D. Lee Jackson

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Speeding Up Things a Bit

Posted on 2016-02-25 Written by D. Lee Jackson

I would ask that you please let me know if anything looks odd on this site (my photo not included, thankyouverymuch). I’ve just installed a caching plug-in that should make site access a bit faster. It usually works without a hitch, but when it goes wrong things can turn rather strange. Here’s hoping it works.

In other news, the music writing progresses well. I had a bit of a struggle in choosing which General MIDI patches to use for something yesterday, but I think I’ve got that issue solved. I’m still ingesting my morning caffeine, so I haven’t listened to the song yet today. I might hear it and make massive changes (it’s happened before), or I might wind up being totally happy with what I ended on yesterday (not as common). Stay tuned. 😀

Questions? Comments? Please feel free to use the Contact page. Thank you for reading!

Filed Under: music, website Tagged With: coffee, computer, music

Interrupted Uninterruptible

Posted on 2016-02-13 Written by D. Lee Jackson

Well, my plan for yesterday was a good one—until my medications for allergies, chronic pain syndrome, and the like took up a crowbar and beat the life out of it, that is.

I’d started with a heavy-duty dose of coffee. I call it my “WTFU” (WAKE THE F*** UP) coffee, consisting of a double mug’s worth of brew, two shots of SToK coffee concentrate, and two pumps of Eden ALERT “functional syrup.” It usually has enough caffeine and other ingredients to jump start a freight train. I drank it while waiting for my Uninterruptible Power Supply to fully charge its batteries.

Things were working at first. I had enough energy to finish up some leftover revisions on the second novel in the Tapper series and post them to Scribophile while waiting. I had planned to attack the UPS after it finished charging, with the help of my wife (she’s the one of us who has good knees and can crawl around beneath my desk without screaming in pain) once she finished “telecommuting” to her job for the day.

Life can really screw with your plans, can’t it?

I could feel the caffeine start to wear off around 1:00 p.m. CST. I didn’t dare risk another WTFU dose (I have trouble with frequent PVCs, or Premature Ventricular Contractions of the heart), and iced tea wasn’t getting the job done. By 2:00 p.m., I was down for the count.

(In a note of cruel irony, it’s approaching 4:00 a.m. Saturday morning as I type this. My cat woke me up, and I haven’t been able to get back to sleep. My wife, however, is sleeping like a swaddled newborn.)

So, here’s my plan for later this morning:

  1. Try and get 30 grams of protein into my stomach within 30 minutes of waking up.
  2. Concoct another WTFU cup of coffee and take my medicines while I wait for the coffee to cool below tongue-searing levels.
  3. Drink said coffee.
  4. Attack the UPS situation and get it finished.

Of course, all of this depends on whether or not my wife can get on the same schedule with me. If she’s too tired or under the weather, I’m screwed.

Wish us luck.

Filed Under: personal Tagged With: coffee, computer, health

Costa Rican Coffee Crisis Averted

Posted on 2016-01-22 Written by D. Lee Jackson

My wife and I are coffee drinkers. Nothing special about that. However, we own a Keurig 1.0 machine, so at first we had to compromise on what coffee we buy for it. I’m happy to report that we both eventually found a brand we love—Café Britt dark roast “single-serve” (i.e., K-Cup clone) packs from Costa Rica. (BTW, if you’ve ever watched the episode of How It’s Made on coffee, Café Britt was featured in the relevant segments. That’s where I learned about the brand.) This particular roast is excellently balanced and easy to drink without the burnt taste that some dark roasts bring to the cup. I usually do my writing with a large mug next to my laptop.

I have almost always ordered direct from the manufacturer’s web site. They have the best prices and the best shipping service, especially when you order six boxes at a time. I decided it was time to restock this morning, but to my confusion, the single-serve packs were no longer showing up on their web site.

Undaunted, I called their toll-free number and tried to place an order. I was told that the single-serve packs were no longer in production and would not be sold anymore.

Insert shocked pause here.

The representative was helpful and offered to talk to her superior about selling me what was left in the warehouse. She said she’d call back in about 15 minutes. You can guess where this is going—45 minutes later, no phone call. I called the company back and got their voice mail, so I left a message. They eventually called, but I missed picking up the phone (I have an voice mail system that’s on a hair trigger after the fourth ring.) Anyway, I called back and got the same lady I spoke to earlier in the day. I was told that there was no more stock, and due to a decision “from the president of the company,” they would not be making/stocking them anymore. I told them they’d lost a customer. (BTW #2—the voice mail left by another representative confirmed that they would no longer be selling the single-serve packs.)

The next step in this caffeinated saga takes place on Twitter. I used to tweet a lot about my experiences in finding the perfect coffee for my Keurig machine. I stopped tweeting so much once I found Café Britt. Today, I left a tweet using the “@CafeBritt” tag, telling of my morning calls and my disappointment in their decision. The tweet got favorited and re-tweeted a couple of times.

Move on to just after noon—Café Britt called me again. Same person from my first call. She said she was calling about my tweet (!) and told me that the morning’s events were a misunderstanding. As it turns out, Café Britt’s single-serves will be returning to their inventory for sale. They’re just out of stock at the moment and have no ETA on when they’ll get more. Phew. I thanked her profusely and promised to keep an eye out for their return. This was followed by another tweet to the coffee community, explaining what I was told the second time around and thanking Café Britt for their hard work.

I don’t know if my tweet actually made a difference in their company’s decision on selling single-serve cups or not. In the end, it doesn’t matter. My wife and I will eventually have our favorite coffee back on our shelves, as soon as it shows up on Café Britt’s web site.

Definitely an interesting first half of the day.

Questions? Comments? Please feel free to use the Contact page!

Filed Under: personal, words Tagged With: coffee, food, writing

Hello, and welcome! My name is Lee Jackson, and I'm the composer of "Grabbag," the theme to the video game Duke Nukem 3D, plus music for Rise of the Triad and Shadow Warrior (the original). I've got four albums out, with tracks on Spotify, Apple Music, Bandcamp, and SoundCloud! Read More…

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  • Lady Tygress' Suite and Other Commissions

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Recent Posts

  • New Music Collaboration In The Works 2023-03-23
  • An Audio Silver Lining 2023-03-07
  • New – “Song of the Weekend” Archive Online 2023-02-10
  • Heart Issues Under Investigation 2022-12-29
  • “Lady Tygress’ Suite and Other Commissions” Album Released! 2022-11-04

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