Quitting Caffeine

This past holiday season, I decided to wean myself off of that most common of drugs: caffeine. While I admit I didn’t quit it cold turkey, I can say that I’ve pretty much eliminated the dependency on caffeine to get through the day. Yeay me.

So why quit caffeine in the first place? Simple: I was dependent on it. Not DT, cracked-out, gotta-have-it-to-function dependent. But if I didn’t have it by midday, I would get a headache and I became irritable. If I then downed a cup of coffee or had some black tea, I was better in a matter of minutes. I decided that while this was a sustainable way to live, I didn’t really love the fact that caffeine had become a sort of chemical overlord over my mood.

So, over the holiday, while we were back east visiting family, I decided that this was a long enough stretch of time to try to kick the habit, and see how I fared.

Day 1: The first day wasn’t great. I felt groggy all day, and I had an on-again, off-again headache. Fortunately, we didn’t have much to do beyond eat holiday dinners and sit around and chat with family and friends. Still, I can’t say I was the happiest of campers. I did consider having a bit of tea in the afternoon, but resisted.

Day 2: The next day was worse than the first. My headaches had gotten worse, to the point where I needed some over-the-counter pain killers to dull them. Irritability and grogginess went up a notch. In the afternoon I was definitely ready for a nap. Still, I didn't ingest any caffeine.

Day 3: On the third day, I woke up dreading the worst. Instead, I was...fine. No headaches. No grogginess. No irritability. I went through the day without any

Now, I didn't kick caffeine completely out of my lifestyle. It's hard to (I'm not giving up foods like chocolate, sorry). But I don't drink beverages containing it during weekdays, and I have an occasional coffee or black tea on the weekends, which doesn't relapse me.

I know I probably had it easy; there are people who drank much more caffeine per day than I did, and I imagine their withdrawal symptoms would be worse. Still, in the end I found that it was worth it. My mood and attention level, while different than when I was on caffeine, are fine. And I don't really crave it during the day.

Apparently, caffeine withdrawal is seen by some as a disorder, both mental and physical. Wow! I should have checked into rehab!

TSA Devises Another Way To Impinge On Your Privacy

It's just low-dose radiation. It'll see through your clothes, but not your skin. And don't worry, the people looking at your naked body will be in another room.

Thanks, TSA. You've given me one more reason to not want to fly.

Yahoo Mail's Beta Is Just Not Doing It For Me

When Yahoo Mail's beta UI came on the scene, I gave it a shot. I stuck with it for months. And today, I switched back to basic mode. Why? Simple. With all the glitz, the AJAX, the animated characters, and the hootin'-falootin' big-time splash that they're making this app out to be, I found I could read my mail less well, and less quickly, by using the beta UI. Specifically:

• The new UI is S-L-O-W. I spent more friggin time watching that stupid animated cartoon guy break-dancing, running from an ostrich, or getting a 1950's belt-round-the-waist workout than I did reading my email. When the app finally did load, switching between emails and performing basic actions like, oh, I dunno..."sending an email" or "deleting an email" took forever.
• The new UI was buggy. Today, regardless of how many times I refreshed, I couldn't get past a half-unrendered welcome screen.
• The new UI wasn't all that. Sure, you had tabs. Sure, it looked kinda like Outlook circa 2000. But I didn't feel that the presentation was really all that.

In the end, I decided to switch back. Now my Yahoo email client is uglier but darn fast and stable. No thanks, Yahoo. I'll stick with the boring Web 1.0 version of your mail client. Hey, at least it works.

Playing The Bagpipes

Yes, I play the pipes. And now I have pictures to prove it. These were taken at a recent WPA indoor competition.





Yes, you may now insert your obligatory kilt jokes here.

It's Just Like A Mini-Mall

Question: what do you get when you mix an enthusiastic, rapping shop owner, a beat, and two minutes of video? Answer: a highly amusing commercial.

I disagree with the YouTube title. I wouldn't call this the worst commercial ever. I still claim King & Bunny's holds that title.

I Lit A Number

OK, I promise not to make this a blog about darfurwall.org. But I couldn't help posting one more update about it. Several days ago I finally lit up a number, 7179, on the wall. High time, I know, especially after lauding the wall, blogging about one of the founders, Jonah, and such. If you click on the number on the right-hand column, it'll take you to the site where you can check out the latest wall status and, yes, you too can light one up.

Further Proof That Starbucks Coffee Is Bad

Consumer Reports' testers deem McDonald's coffee better than Starbucks, giving McD's brew a "decent", while Starbucks got a "burnt and bitter". Not a surprise that Starbucks has the nickname of "Charbucks" in these parts.

I had a guy tell me once that the reason that Starbucks was so popular was because of the quality of their coffee. Bullcrap. They sell ambiance and atmosphere, and have elevated a beverage to a status symbol. That, and familiarity and marketing, is why people buy Starbucks' coffee, not because of its quality.