Category Archives: Deals

The Questia Online Library

I’m a bibliophile.  I don’t read books, I devour them.  Though there’s nothing like holding a real book in your hands, there are times when an online book has its advantages.  First of all, you can read books that are rare or are no longer in print.  Secondly, it’s convenient to have instant access to books; you don’t have to get out in the rain and you don’t have to worry about the opening and closing times of the library or bookstore.  Michael Pastore elaborates more on this concept with 30 Benefits of Ebooks.

Since my passion involves reading lots of non-fiction, research papers, newspapers, magazines, etc. and very little fiction and novels, I’m always on the lookout for a good  source of Ebooks.  My dream would be to sit and read all day in a university research library, but since I can’t do that with 3 young children, I have to settle for Questia.  Questia is a full-text online library with access to over 77,000 books, 4 million articles, and 250 respectable publishers such as John Wiley & Sons and Oxford University Press.

Of course access to such a source is not free, in fact you have to pay a subscription, but that is perfectly fine with me.  I don’t mind paying for things that work.  Questia works.  For around $99 dollars a year you get access to all the sauce I mentioned above.  Not bad considering that for about $8 to $9 dollars a month you get complete access to books and journals that are of research caliber.  Well worth the cost in my opinion.

Café Bustelo Espresso is some damned good coffee!

Ever since I got one of those Keurig K-cup, single serving coffee machines, I’ve been on a coffee drinking kick. I used to hate brewing coffee in a traditional coffee machine, I always made too much or too little coffee. You know how that goes, you brew a whole pot of coffee and you only end up drinking half of it. You then feel guilty about throwing it away. I guess you could save it for ice coffee, but I don’t drink ice coffee, so there you go.

Anyhow, the Keurig Elite Brewing System has been a real sweet ride, and it got even better after I splurged and bought the My K-Cup Reusable Filter. No longer was I dependent on Keurig and their partners for my pre-packaged coffee needs.

Today, Sharkette sent me to Kroger’s to buy some more butter.  As I went by the coffee aisle a bright yellow coffee can caught my eye.  Café Bustelo Espresso!

Intrigued by the Spanish I decided to stop and take a look.  Reading the side of the can, I was impressed at my Spanish comprehension.  I guess I did learn some Spanish during my freshman year at high school after all.  Of course the fact that the English translation was right next to the Spanish had nothing to do with my language prowess. Ha ha ha…

Okay, so I picked up the can and took it home.  I put a couple of scoops into the reusable filter and got my brew on.  A few seconds later I had a steaming hot cup of Joe at my disposal.  The aroma itself was enough to launch me into the stratosphere.  I’ve never had my taste buds tingle for coffee before, but there’s a first time for everything I guess.  Boy, were they tingling, I was salivating like the dog in that dog food commercial screaming, “bacon, bacon, BACON!”

That Café Bustelo Espresso is good coffee is an understatement.  This is fucking great coffee.  The best coffee I’ve ever had in fact, and I’ve had some damned good coffee in my time.  I spent a year in Paris drinking espresso at local bistros, and this coffee definitely took me back in time.  Do yourself a favor, mi amigo, get in your car, get on your bike, take the bus, or just plain run to your local store and pick up a can of this dope.  You will not be disappointed sipping this sweet elixir in the morning, and that’s no bullshit!