Coffee!

There, now that I have your attention.

We have been converted. We are one of them now. You know. Coffee snobs.

I speak of conical burr grinders. Or rather, one of them that arrived Monday. We tried it out Tuesday in the French press. Oh my goodness. Everything people said about them being the foundation of good coffee is true. We beg forgiveness for being so slow in seeing the light.

All the instructions call for a bit more coffee that what we normally use, and I guessed at the grind. Bingo! It tasted like good strong coffee, but no bitterness, no acid bite, no sharpness. Just coffee that is somehow strong and mellow at the same time, according to Linda.

The old whirly coffee grinder was very inconsistent. This burr grinder makes the coffee grounds look almost fluffy. When the hot water is poured over them the bloom is huge, and the aroma is amazing. Can't wait for the coffee tomorrow.

More leg pummeling happened at massage. Hams and calves were a bit tight, but nothing compared to what they have been recently. This is more along the line of regular tight muscles. I'd been thinking of running tonight, before I realized I had the massage appointment, and don't think running right after is a good idea. Instead I did a good stretching and rolling session, with some core stuff. Side plank is way better now, I can even get the top leg up into the air for a few seconds. That's a huge improvement. Ordinary plank felt stable for the first time in a while.

I've been thinking about @Cmdr_Hadfield. The various news magazines should just declare him Man of the Year for 2013, and get it over with. How is anyone going to top the last 5 months?

Astronauts are a seriously talented fast crowd, and even in that company he looked like Gretzky and Orr combined. For a little while, he has made Canada, and Canadians just a bit cooler, in spite of all the ShitHarperDid. Is doing. You have to believe he has inspired at least a few kids to take up a career in science or space related fields. He has sure as hell impressed a lot of adults.

More seriously though, what does he do next? Here he is in his early 50's, in every way at the peak of his career, and has now come back to earth. At least it was a controlled descent. I can't wait to see what he gets up to.

Frankly, the government should exempt him from taxation for the rest of his life no matter what his income, declare him a National Treasure, and appoint him head of a team To Make Canada a Better Place. Give him a budget, then turn him loose and get out of his way.