This is the last day. I hope.

A couple of years ago, I decided to quit drinking soda. I made a big deal on the blog about it, too, remember that? Going soda-free lasted for about 15-16 months. Then one summer evening I compromised at a movie theater, making the decision to drink a Diet Coke with my popcorn. After that one compromise, of course, the second compromise was easier. And the third was easier still. By the time I’d moved to Carthage, I was a regular soda drinker again. I did not make a big deal on the blog about that. In fact, I didn’t say anything at all.

 

Well, today I decided that enough was enough. These days, when Nicole and I go down to the cafeteria to get breakfast, I’ll fill up my 32-ounce cup with Diet Pepsi, and take two extra 20-ounce bottles of soda (usually Diet Mountain Dew) with me for later refills. And at lunch, I’ll get another soda still. Then after work I’ll drink more – my poison’s been Diet Sunkist these days. See my problem? It’s become an addiction, even though there’s no sugar and sometimes no caffeine, but there’s still that carbonation. Nowadays, I’ll actually bring my Nalgene bottle with the fancy Guyot drinkin’ lid to work, as I always have, but it comes home just as dry as when I left in the morning.

 

So, in recognition of my problem, I have decided that today is my “last” day to consume carbonated, sweetened beverages. I put that word in quotes because I will be taking this one day at a time – just like many serious addiction recovery programs – and I know that there’s a real chance that I will fail. I’ll be putting a running counter here on Dinglemunch that I will hopefully remember to update every day (unlike The Last 5 – what happened to that thing, anyway?), so that I can be held accountable to you, the seventy million people who read this blog daily.

 

(Incidentally, because this is my “last hurrah” of soda, I decided that today was the day I’d try Mexican Coke. This is regular Coca-Cola that’s bottled in Mexico, in high demand with some consumers because it’s formulated with real sugar and not high-fructose corn syrup. There’s definitely a difference. Nicole and I had lunch at Mucho Mexico today, and sure enough, they sold the real Real Thing.)

 

(p.s. Since I’m doing this by e-mail, I can’t guarantee that the links will work. I’l try them out and fix any wrong ones later.)