Still, he rolls up in his Hyundai Accent with Texas plates to the Starbucks on Georgesville Road on the Far West Side and tells a brand-new acquaintance to order him a coffee without the bells and whistles for which the chain is famous.

He wants it "short" and black -- no cream, no sugar.

The 35-year-old computer programmer is visiting Columbus not simply to drink 4 ounces of coffee that he doesn't love or hate but to continue his pursuit of an enduring mission: to patronize every Starbucks in the world.

That's 13,168 -- and counting. (Starbucks opens an average of three new stores a day.)

For yesterday's visit to be official, Winter -- he legally changed his name but keeps his reasoning, and his given name, to himself -- must drink at least 4 ounces of coffee at each Starbucks and take a photograph of the place.

Those are his rules.

The Georgesville franchise is No. 7,200 -- give or take several -- on the list of stores he has visited in the past 10 years.

He doesn't have an exact number, he says, because he is too busy hitting an average of seven stores a day during his latest 8½-week cross-country journey.

He'll continue his efforts, he says, for as long as it takes.

"The idea was a random idea that occurred to me while sitting at a Starbucks" -- one where he is accustomed to stopping because of its proximity to his work and apartment.

"My desire to do something unique motivated me to start."

The goal also fits his philosophy of life: "A human that is not acting out of purpose is no different from an animal. So to be human, you must have a purpose."

Amid comic-book collecting, Scrabble competitions and contractual programming work, he routinely tours the nation in his Hyundai.

His job, advertisements on his Web site (www.starbuckseverywhere.net) and donations pay for his goal.

jjacobs@dispatch.com