Clearing the Air

OK, I am not mad at anyone today but I do want to kind of Clear the Air for some things I have been thinking about. The first thing I am going to put out there is that I am coming home around the 15th of June now. Unfortunately I could not sell my monstrous truck and I need to come home early and get a job going for the summer. I am sad to be sure that I am leaving early, but I am going to be back. This is not my last time in France or Europe for that matter so I do not leave thinking that I am never going back. Luckily, most of my friends will already be gone so it is easier to leave because of this. My roommate is not happy and I had to tell him that maybe it would change and I would stay to keep him from being too sad about it.
Next thing on the list is I have taken the entire week out of the gym. I just have not felt like it and I was working out so hard for so long that I took a week off. I know 8 weeks is not super long but I was doing an hour+ workout in addition to 45 minutes on the stairmaster so I felt like this week was OK. I have been rollerblading as well on top of this so I think that I'm cool. I do have to get back in the next 2 weeks before my friends come to see me, just want to be in top form, no worries.
The next issue I feel like tackling is coffee. Who likes a tall cup of joe? Perhaps a frothed blend from your local Starbucks? The instant stuff that I never drink but apparently a lot of folks do? OK, I was interested in the Fair Trade issues so I have done some researching on the subject. I would like to say here that I am not the "Ultra-Liberal" that I may be sounding like here. I actually like to think that I am Centrist, I go the way that reason and the facts lead. The Fair Trade issue is one that I think Americans should really lift there voices too. It is not some tree-hugging crusade to save ducks from their fate with Foie Gras. This is about the unfair practices being used in the coffee trade that is sending between 20-25 million people into the throws of poverty and despair. This is not caused by a major change, in fact the difference is slight. Take for example that $3.00 dollar cup of you may be drinking now. Fair Trade coffee is a transparent accounting system that allows the labelling authority to ensure that the farmer's are receiving fair prices for there coffee, so instead of .03 cents, they receive .05 cents per cup of coffee. Not a lot to make up along the supply chain. That is actually part of the problem, there are too many people in the middle that take advantage of the grower and also the consumer. Even though the price of raw coffee has dropped to it's all time low, the prices have not fallen in response as well. For more information on this problem and how we can help go to the FAIR TRADE website. Without the lable there is no way to ensure that these people are making enough to survive, which means usually the next step is to start producing the Coca leaf in order to be able to survive. I am all for Free Trade as I have said before, as long as it's Fair Trade. This is not Fair and we have to do something about it. Finish the coffee you have right now, then start drinking only coffee with the Fair Trade label. Then spread the word, you don't have to strike to be heard.
Lastly, I did the Generation Roller again this past Friday night. It was a little cooler and I thought people were not really going to show up but I was wrong. There were at least a thousand people last night. We had a great time, but I forgot to take pictures again this week. Oh well, I guess I will have to take some next Friday when we do both the 9 o'clock and the 11 o'clock sessions, at least we are going to try to. The 2nd is pure speed and we are going to try it out and if it doesn't work for us were gonna bail out early.
That's all I have for today, looks like I'll see you in about 5 weeks now, so be ready to go. Don't worry if you are someone checking in and you like the blog, which I doubt seriously. I am going to keep blogging from home as well.