Black for good

Ka is soaked. Ka, along with a bunch of friends and acquaintances, have been standing in Hampden all evening, listening to, watching, and no doubt screaming passionately, at Take That who have arrived in Glasgow today, tonight being the first of three live shows they are putting on for all the Scottish fans. It’s now a sisterly tradition for Ka and Angela to go to Hampden to see “their boys” every time the Manchester group venture this far up the country. Being Ka and Angela they are not just simply going to a gig though. No. When Ka and Angela go to a gig together, they’ve got to do it with some style. So following the buying of concert tickets Angela hires a chauffeur limo to take them all to Hampden along with a few bottles of champagne and no doubt a couple of bags of nibbles for good luck. They’ll be lucky if the limo doesn’t get mobbed by confused Take That fans, believing their stretched car to be full of Manchester pop stars.
Apparently the weather has not been kind tonight and even after the delights of a few bottles of champagne, Ka moaned over the phone with the need for a cup of tea.
Ka never drinks tea? I’m the tea drinker of the house, or the Tea Jennie, as my Aunt Mina used to call me. Ka’s a coffee girl and very rarely accepts an offer of the golden Char. If, on the odd occasion, she ever does drink tea, there has to be a bar of Dairy Milk involved. She’s black coffee, all the way, without fail. I’m the opposite and never drink coffee. Though I have been tempted recently.
A few weeks back we splashed out and, with the help of some near out of date Currys vouchers we’d received at our Wedding from Colin and Jillian, bought ourselves a Tassimo machine.
It’s all very impressive. Sitting there in the kitchen, it’s sleak, polished black form standing tall at one side of the kitchen intimidating the white plastic kettle on the other side of the room. The kettle with it’s slightly stained exterior, cowers on the other side of the kitchen, it’s one sole switch wearing away with age and it’s one light no competition against the flashing greens and reds which flicker on and off with the production of the near instantaneous coffees. The tea pot stands by the kettle, like a trusted friend also aging and in need of replacement, standing firm like a stubborn General, refusing to retire or retreat.
The Tassimo produces some great smells too but, so far, even the aroma from the small pots placed inside the machine which churn out the perfect cups of coffee have not been enough to sway me to the dark side yet. However, it is surprisingly flexible for a coffee machine. It produces Hot Chocolates too. Lattes, Mochas, Espressos, Creamy Tiramisu delights and, wait for it, tea! Yes, instead of having to put a teabag in a mug or teapot, go to the efforts of swirling it about and adding milk and any of the other ritualistic rigmaroles you go through in order to make your own cup of Rosy Lee all you have to do is simply insert a Twinings Tea disc of English Breakfast, Green Tea, Earl Grey or, my favourite, Darjeeling, and it does it all for you.
Well, when I say it does it all for you, you still have to change the T disc to the Milk variety in order to get your dairy hit, which means more fiddling with the machine cap, more pressing of buttons and waiting on more lights changing colour.
In fact, it’s all way too much hassle for me. Even after I bought a pack of Darjeeling discs, in order to get some use out of the the Tassimo for myself, I’ve yet to use it.
I’ll stick with the General and the kettle, which I’ll just go and put on for Ka coming in.