I don't understand how companies can make coffee makers and ________ (fill-in-the-blank with almost any common appliance) that don't work well. I mean, Mr. Coffee is known ONLY for its coffee makers, yet when you poor coffee from their carafe, it goes spilling all over the counter and you have to have your dishrag handy to sop it up.

My Mom and Dad have a Mr. Coffee coffee maker and I would give them a new one except that I know they would only put this one in the garage to junk up the place because "it's perfectly good."

I don't know what brand my sister had, but it is just as bad or worse. You can't pour coffee from the carafe without carefully making sure it pours at a rate that will fill the cup by the time the sun sets.

We, on the other hand, have a good coffee maker and I will brag. It is Hamilton Beach and I may never own another brand. It doesn't slop all over creation, unless you are really making an effort to spill. Plus, it has the best way of filling up the reservoir I've seen: You pull the reservoir OUT of the machine, fill it up to the mark and then set it back into the maching. No pouring, no breaking the carafe on the sink as you fill it. Smart thinking. Only complaint about the Hamilton Beach: The hinge on the little door to the reservoir has broken. Small detail. I don't let it bother me. We've had the coffee maker for a few years, so we've gotten great use out of it and it isn't out of commission yet.

So why did I get off on that tangent? I don't know, but it frustrates me when things aren't as good as they could be or as they should be.

I stayed up way too late last night. I got Napoleon Dynamite yesterday through Netflix so we had to go through and see all the special features and watch the whole movie with the director's commentary. I don't think I've ever watched the director's commentary on a whole movie.

The weather is changing today and I'm glad. I've enjoyed the warm weather because it is unusual and easy to deal with for January. But it has been almost too hot. Mark broke down and turned on the AC yesterday, but it is back off and we'll need the heat tonight, I suppose. I don't want the cold spell to last long or be too cold, but a few days of sweater weather would be acceptable. Like God is taking orders for the weather! If so: No more tsunamis, please!