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1970s coffee?

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David Ballarotto

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Feb 26, 2001, 6:28:43 PM2/26/01
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Has anyone seen the RetroMercial on TVLand with some 1970s looking 30-ish
blonde woman going on about how she doesn't make very good coffee, so lucky
her, there's MJB coffee, because most people don't know they're drinking it,
and somehow it always tastes right.
What's the deal here? Was this real coffee or some sort of coffee-like
concoction or something? I never even heard of this stuff until I saw this
commercial.


WiNK

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Feb 26, 2001, 8:15:35 PM2/26/01
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You mean you hadn't heard of MJB? It's one of the brands I buy most! (Said
in that commercial voice.) By the way, just who WAS that blonde woman. I
saw the commercial, too, and couldn't place her. Dixon??? :-)

Nadine

David Ballarotto <ba...@stargate.net> wrote in message
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Dixon Hayes

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Feb 26, 2001, 8:17:55 PM2/26/01
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David Ballarotto wrote:

>Has anyone seen the RetroMercial on TVLand with some 1970s looking 30-ish
>blonde woman going on about how she doesn't make very good coffee, so lucky
>her, there's MJB coffee, because most people don't know they're drinking it,
>and somehow it always tastes right.

I'm guessing it was a regional decaf brand. I assume the reason TV Land shows
it is because the woman is Teri Garr before she became famous...

Dixon
=============
"Let's dance, Maude...you're starting to get to me!"
--Barney Fife

Remember THE Hollywood Squares...the original and the best
http://www.geocities.com/screenjockey/classicsquares.html

Lenny Smith

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Feb 26, 2001, 9:52:43 PM2/26/01
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Dixon Hayes wrote in message
<20010226201755...@ng-ff1.aol.com>...

>David Ballarotto wrote:
>
>>Has anyone seen the RetroMercial on TVLand with some 1970s looking 30-ish
>>blonde woman going on about how she doesn't make very good coffee, so
lucky
>>her, there's MJB coffee, because most people don't know they're drinking
it,
>>and somehow it always tastes right.
>
>I'm guessing it was a regional decaf brand. I assume the reason TV Land
shows
>it is because the woman is Teri Garr before she became famous...


Back in the 60's, Teri was also a Shindig dancer, I believe.

Lenny


Tom

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Feb 26, 2001, 10:15:34 PM2/26/01
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I haven't seen this, but one memory of coffee in the 70s is of my dear sweet
old Auntie making coffee in an electric percolator. Remember those? It had
a round metal canister which went inside and held the coffee. The resulting
java was really strong and bitter, with a rather pungent aroma.

The other bad coffee memory was of instant coffee, not that that has necessarily
gone away.

Who'da thunk, back then, that someday we'd be paying several dollars for
a cup of fancy gourmet coffee; or, that there'd be a coffee chain like Starbucks
all across the country.


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LizzieZ

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Feb 27, 2001, 12:23:01 AM2/27/01
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>I haven't seen this, but one memory of coffee in the 70s is of my dear sweet
>old Auntie making coffee in an electric percolator. Remember those? It had
>a round metal canister which went inside and held the coffee.
>The resulting
>java was really strong and bitter, with a rather pungent aroma.

My mom still uses hers when she's making coffee for a crowd... (I can't vouch
for the taste, though -- I never drink the stuff, I just love the smell.)

Liz

Timothy Heise

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Feb 27, 2001, 1:05:29 AM2/27/01
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To Group:
The only woman I remember in a 70s coffee commercial was Mrs. Olsen and
her cohorts. I'm not sure, but wasn't the Mrs. Olsen character created in
reaction to the Charles Manson murder of Abigail Foldger?

--Tim

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Dixon Hayes

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Feb 27, 2001, 4:29:43 AM2/27/01
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Timothy Heise wrote:

> The only woman I remember in a 70s coffee commercial was Mrs. Olsen and
>her cohorts

...Don't forget Cora the general store owner for Maxwell House, played by "The
Wizard of Oz" witch herself, Margaret Hamilton.

>I'm not sure, but wasn't the Mrs. Olsen character created in
>reaction to the Charles Manson murder of Abigail Foldger?

No, in fact Mrs. Olsen dates back to the earlier 60s. I once saw an early 60s
ad with her in black and white. I don't think she was ever shown nationally
until the 1970s though.

recsec

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Feb 27, 2001, 4:56:55 PM2/27/01
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"Tom" <antipos...@127.0.0.1> wrote in message
news:3a9b...@news.newsfeeds.com...

>
> I haven't seen this, but one memory of coffee in the 70s is of my dear
sweet
> old Auntie making coffee in an electric percolator. Remember those? It had
> a round metal canister which went inside and held the coffee. The
resulting
> java was really strong and bitter, with a rather pungent aroma.
>
> The other bad coffee memory was of instant coffee, not that that has
necessarily
> gone away.

We use a percolater when I go hunting with one friend of mine. The coffe
tastes ggod from it too. With him we have a place to sleep. It is a room
fixed up for living quarters in a barn. I have a few other friends that I go
hunting with only with them we camp. That is when we put a pot of water on
the campfire to boil it up & then break out the Folgers instant coffee. Just
pour some in your cup & add hot water then you'll wake up for sure.
Billy


Dixon Hayes

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Feb 27, 2001, 7:12:25 PM2/27/01
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Buddy wrote:

>I could be wrong but the Tate-LaBianca killings happened in '69. And, at
>least here in N.Y. (as I recall) we didn't see Mrs. Olson til (almost) mid
>'70s.

I didn't see them regularly until the mid 1970s myself...but I did see a black
and white, much older commercial with a much younger Mrs. Olsen on a commercial
compilation special once. What I saw surely would have predated the
Tate-Labianca murders...

Dixon
=============
"Now let's get THAT vehicle OUTTA here!!"

Nanc

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Feb 27, 2001, 7:25:51 PM2/27/01
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I missed some posts. What does coffee and Mrs. Olsen have to do with the
Tate-Labianca murders?


Dixon Hayes wrote in message

<20010227191225...@ng-da1.aol.com>...

Anne

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Feb 27, 2001, 7:35:16 PM2/27/01
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<< Tom" <antipos...@127.0.0.1> wrote in message

> I haven't seen this, but one memory of coffee in the 70s is of my dear sweet


old Auntie making coffee in an electric percolator. Remember those? It had a
round metal canister which went inside and held the coffee. The resulting
java was really strong and bitter, with a rather pungent aroma. >>

Geez, Tom!! You're making me feel old. I still use my percolator at home
and, when I go camping, I use the stovetop model. They actually work great as
long as you know the right ratio of coffee grounds to water and don't overheat
it (and in that case.....I just make a quick run to Dunkin' Donuts).


Anne :-)


Jamie

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Feb 27, 2001, 8:52:31 PM2/27/01
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Nanc wrote:

> I missed some posts. What does coffee and Mrs. Olsen have to do with the
> Tate-Labianca murders?

Nanc, I totally understand your problem with that server thing.
I hope this helps you to figure out the bizarre connection

Tim posted the following:
To Group:


The only woman I remember in a 70s coffee commercial was Mrs. Olsen and

her cohorts. I'm not sure, but wasn't the Mrs. Olsen character created in

The Wanderer

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Feb 27, 2001, 9:32:58 PM2/27/01
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Coffee makes you kill rich movie stars! LOL. That's why I drink so much of
it. Now where are those movie stars?

--
Buddy
from Brooklyn
http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Thebes/5591/

"If women didn't exist, all the money in the world would have no meaning."
Aristotle Onassis
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The Wanderer

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Feb 27, 2001, 9:32:59 PM2/27/01
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I think it was a Wesr Coast thing 'til the mid '70s.

"If women didn't exist, all the money in the world would have no meaning."
Aristotle Onassis

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Dixon Hayes

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Feb 27, 2001, 10:12:24 PM2/27/01
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Nanc wrote:

>I missed some posts. What does coffee and Mrs. Olsen have to do with the
>Tate-Labianca murders?

One of the Tate-Labianca co-victims was a Folger's coffee heir and it was
suggested the Mrs. Olsen characted was invented (or perhaps resurrected) to
offset the publicity...

Nanc

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Feb 28, 2001, 7:22:40 AM2/28/01
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Oh now I get it...thanks Jamie : )


Jamie wrote in message <3A9C5AC4...@sympatico.ca>...

Nanc

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Feb 28, 2001, 7:26:46 AM2/28/01
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Jamie already clued me in but thanks Dixon. I actually remember when the
Manson murders happened.There was a rumor going round the playground that
Ellie May Clampet was murdered not Sharon Tate! ( maybe because we didn't
know who Sharon was ) lol


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Tiny Dancer

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Feb 28, 2001, 9:33:35 AM2/28/01
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And so the word went out from al...@aol.com (Anne ):

>Geez, Tom!! You're making me feel old. I still use my percolator at
>home and, when I go camping, I use the stovetop model. They actually
>work great as long as you know the right ratio of coffee grounds to water
>and don't overheat it (and in that case.....I just make a quick run to Dunkin'
>Donuts).

Thank you, Anne, I was feeling rather ancient there myself! :-) I still use
our old percolator every single morning, can't wake up until that sweet
black gold hits my innards. It's a Regal Poly-Perk, this sucker travelled
all over God's Green Earth with us in the '60s-'70s and it still works like a
dream. We had one of those ones that plugs into the car lighter for a while,
for the times we were nowhere near an electrical outlet, but it didn't last as
long as this amazing percolator. Gee, I should be getting a cheque from
Regal pretty soon at this rate! ;-)

Cheers,

TD

Coffee in the morning and martinis at night
Everybody's working up a big appetite
from Billy Joel's "When In Rome"

For a good time call
http://members.nbci.com/oroborus12/70s.html

Tiny Dancer's X-Files Episode Guide
http://www.insanity.com.au/td/

The Sesame Street Lyrics and Sounds Archive
http://i.am/tinyd

Tiny Dancer

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Feb 28, 2001, 10:09:53 AM2/28/01
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And so the word went out from "Nanc" <bill...@mediaone.net>:

>I missed some posts. What does coffee and Mrs. Olsen have to do
>with the Tate-Labianca murders?

I know this has been answered already, just wanted to add that this may
be the record for the fastest thread drift in this ng's history, I nearly got
whiplash! :-) It got me curious, though, as to just when she did start in the
ad campaign so I did some searching. First off, here's a couple of cute
links and the blurb from the site:

http://www.thom.org/gallery/signs/IASTpotsign/
http://www.thom.org/gallery/records/IASTcoffeepot/

Stanton, Iowa, is the home of Virginia Christine, who played "Mrs. Olsen" in
Folger's Coffee television commercials. To commemorate this and some
other vague heritage issues, they've modified and painted their water tower
to create the World's Largest Coffee Pot, 36 feet tall, 40,000 gallons in size.

And then I found this to commemorate her death in '96:

http://www.goodbyemag.com/jul/mrs_ols.htm

A bit of math after the info in these two paragraphs:

For 21 years, the wise, matronly Mrs. Olson, with her braided blond tresses
and Swedish accent, slipped kindly into kitchens to patch up couples' rifts
over bad coffee.

"As Mrs. Olson I had a wardrobe of aprons the likes of which I'd never seen,"
she told The Times in 1985 after the commercials had run their course. "She
started out as a nice cleaning lady, but thankfully over the years, and after
hundreds of commercials, she came of age. She traded in her polyester J.C.
Penney outfits for knit suits, and like Cinderella, Mrs. Olson was finally invited
to parties, if not balls."

I reckon she must have started around 1964 at least so she definitely pre-dates
the Manson murders. Never underestimate the power of a gal with a modem!

Cheers,

TD

Well, you won't get me with your belladonna - in the coffee
And you won't get with your arsenic - in the pot of tea
from Kate Bush's "Coffee Homeground"

WiNK

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Feb 28, 2001, 10:44:00 AM2/28/01
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I also use a percolator....Rival is the brand I have. And I don't want to
hear any crap from you coffee snobs who say it "RUINS" the coffee. Phooey
on you! It tastes just dandy to me and gives me that extra KICK! :-)

Nadine

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WiNK

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Feb 28, 2001, 10:45:41 AM2/28/01
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Yes, that's correct....Mrs. Olsen took over after Proctor and Gamble
acquired the Folgers brand. Around 1963 or 1964. :-)

Nadine

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mstx

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Feb 28, 2001, 3:12:20 PM2/28/01
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Hi Nadine,

I can drink just about any coffee just as long as I have my Coffeemate and
Sweet 'n low. I know a lot of people think Sweet 'n low tastes bad in
coffee.....I don't notice it, I guess I am just used to it. My husband
won't use anything except Equal.

MsTx

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WiNK

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Feb 28, 2001, 1:21:06 PM2/28/01
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And me....I'm hard core. Give me SHOO-gah. ;-) (And a couple of inches
on the hips!)

Nadine

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The Wanderer

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Feb 28, 2001, 2:48:40 PM2/28/01
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I'm tempted to make some snide remark about a couple of inches on the hips.
But Nadine, your hips (from here) look real good, and a couple of inches
cant hurt.

"If women didn't exist, all the money in the world would have no meaning."
Aristotle Onassis

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David Ballarotto

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Feb 28, 2001, 6:42:40 PM2/28/01
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"WiNK" <tcbel...@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:j_8n6.140$T3.188...@news.frii.net...
> I also use a percolator....Rival is the brand I have. And I don't want to
> hear any crap from you coffee snobs who say it "RUINS" the coffee. Phooey
> on you! It tastes just dandy to me and gives me that extra KICK! :-)
>
> Nadine
>

I'm a reformed Starbucks snob, and read all the propaganda of how
percolating your coffee ruins it. I say, if that's the way you like your
coffee, perk it! One of Starbucks' preferred ways of making coffee, the
French press, just makes lumpy coffee with grounds swirling around your cup.
I prefer automatic drip, but that's only because I have to make it in a
hurry. If I had the time for it to boil and percolate, I'd do the perk
thing to, just to spite the coffee snobs.

Sandy

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Feb 28, 2001, 7:53:38 PM2/28/01
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>when I go camping, I use the stovetop model. They actually work great as
>long as you know the right ratio of coffee grounds to water and don't
>overheat
>it (and in that case.....I just make a quick run to Dunkin' Donuts).
>

hmmmmmm...seems to me that's the way *I* remember it (the Dunkin Donut part) ;)


Sandy

2-60
Class of 78

Anne

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Feb 28, 2001, 9:22:15 PM2/28/01
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<< hmmmmmm...seems to me that's the way *I* remember it (the Dunkin Donut part)
;)


Sandy

2-60
Class of 78>>

Okay, Okay.....so we're not pioneers. I think it's pretty rough though when
you have to drive ten minutes and you don't see a Dunkin' Donuts on every
corner. Tee Hee

Anne :-)


Nancy & Bill

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Mar 1, 2001, 7:47:30 AM3/1/01
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It is amusing how we drift LOL
I like the water tower-it's cute! Rhonda you remind me of someone I know.
You can say almost anything to her and she'll start to sing a song that is
related to the conversation. Mention anything to TD and she'll find it on
the web!
Nanc

Nancy & Bill

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Mar 1, 2001, 7:53:22 AM3/1/01
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Just where do you go camping Anne ROFL! Way out in the wilderness huh?
Did Sandy tell you we went camping one year at a KOA that was about 10
minutes from her house? We chose it for the kids but I was laughing and
saying "we should have just camped in Sandra's backyard!"


Anne wrote in message <20010228212215...@ng-ff1.aol.com>...

Anne

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Mar 1, 2001, 9:46:52 AM3/1/01
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Nancy wrote:
<< Just where do you go camping Anne ROFL! Way out in the wilderness huh? Did
Sandy tell you we went camping one year at a KOA that was about 10 minutes from
her house? We chose it for the kids but I was laughing and saying "we should
have just camped in Sandra's backyard!" >>

Oh yeah.......waaaaaay out in the wilderness. ;-) It's a state park in NH.
It's a great family campground with tons of paths to ride bikes, rollerblade
and hike. We stay on a small island there which is great for the kids. The
first year Andre and I stayed there, we did a hike up the side of one of the
mountains with Amanda. She was 8 years old. It's about a four mile hike with
fairly steep grades. We kept telling her that when we reached the top of the
mountain there was a Wendy's up there. Well, she was pretty pissed when we
got up to the summit and we turned to her and said....."There's no
Wendy's.......we said it was windy up here!" You have to know Amanda to
appreciate the look we were shot and the bitching and moaning we listened to
for the four mile trek down.

Maybe you should check it out some time. Let San or me know if you are
interested and one of us will send you the hyperlink.

That's so funny about going to the KOA campground. I know the one you are
talking about......I pass it on my drive to San's house all the time. Yup,
that's pretty rough territory you had there too. LOL. As I recall, that's
about 10 minutes from DD also. There must be the assumption that humans can
rival the bears in those woods and get pretty ferocious without their morning
coffee. I know Jimmy couldn't make it through without his super, giant 22 oz.
cup of caffeine rush to get his motor going.


Anne :-)


Kaguya

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Mar 1, 2001, 10:13:46 AM3/1/01
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> I'm a reformed Starbucks snob, and read all the propaganda of how
> percolating your coffee ruins it. I say, if that's the way you like your
> coffee, perk it! One of Starbucks' preferred ways of making coffee, the
> French press, just makes lumpy coffee with grounds swirling around your
cup.
> I prefer automatic drip, but that's only because I have to make it in a
> hurry. If I had the time for it to boil and percolate, I'd do the perk
> thing to, just to spite the coffee snobs.
>
To hell with Starbucks! I've become a Cafe La Semeuse junkie. This stuff
tastes great no matter how you fix it! The espresso is perfect for the
extra kick, yet it's still smooth. Go figure.


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Kaguya

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Mar 1, 2001, 10:15:45 AM3/1/01
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> Okay, Okay.....so we're not pioneers. I think it's pretty rough though
when
> you have to drive ten minutes and you don't see a Dunkin' Donuts on every
> corner. Tee Hee
>
Hey, I have to get my doughnuts at the local Wal-Mart supercenter. I'm
really roughing it out here in the sticks. I think the closest doughnut
shop of any kind is Spunuts, and that's an hour away.

Sandy

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Mar 1, 2001, 1:35:47 PM3/1/01
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>The
>first year Andre and I stayed there, we did a hike up the side of one of the
>mountains with Amanda. She was 8 years old. It's about a four mile hike
>with
>fairly steep grades. We kept telling her that when we reached the top of the
>mountain there was a Wendy's up there. Well, she was pretty pissed when we
>got up to the summit and we turned to her and said....."There's no
>Wendy's.......we said it was windy up here!" You have to know Amanda to
>appreciate the look we were shot and the bitching and moaning we listened to
>for the four mile trek down.
>

Oh god...I'm still LMAO about that one! My *mother* was LHAO about that one!!
Your right Anne...they have to know Amanda to appreciate that to the fullest!!
(I'm LMAO *again*!!)

Sandy

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Mar 1, 2001, 1:36:36 PM3/1/01
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>camping one year at a KOA that was about 10
>minutes from her house?

AND that she didn't even visit while she was there?????

recsec

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Mar 1, 2001, 7:35:11 PM3/1/01
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"Kaguya" <lad...@celticvoice.com> wrote in message
news:3a9e6...@news.newsfeeds.com...

> Hey, I have to get my doughnuts at the local Wal-Mart supercenter. I'm
> really roughing it out here in the sticks. I think the closest doughnut
> shop of any kind is Spunuts, and that's an hour away.


If I get donuts from a chain store then it is Shipley's Donut's. But from an
'ol hole in the wall joint it's from a place called Donald's Donuts. They
have THE best kolaches in existence. They are huge. Just a buck fifty for
one. I'll get 3 of then & a large orange juice on my way home in the
mornings. Also they're apple fritters are as big as my hand. So good!!!!
Billy


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