Is Starbucks the Wal-Mart of coffee?

I was reading my Fast Company magazine and it brought a few Starbucks facts to my attention. Did you know.....

1. Starbucks' closest competitor is Caribou Coffee (never heard of the place) and they are only one twenty fifth the size of Starbucks.

2. Starbucks pays more for it's employees' insurance ($200 million) then it pays for it's coffee beans.

3. The average customer pays $4.05 per visit for coffee. The average fast food visitor spends $4.34 for an entire meal.

4. When Starbucks bumped the 8 oz. cup off the menu for the 10 oz. "tall" (the new small) it increased profits by 25 cents per cup for only 2 cents more added product.

I stopped paying $4.00 for a cup of coffee at Starbucks about a year ago.

I realized that I could go to the local 7-Eleven and pay $1.29 for the same size coffee, which I could doctor up at the flavor counter. Then, I realized that I could make coffee at home for even less money. I am currently using the Kirkland fine ground coffee along with a Coffee Mate flavored creamers from the store.

Think about it. Is one person's coffee better than another's? Probably not. So you might as well save money on your coffee habit where you can, because you're going to need it for your gas tank.

Google Phone is coming!

For those of you who are going to be upgrading your phones and/or phone plans, I am advising you to wait. There are some good things coming and you don't want to lock yourself into another 2 year plan and miss out on all the fun.

Did you know......

Google has a phone coming. We just don't know what it will look like once it gets here. A lot of images have been floating around the internet.

Like this one.
and this one.
and this one.

It could be any of these designs, but that's not what matters.

What matters is that the Google Phone is supposed to work with any phone service (Tmobile, Verizon, AT&T).

What matters is that Google has been somewhat secretly buying up telecom companies for the past few years so they can start their own service.

What matters is that in January Google will be bidding on the 700 megahertz frequency that analog TV no longer uses. If they get this frequency then they should have all the pieces in place to not only provide you with one of the phones above, but a cell phone operation system (android) that will take care of all your smartphone needs. Rumor has it that they will be offering a flat fee for every thing from texting to internet to unlimited minutes.

That is what matters most!

MetroPCS is already offering a flat rate with their $50 monthly plan for unlimited everything. They just don't have the national coverage that we need.

Helio has a flat rate for $99 a month with an unnecessary set up fee. They are way too expensive.

It's only a matter of time before Google comes in and does things right......again! Google phone (which has been nicknamed "Gphone") should be coming in the summer of 2008. That gives me plenty of time for my current plan to run it's course.

10 things you gotta know for BLACK FRIDAY

Did you know.....

The shopping day after Thanksgiving is called Black Friday.

If you have never shopped on Black Friday, you must check it out. The lines go around the building as people wait for stores to open so they can buy specially priced item. I must admit I have done this once or twice.

I am not sure why they call it Black Friday. Maybe it's because it's dark outside while your waiting for all the stores to open. Either way, here are 10 things I suggest you do for Black Friday:

1. Check out the Black Friday website: It's BlackFriday.info and it does a great job of getting you the Black Friday Ads before they are officially released to the public. You can also mark things you want on the site and it will create a special shopping list for you so you can print it out and take with you.

2. Review the newspaper ads: Sit down with the real ads on Thanksgiving to verify what you want from each store. Sometimes certain items make it to blackfriday.info, but then are yanked and not in the official ad.

3. Pick the right store location:Try to pick a location that has most of the stores you want to hit. I know one street by my house that has Walmart, Best Buy, Target, and Gamestop all on the same block. They even have a Starbucks that opens early that day, Thank God.

4. Stay the night: If your really desperate to be the first in line at a store, you and your friends can take shifts staying the night. I would do four hours shifts starting at the closing time of the store on Thanksgiving night.

5. Find out how things will be handled: Be sure to call the store ahead of time to find out their store policy on standing in line and how they're giving out the product you want. Some stores are located inside malls and they may not let you stay the night outside their doors. Other stores will hand out tickets and do random drawings, or give tickets to the first 50 people ensuring them the item they want. So always call ahead to find out the protocol.

6. Bring coffee and donuts: You will be all excited when you get to the store 3 hours before they open, but within 20 minutes your stomach will be growling from hunger and so will you from caffeine withdrawals.

7. Bring friends: Make sure everyone knows their job. One person goes for one item and another person goes for a different item and the last person immediately stands in line to check out while their friends are shopping. Trust me on this. The Best Buy by my house has a three hour wait to check out. I am not kidding. Once you have waited all night and you now have your item, you will then have to wait 3 more hours to check out.

8. Shop where no one shops: Another tip is to look for deals at stores that the majority don't go to. Harbor Freight, Ace Hardware, Joann's, etc. You have a better chance of getting that great deal. If the small stores don't put an ad in the paper go by and get one at that store or check their website.

9. Always have all forms of payments available: I remember waiting up all night at Walmart for the Nintendo Wii and two minutes before opening the doors the told us that they were only accepting Check or Cash. No Credit Cards or Debit Cards. The crowd was really angry and people were bolting to the ATM. MAKE SURE YOU HAVE CASH, CHECKS, DEBIT, AND CREDIT CARDS.

10. Sell stuff to people in line: If you just want to make money on Black Friday and not spend any, then try this. Bring about 5 dozen donuts to the ladies waiting at Kohl's or Mervyn's or even Macy's and sell them donuts for $1 each. If you can, bring small coffees and sell them for $2.00 each then you'll really make a killing. I saw it done once about four years ago and I always wanted to try it. The coffee and donuts were sold out in minutes.

Be safe this holiday season and if you knock someone down running into the store, please pick them up on your way out.

The next act of Terrorism - gas prices

Did you know....

gas is already over $4.00 a gallon in San Mateo, CA. We are at a point where people can't afford to commute to their jobs and by next summer we should all be over $4.00 a gallon.

Has anyone stopped to think what would happen to America if the Middle East stopped selling us oil. Think about it.

America would come to a stand still without gas, including the hybrids. Food would not make it to the stores. We would not make it to work. Emergency and law enforcement vehicles would never make it to their destination. The business world would crash harder than the great depression. Mass hysteria would kick in. Crime would skyrocket and who knows what other things would happen.

I know what some of you are saying. What about the oil in Alaska? Yes, there is oil Alaska, but no where near the amount that's coming out of the Middle East. I guarantee that the oil in Alaska would run out soon enough.

It's amazing that President Bush has never addressed the gas issue to the American public.
It's amazing that we have not tapped into Alaska to at least ease the cost of gas.
It's amazing that when the price of oil drops, we don't see the affects for two weeks, but when the price goes up we feel it immediately. We definitely are at the mercy of the Middle East right now and if they wanted to slowly cripple our country, it would be through rising gas prices.

Do I think that will happen? Probably not, but I also didn't think that terrorists would take our own planes and drive them into the Twin Towers.

Why are we not doing anything about the gas situation. I watch people at the pump and they don't seem to look bothered. The adults are still buying the gas gussling SUVs and the kids are still street racing more than ever. I do not want to see $4.00 a gallon and if we do, I have a feeling it never going to stop.

What do you think we should be doing right now to stop this situation from getting worse?

HD DVD VS. Blu Ray - The battle continues

Did you know.....

Sony has been the reason for different fomats in the technology industry.

As far back as I can remember, there were format battles. The furtherest back I go is VHS vs. Sony BETA.

Sony was the reason for CD+ and CD- and DVD+ and DVD-. Sony just can't seem to play well with others. They want everyone using their format. They obviously didn't learn from their BETA mistake.

Now we have the latest battle HD DVD and BLU RAY. Some of us have already decided which side we are going to support and we all know that sooner or later there will be DVD players that play both formats.

I have chosen to support the HD DVD format for a few reasons, some which are strictly based on my feelings about Sony. Here are my reasons why:

1. Sony has had many problems with their products in the past 3 years. First their batteries in the laptops kept catching fire. Soon after that, they had major delays with the Blu Ray release. Only 10% of the Blu Rays manufactured were working correctly and that was the main reason they had to delay the release of Playstation 3. Then Sony started make one bad decision after another. They released PS3 with a limited library of games, priced it higher than any game console in history, and scheduled the PS3 release the day before Nintendo Wii was to be released. In fact, they only had 300,000 PS3 units for all of the united states.

2. People are still very illiterate when it comes to technology. They just can't figure out how to use their own electronic equipment. So when I heard the name Blu Ray, I knew no one would understand what it was. I get asked all the time, "what is BLU RAY?" I immediately tell them, "Don't worry about it. It won't be around long. Buy HD DVD." People are very clear on what HD DVD means. HD is on everything.

3. HD DVD landed the first real punch two weeks ago when Toshiba sold their HD DVD player for $87 at Best Buy and at Wal-Mart. Then they priced all HD DVDs for $14.99.

The true battle begins November 23 at 5am, better known as Black Friday. This will be the day when we see who has the upper hand in this fight.

What format do you support and why?

GARLIC.......who knew?

I have heard that many people are allergic to peanuts, milk, eggs, shellfish, and soy.

Did you know...

there are many people allergic to GARLIC!

Last night we were entertaining friends and my buddy (let's call him Dave) tells me he is allergic to garlic. The worst part is that he is Italian. At first I laughed because I didn't truly understand how bad his allergy was until he started describing the symptoms; bloated stomach, bad gas, diarrhea, cramps, vomiting, and headaches.

Darn it! I was about 5 minutes away from ordering pizza. I know there is garlic in the pizza sauce so I asked him what should we do. Dave asked if we could make one of the pizzas half no sauce / half sauce. I said sure.

So the pizza arrived and it was a little difficult to tell which side had sauce.

Let me interrupt myself to complain on how cheap pizza places are by giving you barely any cheese and barely any sauce. The markup on pizza is like 500% so put some stuff on my pizza. I am not going to name any pizza places, but I will tell you that their name rhymes with Jappa Pon's.

Okay. I feel better know. Back to the story.

So after woofing down 4 pieces of pizza and 10 hot wings I commented on Dave's stomach. I said, "Dude, your starting to get a gut like me. You need to get a job and stop being a bum." He looks at me and says, "I think I ate a piece of pizza with sauce." So a few minutes pass and his stomach is starting to become rock hard and he is looking like his water is about to break. So, the concerned friend I am, I immediately pull my cell phone out and tell him to stand still so I can get a shot of his stomach for my blog.

here is a shot of his stomach. Dave's original stomach is normally flat.
So now I am freaking out. It is going to explode and I am googling "allergic to garlic" like a mad man. I find out that there are tons of people like him who are living in hell. They not only are complaining that they can't eat out in restaurants because every dish has garlic. They are also having bad reactions to food products that contain garlic, but don't list garlic on the ingredients list. Did you know labels don't have to list garlic because the FDA considers garlic a non-allergenic ingredient.

I feel for these people and especially to my pregnant friend. Just out of curiosity I tried to find one item in my food pantry that didn't contain garlic. Everything I read contained garlic in some form.

I joke around with Dave a lot, but this is a serious problem. If you have any further info for my friend Dave please write me here at Blog and Cookies.

If you don't have any further info for my buddy Dave then go order a pizza from Costco and start a blog.

Strike TV: what show will you miss the most?

Did you know.....

That the hollywood writers are on strike. We will be running out of new episodes of our favorite programs because the writers aren't writing any more due to contract disputes.

What show will you miss the most? Grey's Anatomy, The Office, House, Heroes, or Dancing with the Stars. Whoops. That's right. Reality TV doesn't have any writers. That's probably why it sucks so bad.

For me, I will have to say "House". It's probably the best written show on TV. Law and Order: SVU is my second choice for shows that I will miss. That's okay, thought. I could use a break from all the rape and murder.

I believe the strike will help some shows. Let's take "Heroes" for example. Season two has really been bad. Last season they saved NY and this season there is nothing going on. To make matters worse, they are introducing more characters that have nothing to accomplish. I am still trying to figure out what the Hispanic girl's powers are and I have been watching her kill people for about five weeks.

Some companies should benefit from the strike. Netflix is one of them. Hopefully Netflix is smart enough to reap the rewards before the strike ends. I currently have my Netflix account on hold, but not for much longer. I have 20 movies in my Queue waiting to be sent to me. I will now take my account off hold due to lack of programs to watch.

By the way, if you are looking for a cool foreign film to rent, try "Battle Royale". Not bad for a foreign flick. Nothing is better than teenagers killing other teenagers for survival. It makes me feel better after reading all the immature postings they do on Digg.

We're always complain that we never have enough time to do things. Well, now you do. Enjoy the strike. Start a blog. :-)