Friday Donuts

Friends, When confidence passes for competence, insincerity fakes integrity and puts the harm in charm. Unscrupulous strangers we know from the media play on our willingness to believe any drivel that aligns with our biases. We the manipulated feel in control while the mice secure the cheese. We play along, sliding down the slippery slope of excusing behaviors and actions as eccentricities and eggs broken to make an omelette. Until one day we wake to find ourselves wondering how we got here and thinking "how did Dunkin' get away with losing the donuts but Cracker Barrel couldn't get rid of Uncle Herschel?" Any similarity with politics is purely coincidental. Happy Friday!

Friends, Our great big world can sometimes feel pretty small. This week, two of my sons and I traveled to the U.S. They came from Japan whilst I came from Ecuador. My youngest brought some Spanish wine with him as a gift from some friends. In other words, I came from South America to North America to drink some European wine purchased in Asia. Talk about globalization! Now if only I had some African donuts I'd be all set. Happy Friday!

Friends, I'm no coffee snob but there's something honest about a freshly brewed cup. I don't speak venti soy latte, mocha, doppio, afogato, capuccino, macchiato, cortado, espresso, americano mumbo jumbo ... it's just not my cup of, well, Joe. Spare me the jargon and get me a large coffee. Black. No sugar. The higher acidity and nuanced flavor notes of the high elevation Andes mountain coffee we get in Ecuador may be wasted on me but there's nothing like a hot cuppa to get my morning going. Lately I've been enjoying some home brewed sock coffee. Just boil a pot of water and slowly pour it through the cloth filter containing the fine grinds. Smooth! Add a donut or two and I'm ready to face the day. What hot beverage do you prefer with your Friday donut? Happy Friday! ​

Friends, What you call something taints how you perceive it. I like to call bagels faux-nuts (they may look like a donut, but there’s just something not right about them). Hazard lights are magic lights. If you’re driving around Ecuador and need to stop literally anywhere, turn on your magic lights and the laws of man and nature no longer apply to you. Need to pick up a passenger at an intersection, block traffic on a one lane road or randomly stop anywhere? You get the idea. As for planetary names, any mention of the seventh planet always makes me smirk. My brain inevitably puts the emphasis on the second syllable. Even headlines from the most reputable sources can’t steer clear of my sophomoric reading. It doesn’t help that the phrasing often includes mention of rings, probes, exploration, internal heat and gas. I guess I’ll grab myself a donut and read the latest NASA article on Uranus. Happy Friday!

Friends, In the high-stakes game of pricing high-value goods and services, the desire to win can sometimes cloud our judgment. The race to zero begins with competition. Adversaries, both real and imagined, fuel our fear, insecurity and doubt. Money is often left on the table as we chase our tails in a bid to win at all costs. If only donuts followed this dynamic. Given their relatively low monetary value, purveyors can readily test consumers{ willingness to pay. And so, prices for these sweet pastries continue to soar, Still, I'm grateful I can still afford to indulge in this sweet treat (for now). ​ Happy Friday!