Pokin went to Panama with her forum. She brought me. Smart.
She also brought Chestnut. Unnecessary.
Nicholas wasn’t on this trip because he somehow felt his brotherly duty of building a bathroom for his sister was more important than quality time with me. Whatever. His loss.
The Canal#
This was Pokin’s second time at the Panama Canal, which apparently helps with the retention of useless engineering facts. She got an insider’s tour of the Miraflores Locks control tower, heard the whole history again, and came back full of opinions about lock chambers and water levels.
The original control console is still there. Brass gauges, GE dials, manual switches. They built the thing that connects two oceans and operated it with equipment that looks like it belongs in a submarine from a movie.
Engineering marvel. Genuinely impressive. I respect anything that was built over a hundred years ago and still works exactly as intended. More than I can say for most apps.
The Beans#
Then Pokin went down a rabbit hole. A literal bean rabbit hole.
Geisha beans. The most expensive coffee beans in the world that haven’t been pooped out by an animal. (Excuse me? There are coffee beans that get pooped out by an animal? I have follow-up questions, but I’m choosing not to ask them.)
Here’s the thing about Geisha beans: they’re originally from Gesha, Ethiopia. Named after a Japanese word. Grown on the hills of Panama. A bean from Africa named in Japanese grown in Central America and sold for absurd amounts of money. Globalization is weird.
Naturally, Pokin wanted to buy some for Nicholas.
And went a little overboard.
Multiple bags of Geisha beans. Altieri Typica. Specialty everything. And then, because we were in cacao country, a mountain of Panama chocolate. Mahogany Chocolate. I Love Panama Chocolate. Raspao. Something from Barú.
I want it on the record that I was there specifically for the chocolate procurement. The coffee was Pokin’s thing. The chocolate was bear business.
The Homecoming#
Nicholas eventually finished his bathroom project and came home. This is what was waiting for him.
A brand new coffee maker. Premium beans. A whole setup.
And someone had found it first.
Peep. On the coffee maker. Already claimed it.
Of course. OF COURSE. You leave fancy Geisha beans unattended for five minutes and the yellow menace materializes on the machine like he was summoned by the aroma. He doesn’t even have hands. How did he get up there? HOW?
Nobody is safe from Peep when coffee is involved. Nobody.