Around 10 o’clock this morning I was returning from a meeting when I decided to get a bite to eat. An early lunch! Much better than eating at 4 pm (like I tend to do). I had never tried this one coffee shop over on Washington by the freeway, so I stopped in.

I decided that as often as I can when I order a coffee I would order a doppio macchiato. For a couple of reasons: Firstly, because I feel like that’s how a true coffee professional would test a coffee shops aptitude for coffee preparation. The second is because I’m a growing fan of that drink which is two shots of espresso with a dollop of foam.

One thing about the word doppio. It means double in Italian, but nobody even knows the term except Starbucks baristas. I may have to revert to saying double macchiato, instead.

So the coffee was fine and I went to Cousins next door to make my sandwich. They’ve got a different business model than Subway. They don’t prepare your sandwich in front of you, instead they prepare it back in the kitchen area. The other thing is that the sandwiches are 7 and a half inches long (Subways’ are six inches).

By mid-afternoon I was starved for food again and glanced to my left.”

“Hey Tom, you know what sounds good right now?” I asked. “Some pizza!”

“Yeah, I was thinking the same thing” he said.

We were in the car within a minute and headed over to this little pizza joint called Mama Mias Pizza (40th & Indian School). It was my first time there and just for kicks I decided to try some anchovies on my pizza. I’ve seen anchovies on the menu my entire life and never tried them.

I couldn’t convince Tom to even take a taste.

Anchovies are hugely overrated. But then again, I haven’t seen any ratings. They tasted like fishy little slugs with a lot of salt. Well, it wasn’t that bad! But I wouldn’t say they are amazing.

Since there were only a few places to sit we ended up sitting with this UPS delivery guy. He was telling us about how he drives around for 12 hours a day in his 1985 UPS Truck. There’s no air conditioning and no power stearing. Talk about a great way to strengthen your arm muscles!

We asked him if he listened to the radio much in the car and he said no. At least not since his radio fell out of the car when he made a sharp turn. He said that the truck comes with no accessories. Not even a radio.

It occured to me that more restaurants should have community tables where you get a chance to sit with new people. It’s such fun. You get a chance to ask them about their job and what they do.

Plus it was fun to tell him how the anchovies were all gooey inside.