(New Posts Will Appear to the Right) Minimal Posting ~ Busy Season Is Starting

Tragic-Clear

It started a while ago, but is really getting under-way. What does this mean? I will not be able to post more lengthy responses like the ones in my slider at the top of my front-page. the hope is to pass along articles and videos one should be viewing with minimal commentary. Above is the graphic for the company I work for — a friends business. We actually have four online store-fronts, Tragic Mountain being one of them. As we work through inventory the Amazon store will grow in product choice, which is a mix of the following stores. Tragic Mountain on E-Bay will have the widest choice of costumes, wigs, make-up, and the like — Halloween is upon us. Largemouth has more clothing and hats, punk and rock t-shirts, and Skirtstar has Ballroom masks, some lingerie, purses, and the like.

We are trying to keep the flow going through Christmas and New Years. Ballroom masks for New Years are a hit, and throw away (one-time-use) pub-crawl Santa and Elf suits are a hit.

More Construction Going On At RPT… Patience

I have already outdone my traffic allowance on my new shared host site… I was number one in usage across the board at HUB. So I must switch to a Virtual Private Servers (VPS). I have a good guy working when he has time to switch my site over. Thanks for the support and visits, I truly am jazzed, just my wallet hates you. I may try to add “ads” at some point as well as putting up a “support” ~ BE PREPARED.

UNDER CONSTRUCTION ~ Back Up To Speed by the Weekend

This is the first time I have had access to my blog’s admin page since February 2nd. Be patient, a work in progress. I moved from 1&1 hosting (worst experience ever with them), to WebHostingHub. Hub’s customer service is friendly and on the spot. Cannot thank those guys enough.

Still playing with some settings, so by the following weekend I should be back up to speed.

Let the Games Begin! Periodic Updates on Weight/Muscle/Health Loss/Gain over 90-days

A competition is under way in our valley, if you want to take a 90-day challenge, talk to Ryan, HERE. My wife is excited to start… the pic to the right is her first day doing the cleanse Ryan suggests (all natural!). He holds classes at Velocity. He has a good program to get you in shape… in shape, whole body strong type shape. Need a personal trainer, this is your guy.

His FaceBook is:

  • https://www.facebook.com/ryan.cabrera.56679

After his classes ladies, you too can be as athletic as this Bama mom!

TWO BLONDES, ONE CUP ~ Start A Starbuck’s `Trend` With Me

While standing in line at Starbucks, I have heard people order a “tall blonde.” I want a tall blonde! What guy doesn’t… blonde’s have more fun… its proven!

What is a Starbuck’s “blonde”? It is a milder, less roasted coffee, actually their Veranda, and I think it is their best… mainly because it isn’t over-roasted. So Maybe a Grande can be a blonde with legs?

Funny.

But a tall is a small… I only go big — I want legs on my blonde — and  I WANT some cute slang to use when ordering my preferred drink.

SO!

I started asking for “Two Blondes, One Cup” when I order. I (or you) would then have to explain to the perplexed barista that it is a “Venti Blonde with Room.”

IF ENOUGH PEOPLE DO THIS, as workers change location and you tell friends about it… soon it will be the norm… and you will have participated in changing the Starbuck’s culture just a tad.

From Lifehacker:

Most coffee shops have at least a few unlisted drinks for patrons in the know. “For some shops, there are unwritten drinks, based on popular drinks some customers may ask for,” Dominy says. Most established baristas can make off-the-list fare, he says, though managers prefer they stick to the menu. So what’s popular in the unposted coffee drink arena? The Dirty Chai, a chai latte with a shot of espresso. Another is the Espresso Panna Cotta (listed on the Starbucks website, though not in stores), an espresso topped with whipped cream, he says. And if you’re after a megadose of caffeine, order the Red Eye or Black Eye, a drip coffee plus one or two shots of espresso, respectively. At Starbucks, says Duong, one of the most popular off-menu orders is coffee served through a French press.

A “Purple-Eye” has three shots of expresso. There is a battle for the secret menu… some say it doesn’t exist, other in the Starbuck’s org want to squash it for reasons of complication in ordering it with baristas who do not know what it is. But the old school baristas KNOW:

Here are some more examples via Urban Daddy:

Shhhhhhhh... Secret Menu

Green Eye / Purple Eye (depending on what part of the country you are in) / JFK (for the 3 shots to the head which killed him) / Shot in the Dark

Whatever you call this drink it is a whopping three shots of espresso in a regular Starbucks coffee.  Be carefull with this one!  Do not drink at night unless you want to be up all night, shaking, in caffeine withdrawal.

Poor Man’s Latte

An Iced Americano with no water and half ice, then head over to the condiments station, fill the rest up with half and half cream (certainly not the 18% coffee cream) and viola, you have a Breve Latte at less than you would pay for the actual drink. 

Poor Man’s Chai Latte

Order a Chai Tea Misto with extra foam, two tea bags, and half cinnamon-half vanilla syrup. This is essentially the same drink but at half the cost.  

Chocolate Dalmatian – also know as a Michael Jackson:

A White Chocolate Mocha with java chips and chocolate chips sprinkled in.

Cafe au Lait

Order the Misto without foam for a classic French coffee drink.

French pressed coffee

You can choose any coffee they sell by the bag and have it served in a French press. For coffee snobs, this is one of the best way to appreciate all of the flavors of the coffee you chose – it takes about 5 minutes for this to be done and don’t be surprised if you get a dirty look if you are doing this during their morning rush.

Chocolate Cream Frapuccino

Chocolate, chocolate and more chocolate.  Chocolate syrup and chocolate flavoring in this frozen blended coffee.

Cake Batter Frappuccino

Originally, this drink contained vanilla and almond syrup added to a Vanilla Bean Crème Frappuccino. However, since the almond syrup is largely no longer available, some recommend that you try subbing in hazelnut syrup and white mocha for a similar flavour.

Raspberry Cheesecake

Order a White Chocolate Mocha and have them add a few pumps of raspberry  – if you use your Starbucks card to pay, you get one free pump of any flavour. 

The Nutella

Cafe Misto with pumps of chocolate and hazelnut and a caramel drizzle.

…read more…

New Posts Will Appear Below This One ~ Busy Few Weeks

Some may know that I work for a close friend (known since high school), and that he started a business that went from his room, to his garage, to three warehouses. I run the warehouses… and since his business revolves primarily around Halloween, I am working long days (early mornings-through-late nights), I will be posting sparingly. On top of this, I have been asked to teach this an next week at church… Yikes! So my weekly posts like “Serious Saturday” and my “Sunday Funnies” will be temporarily not posting. I consider myself blessed for my health, family, and the fact that I am employed. Blessings, and the link to get your last minute costumes is below ~ also note Largemouth Industries and Skirt Star are also up and in operation year round (as is Tragic).