Thursday, June 3, 2010
Cheap Eats Never the Same Thing Twice at Vending Spree Blog
Posted by Nicki Wood on Thu, Jun 3, 2010 at 8:20 AM
Seattle blogger Matt Baldwin was stoked about it, as he writes in the first entry on vendingspree.com:
"KitKat Crisp? Famous Amos Cookies? Beef Jerky?! HAVE I DIED AND GONE TO HEAVEN OR AT LEAST PURGATORY WHICH AS I UNDERSTAND IT IS ESSENTIALLY HEAVEN’S RECEPTION AREA AND WOULD THEREFORE BE MORE LIKELY TO HAVE SUN CHIPS FOR SALE?! My reaction to the machine was not unlike that of the apes to the monolith in 2001: fear, followed by awe, followed by tentative touching, followed by the the braining of a boar via femur."
The enchanted Matt vowed to eat and review every item from the vending machine ("Iam going to consume and review every item in my office vending machine and there is nothing you can do to stop me"). Hey, it's not an impossible dream: One commenter called his local machine "a good machine with lots of range and depth."
Still, there's stuff in there that might make you hesitate. Tuna salad kit. Gum. Whatever it is, on a blog like Matt's, the writing is the point, and I find myself checking in often for his take on, say, the cashews, which happened to be roasted in peanut oil.
"If you’re a nut and you have to be roasted in the oil of another nut just to get eaten, do us all a favor and go extinct."
Yeah, the cashew lovers got all bowed up about that. As always, the comments are almost as good as the post.
Clif bar, cup noodles, Pop Tarts — the blog's just a few weeks along, plenty of heaven, or perhaps purgatory, left.
Comments (6)
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That is an impressive vending machine! I wish my office machine was half as nice as that one. The vending machines at the office gym (run by the same company but several blocks away) are healthy with baked chips, granola bars, Welch's fruit snacks, gatorade, water. Instead my office machine has spicy cheetos, Texas honey buns that are 3 years old, and 20oz coke.
The vending machine at my work has pork rinds. I almost fainted when I saw them there the other day.
Oh, and did I mention the kicker? I work at a health insurance company.
Actually, the vending machines at Metro General Hospital are about like this -- some semi-healthy selections and 29 kinds of chips. And there's also a frozen food vending machine with Michaelina's and Lean Cuisines.
A boss once asked for our input on what we'd like to see in the vending machine. Here's what I said: Fig Newtons; Fritos (original, no fancy BBQ or other flavors that might contain MSG); pretzels; Take 5 bar; Mounds bar. We ended up moving offices, so the point was moot.
Unlike Mr. Vending Spree, I love, love, LOVE cashews, but I prefer them roasted but unsalted, and that's never going to be available in any vending machine. However CVS' brand of unsalted cashews is really delicious, so that's what I tend to keep in my desk for hunger emergencies.
