Finally reaching downtown, I got off the bus on Fifth Street and as quickly as I could went to a hotel and used their restroom. This took a few minutes as I was fully paying the price for eating that oatmeal. Before leaving the restroom, I grabbed a hunk of toilet paper to wipe off my sweating face. I looked at my watch. I had 10 minutes to get to the interview.  

With summer coming we’ll all be spending time at more third places — places where we hang out and socialize other than home or work. But between our trips to the ice cream parlor, the neighborhood pool and the park, the classic third place — the neighborhood coffee shop — won’t be forgotten.   

I recently read an article about making biodiesel fuel out of spent coffee grounds. The grounds yield stable oil that can be extracted and converted into a roasted-smelling fuel. Well, cars don’t run on coffee yet, but there is a place in Greater Cincinnati that exemplifies a kinship between cars and coffee.