Maybe it’s time to kick the coffee habit (again)

Ink, 3.5″x4.75″ (Larger)

I sketched this at Peets when I stopped to pick up some coffee beans, now that my grinder is working again. It’s in my new combo wallet/sketchbook. I visited my local stationary store looking for a small binder to use as a sketchbook and the owner offered me this little Filofax for only $5.00 since someone had returned it. It’s a perfect wallet (even a zipper section for change) and has rings to hold nice paper. See the bottom of this post for photos of it.

The problem with being addicted to a morning cup of coffee is that I wake up stupid and dysfunctional until I’ve had my cup. This is dangerous since making the coffee involves handling scalding liquids, equipment with motors and sharp blades (to grind the coffee), drip filter holders that can be easily knocked over, and carrying cups of milky coffee across the room with shaky hands. I’ve encountered disasters with all of the above.

To read the rest of this post and see the wallet/sketchbook photos, click “Continue Reading” below:

As you may recall from this post, my wonderful Capresso burr grinder has been out of service for a few weeks because (I thought) I had dropped a little silicon part when I took the grinder apart to clean it one morning (before I had my coffee–my first mistake) and (I thought) my cat had run off with it. She steals any small pieces of plastic dropped on the floor, and plays with them, eventually either hiding them or chewing them beyond recognition.

I’d called Capresso and they generously offered to send me the missing part (a silicon “collar”) for free. However they sent the wrong one. I called again and waited another week. Finally it arrived and I installed it.

But when I tried to put the hopper (the bin that holds the beans) back on top it wouldn’t fit into place. I spent an hour messing with it until I realized the top burr was stuck inside at a slight angle, preventing the hopper from fitting into its slot.

I called Capresso again. Their patient tech support person (yes…a coffee grinder company with technical support!) took me through various steps (“insert a butter knife in the slot that looks like a smiley face; now try to push it so moves towards the marks that look like piano keys…”). I couldn’t get it to move.

She said she was pretty sure I’d put the top burr in upside down but I was skeptical. She again asked me to push, insisting that it would move. I was sure it wouldn’t since it appeared to be molded plastic connected to the base of the unit, and therefore couldn’t move. But skeptical me tried again, this time doing exactly what she said, and sure enough, it moved fairly easily.

I lifted out the piece and sure enough, it was in upside down…and the silicon collar that is supposed to sit on top was still attached, just in upside down! In the instructions for cleaning and reassembling the grinder, it should say in bold letters: “do not attempt until after consuming your morning cup!”

Although my cat was unjustly accused; she hadn’t stollen the piece afterall, I’d just assembled it backwards, she wasn’t completely innocent: She did steal the first (wrong) part they sent that looked like a wide rubber band. I wouldn’t have noticed it was no longer on the counter where I’d left it except that she woke me in the middle of the night coughing up what I thought was a hairball. Wrong…it was the very chewed up part.

Here’s my little leather Filofax wallet/sketchbook:

Sorry for the funky “photos,” I used my scanner instead of my camera.