Drink Coffee Like Your Life Depends on It, because a New Study Says it Does
Some say it is the fountain of youth and now we know exactly how many cups we need each day to live longer. All signs point to a daily need to keep that coffee pot going.
People aged 40 and participated in a study that found death was lowered by those who drank more than three cups of coffee per day. According to The Korea Herald, “Scientists tracked the patients’ daily coffee intake and death rate for an average of 9.1 years. Individuals already diagnosed with diabetes, cardiovascular disease and cancer were not included in the study.”
The study was published in the Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics.
The other good news that that the study found was that it didn’t matter what type of coffee was consumed, as instant, straight black and 3 in 1 (coffee, sugar and cream) all benefitted in more years added to their lives and had a reduced risk of death by cardiovascular disease than non-coffee drinkers.
The people who try to say that coffee and caffeine aren’t good for you, probably relish in decaf and likely won’t outlive you at this point. Drink up, buttercup. Your health and years on this planet may depend on it.
I Want the Airwaves, Baby
1989 was a huge turning point of my life growing up in Dallas-Fort Worth. Our FM radio Airwaves choices were shit and mostly still are my opinion. On New Kids on the Block might have made other teenage girls swoon when they promise that they'll be “loving you forever”, but this boy band was a hard pass for me. Songs like “Don’t Know Much” only solidified my belief that I'd rather watch paint dry than here Aaron Neville sing any day of the week and Chicago's “Look Away” made me want to run away from all hope of music. It all felt like a tidal wave of awful, attempted love ballads and I wasn't having any of it.
l am self-admitted channel surfer. At a moment's notice, I will turn the dial to another channel frequency like it's nobody's business even if I'm in a car and not the one driving. It drives people who are around me nuts, but I can’t help that my brain gets bored easily and seeks out a new experience constantly.
It was during one of these millions of channel surfing times that I stumbled across this radio station that I could barely get any reception, but there it was with barely any commercials but what stood out was that the this genre music that came pouring out of my bedroom radio was unlike anything I've ever heard of my life in my life it was a rock and it hit me right in the soul was Johnette Napolitano of Concrete Blonde a and Ross y voice raspy voice hit me like a brick being thrown through the shattered glass she openly sings about life death and gunshot victims and God is a bullet I needed more of this but I would have to wait one more year to discover the heartbreaking realism of trying to love an alcoholic that haunts us in the song “Joey” which is rumored to be based on her relationship with Wall of Voodoo’s Mark Moreland. The little, static-filled radio station then known as KDGE The Edge and it was my life. I was introduced to bands like Social Distortion, Sonic Youth, Jane's Addiction, Faith No More, The Pixies, Midnight Oil, and they fucking rocked my world. I couldn't get enough and I would sit in my room and write poetry while listening to a wave of music that was just about to explode. This music was about to be in the bedroom of every angsty 90s kid because we could relate to these songs in some way.
I then discovered 120 Minutes on MTV, even though it had been running since 1986 and fell even more in love with alternative rock, which only lead me further down the musical rabbit hole. I found the hidden treasure of goth and Industrial.
I can distinctly remember where I was the first time I heard head like a hole I was at my middle school dance. I was one of three of us in a small group of friends that even recognized it and we all jumped up and down clapping that the DJ even recognized the brilliance of a then barely known Trent Reznor.
I am a huge Ramones fan and feel very fortunate to have seen them before most of the band members passed away. I even met Johnny Ramone on the floor walking through the crowd at the show. What stood out to me the most, was how kind he was - and completely approachable. I recognized that chili bowl haircut anywhere and my meeting him really set the bar for how I feel celebrity interactions should be. Some should probably take a page from Johnny's book and be kind to the people that support you.
Nothing felt like it could stop alternative rock. It was a force to be reckoned with and it felt like it would never die – until it did in 1996.
I still celebrate this musical Journey often, even if it was 30 plus years ago.
Live Like a Millionaire
Today is “National Be a Millionaire Day” and that has me wondering – What would you do with a million?
Would you take a stance much like coveting Park Ave and Boardwalk in Monopoly and live high on the hog? Or when you hear million, does you mind go straight to the rich, staple dessert, millionaire pie, that Texans loved from Luby’s? (RIP, Luby’s).
Would you spend it? Save it? Donate it? Invest it? There are many options to consider when thinking about that many zeros. There are 18.6 million millionaires in the US, so reaching that level of monetary wealth isn’t really that farfetched this day and age.
I honestly don’t know what I’d do with money like that. Probably not live any different than I do today, to be honest. Money is just money to me, and I’ve learned over the years that the more you have, the more you spend. Money can change some people and make them turn into different people. Greed is a despicable trait and it even turned people away from me a time or two.
When my dad passed away, he listed me as a beneficiary in his will, as he did his two other children. One sum, split three ways – that was fair and how my father intended it to be. Those other two tried to step all over my portion of my inheritance and cut me out, telling other family members that I was actually not our father’s child and they were going to make sure that I didn’t see a thing. It was very ugly, and I haven’t spoken to them in years because of this. Imagine that. My own siblings.
They were wrong about one thing, though. I did see a thing. I have my dad’s USPS uniform shirts, his Hanes undershirts and a clock that he gave me while he was alive. The things that matter most to me are those that are sentimental because everything else is just materialistic things. The had emptied my father’s house of all his possessions without even telling me that he has passed away until the donation truck left.
They might feel like they gained something, but they actually lost. They lost their only sister. I am our father’s child and they know this truth deep down. They also lost the value of honesty in all of this. I can’t imagine how heavy of a burden that must be to carry for them.
I value the richness of life, not money. And if anyone has a great mockup of Luby’s millionaire pie, please consider sharing it.
Here’s Why I Peed My Pants
I’m a pants peer when overcome with too strong of emotions. I come from a long line of pants peers.
If we laugh too hard, the uncontrollable peeing our pants happens. It sucks, but also, hilarious. Most of the time, this happens when I laugh way too hard at something I find over the top funny. It doesn’t just happen, though. It goes in stages, much like the heat factor of Scoville scale.
There’s the smirk, the laugh, the cry and then, oh no…the dreaded and finding humor at my own expense “I just pissed my pants” and there’s nothing I can do to control or stop it. It just happens.
The uncontrollable wasn’t always rooted in humor, though. When I was a kid, the peeing was out of fear. Predatorial fear, like the fight or flight kind. But in my case, the pee all over yourself kind of trepidation and it was very real.
When I was a kid, I thought that my Granny could protect me from anything. She was my heroine until the day she died at 80 ½ years young.
I had a problem as a kid with trying to pet every animal I saw. Not much has changed in this arena, however, and I found myself repeatedly in bad situations as a kid because of it. I was chased by a pack of dogs once.
My aunt had gotten my cousin a life-sized glow in the dark skeleton, because it was close to Halloween and she was rad like that. My cousin brought it to our horse pasture because who doesn’t want to have a skelly friend to tag along, right?
It was dark and Mr. Skelton was doing his glow thing. He looked amazing, to say the least. However, the pack of dogs next door to our horse pasture didn’t think so highly of him. Their job was to protect the concrete company and keep unwanted visitors after hours out. They did their job quite well.
My cousin and I had the joy of riding on the hood of the car to the gate to open it for the car’s driver. It was slow and fun and we loved the hell out of our “job”. Of course, Mr. Skeleton was with us, flapping around, back and forth in the October wind, all of us oblivious to the stress Mr. Skeleton was putting on “guard dog team six” next door.
Needless to say, the dogs came to our horse pasture and straight to the enemy who was causing their panic – Mr. Skeleton and two little girls, that happened to be me and my cousin.
I ran. No, I ran like the wind. I ran as fast as my little legs could carry me, fear pushing me forward. I peed my pants the entire way until I found myself knocking my Granny out of her lawn chair to protect me from the dogs who were on my heels.
My poor cousin was worried that the horses were going to get out, so she stood there holding the gate and Mr. Skeleton and got bit. It was not a fun night.
This was not the first time pee found it’s way down my leg at the horse pasture. I have great memories of this place but peeing your pants twice out of fear does something to you.
My next run in was with this adorable chick. I saw him and I just had to pet him. I kept calling him towards me with the sweet child voice of “here, chicky, chicky” in hopes he would stride over and let me hold him and pet him.
Not a chance.
A different aunt appeared and gave her warning of God’s creatures. “Angie, leave him alone. Stop calling him over to you or you’re going to be sorry.”
I couldn’t help myself. He was just too damn cute. I completely ignored her advice because I apparently like to do life the hard way.
What I didn’t know was what I was calling over to me was a young Banty rooster. If you’re unfamiliar with fowl, Banty roosters are mean. They have spurs on tehri legs that will destroy anything that comes into contact.
The next thing I knew, that “chick” had his head down and was chasing me screaming.
I ran. Maybe I learned from the dogs, but I knew what was about to happen. This guy wanted to attack and I wasn’t going to let him.
He chased me around the square enclosure where we all sat when we wanted reprieve from the horses. I was so scared, I peed my pants and kept running. I ran until I just couldn’t anymore.
About that time, I was saved by a brave cowboy who launched that rooster over the square enclosure, locking him inside. I cried and cried. It was many years later before I tried to pet anything, and never have trusted a rooster again.
Emotion makes us do strange things. Some of us piss our pants.
Preparing to Return to the Land of Fake Believe
Look, I’m just going to say it – I am not looking forward to “returning to normalcy.” Some of us have adapted to this quieter way of living and I feel like society is trying to drag us back into “What it was.” I am somewhere between a toddler throwing a fit and a loud sigh served with a slide of a big, fake smile. It’s not my happy place to say the least.
When the pandemic first happened, I was on Cloud 9. I was made for this – yoga pants became our dress code, binging Netflix or a good book series was hot, we made things. Who are these people who want it all to suddenly “go back to what it was”? It was broken. It was competitive. It was unforgiving.
What if this, this right here, is my normal? What about those of us who operate best at a distance? The world can be a scary place and I am not sure that I am ready to step into that big pile of stinky shit.
I’ve had the taste of freedom from what the normal offers and am both happy and comfortable here.
I’ve had a lot of time to ponder about these things, because isn’t that really all we’ve had after all this – time? Time to think about what’s really important and focus on the things that really matter? It isn’t status, sweetheart. It’s living life to it’s fullest. This solace is what fuels some of us, so give us grace as we struggle to return.
I’m not missing forced conversations that exhaust me from emotionally devoid people. “Nice weather today” at the watercooler is not my ideal interaction and I know that I am not alone.
Is anyone else feeling this sense of dread because of anxiety because we are being forced to march back into society at a pre-pandemic pace? It all feels so animated, and I just want to crawl under a rock and hide until other introverts can come along and can assure me safe passage back to the land of “fake believe.”
A Season of Change
Everything has an end at some point regardless of if it’s a job, a relationship, a person, or a dream that came to fruition we once held dear. Things change, people change, and we change.
I’ve been spending a lot of time thinking about this concept of change and I have to admit, it has changed me, too.
Perhaps I can offer some advice to those who are feeling this sting of pain? I feel like a pioneer in this area because nothing in my life has ever truly been constant, and I think if we’re being completely honest here, yours hasn’t either. Change will find us and usually when we least expect it. That has always been the case from my own experience.
Change gives us the gift of opportunities. It bestows upon us the opportunity to be with our feelings of anger, sadness, fear, and even remorse. “Why did this have to happen?”, “Why me?” is usually what comes to mind. Be in those feelings for as long as you need to, but don’t ever park your car in pity town.
No one is immune to losing that which we truly love, you see. We all have our seasons of life and it is just winter from where you are standing looking out of the window.
Change also bequeaths the opportunity of learning. “What did I learn from this?”, “What could I have done differently in this situation?”, “Would it have mattered?” Of course it matters, as long as we are receptive to the lesson that change it trying to teach us. If not, we are bound to repeat it and it will sting over and over again until we learn from it.
Change is always uncomfortable but necessary. It is up to us to stay where we are and stay with the exact same (or worse) results or move into the space to grow. Growth is never comfortable, but necessary, if we are to become who we are truly meant to be and live out our life’s purpose.
Evolve or die. Unlike the dodo bird, I choose life.
When I was little, I learned the meaning and wisdom of the old saying, “If you love something, set it free. If it returns to you, it’s yours. If it doesn’t, it never was.”
Over the years, I’d forgotten these lessons about change. I thought that by filling up other people’s cups, they would value me. They didn’t. I was never the first kid picked for any team. I was always the last. That really hurt me over and over again until I realized I was the one putting myself in harm’s way. I had to face change. I stopped seeing it as a foe, but as chance to be better.
I’ve learned that things around me, and thing that are happening to me, do not define me. I define me.
I’ve learned the value of walking away from things I truly loved. I’ve learned the value of change and now appreciate the opportunities that come with it.
I read more. I enjoy the little things in life more. I’ve learned the value of being still.
I am at peace with myself for the first time in a very long time. Maybe even the first time. It took me a long time to find the warmth of spring, which will turn into summer when it is time, die with the fall and return itself to winter, once more.
I don’t know what the future holds, but I know that I am content on living in the present and being in this moment, because this is where I am supposed to be. It is where we are all supposed to be.
Change. Accept. Learn. Grow. Repeat. Live.
Being an Accidental Car Door Slammer was Not Expected
I’ve had a very long time to think about a lot of things, as I’m sure most of you have also done. We’ve spent the past year on on a “traumatic rollercoaster” and I’m stepping off the crazy thing.
Last August, I started back to working a full time job as a content creator. I couldn’t be more grateful as I love my job and the company I work for. That was a huge positive for me and our entire family, considering so many people had lost their job during the pandemic.
School started back up and I was determined not to let my son’s online learning get the best of me like it did last year. We smashed that goal, too, as I found a way to make it work for us. I morph into a 3rd grade teacher during my lunchbreak and after work and we just get everything done. It’s not nearly as crazy for us this school year as it felt last year, even though he has a lot more work.
We made it through what felt like the longest winter on record. I never want to see snow again.
In February, my entire household got COVID. My husband was hospitalized and almost didn’t survive. It really made me focus on what really matters in life. I am grateful for the lesson and honor it by living day by day now.
I spend a lot of time just being still and listening to the world around me. In the silence, I find myself not feeling overwhelmed with life. I’ve stopped paying attention to things that really don’t matter and have unfollowed a lot of things that I just don’t have the energy for. I am learning to be at peace with myself and the world around me by walking away.
I enjoy the little things like watching the clouds drift by, keeping an ear out for the neighborhood woodpecker, laughing at something funny that one of my kids told me. When was the last time you really did something like this? Life is for living and I’m all in with those I love and care about.
I realized I got to this dreaded point by constantly being sad, angry and at war with myself. It took this undoing and letting go to finally find the motivation to just be who I am truly meant to be - a writer, an accidental car door slammer, a wife and mom and so much more that is simply perfectly imperfect about me.
So, here I am with learning something new about myself that I wasn’t even aware I had within me - being an accidental car door slammer. My point is, spend some time to learn something new about yourself. It’s good for the soul (not the car door, apparently) and you just might find some humor in it either way.
One Man, One Purpose
The vaping community was rippled with the shock of the news that the man who made us laugh and did so much for others was gone on February 3rd 2019. The man known as The Vaping Jackass quickly got the community involved and grew on you like a case of convention crud. You know before attending these events that you’re likely to get sick, but it doesn’t stop you from attending, being amongst friends, meeting new ones and interacting with brands in the industry.
The more I got to know Mike the more I realized how unique he was. January 11, 2018 was the day he smoked his last cigarette. This man had only been involved in vaping for a little over a year. Please keep that in mind the next time you don’t think you can make a difference because you haven’t “been around long enough”. This man made strides.
Even now, something as simple as flipping back through his social media pages, I find myself laughing at insane memes and funny videos he made. His ability to hijack Meatloaf’s “I Would Do Anything For Love” video and spin it into vaping was classic Mike.
When ‘The Loaf’ is right in the middle of the highlight of explaining his emotions and reiterating the title upon the viewer three times and inject a quick “Stop Buying Vape Gear?” gets added and then proceeds in song “But I won’t do that” gets me in the comedy feels every single time. Because we all know it’s true, let’s be honest.
Then, you stumble upon and watch a video of him talking about vaping advocacy and getting involved in this fight. Hearing his voice echoing through my soul tears me apart. The man truly cared about this community, protecting this industry and being a silent hero for tons of families at Christmas because of his idea of raising money for Toys for Tots.
I met Mike because of a video that I noticed done by Tony B. of the Vapor Trail Channel. Tony called for the community to get involved and help families during Christmas. He was the brainchild behind The Toys for Tots Charity Raffle. Some of you may recall seeing this posted on the Vape News website. The post was entitled “The Season of Giving”.
“WE do this. WE help kids. WE give happiness”, says Mike. Mike knew this was just his idea but also knew it was about the kids’ and their families.
Company owners donated willingly to Mike’s mission. Mike and the Admins of his charity worked effortlessly to gather and package winnings of this raffle. Participants who donated as little as $5 were offered a chance to win one of five prize backs that were valued at over $2000.00 each.
Word spread like wildfire about the 2018 charity raffle and within a few days there wasn’t enough space left on the image that was created naming the people and companies involved.
Mike and I spoke many times about the Toys for Tots Charity Raffle. His goal for 2018 was $10,000 and fell slightly short of what Mike wanted to do, coming in at $6,764.36. the last time we spoke, he was already making plans for 2019. He wanted to kick it off March 1st, 2019 and this years goal he wanted $50,000. No dream too small for Mike.
For those that wish to participate, please request to join the ‘Toys for Tots Charity Waffle’ group on Facebook. Mike would’ve gladly offered all of us who wanted to help a seat at the table.
In Mike’s last post within this Facebook group, he mentions that there were already 40 or so sponsors for 2019 and the 2019 drive hadn’t started at the time of that post. He said, “Thanks for sticking around and for choosing to do this again this year. There's a lot of things going on where your donations help and your continued support means the world to not only me, but to the hundreds of children we may help this year. Together, we are many, and we do much.”
It is still very hard to believe that Mike is not of this Earth anymore, but his spirit of spunk and generosity is shared. This has been the hardest piece I’ve ever written for Vape News because it comes straight from my heart and out to the community that both loved him, some were probably irritated by him and those who never met him. Mike Schneider meant something to each of us.
Our time with Mike was certainly not long enough but his legacy will live on through his spirit of giving and helping the families of underprivileged kids celebrate every season. For that, we are truly blessed to have Mike here with us – even if it was just for a short while on earth but forever in our spirit.
We will miss his crazy videos and funny memes, long discussions while he drove his rig across the states, his passion for this community and the great pictures he took of Roo and Whippy. I truly miss you, buddy and I know I am not the only one.
One of his last posts spoke to what really mattered to Mike. He wrote: “Humans need to stop worrying about little things that go wrong. Shit happens. We have complete control over very little in our lives. Acceptance of that = an inner peace that you likely never thought possible.”