Corner of Bourbon & Division

I don't have a coffee icon, but I suppose that's all to the good, since I decided last week to quit caffeine. I stopped after my last night shift, and by Thursday morning I was utterly miserable. Caffeine withdrawal is a bitch, and this time was worse than the last time I stopped, back in 2009 if memory serves. Not only was there the headache of migraine proportions, but the whole process made me violently sick to my stomach. I had to take two naps during the day just to remain even remotely functional.

This did lead indirectly to one of my more amusing interactions of late. I stopped by a pharmacy Thursday night to snag a tiny travel bottle of Pepto bismol and some ginger ale, and waited patiently while the clerk bantered with his store manager as they were tidying up behind the counter. The clerk almost immediately noticed the pin I wear on my coat, which reads "Engage in conversation at your own risk."

Clerk: *laughing* "That must come in useful."

Me: "Yep. Especially in the metro."

Clerk: "The metro?"

Me: *nodding* "Uh-huh. That way if some asshole tries to bug me, he can't say he wasn't warned when I tell him to fuck off."

Clerk: *starts giggling helplessly* "That's a good one!"

Store Manager (also a man): "Guys in the metro, man. That shit happens all the time, am I right? Douchebags."

Me: "Tell me about it."

Clerk: *now laughing too hard to participate in the conversation* "Fuck off. That's a good one!"


He was still giggling when I left the store. It was nice to know I'd brightened someone's day, at least.


Alas, that was one of the few upsides to quitting caffeine that day. The rest was pretty awful. In the interim, after several days of no coffee at all, I switched to decaf at work, just to give me something warm to drink during my shifts. The plan is to stop that as well eventually, though I'm going to have to find some sort of replacement warm beverage for it.

The horrible withdrawal only lasted about a day. By the time I was ready for work I was mostly back to myself, though feeling considerably less energetic. Given that I live in a state of what feels like perpetual exhaustion (though it's possible that's my imagination, since I'm waiting for test results that might tell me I'm a whining malingerer), that's saying something.

I am vexed that there was no instant gratification, but not surprised. I'm just hoping this all pays off eventually. I can't be certain, but I think the quality of my sleep has already improved somewhat. I've been waking up less during the night than was my wont, but given that I've had an especially tough few weeks, it's hard to say if the sounder sleep is due to exhaustion or to no longer consuming as much caffeine as before, or a combination of both, or something else. Or maybe I just imagined that I'm getting better sleep. Like I said, it's hard to say.

I know you're all riveted, so I'll keep you posted.

I actually got out of the house today, for reasons other than errands! It's been a while since I saw someone who wasn't pdaughter, not that her company isn't lovely, of course. I just hadn't seen people apart from coworkers since Capricornucopia, which was three weeks ago. I'm trying to not go for long stretches of time in which I see no one, because otherwise I'll become a complete hermit, which is no good for anyone.

Pretty sure my friend is actually on LJ somewhere, but I don't know his handle. Oops? I'll have to ask him next time I remember. It's probably bullonir, knowing him... *checks* Yep! I am good. Not that he's updated since 2008, but whatever. Anyway, I drove to his place on the South Shore, we had lunch and then went out for coffee and a cupcake at a local cupcake shop. It was delicious. I should upload the photo here to show you, it was gorgeous on top of being super scrumptious. Anyway.

We had a really nice chat. He's my former shift partner from Montreal, the guy who got me into comic books and Breaking Bad, and to whom I introduced Supernatural and Fringe among other things. We geek out over Avengers and things, but we have a lot in common outside our geeky mutual interests. Like me, he was a temporary employee for a long time (and still is, unfortunately), and he has a young family too, so we share many of the same concerns when it comes to the kids' well-being. We also know what sort of toll working shifts takes on our mental and physical health, and on our romantic relationships, too. It's not easy, living with someone who's not there half the time out of necessity, just as it's not easy to be the person who's absent because of work.

So we had a good, productive chat, as well as delicious food. We got caught up on work things and family things and general gossip. He's also a writer, so we touched briefly on how things were going in that department too. All in all, a really great time, and we have a tentative date for the next time we're both off on a weekday to watch the last episodes of Breaking Bad together, since neither of us has seen it yet.

I was going to run some errands in Vaudreuil on my way home, but after an hour's driving I arrived just in time for rush hour, and I realised that if I tried to head to the Smart Centres I would be stuck in traffic for at least another hour if not more, and that I'd be getting home after dinnertime, which is no good. So errands have been postponed until tomorrow morning, and I have pulled dinner out of the freezer. Well, it'll be dinner supposing I don't get "Me not like it!" as a reaction. Bean has been off his food all week due to being under the weather, which has only strengthened his knee-jerk reaction to refuse any food I put in front of him. He's much better about accepting food that Mama makes, but 90% of what I make gets met with "Me not like that/Me not want that!" He's old enough now, though, that he generally doesn't get presented with other options. When he was sick it was a different story, since it was important to get something in him, but in general dinner is dinner, and we're not a restaurant.

This is one of my weekends at home, but as far as I know there aren't any firm plans. I have a game on Saturday (more people! In less than a week! What is happening?), but apart from that I'm not sure. Next weekend we have friends of mine coming for a quick visit with their daughter, who is about a year younger than Bean, and whom I haven't seen in absolutely forever, so I'm looking forward to that a lot.

So, that's today in a nutshell. A little more exciting than my usual fare, am I right?

My alarm didn't ring, again. It's a brand new alarm clock, and it works fine when I test it, just not when I need it to ring in the morning. I am frustrated.

Then the metro was down when I got there this morning, and as far as I know still is. Some sort of electrical problem, and nary a zombie in sight: I checked. I got to work an hour late. So unimpressed. At least zombies would have made it entertaining and made being late to work the least of my worries.

I have also not had coffee.

Crabby cat is crabby as a result.

Okay,I haven't posted a random poll in a while, and I'm contemplating making more coffee, so here you go!


[Poll #1296581]

I have all sorts of new interests, and I have run out of icon slots. Woe! I need a gardening icon, and a homesteading icon, and... yeah, lots of icons. Selfishly, I also don't want to get rid of any of my current icons. Further woe!

The Creeping Crud (aka potential allergy) continues unabated. I have spent most of this morning hacking up a lung and sounding like a frog. I am only on my first cup of coffee, though, so maybe it will go away soon. I hear from others in the OCC, though, that they have something similar, so this may actually be a legitimate illness. Bah. At least I got to bed early last night. Eight whole hours of sleep, baby! That's what I'm talkin' about, yeah.

The asparagus has bolted, in the meantime. I've never seen asparagus in that particular state before, so it's pretty cool. Not good eatin', though. Everything in the garden except the garlic seems to be doing quite well. If I ever get time off work ever again, I look forward to mucking about in the garden.

Okay, off to get another cup of coffee.