Reset!

Ayuh. That's what we got here, a situation for a reset. In recent weeks, I've quit my second job and had a decided interest in refocusing on writing, specifically blogging. With a little luck, we'll start seeing some more posting action happening around here.

I need to figure out a better review system, something that can keep things more on an even keel. A rating system, perhaps, something that can rate specific things. Or categories. I dunno, and I'm rambling now. If you have any suggestions...please, offer them. I'm open to suggestions, 'cause I know I ain't the smartest clown in the blogosphere.

Right now I'm grappling with the best amount of sugar to put into my coffee. I like darker blends, which are pretty bitter if you take them straight. I also drink Folger's during the week, which is not exactly smooth. 1/2 & 1/2 helps, but it's not foolproof. When I go too light on the sugar, it's hard to keeping drinking it. The taste is lost in the bitterness.

Too much sugar? Not only do I start hearing "Diabetes runs in the family!" but only the first half is really drinkable. Sugar settles on the bottom as sugar is wont to do, and no amount of stirring will get it to dissolve evenly. By the time I'm in the bottom half of the mug, I'm grimacing just as bad as if I didn't put enough in.

Part of my problem is I don't really measure it in. I eyeball it, using a plain scoop. If I started using a measuring system, I'd at least be able to knowing how much is too much, etc and adjust.

But I'm resisting that. It seems too...artificial. Too mechanical. No feel. Am I just being an idiot? I think maybe.

Vacation

Hey everyone,

Sorry for the lack of posts the past two weeks. (The blank review has been removed, since it was...y'know, blank.)

I'm currently on vacation, visiting family in Colorado. That meant no time for posting this past weekend.

The weekend before, when I should have been creating filler material? I was off travelling, visiting a friend of mine who's going to be vanishing off to sea for nine months.

So...poor planning means I've let you blog readers down. But on the plus side, I think my priorities aren't TOO much outta whack.

Thanks for the patience, and regular posting will resume next week!

---John

Travel Mugs, Thermosae, the Worst Way to Start a Day and How to Avoid It

I haul myself into work for 4am each morning. That's...early. Really early. Especially when sometimes my other job keeps me out until 10pm. Do the math, and be appalled.

And understand why I leave home every morning with a full travel mug of coffee.

I started using Sarah's travel mug a while back because the ones I own don't fit in cupholders. Not in my car, not in the forklifts at work, nowhere. I kept setting the mugs down in the car, and getting spills. I kept setting them down at work, and forgetting them (and burning about a half hour a day hunting for the mug...not good if you want to keep getting paid).

Sarah's worked great tho. Wide top, skinny bottom. Fit into cupholders, kept 20 oz's of coffee pretty warm. I approved.

But. And there's always a but.

The lid doesn't stay on very well. If you look at it the wrong way, the lid pops off. Couple it with a sort of inherent instability (like I said, skinny bottom-wide top) and you get coffee on the floor.

I work with my hands, which means the cup gets put down a lot. I'm not an idiot, I pick pretty stable, out of the way places to put my coffee down on. Usually. But sometimes you can't. Or sometimes, a forklift will crash into the table, and rattle it enough the unstable mug falls and the weak lid comes off.

No coffee left. Not even a drop. This usually happens after a single mouthful of coffee or less.

I'd like to say this happened once before I found a solution. It actually occured six or seven times over a four month period. Once it happened twice in the same week.

Not. Good. Mornings.

I still use the same mug, but now I brew extra coffee and put it in a thermos. The thermos stays in the breakroom, so that if someone wipes out my coffee I'm not deprived of my caffeine for the morning. It's also a nice bonus to be able to refill my coffee cup...some days you just need an extra fix.

Redundancy redundancy redundancy. Learn from NASA, kids.