Monday Meanderings - 4.25.2016

My almost new 5-month old coffee maker quit on me one evening this past week. I loaded the coffee, filled it with water, turned it on and it just sat there. looked at me and said, "No coffee for you, sucker." Since one simply must have coffee, I made a quick trip to Walmart and got a new unit. Yes, I did. Don't judge me; you would have done the same thing.

The next day I called Mr Coffee and requested a refund for my in-warranty but-now-defunct coffee maker. The polite person on the phone said, "We don't refund them, we don't repair them, we just replace them. Where would you like your new coffee maker sent?" Can one have too many coffee makers? I think not.

Apparently, I'm not the only one who feels this way. According to a recent list compiled by personal finance company SmartAsset, Austin is the No. 7 best city for “coffee fanatics” in the U.S. In ranking the best coffee cities the company considered factors like the average price of a cup of coffee, its availability throughout the city and how many coffee roasters and high-end coffee shops it boasts. The general level of coffee enthusiasm was measured by Google searches, as well. Austinites also searched for coffee 44 percent more than was the national average. Here's the link to the study by SmartAsset if you would like the details.

Although Austin did well in most of the categories it, of course, didn’t out-roast Seattle, Washington (ranked first), or its sister city of sorts, Portland, Oregon, which ranked No. 3. Three California cities also topped Austin’s coffee scene: San Francisco, Oakland and San Diego, which ranked No. 4, 5 and 6 respectively. Austin was the only Texas city to rank among the top 25 cities for coffee lovers.

By the way, I think I was deceived regarding my new coffee maker. This was the picture on the box:

 But when I opened the packaging, there were no cookies inside. Really bummed about that, because next to coffee... I think I have a case for false advertising, but I suspect if I call customer service I won't get new (or old) cookies, either.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go brew a pot of coffee.