Welcome to Kurt Lidl's Coffee Page
Why Coffee?
I used to joke that I didn't really
work at UUNET, I was
just there to drink the coffee.
I think that I've used that joke at about every place I've ever worked.
I have got to get a new joke.
Back when I worked at the University of Maryland, at the College of
Engineering, my roommate (and co-worker) in the dorm would go on all-night
hack-a-thons. We'd cruise over to the 7-11, stock up on chips,
salsa, cheetos, and other junk food, and then we would head over to
Dunkin Donuts. We would buy a dozen donuts to split, get refills
for our two large Dunkin thermos, and then we would head off to work. We
worked in a place we lovingly referred to as the Hacker's Pitt.
The Pitt was down on the first floor of the Engineering building,
sandwiched between the office building and the lab building. The lab
building was interesting, as it was where the engineering graduate students
would build stuff, and then destroy it. Many of lines of code were written
and compiled whilst our brains were in a near-pickled state due to the
extreme caffeine flow from our coffee.
Reading the above makes you want to rush right out and load up on donuts
and coffee, doesn't it? Sitting back with a couple of donuts, a thermos of
coffee, and a bunch of UNIX kernel source code, trying to figure
out how it all fits together is one of those unique things that one just
has to experience for oneself.
The Truth about Espresso
I was sent a reference to an article on
the (over)roasting of coffee beans a number of years ago. As often happens,
web content becomes unavailable, and people running websites just don't
maintain a forest of redirection links to allow for the same name to be
used to reference an article indefinately. So, I've made a copy of the
article on my webserver. I had
to make some minor changes to the HTML markup to make it display properly.
This article espouses several sentiments about espresso that I
find to be largely accurate. In particular, the over-roasting of beans in
America is very widespread, at least in my opinion. Starbucks used
to be among the worst offenders, as far as I am concerned. I think it was
in 1999 when they started roasting their beans more to my liking, which
makes for a less bitter brew, and one I find much more flavorful.
Coffee Care Package
I got a amusing
story about coffee from one of the mailing lists to which I subscribe.
I've turned it into passible HTML for your reading pleasure.
Theres no such thing as too much coffee.
I found a wonderful story about coffee late one night, while
reading the newsgroup alt.food.coffee. I was later mailed a
copy of that same story, which is what I have turned into
HTML. I hope you enjoy it as well.
Until there's a cure...
I found a great
posting in the rec.food.drink.coffee newsgroup. I have
turned that posting into HTML. I hope you enjoy it and find it
as funny as I did.
Pulp Fiction
I saw the movie Pulp Fiction several months
after it was release and realized, as I was watching it, that there is a
terrific sound bite lurking in that movie about coffee. Listening to the
sound sample won't ruin the movie for you,
but it might just help you remember it a little better if you have already
seen the movie.
A Poem by an Unknown Author.
You can read it here.
A Poem About Caffine.
It is by caffeine alone I set my mind in
motion.
It is by the beans of Java that thoughts acquire speed.
The hands acquire shaking, the shaking becomes a warning.
It is by caffeine alone I set my mind in motion.
Joy of Coffee
I was forwarded a poem
about coffee. I have turned it into HTML.
CoFfEdBaBbLe
I was sent an original
poem about coffee from darrin maule. I have turned it
into HTML for your browsing pleasure.
A new coffee poem 4U
I was sent an original poem about coffee from Stuart
Hiley. I have turned it into HTML for your browsing
pleasure.
WorldCom/UUNET Software R&D Coffee Culture
I was sent an email
message that attempted to document the coffee culture in
the software development group that I used to manage. I have editted that
message into a reference document about the
coffee we used to prepare. The secret to great coffee is in this document,
so share it wisely, only with those that can be trusted with this
information!
lidl@pix.net
Last Updated: $Date: 2004/06/08 17:19:57 $