tea or coffee, anyone?
If you're like me, you're probably reading this or
blog-writing with a mug of tea or coffee alongside you. I
have to admit that I love the stuff -- I'm a caffeine addict.
Well, they do say that if you declare your addiction to
everyone, then you're on the way to overcoming it -- not
that I'll be doing so. If in years to come, caffeine is
deemed to be totally anti-social, and only the sort of thing
that down-and-outs do, then I'll be joining them with my mug
of tea, sitting on the pavement with my legs wide apart,
calling out to folk, "Can you spare a penny, luv, (for my
next fix)?" ... sorry that's grammatically incorrect ...
"Could you spare a penny, luv?"
One of our neighbours takes his (lap) dog for a walk round
the block in the mornings. It's a strange sight seeing him
walking along with his business clothes on, with the dog
some distance ahead on one of those extendable leads. In his
other hand, he holds a mug of coffee. Mrs C met him the other
day on her way into town, and chattted with him about his
walking the dog while drinking his coffee. "Oh, it's called
multi-tasking", he said. The dog's called Mabel, by the way.
I drink a fair amount of tea during the day, and usually have
a strong coffee mid-morning too. If I drink any caffeine later
than about 4pm, then I'm awake during the night quite a lot...
wide awake. Yesterday, I only had one mug of tea (Twinings
English Breakfast leaf tea, made to a medium brown boot polish
colour), and this morning I woke up with a mild muzzy headache
- you know that mild hang-over feeling the next day, when
you've had a little too much booze the night before? Well,
I've had this a few times, just with not drinking enough
caffeine the previous day.
I didn't realise what it was, until I read about it in a
medical textbook - it's a caffeine-withdrawal headache
suffered by addicts when they come off the stuff. So, now you
know.
About 20 years ago, I did go about 6 months on a caffeine
fast - drinking those flavourless decaffeinated substitutes
- not very nice, though I do drink them occasionally in the
evenings. I'd rather have something else, like one of those
fruit teas you can get in tea-bags. I mention this, because
when I went back to drinking ordinary tea & coffee, I noticed
an amazing difference in my alertness and drive -- like
suddenly changing cars and setting off in a Ferrari. Wow, I
felt alive again.
No wonder people say, "I'm dying for a cuppa!"
blog-writing with a mug of tea or coffee alongside you. I
have to admit that I love the stuff -- I'm a caffeine addict.
Well, they do say that if you declare your addiction to
everyone, then you're on the way to overcoming it -- not
that I'll be doing so. If in years to come, caffeine is
deemed to be totally anti-social, and only the sort of thing
that down-and-outs do, then I'll be joining them with my mug
of tea, sitting on the pavement with my legs wide apart,
calling out to folk, "Can you spare a penny, luv, (for my
next fix)?" ... sorry that's grammatically incorrect ...
"Could you spare a penny, luv?"
One of our neighbours takes his (lap) dog for a walk round
the block in the mornings. It's a strange sight seeing him
walking along with his business clothes on, with the dog
some distance ahead on one of those extendable leads. In his
other hand, he holds a mug of coffee. Mrs C met him the other
day on her way into town, and chattted with him about his
walking the dog while drinking his coffee. "Oh, it's called
multi-tasking", he said. The dog's called Mabel, by the way.
I drink a fair amount of tea during the day, and usually have
a strong coffee mid-morning too. If I drink any caffeine later
than about 4pm, then I'm awake during the night quite a lot...
wide awake. Yesterday, I only had one mug of tea (Twinings
English Breakfast leaf tea, made to a medium brown boot polish
colour), and this morning I woke up with a mild muzzy headache
- you know that mild hang-over feeling the next day, when
you've had a little too much booze the night before? Well,
I've had this a few times, just with not drinking enough
caffeine the previous day.
I didn't realise what it was, until I read about it in a
medical textbook - it's a caffeine-withdrawal headache
suffered by addicts when they come off the stuff. So, now you
know.
About 20 years ago, I did go about 6 months on a caffeine
fast - drinking those flavourless decaffeinated substitutes
- not very nice, though I do drink them occasionally in the
evenings. I'd rather have something else, like one of those
fruit teas you can get in tea-bags. I mention this, because
when I went back to drinking ordinary tea & coffee, I noticed
an amazing difference in my alertness and drive -- like
suddenly changing cars and setting off in a Ferrari. Wow, I
felt alive again.
No wonder people say, "I'm dying for a cuppa!"
posted by justin at 6:22 am
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3 Comments:
A friend of mine has just started a new job where they have to buy their coffee. She has had a headache for a few days now. Now we know why. :-D
When my caffeine-addicted husband quit coffee I did, too, as I couldn't make a really decent two cup pot, but even as a former two-a-dayer I suffered withdrawal headaches for weeks so I returned to my first caffeine love, tea, and as a result we are all tea addicted now. My kids are certainly the only kids we know who have their afternoon cuppa delivered to wherever they are after school... provided they're here in the house, that is!
Had an interesting run-in with your profession this week, Justin (see my blog). I appreciated his candid approach so much that by the time I left his office we were swapping jokes.
Katt & Andrea: thanks for dropping in again - always lovely to hear from you young people.
Andrea: your doctor does sound like Dr House -- he seems to know his stuff, and has a very blunt way of presenting it. One of our friends had the same foot problem with wearing flat shoes all the time.
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