Category: field notes

Two things happen when you let go of something; you feel the pain of its absence more acutely or you feel the freedom from the weight it once possessed in your life.

From Unclutterer:

Coffee beans you aren’t going to grind and brew within two weeks can be kept in the freezer, but they should not be stored in the refrigerator. Moisture isn’t good for coffee, well, unless you’re actually in the process of brewing. Don’t believe me? Here are a few insights from people much more informed than I…

Link.

And loosely related, from The Point:

…it’s not surprising that studies have shown caffeine is an effective aid…. For caffeine to be most effective, however, regular users need to minimize their caffeine use so that when they need it, caffeine will give them a boost.

Link.

Here’s some overheard conversations from Friday afternoon.

Man talking to another man: “What is real? What is truth? What is this? You know what I’m talking about?”

Waiting at the bus stop.
Man 1: “I’ve been runnin’ all day… getting a beer here… a beer there… s___ I’m tired.”
Man 2: “I hear that.”
Man 1: “Alcohol will make you go places you don’t want to go… killed my brother… I get shakes, you know… s___, my heart stopped in Virginia… ah, hell.”

I posted overheard bus conversations and comments back in June. Here’s some more from the other day:

After mentioning something about the police, a man says into his cellphone: “You can’t just sell something that isn’t yours.”

Man and woman talking across the aisle inside the bus.
Man: “Where you going this early in the morning?”
Woman: “Social Services.”
Man: “What for?”
Woman: “None of your damn business. Where you going?”
Man turns toward the window and looks at his cellphone.

Man at a bus stop mopping his face with a handkerchief after racing up a hill to wait for the bus: “Hot has hell out here … but a lot nicer than Columbus … no drive-by shooting … Asheville’s a nice place … “
Coffeehouse Junkie: “Columbus, Ohio?”
Man lighting a cigarette: “Yeah … had to leave Columbus ’cause all the f__ing Mexicans taking all the jobs … heard ’bout Asheville … sure is damn hot but a whole lot nicer than Columbus.”
Coffeehouse Junkie refrained from saying: Welcome to Asheville amigo.

If you haven’t used the Asheville Transit System (i.e. the bus), you don’t know what you’re missing. Here’s what I overheard today on the bus.

First man: “There’s a Chevrolet truck for sale for five hundred dollars. I told the man I’d give him two hundred dollars cash right there on the spot. He wouldn’t have it.”
Second man: “Damn motherf___er.”

One guy tells another guy: “I left California because there’s too many damn Mexicans.”
(At least a half dozen people of Hispanic descent sit near him.)

One African-American woman trying to get the attention of second African-American woman who is on a cell phone and moves away from the first woman: “I hate blacks trying to act white.”
(This is said in front of me, a person of Dutch/Irish descent, to a third African-American woman.)

One woman says to second woman: “I’m so stressed I smoked two packs today.”

A young woman says into her cell phone: “No, he’s Irish and speaks English.”
(She speaks with a distinct Romanian accent.)
Two African-American women seated next to me on the bus overhear this and speak.
First woman: “Am I like that?”
Second woman: “Nah. You ain’t that loud.”

Imagine what I’ll overhear on the way home tonight.