his product. he has turned this little shop into the real deal very quickly.

anyway, on that rainy day back in december another buddy of roland's & myself drove out to a baby clothing store in cedar park to pick up a used check-out counter for his shop. roland had initially set up a folding table & was now upgrading to a more legit setup. it would be the place for which he would soon take in large sums of cash - i hope :)

as of right now roland continues to do well; even in the colder months of the year. he's actually bringing more technology on board to make things easier & more efficient for himself & his operations. he's currently shopping the iPhone to use as a mobile internet connection so he can process transaction while on the road.

keep it up roland & when are we going camping this year?

an update on my eagle entrepreneurs - 2008 take I

paul & his partner richard launched their website a couple of weeks ago. i was lucky enough to be partner one's first customer shortly after they finalized their reseller agreement with dell. that is right, SQ-0001 was processed by my company networkIP. i have talked to paul about once a week since he started partner one. we talk about current projects that i've got going & i suspect partner one to be an integral part to two of our biggest projects this year that will involve hardware procurement.

paul is always on top of his game & has the information i need on time. while i know paul is very busy with all that goes into turning up his business - he has never once denied me the time on the phone when i've called & in fact he goes out of his way to keep me up to date & dialogue with me at length about what he has going on.

i really hope all of paul's customers see what i see in him & partner one. thanks for always taking care of networkIP & more importantly thanks for being such a good friend at the same time.

my first black toe

i suppose i'm now officially a runner - at least that is what kristin tells me. a couple of weeks ago the same toe on my right foot starting going black but never turned all the way. if there was a "black toe" judging i'm not sure it would pass.

now this puppy on my left foot is officially a black toe though - no doubt about it! i'm sure there are a number of causes of black toe; in my case my toe nail was simply catching just a bit when i was running & when that catching action happens over & over on an 11-mile run that's a lot of catching going on. as a result the toe gets really sore, turns black, & i suspect will eventually fall off - lucky me! the first few days after the initial "injury" is a bit painful, but then it's just turns into an ugly black toe with no pain.

how i will i attempt to prevent future black toes? keep toe nails super trim, good socks, a shoe that fits like a glove (i'm considering switching from my mizunos to some asics gel nimbus 9s - that's what i sported in my first 3M 1/2 marathon in '05 & they did me well).

anyone else got any good black toe stories or pics? for more about black toes (thanks google) read on:

black toe

at the end of a long walk or run, you may notice that a toenail has turned black or gray, and may be swollen under the nail. what happened? what's going to happen?
what is black toenail?

as you walk or run, your foot slides forward in your shoe, banging your toes against the top, front, and sides with each step. your feet also swell during a walk or run and get compressed by your socks and shoes. that pressure and impact can damage your toenail beds, or create a blister under the toenail itself. when this happens, the extra blood and fluid cause your toenail to separate from the toenail bed, or the "toenail in training" as the jeff galloway site calls it. the blood colors the toenail black.

is your black toenail painful?

if there is a blister under the toenail, you may see the toenail raised and it may be swollen and painful. it is best to try to ignore this for 24 hours and see if it goes down by itself. if it is still raised and painful after a day, then you may want to drain the fluid. if the edge of the swollen area is near the edge of the nail, sterilize a needle, sanitize the area, and try to pierce the blister with the needle. press to drain it, apply alcohol and/or antibiotic cream.

if the swollen area isn't near the edge of the nail, you will need to drill through the nail to drain it. sterilize a paper clip with a flame, sanitize the nail with alcohol, and while the paper clip is still glowing red, pierce straight down through the nail to make a puncture to drain the excess fluid. press to drain the fluid. sanitize the area with alcohol and antibiotic cream.
if the toe continues to be swollen and red after you have drained the excess fluid, see a doctor to ensure it has not become infected. take infection seriously, if it continues to hurt or the pain increases, this is a bad sign. toe infections can lead to blood infections, gangrene, and worse, especially if you have diabetes.

will i lose my toenail?

the short answer is - yes. it will take a few weeks or months, but as the toenail continues to grow, eventually it shoves out the damaged, blackened toenail. the black toenail is raised off of the toenail bed, and underneath it is often the healthy remainder of your toenail. your black toenail will gradually loosen from the sides and you will be able to trim it away.
when will my toes be pretty again?

if pretty toes are important to you, you can paint the black toenail or even the thin new toenail, or the bare skin. most people won't notice the difference if you use a darker shade of polish. full replacement of your toenail takes about 3 months, and the new toenail will often be a bit wavy, thin in some areas and thicker in others. after 4-5 months your toenail should be back to normal.

how can i prevent black toenail?your running or walking shoes and socks must fit correctly. your feet swell a full shoe size over the course of a longer run or walk, and your toes must have someplace to expand into. the toebox must be wide enough, yet not too wide or your toes will bang around in it. getting fit at a technical running shoe store in your area is your best method of ensuring your shoes fit correctly.

i promise i’m not a vegan or vegetarian

due to kristin’s recent switch to vegetarianism some months ago (she will occasionally eat red meat & in the past two weeks she added fish to back to her diet – i think there is an official name for this, i just don’t know & haven’t bothered to look it up) & my ability to eat anything as long as i know it’s good for me (regardless of taste) has made eating nothing but veggies for many meals very easy for me. the best part about all this veggie eating is that i’ve discovered some really amazing new veggies that i knew nothing about to include: kale, brussel sprouts, & red swiss chard.

i used to think that brocolli was the best veggie for me – good carbs, vitamins, & even packed with a bit of protein. while i’m still a fan of brocolli, it doesn’t come close to touching well prepared brussel sprouts. we use a very simple recipe – pop them right off the stalk & on to a cookie pan, dust on some olive oil, fresh cracked black pepper, & some sea salt. stick ‘em in the oven for 400 degrees for 45 minutes (shake the pan ever 10 to 15 minutes to ensure the sprout is roasted on all sides (a little charred makes them oh so good!).

oh, & the things you can do with sweet potatoes! i may have mentioned this before but we eat sweet potatoes in a variety of ways. baked & eaten whole, baked & then mashed up (leave the skins on folks!, sliced & then baked, make them into sticks with olive oil, cracked black pepper & sea salt. i’ve even added them to waffle & pancake mixes!

some other great things to eat when meat isn’t around are nuts. almonds are my favorite – dry roasted with *no* salt added. we started buying this spread at the vegan counter at whole foods called “happy tuna” & another one called “like turkey” & they are awesome. basically they grind up almonds & then mix in some really awesome spices & tahini – spread that on some hemp bread & you’ve got a great healthy snacked packed with protein, fiber, & the right type of carbs.

the attached pic was my 2nd lunch (yes, i'm eating a lot during training) yesterday consisting of baked brussel sprouts, grilled tofu, & brown rice mushroom pilaf.

to reiterate, i’m not a vegan or vegetariain. during a normal week i eat on average 6 – 10 chicken breasts & fish as often as i can get it. i eat red meat very seldom – usually only when i’m at a fine steak house or if we decide to make buffalo burgers at home. however, i do love this new diet of eating way more veggies than i did before & i don’t mind one bit eating an entire plate of nothing but veggies as a meal.

iPhone release 1.1.3

never before have i been excited to update software… in fact, every time my PC tells me it is time to update i fight with it for days before i’ll let it force me into a reboot. today, for the first time i rushed to download release 1.1.3 for the iPhone. what’s so special about this release?

all i really cared about was being able to text message the same text to multiple people without having to type out the same exact message over & over & then send it individually to each person. if you were wondering why you didn’t get a “happy new year” text from me it was because i would have had to type “happy new year” 20 times to send it to the 20 people i would have wished a happy new year to. i cursed the iPhone immediately when i realized this so called “feature” didn’t exist a day after i got the phone. i was amazed that apple of all companies missed this very simple use-case.

other than the multi-person text “feature”, release 1.1.3 allows you to arrange your icon view, find yourself on the map, the map interface is a bit more intuitive, you can now download 3rd party apps to your iPhone, & you can rent movies from iTunes.

the other so called “feature” that i’m waiting on is the ability to be on the phone & use the internet at the same time. say i’m on the phone & the person i’m talking to asks me the hours to a store, if i put the person on hold or just jump to safari the edge/wi-fi network is disabled. i have to hang up with the person i’m talking to, use safari to find the store’s hours & then call the person back to tell them the store hours.

apple will eventually get it right – i’m sure of it.

official week1 - CDA training in 2008

adjusting to the schedule & workouts. i wish the weather would warm up. running wilke tuesday morning in the rain & cold with kearney sucked.

mon, jan 7
- 3 mile run with payton around the lake (28 minutes) (6:45 am)
- chest & arms workout at home with some abs mixed in (1 hour) (9:00 pm)

tue, jan 8
- wilke hill repeats (7 hills) 1 hour (6:00 am)
- t3 2,800 meter swim (7:15 pm)

wed, jan 9
- spin class at pure (5:30 pm)
- 15 minutes on the treadmill (6:15 pm)
- 30 minute total body weight workout at pure (7:00 pm)

thu, jan 10
- t3 3,000 + meter swim (5:45 am)
- 1 hour & 5 minute spin bike at pure (7:00 pm)

fri, jan 11
- 10 mile lake run with small t3 group (6:00 am)

sat, jan 12
- 3 mile run with payton around the lake (7:30 am)
- kuota k-factor test ride on 360 (1 hour 30 minutes) (12:30 pm)
- 15 minutes stretching at pure (3:45 pm)
- 45 minutes spin bike at pure (4:00 pm)
- 15 minutes stretching & light weights at pure (4:45 pm)

sun, jan 13
- 30 neighborhood run (7 46th st. repeats) (6:30 pm)
- 15 minutes stretching & misc. weights (7:00 pm)