OT - A salute to the greatest Canadian ever

No Ed - I'm not talking about Celine Dion here.  I'm not even talking about Gordy Howe.  I might be talking about Deamill, but he's still no doctor.

No, I'm talking about a man who changed the face of Canada forever.

Tim Horton.

Now, I don't know shit about the man himself, other than he played hockey and died in 1974.  I don't even know how much he had to do with the franchise as a whole.  What I do know is that Timmy's is everything Dunkin' Donuts wants to be when it grows up.

My first taste of the double-double


Now I don't normally drink fancy lattes or mochas, I tend to keep my coffee simple.  I usually drink French Press or drip coffee, but will get an Americano if the place doesn't have basic coffee.  I also have been known to order two or four shots of espresso and just drink them like - well, espresso.  The key point here is that 95% of the time, I drink plain old black coffee.  Like Dennis Leary said, coffee needs a cup - that's it.

Now when I first started working in Canada I was living in a Marriott hotel, and the only to-go coffee I could get was a Starbucks.  Now while I appreciate what they've done as a chain, I really don't enjoy Starbucks.  Every day though I'd get my Pike Roast coffee, walk the 3 or so blocks to Gulf Canada Square, and start my day.  Of course, there was one sight I always saw, and that's the line going around the corner at the Tim Horton's.  I couldn't figure it out.

So one day, after I'd complained (not for the first time) about some other coffee shop called "The Second Cup" and thier distinct lack of regular coffee, my team dragged me to Tim Horton's.  I of course ordered a black coffee (mocking those that ordered it with cream and sugar), and then I almost died.  It was delicious, and oh so amazingly strong.

So then it started, this love affair with Timmy.  First, it was delicious, and second, it was super cheap.  One twenty-five for a large coffee?  Yes please.  I expanded into the double-double on a bet, and I was hooked for life.  Real cream.  Real sugar.  As a going away gift my team bought me a 64oz mug (it was larger than my laptop), to help feed my addiction.

A recent reunion


So now I've been without the love of Timmy for about four years.  Then, just a few weeks ago, my in-laws returned from a foray into the Canadian wilderness and returned with a tin of Timmy's just for me.  My wife doesn't understand it, but she's certainly ready to drink the coffee.  I have to ration it out though.  This is my last can of Timmy's until September, when some friends of mine are going to Canada for an endurance race.  I'm trying to bribe one of them to smuggle a case across the border for me.

So to all the Canadians that I play with, I envy your access to this delicious nectar. Forget oil and gold, Timmy's is your greatest natural resource.

Tomorrow - Naga bindings!