The last two weeks have been more than a little draining. I've been pushing to complete a major update for a web-based class at work. While I have been working with the product for several months now, it was only a few weeks ago that I saw it in actual use. That made a huge difference to me and cemented a lot of what I was working on. I've been digging through the course material, rewriting relevant sections and discarding outdated ones. Friday I finished most of the slides, leaving only a few to complete tomorrow morning. I'll have until Wednesday to complete all the voice recording.

Meanwhile, something strange has happened to my sense of taste. For years my beverage of choice has been soda. I relied on the caffeine to keep me going and the taste for comfort at tough consulting assignments. On particularly bad days, I could lay waste to liters of the stuff. Two weeks ago on Monday, however, I cracked open a can of the stuff and actually winced. 

Like most Americans, I have a sweet tooth. Very few things have ever been too sweet for me to eat or drink. For seemingly the first time I was utterly bamboozeled by what my tongue was telling me: "Eew! Too Sweet! Yuck!" I took another sip and promptly curled my face into a scowl. What the hell? Too sweet? Since when is anything too sweet for me!?

I set the soda aside and had some coffee instead. Black it was not, but the Raspberry Latte was subtle and creamy. I found myself less jittery and tense at the end of that day then I have in a year.

I tried it again the next day, and the next. Some days I'd polish off a can, but mostly I set them aside to warm and go flat. I found diet soda inflicted far more of a penalty than regular. Soda made with cane sugar was by far the most satisfying. If I had need of carbonation, there was sparkling water.

Oddly, I blame Germany for my two new beverage addictions. Even the cheapest coffee in Germany was delicious in a way that I rarely found in the states. As I was on business, I was able to expense it all and seek out my tastes. One particular weekend I was invited to a BBQ at a coworker's near Berlin. We were served sparkling water with fresh lemon all day, and soon I found myself with yet another addiction. 

While sparkling water was provided at work, coffee was a bit of a pain. Like most offices, the coffee that's available, in a word, stinks. I'm not suggesting that we should have a barista on staff 5/40; it's difficult to provide high quality in an economy of scale. Unfortunately, this means I would have to plunk down $3-5 for a proper cup each and every time. (Oh, the woe of the salarywoman! Woe!) I have been investigating how to make a proper cup myself without too much of a cost. I fear, however, that the savings achieved will be minimal.