Blog

• Thoughts on my trip to Montreal and Toronto January 08, 2026

  My family is scattered, but twice a year my siblings and our families converge. This year for the winter holidays we did a short trip to Montreal in addition to hanging out at my brother’s place in Toronto. It was a cold week which has resulted in some unplanned plumbing lessons: 1) If you’re going to be away and it might freeze, just pop the filter cartridges out and store them somewhere warm. That could save you a few hundred dollars in filters and a shipping delay! 2) It’s never too early to put in a blow out valve. It’s not easy to pop the water heater out like a filter, but if there’s any water in there, that might be another three-figure lesson.

• Some Unsorted Thoughts on Ordinal Time, Not Being a Cafe Person, and big(O) of learning January 07, 2026

  Scattered thoughts I’m not going to expand on here…

• GSBC ethos/values/philosophy January 05, 2026

  This is not the final word. Come back in 50 years and maybe I’ll have the final word then, but I doubt it. This is just a draft of some philosophical meanderings in the new year.

• A lesson in scheduling December 17, 2025

  This week I tried opening at 8:30 on Monday and Wednesday. And both mornings I was out the door before my wife had even woken up.

• Creating my own MBA September 29, 2025

  I’m going to keep saying this: Great South Bay Coffee is a lot of things. I contain multitudes, and so does my business, I suppose. But the big motivation for starting something was, and continues to be, about learning.

• What's in a name? September 24, 2025

  So many of the options available to American consumers (especially the options that are most obvious because of a substantial marketing budget) are overwhelmingly same-y. When you walk into a big box store and you’ll have roughly the same experience as you would anywhere else in the country. Fast-casual chains used to imitate the local restaurant (it’s been a while since I’ve been to Applebees… do they still do that?), but more often they look like they’re completely disconnected from any sense of place or identity. Like a brand new condo being staged for a sale: no history, no personality, just a blank slate that potential buyers can project their ideas on to. That’s a good idea for selling a condo, but it’s not a good way to make a place that people want to be.

• First Bit of Press September 21, 2025

  I was recently featured on Greater Long Island.

• GSBC, getting on the Information Super Highway September 17, 2025

  Hello, Internet!