I hate it when coffee sits on a warmer all day.  It tastes burned after the first fifteen minutes.  I have my coffee maker set to turn off immediately after the pot fills.  I heat each cup in the microwave and I never get that all-day-on-the-burner flavor.  They do have coffee pots that have thermal carafes, but then the coffee tastes like eau de old thermos coffee after the first hour.  Yes, I’m prickly about my coffee. 

     I don’t spend a fortune going to places like Starbucks ordering lattes or cappuccinos.  When I ask for coffee, I want coffee.  No, I don’t want raspberry, caramel, macadamia nut, chocolate flavored syrup in it.  Can you say coffee?  I don’t mean that brown dishwater that some people try to pass off as coffee.  I mean a rich, full bodied, robust cup of coffee.  A one swallow and your eyes pop open coffee.  I want heart pounding, pulse racing, and brain stirring hot coffee. 

     In view of that, a few days ago, when I awoke and found our power was out my first thought was of coffee.  Oh, my God!  Did I make a pot before bed?  Hell, I’ll drink it cold or go heat it on the grill if there is coffee.  Oh, please let there be coffee I can’t wait for a pot to brew on the gas grill.  I need it now. 

     I trudged downstairs dreading a lack of coffee and a day of crankiness on my part.  Entering the kitchen and spotting a full pot of coffee brought a grin, touching the pot and finding it cold lost the grin.  My first defensive line during a power outage in our neighborhood is to go to my best friend’s house she lives a half a block away and she’s on a different power line. 

     I filled my cup and DH never uttered a word as I walked out the front door, he knew where I was heading.  I figured if she had power I’d have a quick heat up on my cup, if she didn’t, then I’d go back home and light up the grill. 

     I knocked on her door, noticed her TV was working, and when I saw her through the screen I held up my cup, gave her my most pitiful look and said, “Must-have-coffee-heated….”  Joy of joys, she snatched my cup from hands and popped it into her microwave.  One minute later, I had my hot coffee and everyone around me could breathe again.