Diary of a Network Geek

Now, for something completely different!

Okay, not so much completely, but, still, you get the idea.
Now, I don’t think of myself as a hacker, per se, because I haven’t done anything marginally illegal on a network in years. Opinions vary, of course, and, say, compared to someone trying to hide from weblogs via Google, I probably seem fairly hackerish. I will say that no personal computer project I’ve ever started before 9:00PM has been very interesting, though. And, that leads me to one of my favorite subjects: caffeine.

No, that’s not some code word for the latest release of Windows, I’m talking about actual caffeine of the variety that keeps you awake at night. If you aren’t familiar with all the chemical ways of keeping awake, you might be surprised at the large assortment of perfectly legal ways you can get caffeine. ThinkGeek has an amazingly large assortment of candy and drinks that you can get to keep going when the going gets tough. My favorite, though, is Sky Rocket Caffeinated Syrup. This, my gentle readers, is concentrated go juice. Back in the days when I was trying to maintain a relationship, manage a cohort of minions and, sadly, do most of their work because they weren’t capable, this is the stuff that kept me going. I especially liked a jigger of the mocha or vanilla flavor in my morning coffee. The product description says that it has 100Mg of caffeine in a 1 oz. serving, and laughingly suggests that is a reason that it should be used sparingly. I have no idea how much I used to pour into my cup with my coffee, but, let’s just say it increased my productivity in the morning enough that people noticed.

I recently tried Coke Blak, which is a carbonated coffee beverage. It comes in rather Coke-like bottles made from actual glass, but it tastes a lot different that any variety of Coca-Cola I’ve ever had. It’s not bad, exactlly, but it’s not my first choice, either. I couldn’t bring myself to drink it in the morning, but I had it for lunch and after dinner several times this past week. After that first, strange, surprising sip, and the wicked after-taste that followed, it wasn’t bad at all. It was best, however, when used instead of root beer as part of a demented ice cream experiment. Still, as interesting and different as Coke Blak is, it’ll never replace plain coffee or regular Coke.

Sadly, I’m on a rather tight budget these days, so I’m making do with out these liquid helpers. Until I have a little better cash flow, or at least until I start selling some of the antiques I haven’t any use for from around my house, I’ve started making my own Thai coffee. What’s that you ask? Why, it’s simplicity itself.
I discovered this cool, refreshing variation on go juice at a Houston local restaurant called Vung Thai, which is actually run by a Vietnamese family, so the pedigree of this nectar maybe a little cloudy. In any case, it was so great, I asked the owner what went into it.
“Nothing much,” he told me, “just strong coffee, lots of sugar and ‘heavy milk'”.
Turns out “heavy milk” is really just half-and-half. So, you can make this at home. Just brew up some good, strong coffee and then, while it’s still hot, stir in a lot of sugar. I mean a LOT of sugar. Then, let this cool off. After it’s cooled to at least room temperature, throw some ice into a fairly large glass and fill it to about half way with the super sugary cold coffee. Now, add half-and-half until the glass is full and enjoy.
I especially like this after dinner with someone interesting to talk with, since it will keep you up and alive for hours. In fact, that explains my lack of sleep this week as I’ve been experimenting with it again.

I’ve been thinking about sleepless nights again, not for a bad reason, but rather because I’m anticipating long days and nights when I attempt NaNoWriMo. Also, this was a way to introduce two new Categories: NaNoWriMo, of course, and By Bread Alone, for foodie-type things. So, there you go.