High Octane Coffee

Today at work I had a crazy day-- it was a good thing I wore my running shoes.  I started my day seeing 3 patients at the clinic.  I was also asked to fill in at the surgery center to see the patients who have had joint replacements.  I do this occasionally when the therapists at the hospital are swamped.  So I hustled down to the other end of the block to "help the lame walk".  I rushed back to see my 11:00 patient, eat lunch, and finish 3 or 4 notes from the morning.  Next it was back to the surgical center for a few hours for afternoon treatments before rushing back down the street to see my next patient in the clinic who ended up not showing up.  I quickly finished my paperwork for the surgery center patients but had to run back to the hospital to the rehab department on the 4th floor to drop off the paperwork.  Then it was back to the clinic (up another 4 flights) to see my next patient.  At this point two beautiful things happened-- my final patient call to cancel her appointment and I drank my first cup of "coffee" in my life.
For a few days at Starbucks this week fall drinks are buy one get one free.  This as been all the talk at work.  Orders were taken, plans were made, and hopes were raised about Starbucks drinks.  I don't drink coffee but they begged me to participate-- something about team camaraderie (and needing an even number of people for the drink deal).  After much deliberation a few of my co-workers decided that a good started drink for a beginner would be the salted caramel mocha frappuccino.  They assured me it really wasn't coffee and more like a milk shake.  It was delicious. I also felt rather sophisticated and grown up which helped since I was confused for a high school earlier in the day.  I happily sipped away on my drink while finishing up my paperwork when someone wandered back into the office and questioned, "You drank the entire thing?"  At that point I wondered if it was safe fore me to drive home.  I never drink anything with caffeine and certainly not coffee.  Would I have a sugar high, a caffeine buzz, or impaired decision making?  This is one reason I stay away from "legally addictive stimulants".
Looking back on the evening I couldn't have made a better investment of $2 for the drink for the amount of productivity that ensued.  I did grocery shopping for the week, repotted a house plant, completed 3 loads of laundry, made pizza crust and used my current crop of tomatoes to simmer down into another batched of pizza sauce, washed the dishes, packed lunches, cleaned the bathroom, swept and mopped the kitchen and bathroom, and vacuumed the floors-- I even moved stuff out of the way to vacuum underneath.  When spring cleaning time comes around next year I'll have to try coffee again.  As far as I can tell the side effects were only positive-- increased productivity.  I didn't get jittery or feel like my heart was going to jump out of my chest and was able to sleep at night.  Arthur was gone for the evening and at one point he called to check in and I realized that I was talking twice as fast as I usually do.  Overall it was great to get so much done at once because I lack the motivation to do much house cleaning on the weekends.  Maybe some day I will become a true coffee convert although if this were the results of "weak coffee" I probably can't handle full strength. Omnia Vincit Amor.