I have a bad habit of not drinking water.
Yesterday, within a matter of hours I…
…decided to make coffee, removed and dumped the grounds basket, left the holder in place above the tank (it’s a lever-pour tank system: Cuisinart)—
…poured in water. Check.
…poured in grounds…check.
…pushed start button. Check.
Halfway through, I draw off some coffee. No color to it.
I investigate. I’d forgotten to put the basket back in. Where had I put the new coffee? Oh. Into the holder. The water has now washed the coffee into the tank. I stop the brewing, refill the water to top, remove and wash the tank and holder, refill the grounds basket and drop it into the machine. I push start.
I then notice the holder sitting on the counter. Where is the grounds basket with the new coffee? Fallen through to the bottom of the tank.
Revising it all again—I finally brew coffee.
I go down to do something useful. I realize the sump for the marine tank is down. I refill the topoff reservoir, which kicks up the calcium powder in there, but no sweat…no need to unplug the topoff: it’s weak stuff.
I go upstairs to enjoy a cup of coffee, then notice the tank upstairs is totally white.
I’d forgotten I’d added 2 pounds of new calcium powder to that reservoir. And I’d just kicked it up, with the topoff running to put an inch of water into the system.
Jane, who is worried about my sanity, asked why the tank was white, and we concluded a water change would be a good idea. So we fineagled that, and got clean water in, which makes it less cloudy. But this is my pristine, just-set-up, ultimate dream tank, and I just coated everything in it white and spiked the ph. Wah! At least of all the accidents you can have with a marine tank, while this is disgusting, it’s not fatal, and the tank autocorrects eventually. If I could FIND my ph meter I could fix this—but, y’know, the system equilibrates well on its own, and am I going to improve the situation? No. So I have a crappy look on all the rock, sand and corals, and the clam’s miffed, but hey, everything’s alive.
I did venture to take the makeshift machete to the iris that need trimming for transport, and didn’t cut off any fingers, so I’m functioning better.
Last night I realized I was terribly thirsty for Coke, of all things, which says a) I’m overheated, which is never good—I’d gotten too much sun, and too little liquid; and b) I was dehydrated, which can equal stupid. By the time I’d taken down half a liter of diet cola with ice melt, I was cooled off and capable of function…so I think that was a big part of it. Yep, I know, water is better, but I can’t drink water without flavoring without muscle spasms (don’t ask: it’s from infancy), and ultimately, under a tablespoon of diet cola syrup, it’s water.
I am, however, down a pound.
FWIW, for people who are watching their calories (dieting or diabetic) a sudden bout of enthusiastic work can drop into hypoglycemia, which equals stupid also. It’s good if associates are warned to be aware.
From your descriptions of the clam, you’re lucky it didn’t climb out of the tank and come looking for you to complain.
When I’m doing sweaty work, I usually cut one powdered tube of Crystal Light or Gatorade Light into a half gallon water for rehydration purposes; recycled juice bottles work well. At the recommended concentrations, both those products taste too strong, but thinning them out gets me to drink more water with a hint of flavor.
I tend to go for lemonade in situations like that. Even lemon slices or wedges in water help.
Congratulations on the pound!
Crystal Light is good and Costco sells the lemon flavor; for Winter or a sore throat, put it in warm or hot water (lemon shrub).
Nooks are on sale. “The 7-inch Nook HD, normally $199, is now $129; the 9-inch Nook HD+ has plummeted from $269 to $149.”
http://techland.time.com/2013/06/17/its-official-nook-tablets-are-now-ridiculously-cheap/?hpt=hp_bn18&hpt=hp_t3
Got Crystal Light in the pantry, getting old because since I have discovered a much cheaper alternative: Kool Aid! (Yeah, there was about 50 years in between when I never drank it. ;)) I add my own sweetner at hand, still way cheaper. I like the Black Cherry and Lime flavors, but the Lemon and “Tropical Punch” are also good. (The last two have a “clouding agent” added which precipitates out, making the jug harder to clean.)
I like spearmint crushed in ice water.
In the last two or three months, I have done something two or three times (thankfully since forgotten) that was equally in the “brain is in the off position” department. Simply thankful I wasn’t doing anything which could’ve been adverse to health and happiness. But each time I had to wonder why I was so distracted or just plain not thinking, as to do something like that.
I’ve been borderline hypoglycemic since college, and don’t believe it has changed recently.
I try to watch what I eat, and I’m trying to lose a little weight. (Can’t seem to shake it yet, too set in my ways.) But I think I’m careful. I rarely have any really noticeable energy drop. When I do, it concerns me.
I’ve never been a water drinker, even as a kid. I don’t know why. I’ll drink tea or juices or sodas, rarely coffee, and I used to drink milk often, twice a day, until a bout without a good fridge from my move a few years ago get me out of the habit. (I should get back in the habit.) I’m good about vegetables. The doctor fusses, but also says I’m getting most of what I need through other intake…but to drink more water.
Borderline hypoglycemic means the opposite problem: I need more sugars than I get. (Meaning, I need “good” forms of sugar and carbs, not bad ones. Meaning, beware of too much processed sugars, and eat what keeps your body processing things on a slow, steady, even pace. No spikes, no crashes.
OK, yeah, I have sweets occasionally, but I keep it sane. (Besides, if I get too much sugar too fast, it bothers me. I’m not a kid anymore who can just bounce off the walls and not notice. LOL.)
I got too fond of Cokes and other sodas and have been cutting back. Now, I try to limit it to at most the equivalent of two cans per day, one being preferable. Haven’t gotten there quite yet. A weakness.
Tea and juice consumption’s up, which is better.
Do stay hydrated. If you lose too much water, salt, or sugar, not good for your brain or other bits.
— I noticed a while back, I was not getting enough salt in my diet, and increased it a little. It’s possible to cut out too much salt and then not realize you need it.
— I also noticed that I’d cut out red meat too much and needed the protein. Exactly why this should make a difference, versus, say, poultry, pork, fish and seafood, etc., I don’t know, but the difference was so dramatic, I knew I had to change. (I’d love a good nutritional explanation of why this would be, what I was missing that improved.)
So — coffee brewing and such, yes, one can identify a little more readily than one would like to admit. Distractions or fatigue or body chemistry, try not to ignore the needs.
@BCS, if you’re trying to lose weight but like drinking fruit juice, you could try diluting it with water. Fruit juice can add quite a few calories to your day, 45 to 95 Kcal per glass (depending on the kind of juice and the size of the glass). After I’d drunk it half-and-half for a while I found I really prefer it diluted. The undiluted juice tastes way too sweet to me now – and diluting it saves half the calories, as well as half the cost: as you’re on a budget that can be a help, too.
This also makes it easier to drink a bit more and keep hydrated, as I at least don’t usually like too much plain water except with my food – somehow it feel as if it’s sloshing around in my tummy a lot more than an identical amount of juice-and-water (ridiculous, of course, but that’s how it feels to me, maybe because of upsetting the chemical balance inside me if I drink too much plain water too quickly?).
Sorry, I forgot to say: work your way up to half-and-half gradually, especially if you’ve got a bit of a sweet tooth (considering the sodas you like). Add 10% at first, until that tastes normal instead of watery to you, then make it 1/6th, 1/4th, etc. until you get to half-and-half.
When you’re used to the less-sweet juice, that might help get you off the sodas as well, as they can start to taste even more over-sweetened than undiluted juice.
Re: Red Meat intake. I think there is an article in the Wall Street Journal sometime this week touting the efficacy of red meat in decreasing the risk of some of the usual older age problems.
My knees are happier with less red meat. (I do eat it, but it’s more like once every couple of months. The rest of the time, it’s chicken and turkey, with fish for variety.)
Writing tip for the day:
When you have a character named Sam and he smiles, or she, be careful when you write,
Sam beamed.
Also be careful about this if the character is named Jim.
Jim beamed.
Though I suppose if they work in a pub or bar or distillery, perhaps it does make sense. At least you know then that they like their work.
::guffaw::
That is all.
I can’t touch the Crystal Light Lemon……that’s what they make me mix the purgative with when they want to do a colonoscopy on me…….you have to drink 8 ounces every 15 minutes until it’s gone, and that’s 64 lovely ounces, or one-half gallon, and you can’t sip it…..
I do like the raspberry iced tea, but alas, it’s caffeinated, and I’m on a no-caffeine restriction after noon.
That would be a definite turn-off! From all reports, it’s a combo of battery acid and camel spit.
Well how do you feel about death? Colon cancer killed my father. Smoking killed my mother. I’ve been getting colonoscopies every 5 years since 2000, (fourth and maybe last coming up in a couple years) and I’ve never smoked.
Not fond at all; I just wish the prep for some of these things was less onerous, and wouldn’t make something I previously liked icky. Let alone the procedure, although the prep is reputedly worse than the actual test.
OOOH, icky, is it? So is embalming.
“I beg your pardon,
I never promised you a rose garden.” Isn’t that how the old song went?
It’s not icky! It’s life! Get over it!
Pish! Be glad you don’t have diverticulosis! I woke up from my last and they told me, “Go home and do it again, same prep, and come back tomorrow.” Used to think a colonoscopy was no big deal, but this last one was no fun.
Glug.
Yeah, more than you wanted to know, eh? 😉
Been there and done that Paul. Dad had 2 surgeries for colon cancer and ended up with an ileostomy. Don’t you just HATE when they reschedule you for a second procedure with a 2-day prep? This last one had something new and worked a treat.
Mine had three. 1) a tumor the size of a walnut from the transverse colon, 2) part of the liver where colon cancer likes to metastisize, 3) half his right lung. They didn’t bother with the tumor on his esophagus. Fortunately he never had any pain. What I can say unequivocally is he got better treatment in Alberta, Canada, than he did in Oregon, USA.
I’m sorry, I think I said something that was unintentionally offensive. I apologize.
No, I apologize. Just do it. There are consequences.
Well, hoping for a clean bill of health, Paul. You’re wise to get the tests. But our parental generation was exposed to a cocktail of chemicals we aren’t—my mother worked in a colored aerosol of dyes at the Bureau of Engraving, and lived around farm chemicals; and these definitely have their own potency in causing problems. And you don’t smoke. Hopefully you’ve dodged any genetic cause.
You’re saying that to a graduate Chemistry student, remember? Benzene, malononitrile, potassium dichromate (i.e. hexavalent chromium), and so on.
But yes, I absolutely agree with your premise! You’ve got to prove in a court of law something is demonstrably harmful to get it removed, and might not even then get it banned, rather than demonstrating it is safe before introduction. Diesel fumes in the news this week…
p.s. I have no idea what they do for Chemistry labs these days–probably simulate it all on computer because most of the chemicals we used in “wet labs” were toxic in one way or another. I wonder if anybody learns Chemistry that way.
In college I was a member of the ACS, meaning I got Chemical & Engineering News biweekly, with its obit column. I noticed how many were dying in their 40’s. So when I discovered an “open-shop” computer before my senior year was fun to play with :), with the attendant cutting of certain classes in spite of the fact that my Uncle Sugar wanted to invite me on a world tour 😉 and would have insisted if I hadn’t graduated on schedule, I didn’t mind at all that my career took a turn into computing when I then got a job on the Apollo Project.
The stuff they give you for colonoscopy prep these days isn’t really so bad tasting; it’s just that they make you drink so darned much of it! By eleven pm or so, it is genuinely getting disgusting, just due to over-exposure. Ick.
Glad I can wait another ten years before doing that again, at least.