“I used to snort coke, but I had to stop. The bubbles tickled my nose too much.”

Ok, forgive the bad joke, but tomorrow is my 2-month “anniversary” being coke free. And no, not that kind of coke… coca-cola.

But in some ways, I suppose I was just as addicted.

I’ve gone the “no pop” route before… went about 4 months or so back about 5 years ago. Then allowed myself one on my birthday. It tasted weird. And before long, I was back to drinking as much as a six-pack a day.

Could Coca-Cola be a gateway drug? Cause then there was the Monster (energy drink).

I’ve never cared for Red Bull, tried a couple other energy drinks, most I didn’t care for. But Monster… that I liked. The slight fizz… the tang that was like a mild can of Squirt. I didn’t slam the stuff, but would sip it over the course of the morning. It was a taste I didn’t mind, even as it got warm. Started out with the 16oz cans, then moved up to the 24′s. I was drinking one a day… sometimes two. In addition to a Coke here and there.

Coke Zero came out, and I liked the taste. It was pretty dang close to real Coke… though yea, you could tell the difference. I was drinking that about 60-70% of the time compared to regular Coke. I figured it was “better for me”. Maybe… probably not.

But, as part of looking in to WLS, I realized, pop… no matter what kind… was gonna have to go. The carbonation, the caffeine, even if it was diet was not gonna be a good thing. So on November 2nd, I took the last bottle of Coke Zero I had with me to my sisters when going over there for dinner… drank it… and haven’t drank any since. (I don’t think the sparkling grape juice at Christmas would count as pop…?)

Do I miss it?

You bet I do. I believe I always will.

A nice cold Coke on a hot day is going to be one of those things I know I will miss after surgery. Big time. The longest Even when “New” Coke came out, as bad as it was, I would drink it once in awhile. And the Monster… I miss that too, though not as much.

Yea, there are worse things to be addicted to… I have friends and family that struggle with those every day, so I know there isn’t a “cure”. But I know such things can be beat, I know I can beat this. After all… it’s a means to an end. I know that. I’m dealing with that.

I can live with that.

I mostly write what I post here, but every once in a great while I find something that I want to share… given today is election day, and everyone has been waaaaaay too serious the last few weeks/months, I felt I would lighten things up a bit. Well, least some will see the humor here.

History 101: Conservatives & Liberals

A Simplified, Example-Based Account

For those that don’t know about history … Here is a condensed version:

Humans originally existed as members of small bands of nomadic hunters/gatherers. They lived on deer in the mountains during the summer and would go to the coast and live on fish and lobster in the winter.

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We’ve all heard stories about the computer service tech that spends what seems like hours trouble shooting a problem for someone over the phone, only to finally figure out there’s a blackout…. and yea, that one still makes me chuckle.

Those emails are a fun way to waste a few minutes.

Now imagine wasting a few hours.

That’s just what you can do over at notalwaysright.com – a collection of some really great stories that really do prove that the customer is not always right.

Oh, and the title there came from one of my favorites… so far (I’m only on page 9 of about 66)

Quick recap from last week. I was house/dog/cat sitting for my aunt and her husband while they were on a cruise. The house part was easy, the cat part resulted in a few minor wounds, and it was all because one of the two dogs is afraid of me.

Regular readers may recall the fun I had trying to get a dog who is afraid of me to come back in the house when one has to hold the door open. Well, I have good news, by the end of the week Simon was coming back in the house while I stood there. Granted, he ran as fast as he could from the edge of the deck, in the door, and through the kitchen to the other end of the house before I could even turn around, but considering the rain and snow we had at the end of the week I was just glad not to have to run outside and chase him in through a propped open door.

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So last night I get back to my aunt’s house, and get the dogs outside without much of a hassle. I haven’t had dinner yet so I let them frolic a bit and then try to get them in so I can go get something to eat…  It is starting to sprinkle, so I figure it will be pretty easy to get Simon to come in.

I prop the screen door open and move to ‘hide’ behind the inside door as I call Sandy to come in, hoping that Simon will follow him in. Then just as Sandy is heading up on to the deck… zip, there goes Smokey, out the door to the deck.

I manage to get her without too much effort, she had ducked under the bbq grill, hiding from the rain under the cover that is over the grill itself. She tried to duck around it once, then again, hoping to evade me, but I was able to scoop her up and get her back in the house. As I returned to the back door, hoping to lure Simon back in yet, Smokey decided she really wanted to be outside and dashed out the door again. She moves pretty quick for a seventeen year old cat.

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My aunt and her husband are on a cruise this week… lucky them. They have two dogs (Sandy and Simon) and four cats (Smokey, Fred, Barney and… I forget the fourth). They asked if I could house/animal sit while they were gone… and me being the wonderful nephew that I am (and that I owe my wonderful aunt so much) said I would.

There’s one problem problem in all this. It isn’t that I don’t like animals or anything, it’s just that Simon is afraid of me.

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