Another "Fun" part of the winter

[Pulsegleaner]

Hi all,

I'm not really sure if this is the right place to put this rant (it's the "everything else" section, but a big part of me feels that messages that have nothing to do with gardening, farming etc, should never be posted on this forum AT ALL, that they are best saved for fora devoted to that subject (or quite often, simply left wholly unsaid, on the grounds that no one is really going to care or want to hear about your petty little gripes) But I am really frustrated with this one, and need somewhere to rant. Please be tolerant

Over recent years I have cut the vast majority of commercial beverages out of my diet (not for any specific general health reason, but more because this or that beverage no longer pleased me, or started affecting my stomach badly) to the point where most of the time I only drink either tea or water. (I've never been all that interested in alcohol and find coffee unpleasant). I used to drink quite a bit of soda, but most of the ones I used to like either upset my stomach now or are no longer made.

The one soft drink that still IS in my repertoire currently is a ginger-lemongrass lemonade made by Maine Root, which I treat myself to on Saturdays with my lunch. My supply of this has always been a bit spotty (there's only one store around that carries the Maine root lemonades (unlike the sodas, which are readily available) but over the last month or two it has dried up totally. Finally tonight I drummed up the courage to check the online site, fearing the words "as of (date) we are no longer making this product", which seems to be the fate of most of the bottled lemonades and iced teas I used to like. Sometimes I think that Mr. Holmes decided from somewhere up above to make me the test case to prove his law (Holmes's law is the one that goes "If you like it, they'll stop making it.")

The good news is that I did not see that message, they have no discontinued the line. The bad news is that it is probably going to be around April before I see the lemonade again. Apparently, Maine Root has stopped all shipments for the winter, since it is now too cold wherever the bottling plant is (presumably in Maine) to ship it without it freezing and breaking on the trip. Technically this may only apply to direct shipments, but since the one store I get it from gets it "stock to the shelves" (someone comes in from time to time and fills the shelves; they can't call up and tell the guy to come earlier or that they need extra) I imagine it effects that as well.

And so there I stay, stuck. I actually have some lemongrass ginger mint teabags, which I guess I will brew up this weekend to see if it can work as a stopgap. But whether it will, or if it does whether it will last until spring (I got the bags from a remainder place, so I can't just go back and get more bags) I cannot be sure (and before someone asks no I cannot just get some lemons lemongrass and ginger and whip up my own. I tried and the results were too burning and acidic for me. Maybe if it was the spring and I could get young white gingerroot but it isn't and I can't)

And also please avoid the whole "you should relish this opportunity to break yourself from this drink as well as well as the tea as a step on the path of purging all unhealthy things from your diet, and hopefully of ultimately breaking yourself of the desire for any and all pleasures so you can finally enter into the glorious realms of perfect ascetic purity. I already say that to myself enough

So that's the whole rant. Thank you for your time.

 

[Smart Red]

Rant away! Petty gripes are part of our humanity, IMHO, as are appetite changes and specific cravings. Too bad you did not see the pattern soon enough to stock up. I would suggest you keep looking. There may be another source -- or company producing a similar product further south.

 

[AMKuska]

@Pulsegleaner that's really terrible luck. Does it have a reasonable shelf life? Might be best to take everything once they do have it on the shelf and save it for next time.

As far as weaning goes...I struggled with that for the longest time over my coffee. Not because coffee is unhealthy, but because the creamer I like is. I realized I probably harmed my health more by stressing over that stupid cup every morning than I did over actually drinking it.

So now I let myself enjoy that cup of coffee, and let it be my one bad habit among the numerous good ones I've managed to instil. Maybe the same applies to you!

 

[thistlebloom]

I can kind of commiserate with you Pulsegleaner. DH and I like to treat ourselves to Thomas Kemper ginger ale on summer Sunday afternoons while we sit in the garden and watch the hummers.
It was unavailable around here for almost a year. There is no substitute.
So when one day I was at the market and saw it on the shelf again I let out a whoop and bought 4 four packs. I jabbered about it to the checker about how wonderful it was they carried it again, I'm sure she thought I was off my meds, but I was so ridiculously happy!

I hope you can locate a source soon.

 

[Pulsegleaner]

I always DO clean the shelves, at least of that flavor (they also carry the maple syrup one, but I don't like that ). The problem is that "everything " consists of around 12 bottles (occasionally up to 15) . Lunch usually takes me about 3 bottles so that's about a 4-5 week supply, which ,even when it does come it is usually about how long it takes them to get another shipment. So stocking up is almost impossible; breaking even is the best I can usually do. It DOES have a good shelf life (couple of years I think) but I can't build up the stock

Theoretically yes. The problem is that, from my point of view, anything that gives me pleasure is inherently wrong. If I really followed my overactive conscience, I would literally turn into a full blown moral masochist, devoting my life to self torture and making myself as miserable as possible because I would feel that that was the "right" thing to do.

As of this point I have not found an equivalent (not that one does not exist). The real frustrating part is that the store I use is simply an A&P branch, so you'd think getting more would simply be a matter of going to another branch of the supermarket. But oddly none of the others carry it.

Ironically given how crabby I am with winter here, at this point a part of me wishes I lived a little farther north. Specifically I wish I lived in Bristol, Rhode Island, since if I did, I could down Empire Spruce Beer until I burst. At least I think I could. I'm working on the assumption that the area around where a beverage is made is the one place it should be easy to get. I worked back when I was a kid when we would take day trips to Norwalk; it was awash with Sobe (and at one point, the only place I could get the oolong, which was my flavor of choice).

I'll make it till spring somehow. These kind of things just really rattle me. My memory fills with all the good bottled lemonades and iced teas that I loved that really HAVE gone off the market. Long Life (I used to buy out a Pharmacy store in NYC and carry 18-20 glass bottles through the city ON MY BACK to keep my supply up. Plus I always had fun at college baffling fellow students minds with the "magical changing label trick"*). T42, especially their bottled earl grey (which I would also prowl the city for and their Jamaican Ginger (so elusive I think I found a grand total of 4 bottles in my whole life) The short lived bottled line Tao of Tea made (really good green with mint) Journey Soda's lemongrass with the dancing Thai elephant (actually most of Journey's quirky line before they reformatted) Natural Brew Premium Draft Cola, the creamiest of colas (their current Chai cola is close, but not the same and too hard on my stomach).

And those miracle returns do happen to me as well. Last December while wandering around that remainder store, I managed to score 4 tins of King Leo peppermint sticks (as much a part of my holiday season as snow, lights and Dad making Joe Froggers) Last night, I finally cracked a tin and got the extra delight that they FINALLY got the recipe straight again (for a while they sticks were coming out all hard and gnarled King Leo's are supposed to be about the same consistency as those little white pillow mints you get at restaurants, and smooth. They've gotten the weight right again as well (they just the right length and weight that you can hold one in you hand like a cigar if you decide you want to do a Groucho Marx impression (I used to be killer at the walk)

** There was a period when the company decided to change their label design and, for reasons known only to them, decided to take bottles with the old labels and paste the new labels on top of them. So for a while you could take a bottle show them the label and with a little slight of hand, rip the outer off and make it look like you had "magically" made the label change.)

 

[digitS']

Children's Rule #1: If it tastes good, you can't have it.

Children's Rule #2: If it tastes awful, you must eat (drink) all of it.

Steve

 

[Pulsegleaner]

You forgot #3: If it actually makes you (physically) sick, you have to consume it in massive quantities to force your body to "get used to it"

 

[digitS']

Yeah, well after admitting on TEG that the MD said I should quit coffee nearly a year ago, I'm trying. Trying like I used to try to quit cigarettes - tapering off ...

I had no coffee, yesterday. It must have been the second or third full day without coffee during the last 2 weeks. I've been up for an hour ... and still no coffee, and I don't plan on any until I'm well into my day, if then.

I'm not opposed to me having coffee about mid-morning, or in the early afternoon. MD may be "opposed." Oh, my stomach is better to get past breakfast before the onslaught of the bitter brew. I'll try to think of it like that.

Not really too tuff. I can only be slightly addicted to caffeine after so many years of dilution with decaf. Only had a headache bad enuf to take Tylenol once, lately. That was likely brought on be winter dehydration and involving the sinuses, anyway.

Pleasures in life? I'd appreciate some ... feeling a little bitter, myself. But, I did it myyy waaay! Yeah, right.

Steve

 

[buckabucka]

I'm in Maine, but had never heard of Maine Root. It looks like they are based in Portland.
I'm definitely not going to try their product though. It looks good, but sounds too addictive!

 

[Pulsegleaner]

Actually only that lemonade (and possibly the regular one. I've never actually had that) the sodas themselves are pretty run of the mill. Give me Dry Juniper or Lavender any day (though that is me, if you don't like the taste of lavender or juniper you probably would not hold the same opinion.

About the only product addictions I've actually "broken" myself of are the one for Divine Bovine Teriyaki Beef jerky and Merideth Farms marinated goat cheese, both of which fall into the category of "delicious, but too expensive to make a habit of them the way I do". And technically I haven't broken either addiction. I don't buy either anymore, but that doesn't meant I don't still want to. In fact, with my messed up psyche that becomes the point, forcing yourself to remain tormented with desire to the point of making your life hell, as "punishment" for ever having indulged in the first place. I suppose the only reason I don't take that tack for everything is that for most foods, the overindulgence is it's OWN punishment. I can pretty much count on the fact that, when greengage season comes around, I will end up in the bathroom for a couple of hours at least once or twice because I lost my self restraint and ate 4-5 pounds of plums at once sitting (greengage season is only 2-3 weeks around here so I tend to get into a "eat them while you can" mentality. I simply accept it. There is an old Jewish proverb I really need to embrace more that translates out to more or less "When sin is sweet, repentance is not so bitter."