The Good with the Bad

I hope the following is as amusing as it is enlightening.

The Good

At the end of last year, my girlfriend and I got tickets for Cirque Du Soleil. We had seen Alegria some time ago and really enjoyed it and vowed to go to more productions. We bought tickets for some kind of hybrid Cirque Du Soleil Ice show but the pandemic wiped that out. When we bought these tickets, we were worried that this would also be a bust, but we figured that it was a worthwhile gamble. Luckily this one paid off.

The show just opened a few days ago, but thankfully everything went ahead full steam. It was so nice to get out a do something. The show was lots of fun with a number of good acts. It is amazing what the human body can do with zero body fat and great balance. There were moments that were amazing. I will definitely go to more shows like this one. Perhaps, one day, I will be able to afford to be a VIP customer and get to spend time in the VIP booth before the show.

If I had any critiques, it would be with the high price for parking and the rather uncomfortable chairs. None of these things involved the show, so let’s leave them here.

The Bad

Yesterday, I joked about the coffee maker dying. I was planning on going through the whole vinegar routine on Sunday. The area I live in has hard water and regular de-scaling is important. I shouldn’t have joked about it, because I woke up this morning to a non-functioning coffee pot. Easter Sunday, and no coffee. Coffee makers don’t really last a long time, but I have a feeling I jinxed myself.

Suffering from caffeine withdrawal is no time to go shopping. Easter Sunday is no time to go shopping either. As it turns out, a number of stores are open, but I chose the wrong ones and couldn’t find a coffee maker anywhere. Then my girlfriend suggested Canadian Tire. I thought it would be closed and hadn’t even considered it. This surprised her as this is my “go to” store. Usually I consider Home Hardware my go to store, but sadly the size difference and stock quantities don’t really compare. I was surprised that I hadn’t checked the store hours either, and chalked it up to a lack of caffeine.

So, after several stores, I ended up at Canadian Tire and bought a coffee maker–nothing fancy. It used a basked filter whereas my current one uses a cone filter. No problem, I thought. I have a basket filter at home. Actually, what I had was the box for the basket filter, but not the filter itself. So, yes, I had to go back to the store. I blame everything on my lack of caffeine. Although breakfast was delayed, I did eat something. That was good because if I had also been hangry, it wouldn’t have gone well.

The Indifferent

I awoke to snow on the ground. While this was not totally unexpected, I had hoped that I would be on my bike this weekend. It melted and if it hadn’t been for the whole coffee maker issue, I probably would have gotten out on my bike. Then again, I probably would have had to engage in yard work too–so I really can’t grumble about this. I will be on my bike sometime this week.

Coffee Old School

If my coffee maker had died after it made my coffee yesterday morning, I could have then gone out and bought a new one (fixing the old one would be preferable, but it was beyond my skills). Since that is not the way it transpired, I had the makings of a modern dilemma on my hands.  I would have to leave the house without my morning coffee to go out and purchase the new coffee maker.

Yes, there are obvious solutions. I could “suck it up” and go and get the coffee maker and return and make my coffee.  There is a slight problem with that.  I dislike dealing with retail people normally.  Without my demeanour caffeinated…..I would rather not think about it.

I could go out and buy a cup of coffee. Yeah, that works.  The Roll Up The Rim promotion appears to be over though and I really don’t want to do anything that could be habit forming.  Besides, one cup isn’t really enough for the morning.

I went for option three. I pulled out my miniature percolator and made my morning coffee old school.

I have a bit of history with this device. My Oma (grandmother for those of you who did not grow up with German (or Dutch) speaking grandparents) always made coffee on the stove using a large glass percolator.  I always enjoyed the smell of the thing when I was at their house.  Often I thought I should buy one for myself.

 

When I lived in Japan, home coffee makers weren’t very common.  We had one in our apartment, but based on the English only labels on the controls, I knew someone had brought it from the US.  It was a legacy item for the apartment, but it died at some point in my stay.  So, when I came home for Christmas one year, I bought a percolator just like the one you see in the picture.  I don’t know if the other apartment dwellers enjoyed the aroma of coffee the way I did.  They never told me, but I like to think it got them talking about the coffee crazy Gaijin in apartment 203.

I left that one in Japan with a student who liked to make coffee and purchased this one from the same shop (Pro Hardware) when I moved back.  I used it a few times, but mostly on days when I had a lot of time for the aroma of the percolator to fill the rooms in my place.  I put it on a high shelf in my pantry until I needed it.

The first couple of cups were not particularly good, but the second attempt was much better. Unfortunately, it requires more time than I have in the morning, so I went and bought a new drip model in the afternoon at Canadian Tire.  However, I think I will keep this one out of storage to use on the weekends when I have the time to make and drink my coffee.

The cause of Today’s Perfect Moment isn’t great, but the slightly nostalgic result feels pretty good.