I know, I know…just QueerJoe being controversial again.  Going out on a tenuous limb again.

So Many Problems

The Bad

First of all, what the fuck is that logo?  Is it a mermaid with a split tail?  Is it a fetishy women spreading her legs whilst dressing up like a fish/mermaid?

Second, their coffee is not good.  I find their house blend coffee to be burnt and bitter tasting.

Third, the staff can be maddening for an older person sometimes.  At first, Starbucks seemed to take great pride in the proper training of their employees.  I remember it being hard to learn all that was necessary to pour a decent shot of espresso.  Or to know the fat content of a grande caramel soy macchiato no-whip.  Their customer service was top-notch and not charging for a drink when something went wrong was common.  Now, it’s not consistently true.  Stores are understaffed with baristas of varying levels of training.  Some staff are young and inexperienced in the way of treating a customer with deference.

Finally (honestly, there’s more, but…), it’s easy to berate Starbucks for their silly drink sizes and odd way of repeating your beverage order in the proper way.  I used to order a medium, three-shot, whole-milk, latte extra hot, and it would be read back to me.  Grande, extra-hot, triple-shot, whole-milk latte.

Isn’t that what I said?

The Good

Despite all of the faults that can be easy to find about the organization, the staff, the training, specific stores and their peccadilloes about coffee-speak, I enjoy Starbucks.

They are consistent.  When I find a beverage I like at one store, it is almost always equally as good at every other Starbucks.

Unlike their coffee, I think their espresso is quite good. So any espresso beverages are ones I enjoy.  My most commonly ordered beverage is a grande flat white.

I find myself enjoying being a “member” of Starbucks.  I have Gold member status (which doesn’t mean much).  Working toward a “free” item can be fun for me.  I like using the app to pay for my beverage.

Being relaxed and just hanging out at most Starbucks…that I enjoy too.

And finally, despite what I wrote about staffing up above, I often find at least one stellar employee at most Starbucks who does everything right.

Don’t get me wrong.  I would dump Starbucks in a second if I had political difficulties with them.  Or if they didn’t clearly state when poor treatment of customers by specific managers was wrong.  But for now, I enjoy going to Starbucks.

Current Spinning/Knitting

Comparing my progress against what I showed in the last blog entry might not seem like a lot.  But spread out over three projects, it’s been quite  lot.

I did a little more spinning on the Tommy’s Preferred Blend.

I had to at least cover the bobbin core.

I also finished the second CSM Sock.

After two failed attempts, I was almost finished making this sock, when I screwed up the turning of the toe.  The last part.  I ended up just pulling it off the machine and knitting the toe manually on US000 needles.  The contrasting yarn I used for both toes is different, and my hand-knit one isn’t quite as rounded as my machine-knit sock.  But it’s still a beautiful pair of socks.  And even with multiple mistakes, they still took about 1/5th the time to make.

Finally, I’m almost finished with the Biased Striped Stole.

The only section left is block of color at the end (the darker color).

I’m about to switch to the black yarn and once the sides are the length I want the stole to be, I’ll start shaping the end of it.