For the first time in ten years, I did something unprecedented. I made a new-year's resolution. I am resolved to lose a significant amount of weight because I weigh too much and it's starting to adversely affect my quality of life. I've been wrestling with the insurance company regarding weight loss surgery for two years now, and it's becoming clear that they're just delaying in the hopes that I go teats-up from a heart attack before they've gotta pay. Therefore losing weight will provide me the dual benefit of returning me my lifestyle and sticking it to my insurance company (to whom I pay $1k per month) by allowing me to live longer, during which time I plan to visit my doctor every time I have so much as a case of athelete's foot.

Don't look at me like that. They started it. Despite their original reservations about covering me, I've been a model customer for 'em with fine health and have paid enough in monthly bills to cover the surgery twice over.

In my weightloss endeavor I'm being fairly successful so far (quite a thing to say five days into the year). I'm not following any plan that can be named other than the most fundamental "eat less and/or exercise more". I promise not to bore you with status updates on my weight and/or fitness. Apart from the aforementioned lifestyle-hit, my weight and fitness concern me as much as the cleanliness of my fingernails. Some people like to talk fitness, but I'm not one of 'em. I find that talking about working out is about the only thing that's more boring than actually working out.

That being said, all of the above is simply meaningless foreshadowing for the following discovery.

I have discovered that the affect that The Bean has on me is quite profound compared to my old habits of 2004. Fact is, the difference calorie-and-fat-wise between a coffee concoction made from one shot of espresso and four or six shots is almost negligable. Couple that with some tasty Lungo Vivalto that makes my wrists sweat when quaffed in such quantities, and I've found myself sleeping less, mostly because I am now far more aware of my surroundings than before, and the sounds are keeping me awake.