The Coffee Routine

  • Comments posted to this topic are about the item The Coffee Routine

  • Ugh! Soy Milk. Almond Milk... maybe, although I prefer black coffee. But Soy Milk? To each their own. I can't do it.

    On the subject of the "common area" and that offering a bit of an opportunity to talk with folks you might never otherwise come in contact with... that's one of the reasons that smokers used to be able to come up with so many goodies. We all had to go outside to the designated smoking area and, of course, talk with our fellow smokers.

    --Jeff Moden


    RBAR is pronounced "ree-bar" and is a "Modenism" for Row-By-Agonizing-Row.
    First step towards the paradigm shift of writing Set Based code:
    ________Stop thinking about what you want to do to a ROW... think, instead, of what you want to do to a COLUMN.

    Change is inevitable... Change for the better is not.


    Helpful Links:
    How to post code problems
    How to Post Performance Problems
    Create a Tally Function (fnTally)

  • 2 ideas on coffee:

    My mother (now in her late sixties) is old-school. She makes a pot of coffee every morning with a filter into a thermos flask and brings this with her. There is enough for 5 cups and it lasts her well into the afternoon. She brings it with her as she goes about her daily life.

    For the department/group of teams, invest in a Nespresso machine. 20 people making an initial investment of $20/€20/etc. should cover the initial costs of the machine and one box each of the Nespresso capsules (about 20 boxes). Initial investors pay $1/€1/etc for a cup of coffee and others pay 2. After 20 cups of coffee (a month maybe?), the initial investors will have recouped their investment. Nespresso is nice and which such a large variety of roasts and beans, there is room for experimentation. One can order Nespresso capsules online and they are delivered by post. One doesn't have to live in an urban area.

    The money collected goes towards buying new packets of capsules as well as saving up for the next machine when the current goes kaputt.

    The main problem is that you end up drinking more coffee...

  • In 30 years I've only worked for one company that didn't provide coffee. My 1st place we had a rota to go down to the wholesalers for a catering pack which was reimbursed on expenses.

    The non-provider of coffee had machines that produced various drinks which I shall call brown. Might have been tea, might have been coffee, safer to call it brown. That we had to pay for brown left a nasty taste in the mouth to rival the tang of the brown.

    Other meanness was also practices, nay perfected. The cheapest pens that could be bought, some would write others wouldn't all would break before the ink was fully used. Bring your own bog paper day will be remembered and no amount of mind-bleach will remove the stain. Those were new socks as well!

    The companies I enjoyed most all encouraged employees to bounce ideas off each other and experiment. Sometimes by organisational design, other times through forward thinking leadership of specific individuals.

    There is an Agile principle that the best architectures come from self organising teams and coffee break ideas are part of that.

  • We never had a coffee machine at work and each person had to make their own. That would be Nescafe Classic, a rather expensive coffee at that, but then they installed a coffee machine which made the most delectable cappuccino. Now that got me going and I could easily have 5 to 7 cups a day. Man, I just love my cappuccino. Oh, the social chats is an added bonus and you get to meet people you never even knew.:-D:-D:-D:-D:-D:-D:-D:-D

    Manie Verster
    Developer
    Johannesburg
    South Africa

    I am happy because I choose to be happy.
    I just love my job!!!

  • Hello,

    Maybe you want to try an Italian Moka pot.

    Maybe not so suitable for office, but great for home if you like that kind of coffee.

    Much different from French press and from Italian style espresso

  • Just the smell of coffee makes me want to vomit (literally).

    Any workplace that has a coffee machine dominating it, is somewhere I will definitely NEVER take up a job, regardless. If the machine is hidden away somewhere well-ventilated, then it becomes a 'maybe' rather than a 'no thanks;' but I'll always prefer to work where there is no coffee making facility around, and where anyone drinking coffee is sent outside to do so (well … I can dream, can't I?).

    Anyway, this is making me thirsty — I'm off to make a nice ultra-strong cup of tea. 😀

  • cad.delworth (6/1/2016)


    Just the smell of coffee makes me want to vomit (literally).

    Any workplace that has a coffee machine dominating it, is somewhere I will definitely NEVER take up a job, regardless. If the machine is hidden away somewhere well-ventilated, then it becomes a 'maybe' rather than a 'no thanks;' but I'll always prefer to work where there is no coffee making facility around, and where anyone drinking coffee is sent outside to do so (well … I can dream, can't I?).

    Anyway, this is making me thirsty — I'm off to make a nice ultra-strong cup of tea. 😀

    Where will you find a job or company to work for like that? Sorry, although coffee is not the begin all and end all for me I enjoy it very much!! I already have to go outside when I want to smoke, not coffee as well!!

    Manie Verster
    Developer
    Johannesburg
    South Africa

    I am happy because I choose to be happy.
    I just love my job!!!

  • For a year or so we had a bean to cup type machine, very nice. It broke and the boss didn't want to repair it eventually - heavy usage.

    Nespresso - I avoid this company wherever possible, and dislike the idea of the non-recyclable little pot things.

    For me the Aeropress makes the nicest coffee in a simple way. I like the little ritual of making it. It does need filters but there you go, otherwise it is really easy to clean.

  • Nespresso here does accept recycle capsules for recycling.

    Otherwise I just throw them into the metal/aluminium recycling bin.

    The coffee-grounds do make great compost and are wasted when I do this though.

  • cad.delworth (6/1/2016)


    Just the smell of coffee makes me want to vomit (literally).

    Any workplace that has a coffee machine dominating it, is somewhere I will definitely NEVER take up a job, regardless. If the machine is hidden away somewhere well-ventilated, then it becomes a 'maybe' rather than a 'no thanks;' but I'll always prefer to work where there is no coffee making facility around, and where anyone drinking coffee is sent outside to do so (well … I can dream, can't I?).

    Anyway, this is making me thirsty — I'm off to make a nice ultra-strong cup of tea. 😀

    I feel the same way about tea - the smell makes me gag!! :hehe:

    Makes it difficult when this countrys culture seems to be pretty much based around tea...

  • Tindog, you have my sympathies (hopefully that's mutual?!).

    I used to have one flatmate (US: a person I shared a condo with) who was so allergic to tea that even stirring his coffee with a spoon which had just stirred a cup of tea would (he told us) put him into anaphylactic shock and hospitalise him; or worse.

    Based on how nut allergy sufferers are affected, I had imagined he'd need to autoclave all cutlery in the flat for 30 mins. prior to using any of it in his beverage. Until I saw him rinsing a spoon-previously-used-for-tea under the tap and then plunging it into his coffee. He never managed to explain to us quite how that very quick rinse of a 'tea' spoon under a running tap prevented the problem completely.

    Personally it means that Italian restaurants (and of course coffee vendors like $tarbuck$) are totally off limits for me: and emptying my stomach on to their floor does tend to earn me a life ban from the shop in any case!

    It has made it awkward in the past to view properties when moving home, since so many people have coffee bubbling away somewhere on the premises because their estate agent (US: realtor) has told them that that smell makes folks want to buy the place. So, after they open the door and invite me in with their best welcoming smile, I involuntarily pull a face and have to make my excuses and leave without even looking around. Now though, I do usually warn/ask the vendor beforehand!

  • I love me my morning coffee...

    The night before, the wife will fix up the coffee pot for me, just enough to go in my travel mug (around 4-5 cups, or at least what's marked on the pot as a "cup") The travel mug keeps it drinkable for several hours, then I mosey over to the coffee pot in the office for a refill which gets me past lunch and into the afternoon.

    We don't have any fancy coffee, the business provides a standard commercial-grade 3-burner coffee maker, all the coffee drinkers have to chip in every month to buy coffee (generally just the "standard" stuff,) filters, etc. Only about $5/mo, with the occasional "free" month when there was enough left over from previous months. Speaking of, today is coffee dues day...

    😎

    I'll sometimes buy whole roast beans, then grind them up in small batches for coffee. Typically a 1lb bag of beans will last me over a year, as it tends to get used for "special" occasions.

    But I can quit my coffee at any time, really I can...

  • Can't drink coffee since I'm a super taster and bitter is my nemesis. Only time I was able to handle it was when standing watch outside in -10F, windy weather. Would have drank warm sewage to warm up then.

    Decent tea and the occasional energy drink are my caffeine choices.

  • cad.delworth (6/1/2016)


    Just the smell of coffee makes me want to vomit (literally).

    Any workplace that has a coffee machine dominating it, is somewhere I will definitely NEVER take up a job, regardless. If the machine is hidden away somewhere well-ventilated, then it becomes a 'maybe' rather than a 'no thanks;' but I'll always prefer to work where there is no coffee making facility around, and where anyone drinking coffee is sent outside to do so (well … I can dream, can't I?).

    Anyway, this is making me thirsty — I'm off to make a nice ultra-strong cup of tea. 😀

    I love the smell of brewing coffee.

    The taste however; there's not enough sugar or cream/milk in the world to fix that!!

    Tea for me thanks.

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