I love to bake.
It's very therapeutic. It is very similar to cooking, but is more simple. So, I do a ton of it when I have a day off. Last weekend, I baked a total of 120 brownies, and delivered them to several different locations - Brookline fire stations, Starbucks locations in my district, and even the Chipotle where I know a good portion of the crew.
There's a secret recipe involved. They are delicious. Aaron at the Dedham Chipotle described them as "chocolatey wow". They go well with Paulaner Heifeweizen.
I have taken them to five Brookline fire stations (1, 4, 5, 6, 7), six Starbucks locations, and the Chipotle in Dedham. If you are a partner or a firefighter in the area and want my brownies delivered to your store or station, leave a comment with the location, and if it's within a reasonable distance, I will add it to my list. I have twelve locations on the list now; I try to hit about eight of them each week, between the two days I have off each week, which may or may not shift. I bake between 40 and 80 in each session; 10 brownies go to each location.
There is no charge. There are two requirements: 1) you and your colleagues must be willing and able to eat all brownies before they expire (I would hate for them to go to waste) and 2) anyone with allergies to milk, wheat, or soy products must refrain from consuming the brownies.
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
Friday, July 11, 2008
One more reason I do not like Boston.
Don't you hate watching your car roll down the street? Obviously, if you're watching, you're not in it, and when you own a car, you kind of feel like if it's ever going down the street, you should be pushing the pedals and holding the steering wheel.
I was walking back from Arcie's apartment last night. Said goodbye one last time. As I'm walking back to where I parked, I see a black tow truck going the opposite direction down Comm Ave, pulling a green 2004 Honda Civic. The popularity of this car helps me tell myself it's probably not mine. But it's the same shade of Acapulco green, which is moderately rare among 2004 Honda Civics. My stomach turns over, and I start running to where my car is parked.
...Or not parked. That was my car being towed. I parked at the Brookline Liquor Mart, where I've parked before for short periods of time without a problem. There is a sign stating that if the store is open and you are parked there for reasons other than purchasing items from the mart, you may be towed. The store was already closed, so I figured I would be fine for a little while, especially since I've parked there late at night without incident before.
So I called the towing company listed on the sign. I give the guy the car make, model, year, color, and plates, and he tells me they definitely don't have a Civic with Texas plates. I protest, telling him I just saw it going down the street a few minutes before, and maybe they just haven't gotten it in the system yet. He tells me they haven't gotten a call to tow from that location at all tonight, then suggests that I call the police and see if they have it.
So I call Boston Police. I get put through to the towing line, get put on hold for a few minutes, and finally they check for my car. He tells me they don't have a green Honda Civic with Texas plates. I beg him to check again, tell him I just saw it being taken down the street, they must have it. He tells me to hold on a minute, something just came in. I hear some commotion, and then, the guy gets back on the line and tells me my car was towed without clearance, which basically means it was stolen, and the company that towed it is going to try and make me pay the fee. He says he told the company to return my car to where it was towed from in fifteen minutes or less, and tells me to call him back if it's not back in that fifteen minutes.
So I wait, and exactly fifteen minutes later, a tow truck pulls up with no car attached to it. The large Hispanic man driving the truck asks me if the Honda Civic was my car. I take this opportunity to lose it, telling him everything the police just told me, telling him there's no way the owner of the store had it towed because I know her, telling him I want my car back, now. His story keeps changing. First, he tells me they were told to tow my car specifically. Then, he says
that they must have gotten confused, because they were told to tow all the cars by the owner of the liquor mart. I ask him why they didn't use the posted towing company, as is the law, and then he tells me that a guy who rents the spots overnight called him to have it towed, not the owner of the liquor mart. I tell him I'm calling the police back and pull out my phone. He tells me to just get in the truck, and he'll take me to my car. I get in the truck.
He takes me to a yard off North Beacon pretty far out in Brighton. There's my car. I go over to inspect it, and he tells me to just leave, not to pay anything. Other people having their cars towed turn to watch me pull the car off the lot without paying. They looked a little pissed.
The police still say it was technically stolen, because if the owner of the liquor mart had called a towing company, it had to be the posted one, and since that was not the company that towed my car, the owner of the liquor mart did not likely call anyone to tow the cars in the lot. I can press charges.
I was walking back from Arcie's apartment last night. Said goodbye one last time. As I'm walking back to where I parked, I see a black tow truck going the opposite direction down Comm Ave, pulling a green 2004 Honda Civic. The popularity of this car helps me tell myself it's probably not mine. But it's the same shade of Acapulco green, which is moderately rare among 2004 Honda Civics. My stomach turns over, and I start running to where my car is parked.
...Or not parked. That was my car being towed. I parked at the Brookline Liquor Mart, where I've parked before for short periods of time without a problem. There is a sign stating that if the store is open and you are parked there for reasons other than purchasing items from the mart, you may be towed. The store was already closed, so I figured I would be fine for a little while, especially since I've parked there late at night without incident before.
So I called the towing company listed on the sign. I give the guy the car make, model, year, color, and plates, and he tells me they definitely don't have a Civic with Texas plates. I protest, telling him I just saw it going down the street a few minutes before, and maybe they just haven't gotten it in the system yet. He tells me they haven't gotten a call to tow from that location at all tonight, then suggests that I call the police and see if they have it.
So I call Boston Police. I get put through to the towing line, get put on hold for a few minutes, and finally they check for my car. He tells me they don't have a green Honda Civic with Texas plates. I beg him to check again, tell him I just saw it being taken down the street, they must have it. He tells me to hold on a minute, something just came in. I hear some commotion, and then, the guy gets back on the line and tells me my car was towed without clearance, which basically means it was stolen, and the company that towed it is going to try and make me pay the fee. He says he told the company to return my car to where it was towed from in fifteen minutes or less, and tells me to call him back if it's not back in that fifteen minutes.
So I wait, and exactly fifteen minutes later, a tow truck pulls up with no car attached to it. The large Hispanic man driving the truck asks me if the Honda Civic was my car. I take this opportunity to lose it, telling him everything the police just told me, telling him there's no way the owner of the store had it towed because I know her, telling him I want my car back, now. His story keeps changing. First, he tells me they were told to tow my car specifically. Then, he says
that they must have gotten confused, because they were told to tow all the cars by the owner of the liquor mart. I ask him why they didn't use the posted towing company, as is the law, and then he tells me that a guy who rents the spots overnight called him to have it towed, not the owner of the liquor mart. I tell him I'm calling the police back and pull out my phone. He tells me to just get in the truck, and he'll take me to my car. I get in the truck.
He takes me to a yard off North Beacon pretty far out in Brighton. There's my car. I go over to inspect it, and he tells me to just leave, not to pay anything. Other people having their cars towed turn to watch me pull the car off the lot without paying. They looked a little pissed.
The police still say it was technically stolen, because if the owner of the liquor mart had called a towing company, it had to be the posted one, and since that was not the company that towed my car, the owner of the liquor mart did not likely call anyone to tow the cars in the lot. I can press charges.
Saturday, July 5, 2008
Anonymous comments.
I received some anonymous comments (they seemed to be from the same person) on the post I put up about getting promoted.
I am sorry, but I am not going to allow those comments. I am not going to turn my blog into a place where people rant about Starbucks. The main point of that post was my growth with Starbucks, not the current state of the company. Whatever the stock price, whatever the roast being served, it is still a good company. Starbucks is my employer, and partners in all areas of the company, in high places and low places, have been good to me in many ways. I will not show them disrespect by allowing rants like that on here. There are web sites for people who want to argue about Starbucks.
I am sorry, but I am not going to allow those comments. I am not going to turn my blog into a place where people rant about Starbucks. The main point of that post was my growth with Starbucks, not the current state of the company. Whatever the stock price, whatever the roast being served, it is still a good company. Starbucks is my employer, and partners in all areas of the company, in high places and low places, have been good to me in many ways. I will not show them disrespect by allowing rants like that on here. There are web sites for people who want to argue about Starbucks.
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