D(ecaf)-Day

I have been watching the level as it drops. Every day, I have kept an anxious eye on the contents of my coffee jar, knowing that the inevitable would come. And, yesterday, it arrived. The pot of coffee I brewed used the last of our caffeinated coffee grounds, meaning that I was going to have to replace the contents with...decaf. I had to restrain myself from licking the interior of the now dusty and empty coffee jar.

It has been difficult enough keeping up with the new, carbohydrate-light diet that was introduced into our household after Lor's first visit with her dietitian. No more soft drinks, no problem - there is still half a case of Mountain Dew ("Code Monkey Fuel") sitting in our pantry collecting dust waiting for a friend or family member to show up and take it off our hands. No more carbonation was a little trickier - Lor loves those Zero-Calorie carbonated waters and I, of course, was forced to give up my precious, precious beer. Somehow, we powered through.

But coffee! That's a whole other ball game. I have been a caffeine addict since high school, and have always relied on coffee for my morning jump start. Days when fate or poor planning forced a start without coffee have always led to headaches, stomach upset, and general low-level nastiness on my part. And, in recent years, I have dragged Lor down the Coffee Road behind me, resulting in two caffeine addictions under the same roof. No, mornings are not going to be pleasant in the Hawkwind Habitat for the foreseeable future.

Following some advice from a fellow bariatric patient who was kind enough to visit us here on the blog, I did at least make sure that we got good decaf:

(Seriously, is there anything you can't get on Amazon?)

It smells good enough going into the jar, but I know from previous experience that, like the main character in Dream Park, I just like the taste of caffeine. (And, sorry to sound like a shill for Amazon here, but if you are a Science Fiction fan who somehow missed out on reading Larry Niven's Dream Park, stop what you are doing right now and go buy it. You can thank me later.)

I am assured by those that have gone before me that I will kick my addiction in a short period of time, and then all will be sunshine and roses again. But, I am not so sure. Even now, I can feel the tendrils of my desire for caffeine, wrapping like tentacles around my brain, preparing to squeeze all the life out of my ever-weakening form.

Maybe a little less Darkest Dungeon and H.P. Lovecraft while I am kicking coffee, eh?

Staring Into the Caffeine-Free Abyss,

- Hawkwind