PEACE AND QUIET!

Yesterday Joyce and I wandered around the city a bit, eventually stopping at a Starbucks where we enjoyed mocha frappuccinos (310 kcal for “tall” size, and well worth it). That’s not what I want to write about, however. What I want to write about is MacArthur Square. This is a park on top of a parking garage. This sounds like a wonderful idea. If you are deaf, or listening to very loud music on your headphones, I suppose it is. I really want to put up an audio recording made while sitting on some of the nice, tree-shaded park benches they have. Which are located right next to the giant ventilation fans for the garage. Oh, and some are right next to a giant air conditioning system, so from there you get humongous fans in stereo: air conditioner on one side and parking garage fan on the other. It looks pretty. It seems safe, right between the courthouse and the police headquarters. BUT IT’S REALLY NOISY! IT MAKES YOU WANT TO GO SOMEPLACE QUIETER TO HANG OUT, LIKE THE AIRPORT!

Not Starbucks

I’m just back from lunch and, while in the cafeteria, I noticed a coffee vending machine. I’ve discovered that I like some of the more chocolaty coffee-containing drinks from the likes of Starbucks and other places of that sort. The vending machine seems less appealing. In particular, I noticed that you can get your coffee with or without something called “Lightener.” Not cream, not even “creamer,” but “Lightener.” That sounds rather vague. The term “Lightener” would seem to set the bar rather low for potential ingredients.