Life is good.

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I am thoroughly enjoying my coffee life.  I started working in the coffee business only 5 years ago and have come a long way.  I started at Starbucks and learned a lot about coffee and customer service.  I never go there anymore but I can’t deny that without Starbucks I may have never entered this industry.

After two and a half years of  the same shit different day it became evident change was required.  My wife (fiancé at the time) suggested I apply at a local Olympia roaster Batdorf & Bronson, so I did.  My interview went very well, I consider myself a good interviewee and a few days later I got the job.  Thus started my two year relationship with B&B.

Working at B&B was refreshing.  Becoming the best Barista I could became my focus.  While there I learned to pull great shots of espresso, pour rad latte art, and delved deeper into the coffee world.  After almost two and a hlaf years I decided to try something new.  I became a dispatcher for 911, I quickly learned this was not the job for me.  I also learned that coffee has become the thing I am best at.

After resigning from my dispatcher job I applied at Olympia Coffee Roasting Company and a couple of weeks later started working there.  My coffee life has never been better.  I have learned sooooo much from working here in such a short time.  We have such great mentors here: Michael Elvin, Robbie Britt and of course Mrs.Sarah Dooley.  I have also learned a lot about roasting and production work, things I would have never learned at my former jobs.

Basically I LOVE LIFE, I LOVE COFFEE and I LOVE O.C.R.

 

Day trip to Portland

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    Yesterday my fiance and I decided to go to Portland.  We started the day off with a cupping at Olympia Coffee Roasting Company.  Brazil Serra Do Bone was on the table for us to try.  We used a Hario brew the coffee and it was great.  I really got a nice lime acidity right off the bat, the finish rich chocolate and slight floral flavor.  We pulled it as an espresso and it was completely different.  The mouth feel was light and the lime acidity really came through.  I normally don’t like my ‘spro too bright but this was nice. 

    Our first destination in Portland was Fabric World.  We looked it up on google maps on our way and decided to check it out.  The store had a limited selection and we didn’t find anything we wanted.  When we left the parking lot I noticed The Little Red Bicycle Cafe having read about it in a grass routes travel book we stopped for lunch.  The cafe was real;ly nice it is just the right size.  I really enjoyed the lighting they had.  Huevos Rancheros was the special of the day, we ordered it with their house made chorizo.  This was one of the best things I have eaten…ever.  The entire dish was soo fresh there was the right amount of cilantro and the little bits of pineapple were perfect.   I mentioned where I worked and had a nice conversation with the Barista Evan.  He told me all about the coffee they serve Courier Coffee Roasting Company.  I bought the Costa Rica Los Santos, Tarrazu.  It was really nice.  I got a lot of hazelnut from it and a nice light milk chocolate flavor.  I LOVE IT!  One of my new faves for sure.

  With our stomachs full we decided to head to Fabric Depot.  While we were eating at the L.R.B.C. a customer suggested we go there for cool printed fabric.  When we arrived at the store we thought it was big, then we went inside…….it’s the biggest fabric store I have ever been to.  We spent about an hour there and Angela found some really nice fabrics to use as table runners for the wedding.  After an hour od shopping for fabric I needed some espresso.  I really wanted to try Heart based on Jared’s recommendation.  The spot is really clean and minimal.  The Baristas play vinyl records on the stereo system and the roaster is in the lobby area.  I tried their Kenya as an espresso and was blown away.  It had a really great syrupy mouth feel and a nice lime acidity, it finished off with a tanginess that I compare to cream cheese.  They use a La Marzocco Mistral if you haven’t seen one of these before…..they are sexy.  On to the next one.

  A trip to Portland isn’t complete without a trip to Powell’s Books.  My favorite section is japanese culture and history.  They have a great variety of books on the Japanese society that I haven’t been able to find anywhere else.  I picked up a book about an American Mafias boss that moved to Japan and tried his hand at organised crime.  After an hour or so it was time to head home.  I went to Portland for the first time a couple of years ago for my birthday and it has become one of my favorite cities.  This was one of my favorite visits.  My fiance and I enjoyed every part of our day.  Thanks Portland!

Ugh!

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    If you have read my blogs in the past you know that in October I started training to be a dispatcher.  Well I tried my hand at it and I have decided that CAPCOM is not the place for me.  I didn’t pass my S.O.D (supervisor observation day).  I tried really hard but in my heart I know this is not the job for me.  I can;t do it!  You have to be soo quick with life and death decisions and my brain doesn’t work that way. 

    No hard feelings…..actually I feel really good.  I tried something completely new and out of the ordinary.  Not many people can say they have answered a 911 call, I can and it feels very cool.  It was a bad experience I went through things I thought I wouldn’t be able to.  Listening to someone be abused over the phone wasn’t fun neither was the time I listened to a woman yell at her kid so loud it made my ear hurt.  They weren’t fun to go through but on the other hand i helped those people…and that’s what felt good. 

    When it comes down to it you have to be very quick and able to multi task like a mad man.  Unfortunately for me the quickness and multi tasking thing were not on my side, if I could answer the phone on my time…you know every once in a while I would be fine.  The training and being able to see what goes on behind the scenes is something I’ll always carry with me.  The one thing I will be most appreciative about this experience is that now I know what Angela does !  I can relate with her on certain things that go on at work and now I can understand that after working a ten-hour shift at the call center it really does exhaust you physically without even having to get up.  So in the end, great life experience.

                                                                                            P.S. I need a job!

Anticipation

Posted on Posted in 911, career, dispatch, job, life2 Comments

    The next two days I work are the last days of training.  I am almost done which is both exciting and nerve-racking.  It would be nice to be on my own finally but it’s also a lot of responsiblity.  My trainer said I am doing a really good job, all my type codes are correct and I include good details in my comments. 

    While I am getting good feed-back I can’t help but be a little nervous.  I don’t know what it is but I have a hard time believing in myself.  It’s something that’s always been with me.  People tell me I can do it and there is no problem when it comes down to it, I follow through but for some reason it never sinks in.   I totally have faith that I can do my job but for some reason it doesn’t feel that was all the time.  I guess it could be a new year resolution….since I don’t have any.

Last day of freedom.

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    Today is officialy my last day of freedom.  I start training for my new job tomorrow.  I have been off for about a month and a half and it has been soo nice.  Angela and I had a lot of time to spend together and do fun stuff like go to the fair and camping in eastern Washington.

    I am really excited to start my new job as a dispatcher.  During my vacation I took time out to study fire and police codes as well as the phoenetic alphabet.  I visited the call center to listen to calls and I think that was a big help.  My main goal was to go into this with some sort of idea of what goes on. 

    Anxious and nervous are two words I would use to describe how I feel about tomoorow.

I wrote this a while ago but i totally meant it.

Would you like that for here or to go?

Posted on Posted in 911, dispatch, income, job, life1 Comment

    I have finally made my exit from the retail world.  Honestly I couldn’t feel any better.  I no longer have to spend my days making money for someone else!  Making money for other people is no longer in my job description.  Saving lives and helping to keep the county running smoothly is my new task.

    Since my last post the job as a dispatcher for 911 has been offered to me….full time even.  Serving coffee will be something missed dearly.  It has been part of my life for the past four years.  Interacting with the public will be what I miss the most.  If I had the opportunity to move up where I was things would be different but they were becoming stagnant.  Being under appreciated and having to deal with double standards in something as trivial as tamping too hard got me down.  Worrying about coffee is something I didn’t want to deal with anymore.  I needed something more.

    The best part is that the coffee world is still accessible almost at a new level.  Instead of a job it is now a hobby which is totally fine with me.  I still have a passion for coffee, something that no one can take from me.  Through all of my time on the other side of the counter I have realized how much I needed out.  I definitely will miss my co-workers very much and the relationships I built behind the counter.

So crazy in love with KEXP.

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    When I moved to Seattle in October of 2003 from the cold tundra of the Kenai Peninsula I didn’t know what real radio was like.  I had become attuned to stations that boasted playing songs form the 80’s 90’s and today.  After seeing numerous Subaru station wagons with a yellow KEXP bumper sticker on them I decided to check it out.

    The gift of music was given to me that day.  The Flaming lips, Antony and the Johnsons, The Smiths, The Vaselines, Modest Mouse, Dyme Def, Pretty Girls Make Graves, Nina Simone and may others!  I couldn’t get enough.  Shake the shack is my favorite show on the station.  It plays old rockabilly and blues.  World music was never anything that interested me until I heard Thievery Corporation and Sigur Ros.  Sigur Ros live is something everyone must do before they die just sayin’.

    The other night while listening to KEXP on-line,  a cover of Beyonce’s “Crazy In Love” came on.  The artist covering the song was Antony Hegarty of Antony and the Johnsons.  Never has such beauty come from a pop song.  It’s really amazing when someone can take a song most of us have heard one thousand times and make it new.  I felt like I was in a musical slump not hearing much good music makes me sad.  Antony and the Johnsons have picked me up from my musical depression and put a smile on my face.

Knots in stomach not fun.

Posted on Posted in 911, career, Change, dispatch, income, job, life1 Comment

I applied to become a dispatcher for 911 a year ago. I was subjected to all the tests and interviews and ended up being approved for hire. Unfortunately I didn’t get the 90% that was needed to be hired the first round. So I was put into a pool of people to be hired, and since August of last year I have been told to call every month to see if or when I was up for hire. Twelve months of calling in and being told to call next month. Due to the “economic situation” it has taken this long, but I believe it has come to an end. A few weeks ago I was told they will be hiring sometime in October and that I am first on the list!

I have had this never ending knot in my stomach. It’s been so tough because where i am at right now financially is the ghetto and this job would be an upgrade to a gated community. Three time more than what I am making now I would make there. I need that. I feel like I work so hard for so little and I need out! I feel like I want to do something more important than serve coffee. I want to help people in need. I have been doing the coffee thing for four years now and I feel I have hit the plateau. I don’t want to make money for someone else anymore. I want to make money for me. I want real responsibility.

Owning a home is great!

Posted on Posted in life, owning a home, Uncategorized1 Comment

So we have finally moved all of our things into our new house. It feels great! I never thought owning would be this great! We spent about two and a half hours at World Market picking things out for decorating our new home. Soo much fun! It helps that we both appreciate design. Bebop is totally loving his new found freedom the yard is giving him. He did try to dig to China yesterday which isn’t so good. But all on all great feeling.
So I installed not only the refridgerator but also the washer and dryer. Not completely by myself but under the supervision of my fiances father. It was really fun to do these somewhat macho things. It’s all new to me and it was nice to have male bonding time. I know that sounds kinda lame but I don’t care I had fun and I learned some things.

Big things poppin’

Posted on Posted in Change2 Comments

There are so many things happening right now.  I’m walking around our apartment trying to get some more things together for our move tomorrow.  Our move to the new house we bought.  This will be the last apartment I will ever live in.  It’s kind of weird because ever since I left home I have lived in an apartment.  I never thought I would be moving into a home.  I never thought I would be where I am now in my life two years ago.  I was crazy two years ago.  I didn’t care about anything myself or my life.  Now I have a fiance a dog and my own lawn.  I really like who I am now.