I’ve been saying for a long time that the quality of Starbucks coffee is pretty bad now. It used to be that getting a venti cup of their strong brew was a great, delicious way to “get things going” in the morning. Now the only reason I go into a Starbucks is to use the overpriced, crappy T-Mobile internet service I pay for every month.
Basically, Starbucks coffee is no longer good for 3 simple reasons: it’s burnt, it’s bitter, and it’s waaaay too expensive.
Finally someone else has backed me up… none other than the great Consumer Reports! In their new issue they rate coffee from 4 of the top US sellers and McDonald’s coffee beat Starbucks hands down! According to CR, McDonald’s coffee was the “cheapest and best.”
I haven’t had coffee from the Golden Arches in years, mainly because the last time I tried it I took about two sips before throwing it out due to the horrible taste. Looks like it’s time to give Mickey D’s another chance at giving me my morning buzz.
By the way, I heard awhile back that, in an attempt to keep prices down, Starbucks had begun buying lower quality beans. Apparently, “dark roasting” (AKA burning) low-quality coffee beans is a way to mask their crappiness. Well, I’m not sure what the problem is, but Starbucks better do something to improve their product or they’re going to be facing some big problems business-wise.
I’m a huge boxing fan. My dad was a top amateur fighter (multiple Golden Gloves champion) as well as a very good professional (25-2 record) who also did some judging and even a little training after he retired. He loves the sport and he taught me how to throw a proper punch when I was about 4 years old.
I grew up watching boxing and have seen hundreds of fights, including most of the “classics” from the 50’s, 60’s, 70’s, and 80’s. However, I have never seen a fight as good as the first matchup between Jose Luis Castillo and Diego Corrales which occurred on May 7, 2005. The last round of that fight was absolutely, unbelievably, incredible… and here it is for your viewing pleasure:
I have serious time management issues. Basically, I tend to spend too much time doing unimportant stuff (e.g. checking email, reading forums, chatting with friends, etc.) and not nearly enough time focusing on activities that really matter (i.e. make me lots of money).
Creating quality content for my sites, blogs, and reports.
Getting good links into my sites from other sites.
Brainstorming creative new ways to build content, get links, and boost traffic.
One solution to my problem that I can think of is to have a more structured daily routine. Here’s a basic outline of what I plan to do on a daily basis (much thanks to Problogger for some great ideas), with the most important activities in bold:
Workout, shower, and eat a healthy breakfast
Make some fresh coffee or tea and check email and blog stats
Check to-do list and take care of any “must-do” tasks right away
Check RSS feeds and news aggregators for stories related to my sites/blogs
Make a few good posts (5-10) in my blogs (while checking RSS and news)
Respond to emails (and/or send important emails if necessary)
Have lunch and some more caffeine
Check important marketing forums and/or blogs
Content creation: Write a couple good articles for sites/reports/syndication/linkbait/etc. and/or make several short blog posts in most-important current blog
Do any errands (groceries, post office, etc.) and/or clean house for half an hour
Take an hour break
Check affiliate and PPC figures
Review new posts/content and brainstorm ways to promote it online through community web sites
Right now it’s about 64 degrees here in Las Vegas. Cloudy and windy but a nice temperature for January. Mild winter weather is one of the big reasons why I moved to this insane city in the desert!
But apparently, it does get cold in Vegas… REALLY cold! According to the experts, there’s going to be an “arctic air mass” moving into the valley tonight. When I first saw this graphic on Weather.com I had to double check to make sure I was looking at the right city…
A high of 38 degrees?? Freezing temperature at night?? In Las Vegas?? Looks like I won’t be leaving the house for a few days…
I spent New Year’s at an outdoor party at what used to be the coolest casino in Vegas, before they changed it to the “TI” or whatever the crap they call it now. Here’s a snapshot from my camera phone…
