MDMD: coffee & insurance

[Doug Millison]

Scott:
>DO NOT get me started on insurance companies....

Sounds as if we might be in agreement on this one.  I don't have the heart
to stop and think how much money I've forked over to insurance companies
over the years, for personal, auto, and business insurance , and how
disappointed I've sometimes  been when I've had to ask them to follow
through and do what they promised to do.

Scott:
>For the most part, I agree, but the man, also, knows his beans.

Right, as in so many things, P seems to have acquired the connoisseur's POV.

Scott:
>Starbuck's is Mcdonalds, and I'll freely admit occasional patronage of both.
>Among the "independents" a really good cup is about as easy to find as a
>decent burger.

We're lucky here in the Bay Area, lots of good independent coffee shops and
local chains -- one of the pioneers, Peet's, was co-founded by one of the
original investors (I think that's the connection) in Starbucks. So it has
been rather easy to avoid Starbucks, until they signed up for the Fair
Trade Coffee -- although I recently heard that only a very small percentage
of their coffee beans actually come from Fair Trade dealers (which involves
certification that the growers were paid a fair market price for the beans,
among other things).   I never have been able to cozy up to the Starbucks
that took the place of an old family-owned soda fountain on Solano Avenue
in one of my favorite Berkeley neighborhoods, however; I always choose
Peet's up the block instead.

-Doug




Doug Millison - Writer/Editor/Web Editorial Consultant
millison at online-journalist.com
www.Online-Journalist.com