I have a serious caffeine problem. I was doing so well curbing my need for three coffees a morning followed by a minimum of three Diet Cokes in the afternoon. At my new job, the coffee pot is not bottomless and you pay by the cup. The refrigerator situation is poorly sourced for such a large operation. These two things were going to keep me from cup after cup. I was having my one travel mug of java, and only a Diet Coke from home when it fit in my insulated lunch bag. To keep this habit going would have been a $4.50 a day splurge between the vending machine and coffee fund canister. But four + plus weeks later, I have figured out and improvised my sources. We have a filtered hot water dispenser that works wonderfully with instant coffee crystals which I keep at my desk. As for the Diet Coke, a massive ice machine means I can keep a case in my office, and hear the crackle of ice when I pour the heavenly bubbles in a glass. I'm down to a cup of coffee for $ .12 and a soda for $ .20. Even at my old rate of consumption I'm under a $1.00 a day, so let the caffeine flow.
I've also picked back up my habit of eating my lunch at my desk. This time though it isn't because I can't afford the time to eat in my schedule, but more that I haven't figured out a good lunch spot. My division is all on different schedules and comings and goings so I haven't seen that anyone really grabs lunch together unless it is a walk over to the Target deli counter. When the weather gets warmer, I hope to take advantage of picnic tables outside. I'll charge my Nook reader and get a chapter in and perhaps by fall, I'll have found a little place to hovel for lunch. Soon I'll be telecommuting a day a week, and working a compressed work schedule to flex a couple extra days off a month. It is highly likely I won't have much more time than to heat up some leftovers, grab my soda, and eat while reading e-mails. I can handle that for truly working a normal work week and day schedule. I'm not taking up my old bad habit of being on e-mail all night. I've kicked that habit.
Ah Diet Coke and coffee, two of the loves in my life! I'm glad you've found such a wonderfully resourceful way to indulge. Bravo indeed!
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I on the other hand have tried to cup pop from my diet so I really only have an occasional coke, maybe two or three a month and I can't drink caffeine in the afternoon (I LOVE to even so) because it really messes with my sleep so I stick to one very large cup of coffee in the morning and try to force myself to steer clear of caffeine for the rest of the day.
I love that you called it pop! My oh so West Coast kids tell me no one outside Minnesota says pop so I typed soda. Caffeine seems to have little impact on my sleeping. I love chatting into the wee morning hours with my gal pals and coffee (or wine)
DeleteHaha, it's been pop all my life, but here in Michigan we're in that Minnesota region of the world where we all say pop. You are NOT alone on that one :)
DeleteWe do not call it soda, I've actually typed that on my blog a few times too instead of pop because I know it's more commonly called soda but have you heard that many places in the south refer to pop as coke? Truly, they call all pop coke; sprite, orange pop, red pop, grape pop, all coke. That seems so silly to me... much more silly than calling it pop :)
Tell your kids that it's called pop in the UK too! Although that is maybe among older people. Coke is coke, Sprite is Sprite but Sprite is also lemonade i.e. lemonade is a clear fizzy drink and lemonade is the generic term for clear fizzy driks with a vaguely lemon flavour. Soda is just soda water as in whisky-and-soda.
Deleteleaving aside the USA and UK being divided by a common language, you sound to have got drinks at your desk well sorted. I think coffee is the easiest way in the word to waste money!
Look like pop wins this one. Yay!
DeleteYes it would be so easy to swing by a drive thru each morning but not me! I remember the lemonade being used for Sprite. DD#2 doesn't drink pop (there I said it) but she loves lemonaide so she was careful to order correctly. Fortunately she's mostly a water drinker like the rest of my family. I'm the only one with this habit.
DeleteI know the "coke"thing is strange to me in the south. I suppose no different than Kleenex used for all facial tissues. I love linguistic diversity especially when the same language.
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