One of the things that I hear almost every trip to my local Starbucks is “You never get the same thing!” It’s the truth, actually. The only thing that stays the same is the size: grande. For most seasons, I usually order iced drinks and in the winter, I usually order hot drinks, but there’s no guarantee of that either. With the exception of the regular cappuccino or latte, there’s nothing on the menu I don’t like – it’s all fair game. I usually check the menu every day, expecting some new drink to leap out at me – Starbucks seems to change the menu monthly by either adding something new or showing something old that they couldn’t fit before, i.e. the Mocha Valencia which they’ve had for years but makes random appearance on the menu – but I usually end up mindlessly staring at it, in the hopes of finding something to order. Much like the insulation that’s in the ceiling of where my band used to rehearse, I hope to find answers to my questions, if I stare at it long enough. What I usually find to be more interesting, and easier to find, is the information I find out by accident.

Yesterday’s discovery, at my local Mermaid’s cove, was that our favorite Evil Padiwan is in fact a Geek-in-Training! [Yes, my young apprentice, you’ve been outed as a scientist!] Technically speaking, because she’s still in school, this would make her a Nerd, but I think it’s a gray area in this case. See, in the computer industry, most of us tech’s are Nerds throughout our schooling – when we hit the real word, and start getting paid to be a Nerd, we become a Geek. Geeks use their knowledge for cash; Nerds use their knowledge in a vein attempt to impress people, or at least make themselves appear smart – a futile effort in any event.

I was talking to the Barista about her college experiences, as she is still in school, and how things were progressing. She’s also off to Africa for a month or two for a safari of sorts; if she was smart, she’d make it an ivory hunt, but I hear that’s not allowed anymore. *shrug* Anyway, in talking to this charming imp, I found out what she’s studying. After sifting through the -ologies and bio-‘s and sciences, I was left with even less of clue as to what she studies that when I didn’t know. What I was very certain of was that there was no way I would never got near these class! Way too much work to do and all of these classes were way way way deep into the sciences, particularly biology. I don’t do well with the living sciences – I like computers that you can reboot if they die… biology isn’t that forgiving. So! – she’s a bigger Geek than I am and there’s no finer compliment that a Geek can offer… that’s the truth!

Why the Geek-in-Training status? Well, it seems that after all these science degrees, there’s no big payday like there is in the IT/Software field. There’s work to be certain, but there’s no promise of stock options or perks and stuffs… So this makes me think that a new title, in place of Nerd, can be used here… maybe I should go with her suggestion: Dork. What I wanna know is how many other Geeks are lurking behind the bar, eh? I’m going to have to pay better attention to my Beanery folk.

Oh, and most importantly: she makes great Mocha’s, too, so all is good in my life…