So it that like 5%?

  " ...almost half of Starbucks current customers in the U.S. who pay to modify their beverage at company-operated stores will see a price reduction of more than 10%. "

Starbucks Announces Removal of Extra Charge for Non-Dairy Milk Starting Nov. 7

Starbucks has announced it will no longer charge extra for non-dairy milk in their espresso beverages. My own savings will be 11-12% depending on the size of drink I order. It's still a lot to pay for a cup of coffee. But now, you know, it's less.

If you're buying, my drink is a Tall (or Grande) Flat White with Soy Milk. It's almost free.

… and turned it into this

I took this picture …

#Grateful

Languid Heat

When I first left, the air was still cool and fresh as dew on my skin. As the sun climbed languidly into the sky, the earth began to steam, slowly at first. I myself began to steam with the passing miles and the effort of climbing hills that I am not accustomed to. Soon my sweat and the earth's were the same, heavy and moist.

The air, which had started fragrant with the smell of a thousand flowers like an omnipresent perfume, blended with the smell of sweat and a mildew that is inescapable here. Although I came from an arid climate, my clothes already smell as if they have been damp for a long period of time, unable to fully dry out.

The birds that were so excited in pre-dawn in anticipation of the new day have settled into their quieter daytime routines,  their vocalizations less urgent.

I am less urgent too, enjoying a gentle breeze in the shade knowing full well that only steps away it is hot in the full sunlight.

Nothing is urgent here. Life moves slowly as if swimming in an ocean except the swimming is effortless and lazy, buoyed by saltwater. 

Toast

It's easy to take things for granted. Take toast, for example. Bread in, toast out. A little butter or jam and there you go.

I've been making my toast the same way all my life. And by "all my life," I mean I've been using the same toaster for 60 years. Literally.

My mom probably made it for me when I was little but it's the same toaster. I think it was a wedding present long ago. I don't remember when she decided it was time to get a new toaster but I can understand why. It didn't make good toast.

Maybe it did 60 years ago but now, I can tell you, it burns one side of the bread while only gently warming the other side. The knob that is supposed to adjust these things is sticky so the best you can do is dial it down to just warm bread on both sides of the bread.

But that's the way it's always been (as far as I can remember anyway) and while my husband reasons we have gotten the most of this toaster - more than anyone can reasonably expect - I still refuse to replace it.

So, I won't tell him that the toast we had this morning in our vacation rental was probably the best toast I've ever had. It's funny that he didn't say anything, come to think of it. I guess he just knows that it's futile to suggest getting a new toaster.

I guess he just takes it for granted.

What You Should Know About the Latest Apple OS Update and Data Encryption

Mon, Sep 16, 4:28 PM (3 days ago)

From: IT

To: Me

Got all the new software installed. It does have a few nice tweaks — especially a password manager app that picks up passwords stored in the keychain and makes it all easier to use. And they must have done some serious optimizing, because everything feels a little livelier (although a lot of housekeeping gets done during an upgrade).

Most of the AI stuff, however. Is “still in beta” and expected to be released “soon.” All said, the new OS is worth the trouble but nothing you need to be in a rush to get.



To: IT

From: ME

So this was the software update on the MacBook? 

From: IT

To: Me

The update was everything — MacBook, iPhone, iPad, watch, speakers, and a saucepan in the kitchen. Or maybe the pan was something else. Seems different, somehow.

They weren’t very specific about when the ai stuff is scheduled to arrive, but said “this fall.” 

To: IT

From: ME

As long as your saucepan doesn't have your social security number, you should be ok.

From: IT

To: Me

All my pans are encrypted.

[H/T IT Department]

In the dumps.

 Have you ever been so efficient as to go backwards?

I always think about this when I see someone speeding. If he gets a ticket, did he really get there any faster?

Trying to be efficient one day, I grabbed a load of items destined for the recycle bin. I also grabbed a small lock that needed to be placed on an outdoor gate and a little plastic bag that need to go back in my trunk to be reused the next time I went shopping. It seemed logical to grab all these things at once since I would pass the car and the recycle bin in close proximity on my way to the gate. It would save me the trip of having to come back into the house before going back out in over-110 degree weather.

Car trunk ✔️ - I dropped the plastic bag onto the lid of the trunk. My arms were overflowing with recycling material. I would put the bag in the trunk on my way back in.

Recycle ✔️✔️ -  I managed to get the lid of the bin open and dumped my armload of recyclables in. Along with the lock.

Crap.

The bin is a large one which was useful three years ago when we first moved in and had lots of cardboard boxes to recycle. Now, my recycling lays at the bottom beyond the reach of my outstretched arm. 

Did I mention it was a small lock? It, like car keys in my purse, dove immediately to the bottom, out of sight. The only way to get at it was to tip the whole thing over and to crawl in.

I was already showered and dressed for the day. I was wearing a skirt and a white shirt. I squatted down and reached for the larger items within reach in the sweltering heat: wine bottles to be sure, Sunday's newspaper, loose junk mail items but I could see no lock. 

I was now crouched on the open lid of the bin with everything I was able to reach now at my feet. I sifted through the items again more carefully. Surely, the lock had to be there. I had only just tossed it in.

But, no, I could not find it which only meant one thing. It was still in the bin at the very bottom. Was I really going to have to crawl in on my hands and knees?

I went back to the garage and put the plastic bag in the trunk while I tried to think of something long enough to reach the bottom of the bin. I had a push broom but that was too unwieldy. And then I spotted it. Something one might not think to have in the desert: An umbrella. 

Back inside the bin, it worked brilliantly. I pushed away the remaining debris at the bottom of the recycle bin and used the tip of the umbrella to fish the lock out. All that was left was to put all the recycling back into the bin and stand it back up.

But first, I put the lock in my pocket.

Speaking of pages ...

 I used to have a page called "WUV" which stood for What's Up Vancouver. It was subtitled:

Fun Stuff to Do Around Town

With the following explanation:

This is in no way an exhaustive list of things to do. This just represents the things that appeal to me. And, frankly, it's all about me anyway.

I still keep it up in a manner of speaking only now the events are those that take place in and around Coachella Valley and there's no link to the page from Chocolate Chip Mint (other than this one). One thing remains the same: it's still about me. 

I'm thinking about revitalizing the page, changing the name, and updating the links. I love to explore what the valley has to offer in the way of restaurants, events, things to do. People often ask, "How do you know all this stuff?" I guess because that's what interests me, that's what I look for on websites, in the newspaper, and on social media. These are the things I put on my own calendar. That doesn't necessarily mean I go to all these things but I like to know what's going on and I like to have that at my fingertips for when the inevitable question come up, "What should we do tonight (or this weekend)?"

Let me know if you have an idea for the name. CV Happenings? That might lead you to the Community Calendar for Coachella Valley Chapter of the Community Associations Institute (which is an interesting website if you're interested in the workings of an HOA). 

How about "S'up CV?" for What's up Coachella Valley? 

I tried searching for "Around CV" and got a lot of information about constant velocity axle boots and I've had enough of that this year!

Maybe a take on the words "desert" or "cactus" or "hot." 

What do you think?

Did you know...?

 There are 77 instances of the word "chicken" on my Eat Me page. I only discovered this when I wanted to  find a recipe that I posted some time ago - like years ago - but couldn't remember the title of it. All I could remember was that it had chicken and olives in it. ("Olive" is mentioned only 22 times but most often in relation to "oil.") After sifting through several recipes that utilized chicken, I decided it must have been the Chicken, Quinoa, and Green-Olive Stew that I was looking for.

Or maybe it was Moroccan Chicken with Green Olives and Lemon.

I guess I'll just have to make both.

In the end, all we have are the memories.

 It's the end of summer and I've been spending a lot of time with my soon-to-be 12 year old granddaughter before she goes back to school next week. We've been swimming in the afternoons and we've had pedicures. She's gel-coated my nails and added copper tinsel to my hair. She's repaired one of my beaded bracelets and made a new one from tiny buttons. (Buttons, btw, that were left over from when I knitted her a sweater when she was baby.)

We are creating memories. Much like the memories my late mother-in-law created for her grandchildren. I have great memories of my grandparents and, now, I have the great privilege of making memories with my grandchildren.

Sometimes making memories is exhausting. Like holidays and family reunions. The preparation. The noise. I also spend most of the school year with my granddaughter and her brother. Four out of five days, I'm involved in getting them to or from school. By the end of the year, I'm ready for a long break.

It's all a loving chaos. Family soup. Toss in all the ingredients and most of the time, you end up with something unexpectedly good that warms the soul.

Today, three of the gel nails are still hanging on, most of the tinsel has fallen out, and I have knots in my hair. But I also have the memories and I hope she cherishes them as much as I do.

I like Maxwell House coffee.

 There. I said it.

Honestly, if Facebook thought I was posting offensive or deceitful things, this probably is worse than the story about washing my car. Can you imagine? Influencing people to like Maxwell House? Go to your room!

It happened by accident, like most things do. I was traveling and that was the coffee in my hotel room. It was a coffee pod - the kind that work in Keurig-type machines.

My choices were to drink the coffee or don't. What was I to do?

I drank the coffee. Obviously.

It's a medium blend whereas I've always been a hardcore dark roast coffee drinker. Am I getting softer? Or less discriminating? 

Don't panic. I haven't switched brands. I'm not suddenly hoarding Maxwell House Original Roast (like I hoard Starbucks Christmas blend). It's not my daily drinker.

But I bought some pods, nonetheless. Could be handy the next time I'm traveling.

Or if coffee prices keep going up. Maxwell House is less expensive. But, it's still "good to the last drop."

I'm just saying it's worth giving it a try. At least, there's nothing to be afraid of.

In Color

Gettin' to it.

 For the record, I filed my tax return. Sort of. The FED return got e-filed but I just learned that the "free" state tax return that came with TurboTax actually isn't free to file. Yes, you can create the return for free but it costs $15 if you want to file it electronically.

So today's task is to print it and mail it. Can anyone spell FUN?

And since I'm writing about it, does this count as two things I didn't avoid?

Either way, it's hot.

 First thing this morning, I opened my weather app and saw the high was only going to be 99°F today. I say "only" because that's COOL for us this time of year. It would feel marvelous to be able to go outside anytime after dawn and actually enjoy being outside. We could even consider sitting a spell in the shade. With an outdoor misting system, it would be absolute heaven.

In the app, I scrolled down and saw temps would stay below 100 for the foreseeable future. I thought to myself, "What a relief!" I started shopping for new running shoes and plotting a training routine to prepare for a half marathon coming up in January. I wondered if I could also train for a 100-mile bike ride in March (because "overboard" is my default speed). I'd been going the gym or doing laps in the pool and I was ready to get outside and on land.

It's a little early in the season to start thinking about training for long distances in the summer desert but I was encouraged by the lower than average seasonal temps.

Then, in the next moment, I realized I was looking at temperatures for the city where my brother lives.

Which is not where I live.

First thing this morning, he was probably looking at the same weather information and thinking about how HOT it was going to be, converting his routine of being outside to being in the gym or in swimming in the lake near his home, quite the opposite of what I was strategizing.

Sadly, we are both stuck inside for the foreseeable future. Here, today's high will be 112°F. Additionally, we are under an Excessive Heat Warning and have been since since July 1 almost continuously. We will likely remain under an Excessive Heat Warning roughly through the end of August.

Looking at my weather app again, it looks like it's hot everywhere.

Everywhere except Copenhagen. 

Maybe I should look at taking a trip.

Caught In The Middle

 I almost filed my tax return*. I was just about to pat myself on the back for getting to a chore that I've been avoiding until I realized that I was using that as an excuse to avoid writing.

Think about that. I would rather do taxes than write.

Either way, I avoided something.

*I filed an extension in April.

Up Against The Wall

Tied Down

Hot Swappable

 I have two identical coffee machines. I bought the first one at least 20 years ago. It's a discontinued home espresso machine made by Saeco that was marketed by Starbucks for a time. It looks like this.

I loved this machine. Still do. Still using it.

About ten years after I had purchased my first one, I came across an ad on Craigslist, I think it was, for a used one in Portland, Oregon. I don't remember why the seller was selling it but I jumped on the chance to buy it and was willing to pay full price: $75! (I probably paid around $200 for the first one.)

At the time, this was not only a good price but convenient as I was now commuting between two homes and having the same coffee maker was like having a creature comfort in both places. 

Later, when we consolidated back to living in one home, I had a spare. Which, I have never had to use.

Remember, this model is discontinued as are many of its parts. It's irreplaceable. 

Then, one day, I broke it.

I came around the corner of the kitchen to show Hubby the damage and I saw it in his eyes. The fear. The rising panic. The true and certain knowledge that I could - and probably would - melt down.

Until he remembered and said, "It's a good thing we have a hot swappable."

Indeed, I have not missed a single serving of coffee. And, as it turns out, the broken part was just the plastic scoop for measuring beans. 20-25 years old, it held up for a long time but now it was gone.

Good thing I had an extra one.

"Good thing," sighed Hubby.

“Sorry, honey! I used all the cold water!”

You will never hear those words in Duluth.

You will hear that in southwest deserts of the United States.

Every summer.

By the Numbers

 We recently got back from a two-week roadtrip to the Pacific Northwest, a place where we lived most of our lives and where we first fell in love with beer. (Not to mention each other.)

It was a trip fraught with car problems the entire way. Not exactly ideal. Each time we stopped at an auto repair shop, we tried to evaluate if it was time to retire our 10 year old car with 156,000 miles on the odo. It's a diesel and run likes a champ. Except lately, when it doesn't.

The problems started on Day 2 of our trip. We could have turned around - cancel the whole trip - but we didn't. We pressed on. Things didn't seem all that bad. We arrived at our first destination on Day 4.

On Day 6, we took it to a mechanic. The first of three. 

We were shocked when they told us an axle needed to be replaced. We were also surprised by the cost. It was expensive. We contemplated trading in the car somewhere and buying a new one so we could continue our trip. We also thought about flying to our next destination and onward towards home. We did neither of those things. Two days later, Day 8, we were on the road again and to our relief everything seemed fine.

But then, two hours later, we made a pit stop. As we exited the freeway we heard a sound like we had blown a tire but I had no trouble controlling the vehicle. At our stop, we inspected the tires and everything looked fine. Puzzled, we took it to Mechanic #2 who said one of the tires - the one on the newly replaced axle - just needed rebalancing.

Two hours later, we were on the road again.

Just an hour and a half after that, we pulled over again. Something was not right. The car was shuddering. Enter Mechanic #3.

This time, all four tires were rebalanced. Another two-hour delay. When we finally hit the road, we only made it a couple of blocks before we circled back to Mechanic #3. Things were not better.

With a total of four hours delay for the day, we decided to call it quits and spend the night. We weren't going to make our destination that day. Not for the first time, we contemplated ditching the car forever. Instead, we rented a car and left ours with Mechanic #3. 

This was Day 9 which just happened to be July 3, the day before a long holiday weekend. The mechanics would not be working on July 4. Luckily, they were able to work on it the next day - Friday, July 5. On July 6 - Saturday, Day 11 of our trip - we returned to see if they figured out what was wrong with our car.

Mechanic #3 said the problem with our car was that the new axle fell out. Not all the way out. Just enough to make everything rattle and shake. It wasn't seated properly; it couldn't be. Mechanic #3 said we needed to take it back to Mechanic #1 because the axle they installed was too short. This is why it "fell out." However, he said it was safe enough to drive the 220 miles back to the first mechanic. 

This was nerve wracking.

We called Mechanic #1 but the shop was still closed for the holiday weekend. They wouldn't be open until Monday.

We re-routed our trip, skipping our next intended destination, and backtracked to the first mechanic. We had two days to kill: Saturday and Sunday. Naturally, we found beer. (You can see all the beers we tried on our trip here.)

On Monday, we were on Mechanic #1's doorstep when they opened. (We tried to call ahead but they were closed.) They were just coming off a long weekend and were not thrilled to see customers first thing that Monday morning. They told us they couldn't work us into the schedule right away. Maybe they could do it that afternoon, they offered. 

We insisted. We had already checked out of our hotel and the car was fully packed with two weeks worth of stuff. They could fix it right away or we were going to camp out in their waiting room until it was done. Ten minutes later, the car was on the rack. Shortly after that, we overheard them conferring. Indeed, the axle had fallen out and needed to be replaced again.

A new one was ordered and someone was dispatched to get it. They had us on the road again a couple of hours later. Day 13. 

Day 15 we were home and the car has been fine ever since, all thoughts of disowning it long forgotten. Through it all, we covered

• 3,600 miles
• $3,200 in car repairs
• 28 different beers 
• 14 nights
• 11 breweries
• 8 hotel rooms
• 6 stops for mechanical issues
• half a dozen friends
• 4 states
• 3 auto repair shops
• 2 relatives
• 1 rental car

And one raging case of hemorrhoids, in the end....

Despite the discomfort, the delays, the hand-wringing and uncertainty, the unexpected costs, and a missed stop . . .  despite vows that we'll never do it again, we had a great time because that's what roadtrips are for: surviving the unpredictable. Besides, it could have been worse.

There could have been two raging cases of hemorrhoids.

Do I Have To?

 You know that voice inside your head reminding you that you should probably should exercise more? Ignore her.

With all our recent travel and the extreme heat at home, I've fallen out of my exercise routine which, under different circumstances, consists almost entirely of walking outdoors. I really like walking outdoors. I'll go for miles and miles and miles.

I don't tolerate heat well so it's somewhat paradoxical that I should live in a place where temperatures are easily over 90 degrees for half the year. Right now, in fact, it's over 90 degrees before the sun even comes up. It's just too hot to walk outdoors. Anywhere.

I could walk on a treadmill but that's boring. Besides, it's hard to keep an indoor routine going when we spend the summer traveling. Oh, I have several more flimsy excuses.

That's where that little voice comes in. She reminds me that it's not too hot to swim. In fact, it's a perfect time to swim. Just make a reservation at the pool and do it. Putting it on the calendar will be motivating.

I signed up for a swim lane at the pool. I have it for an entire hour. 

It worked. For a minute. But then I remembered.

I don't like to swim.

Speakeasy

Yellow

My fridge is full of garbage while my freezer is full of Christmas

 I've been out of town the last four Fridays. Which means my garbage hasn't been picked up in a month. To be fair (to be fair), there wasn't much garbage to pick up because we've been out of town. 

However, in the last five weeks, we were home for about ten days. And in those ten days, we produced food waste - aka compost - which is picked up on garbage day.

Well, I wasn't going to just let that sit and rot on my kitchen counter until the next time we were going to be home on a garbage day. So, I put it in my refrigerator to keep it from smelling up the house and attracting bugs. 

But now, because my fridge is half full of beer (collected during said travels), the garbage takes up most of the remaining space. Indeed, there's a chicken carcass in my freezer. 

But speaking of my freezer, I also have an oversupply of Starbuck's Christmas Blend coffee. 

What? It was on sale! I couldn't help myself! Think of it as my version of Christmas in July.

I only have 159 days left to drink what's left of it (before it goes on sale again).

Meanwhile, the garbage goes out today. Not exactly Christmas but close.

Banned Reading

 Yesterday I posted on Facebook. It was roughly five words long - something like, "What's there to be afraid of?" - and a link to yesterday's blog post here on Chocolate Chip Mint.

My Facebook post was banned and removed by Facebook.

According to their website: 

" We do not allow content that is designed to deceive, mislead, or overwhelm users in order to artificially increase viewership. "

You got me. 

In truth, I was trying to artificially increase viewership because who else is going to read this? 

The gist of yesterday's blog post was that I had washed my car and I hoped it wouldn't rain.

For the record, I never designed to deceive or mislead anyone about the fact that I washed my car. 

Five words and a link to yesterday's post is hardly overwhelming.

If It Happens, It's My Fault

It's been raining. Yay! (We need it.)

We had bursts of rain in small patches. On Sunday, one side of town got 1.5" in 30 minutes, while the other side got next to nothing. 

My car was parked outside on Sunday and I was in an area that got rained on. The shower lasted only a few minutes but prompted flood warnings. Yet, by the time I got to my car, everything had dried up and my car was left with rain spots all over it. Boo!

On Monday, some people saw hail (called snow in Pennsylvania) while I saw nothing. 

Today, I washed my car. Yay!

But, I forgot to bring a towel. By the time I got home, my car was covered in spots again. Boo! 

So I washed it again in my garage by hand. I only had to spray it with a little water and wipe it with a microfiber cloth to remove the water spots from the carwash and accumulated dust from the drive home. Yay! 

But I still have to do an errand and fetch some Grin-itch spinach. Boooo....

I just hope it doesn't rain. Noooo!