Daily Hack - life - cycling - life

[Too Tall]

Hacking daily existence, we all participate knowingly and reflexively. Here are some of my daily hacks, you have them. I'll start with a coffee and chime in with cycling hacks later.

Coffee shops routinely ask if you want room for cream. Sure, charge me for a large but only give me a medium that's what I want?????. Try this, ask for a double cup and no room. Remove the second cup and pour the amount of cream into this cup you normally use for that large coffee. From the other cup pour hot coffee into the cream than sip until you can pour in the remainder. Now use the first cup as you sleeve.

Huzzah

[monadnocky]

Great. Now all the coffee shops are going to go out of business.... razor-thin margins only recovered by abovementioned scam.

I thought I was the only one who did this.

(related: why do they charge more for a hot tea? Still one teabag, just more water I guess?)

[holliscx]

Fast food hack especially handy if you visit on off hours and there's a mound of sad fries under a heat lamp - ask for fries no salt and they'll make a fresh batch - then ask for a packet of salt for the hot fries on your tray.

Josh you could also bring in your own cup and ask them to fill it up - you'd probably get a small discount, odds are they would give you a generous pour, and you don't waste 2 cups in the process. Just a thought.

[rowdyhillrambler]

My main man, and right hand is Sexy Rexy. He has worked for/with me for years. Best guy and personal guru.

He is a Vet, which means he gets 10% off at Lowes. I spend a pretty good amount at Lowes, sometimes a couple of grand a month.

He is always with me, so I get the 10%.

I then give him 5% of whatever the savings are. And, I still save 5%. I don't really care about my 5%, but he gets a couple of hundred a month extra. Which means a lot to him.

[NYCfixie]

Lifehacker

[j44ke]

I get bread at a bakery near my house. Very good bread, often crowded, Jewish owned, so its in "The Book" (as my wife and I like to say - she's Jewish etc.) and the clientele is predominantly Jewish, especially at the holidays (OY!) and the noise level is what you would expect from Jerry Seinfeld - everyone talking, no one listening, everyone needs to be somewhere yesterday, no one has their money out, etc. Anyway, every time I ordered bread, I'd shout my order and then it would go through a string-and-paper cup routine for about a minute back and forth until finally my order got understood and then I'd have to shout whether I wanted it sliced or not (not) and that started another huh what I said huh what etc.

So now I say my order quietly right from the start. The person behind the counter realizes they can't hear me, and so magically they come over closer to me and listen carefully. Whereupon I shout my order at full volume and everything speeds along to its conclusion and I am out the door before the Prophet Elijah!

[joosttx]

have your coffee on the toilet.

[robin3mj]

Tyvek Fedex envelopes are the perfect size for a laptop and a couple folders worth of work material.
Always keep one in my backpack to ensure dry stuff on way home if unexpected rain pops up during the workday.

[EricKeller]

Josh you could also bring in your own cup and ask them to fill it up - you'd probably get a small discount, odds are they would give you a generous pour, and you don't waste 2 cups in the process. Just a thought.

Starbux went out of their way to put a line inside their reusable cups for "tall." It annoys me every time the barista asks if I want tall or grande. I know they are charging $198 an ounce for the stuff, but this is just a bit too much for me. The other place I buy coffee in town sells a reusable cup and only charge $1 if you use that. Unfortunately, they are a 30 minute walk from my building.

oh, wait, this isn't the grump thread, never mind

[beeatnik]

I'm a Sweet n Low user (according to a top microbiologist cancer researcher nice lady, it's the safest sugar substitute) but when I used to pour sugar in my coffee (I takes it black now), I'd grab 4-5 packets and tear each individually. One morning at Starbucks, I saw a giant of a man grab 6 packets, press them together and tear all their tops off at once. Then he poured a sugarfall into his coffee. It was awesome.

[Drew]

Fast food hack especially handy if you visit on off hours and there's a mound of sad fries under a heat lamp - ask for fries no salt and they'll make a fresh batch - then ask for a packet of salt for the hot fries on your tray.

Josh you could also bring in your own cup and ask them to fill it up - you'd probably get a small discount, odds are they would give you a generous pour, and you don't waste 2 cups in the process. Just a thought.

Take your own cup is a good plan. Been doing this for years. Save a tree brah

[Too Tall]

Take your own cup is a good plan. Been doing this for years. Save a tree brah

Not that I need to defend myself (much) I do this when I'm riding my bike.