::Cough, Cough:: COFFEE!

I'm convinced that upstate NY only has three good coffee joints: Dunkin' Donuts is pretty decent, Starbucks is fairly good, and then there's the "76 Diner" in Latham. It must be a some weird fluke of nature and somehow the fabric of reality has warped and created a place other than a coffee house that serves decent java. Not only is the coffee good, but it's better than the coffee houses. They grind it, brew it, and store it in thermal carafes. No stale beans, no burning.

This, of course, begs the question: Why can't anyone else do this? Why is it whenever I order a cup of coffee at Applebee's it's been sitting on a burner for the past four hours and doubles as varnish? At first I thought it was a diner thing. Maybe diners have a knack for keeping fresh coffee rolling throughout the day. But, the thing is that most of the other diners in a 40 mile radius serve stale, crappy coffee too.

Then again, maybe I'm just spoiled. I spend more time grinding, brewing, and serving my own home coffee than I spend taking my morning shower. Almost makes me want to return to the days of pre-ground, canned Folgers coffee, simply so I won't know what I'm missing. Almost.