Yesterday I had a Starbucks latte made with the company’s Versimo pod system during a demo in a store. And I got to thinking about whether or not it was a better deal economically to use the pod system versus buying my drinks in the Starbucks store.

The prices for the machine and the pods are as follows:

(All product prices via Starbucks.com)

Verismo Machine - $199.00

Latte Pods (8 servings each espresso and milk) - $12.95

Milk Pods (12) - $12.95

Espresso and…

     I have been around some Thanksgiving tables that adhere to the tradition of everyone saying what they are thankful for.  I have been deployed twice, so naturally, “I’m thankful I’m not deployed” is an easy beg-off.  It’s what folks expect to hear, and they get another chance to pull out their “Support the Troops” shtick before it disappears. 

     The reality of it is, at least for me, that the holidays were better when I was deployed.  It was just another day; if you were in the…

I have to say this before I start.  Any statements that I make with regard to a specific brand name of product are done solely to be of use to the AoM community.  I won’t talk about it if I haven’t used it.  Nobody pays me to use their stuff.  If something works for me, I’ll tell you.  Same goes for the negative.  This concludes the disclaimer.

In an earlier post, I talked about the ruck I was going to use…

I've previously posted about the fact that I'm planning on participating in the Bataan Memorial Death March in 2013; in a nutshell, I'll be walking a marathon with a thirty-five pound ruck on my back. Right now I'd like to cover the pack itself; I'll cover what I'm carrying and how I train in another post.

I have to say this before I start.  Any statements that I make with regard to…