Thoughts on caffeine

My stomach started to grumble, and looking at the clock to see it was 12:15, I wasn't surprised. I grabbed my wallet and headed downstairs to the cafe to get some soup.

I decided I needed some caffeine as well; Adam and I were up until 2 AM working on invitations and watching Into the West. So I grabbed myself a Guava Rockstar and headed back upstairs to catch up on the news.

As I cracked open my fruity can of energy, I came across the following article:

http://news.cincinnati.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080812/LIFE07/808120301/1055/NEWS

Good thing I'm not a highschool athlete anymore, that's for certain. But it got me thinking about my highschool days. I don't ever remember drinking an energy drink in highschool. It was only 6 years ago; energy drinks were new to the market. But the closest thing I drank to an energy drink were Starbuck's bottled Frappucinos. I can't think of a single person who showed up to a 6 am practice with a Red Bull in their hand. I'm sure there were some, but it seems more likely that Mountain Dew would have made the cut instead.

My love for energy drinks spawned from my college years. I specifically remember one night from my 2nd year of college, the end of Spring quarter. I was studying for my Structures 2 final, on top of the other finals and projects to be completed within the week. I had been up for 2 days at this point, with only 2 one hour naps. Over the course of the evening study group, and the late night study session with a friend, I consumed 3 Red Bulls, 2 Frappucinos, at least 8 cans of diet pop, and several No-Doz pills. I-was-freaking-wired. When that was over, I slept for almost 48 consecutive hours.

The first long car trip I made by myself was only 6 hours, from Cincinnati to Chicago. A normal car can make the trip in about 5 hours, but my dear truck did not like to go over 60 mph. I don't remember now if there was a specific reason for this trip, but most likely I just loved the freedom that having my own vehicle gave me. However, I'd had to work until 10 that night, so when I hit the highway around 10:30, I was afraid that I would fall asleep at the wheel. Of course, this meant I should drink my way through the state of Indiana with Red Bull. At one rest stop, I discovered sugar-free Rockstar's, and thought this was the greatest thing since sliced bread. I got two, because, y'know, they were ON SALE. By the time I reached my mom's house, I was so jittery that I couldn't fall asleep. I faded out around 10 am.

These days, I try to limit my caffeine. The Rockstar I bought for lunch likely won't get finished, and if I do, it'll be on my way home 5 hours from now. I try not to drink caffeine if I don't need it, so that on the occasion that I DO, it won't take $45 worth of energy drinks to sustain me.