Daily Grind

Life is good. Or is it? We work hard, we play hard, and we have more stuff. But we're stressed out, swimming in debt and spending more time working than with family and friends. And, we know we're doing it. According to a survey released by the Center for a New American Dream in Takoma Park, most Americans think that society's priorities are too focused on work and money, and not enough on family and community. That knowledge, though, isn't enough to squelch our often-frantic lifestyles.

Christmas, New Year's closings listed County government offices, courts, animal shelter, library branches and the landfill will be closed for Christmas Day, Dec. 25, and for New Year's Day, Jan. 1. Libraries will also be closed Dec. 24 and will close at 5 p.m. Dec. 31. The landfill will close two hours early on Christmas Eve. There will be no trash or recycling pickup on either holiday. Households scheduled for Thursday pickup for trash or recycling will have next-day pickup Dec. 26 and Jan. 2. Parking meters are free on Christmas Day and New Year's Day. Howard Transit buses will not run on Christmas Day and New Year's Day. Group needs volunteers The Volunteer Center serving Howard County, in cooperation with the Community Emergency Response Network, is recruiting and referring community members to local nonprofit and government agencies that need volunteers for disaster preparedness and recovery.

A line of folks stood sipping lattes outside a Fells Point coffee shop yesterday afternoon. They would have sat, but -- alas -- by city decree, the Daily Grind has no right to outdoor chairs. This is news to the hundreds of customers who have taken their coffee along with a waterfront view for years at the Thames Street coffeehouse's outdoor tables. The Daily Grind found out this month that although it had permits for outdoor seating, the city issued them in error. So when neighbors complained this month about noise, the city said the tables and chairs had to go. Daily Grind owner David Key taped signs in his shop's front window apologizing for the vanished seats and urging upset customers to come inside and sign a petition.

There are a million parking-ticket stories in this city and this is another one, because parking here has always been the emotional equivalent of death by paper-cuts. The visitors' bureau people are always shouting: "Come to our great city! Stay at our hotels! Eat in our restaurants! Enjoy our nightlife!" Sure. Just don't try to find a parking space. And even if you do find a parking space, get ready for something strange to happen. Look, I parked at a meter years ago and when I returned two hours later, a man was kissing the meter next to mine.

Mixing work with pleasure: It's not just for workaholics anymore. Take Michael Reardon. He looks like your average vacationer, strolling with his wife, Paula, and son, Dutch, down the boardwalk at Rehoboth Beach in Delaware. But wait. What's that black thing stuck to the waist of Michael's Bermuda shorts? It looks as if it could go off at any second. "My wife used to get upset, but I think she understands now," explains Reardon, a purchasing manager with a Philadelphia chemical company.

An incorrect name was given Friday for the Daily Grind in Fells Point in an interview with "Homicide" actress Isabella Hofmann.The Sun regrets the errors.

An Owings Mills coffee company is suing the Howard County Library and the county government for picking the Daily Grind to manage its two library cafes, alleging that the Grind falsified information in its bid proposal and library officials didn't properly check into the business. Straight From Seattle Espresso Inc., which operates 10 sites in Washington and Baltimore, wants the library system to start the bidding over again. "You have to play by the rules, and you have to disclose all that's asked for," said Matthew McCauley, who owns the company with his wife, Ashley.

Nixon's Farm will begin selling coffee and food at the central and Glenwood branches of the Howard County Public Library on Monday, after months of caffeine-free operation at the locations. Library administrators finalized an agreement yesterday with the family-run farm, which offers catering and sponsors events on its property in West Friendship. It also has a contract with the county to run cafe operations at the George Howard Building and the Circuit Court. "Our customers will be elated," said Valerie Gross, the library director.

Another Irish pub/restaurant has come to Baltimore. Tir Na Nog Irish Bar & Grill opened its doors in Harborplace last weekend in the space that used to be the upstairs of Planet Hollywood. General Manager Liam Kelly says the name -- pronounced just as it looks -- means "land of eternal youth." He says it is the third Tir Na Nog. The first is across the street from Madison Square Garden in New York City, and the second is near City Hall in Philadelphia. Liam himself comes from the land of the green, and so does everything inside the restaurant, except the TVs and outside furniture.

A two-alarm fire swept through a strip of Roland Park businesses in the 500 block of W. Cold Spring Lane, destroying a sandwich shop and a remodeling company and damaging several other shops early yesterday. The blaze started about 1:30 a.m. in a building that was home to three businesses - a Subway sandwich shop; Thomson Remodeling Co., a residential contracting company; and the former location of Carmen's of Roland Park Family Cuts barbershop, fire officials said. Six engines and 46 firefighters brought the blaze under control at 2:49 a.m., fire officials said.

CALL IT A NO-HURRIES WEEKEND. THE object is to take a getaway but to go slowly, engaging in a meditation of movement and enjoying the journey as much as the destination. That is the answer to those who wonder why anyone would take a six-hour train-and-bus ride from Washington to Virginia Beach when Southwest Airlines offers one-hour, nonstop service from BWI Marshall Airport. A curse upon those who insist that the trip begins when the traveling ends. Getaways are supposed to divert the daily grind -- when we navigate the city's congestion-clogged roads en route to work, zoom to the pharmacy and bank before they close, dash to church or our child's soccer practice or to the mall, with hopes of finding a good parking space.

Life is good. Or is it? We work hard, we play hard, and we have more stuff. But we're stressed out, swimming in debt and spending more time working than with family and friends. And, we know we're doing it. According to a survey released by the Center for a New American Dream in Takoma Park, most Americans think that society's priorities are too focused on work and money, and not enough on family and community. That knowledge, though, isn't enough to squelch our often-frantic lifestyles.

Whether you go to get juiced before a bar tour or just camp out for conversation, coffeehouses are ideal down-tempo destinations for a TV-less evening. (Laptops are OK, though.) A few cafes around town are open late enough to serve as post-dinner hangouts. All four of these have wireless Internet access. Though its kitchen closes at 10:30 p.m., One World Cafe (100 W. University Parkway, 410-235-5777) serves coffee, tea and other drinks 8 a.m.-2 a.m. Mondays-Saturdays. It's open Sundays, too, just not as late: 8 a.m.-5 p.m. The walls are deep yellow, and the crowd -- a lot of Johns Hopkins University students and staff -- is friendly.

Another Irish pub/restaurant has come to Baltimore. Tir Na Nog Irish Bar & Grill opened its doors in Harborplace last weekend in the space that used to be the upstairs of Planet Hollywood. General Manager Liam Kelly says the name -- pronounced just as it looks -- means "land of eternal youth." He says it is the third Tir Na Nog. The first is across the street from Madison Square Garden in New York City, and the second is near City Hall in Philadelphia. Liam himself comes from the land of the green, and so does everything inside the restaurant, except the TVs and outside furniture.

A line of folks stood sipping lattes outside a Fells Point coffee shop yesterday afternoon. They would have sat, but -- alas -- by city decree, the Daily Grind has no right to outdoor chairs. This is news to the hundreds of customers who have taken their coffee along with a waterfront view for years at the Thames Street coffeehouse's outdoor tables. The Daily Grind found out this month that although it had permits for outdoor seating, the city issued them in error. So when neighbors complained this month about noise, the city said the tables and chairs had to go. Daily Grind owner David Key taped signs in his shop's front window apologizing for the vanished seats and urging upset customers to come inside and sign a petition.

NOW THAT Deion Sanders has signed a one-year contract, it's time for the tricky part. The Ravens' coaching staff and front office has to find a way to slowly mesh Sanders' fluff-and-puff, strut-your-stuff personality into a blue-collar locker room. The players have been publicly saying the right things since the story broke nearly two weeks ago, but privately some are questioning if the Ravens are about to become the Washington Redskins by bringing in a high-priced free agent, and possibly bailing on a philosophy that relies on teamwork and chemistry.

Michael Mir left for Florida so quietly last summer that few knew he had sold his Persian restaurant, the Orchard Market and Cafe (8815 Orchard Tree Lane, Towson, 410-339-7700). The transition was seamless, in part because the new owners are no strangers to the place.Jason Bulkeley was the former manager, his wife, Sharareh, also worked there, his mother-in-law, Nahid Vaezpour, was and still is the chef and his brother-in-law Majid Kamoei is sous chef.The menu remains much the same, with the most popular dishes being an eggplant and artichoke heart appetizer, duck with pomegranate and walnut sauce, almond-crusted salmon with yogurt cilantro sauce and dried-plum braised lamb with grilled vegetables and butternut squash.

NEW YORK -- More than 100 prominent New York women called on the Senate yesterday to appoint its only two female members to the committee that will hear Anita Hill's allegations of sexual harassment against Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas.And when the 125 women, who were meeting at New York University, were asked to stand and be counted if they had ever been the victim of sexual harassment on the job, nearly all did.Led by Marie Wilson, executive director of the Ms. Foundation for Women, leaders of organizations signed a telegram urging the Senate to appoint Sens.

I S ANY COFFEE worth $35 a pound? The long answer would be that it all depends on your values, your palate and your sense of style. The short answer would be that it depends on your wallet. Hooking up with a high-priced coffee can become a high-maintenance affair. Instead of merely being a morning stimulant, a pot of coffee becomes an investment. You feel obligated to take care of it properly, to whisk it away from the burner before its prized volatile oils dissipate. You find yourself carefully pouring a freshly brewed batch into an insulated thermos, then carrying the vessel with you all day, sneaking sips in midafternoon.

Blue Blood, by Edward Conlon. Riverhead Books. 512 Pages. $26.95 Every cop has a story to tell, and many officers dream of writing books about "the Job," as their work is sometimes known. One officer I met in Baltimore clips every newspaper story about the department and glues them neatly into a scrapbook, right next to his own notes. One day, he says, he will write a memoir. Fortunately, few officers publish autobiographies. Most have trouble writing and spelling -- I have seen the evidence contained in hundreds of police reports and court documents loaded with poor grammar and nonsensical sentences.