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Cake day: August 3rd, 2024

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  • Depends how much it snows and how cold it gets. Much of this may sound over-cautious if your winters are mild.

    • Most cities/towns have by-laws regulating property owners clear and rock-salt their walkways within a set amount of time after snow has ceased falling,

    • If you use a shovel, get an ergonomic one. It is very easy to hurt your back clearing snow. No matter how long you wait, the plow always comes AFTER you’ve cleared your driveway,

    • If you have kids, get into the routine of checking local news for ‘snow days’, or in other words the schools have announced they are closed due to poor road conditions,


    If you drive:
    • Wiper fluid needs to be swapped out for winter fluid or it may freeze in the reservoir,

    • Get a windshield ice-scraper/brush,

    • Your vehicle should have a good emergency kit including first aid, a candle/matches, and blanket in case you get stuck in the boonies during a winter storm,

    • Expect black-ice and snow drifts while driving. Both love to cause you to lose control. Rain freezing on the trees, while absolutely gorgeous, is a sign to take the day off work to avoid driving,

    • If it gets really cold and/or you’re in an area with high seasonal precipitation you’ll want to have a vehicle that is equipped with a block heater (if it is gas combustion engine ofc), and have an extra set of winter tires (sometimes a legislated requirement too) to change for the season.


    • Keep an eye on your (and I guess your neighbours if you want to be helpful) house’ roof and make sure the snow doesn’t build up too much as this can cause damage/leaks/collapses if it gets too heavy











  • You’re arguing semantics. Sealioning to boot. Avoiding using the word ‘addiction’ is does not make it scientifically irrelevant. Numerous articles still use the word addiction in them because it is synonymous with SUD in the literature. Science says caffeine isn’t addicting. Always has no matter what language you try to ignore. Recovery programs say caffeine isn’t addicting, which is why it is served at their meetings. Society says caffeine isn’t addicting otherwise it wouldn’t allow children to consume it. People that have had at least 2nd hand experience with actual addiction think caffeine isn’t addicting because JFC they KNOW better. The only ones that do are the ones that are truly ignorant of the reality. You still haven’t shown anybody who’s opinion is worth listening to that thinks caffeine is addicting and you won’t be able to because they are Karens sitting at a brunch table playfully giggling about their lack of self control over their love for cafe mochas and that is not the level of conversation I am entertaining when someone seriously asks ‘is X addicting?’.

    You arguing badly (the DSM matters cause withdrawal is mentioned even though withdrawal is not the definition of addiction, but doesn’t when SUD is. Religion shouldn’t be listened to, but a bunch of ignorant people that agree with you have worthy opinions, etc…) that everything besides your opinion doesn’t matter is a you problem.

    You’re right this conversation is over. I hope you never understand what it is actually like to be addicted to something because the life lesson you need to smarten you up about this is honestly too high a price for anyone to pay.


  • Nah, you’re not going to make this ‘well many people think caffeine is addicting, so it is true’. Society as a whole defers to the experts and they say caffeine isn’t addicting. When the term ‘addict’ was used by scientists it didn’t apply to caffeine which is why you can’t find supporting evidence. Society also says they don’t want to expose children to addicting substances yet allows them to consume coffee and tea without issues, so even your idea of ‘muh colloquialism’ is wrong. Being among a select few who believe this delusion does not make you right. It makes you naive. Wilfully so at this point or you are sealioning.

    Either way my point is made for people actually concerned about actually getting addicted, by all reasonable definitions of the word, to caffeine. Namely: don’t be.



  • it is a drug with chemical and psychological effects.

    Never said it wasn’t. Addiction isn’t one of them though.

    Having a two day headache from a beverage should not be normalized, in my opinion.

    I agree with that at least, but you again ignore the salient point: withdrawal syndrome is not addiction. SUD replaced Addiction disorders from previous versions for your aforementioned reasons, but, anyone diagnosed with an Addiction disorder in previous versions wasn’t just suddenly cured. The definition was replaced with SUD, not considered gone and as such Caffeine addiction wasn’t in previous versions either.

    As for all the other conditions listed for caffeine in the DSM. It is for diagnostic purposes: Can’t sleep? Are you anxious? Do these symptoms occur shortly after you drink coffee? Stop. Oh, and be sure to drink lots of water and pop a couple Paracetemol if you get a headache. Appointment over.

    You are the one arguing semantic BS to avoid the salient points:

    • If Caffeine was addicting you think it is okay for children to consume it.
    • If Caffeine was addicting it would be labelled a Substance Use Disorder, it isn’t.
    • Many pharmaceuticals that are absolutely not addicting (ie: many anti-depressants) still have withdrawal symptoms, therefore withdrawal symptoms /= addiction.
    • Addiction, when it was in the DSM-IV was characterized by negative impact on quality of life. Caffeine consumption does not impact life to the point it causes distress for individual (“I can’t stop, all I think about is coffee all day and it is affecting my job performance, I accidentally left my kids at Starbucks during a latte bender”). I am respecting addicts. Trivializing the word such that caffeine counts demeans those that suffer actual addiction, and is the problem here.

  • I’m not just arguing semantics.

    Addiction is shorthand for ‘Substance Use Disorder’. Having a headache if you stop drinking coffee is not why people attend [Addict] Anonymous meetings. Someone does not go to their doctor and says “I have a substance abuse disorder”. The line of introduction a speaker uses at those meetings is not “hi, my name is Cepho and I have a substance abuse disorder”.

    I edited not to correct my usage of ‘addict’, but to correct others usage of the word specifically because it is overused and to correct the overusage the you yourself admit too and STILL ya’ll insist ‘no, I am addicted’.

    No, you are not. You like coffee and if you stop drinking it you’ll have a headache for a day or two. Big woop. You won’t be seeing a professional that refers to the DSM-V for it. Several of the pharmaceuticals those professionals would use to treat actual disorders create side-effects when use is discontinued. ‘Most’ are not addictive to the point patients commonly stop taking them willingly despite being forewarned of the side-effects of stopping (no, I’m not referring to a return of disorder’ symptoms either). So having a withdrawal syndrome is not addiction. Figureidout


  • Whose list? Can you share your reference here? Is it the DSM?

    Pg 482 of the DSM-V

    Caffeine has a withdrawal syndrome, but is not something associated with substance abuse disorder. People mistake withdrawal for addiction when it is only half the story.

    the inability to function normally without your morning cup of coffee is a bigger deal, in my mind, than most people realize.

    No, it actually isn’t. This perception that people are debilitated without a dose of caffeine is a cultural thing. A joke, or someone’s musing that caught on and grew to a belief supported only by the near instant relief from grogginess caffeine provides. The same effect can be achieved taking a cold shower, being startled, or taking a brisk run to get the body to an alert state again.

    I do this every 3 months: take a weekend off from caffeine to reset blood concentration (half life of ~6 hours so assuming consistent daily usage the amount builds in the blood and efficacy drops as the body adjusts). It IS something I plan for, making sure it is a weekend I’ll be active and able to get a full nights rest. Hydrate well the night before, take 2 aspirin in the morning and 2 in the afternoon both days. Monday morning feels good as new.

    That experience is NOTHING compared to attempting to quit smoking 1.5 packs a day (2 on weekends) for 10 years cold turkey. Half a day in and every thought is about smoking. “Where is the nearest cigarette?” “Buddy’ll spot me a smoke if I ask. Did I leave a pack in the glove box?” Your mind justifying why you can just have a puff, it’ll be fine! You get the shakes, and chills. Go without long enough and your lungs feel like they’re on fire and that burning/itch only grows and spreads throughout your whole body. This lasted for 3 months. After which I felt fine but still thought the scent of smoke was delicious and still had that nagging ‘It is safe to have a toke, you are all good now!’ for another year. That would have cost my job because I literally told my boss to “fuck off” when he said ‘I looked rough’ in the throws of agony at my post. I had shared my intentions and had the staff’s support so he just walked away smiling but that could easily have gone the other way absolutely.

    People that think caffeine is an addiction don’t know what real addiction is like.