leaves and caffeine

Ok, it is not an indian summer day today....but it was yesterday.  :-)  Maybe the rest of the country has had their leaves change and fall already, but this area is just now hitting it's peak.  Better late than never right?  On the way into work this morning the leaves were literally raining from the sky.  Had it been warm enough for the sunroof, I would have gotten leafed on.  Seriously.  It did happen in the fall of 2001 though...towards the end of October, so right on time as far as I am concerned.  It has been nice to finally see the autumn colors.  I have missed them.  I wrote this about the leaves in 2001:

It was a warm Indian summer day,
As I traveled along my lonely way,
The many splendorous autumn leaves,
Were spilling from their parent trees.

Earlier and Earlier sinks the afternoon sun,
Shadows lengthen one by one,
And the Eternal Ethereal Bell,
Of the changing seasons knells.

As I watched this, I began to think,
What have I done this day, this week,
For surely I can not go back again,
For surely one day, this all will end.

Coffee and Caffeine
I am on a quest to find a coffee replacement.  The problem with coffee is that I need to add creamer and sugar to make it taste good.  When I cut creamer and sugar, coffee gets cut too.  So I am trying some different things.  This week while driving to SC, I tried the Sobe No Fear Sugar Free.  Surprisingly I liked it.  Let me qualify that though...it was loads better than coffee without creamer and sugar.  The energy boost was sufficient I suppose.  I am the kind of person that could drink a few of these things and probably fall asleep inside of a minute or two if sleep is what I wanted.  I was driving so I was fine.  When I am tired and not on chemicals, I am usually asleep inside of 30 seconds.  I could be talking to you and just conk out in the middle of MY sentence.  I'll never hear yours.  Six years in nuclear submarines gave me that particular trait I think.  Now, Sobe No Fear Sugar Free appears fairly plentiful throughout Charleston and along the Interstate, but not so much so in 7-11 or the local grocery stores.  What they had was the full blown sugar.  140 calories per serving while the sugar free has 10, and there are two servings per can.  What the local grocer does carry is Monster Energy lo-carb (I guess lo is the cool way to say low for marketers, but do we really need to abbreviate a three letter word?).  It tastes very much the same as the Sobe No Fear, not quite good and seems to avoid outright disgust, and still better than coffee without creamer or sugar.  Palatable might be the best way to describe it, as I am hoping it will never become something I crave.  So for now I have a coffee replacement.

Some items to keep in mind when looking at energy drinks and any nutritional supplements.  The FDA guidelines and limits that apply to many foods do not apply to these things.  There are a lot of chemicals in them and you probably want to go find out what they are what warnings are out there for them.  The energy drinks can contain a lot more caffeine than soda, so if you need to limit your caffeine intake, stay away from these things. 

~Mike