New Look, Same Puddle Deep Thought

 Thought I'd try a cleaner look for the blog by increasing the width, moving the search and archive to the bottom and removing links.

Thanks to everyone who keeps checking in for new content.

Better Late Than Never

November was a busy month and I didn't have time to work on December's entry. I do have ideas lined up for 2019.

Reading

I used to enjoy reading, to the point where I laid in bed all day reading Wizard & Glass in the Gunslinger series from Stephen King. Now I’ll read for 5 minutes and that’s enough for a month.

So I decided to remedy this situation by rereading a favorite series, The Spellsinger by Alan Dean Foster. Thanks to the Amazon gift card from my brother, I bought the first book. It was tempting to buy the complete series since it was $49.95 but that would have used up the gift card.

It’s been a slow start and Alan can’t be blamed, I still enjoy Jon-Tom’s introduction to Mudge. I could have spent time reading last Monday since I had a day off from work, but was still recovering from New Year’s Eve (I ate too much baked brie and cookies & cream)

This past Monday, I sat down, cracked open my iPad and read the rest of chapter 1. I still laugh from the humor of Mudge and Jon-Tom’s outlook of the strange world he’s now a part of.

December Break

I’m going to take a break for the month of December to work on upcoming posts. I feel that I short myself since I only work on them for a few minutes before posting.

Maybe I’ll keep up with the Motivation Monday and Feel Good Friday since I have enough pics to last for a while, and are easy to do.

Coffee

As I’ve mentioned before, I love coffee and recently I tried something new when making it.

I used to fill my coffee maker to the 8 cup mark with water and 5 scoops of beans. As of October 31st, its been 6 cups of water and 4 scoops of beans. The coffee still tastes the same and I finish off the pot more often.

Another perk is my can of coffee is lasting longer, instead of 2 weeks it’s 17 days. I’m hoping that I’ll only have to buy coffee once a month.

Treat Yo Self

As a fan of Parks and Recreation I like the episode with the first Treat Yo Self. Ben breaking down and crying because he bought the Batman suit is because we forget to take care of ourselves or do things to make us happy.

You have to be careful when treating yo self because as Donna and Tom said it’s the best day of the year. Treating yourself too often can be harmful. I used to keep Hershey Kisses in my freezer as a snack but soon found myself having more and more each night.

The best day to treat yo self, your birthday. That’s what I did recently and going to do from now on. A money saving tip that I’ve been using for a while can be applied to this also. It will be fun to put money into a ‘Treat Yo Self’ and watch it grow.

Bit Of Writers Block

I had something in mind for today's post but no matter how I tried to word it, I think people would have misunderstood me.

Naps, They Don't Love You Like I Love You

Now that Fall is here I can go back to taking naps in my car on my lunch break. Not everyday thought because I like going for walks as well.

The funny thing about napping in my car is I have no problem falling asleep when I lay back in the seat but when I’m in bed I need to lay on my stomach or side.

Both of these scenarios have something in common; if I don’t fall asleep I go into a “low power standby mode”. I can hear what’s going on around me but I “wake up” and feel rested. Something else that happens during these moments is I’ll forget where I am or think I’m somewhere else.

Coffee

I like coffee, and have for a long time. I was 12 and working at my dad’s grocery store when I first tried it. Back then I put in milk and 4 teaspoons of sugar since I found it bitter without them. As I got older my preferences and making of it has changed.

During the late 90’s I was on the Atkins diet, so I removed sugar from the coffee and switched to half and half. I stuck with the diet for about three months but quit because it was upsetting my stomach. By that time I had gotten so used to coffee without sugar that I haven’t used it since.

I’m not sure when or why I stopped using half and half, but I have tried various milks from nuts (almond, coconut, hazelnut) but never could get used to the taste of them. Hazelnut was the exception but it bothered my stomach.

When I started buying my own coffee, I tried the big name brands (Maxwell House, Folgers, Eight o’Clock) and Eight o’Clock was the best of them. During a conversation with a friend, he explained that I should buy whole beans since pre ground is stale.

Grinding my beans was a learning process in itself. First I’ve never used the store grinder because who knows when they cleaned it last and you’re getting bits of other coffee. Decaf will never touch my lips!

When I grind at home I’ll do 3 bursts for 12 seconds each, shaking it a bit between, I find this gives me the best brew and the grounds don’t float up and out of the reservoir and into my coffee pot.

I’ve used percolators in the past but no matter how careful I was, water managed to get into the base and cause damage. So I’ve been using a Mr. Coffee drip which I only had to replace once because I didn’t read the directions on how to clean it and ruined the thermostat. Luckily they’re a lot cheaper.

I like flavored coffee as well and will buy a small bag for my weekend mornings when I have more time to enjoy a cup. It’s been tough finding a store that sells Hazelnut beans but The Black Cow Cafe in Pleasantville has other “flavors” that are just as tasty, their Genetha’s Cabin is personal favorite. It’s been too long since I’ve stopped in for a cup.

Lately Trader Joe’s Breakfast Blend has been my staple coffee, a medium roast blend of mellow and smooth, perfect for any day of the week. I was alternating between that and their Colombia Supremo Coffee but found it too sweet.

At one job there was Green Mountain coffee machine where you could brew a single cup, this was well before Keurig. The ease of which I could have a cup of Hazelnut or French Blend or Italian Roast had me up to 8 cups a day. Then I wondered why I couldn’t get to sleep at night.

Now I have 3 or 4 cups in the morning and I’m good for the day. As much as I’d love a cup in the afternoon, I love getting to sleep at night a bit more.

SPOILER ALERT! I'M DONE WITH IO9!

After 10 years of being a member of the io9 community, I have decided to stop visiting the site due to a recent article posted about Guardians of The Galaxy 2 where a spoiler was the title. There was no warning as they’ve done in the past so they ruined that part of the movie for me.

I’ve been avoiding spoilers for the movies I want to see and this was the final straw because io9 has been on a steady decline ever since Annalee Newitz and Charlie Jane Anders left to pursue other careers.

I was fine with the Morning Spoiler Report because of the way it was arranged would let me skim over movies or television show I didn’t want to know about. Recently they began posting individual articles about upcoming entertainment and would put spoiler warnings as well. The reason they used in regard to GoTG2 was that it was revealed at San Diego Comic Con and by James Gunn himself saying it wasn’t a twist or spoiler. Since I wanted to wait for the movie this was disappointing fact to learn.

Other reasons I’ve decided to stop visiting the site was their decision to discontinue the Six Word Story days and the decrease in GIF Party Fridays. These two features were for the members of the site to make their own contributions. Then there’s the monthly clickbait about climate change and it being the hottest month.

I guess everything has an end whether we like it or not.