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"You Two! We're at the end of the universe, eh. Right at the edge of knowledge itself. And you're busy... blogging!"
— The Doctor, Utopia


Thursday, July 17, 2008

Full list of Starbucks closures now available

Starbucks Gossip has the list. Here's the damage Nebraska will be suffering:

11527 HWY 370 & 36TH 3811 TWIN CREEK DR BELLEVUE NE
13626 23RD & CLARKSON 610 E 23RD ST FREMONT NE
11270 2ND & W 42 ST 4116 2ND AVE KEARNEY NE
9883 120TH & BLONDO 2012 N 117TH AVE OMAHA NE
11528 CENTER & 63RD 6303 CENTER ST OMAHA NE
11529 HWY 370 & 72ND 1423 PAPILLION DR PAPILLION NE
11805 72ND & GILES 8440 S 72ND ST PAPILLION NE

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Tuesday, July 15, 2008

First list of closing Starbucks released

Wondering if your local Starbucks is on the chopping block? Wonder no more. Consumerist has the list. For those of us in Nebraska, the only one closing so far is the one in Bellevue.

#11527 - hwy 370 & 36th
3811 Twin Creek DR
Bellevue, NE

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Friday, April 06, 2007

Need... Coffee...

Mary and the girls showed up from CO this morning at 2:45am. I just got back from Starbucks to find this gem from Unshelved:
Overdue

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Wednesday, April 04, 2007

The Customer-Centered Library: How to stop tweaking and start doing it with new steps for 2007

 The Customer-Centered LibraryKaren Hyman, South Jersey Library Cooperative
Columbus Public Library, Columbus, NE

  • After today's session you will...
    • see from the customer's point of view
    • focus on user needs and expectations
    • development & implement things that support a customer centered library
    • operate the library for the convenience of your customer
    • make customer service a way of life
  • What makes a library really great?
    • money?
    • size?
    • luck?
    • use?
    • Really great for whom?
  • Customer's have choices
    • Movies on demand
    • WiFi @ Starbucks
    • Cell phones & PDAs
  • The big fear
    • libraries (and what they can offer) will be irelevant and invisible to the majority of people
  • New opportunities to...
    • provide value-added service
    • embrace new roles
    • be a "third place"
    • take the library to new people
    • fail to take advantage of new opportunities
    • provide poor service in new and irritating wasy
  • Value added equals
    • current
    • relevant
    • in tune with customer needs
    • beneficial from the customer's point of view
    • defined by the quality of the result
  • Service can be your competitive edge
    • intelligent
    • responsive
    • personal
  • Quote from OCLC Perspectives report
  • Customer service basics
    • first, do no harm
    • everyone here is an expert on customer service because everyone here is a customer
    • get a grip
  • Of course there are other strategies
    • you can change riders
    • you can get a committee to study the dead horse
    • you can benchmark how other companies rise dead horses
    • you can declare that it's cheaper to feed a dead horse
    • you car harness several dead horses together
  • But after you've tried all of these things, you're still going to have to dismount
  • change
    • some people love change
      • excitement
      • anticipation
      • curiosity
    • some people hate change
      • dread
      • disorientation

      • loss
    • nobody gets to choose how they feel
    • dealing with change is a learned skill
    • all predicitions haev equal value
    • we can all join each other on the edge of the unknown
  • Step one: Care
    • Caring
      • some people just care
      • some people just don't
      • most of us fall in the middle
      • caring and not caring is contageous
      • blaming is the enemy of caring
      • everything flows from caring
    • the key to quality customer service is creative problem solving
    • the key to quality problem solving is having a problem
    • most care more when we...
      • know and like the other person
      • don't feel tired
      • don't feel threatened
      • aren't having a bad day
      • get support and rewards for caring
      • take pride in caring, or appearing to care
    • try caring
      • can improve your day
      • uses your skills
      • can increase energy
      • can be fun
      • you're paid to care
      • make it a habit, and caring gets easier.
    • caring begets attention, attention begets curiosity and curiosity is the fount from which all knowledge flows
  • Step two: Think like a customer
    • why don't we think like customers?
      • we work at the library
      • we don't understand the customer
      • we're not trying hard enough
      • we don't focus on results
      • we hear but don't listen
      • we think we know better
      • we don't see options as options
    • when you think like a customer you...
      • put yourself in their place
      • make it your business to see results for the customer
      • make customer service a way of life and a part of every decision
  • step three: see the problem(s)
    • to define problems from the customer's perspective...
      • somebody wants something and they're not getting it
      • somebody's getting something they don't want
  • step four: change your approach, not the customer
    • why not change the customer?
      • what do you do with someone who...?
      • why can't people...?
      • shouldn't people...?
      • people used to...?
      • children used to...?
      • Because you can't!

    • ditch the rules
      • have a bonfire for the signs
      • root out negatives
      • solve problems when they happen
      • work as a team
      • what are the rules?
      • do we really need this rule at all?
      • can we say the same thing in a more positive way
      • share expectations and look again
    • to change your approach
      • provide customers the opportunities to do what you want
        • skateboard rack
        • baskets for books
      • try doing what they want
        • express checkout
        • eating in the library
    • when it comes to customer service...
      • every choice has a down side
      • err on the side of customer services that is positive, welcoming, and empowering for the consumer
  • step five: abandon victimhood
    • is your library a culture of victimhood?
      • we never get any more money
      • we never get any respect
      • why are we always the last to know?
      • nobody understands all the great things we do
      • we always have to clean up after these slobs
    • Victimhood...
      • obscures facts
      • is powerless
      • is personal
      • saps your energy
      • takes you nowhere
    • Try telling the same story in a different way

  • Step six: Organize your library to support quality service
    • to support quality service
      • easy to use continuous communication system
        • morning briefings
        • library blogs
        • whiteboard in staff area
        • email to customers
        • newsletters, recommendations

        • flexible, helpful, friendly signage
      • create systems that support consistent great service
      • make it fun
      • create a supporting culture for risk, flexibility, curiosity, etc.

      • set specific targets & measure results
    • Deliver the goods

  • step seven: walk through everything
    • walk through every process
      • in the building, on the web, phone
      • to share the customer's experience
      • to see what works and what doesn't
      • to get your vendors on the customers' side
    • to five vendor responses
      • the default is...
      • go to another source for support
      • help notes explain that in section. 1.A.3(b)7

      • it works here
      • nobody else has complained
    • in your library
      • what makes it easy to find things
      • what makes it difficult to find things
      • what alerts or obscures possibilities

      • what makes navigation a breeze or a chore
    • easy/alerts to possibilities

      • very open, spacious, neat, etc
      • shelves well organized and documented
      • overhead signs in adult stacks
      • natural light, large windows
      • large signs on soffits
    • difficult, obscures possibilities
      • lobby is dark & dull
      • "NO" signs in the library
      • nothing hits you when you walk in
      • no encouragement to ask for help
      • etc...
    • self service library
      • easy and intuitive

      • helpful & friendly signage
      • alerts to possibilities

      • direct online interaction
      • self-checkout
      • drive-up window
      • 24/7/365 access
  • step eight: Get the book into the customers' hands
    • if books are the brand, what could you be doing with books that you're not doing now?
      • reduce processing time
      • grab-and-go collection
      • buy when it's fast and affordable
      • float the collection
      • Netflix model
      • Weed!
      • merchandise the collection

    • Through merchandising you can
      • transform the library experience
      • find out what sells
      • sell what you want to buy
      • find out what nobody will read as part of the everyday process
      • make it easier for your public to discover materials, "impulse buy"
      • make it a little harder for your staff to find specific titles
    • [photos of merchandising examples]
  • Step nine: Transform the library experience
    • find five things that would surprise and delight your customers and put them in the center
    • a warm, inviting 21st century environment
      • has a greeter
      • comfortable
      • allows food
      • provides public computers & WiFi
      • allows cell phones
      • avoids too many rules
    • the destination library
      • enjoyable, friendly, fun environment
      • comfortable seating
      • extended hours
      • hi tech, hi touch
      • browsing, book clubs, author events
      • drop in story hours
      • supports personal use of technology
      • community center
      • fosters collegiality
    • serve kids
      • does your children's area have a percentage of floor space that equals their percentage of circulation?
      • play fair
  • Step ten: Overcome overdues
    • reexamining the rules
      • pay when $10 threshold is reached
      • Fine Free Fridays

      • no overdues -- but we love donations

      • courtesy reminders -- consider Library Elf
      • multiple renewals
      • new motto: "Late is great!"
  • step eleven: take the library to the people
    • have an online application process and mail the card with the library info
      • provide live online services
      • put satellite libraries in the community
      • experiment with mobile communication to cellphone & PDA
      • [screenshots of examples]
  • Step twelve: Make something happen
    • did anything happen?
      • depends on results for the customer, not the library
      • depends on fit with everyday life of the customer
      • how many things have to "go right" for this to work?

    • focus on results for the customer will help you to...
      • chose among the flawed options
      • avoid "compromises" that produce no results
      • handle the down side of a great choice
      • do the extra work that makes a real difference
    • 5 things you can start today
      • look at the rules and remove or restate

      • look at what people want & find ways to deliver it. ask them and listen when they answer

      • walk through your building and fix what doesn't work for the customer
      • incorporate customer service into every decision and problem solving process
      • treat every customer like a person
Breakout groups: Five things your library can do to surprise your customers



  • Suggestion box
  • free paperback for every $1 in fines paid
  • address customer by name
  • more color in the library (too much tan)

  • MySpace page
  • check out off items: GPS, Projectors, Laptops
  • WiFi
  • "Check Us Out" sign
  • Gaming Night
  • AccuCut machine for public use
  • No fines
  • Allow cell phones
  • Automatic reminders
  • Recommendations in the OPAC
  • Put holds in an ordered queue
  • More classes for the public
  • Audio book during a knitting circle
  • Open 5-midnight one night
  • 5-cent fine on unfriendly staff
  • Live mystery at the library
  • DVD checkout length as book
  • group computer space
  • public fax machine
  • food allowed area
  • fine free day
  • cake pans
  • door greeter / roving staff member

  • allow food
  • emphasize the e-resources
  • teen hangout
  • "We settle bar bets"
  • new baby program
  • book delivery program
  • movie nights
  • Director "open door"
  • treat drawer
  • no rural membership fee

  • background music




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Monday, March 05, 2007

Find the nearest Starbucks via SMS

Just send a text message of your zipcode to MYSBUX (697289) and you'll get back the phone numbers and addresses of the local Starbucks. Caffeine here I come!

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Saturday, January 06, 2007

Podcasts: Part 2

I remembered earlier today that I previously posted a list of the "professional" podcasts I listened to and promised a list of "personal" podcasts. Well here it is.

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Wednesday, November 22, 2006

Stealing Passwords

I'm giving a workshop next week in Utah titled "Setting up Wireless Access in Your Library" and of course, one of the topics covered will be security issues. In preparation I'm playing with some very interesting software including Ethereal. To keep it non-technical, Ethereal allows anyone to sniff, trap, and save network data, including data being transmitted over the air via WiFi connections. As a test, I connected to an open WiFi access point, started a capture, and logged into my flickr account. I then stopped the capture and saved 2.25MB worth of data (about 45 seconds worth of surfing). Look what I found when I searched the data for the word "password":

Password stealing

I've obscured my password for obvious reasons but I'm sure you still get the point. So, who wants to log into their bank account from a Starbucks?

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Tuesday, September 05, 2006

Free coffee @ Caribou this Friday.

Bring in this Starbucks coupon to your local Caribou coffee this Friday and they'll honor it. No, I'm not kidding. Here's the story.

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Saturday, July 29, 2006

A nickle's worth of free advice

I'm requesting your opinion. I was in Starbucks this morning and bought a coffee an iced venti non-fat light ice caramel machiato for $3.95. I paid with four singles which was all the cash I had on me. What should I have done with the nickle? Should I have kept it and not given a tip or put it in the tip jar? Does one of the options insult the barista's less or more? What to you think?

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Friday, June 23, 2006

Just call me Sparky

Reno Rendezvous by Leslie Ford As I write this I'm sitting in seat 10C on a United flight from Reno, NV to Denver, CO after aproximately 24 hours in Nevada. I think Murphy came with me on this one...

It started yesterday morning with my leaving my bag at my house instead of bringing it with me to the office so I could go straight to the airport for my 3pm flight. That created the necessity to go back home to get my bag.

After checking into my hotel in Reno I was off to Sparks, NV (a Reno subburb) to find the Sparks branch of the Washoe County Public Library. This short trip was to make sure where I needed to be the next morning to teach my class. I went in, introduced myself to the librarian at the reference desk and said that I was confirming this was the branch I was looking for. She confirmed as such and even pointed me to their meeting room as that's where training was generally held. I thanked her and headed back to my rental car. A few feet short of the car I reached into my pants pocket for the keys and found only lint. I'd locked the keys in the car.

Luckily I have a AAA membership so I pulled the card out of my wallet, and, since I was in Nevada, and not Colorado, figured it would be better to call the national 800 number instead of the local 303 number. I dialed and was immediately put through to AAA Colorado. It seems that their system is "smart" and figured out that I must be calling from Colorado due to the caller ID on my phone. I informed the person on the phone that I was not in Colorado but in Nevada and his response was to ask me if there was a land line I could call back from as that would be "faster" than him putting me through to AAA Nevada. (Look, I understand how the system works, but in an age of cell phones, what's the point of having both local and "national" numbers when, if you're calling from a cell phone, your actual physical location becomes irrelevant to the system?) I was eventually promised that someone would be around to help me "within the hour" and 1:15 later, someone did arrive. It took the lock guy exactly five seconds (I timed him) to get into the rental car.

That's the end Thursday for me and I ended up having dinner at the hotel as I didn't want anything else to go wrong.

This morning I awake early, find a Starbucks, have some java, and arrive back at the Sparks branch at 7:00 in anticipation of my contact person showing up to let me in at 7:45 for my 8am class. At 8am, I'm starting to get nervous as no one else has shown up yet. The phone calls to both BCR and my contact's office number start at this point. I leave a voicemail for my contact and the folks at BCR confirm that I'm in the right place as far as they know. At 8:30 I get a phone call from one of the students (who got my cell number from BCR) wondering where I am. Well, I'm at the Sparks branch but all the students are at the Spanish Springs branch, which, by the way, is also in Sparks. (At this point, I'm sure the total confusion was my fault.) Off to the right branch I head to start class 45 minutes late. (This is the first time in nine years I've not started a class on time.)

After class, a wonderful lunch with some systems folks, and a much needed bananna frappaccino at the same Starbucks from the morning, then off to the Reno airport for my 4:30 flight home. The flight home by the way, is going through San Francisco (no need to draw you a map I'm sure) and gets me into Denver at 11:50pm. At about 4:00 I head to the mens room and notice that at the next gate over is a direct flight to Denver leaving at 5:00pm, getting me home about 8:00pm. I ask if I can switch flights (I've only got carry-on) and I'm granted not only a seat on the dirct flight but an exit-row seat in economy plus. (Mondo leg room here I come!)

So, I'm in that seat. The seat that doesn't want to stay in it's "full upright and locked position" (real fun during takeoff,) and a reading lamp that won't stay on, or off, for anylength of time.

I need a vacation...

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Saturday, May 27, 2006

Starbucks: Burn no more

For those of you that recall my experience of burning my own custom CD at a Starbucks in Washington this past March, here's a follow-up: Starbucks pulls CD-burning stations out of most test stores

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Thursday, May 04, 2006

Wi-Fi at the library, for a price

The Cincinnati Business Courier reported today that all 41 branches of the Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County now have wi-fi for the public. Normally, that would cause me to blog a big hooray. Alas, this is not to be one of those posts. The article isn't very long but here's the relevant bit:

"Subscribers to Cincinnati Bell's Fuse dial-up service or ZoomTown high-speed Internet service can access wi-fi service for free in any library branch. For non-subscribers, the service is available on a pay-per-use basis of $4.95 an hour, or $9.95 for 24 hours, and can be billed to a credit card."

In other words, this is the first I've heard of a library offering wi-fi access for a fee. It sounds like they basically allowed the local ISP (phone company) to install the equipment and sell the service in the library a la Starbucks and Borders. This news does not make me happy. From my experience, libraries have loved offering free wi-fi for the reduction of wear and tear on the library's equipment, among many other reasons.

According to Kimber Fender, library executive director. "For those without computers and wireless access, the library provides free Internet access at all locations."

I'm sorry, but this makes no sense to me at all. Please, use our equipment for free but if you want to you your own equipment please pony up some cash to the local baby bell. That's one hell of public service policy.

I pretty much refuse to pay for wi-fi access but have been known to on occasion when very desperate. I've mostly been able to get away with this as more and more public libraries offer wi-fi access. That doesn't seem to be the case in Cincinnati.
via Wi-Fi Net News

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Thursday, March 23, 2006

CIL 2006: Day one wrap-up (the next morning)

I was able to roam the exhibits and talk to Miguel, the rep from Neal-Schuman and Amy, the editor at Informatio Today, Inc. currently working on my Blogs & RSS book. (According to her, it's scheduled to be released in October.) Between the evening conference reception and the speaker's reception I was able to find just about everyone I was looking for. The Dead & Emerging Technologies session was a fun as always. This year's theme, Library 2.0. Many a humorous 1.0/2.0 comparrison was made. Stephen Abram went long as usual but none of the attendees (with one or two execptions) complained about him going over time. (I will add that as much as I appreciated all of the speakers, seven of them was a few too many for the 1.5 hour allotted time.)

Next, the post-day gathering at the hotel lounge was as exciting, entertaining, and thought-provoking as usual. There I was finally able to meet both Lorcan Dempsy of OCLC, who's blog I've been admiring for a while now.

I endd up back at my room about midnight with a 6am wakeup. I've finished my venti caramel machiato form the starbucks down the street and I'm waiting at the tables near the exhibits for the press room to open for the day. (The blogger's WiFi is still not working down here. I was told that it had been fixed but I've yet to see it.) As soon as I get connected, I'll be posting this and uploading the rest of my photos from yesterday to flickr.

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Tuesday, March 14, 2006

Burn your own CD @ Starbucks


The CD
Originally uploaded by travelinlibrarian.
I'm spending the night in Everett, WA on my way to teach in Marysville tomorrow. After dinner I spotted a starbucks down the street and decided to get a caramel machiato to help me relax. (Decaf.) Outside was a sign for Starbucks' new Hear Music Media Bar. I'd heard about this before and now I was definitely making a stop.

After getting my drink I sat down at the system and started to browse. It turns out that these systems have thousands of CDs completely available for selection and on site burning. Additionally you can select the tracks of your choice (nothing was "album only" as some iTunes tracks are) to burn onto a custom CD.

I selected seven songs for the base price of $8.98+tax. Each additional song is $0.99 but I held my ground. I was ablt to reorder my list since I hadn't selected my songs in the order I wanted them on the CD. I was also able to pick a graphic from a selection of about 40 images. (I didn't count so that number is just an estimation.) I was also asked to choose a title for my CD.

I finalized my list and swipped my credit card. It did not ask me for a signature and promptly processed the charge. While the CD was burning a printout was made which I folded along the perforations as instructed and inserted into the flaps of a paperboard and plastic jewelcase. About three minutes later my CD, lebeled with my title popped out, ready to be placed in the newly customized jewelcase.

Overall the system worked as advertised however it isn't perfect. First, the on-screen keyboard has keys in alphabetical order. As someone used to a QWERTY keyboard, this made my searching and title entry a bit dificult. Secondly, the price. The track peices are in line with iTunes but since you're getting a physical item, the starting price seems a bit high for seven songs but I guess it's justifiable.

I documented the process with my camera. The 12 photos can be found in a set in my Flickr account.

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Thursday, March 02, 2006

Free Coffee

On March 15th, go get yourself a free cup-o-joe from Starbucks.

"Starbucks will host its first-ever Starbucks Coffee Break, inviting customers across the country to enjoy a complimentary cup of freshly brewed coffee. In stores and on street corners, from insulated brewing equipment and giant coffee backpacks, partners (employees) will pour tall (12-ounce) cups of coffee to surprise customers and delight commuters."

via Starbucks Gossip

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Monday, October 31, 2005

Halloween costume idea

All the employees at a San Francisco indie coffee joint dressed as Starbucks employees today.

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Monday, August 01, 2005

Starbucks in LSU library

Some LSU students upset by plans for library Starbucks but my question is this: would they still be complaining if it was run by local independent instead of a big corporation?

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Thursday, July 28, 2005

"Bad Barista"

Starbucks Gossip has a great idea: "each Starbucks store needs a "Bad Barista" -- a tough guy who wears a black apron and deals with the kind of Starbucks customers I don't like." The list of scenarios for this employee to deal with is wonderful. Feel free to add you own if you've got one not on the list.

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Thursday, July 21, 2005

An explanation...

...as to why people like Starbucks so much, from a Brit's perspective. (Use the icons at the bottom of the page to make the article readable.)
Thanks Amy

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Tuesday, July 05, 2005

RE: Starbucks & Dylan

In response to my question about whether people will go into Starbucks just to buy the new Bob Dylan CD, my brother said:

FYI, I will be going to Starbucks for the Dylan CD. It will be the first time in a Starbucks, and probably the last.

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Wednesday, June 29, 2005

Dylan signs coffee chain CD deal

AS if the whole Alanis-CD-exclusively-in-Starbucks thing wasn't enough, now Bob Dylan is doing the same thing, for 18 months in this case. The question is, as my friend Steve put it, will Dylan fans go into a Starbucks specifically for the CDs?

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Monday, June 27, 2005

RE: Freaks

In response to my post on my Starbucks-related freakiness, my father passed along to me a link to a PowerPoint presentation by management guru Tom Peters. Here's the content of slide #64:

Why Do I love Freaks?

(1) Because when Anything Interesting happens … it was a freak who did it. (Period.) (2) Freaks are fun. (Freaks are also a pain.) (Freaks are never boring.) (3) We need freaks. Especially in freaky times. (Hint: These are freaky times, for you & me & the CIA & the Army & Avon.) (4) A critical mass of freaks-in-our-midst automatically make us-who-are-not-so-freaky at least somewhat more freaky. (Which is a Good Thing in freaky times—see immediately above.) (5) Freaks are the only (ONLY) ones who succeed—as in, make it into the history books. (6) Freaks keep us from falling into ruts. (If we listen to them.) (We seldom listen to them.) (Which is why most of us—and our organizations—are in ruts. Make that chasms.)

Thanks dad. (I think...)

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Wednesday, June 22, 2005

:: The Oracle of Starbucks ::

Enter your drink and The Oracle of Starbucks will divine your personality type. Me, I'm a "Freak". Surprise!
Thanks Amy

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Tuesday, May 31, 2005

Starbucks corners Alanis Morissette for six weeks

It seems that several independent music stores are complaining about Starbucks' deal with Ms. Morissette to be the exclusive seller of her next CD for six weeks, after which the album will be available for sale in non-Starbucks stores. I don't hear them complaining about the exclusiveness of the Antigone Rising CD. That one doesn't have any plans for availability in any stores other than Starbucks. So, are the independents complaining about Alanis because she's big and mainstream? That seems a but ironic to me.
via Starbucks Gossip

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Monday, May 09, 2005

Starbucks as verb

I read the article"Is RSS Not The Next Big Thing" due to my interest in RSS. However, I'm blogging it due to the following line:

"Last week when I Starbucked with Dave Winer, he emphatically said that "we" don't have to push RSS more mainstream."

My question is this: since when did the act of meeting someone at a Starbucks become the verb "Starbucked"?

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Monday, April 04, 2005

Find non-corporate coffee

Just plug your zip code into the Delocator and receive the addresses of submitted independent coffeehouses. (Starbucks locations are also listed so you can know what to avoid in the neighborhood.)

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Sunday, March 20, 2005

The end of CIL & getting home

I've decided to post my final CIL entry here instead of on my CIL05 blog since it's way long and I though it would be of interest to those who read this blog and have not been reading the other one.

7:39am Chicago O’Hare International Airport

When last we left the Travelin’ Librarian… Wait, I have absolutely no idea when I last blogged. (I’m not online as I write this post; I plan on posting it when I finally get home.) I think it was sometime around Friday morning, and I was in DC at CIL. Then again I could be wrong. Here’s what’s happened since then...

I did my Bookmarklets Cybertour and it went well. Several people hung around after the presentation to ask some very good questions. (There are photos, taken by Amanda, in my CIL ofoto album. Karen, Amanda and I decided to head off to find some lunch on 18th street and Karen suggested that we "bag the rest of the afternoon" and go to the zoo. I was done with anything required of me at the conference and had never been to the national zoo so I thought this would be a wonderful idea. We found some Mexican for lunch and spent the rest of the afternoon at the zoo. (Zoo photos also in the previously linked album.) Finding ourselves at the far end of the zoo and exhausted the three of us walked back through the zoo and caught a cab back to meet up with the bloggers dine-around at Thaiphoon at 6pm.)

As dinner was starting I received a text message from Katrina who I’d met on Wednesday evening at the speaker’s reception and sat with at the Dead Technologies presentation. Having no specific plans for the evening we decided to meet up at 8:30 for some coffee.

We met up at the appointed time and went out for some coffee. Two hours later we decided to vacate the coffeehouse on Connecticut and head for a different one (Tryst) on 18th. Finding Tryst mobbed and the music (although good) very loud and not conducive to conversation we decided not to stay. (How the students there were getting their work done I’ll never understand.) Heading back down the block, Katrina spotted a hookah bar and said she’d hadn’t done that since her last trip to Israel. Always wanting to try new things, it sounded like a wonderful idea to me. (See photo on moblog.) At 2am we decided to head back to our respective hotels.

Back at the hotel, I opened up my laptop to discover that some significant screws had come loose and that the lid/screen would no longer close without splitting open. Did I have a screwdriver small enough for these screws? Of course not. Eventually I broke off the metal pocket clip from a vendor’s swag pen (they’re good for something) and used it to retighten the screw. Meanwhile Katrina and I had made plans via SMS to meet up for breakfast before out flights home. I set my alarm for 7am and went to bed. It was 4am.

I woke up promptly at 6:15, showered, turned off the alarm and headed out to wonder about the neighborhood to kill some time. At 8, Katrina and I met up again, went back to the coffee house of the previous evening and had some breakfast then walked around DuPont circle. Eventually, we ended up back at my hotel where SuperShuttle picked me up at 10:15 to get me to Regan National for my 12:45 flight to Chicago, to be followed by a 2:55 flight home to Denver. Katrina was scheduled on the 2:45 flight back home to Chicago. (Ah, the best laid plans...)

I got to National, checked my one bag with my clothes, cords, etc., and got through security without a hitch. I’d been placed on standby for the 12:24 flight since it had been oversold. Sensing an opportunity for some company at the airport, and since she wasn’t feeling well and not looking forward to her flight, I asked the gate agent if I could be moved to the 2:45 flight to Chicago, then booked on to Denver. At first she said no since my bag was already checked on the 12:45 flight and that I needed to go with my bag. (It’s a security thing.)

At 12:15 they started boarding the flight and calling names from the standby list. When I didn’t hear my name in the first group called I re-approached the gate agent and offered to move to standby on the 2:45 flight. This time it was no problem. I was put on standby for the later flight, and again put on standby for a later flight from Chicago to Denver. Katrina arrived at the airport; we got some ice cream and settled in to wait for our flight. I got on the 2:45 flight; we exchanged a seat with another passenger (luck him as Katrina’s seat was up front with the premier executives), and continued our conversation on the way to Chicago.

We got to Chicago on-time and proceeded to the gate for my Denver flight. We got to the gate and we informed that the flight to Denver was oversold by 30 seats and there were an additional 15+ standby passengers. Getting on this flight did not look good. At this point the gate agent said that I wasn’t on the flight that I’d just gotten off of. What!? According to the system, I’d flown to Chicago on my original 12:45 flight. This made absolutely no sense. 10 minutes later I got a complete story, sort of. It seems that I’d been assigned a seat on the 12:45 flight, i.e. no longer on standby, and that I’d "volunteered to give up my seat" on that flight. (This was news to me.) Since this was my "choice" I was now on perpetual standby for the rest of the day. Katrina said I could stay at her place for the night so could I be guaranteed on a flight on Sunday morning? The answer was no, because this was all my fault. I’d have to wait until I’d not gotten on the last flight out Saturday night as a standby passenger before being moved to standby mode on Sunday morning.

We left the gate and headed for customer service. Luckily, Katrina flies United enough to be a premier executive and was able to get me into the Red Carpet Club where the line for help is nonexistent. (This was my first time in one of these clubs. Unfortunately I now know what I’m missing.) The customer service agent confirmed the story to me. So, we started to discuss options. Could I purchase a new ticket home in on Sunday morning? There was one available for $320. (Ouch!) Could Katrina use some of her frequent flyer miles to get me a ticket home on Sunday. Yes. A business class seat for 40,000 miles. (Thanks for the offer but I felt very uncomfortable accepting such an offer.) Could I change my Denver to Des Moines flight on Monday morning to a Chicago to Des Moines flight? (Had everything worked out as originally planned I was to be home for 41 hours before leaving on another trip.) I figured that I could cover the $100 change fee and hopefully get my bag with appropriate clothing (which was by this time on its way to Denver) to meet me in Des Moines. Well, take the original ticket price, subtract the $100 change fee, and then add the difference for the new flight and the total was more than $450. (Double ouch!) My best option was to accept Katrina’s offer of the miles, despite all of the associated guilt.

We asked the customer service rep to do this for me when, like Mighty Mouse swooping in the save the day, a seat opened up on the Sunday 8am flight to Denver which they could switch me to at no charge! (I had used a previously-earned free flight coupon to go book this trip, and the available seat fell into the category allowing this change without charging me anything.) Problem solved.

Sort of.

I had a flight out in the morning and I had a place to stay. All my clothes were in Denver at this point. Washing machine in Katrina’s apartment, here we come. On top of that, my cell phone charging cable had been packed in the Denver-based bag. Send off a few quick txt messages to let people know I’m o.k. but not home yet (this is your explanation folks, a little long for a 160-character txt message) and turned off the phone for the night to conserve the 40% of the battery that was left. Get Katrina’s bag, head for the El, and into Chicago we head. It’s now 6pm on Saturday.

Drop off the bags, dinner at a great Indian/Tappas restaurant (can’t recall the name), and back to the apartment for laundry (don’t ask what I ended up wearing in the meantime…), True Romance (the movie), and more conversation. Set the alarm for 6am so I can take the El back to O’Hare (I’m already checked in and my luggage is in Denver so all I’ve got to deal with is getting through security), and get some sleep. It’s now 3am.

Wake up Sunday morning (in case you’re not keeping track I’ve had a total of 6.25 hours of sleep since I woke up Friday morning), say goodbye and a very big thank you, take the El back to O’Hare, get through the short line at security (I didn’t even have to take off my sneakers), and to the gate I head, stopping off at a Starbucks for some much needed caffeine. At the gate they’re in an oversold situation again. (Why is everyone suddenly trying to get to Denver?!) This time they’re asking for volunteers to give up their seats in exchange for a free flight voucher. The temptation was just too great.

It’s now 8:21 am on Sunday and I’m sitting at gate C24. I’m on standby for the 9am flight to Denver but it’s unlikely that I’ll get on the flight. I do have a confirmed seat on the 11:55 flight which will get me into Denver at 1:45pm, approximately 18 hours before I need to be back at DIA to catch my flight to Des Moines. But, I’ve also got a free flight voucher in my bag.

I wonder where that little blue slip will take me

9:13am

Since I’m writing this, you can correctly assume that I didn’t get on the 9am flight. I didn’t expect to, but it was actually close. It turned out that two people didn’t show up for the flight and there was a group of five ahead of me on the standby list. (Lucky me!) Unfortunately, they asked the leader of the group of five if they were willing to split their party (send two on this flight, and the other three on a later flight), and they too the offer. That left me shuffling off to gate C19 to wait for my 11:55 flight.

At least now I’ve found a working outlet so I can actually get some editing done of the XHTML/CSS book. The presence of working outlets, (or outlets at all for that matter,) seems to be sparse in O’Hare (with the exception of in the Red Carpet Clubs). I’m currently sharing an outlet panel with a recharging people car. Then again I might try to get some sleep. Maybe I should pack an emergency DVD from now on.

11:29

I'm on the plane but alomst passed on another flight. At the last minute they announced that they were looking for voulnteers again. This time for a free trip voucher and a business class seat to Denver. I considered it until I learned they'd provide the upgraded seat on the 5:15pm flight. I decided that another 5 hours in O'Hare just wasn't going to allow me to keep what little sanity I have left.

3:01

I'm home after stopping by the office to pick up some materials I need for the Des Moines trip tomorrow. I actually slept for the whole flight to Denver, an unheard of occurrence for me. I guess I needed the sleep. (Current total now 8.25 hours in the past 57 hours.) I've also returned some overdue library materials and found out that the dry cleaner's isn't open on Sunday. All my devices are plugged in to recharge (laptop, cell, iPod) and the first load of laundry is in the wash. My held mail didn't get delivered yesterday so I don't have to deal with that, however much I'd like to. Maybe I'll try to take a short nap.

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Saturday, December 25, 2004

Merry Christmas

Well, it's Christmas morning and I'm sitting in my folks' living room waiting for my brother and the girls to show up so we can open up the pile of presents under the tree. (I'm also surfing using the neighbor's open WiFi signal. My parents had no idea they had 11mbps available in their living room. If I'm feeling nice I'll go let the neighbors know about the open connection on the fourth. (I'm heading back home on the fifth...)) Anyway, to kill some time I figured I'd post an update on what I've been up to as I've not been blogging for the most of the past week.

On Monday I took the train from Rochester to New York City to visit Amy. The train was only 3.5 hours late by the time I arrived and damn, was it cold.

Tuesday we wandered around lower Manhattan visiting Ground Zero, J&R Music World, Katz's Deli (home of the famous lunch scene in When Harry Met Sally,) and saw the Neil Labute play Fat Pig starring Jeremy Piven, Andrew Macarthy, the woman from Felicity and one other actress who's name escaped me right now. It was off-Broadway ("in the Village") and afterward there was a 30 minute with the actors and another Broadway director.

Wednesday we got to see Avenue Q from the front row for only $21.25. How? Well, there was a lottery at the theater for 12 last-minute tickets and Amy's name was drawn. I can't say enough about how funny this play is. If you're not familiar with it picture the Muppets, post college, broke and living in New York City. This play is not for children. The only other thing I'll say is that I never expected to ever see "full frontal puppet nudity". We also stopped by the 42nd Street branch of NYPL (The one with the lions out front), Lincoln center, and spotted both the Chrysler Building and the Empire State Building. (All of this is in the photos in my previous post.)

Thursday we spent the morning through a local part with a fort and hiding in the neighborhood Starbucks (thanks Mary!) trying to stay out of the rain. I was then back on the train to head back to Rochester. By the time the train reached Albany it was only an hour late. When we got to Fairport (about 15 minutes by train East of Rochester) we were at a dead stop. It seems that a couple of guys, after being kicked out of a bar for fighting, took it out to the tracks and managed to get creamed by a freight train. Since we weren't allowed through the scene we ended up sitting on the tracks for another two hours. I finally ended up home at something just short of 2am.

Well, the rest of the family are due any minute so I'm off to open gifts.

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Monday, November 15, 2004

IL04: left over from yesterday [10.30am]

Just a few more things that happened yesterday that I didn't get a chance to blog before falling asleep...

I ended up at the local Starbucks last night with Jenny, Michael, Aaron, and David King of Kansas City Public Library. He's giving the first presentation in the Web Design & Development track titled "Library Web Site Meets About.com" which is an update of a presentation he gave back at CIL on what his library's site is doing.

Earlier last evening Outlook started acting funky on my laptop and kept crashing. After one reboot, I wasn't presented with my login screen. Not only was I not asked to log in, but my account on my laptop was gone. I even took a look at the User Accounts area and found a generic admin account and the guest account. My msauers account had disappeared! Deciding to stay calm I pulled up system restore and rolled back my laptop to last Wednesday. Luckily everything came back. The original problem was a "Failed CRC" in my outlook data file. I ran a full scandisk (it took an hour to check my 60GB hard drive) and it found and fixed the problem. So, all of you folks in IA where I've been saying for the past six weeks that I've not had a bad spot on a drive in the past few years, well, I just had one.

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Wednesday, August 25, 2004

May you live in interesting times

It's been an interesting day. I woke up planning on heading out to Silver Falls State Park for a six-mile hike that takes you past 10 waterfalls and even behind one of them. Trouble was, it was pouring outside. I considered my other option which was to head 60-miles to the Oregon coast (the opposite direction) to find the Suislaw Public Library in Florence, OR which houses the Frank Herbert Collection. So, I headed for a Starbucks in Eugene to wait out the rain. After having my caramel machiato, stopping by a used bookstore (bought nothing) and The Cat's Meow, a Jazz & Blues CD store (bought a copy of Chet Baker's last concert) the rain had stopped so I opted for the park. Got to the park and guess what, it started raining again. After some prompting from a good friend via txt messaging, I decided to go for it. I ended up doing the 2-mile look under the South Falls. (Pictures available when I get back home.) I got soaked. So soaked in fact, that I changed into other clothes in my car.

I ended up in Salem about four hours earlier than planned and figured out when I got to my hotel that I'd left my dress pants in the Eugene hotel. Off to Target for new pants goes Michael.

Dinner @ Kwans was good. Garlic muscles & rice.

After dinner I found the best little coffee shop I've ever been in. The Coffee Shop Cafe in downtown Salem. If you're ever in town, stop by. The ambiance is just difficult to describe. Lots of different types of people, not just a particular crowd as in many coffee shops. There was even a small group of four guys playing some live music. Spoons, guitar, violin, and mandolin. An interesting group to say the least. One guy was a large and heavily bearded biker type. Another, ska in bowling shoes. The third, punk, with leopard print hair. And the fourth in jeans and a t-shirt. What were they playing, traditional/bluegrass in the vein on Nickel Creek. I had to stay around for a second Latté just to hear their second set.

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Sunday, May 09, 2004

Banking from anywhere

This Treo thing is quite handy. I'm sitting outside my Starbucks before I go grocery shopping and realized that I'd not transferred the funds to pay for my groceries. Well, I just launched the Web browser, logged into my bank, and moved the money. How convienent is that?

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Saturday, April 03, 2004

Unclear on the concept

The guy behind me in line at Starbucks just ordered the same drink as hus friend but "with one equal sugar" in it.

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Monday, March 15, 2004

Custom cds

Get them at...Starbucks?

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Saturday, March 13, 2004

Discount anyone?

Maybe it's just me but I think that if you check in and out of a hotel in less than six hours there should be a significant discount. Really, I only used 25% of the time I paid for.

The reason for this is that since I'm working for a non-profit I get to do it all for as cheaply as possible. In this case that meant leaving the $179/night hotel in DC for a $89/night hotel in Baltimore since that was where I'm flying out of. (A different airport and airline from where/how I flew in.) I got to the Baltimore hotel at 10pm and checked out at 3:45am for a 4am shuttle to BWI for a 6:45 flight out to Atlanta. (Yep, Baltimore to Denver via Atlanta. Ah, the joys of AirTran.) Now if the Starbucks would just open...

Luggage update:
My little screwdriver has finally bit the dust. The one that's been in my bag ever since I started this job 6.5 years ago and has survived countless automatic and hand secutiry screenings. This time it was a manual search that pulled it out. I blame the new bag since the old backpack stored it in a much more covered way. (To be perfectly clear, I was not concealing this item. It's just been there in my bag in plain sight. I've just be wondering how long it would take someone to find this little computer screwdriver.)

On a lark I just tried to get a connection here in BWI and I'm in. Turns out they're using the same "Airpath" service as Des Moines so I'm in and live for the next hour. That should keep me awake until Starbucks opens.

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Thursday, January 29, 2004

A work of art

Yesterday my great friend Barbara gave me this wonderful painting that she did a few years ago. It's of the sidewalk in front on the Starbucks where I spend a lot of time. It's also where we met.

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Friday, November 14, 2003

Way to early

So this morning it's my day off from the gym so I decided to get my morning espresso drink (decaf) at my local Starbucks, sit, and read a book for a half-hour. What do I find when I get there? The place is all decked out for Christmas and playing Christmas music. Com'on folks, it isn't even Thanksgiving yet!

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