2020 Spring June 12 Friday

#Purple_Days_and_Golden_Nights

#My_Journey_20

#Spring_of_20

73 degrees this morning  50% humidity wind 9 mph

Weights:  Sit-ups, bar bells, bench press

Yesterday started off cold again (as low as 58 degrees in the morning). However it warmed up quickly to a high of about 92 degrees. 

Close this morning, but I decided I’d wait and sit on the patio after my morning nap.

Walk  25:05, pace 69 seconds slower than my goal.  Little or no wind.

Heard Starbucks is closing down about 400 restaurants and converting more to pick up or drive thru only.  I’m disappointed in Starbucks.  To put it in perspective Starbucks has about 28,000 stores so it isn’t really a huge impact.  Still it is  a trend.

I had always liked the concept of Starbucks being the “third place," that place in addition to your home and work.  Actually, over the past years, I’ve frequently used Starbucks as a “third place” as a place to work, read, and whatever.  In fact when I meet people at my job I frequently meet at Starbucks.  McDonalds, Braum's Taco Bell , etc., and local coffee shops also make good meeting places.

Anyway, this kind of makes a departure for Starbucks.  During the virus emergency (which is still on-going), we got used to buying Starbucks at the drive thru and “Starbucking” on our patio, but I still was looking forward to eventually going back to the “third place”.

I remember many years ago (about 2008 or so) Starbucks went through a similar eruption and way overextended and then shut down many Starbucks that had been open just a matter of months.  

Actually, for hot coffee, it is hard to beat McDonalds, but Starbucks is hard to beat on iced coffee.  I only drink hot coffee or iced coffee, no favoring or sugar , etc.  Starbucks iced coffee used to give me a coffee buzz, but I am used to it now.  One time I had two “Trienta” ice coffees and I had to pull over and stop driving!

Probably they will change their minds in a few years, although the times for “third places” may be gone until the matter with covid-19 is resolved.

Listening to the “Great Course” on Confucius, Buddha, Jesus and Mohammad.  The course is in the “summary and comparison” stage.  

The lecturer mentioned that the four had one major action in common. They all emphasized in one way or another that “quiet” was important in life.  It included solitude in different places,  but being “quiet”also enabled them to think and to hear.

If I don’t get anything else from the course that basically is an important aspect.  Probably walking, and my early morning provides “quiet” periods that help me think.

Not that I think any great thoughts during my quiet periods, but it does help me think things through and frequently some of my more creative ideas come out of my “quiet periods”.  

When I had a job where I had to write a lot of memos, proposals, summaries , etc. I used to walk and ride my bike and literally come back and already have it completed in my head, I just had to write it out!

Now that I think of it, the Starbucks “third place” concept and  “quiet," if you think of “quiet” as the absence of other stimulus so you can read, think or whatever.  

That’s it for now, Friday, June 12, 2020.

#Resist