The Cappucino Corral

[Sarah G]

43 degrees at sunrise and supposed to get to 54. What happened to that "wintry mix" we were promised?

The sun is shining here.

 

[Statistikhengst]

In Germany, Christmas is essentially celebrated for three days:

Heiliger Abend (Christmas Eve), 24.12
Erster Weihnachtstag (1st day of Christmas), 25.12
Zweiter Weihnachtstag (2nd day of Christmas), 26.12

So, today is still a national holiday in Germany. Busses, trams, trains, etc. all run on a Sunday-like schedule and of course, all businesses are closed. This is why Germans love it when the 25th falls on a Thursday, because they essentially get a 5 day weekend.

My little one and I just had a delightful meal of lamb, duck, mashed potatoes, corn and some carrot salad. We are now off for a bike tour for the next hours.

Hope you all are having a good Friday the 26th!

 

[Sarah G]

In Germany, Christmas is essentially celebrated for three days:

Heiliger Abend (Christmas Eve), 24.12
Erster Weihnachtstag (1st day of Christmas), 25.12
Zweiter Weihnachtstag (2nd day of Christmas), 26.12

So, today is still a national holiday in Germany. Busses, trams, trains, etc. all run on a Sunday-like schedule and of course, all businesses are closed. This is why Germans love it when the 25th falls on a Thursday, because they essentially get a 5 day weekend.

My little one and I just had a delightful meal of lamb, duck, mashed potatoes, corn and some carrot salad. We are now off for a bike tour for the next hours.

Hope you all are having a good Friday the 26th!

Have a fun day!

 

[Luddly Neddite]

51 Pieces of Latte Art That Are Actually Pretty Cool
Latte art is the practice of baristas drawing awesome portraits, landscapes or pictures using milk foam. These are the best examples of latte art on the internet -- ranging from photos of kitten/cat latte foam art, to nerdy, video game latte art done with both frothy foam and chocolate syrup on occasion, to works of art like The Scream recreated into coffee art. And yeah, I know, most people think that coffee art is really lame and only belongs on places like Instagram and that only hipsters like it, but that's why this list exists.

This isn't a bunch of flowers or swirls, it's accurate-looking faces. It's foam animals taken to the next level: the face of John Lennon in latte art, the famous stick-out-tongue portrait of Einstein in milk foam and even a 3D giraffe made to jump out of the cup. This is some seriously awesome stuff.

Here's the first one ... 50 more at the link.

 

[Statistikhengst]

In Germany, Christmas is essentially celebrated for three days:

Heiliger Abend (Christmas Eve), 24.12
Erster Weihnachtstag (1st day of Christmas), 25.12
Zweiter Weihnachtstag (2nd day of Christmas), 26.12

So, today is still a national holiday in Germany. Busses, trams, trains, etc. all run on a Sunday-like schedule and of course, all businesses are closed. This is why Germans love it when the 25th falls on a Thursday, because they essentially get a 5 day weekend.

My little one and I just had a delightful meal of lamb, duck, mashed potatoes, corn and some carrot salad. We are now off for a bike tour for the next hours.

Hope you all are having a good Friday the 26th!

Have a fun day!

Thanks, Sarah.

We just got back from a 100 minute bike-ride. And Lord, the temperature has dropped really fast. The little one is taking her bath, then there will be hot chocolate and a couple of Christmas shows and I suspect that Statalina will want to drop off to sleep. Longest bike-ride she ever had. She loved it.

 

[Bonita Louise]

Hey there cappuccino lovers! Wishing you All a Happy New Year! Stay safe and enjoy!

 

[saveliberty]

No white Christmas here in Southern Michigan. Sold a new little SUV today to someone from Tennessee, work is sometimes unpredictable.

 

[Derideo_Te]

No white Christmas here in Southern Michigan. Sold a new little SUV today to someone from Tennessee, work is sometimes unpredictable.

Indeed it is. I went car shopping with my daughter yesterday with the expectation that the dealer who had quoted her a price close to her budget would honor his commitment to work with her and see what could be arranged. Instead he plays hardball and refuses to budge so we leave. On the way home we pass another dealership and I suggest that she check out the vehicles even though she isn't particularly interested since they don't have what she wanted on their website.

Told the salesman we were just browsing and what our budget was. He was quite frank and said yes, he didn't have exactly what we were looking for but instead offered to show us something else. It was a pretty blue sedan and it checked all the boxes. Then as we were about to leave he asked the standard question about buying it today so I threw out a really lowball number inclusive of all taxes, tags, fees, the whole package. After a little bit of bargaining we ended up just $700 above the lowball figure I quoted and a couple of thousand below the sticker. Got a great interest rate of 2.4% and there were no add ons in the financing although they did try to sell her an extended warranty.

It was a whole lot better deal than the original dealer had quoted and she is thrilled to be in a shiny new 2015 that fits her budget. Sometimes you just get lucky. Probably in for some sticker shock in the insurance dept but not more than a couple of hundred over where she was going to be with the other dealer.

 

[Luddly Neddite]

No white Christmas here in Southern Michigan. Sold a new little SUV today to someone from Tennessee, work is sometimes unpredictable.

Indeed it is. I went car shopping with my daughter yesterday with the expectation that the dealer who had quoted her a price close to her budget would honor his commitment to work with her and see what could be arranged. Instead he plays hardball and refuses to budge so we leave. On the way home we pass another dealership and I suggest that she check out the vehicles even though she isn't particularly interested since they don't have what she wanted on their website.

Told the salesman we were just browsing and what our budget was. He was quite frank and said yes, he didn't have exactly what we were looking for but instead offered to show us something else. It was a pretty blue sedan and it checked all the boxes. Then as we were about to leave he asked the standard question about buying it today so I threw out a really lowball number inclusive of all taxes, tags, fees, the whole package. After a little bit of bargaining we ended up just $700 above the lowball figure I quoted and a couple of thousand below the sticker. Got a great interest rate of 2.4% and there were no add ons in the financing although they did try to sell her an extended warranty.

It was a whole lot better deal than the original dealer had quoted and she is thrilled to be in a shiny new 2015 that fits her budget. Sometimes you just get lucky. Probably in for some sticker shock in the insurance dept but not more than a couple of hundred over where she was going to be with the other dealer.

Cool.

We're talking about buying a new car .........................................

 

[Luddly Neddite]

I would have preferred to sleep later but woke up. No reason, just wide awake. Sun isn't up yet, warm and rained much of the night. Feels like spring.

Just now saw deer in the front yard. The cats are in the screened in porch, waiting for the birds to wake up. The squawk at the cats and the cats chitter their teeth and waggle their butts in that "I WANT" they do. In the house, they'll sit at the glass door and stare longingly at the area where we feed the birds.

Wide screen TV for cats.

I've been trying to post a video but keep getting a "network error" message. Tried it from town yesterday and got the same message so its not our system. And, got the same message when I tried to download new software to my phone.

 

[Derideo_Te]

Wide screen TV for cats.

AKA as Squirrel TV for Dogs.

 

[Statistikhengst]

Just to show that Santa really IS everywhere:

That jolly old man really gets around!

Gesendet von meinem GT-I9515 mit Tapatalk

 

[Sarah G]

Just to show that Santa really IS everywhere:

That jolly old man really gets around!

Gesendet von meinem GT-I9515 mit Tapatalk

And Coca Cola..

 

[saveliberty]

No white Christmas here in Southern Michigan. Sold a new little SUV today to someone from Tennessee, work is sometimes unpredictable.

Indeed it is. I went car shopping with my daughter yesterday with the expectation that the dealer who had quoted her a price close to her budget would honor his commitment to work with her and see what could be arranged. Instead he plays hardball and refuses to budge so we leave. On the way home we pass another dealership and I suggest that she check out the vehicles even though she isn't particularly interested since they don't have what she wanted on their website.

Told the salesman we were just browsing and what our budget was. He was quite frank and said yes, he didn't have exactly what we were looking for but instead offered to show us something else. It was a pretty blue sedan and it checked all the boxes. Then as we were about to leave he asked the standard question about buying it today so I threw out a really lowball number inclusive of all taxes, tags, fees, the whole package. After a little bit of bargaining we ended up just $700 above the lowball figure I quoted and a couple of thousand below the sticker. Got a great interest rate of 2.4% and there were no add ons in the financing although they did try to sell her an extended warranty.

It was a whole lot better deal than the original dealer had quoted and she is thrilled to be in a shiny new 2015 that fits her budget. Sometimes you just get lucky. Probably in for some sticker shock in the insurance dept but not more than a couple of hundred over where she was going to be with the other dealer.

Two schools of thought on talking on the phone with a prospect. Some say to get them to the lot regardless of whether the car can be sold for the price given by the customer or even if the car is still there or not. For me, I want the customer to know what they can expect ahead of time, that way if they show up, I know I must be at least close to their expectations. Websites take a lot of time to keep current. Often we have additional vehicles that just haven't reached the stage where we can post them.

I like GAP insurance for those with no equity in their car or truck purchase. I also like credit life insurance on the young person who has a cosigner on the hook. Personally, I have always bought good cars that didn't have major problems, so extended warranties never really appealed to me. Others swear by them.

 

[Statistikhengst]

Just to show that Santa really IS everywhere:

That jolly old man really gets around!

Gesendet von meinem GT-I9515 mit Tapatalk

And Coca Cola..

Yepp.

Gesendet von meinem GT-I9515 mit Tapatalk

 

[Luddly Neddite]

Wide screen TV for cats.

AKA as Squirrel TV for Dogs.

Yep. Our poor Czar never loses hope that one day he'll catch one. I should post a photo of the gouges in our hardwood floor from him launching himself out onto the deck.

We figure it gives both him and the squirrels a little work out, get their blood pressure up and bit, pulse going - probably good for all of them.

We're actually a little concerned that Czar will come face to face with a raccoon or fox on the deck. That could be a real disaster.

I spoke too soon about our warm weather. The temp plummeted so maybe our wintry mix is here.

 

[Luddly Neddite]

Just to show that Santa really IS everywhere:

That jolly old man really gets around!

Gesendet von meinem GT-I9515 mit Tapatalk

He's got fast and cheap transportation in those 8 tiny reindeer.

 

[Statistikhengst]

Just to show that Santa really IS everywhere:

That jolly old man really gets around!

Gesendet von meinem GT-I9515 mit Tapatalk

He's got fast and cheap transportation in those 8 tiny reindeer.

The man is just amazing!

Gesendet von meinem GT-I9515 mit Tapatalk

 

[Statistikhengst]

Well folks, it's 2:16 here. Bedtime. Tuckered out. Till tomorrow.

 

[mdk]

Evening folks. We're making loads of hand-made perogies tonight and having cocktails. Cheers!