Diary of the Daft

A quick, before bedtime top-ten bullet list of stuff on my mind from the last two days:

1. I am SO pumped for the Iron Man release this weekend. (and HellBoy is on the horizon too!)
2. There may be but one single "fine dining" restaurant in this area that consistently offers good food, good service and a good overall experience: The Courthouse Pub. We ate somewhere else that shall remain nameless today for lunch and I left wondering "Why do they do things that way?" It wasn't awful, just very, very mundane.
   
3. My daughter Cheyenne is a surprisingly good stage actor. She needs to be a bit louder, but she is smooth and relaxed and very "real." I'm proud of her.
4. People who let their dogs poop on the sidewalk and don't clean up after the animal ought to be forced to pick it up barehanded in addition to being ticketed...unbelievable that they let that stuff lie there.
5. I have the weirdest and most intensely vivid dreams of any human being ever. Sometimes that can be a very cool thing. Too often it is a very unpleasant thing.
6. My Dad is a really great guy. Occasionally he pisses me off but more often than not I look heavenward and say "thanks" for the parents I have. I am saying that right now because he is helping me out big-time with something that I find irritating as hell and am glad that I'm able to off-load onto him.
7. I am pretty sure that God had a hand in the original creative spark that led to the creation of cigars and that he heartily approves of our enjoying such things like this that he has placed here for us to enjoy. Same goes for beer, wine and coffee.
   
8. I hate getting up early on Wednesday mornings more than I hate getting up early on any other day of the week. It's almost midnight now and I'm irritated with the fact that I have to get up in five or so hours...and I feel this way every week.
   
9. My wife is hot.
10. I'm going to begin posting on our Diary of the Daft blog this week. Get ready.
    

A wee R&R in me own backyard.

Sunday after work we made a supply run to Appleton; Monday I worked on taxes and Internet tasks; Tuesday we came in to clean and wax the floors and do some inventory. Two weeks straight with no days off. So, Tuesday afternoon I figured I had earned a little respite...and what better way to unwind and unload than to sit next to a campfire with a good beer, good cigar and a pretty good dog. I decreed it so, and it was so enacted.

One of my current favorite beers, Fiddler's Elbow, from England's Wychwood Brewery...a summer style wheat ale with a medium body and light citrus taste, a curvaceous brown bottle and funky labeling. Refreshing is how I would describe this beer in a single word.

A new cigar, courtesy of my good friend Bill Granger: Drew Estates' Liga Privada No. 9. Looking at the Drew Estates website this morning, they describe the Liga Privada as "...flawless in construction, flavor and character. Rich, complex and full bodied without being harsh, this Liga is best described in one word: Satisfying." I would have to agree. It is a lovely cigar, with a rich chocolate brown wrapper, smooth and consistent draw, and good right down to the finger-burning nub. Thanks a heap, Bill. You made my day with that fine gift.

And our still squirrely and light-on-his-feet Jack Russel pup, Ringo. We got him for Christmas when he was the size of an actual squirrel, and while he's bigger now he still has his whirling dervish character. This was his first prolonged time spent outside and his first experience near a fire, and he was not digging it at all. I was finally able to get him to quit pulling at his leash as he tried to get as far away from the campfire as he could, until he was at least willing to curl himself up underneath my chair, facing away from the fire but with his hear turned ever-so-slightly in order to keep one eye directed suspiciously at that strange, hot and smoky monster in front of him.

It had to be in the mid-40 degrees...a tad cool, but that made the fire feel all the more comforting. So, if you need an hour or so of peace and meditation to smooth out the end of a long work-week (or two) you have my suggestion right here.

Stumpy boy

stumpyboy

Stumpy doodle

doofus stumpy

Stumpies

ornery stumpjack

A dumb contest that you will definitely NOT want to enter.

Don't go here to win prizes...you'll be cutting in on my chances to win...I'm just posting this to up my own chances. So again, don't visit this site...it stinks. http://persimmonsgal54220.blogspot.com/

What are you willing to compromise on?

The other day we had a request...actually, in delivery somewhat more of a declaration than a request..that I scald the milk for a latté, to the point that it goes beyond a safe heating temperature and is in fact "scalding" hot. Without getting into too many personal details of the specific situation, it nevertheless brings up a worthwhile issue that we have addressed once or twice in the past (and will likely have to address again sometime in the future): When a customer makes a request that may be considered outside the lines that define who you are as a business, how far do you also go outside those lines to accommodate the customer's request?

We've considered a substantial number of issues that all have some measure of influence, to varying degrees, on what the end-vision is for Stumpjack Coffee, that is, how we wish Stumpjack to be defined and perceived. All sorts of things like cup sizes, menu ingredients, color schemes, music, graphics, etcetera, all have an impact on the overall vibe we want to produce. Some things, by themselves, may seem insignificant, but taken together these things are not insignificant and contribute to (or detract from) the whole.

Our vision has always been to have a coffee enterprise that represents the highest quality product that we can afford and institute (with "product" being a term that covers a number of aspects of the business, including and beyond the commodity of coffee itself). Concerning the basics of drink preparation our objective and focus is to create the best sensory experience that we possibly can. Anything that diminishes that effort is cause for concern and consternation. Thus, the quality of the drink you get from us is one of the foundational legs upon which we hope to build and grow this enterprise.

Which brings us to the specific issue of milk preparation and quality in the drink. Let me preface this by stating again that we constantly assume a "we can improve, let's do this better" attitude, and we're not yet at a place where we can feel entirely comfortable (there are a few very specific areas of milk prep in particular that we need to address). But if we have yet to achieve excellence in all areas of this part of the equation, we can nevertheless avoid doing those things that run counter to what constitutes high quality. Burning the milk would be one of those things to avoid.

That seems simple enough doesn't it.

Yet, when someone says "I want my latté scalding hot," what do you do? You try to explain the reasons you discourage that (quality, taste and safety issues...and that includes safety for the person preparing the drink as well, not just the customer). If they insist that they want it their way anyway (which they of course do) you then either, one, throw your mission and desire for excellence out the window and give them what they want...the integrity of the vision crumbles a little perhaps, but you make a sale (and sales are very, very important)...or, two, you tell them sorry but we won't compromise on this, and so you end up losing the sale and possibly a customer, maybe a regular customer at that.

In a small market such as the one we're in every customer and every transaction is very important, and yet, the old cliché "the customer is always right" is just that, a cliché, and oftentimes an excuse for weak vision or lack of creative thinking by business (and possibly for less than empathetic behavior by some customers). The fact is, as anyone in business truly knows, the customer is not always right. Try asking for your chicken to be undercooked next time you're at a fine restaurant, or ask an elite pastry chef to please decorate that cheap birthday cake you got at the local chain-store supermarket, or ask the sommelier of a fine French restaurant to please heat to scalding that glass of Château d'Yquem for you. Well, why not? That's the way you like it, and the customer is, after all, always right.

We have every right to ask for things to be presented to us the way we want them (or the way we think we want them)...and a business has every right to say "We're sorry but no, that's not who we are." And as customers we ought to respect that, so long as we are treated with respect and courtesy as well. Again, that seems simple enough doesn't it? We would love to accommodate you and most any request you might have, if we are at all able to do so without denigrating the integrity of the mission and vision.

But no, don't ask Stumpjack Coffee to please play your favorite '70s hair-band CD, stock the beer cooler with Miller Light, reheat your coffee in the microwave because it got cold during the hour you were chatting with your friends, or to scald your latte until it blisters your tongue. Well, you can ask...of course you can ask...but don't get indignant when we politely refuse to compromise who we are or what we do (we promise we won't come to your workplace or home and tell you how to run your "business" either). I realize that we cannot please everyone or be all things to all people...nor do we wish to be. Stumpjack customers are, it seems to me, on the whole, a much more discerning group, who appreciate something different from the norm. That's one of the big reasons this job is so great and why we like and appreciate the people who visit us every day.

Final note: If you should say something like "I get it my way at every other place around here and you're the only one I have trouble with!" I will take that as a compliment, thank you.