Caf-fiend.

I'm back on caffeine. It just happened! I didn't mean it to be like this, but I can't control it, I neeeeeed it.

I was doing great for a while. One coffee, maybe two, a week. "Just a taste" I'd tell myself, "just to keep it under control." I thought I could stop if I wanted, whenever I wanted to, but last week, when the going got rough, I ran straight into caffeine's loving arms. Hell, I practically knocked down the door to the coffee place.

I'm not trying to make excuses, it's just, I had a really bad week last week. Insolent Bob was in rare form (at one point threatening to fire me - no, really), work was super busy, I hadn't been getting much sleep, deadlines were fast approaching, and I just needed a break!

So I bought coffee. Coffee is an escape. I took a walk. I didn't mean to end up in front of a Dunkin Donuts, it just happened. Before I knew it I'd walked in and ordered "small coffee, dark, with sugar."

I started justifying, "it's just a small coffee. just to get me through to lunch time. it's no big deal"

Well, IT IS A BIG DEAL!!!

By Wednesday I was ordering two small coffees at a time! "They're smalls, it's not as bad as ordering one medium!" On Thursday I had four cups! In one day! After being so good for so long! ON FRIDAY I ORDERED AN EXTRA LARGE ICED COFFEE!!! (I blame global warming)

And now, here I sit, in the clutches of full-on caffeine dependency. I'm hooked. I admit it, freely, and without reserve.

I LIKE MY COFFEE, OK? And you know what else? I'm never going back. There. I said it. I'm staying put, right here, on the caffeinated side of the fence. The rest of you? You non-jittery bastards? Yeah, you can just sit over there, where the world makes sense without coffee, and look at me, the guy with the shaky hands and enjoy the view. My brain's operating at a whole new level now. A whole new level.

I'm making connections and thinking new thoughts, I'm following the bean from the stalk to the roaster to the grinder to the cup. I'm thinking, we've got vanilla coffee, why not cherry vanilla coffee? I'm thinking of moving to a light-roast! OOh. I bet you didn't know light roast has more caffeine than dark roast, did you? Did you!?

Coffee is good for the immune system too. Lots of anti-oxidants to prevent aging, helps respiration and blood flow too. You didn't know that either, did you?

I knew you didn't. Well, now you do. And it's all thanks to coffee.

-t