h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I have to admit to being something of a caffeine fanatic but better than I used to be in the past. The first thing I do (often after feeding the cat) is to make myself a cup of coffee to kick-start my brain for the day. I try to keep the amount of coffee I drink down to 4 cups per day as otherwise it adversely affects my health. I like virtually all sorts of coffee and also like tea but not to the same extent as coffee. I have drunk various herbal teas, including Peppermint and Chamomile as well as Redbush. Currently my favourite is Chai tea. Although I like various forms of tea, it usually comes behind my choice of coffee, particularly when I'm feeling tired. Was pleased to read recently that drinking between 3-5 cups of coffee per day helps offset the start of Alzheimer's which gives me a good excuse to continue my current addiction!

Ohhhh, caffeine, my drug of choice. I've found I have a bunch of different sources of caffeine, depending on circumstances.

Because my wife's pregnant, I don't get to have any caffeine with my breakfast. Instead, I get my first shot when I get to the office, and then, it's all a factor of how much sleep I got and what my day's like. For a while, it was all Red Eyes, with the occasional Black Eye, but I had a lot going on... I have yet to try making my first Dead Eye (good thing the office has a coffeemaker and an espresso machine!)

Typically it's coffee in the morning, pop in the afternoon. A previous contract, I seem to recall running through about six, maybe seven cups of coffee over the course of a day, and when it finally got out of my system about 8:00 that night, the come-down headache was Something Else.

Of course, when I get sick, like I am now, I switch over to tea, nothing in it. Lately it's been green tea at work, but I think I'm slowly drifting toward a black tea kick. I was first into masala chai.. everything changes.

And then when I'm doing some really fun hacking that needs some Real Caffeine, I break out a Red Bull, Monster, or a Bawls.. particular when I'm doing my final exams!

Some days, I wind up not having any caffeine. So yeah, it's all about the particular day.

I am one that has my nerves calmed by caffeine.
I remember being in some stressful situations
where the only way I made it through was prayer and caffeine.

I personally think the early morning mild analgesic effect of caffeine is quite as important getting one's day started as the mild stimulating effect.