Day in the life

September 25th, 2009 | By Jeff Phelps | Section: Features

Jeff Phelps '71, owner of Saint's Rest Coffee House on Broad Street, pulls his shots of morning espresso to start the day off right. Ami Freeberg/The Scarlet and Black.

4:15 a.m. – Wake to No Doubt on NPR. Head to bathroom.
4:20 a.m. – Run buck naked out back door to scare raccoons away. Feed cats.
4:22 a.m. – Shower and shave, dress.
5:05 a.m. – Wake up my wife, Patricia. Must be careful—she swings elbows.
5:30 a.m. – Start 11-mile trip to town. Note that raccoons are lurking—at least they show appreciation for cat food.
5:50 a.m. – Arrive at shop, begin opening procedure. Clean cranky group head on espresso machine.
5:59 a.m. – Note that whoever closed ignored “DO NOT TOUCH MODEM” sign and turned off said modem. Spend five minutes getting wireless to start. Success after fair amount of cursing.
6:15 a.m. – Complete third “S” in morning routine (see 4:22 a.m.). Still regular at 60!
6:29 a.m. – Hide Starlings CDs before Chlami (the inseperable duo of Chloe Neely ’10 and Ami Freeberg ’10)’s arrival.
6:30 a.m. – Open doors for day’s first customer. Nice fellow—good start!
6:32 a.m. – Chlami arrives. Day finally in balance.
7:02 a.m. – Pull myself a double ristrato.
7:15 a.m. – Check e-mail, favorite web sites, Ebay deals. Let Patricia handle customers ’til ristrato kicks in.
8:45 a.m. – Head to post office, steel myself for arrival of Mayflower customers.
9:21 a.m. – Ami takes my photo for some reason.
10:55 a.m. – Kamal—from Cafe Phoenix—stops in to chat. We solve Arab Israeli conflict…one MORE time.
11:45 a.m. – Realize it’s gonna be another unpredictable day—no pattern anywhere!
11:52 a.m. – Warning light on filtration system starts blinking. Call PHSI for service, told they will show up in a few days. Hope system doesn’t poop out beforehand.
12:46 p.m. – Head to Dari Barn for gyro and fried ’shrooms. Back by 1:15 p.m.
2:30 p.m. – Express desire to head home.
3:45 p.m. – Finally head home.
4:30 p.m. – Begin reading snail mail, wake up hour later to start supper.
6:30 p.m. – Eat and veg out to Wheel of Fortune.
7:00 p.m. – Watch NCIS, vow to watch NCIS Los Angeles. Fall asleep instead.
8:23 p.m. – Wake up, head to bed.
8:35 p.m. – Read/try to finish “Loss of Leon Meed” by Josh Emmons (new GC prof—GREAT book!)
11:59 p.m. – Wake up for trip to the john, Meed still on my chest turned to page 319.
4:15 a.m. – Begin next cycle.