Public Enemy #1 (at CC)

I think I may have worn out my welcome at Caribou Coffee. I ordered a muffin this morning. I usually like to have a little butter on my muffin but I know Caribou Coffee doesn't have butter so I ask for a little container of cream cheese, which I know they have. Only it turns out that this tiny little container of cream cheese costs 50 cents! Can you imagine? I think I may have told the checkout person that I was going to report them to the Department of Commerce or some such nonsense and then I told them to take their crummy cream cheese and shove it! Needless to say, I think I may be banned for life from this particular Caribou Coffee.

Which brings me to my next point. Why can't the places that serve iced coffee serve any decent breakfast accompaniments? The places in Oakland (Starbucks and Caribou Coffee) have terrible rolls, doughnuts, and pastries. And Panera doesn't have iced coffee! There is no doubt about it - we need a Dunkin Donuts in Oakland in the worst way.

I can't take it anymore

Please, no more interviews of the athletes at the Olympics. I love watching these amazing competitors but why do I have to be subjected to these idiotic cliche-filled interviews? And the next reporter who asks an athlete the "what was going through your mind" question should be thrown in the pool and pummelled senseless by the Croatian water polo team.

I actually wouldn't mind if the interviewers asked the athletes questions that weren't related to sports. Let's see what Michael Phelps thinks about hyperinflation in Zimbabwe. Now that, at least, would be entertaining.

Overkill

Without a doubt, the most overdone information campaign I have ever seen in my life is the one alerting folks about the conversion of over the air television signals from analog to digital in February, 2009.

First of all, it is unnnecessary. I don't know anybody who still uses an antenna to watch TV, do you? I'm sure there still are a few million folks out there who don't have cable yet, but I have a feeling that even if their TV signal was to disappear in February, 2009 without any advance warning, they wouldn't be all that upset. I mean, they're only getting a few channels now as it is, so what's the big deal? They'd get around to figuring out what was going on sooner or later all by themselves. And then they could go out and get a converter. Why do the rest of us have to be blasted with announcements for an entire year that a few people will lose their precious over the air signal? It makes no sense!

Secondly, I can see that the cable companies are exploiting this situation and misinforming their customers. Even though you will still be able to get analog signals through your cable company for at least a few more years, Comcast is not including this information in their sales pitch for upgrading to digital cable. They are sneakily (and correctly) assuming that most customers will not be aware that the cessation of analog transmission only applies to over the air signals.

I don't know which is worse - these antenna TV warnings or the political ads. Maybe I should be happy with the talking animal ads.