If Seattle's Best can do this, why can't Starbucks?

Yesterday afternoon I visited my local Borders Books. On the positive side, my store is no longer running its "please don't ask us for a bag" campaign. I bought a music CD and was, nevertheless, asked if I wanted a bag. I said yes and was given a full size bag to go. (The bag was subsequently used when Munchy's litter box was cleaned.)

The counter signs discouraging customers from asking for a bag have also been either removed or covered up. See, the customer is always right!

We're posting the link, below, to our earlier write-up about Borders when we were not so pleased with the chain.

But while I was at Borders, I went to the Seattle's Best coffee counter and ordered a bold coffee. Even though it was mid-afternoon, this was no problem. The bold coffee served by Seattle's Best is about an 85% scale version of Peet's Major Dickason bold. But then something is far better than nothing.

This, then, begs the question... If Seattle's Best, which is fully owned by Starbucks of Seattle, can serve its customers bold coffee whenever they're open why can't Starbucks?

http://tinyurl.com/re8kov

Photos: flickr (bottom photo of Seattle's Best in the Ginza, Tokyo, by cloganese)

How Twitter is changing the way we live...

This is a very good article from Time magazine that describes how Twitter will change our lives.

http://bit.ly/kuC0P

And don't forget to visit our very own Twitter site at:

http://twitter.com/troybear07

I thank you and Munchy thanks you!

A feather in Ginger's cap (& she didn't have to kill a bird to get it)!

We earlier told the tail of how Ginger became the live-in and working cat at Orinda Books. Our story was picked up by the well-read Mental Floss site and they included Ginger in their listing of Top 8 bookstore cats! Here's the link to the Mental Floss article:

http://www.mentalfloss.com/blogs/archives/26153

To read our earlier post on Ginger, click on the link below, or go to the white rectangular search box, above and to the left, enter Orinda Books, then click on Search Blog and you'll get the full details. Munchy says Yeowk!

http://tinyurl.com/m5rks6

Photo courtesy of Beth Gallagher.

Beatle Paul is still having a blast playing on stage...

Here's a very nice story about Paul McCartney from USA Today:

http://tinyurl.com/gh5uak

We're still not mad at Cramer...

A few months back, we told you about the shots that CNBC's Jim Cramer (of Mad Money) took at Starbucks. We then tended to agree with him; plus we happen to like the guy! More recently he indicated that he wouldn't be caught alive going into a Carl's Jr. fast food franchise... Guess what, we agreed with him again.

So yesterday he appeared to give a bit of ground to the CEO of the Carl's/Hardee food corporation - no, we're not providing their stock name - but I think he was just being a polite host. You can judge by yourself by clicking on the link below.

Me, I'm still not walking into a Carl's Junior!

http://tinyurl.com/qxs6ks

Bonus: See our ealier Cramer versus Starbucks post at -

http://tinyurl.com/qbcakt

The dog park...

Click on the comic strip to see a larger version.

Eating and going Wi-Fi at the Plum Tree Inn...

One website that I like is blogdowntown L.A. and I especially love their unique Touring Downtown WIFI posts. Touring... looks at coffee shops and eateries that offer free wi-fi service to their customers. What a clever concept, huh?

Here's a sample Touring post that examines the Plum Tree Inn restaurant, located in downtown Los Angeles - naturally - at 913 N. Broadway in Chinatown. Happy eating and web-surfing!

http://tinyurl.com/qlltrg

See also:

http://blogdowntown.com/