Whether you know me or not. The facts cut through the valley fog like this. I work for Barefoot Coffee Roasters. We are located in Santa Clara, California, right next to San Jose for those who don't know. This is all good and well. The Silicon Valley loves us. People will drive from all over the Bay Area to get a cup of Barefoot's fine elixir. I drive an extra long time for the same sweet coffee love. You see, i live in Modesto, California. "How far is that from Santa Clara?" you say. About 95 miles from door to door. The drive is a mer hour and a half at posted speed limits, but the Commuter path increases that drive to 3 hours most times of the day. Whew! it's a killer! I remedy the waste of gas and time by renting a room in San Jose. There are 5 other Barefoot employees living there and we lovingly refer to home as the 'Foot Locker". Yeah, I miss my home sometimes. I miss my girlfriend, Joselyn, all the time, but the set up is the best solution to a simple problem. I just came home for the weekend, last night. It was late and you better know I slept in this morning. I knew that this morning I would be trying and enjoying a Guatemala Trapichitos that RyanBrown, Ritual Coffee's Roaster, kicked down a couple of days ago. Joselyn was in bed when I came in last night, so this morning she woke me up with Furry Purry kisses and an invitation for coffee. I was sleeping in and I could barely muster a "hi, baby", let alone drag my tired ass from a genuine pillow and not the stand in pillow at the Foot Locker. I declined knowing I'd have a cup soon enough. A quick digression. The water in Modesto SUCKS. It's farm land and the water has been polluted beyond repair. There is even a cancer named after the telephone area code, the 209...... most likely passed through water intake. Yuck! I know it's hard to understand. water is free and it flows with a twist of the tap. California's Central Valley supply is nasty. period. O.K. so I drag me and my boxers out to the kitchen and like all of you, I need my first cup of coffee ( tea helps sometimes, as long as the caffeine does it's job) The Tea pot willingly jumps into my hand ready for the fire. The steps to my water tower are purely programmed in that my feet carry me there without cognition. (purchased mountain spring water in a big plastic bottle.... I'm not proud) WHAT, NO WATER! oh it's cool. there got to be another bottle. We usually have three or four on hand. And we did have the inventory of BOTTLES..... EMPTY CONTAINERS WITH A CALENDAR SAYING THAT MY DELIVERY WON'T COME UNTIL NEXT WEEK! shit, I looked at the kitchen sink. No thank you. I know there's a store down the street, but my boxers don't cover much in 45F weather, so I sit with my new friends. All of you. I hope that you will all understand and not call me names. Really I don't care if you call me names, just don't be mean when you do. It's cool. My press pot is staring at me from the kitchen counter. It sits next to the empty tea pot. I can hear them whispering about me, laughing at my addiction to the first cup. They're not being mean, just truthful. My press pot and I wish we could be making a cup of the new Ritual offering to see what my NorCal Coffee Mafia familia is up to. Maybe, later. It's been awhile since I had a cup at a cafe in Modesto. I think I'll dress and visit some old friends. The Blues can wait.