>   CP wrote --

 > > I used those cones for YEARS to make all my coffees.

 >   I got my first one in the early '80s I found at a deli I delivered
 > produce to.
 >   That one was great since no filter was needed.  It had a little screw in
 > cup on the bottom the coffee went through, so the funnel held only water.
 >   I managed to break that somehow (after years of use) and had to go with
 > the filter one.

Ooh, that one sounds interesting; do you recall anything about it? brand, name,
etc?

nah, nm, I like my bodums!  Gt 2 2-cup ones & a 1-cup one, so I can brew 5 mugs
at a time, of 3 different types (decaf, flavors)

Saturday mornings I make enough for my 3/4 pint mug, & put a splash of
liqueur(flavoured Baileys) into it, to make it special. (Lazy Man's Irish
Coffee)

I can make it with actual whiskey should I ever want to; or make my own
custom(different every time) Monte Christo.

Usually, I don't add that extra 'spice' to my coffees, as I like coffee itself
just fine.

Discovered that at the ripe old age of 17, in '84, at a cafe in a tiny(2500)
Northern Ontario town I'd wound up in while hitchhiking.  I was having my usual
breakfast & the coffee was so GOOD! Ezxtra rich & flavorful; I asked the
waitress if they'd changed brands; she said everything was same as lat I was
in. I took a second cup(free refills years) & discovered, when I went to opur
sugar into my teaspoon, that the spoon was dry (I'd not used it -- the coffee
tasted wondrously better because I was tasting the unflavoured coffee itself;
stopped putting sugar in that day, until after 50 whem my stomach required a
half tsp.

Always needed a half cream, though; still do, unless I'm having a mocha, then
just as it is.

I sure do miss when you'd go in & order a coffee (only, not part of a meal) &
they gave you a thermosful on the table so you could get 4 refils or so without
the waitress' attention needed. & then pay a 50 cent tab on your way out (75c
or $1 including tax & tip, of course)

Now you ghotta pay $2.50 as soon as you go in, before sitting, & they'll bring
you a tiny mug (almost demi-tasse, you'd think) 2/3 full of coffee, & you only
get 1 refill, & only if you ordered a meal, & you spend so much time flagging a
server, you give up & just go. . .

I remember, in '89, I went to this one cafe every morning before work, for the
2 eggs, 2 meat 2 toast, & hash browns meal for $2.50 (unlimited refills
included); they hired a new waitress at one point, as they were getting too
busy for an aging couple to do it all. I couldn't get her eye for nothin', to
get a refil after I'd finised my meal & coffee.  Finally I got up & got the pot
myself, filling a few others on my way to & from my table.  She got
snarky(superior-like she was god of the coffee rations) with me over it.

Next day the owner asked what Io thought of her; I gave my honest appraisal, &
the reasons why, & I never saw her again.  He wasn't putting up with & paying
someone who wasn't attentive to his regulars.

Normally, I'd come in the door in the morning, at my usual time, & one of
them'd sdee me, & place a coffee &8 the local; big daily paper ast table 7, at
my usyal; seat.  I'd sit, enjoy the coffeee & news, & nobody said anything to
me besides the initial greetyings until my mug was dry, then they refilled it
and asked "bacon or sausage today?" as that was my only varying point for my
usual. (soft bacon, poached eggs special, don't cut the toast"

Then I was left to my own devices, to eat & to finish the crossword whle
drinking several cups of coffee.  I had it pretty well timed to be able to walk
to work at the fast food restaurant & arrive almost exactly 30 minutes early,
nicely fed & relaxed. If things were relaxed there, I'd grab another coffee &
catch up on the day's events from front & kitchen staff.  All knew I was
available for any position' help, if needed at any time, even before my
starting time.

Life was good, even at $5/hour (minwage in '89 here); I had a foreman from the
paper mill across the street offer me a job starting at $16 hour the next
morningh, if I wanted it; I asked "Is it union?"; he said of course, & I said
no thanks, flabbergastihngthe poor guy, as I preferred 12-hour shifts 6
days/week to get paid lerss than 7.5-hour shifts 5 days & one 7.5-hour
overtime($32/hour) a month.

I was content & not ready to rock that boat.

Simple times; good times.

Your friend,

<+]:{)}
Cyberpope, Bishop of ROM
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