On the Obstetric Airway and Other Caffeinated Thoughts

Another set of notes, on a topic that is dreaded to all who understands it; a failed obstetric airway can easily mean death. I did not include the Difficult Airway Society (DAS) guidelines on the obstetric airway: they are much simplified and are a must read. Now on to coffee talk. Everybody who knows me personally knows that I’m dependent on it (I’ll keep trying to deny it in public).

Around the same time I bought this 16 inch MacBook Pro I decided to buy an electric coffee grinder. Prior to this I manually ground my coffee with a Hario Ceramic Coffee Mill. The grinder was obviously good in burning calories (you can never burn enough), but the problem is the long grinding times required to make my batches of coffee; if I decided to relax while grinding, the times required may take up to 30 minutes (I will make typically 3 batches per bag of 226 g bag of coffee); if I rush it I could push it to minimum 20 minutes. That’s a long time to spend only watching YouTube while grinding away.

To save time, I eventually settled on the Breville BCG-820 Smart Grinder Pro. I may or may not make a detailed review of this. Why I may skip a review on this is because I bought this to do one thing only: grind my coffee to make my cold brew coffee. And so far I’ve settled on 1 particular setting to do this:

I still get a medium grind with approximately 3 batches per 226 g bag. And woah, 50 seconds is a huge difference versus 20-30 minutes

I’ve kept to the same formula of making cold brew coffee with dark roast coffee and a Hario Cold Brew coffee bottle. In the past I used their proper “coffee bottle” which is an airtight container. However, after accidentally breaking a couple (don’t ask) and finding none in ready stock in Malaysia at the time, I settled on the alternative, the Hario 600 ml Cold Brew Coffee Pot. The recipe is simple:

1. Fill up with grounds; it should be pretty full

2. Fill up with water, almost full

3. Refrigerate over 24 hours

4. Pour into a bottle to store. It won't spoil as long as it’s cold.

5. To drink, dilute it with either water/milk to at least 50% (or even more dilute to those uninitiated to my caffeine requirements)

The jug all filled up and ready to go to the fridge

I love my cold brew coffee being made with dark roast beans. Typically it’ll be the Coffee Bean Espresso/Vienna blends. But it’s nearing the Christmas Holidays…

…And my number 1 favorite blend is their Holiday Blend. And frankly, for at least 3 years now, every time I’ve seen it in store or on the online store, I would buy every bag. I’d hoard all the bags I could get. Last year, I bought the last bag they had (I knew it as it was no longer sold online as soon as I picked up the bags I ordered for store pickup). This is year is the same; I’ll buy all the bags I can get so that I’ll have supply for months. There was a point when my maniac self would chew on a few of these beans just because. Do you get my point?

I do suggest that you try it out if you love coffee. If you can find one.

Studying at a Standing Desk

Chilled out post call at at the Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf shop at Mid Valley to study. Finally got a place where the table is high enough for me to study standing and wide enough to put my laptop, notes and stuff. This is exactly what I need to take care of my back. Spending up to 2 hours sitting and bending forward (to control the laptop) is just not good for me long term); the only time the posture is just acceptable is when I'm writing and able to adopt a more upright posture.

Overall it's a good experience. No sense of strain on my back trying to keep my weight back while leaning forward; with my elbows, bent, my hand just rests on the keyboard to type without extra effort reaching forward.. The height makes me write at about xyphisternal level, which is just nice. Subconsciously I'd keep shifting my weight from one leg to another and at times with both feet planted, with my hips engaged. Soon enough, another guy does the same. Standing is much better than sitting for long swathes of time. I need to find such a table to use at home.

A shitty picture, but I'm not sameful enough to stand back and get a better shot with the place full of people.

Sat down after about an hour or so, but I'm typing this standing again before I leave the shop