Coffeetalk

Haven't felt like posting recently due to the grim news out of New Orleans. It kinda makes my personal musings seem particularly trivial and unnecessary right now. I've visited NOLA twice in my life; once right after college with a friend (this was my two week break between college and medical school), and the second time as a 4th year medical student when I went to a conference. The French Quarter was kinda nice, but the rest of the town appeared run-down and poverty-stricken. It was a powerful reminder of the great disparities of wealth in our country. Of course, its in even more depressing shape nowadays.

Kelly has been busy all week working on wedding preparations, thankfully she's shielded me from most of the work. I try to stay out of her way, mostly. I'm amazed at her attention to the details. If it were up to me, I'd have to hire somebody to do it, because I definitely don't have the patience for it.

Speaking of trivial musings, since I have the day off, my most momentous decision today was Starbucks v. Caribou. On the one hand, Caribou is slightly closer, and has a cooler logo. On the other hand, I've got credit card that earns me Starbucks points, which makes me feel better about buying those $3+ frappucinos. In the end, convenience won out over cheapness. With regards to taste, I'm no coffee connoisseur. I'll drink $2 gourmet or $.45 cafeteria coffee and enjoy them equally. I guess this is an argument for getting the cheap stuff, but I rather enjoy the image of coffee grown and harvested by happy caribou who earn good wages and enjoy national health care (they are Canadian, you know).

By the way, if you haven't heard, there's data that suggest that drinking coffee is good for you. There's an inverse correlation with coffee drinking and risk of type II diabetes. I find it interesting that the study was performed in Finnland. There are a lot of caribou (reindeer) in Finnland. Coincidence? I think not.

-Brian