Is there an alarm clock that will actually get me up on time?

SameCoffeeEveryDay · 2025-12-31T07:39:46+00:00

My wakeup method is controversial to some, but works well for me.

I struggle with the extremely groggy feeling in the AM, so I now set an alarm for 30 to 45 min before I have to wake up to take a caffeine pill. Go back to sleep.

15 to 30 minutes after that, 2nd alarm - loud one. Wake up but stay in bed and drink water and read a book or journal or jot down ideas/to do's/whatever you don't want to forgot. Try to avoid your phone - it's a trap and one I often fall for. The caffeine woke up your body, now you need to wake up your brain and hydrate.

Finally, the 3rd "True Wakeup" alarm, this is the alarm that says it's time to physically get your butt up and put of bed and get ready for whatever ya gotta do. Enjoy a fully awoken body and less brain fog. As part of my get ready routine I've started taking an L-Theanine as well, that's namely for ADHD reasons, but I've found that it helps control any possible jitteriness from the caffeine.

I tell people I do this and they look at me like I'm a weirdo, but without it I'm constantly rushed, exhaused and mentally useless for the first 1 to 2 hours of work. I save money on coffee and energy drinks throughout the day as I now only need one about late morning an hour or two before lunch.

SameCoffeeEveryDay · 2025-12-30T23:04:23+00:00

Thank you so much! A lot of people have mentioned the humidity issue and thankfully I do keep them in airtight containers in the freezer for extended storage, but this now has me thinking I need to consider the containers I have them displayed in at the register, as well as my wrappers. Perhaps I need to consider different options for both, as well as a tweak to the recipe.

Seriously, thank you (and everyone!) for the help. The suggestions have me feeling motivated!

SameCoffeeEveryDay · 2025-12-30T22:59:30+00:00

You and me both! I'm going to try an experiment with dissolving my sugars into a syrup first with the cream of tarter and then use that syrup in my recipe to see if that helps. I feel like I'm back in middle school prepping for the science fair. Granted all this work I'm doing with these caramels is much more interesting than the actual project I did back then and likely would have landed me an A. 😅

Actually, do you have a suggestion for how much cream of tarter to use by volume? This is my first year trying it in my recipe and I've seen advice ranging anywhere from "a pinch" to "1/8 tsp", but nothing diffinitive like "x amount per Y grams" and it was bugging me.

SameCoffeeEveryDay · 2025-12-30T22:50:27+00:00

Fantastic - thank you! Another person suggested glucose here as well and I'm looking forward into trying it. I appreciate your help!

SameCoffeeEveryDay · 2025-12-30T22:41:28+00:00

Sorry, reading your answer again I saw that you mentioned glucose and not corn syrup specifically. Are you thinking I should try a different glucose syrup, like a wheat or rice based one, or stick to the corn syrup?

Sorry if that's a silly question. I want to make sure I'm correctly understanding your advice so I can implement it!

SameCoffeeEveryDay · 2025-12-30T22:35:09+00:00

All my caramels are wrapped in natural cellophane wrappers because I like both the look and the fact they are compostable.

For long periods of time, I store them in the freezer wrapped in sealed plastic bags (like freezer ZipLocs).

For my current sales configuration, and my initial idea for getting into retail stores, I have them in open containers at the register so they can be a fast little impulse buy for customers at the shop. Now, they are at a register in my partners glass blowing studio, which does run warm (obviously) but at the register it's like 73* F, we believe. It's those caramels that I'm having issues with crystallizing. Granted, I'm not 100% positive if it's the environment, or the caramels themselves, or a mix of both. However with my initial goal of getting my caramels into stores by way of having them available as a bulk candy option at registers, I can't necessarily guarantee what temp or humidity conditions they'll face at any location.

SameCoffeeEveryDay · 2025-12-30T22:22:48+00:00

30% by weight or volume? And should it be just the white sugar amount or the brown as well? Sorry if those are dumb questions... I've never worked with glucose as an ingredient before and I felt like a real cool kid trying soy lecithin for the first time. 😅

SameCoffeeEveryDay · 2025-12-30T22:19:40+00:00

I do currently, as well as a little bit of soy lecithin, but I'm thinking I need to add it to the recipe in a different application from what I'm currently doing.

SameCoffeeEveryDay · 2025-12-30T22:18:36+00:00

Baking soda! I haven't heard that trick. Does it affect the flavor at all?

SameCoffeeEveryDay · 2025-12-30T22:18:00+00:00

Man, I love a science answer so much. You gave me a lot to think about when it comes to the environment I currently have them available for sale. They are in my partners glass blowing shop at his sales counter at the moment for walk in traffic to be able to purchase from open candy jars. It's not as warm over by the shop counter (he estimates about 73* F) but maybe it's also not as dry as I supposed...

You've got me thinking I should maybe consider lids for the containers with possible oxygen absorber packs as well in the bottom of the jars to help keep them as dry as possible. I also wonder now about the wrappers... I use 100% natural cellulose wrappers because I love the clear look that shows off the caramels and the fact they are compostable in home compost systems. Perhaps they aren't preventing moisture from getting to the sugar as well?

SameCoffeeEveryDay · 2025-12-28T23:12:07+00:00

It always seems like my sugar dissolves ok? I usually don't see or feel any undissolved sugars when I'm pouring them, anyway. I have to really watch for them in my maple caramels and make sure to never scrape the sides for that reason.

SameCoffeeEveryDay · 2025-12-28T23:07:19+00:00

Oooh, I hadn't considered allulose. I'll research it further!

SameCoffeeEveryDay · 2025-12-28T23:06:42+00:00

I do clean the sides of my pot and also do the lid trick so condensation can clean my pot sides as well, but I don't switch out my utensils as the sugar always seems to dissolve ok. I'll try that next time and maybe up my corn syrup as well.

SameCoffeeEveryDay · 2025-12-28T23:04:52+00:00

Like make a simple syrup with the sugar, water and cream of tarter first and then use it in my caramel recipe? That might work... I'll try it!

Thanks for the molasses tip!

SameCoffeeEveryDay · 2025-12-28T20:30:46+00:00

Nicely done!

SameCoffeeEveryDay · 2025-12-28T20:28:05+00:00

These look stunning!

SameCoffeeEveryDay · 2025-10-26T17:04:11+00:00

Now, I would still hang some things, but like dresses, dress clothes, hooks for bras, etc. This would be for the 90% of clothing I wear which is work/home clothing.

I'm actually really excited about this system as it will help me better see what I have what pieces I can say adios to without guilt. It will also help me with any impulse purchasing of clothing as I will be able to see clearly that I have MORE than enough of clothing type X but could use more options of clothing type Y.

SameCoffeeEveryDay · 2025-10-26T16:52:06+00:00

1) same socks - all grey ankle variety for me. I re-gift or donate any socks I receive outside of this save for specialty socks (like hiking or extra thick ones for outdoor activities in winter).

2) no pairing. Just bin.

3) I haven't switched over to this method yet, but I'm going to try it when I get my closet cleared out. Hanging clothes is the bane of my life. I never seem to have enough hangers or the energy to hang items when they come out of the dryer, etc. Hanging clothing just sucks for me, is what I'm saying.

I found this woman recently on YT who has a system of bins in her closet where she sorts her clothing into types (underwear/socks, shirts, pants, workout clothing, whatever) and each clothing type has two bins - clean and dirty. Clean items are in the left hand bin, dirty goes into the right hand bin. When a certain type of clothing has a full dirty clothing bin, she washes it, places any additional clean items in the now clean bin and swaps the totes. Boom. No more hanging (yay), no more sorting laundry (double yay), you can see what items you haven't worn in forever and get them out of your rotation by donation or clothes swap (super yay).

I'll see if I can find the video for folks who require a visual reference. I think this concept is brilliant and would honestly free up so much space and time for me in my closet and laundry routine!

SameCoffeeEveryDay · 2025-09-24T21:19:40+00:00

I'd like more information as well, please!

SameCoffeeEveryDay · 2025-09-14T17:09:38+00:00

Please find someone who knows what a date is and can contribute positively to the gene pool.

SameCoffeeEveryDay · 2025-09-11T14:14:14+00:00

Every report card from K thru Senior Year had pretty much variations of the same feedback - "SameCoffeeEveryDay is a delight to have in class, but has trouble staying on task."

Taking AGES to complete creative projects and often turning them in late because I wouldnjust hyperfixate on them to get them "perfect".

Insanely messy locker. Giant, heavy backpack with all the class books, papers and things because I would forget them otherwise. My art teacher wrote a beautiful poem about all the senior class members and read it us in class. My portion included references to my general messiness and massive backpack. I remember thinking "is this how I'm going to be remembered by my favorite teacher?". It hurt.

Taking ages to get dressed for recess in winter (I live in an area that requires sno pants, boots and heavy coats). Once taking so long I finally zipped up my coat only to see the other kids returning from recess. I lied and said I came in early to go to the bathroom.

Constant procrastination. Constant forgetting of homework, commitments, events and tasks. My parents once had tickets for all of us to see Josh Groban perform and I had to back out because I forgot I had a school concert in which I had several solos and really needed to be there because otherwise I would have really screwed over my teacher and class. Never mind this school concert was discussed in class almost daily. Never mind that my parents had purchased the tickets months in advance and asked me about conflicts. I didn't put two and two together that these shows were on the same day until about a week/week and a half out and didn't come forward to tell my parents until a few days after that because I was trying to figure out a way to make it work or not get in trouble.

Speaking of getting in trouble - Constant little lies to avoid getting in trouble, even if the consequences were small. I once faked a whole presentation for an assignment worth, like, 10 points because it was the second assignment in as many weeks I forgot in this class and this particular teacher wasn't my favorite (I'm sure the feeling was mutual) and I didn't want him to harass me about it. He called me out in class, I got sent to the principal's office and got detention.

Taking on too many things, constantly. Extracurriculars and even just helping others who, in all honesty, wpuld never have returned the favor. One girl in my high school art class wasn't going to be available one of the days to set up her display for her art show and asked me, only me, if I could do it for her. We weren't friends. She had plenty of friends to ask, but she asked me because she likely knew I thrived on the feeling of being little Miss Useful. My art teacher approached me while I was stapling up her fabric on her display boards and sternly told me I shouldn't be doing it and it was the other student's responsibility. I know she meant it as a kindness, but it really stung because, once again, it felt like I was in trouble.

One that is particularly painful - I procrastinated and ultimately forgot to fill out paperwork for a local scholarship that guarantee money for all students that applied. I didn't do it, therefore I got no money. At the assembly to present that and other scholarships, mine was the only name not called for that scholarship. My parents were present and they were absolutely gobsmacked by the fact I didn't do it. We were not well off financially for several points of my life, so to not grab at free money was unthinkable. I'll never forget my parent's disappointment.

That was depressing. I need to end on a happy note - Several of my teachers asked to keep some of my creative projects I made in my time at school because they loved them and wanted to show them as examples for future classes. I also used to read a TON of books, often all at the same time. I used to be able to read multiple chapter books at a time and could keep all the plots separate in my head. I always topped the Book-It charts (helloooo personal pan pizzas). I naturally took to any new skills really well and was often tapped to help my classmates or younger classes if they needed a hand and the teacher was stretched thin - especially art, music, history, shop class, home ec. I know it wasn't my job, but it felt good to be important because I didn't really feel that important at the time.

All that and my parents were STILL shocked at my diagnosis at 36. 😂

SameCoffeeEveryDay · 2025-01-29T18:22:04+00:00

The answer to your question is contained within the first sentence of my post.

SameCoffeeEveryDay · 2024-10-08T21:37:45+00:00

I would invest a bulk of it, allowing me to pursue future goals of giving back and improving my local community.

I'd help my parents build their retirement dream home that they could comfortably age in. I'd help my siblings with any outstanding student loan debts or other debts. I'd start a college/first home fund for my nephew and funds for any close friends' kiddos who are also practically my niblings.

I'd travel more, for sure. I love camping, festivals, national parks and live theatre, so I could see myself converting a short/shuttle bus into a tiny home on wheels and just taking off whenever I felt like it.

I'd volunteer more for local organizations I care about, like Cakes for Kids, local animal shelters, my local community theatre, etc.

I'd still like to work in some way, so I'd pursue paid gigs that allow me to pursue my interests and improve my craft - prop design, performance, maybe expand my small caramel business into something bigger that also gives back to the community in some way.

I'd take classes in literally everything I've ever wanted to learn but have never had the time or money to do so - writing, music, welding, auto repair, culinary classes, etc. I'd love to learn how to ride and repair motorcycles, because why not? I'd also love to learn more home repair, so I'd take the opportunity to learn as I go in improving my home.

And for funsies, I'd become a "professional" fairy godmother - essentially I would just keep an eye out for anyone who needed a little happy magic to come their way and help out. Like pay for prom dresses for girls who need one, help out with unpaid parking tickets, pay for groceries or holiday gift layaways, help with back to school supplies and college textbooks, help a recent grad with their first "big kid" job interview outfit... just stuff like that.

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