the explainer

I recently obtained a box of ‘Dark Chocolate Espresso Beans‘ from a friend because of their potent caffeine and chocolate powers.

Apparently, the small amount of sugar in the dark chocolate and the mild ‘caffeine’ in the espresso bean should curb my sleepiness after my lunch time ‘food-coma’.

Does this really work or are the amount of sugar and caffeine too nominal to have any adverse effects to my sluggish afternoon?

So, I researched, and researched and I discovered something SHOCKING!  Well, not really shocking, but very enlightening.

Coffee Beans

Everyone knows that espresso beans has overall less caffeine than regular roasted coffee beans because the roasting process of the beans (that gives the espresso roasts it’s robust flavor) actually burns off the caffeine in the bean (this fact irked me when a employee at Pottery Barn was dishing incorrect information when he was trying to sell an espresso machine to a customer).  However, because of this flavor, candy companies created ‘chocolate covered’ coffee beans because it’s flavorful and the chocolate does a great job making the bitter coffee bean more palatable (less like dirt).  But how much caffeine is in a serving of chocolate covered espresso beans?

Here are the cold hard facts:

• 30 Chocolate Covered Espresso Beans = 200 mg of Caffeine
• 1 Cup of coffee (regular roast) = 104-192 mg of Caffeine (this depends on the quality of coffee bean and how it was roasted)
• 1 Shot of Espresso = 100mg of Caffeine (about 20+ espresso beans ground finely)
• 1 Can of Red Bull = 80 mg of Caffeine

While I enjoy my cup of coffee with cream and sugar, I can’t help but to wonder how other people are trying to curb the after lunch food-coma.

For more reading on caffeine, you can visit a few sites on the internet by Google/Bing-ing ‘caffeine in food’.

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Things move fast on the internet.  Language moves fast.  Even the acronyms I list below are out of date already.  But I thought it would be helpful to list out the ones I see often and the meaning I think they convey.  haha (no, that wasn’t an acronym, I should have used L O L for that one.)

You need to read this post...(dot dot dot)

‘…’
This is called an elipsis.  I think some people abuse the “…”  And many don’t realize how confusing it can be.  Take for instance:  “Honey, the doctor just called.” vs. “Honey, the doctor just called…”  See the difference?  But I have friends that abuse it.  Like, “I see…”, “Ok…”  It’s making me think if they are trying to be sarcastic or serious?  “Sigh…”

IHMO
In My Honest Opinion.  Seems to me that people use this one right before they want to give some advice.  Advice that they deem genuine, from the bottom of their good ole hearts.

LOL
Laughing Out Loud.  I always wondered if people actually do laugh out loud.  But in any case, it’s usually a response to something very funny.  I even heard some kids over Ventrilo using it straight up in talking:  L O L, L O L.  Couldn’t he have just laughed out loud?

ROFL
Rolling On the Floor Laughing.  I know for sure people don’t roll on the floor when they use this one.  How else would they be typing it?  But obviously this is just an expression of how funny something is that you are laughing and rolling on the floor uncontrollably.

BRB
Be Right Back.  I always imagine what people do when they say that.  They left to grab a snack?  Go to the bathroom?  Distracted by something?  It’s almost like how we “ummmm” in speaking to let the person know that they want to continue the convo, just not until they get back (from whatever they were doing).

TTYL
Talk To You Later.  All of us want to talk later.  That’s how we keep interacting with each other.  TTYL closes the conversation nicely, especially if you want to let the person know that you have to stop chatting now, so you will chat with them later.

XOXO
Hugs and Kisses.  I learned this one when I first started chatting with my current fiance over AIM.  It’s cute and sweet.  For me this one brings back nice memories.

I’m sure many of you use these net-lingos or sms texting acronyms.  What are your thoughts/opinions?  Maybe there are more interesting ones out there, leave a comment if you will.

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You know, at this very moment you are losing money at your home. In fact you aren’t just losing money, but you are wasting a valuable resource at home.  A resource we have gone to war for.

No, your home isn’t leaking any oil.  No, your faucet isn’t leaking (well, it could be and you should fix that too). It’s the appliances war.  Just kidding.

Did you know that your household appliances might be using electricity even though they are not in use?  You know that cell phone charger you left plugged in at home, well those little guys have been known to continue to use electricity even though nothing is plugged into it.

If those little cell phone chargers are slowly wasting electricity, can you guess how much?  What if everyone’s cell phone charger is still plugged in, how much electricity are we wasting?  Shocking, I know.

Using my trusty Kill a Watt(tm) from P3 International gadget I just purchased off of Amazon, I wanted to see how much juice (electricity) is being used from leaving your cell phone charger plugged into the wall.  So, I want to test three of the most ‘trendiest’ cell phone chargers, and one older cell phone charger as a ‘control’.  (You have to blame Discovery Channel’s television show Mythbusters for my technique.)  So, i’ve listed below the cell phone charger tested and we will see how this plays out:

1. iPhone  = $0.00 (tested 17 hours)
2. G1 (Google’s phone on T-mobile) = $0.00 (tested 24 hours)
3. Blackberry = $0.00 (tested 24 hours)
4. Nokia 5190 = $0.00 (tested 170 hours)

I failed.  So, battery chargers might not exactly be wasting energy as I suspected, but imagine what other appliances are consuming energy through out the day.  Say a blow dryer (~900 to 1500 watts), your personal computer (~200 to 400 watts), or your alarm clock (~50 watts)?

if you aren’t going to buy a Kill a Watt, here are three things you can do to prevent your vampiric appliances from leeching more electricity:

1. Check to see if it’s warm.  If it’s warm, it will most likely be draining some power (because only electricity keep things warm).
2. Buy a electric strip (or something like it) with an on/off button.  That way you can keep things plugged in and save some money.  (Speaking from a few frustrating experiences, just remember to turn on the power strip or else your phone won’t get charged for the next day.)
3. Unplug, it’s simple and free. 

Cheers!

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So, I was reading a hilarious article on Time.com about the 25 things that the author didn’t want to know about her friends,  so I thought it would be really funny to do 25 random things about Visiondecor!

25 Things…

Briefly, “25 Random Things about ….” started on Facebook and pretty much once you are tagged to the note, you must do the following:

“Once you’ve been tagged you are supposed to write a note with 25 random things, facts, habits, or goals about you. At the end, choose 25 people to be tagged. You have to tag the person who tagged you. If I tagged you, it’s because I want to know more about you.

To do this, go to “notes” under the tabs on your profile page, paste these instructions in the body of the note, type your 25 random things, tag 25 people (in the right hand corner of the app) then click publish.”

Okay here are 25 Things About Visiondecor:

1. We started 6 years ago selling furniture online for my Uncle who manufacturers home decor items that were sold to Ross and Marshall’s.
2. One of our best selling items are our coat racks.
3. We want to sell recreational items and other fun items like pool tables and massage chairs in the future.
4. We are 100% online furniture store, we don’t have a storefront.  (Store fronts are very expensive and we save our customers a lot of money by only using a warehouse.)
5. The employees of this company comprises of an ex-boxer, aspiring actors, restaurant owners, and seasoned IT managers (just to name a few).
6. We want to surpass everyone’s expectations.
7. We are worried about the economy, but optimistic that we can still provide furniture to all of our customers.
8. We have some great furniture promotions every month!
9. Did you know that we sold computer components in the beginning of Visiondecor?
10. FutonL has written over 200+ blog articles.  (That’s 200+ more than last year)
11. We started to use spray foam about 4 years ago, and it saves our products from being damaged.
12. We hope to increase our catalog by four times by the end of 2009.
13. Visiondecor is commonly referred to as ‘vd’, which isn’t that funny.
14. Our phone system’s on-hold music is TERRIBLE.
15. Visiondecor understands why Amazon doesn’t publish their phone number, but we have to anyway.
16. It would be cool to have Visiondecor advertisement during the Super Bowl.
17. Sometimes we say “veesion veesion-deckor” with an accent.
18. Our favorite thing to do is watch the “End of World” flash movie.  ROUND!
19. We still have our company Christmas tree up.  (And it’s February!)
20. Our employees work really hard trying to accommodate all of our customer’s requests, despite what is said on the negative feedback.
21. Furniture is a cool product to sell, every time we walk through Pottery Barn or Crate & Barrel we can say we are doing market research.
22. We pass on all our shipping discounts and volume discounts to our customers.
23. Did you know that if the product is large in size but weights only a few pounds, it costs us more than a small heavy item?
24. We will have a few very specific promotions that will be only advertised on the Visiondecor Blog?
25. We want to thank everyone who helped make Visiondecor what it is today.  Especially our valued customers.

Thanks for reading!

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