Muddling & Mishaps - Reality Blogging

I believe that a prerequisite for any position in any sector that pays more than $25,000 a year should be previous employment in the service industry during at least one holiday season.  This includes retail, grocery, and food service.  You learn more about the dark side of humanity and how to work in high-stress situations both as an individual and as a team when you have to face the foe of holiday shoppers. Furthermore, every person should be forced to give up their holidays to receive crappy pay and short (if any) breaks.  You - yes you, my avid reader - should know what it's like to sacrifice time with your loved ones on Thanksgiving.  To wake up at 2:30 AM on Black Friday to be yelled at all day by materialistic goons.  To hear customers say over and over again how sorry they are that you have to be working on Christmas day while they order eight specialty coffee drinks and don't leave a dime in your tip cup. Then, and only then , do you have any right ...

I used to be concerned about the level of caffeine that I consumed on a daily basis.  Realistically, I’ve always over-indulged in coffee.  I worked at a coffee shop throughout the course of my undergrad and graduate degrees, and against company policy, my fellow baristas and I would always exchange free drinks when we were off the clock.  I could basically count on a medium or large Americano with nothing but a bit of skim milk and a touch of honey on a daily basis.  Oh…that smoky, syrupy goodness that is fresh espresso straight out of the cleanest of brew-heads.  That beautiful, golden crema that bubbles up to the top when you gently pour the shots into a pristine mug filled with the hottest of filtered water.  That sharp bite of the first sip that quickly turns into the smoothest of smoothes… …Mmmmm…. Ok, back to reality. Needless to say, I developed a bit of an addiction.  Frankly, “addiction” may not even be the right word for it....

Let's take a look at a topic that I thought was safe on all levels, a topic that I always found to be fun and amusing in every regard:  Halloween.  From cute costumes for little ones, to copious amounts of candy, to stories from past trick-or-treating years, I've always been able to find a water cooler conversation starter amongst the Halloween topic. Up until this year. Apparently, every crotchety man and woman came out of the woodwork to voice their hatred for all things pleasant and harmless on October 31, 2013.  I have three points to prove this case. (Point A.)  I have an incredibly long commute to and from work and, since I'm sick of updating my iTunes and iPhone whenever someone at Apple sneezes a crappy idea out, I've been forced to listen to an unhealthy amount of radio.  (Side note:  there was a very dark period of my life quite recently where I was sure I was going to go on a kitten punching spree if I had to listen to "Blurred Lines" or an...