Keurig K Cup...The Good, The Bad and The Ugly

First, have to admit that I did not buy my Keurig K Cup machine, but instead received it as a Christmas gift...thanks Santa. I have always owned a Mr. Coffee, so sort of feel like I am cheating using any other brand of coffee maker at the age of 55, and since Mr. Coffee does have a one cup machine out, I would probably have gotten that if I had been shopping for myself. That said, lets get to the good, the bad and the ugly where my new Keurig K Cup machine is concerned.

The Good

The machine is pretty sweet, very easy to use, and convenient...oh, did I mention attractive? It also makes a pretty good cup of coffee...not a GREAT CUP OF COFFEE, but a pretty good cup of coffee. When you come in from say shoveling snow and want a quick hot cup of Joe, Keurig is there and READY TO BREW.

The Bad

Their system makes a very small cup of coffee. Seriously, if I want to use the Keurig to make my morning cup of coffee, it requires the use of two single serves to make one decent sized cup of coffee...since I usually have two of my cups of coffee each morning, that is four single serves that have to be loaded up and brewed, two per cup. Also think Keurig is screwing the consumer selling the filter as a separate item...give us a break, at what these machines cost, you could give us a filter for use with our own coffees as a part of the deal.

The Ugly

First, the machine leaks...not sure where, but if I leave water in my water tank, by the next morning I have to take a kitchen towel and do a little bit of wipe up around and under the machine.

Secondly (and this goes for EVERYONE selling single serves) we the consumers are seriously being RIPPED OFF. I know most people are not paying attention, but when I went shopping for coffee today to use in my machine, I paid attention to the price...seems the average price comes out to around 60 cents a cup give or take a few cents...this sounds reasonable only if you compare said price to stopping in at Starbucks. However, if you do a bit of math, you realize that Keurig, Green Mountain and everyone else is laughing ALL THE WAY TO THE BANK as we are paying between $26-$33 PER POUND for these single serve brew cups.

Lastly, these new Single Serves are the next plastic bottle problem that will end up taking hundreds of years to decompose in our land fills. The machines may be great for brewing a cup of coffee, but those little plastic cups are bad for the environment.

The long and the short of it...the Keurig is a great little machine for brewing a cup of coffee, but really only affordable if you invest in the filter that allows you to use your own coffee. As a big coffee drinker, I could easily use six of these single serves a day at a cost of 60 cents each. do the math, and it amounts to a drink at home coffee habit of well over 1000 dollars a year. Catching coffee on sale at $5.00 a pound, that is 200 pounds of coffee a year, and trust me, I do not drink that much coffee. Even going top drawer, I would be hard pressed to spend that much money a year, and to be honest, if I did I would be drinking a GREAT CUP OF COFFEE instead of just a pretty good cup of coffee.

My suggestion...if you are a big coffee drinker, don't waste your money unless you want to have it around as a convenience for that occasional quick cup of coffee for you or a guest. By the way, pardon the plug in my photograph, but I JUST LOVE the Coffee Mate Gourmet Creamers.

Winter Musings and Tuesday "News on the Run"

Weather in two words...plummeting temperatures. Seriously, the weather has gotten COLD OUT, and shorts are out of the question today. The forecast of snow on Thursday and Friday is looking far more likely than it did yesterday morning, yet the Weather forecast has changed to mostly cloudy and rain...possibility of an ice storm? Whatever the weather, winter seems to be snuggling in with the plan of staying around for awhile...as in say April.

For those in the area staying home for Christmas. A little bird told me that Ed over at the Mountaindale Inn is planning a Christmas Feast on Friday December 23rd. Rumor has it that Prime Rib will be on the menu that night, and reservations will be required. Not sure, but music could be included as a part of the festivities.

Mountaindale Inn
69 Main Street
Mountain Dale, New York United States 12763
(845) 434-1023

In other local news, come "View the Christmas Lights of Mountaindale". On December 18th, compliments of Janet and Radiant Yoga, come experience the LOCAL flavor as members of our community show off their wares and their talents. to find out more, visit Janet's blog article on the event which will be held from 4-7 PM. The event will benefit Benjamin Cosair Children's Food Pantry, so please bring consider bringing a gift of food or cash donation.

Tuesday "News on the Run"

Losers weepers, finders keepers...Iran smirks, tells Obama they will be keeping the downed Drone. We could have swooped in at the time, and bombed our drone into itty bitty pieces, but Pentagon decided that would be an Act of War...hello, we ARE AT WAR with Iran, its just a Cold War.

Supreme Court taking on three huge cases with serious political ramifications...the first one is Obamacare. I'm split on this one. Too many young people choose to drive a new car, rather than getting major medical insurance and that is wrong. Conversely, not sure the government should be allowed to DICTATE the purchase of anything, but then we are required to have insurance on our cars to have a license. That said, there is no license needed to go to the doctor. Second one has to do with a Texas redistricting map created by judges that would give more sway too Latinos in four districts. Be it a judge, or elected politicians at a state level, Gerrymandering is Gerrymandering. The last big case has to do with Arizona''s strict law on Illegal Aliens...for political reasons, our Federal Government has not been doing its job for decades, so if they will not do it, LET THE STATES DO IT. On a separate note...we need a moratorium on ALL IMMIGRATION.

News on Occupy Movement...Occupy Oakland protesters successfully shut down port operations overnight. Oakland's mayor is whining, while union workers were told not to come in for work. The ONE PERCENT needs to be nervous in this country, as middle and lower class dissatisfaction is growing with each passing day millions of us go without work.

Boehner still pushing for a fight, hitches controversial pipeline to Middle Class payroll tax cut. To bad this Scrooge seems to have forgotten his own Midwestern Middle Class roots and values, has sold out to BIG OIL AND GAS INTERESTS. Reader suggestion...follow the money, as in go to the FEC and look at some of Boehner's big donors.

Enjoy your day out there folks...for those who still have shopping to do, Macy's has announced a BIG SALE with select stores staying open TWENTY FOUR HOURS A DAY. Maybe it is just me, but just do not see Macy's shoppers jumping into their Beamer's at 3 in the AM, stopping at a closed Starbucks for a Cappuccino and going to an empty mall parking lot to go into Macy's to pick up some perfume and a robe.

Tuesday September 6, 2011...Join Starbucks CEO in No Labels Telephone Town Hall Meeting

Putting this Press Release in the Mountaindale New York news blog not because Starbuck's CEO is right, but because our government at this point in history is wrong for America, and wrong for our workers and I will listen to anyone with an alternative thought. We cannot just stand by and let partisan politics coupled with corporate greed destroy our nation's middle class, and that reality, that simple truth makes me willing to grasp at straws, though it looks like you have some centrists from both sides of the aisle wanting to reshuffle the same deck and present it as a new deal for America's working class.



I have some serious problems with Howard Schultz, including his own efforts at lobbying Congress, buying politicians through campaign donations, but as I said, always willing to give someone a listen...if you are an American Middle Class citizen tired of the same old same old inside Washington DC's beltway, join the conversation on Tuesday evening. Sure if nothing else it will be entertaining.

For my money, think America would be a lot better off is we elected some average every day Americans, rather than sending to Washington more millionaires and billionaires. Trust me, you can never expect a person with that many zero's in their net worth statement to represent your interests if you are earning less than $100,000 a year, so stop sending them to Congress. Most of the people in No Labels are, simply stated, a part of America's pampered class, and in many cases, actually a part of the problem. But, never hurts to grasp at straws, though this group looks just like the rest of them, laden with special interests, and the money that special interests are willing to toss at such groups.

A Conversation With America

Submitted by No Labels Blogger on September 1, 2011

Join Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz and thousands of concerned Americans in a telephone town hall Tuesday (Sept. 6) at 7:30 p.m. EST to discuss how we can stop the hyper-partisanship plaguing Washington. Three weeks ago, No Labels joined Schultz in his drive to encourage other business leaders to sign a two-part pledge:

1. To withhold campaign contributions until Washington reaches a fair, bipartisan deal on our country’s long-term economic future.

2. To hire workers. American businesses can make a positive impact on our economy through a commitment to doing everything possible to accelerate job creation.

Since then, Schultz has heard from thousands of Americans across the country who are beginning to lose hope in the American Dream. It is time to restore that hope. Click here to join Schultz for Tuesday’s telephone town hall to discuss how we can set in motion an upward spiral of confidence in America.

Lets examine the players in Tuesday chat.

Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz



No Labels Co-Founders ...careful folks. there are some SNAKES in the grass in the list of founders. For starters, can we say Joe LIEberman?



John Avlon One has to wonder how wise this man in when he agreed to be the Chief Speechwriter and Deputy Policy Director for Rudy Giuliani's failed 2008 Presidential Campaign. Let's all be honest here...if it were not for September 11th, 2001, Rudy Giuliani would have left office a disgraced man. Stop your moaning everyone...he moved his Mistress into the Mayor's Mansion.



Robert S. Kaplan



Lisa Borders...seems to have a penchant for knowing which side of the bread she can get buttered.



Maya MacGuineas, president of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget



In summation...this looks like one group of pampered silver spoon babies trying to wrest control of Washington politics from another group of pampered silver spoon babies, but I will be there on Tuesday to listen in.