Starbucks...Arrrgh!

I have an hour before I attend Tiwhanawhana, and whereas I used to spend it at my favourite Caffe Scopa on Cuba, I am tempted to have a hot chocolate nearby at Starbucks, why, I don't really know. The service is execrable, the hot chocolate is cold, even on reheating, and the seat I am sitting on is broken. But, hey, I made the choice, a stupid one I must admit, and I hope  I'll never do it again. To-morrow I'll return to Scopa to make up for my mistake, hopefully to have a pizza with Thomas, the would-be housemate from Paris. Am still not sure about him, he has that certain air of French superiority which I do not need in my house. I have decided to give him the ten question test and see how he fares, it may even freak him out a little, but it is the right attitude that is the most important thing in sharing a house, the ability to accept that you may be wrong and that the solution lies in mutual compromise.

In the meantime, I spoke with old friend Beth in Melbourne who just lost her Dad, at 94 y.o. David was an absolutely delightful man. She, an ex Novocastrian, may well return to that neck of the woods eventually as well. So we chatted about how we are both in a place we will move from, but essentially stay the same people, with just different things to do.

Cold 'hot chocolate' at Starbucks on Courtenay...

Why do I bother, it's their cafe, and they don't care!

So to try to turn negatives into positives, I move to a very comfy armchair, change my attitude, take out from my bag a healthy apple and start munching. It certainly makes things seem a lot different, just by taking a bit of control and not sinking into negative criticism. After all, the girl serving me was really trying hard to please me, she even offered to make me  a new hot chocolate which I curmudgeonly refused! So there's my lesson for the day, have the  right attitude and all things wil be OK. I'll use that tomorrow with Thomas and see how he turns out, he may even be quite OK, it's not his fault he's burdened with very good looks, is it?