Tag Archives: caffeine

Where Did I Put My Panache?

Posted on May 23, 2024 by mohawkvalleygirl

Another early morning late post. I made myself take a walk before posting, in hopes I would be inspired or at least less grumpy. The beauty part of that was, my coffee finished brewing while I walked. I am mostly cheered right now because I realized I could accurately say “my coffee brewed” instead of “my coffee dripped.” So while I am still not perky, at least I am not a drip. Enough of that brew-ha-ha (see what I did there?). On with the post.

I will never be this skinny.

Apparently I am not caffeinated enough, because I put that picture then went blank. This is largely in an effort not to complain about my ongoing physical and mental ills, which I am sure are not that bad, especially in comparison with what others deal with with panache. I need to get some of that there panache.

Regarding the upcoming three day weekend (and please allow me to be delighted about it; I spent years working holidays), I have plans with my family so will not be able to indulge in any Mohawk Valley Adventures. Regarding that parenthetical comment, yes, I know, first responders (why is my Chromebook underlining that?), healthcare workers, and other important people work holidays. I was never that important, but we are not talking about me. Oh wait, yes we are. It is my blog.

A tribute to those fallen.

I put in a picture appropriate to Memorial Day, before I got bogged down in even more silliness. This is Herkimer County Veterans Memorial Park, on the Herkimer College campus. On past Memorial Days and Veterans Days, I have run to this park in tribute. Sometimes I run by there just because it is a challenging run to go up College Hill and on across the campus. I am not in shape for that run yet.

Ooh look, I am over 300 words. I guess I will bill this as a Wuss-out Wednesday and drive on. I will see if I can come up with something better than a Non-Sequitur Thursday post later (and by “later” of course I mean either later today or early tomorrow morning), but no promises.

Lame Post IN the Morning ON Saturday

Posted on April 9, 2022 by mohawkvalleygirl

I tell you, it is a whole different perspective. I am sitting in the chair instead of on the couch, pecking at the Tablet with a stylus pen I was lucky enough to find (I have mislaid both actual styluses and all the other stylus pens), sipping tea, and hoping nobody minds that I did not post on Thursday. I was actually hoping nobody would notice but felt compelled to mention it, being me. Even I could not hope my readers would not notice.something I actually mentioned.

Tea does not have as much caffeine as coffee, by the way. A friend read me the amounts from a drug studies book many years ago. An acquaintance (she passed for a friend at the time) once said, “Oh, no. You can do only one or two dunks of the tea bag, that’s all!” How scientific: one or two dunks. An example of people thinking they know things for no particular reason.

I seem to be getting bogged down, but since this is my Late Lame Post Friday Post, I will continue to sludge through.

The first paragraph raised two questions in my mind. The first: why does one sit in a chair but on a couch? One can sit on a chair, but that usually refers to one of the wooden variety. I occupy a nice cushy living room chair (see what I did there?). “In” seems appropriate. However, couches are nice and cushy, too. Why do I not sit in a couch? Right now I do not because my husband, Steve, is there, sound asleep, by the way.

One might argue that Steven should be IN bed. Ooh, this one makes sense: you sit ON a bed, usually on top of the covers and try not to mess them up. You sleep IN a bed, nicely snuggled under the covers.

That was a delightful discussion, for me anyways. I will just mention my second question: what is the proper plural of styluses? My autocorrect wanted to change it to “stylized.” As usual in these disagreements, I prevailed.

I have finished my tea. Perhaps I should get on with my Saturday.

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Posted in humor, Lame Post Friday, personal and tagged blog post, blogging, caffeine, coffee, grammar, half-baked philosophy, late post, random observations, tea. Bookmark the permalink.

Running Update

Posted on July 6, 2019 by mohawkvalleygirl

It’s a Saturday Running Commentary! You knew I couldn’t spend all my time whining about the difficulty of making posts. A great deal of my time, but surely not ALL of my time (and you KNOW I feel free to call you Shirley!). Do you get the feeling I am in a better mood today? Maybe a little.

I have been running every day since Wednesday. None of the runs has been especially long, but I have gone a little longer each day. And I’ve been running a few hills. I feel I am maintaining and look forward to improvement at a later date.

Hmm… now that I am sitting here typing (on a real computer at Martha Canfield Library, so there’s that), I find myself disinclined to give an actual blow by blow of today’s run, or indeed any of my last four runs. How about a highlights reel? Or perhaps just a few thoughts that have, you should pardon the expression, run across my mind lately.

When I run at home, I have been getting up, having coffee, and talking myself into running. In Vermont, I have been getting out of bed and onto the road. That is actually the way I used to do it on the weekends, get out there before I well knew what I was doing and could change my mind. In the past couple of months, however, I have been waking up with my mind pretty much made up NOT to run. I need that boost of caffeine to get me going.

During the past few days, I have discovered that in fact I do not need the caffeine before the run, and that cup of coffee tastes pretty darn good after a shower. It’s nice to know I can do things differently and still meet with success. At least, some might think I could meet with even greater success, say by running faster and further, but I say, one does what one can at the time. When I was running on Thursday, I reflected that I truly run for myself. I go the pace I want, I go how far I want. I don’t have to worry about meeting any standards, and I don’t. It’s nice.

OK, go ahead and start the lecture about how we set goals for ourselves, push ourselves to do better than we think we can, and meeting standards is an intelligent way to go about things. Full disclosure: I will probably not pay much attention, and I will certainly not change the way I run. I am enjoying it.

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Posted in commentary, humor, personal, running, running commentary and tagged blog post, blogging, caffeine, goal setting, improvement, library, Martha Canfield Library, running, self-improvement, Vermont. Bookmark the permalink.

A Side Effect of Wuss-out Wednesday

Posted on August 23, 2018 by mohawkvalleygirl

So remember last week when Wuss-out Wednesday was really a thing? At least I posted ON Wednesday! It is Thursday early morning (by my watch and calendar if not by the timestamp on my WordPress account), and this is Wednesday’s post. I’m thinking my mysterious malady is nothing more than very odd migraines, manifesting more as dizziness than pain. I don’t think there is much I can do about it, though, since the side effects of most medications (which I often experience) is dizziness. And please don’t tell me I experience side effects because I EXPECT to; I’ve been feeling light-headed and/or falling asleep on pills since before I ever heard of side-effects.

Where was I? Ah yes, nowhere in particular. Just hoping to type in a few words and pretend it is a blog post so I can still call myself a daily blogger. Is it permissible to resort to monster pictures at 4:30 in the morning? I think so.

He is probably drinking tea, but I feel this is an appropriate picture.

Caffeine will not solve all my problems, but at least I may stay awake to deal with them. I am definitely enjoying my coffee this morning.

“One more thing…”

And look at me, over 200 words. I call that respectable. Back to coffee and hoping for a better day for myself and for my readers. And perhaps a better blog post later, but no promises.

Mental Meanderings about the Mammary Glands

Posted on December 12, 2017 by mohawkvalleygirl

Today’s Monday Mental Meanderings is in the nature of a Public Service Announcement, with an added attraction for those of you who like to point and laugh at others’ discomfort (you know who you are). Tomorrow, I go for a mammogram.

NO, I do not expect any of you are crass enough to be amused at the thought of my mammary glands being squished and photographed. At least, I hope not. The discomfort I was going to share for your amusement is that I have now gone over a week without coffee. I cry a little even as I type it.

I don’t suppose non-coffee drinkers will understand, but I know some of you are raising your hands in horror at the thought. In fact, a number of females have told me they were never advised to stay off caffeine. When I made the appointment, the nurse told me I could drink decaf, and the reason for it is that the caffeine makes one’s breasts more sensitive. I don’t remember a mammogram hurting that much to begin with, but it has been at least seven years since I’ve had one.

Ah, here is the Public Service Announcement part: DON’T BE LIKE ME! Get your cancer screening tests at the recommended intervals.

Back to the laughing at Cindy portion of the post. I eased into things by having one small cup of coffee in the morning for two days. Then I had tea for two mornings. I had some decaf filter bags a co-worker had given me. Yes, there is still caffeine in decaf. The lady told me I could drink decaf, so that was what I had for my usual mid-morning cuppa. On the fourth day, I started having decaf from a filter bag for my first cup as well. Oh, it does not taste as good. It does not make me feel content to be out of bed and ready to face the day. I suffer.

Almost every day, I have been tempted to just have a damn cup of joe. All these other women have had mammograms and never been told to stay off coffee. I don’t remember a mammogram hurting and even if it’s awful, it can’t last that long, can it? I’m a tough girl! I can take it!

Well, I can be tough enough to stay off coffee, too. For one reason, I can be pretty stubborn once I have made up my mind to do something. For another reason, once you have gone so far with something, you might just as well go all the way.

So now I am really, Really, REALLY looking forward to that first cup of coffee. Alas, my appointment is at three tomorrow afternoon. I fear if I immediately indulge, it will keep me up all night. However, Wednesday morning will be a wonderful time for me.

And once again, to all my female readers: Get your mammograms!

Mohawk Valley Girl