Lets get serious!

[Jason Batten]

CAFFEINE! its a treatment for sleep but how do you get your dose of this great resource?

I drink NesCafe blend 43, NesCafe gold, and NesCafe Espresso each has different effects and tastes. Although coffee isn't my only source of caffeine. I naturally drink Coke as well as Pepsi. Red bull didn't last very long for me, the effects where nothing after the third bottle. It has no effect anymore although the first was interesting :D due to my intolerance of illegal drugs I am weak to the legal substances... and skittles *twitches

When I was younger I use to drink Jolt Cola and snort wizz fizz ( a sherbet 'candy'), I would still drink jolt cola now if I could find it! Might have to order it from the US :(

Adding sugar, heaps of sugar to coke gives interesting effects. Although I would not suggest that one due to diabetes :bemused:

If only vodka made me stay awake… it has other effects, it’s known as the “leg spreader” here in Australia ;)

So with my confessions of doing lines of wizz fizz at age 9 while popping skittles on the side. What do you do to STAY AWAKE!?

*plummets face first into the keyboard

[dalecosp]

Nothing.

AAMOF, I've more or less sworn off caffeine. Why, you might ask?

I am, by first profession, a musician. I picked up the computer thing after that career (partially) ended.

When I was still a HS music teacher, one morning I walked into band rehearsal (first hour), and started the warm up scales.

It sounded terrible, and it shouldn't have, because I was blessed with a fairly smart and well-trained small ensemble of HS musicians. Hearing garbage coming from in front of me, I checked trombone slide positions as we ran up and down the scales and warm-ups. All pretty much OK (one not-so-bright kid missed Ab a time or two, but otherwise, no problems visible).

I said nothing to the kids, and led them into the contest pieces (late Feb./early March; if you ever did this in the USA and remember, that's what you're really working hard on at that time of year). They sounded awful, too. We plugged away, but I couldn't stop them to say much because most every note/chord sounded off, and I couldn't tell how nor why.

Rehearsal period over, I had three girls step into the office --- my "power trio" from chorus; every one of them had made "All-District" the previous year. I'd heard their pieces last week, and they were good. How did it sound? Awful!

After school I went to see an "ears/eyes/nose/throat" doc. What did he have to say? "Welcome to the ranks of normal people. Hearing accurate musical pitches requires good high frequency hearing, and as we age, we all lose some of that . . ."

Well, I thought as I left --- B.S! I can hear the notes of the top of the piano, or the piccolo, it's just that they suck today. F-sharp doesn't sound like F-sharp, E Major Seven sounds like a train whistle in a wind tunnel, melodies sound like random bleeps from a Nintendo, and harmony doesn't exist anymore because nothing sounds consonant any longer . . .

That night, I suffered, and I do mean suffered, much more than usual as my wife's family rehearsed their "Southern Gospel" music. I'm not a "Southern Gospel" fan on my best days, and that night it sounded like the place its supposed to warn you away from . . .

I suffered another day at school and afterwards went to the audiology center and the biggest hospital in the area.

30 minutes later, with hearing tests completed (freaky to be in a **really** sound-proof environment), I'm going over a long, long list of "medical history" type questions with the audiologist. For a while there, it got interesting:

"Syphilis"? --- No.

"Gonorrhea"? --- NO.

"Do you drink much coffee"? No . . . why?

"Well, too much caffeine causes swelling and fluid retention in various bodily tissues, including the inner ear . . ."

Boom. I had a daily six to 10 Coke® habit, and loved to have tea when I got home.

Apparently, caffeine-induced distention of the cochlea caused many of my aural nerve endings to be "displaced" and my brain was having trouble processing the vibrations accurately since they were hitting different endings than usual...two weeks on water and Sprite and things began to get back to normal, and we actually had a decent contest season. I probably have about 95% or more of my "pitch sense" and musical confidence back.

In retrospect, I think maybe God was telling me that I wasn't His only gift to the musical world. But it was definitely caffeine that caused the actual problem . . .

So, if I need to stay awake, it's willpower, or nothing . . . .

[Jason Batten]

*puts his coffee mug down and pushes it to the side

*soaks up the sound of Robbie Williams playing live... on winamp

Well there goes another thing that is too bad for you. Although 6 to 10 cokes in a day is a tad over board! Was that 600ml bottles or 375ml cans? :confused:

[Weedpacket]

Greg Egan (http://gregegan.customer.netspace.net.au/index.html), Distress
I'd tried caffeine a few times; it made me believe I was focused and energetic, but it turned my judgement to ****. Widespread use of caffeine explained a lot about the twentieth century.

I disagree myself. I blame ties; and I'm trying to find a black market ritalin supplier.

[Shrike]

Originally posted by NetNerd85
*soaks up the sound of Robbie Williams playing live... on winamp

Argh, surely caffeine makes that sound better ;)

[leatherback]

/me chewing coffe-beans for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Hm.. Kind-a-crunchy!

[Weedpacket]

Oh, yes, I remember writing that (http://www.phpbuilder.com/board/showthread.php?s=&postid=10417495#post10417495).

(And on a childish note: w00t! for a childish reason that not even I really care about.)

[vaaaska]

I've actually hallucinated on coffee beans (and lattes). We had a mountain of them plus we had a friend close-by who had a coffee shop so we all got completely mind-bendingly sick on caffeine.

People got all wavy.

On a tangent, I also once drank tea strained through 15 cigarettes. Ummm, instant sickness. I don't smoke and never have.

Oh, to be young and completely stupid - those were the days. ;)

These days I feel crazy if I use too much garlic in whatever I'm cooking.

[goldbug]

Just Diet Coke for me :(


... but as soon as this silly weight-loss contest is over, back to "real" drinks :D

[dalecosp]

silly weight loss contestHeh, I entered a contest for a mostly-female office north of here recently.

I must have been on caffeine (Ooh, cheap 'save') that day, though, because I weighed in holding my laptop.

Now, every time I go in they make me hold a laptop so I don't "cheat" and take the pot . . . :rolleyes:

[goldbug]

Originally posted by dalecosp
Heh, I entered a contest for a mostly-female office north of here recently.

I must have been on caffeine (Ooh, cheap 'save') that day, though, because I weighed in holding my laptop.

Now, every time I go in they make me hold a laptop so I don't "cheat" and take the pot . . . :rolleyes:
Cheater. :D

Looking back now, I should have drank like a gallon of water before the initial weigh-in. :D Oh well, I guess I'll lose it the hard way :) (25 down, 10-15 to go)

[Elizabeth]

Originally posted by goldbug
(25 down, 10-15 to go) wtg, GB! You looked fine, before though - why the challenge?

------

On the caffiene topic- I remember in 9th grade physics class taking Vivarin to stay awake; it was awful. Supposedly that was a 'safe alternative to coffee' but somehow I don't think that getting "the shakes" is safe on any level. But as vaaska said, to be young and stupid...

[BuzzLY]

I've lost a bit of weight myself over the last week -- although it was the Bend-Over-the_Porcelain flu for a week.

I don't recommend it.

[goldbug]

Originally posted by Elizabeth
wtg, GB! You looked fine, before though - why the challenge?

Looking != being. 220 was a smidge unhealthy for my size. 180-190 is where I'm hoping to remain. Plus, the contest is for money prizes, top three "losers" get paid :)

[Jason Batten]

Loose weight? I'm 55kgs :eek:

I am "medically" under weight :rolleyes:

I am trying to gain weight. No matter what I do its not easy. I am slowly trying to build muscle weight but that is harder than gaining weight. It would be easier to build muscle if I had more fat too.

Oh the troubles of being boney :bemused:

[justsomeone]

coffee is overrated. IMHO

A couple of cups of decaff gets me through the day.

[Weedpacket]

I'm wondering whether I should bother with coffee now. I could have a couple of cups, and an hour later I have trouble staying awake. I guess all my adenosine receptors have permanently clogged up.

But it still tastes nice, and I still regard the ease of access to coffee as one of the benchmarks for claims to civilisation.

[Elizabeth]

Originally posted by BuzzLY
...it was the Bend-Over-the_Porcelain flu for a week. Wow, that sucks Buzz! Did you at least get to stay home from work for a few days? :)

[BuzzLY]

Yeah, yesterday was my first full day back in over a week. No more praying to the porcelain gods, but still not 100%. This thing does NOT want to leave me.

[pohopo]

i can't survive without coffee. and i am naturally a lean mean machine. i eat real healthy so never had a problem with weight.

[AstroTeg]

I try to limit my caffeine intake to two cans of pop a day. More often its 3 because I probably went out to lunch or dinner and had some then too. I end up nursing the can for a good several hours which probably destroys my teeth but leaves me on a gentle and steady caffeine buzz. Coffee is too bitter for me and I generally don't like hot drinks.

I'm still going to school for my 4 year degree and I've taken calculus 1 way too many times. Because of that, I re-took precalculus (evening class, no time for dinner). As an experiment, on the night we had quizes, I would have my morning can of pop and then in the afternoon, drink about 1L of water (over a 3 hour period usually). It was almost night and day when the quiz scored rolled in. With water, I would be consistent and score 18 or 19 out of 20. But I had a few quizes where I was lazy in the afternoon and drank pop instead. I'd practically bomb the quiz with scores ranging from 9-14 out of 20. I only did that a few times and it was enough to convince me to drink water on quiz days. End result: A in precalc and an A- in calculus 1.

[davidjam]

I'm down to one large cup a day, in the morning. I used to buy the starbucks beans, now I just buy Folgers 100% Columbian.

Actually, coffee is kind of good for you: it's a diuretic, so it keeps the kidneys working pretty good, as long as you don't drink too much you get to keep your pottassium. It's also a "digestive bitter". If anyone knows about the "bitter principle" in natural medicine -- basically encourages liver function (bile and all that). So it purifies the liver and helps digest crud and stuff (while not directly). Also it is a safe stimulant, again, in moderation. I read somewhere else a number of other benefits like anti-oxidant, anti-cancer, etc, but I threw away the write-up.

Sounds pretty good eh? :)

[Jason Batten]

So you're saying we can drink vodka and coffee together and be healthy? :eek:

[leatherback]

Yes. but you have to keep it in a diet of fruits and veggies:

> Chocolate
> Whine
> Sugar

[Drakla]

I recently got give 11 bags of Segafredo coffee beans, but don't have a grinder.

Do you absolutely have to have a tool made for the job, or would a blender do the trick? I don't want to open one just to end up wasting it.

Cup a' tea is definitely the business, though - made in a pot. Teabag in cup === RAAAAANK

[davidjam]

Coffee beans need a coffee bean grinder.

If you've got primo beans, keep the bags refigerated and don't open until you are going to use them. Fresh ground beans make the best coffee! Enjoy.:)

[bubblenut]

Originally posted by davidjam
Coffee beans need a coffee bean grinder.

Nah they don't, I've done them in the liquidiser before.

[vaaaska]

I've been drinking green tea lately. Man it's good.

So, the other day I get all ambitious and make a huge jar of sun-baked ice tea. I let the teabags stew for hours and then put it all in the fridge. Once it was nice and cold I had a few glasses.

Oh yeah, guess what!

The cheap Lipton teas have caffeine in them. And if you allow them to stew for hours they just get that much stronger.

I accomplished nothing that day...instead I had to play video games, go for walks and wonder if the end was really here.

Bad stuff...

[Drakla]

You've talked me into it. Being as I've got more beans that I can possibly ever use I'm going to give the liquidizer a whirl.

I never get affected by the caffeine thing. I used to drink loads of coffee, now I drink shed loads of tea a day, even fill a milk bottle up and take it in the bath or when I go out. But man, do I play video games. If I'm not programming I'm fidgetting for something to do and it first the bill nicely. PS do NOT let girls know of the existence of Super PANG or Bust A Move.

I recently bought a load of cheap green tea, normal and Earl Grey. The normal sometimes tastes like a packet of fags, but mostly it's ok. I'll try the ice tea thing - what do you do? Just make it and put it in the fridge? Do you add lemon or anything?

[justsomeone]

Originally posted by bubblenut
Nah they don't, I've done them in the liquidiser before.

And my missus uses some kind of a nut grinder to grind the coffee. Or maybe she uses a coffee grinder to crush nuts. Hmm... :confused:

Either way, we don't have a specialised tool for one of the jobs.

And before you start, no-one's going to appreciate any way in which you can refer to Mrs Someone and "nut grinder" in the same sentence. It just won't be funny and will make baby deities cry. So resist the temptation. Don't do it.

[vaaaska]

But really, is coffee a 'serious' drink? (Note the title of this thread).

I consider a Coors light with a shot of vodka to be a serious drink. Of course, I've never had such, only witnessed it in action.

[Weedpacket]

Originally posted by dalecosp
Now, every time I go in they make me hold a laptop so I don't "cheat" and take the pot . . . :rolleyes: Now I realise why this has been bothering me.


$dalecosp_recorded_weight = $dalecosp_measured_weight + LAPTOP_WEIGHT;

[Drakla]

Kenwood Chefette worked well, but had to do a bit of tickling with a wooden skewer as the powder turns itself into some amazing stratification of ground-ness, fine light stuff on the bottom, chunky boulders on top.

And it tastes like coffee bought in a shop.