Challenged

Mary Beth and I took a walk to the park yesterday. It was in between the last two visits in terms of crowds. All in all pretty good, not super-deserted but not too difficult to avoid people, generally speaking. Later Mary Beth had me take the Pepsi challenge. It's something she'd been dreaming of for a while. So she administered it with a Kroger-brand "Cola Time" thrown in for something of a control. All of the drinks were cane sugar versions. Even though I'm a longtime Coke fan, I did succumb to the curse of the Pepsi challenge and ended up picking Pepsi. I know this has been discussed in some depth, but I've had some of my own thoughts on it. So with Pepsi there's this extra flavor in addition to the cola flavor. And when comparing it to the other sodas it really makes it stand out. Now, when drinking Pepsi all by itself, this flavor ends up kind of numbing the tongue to it after a while and it ends up tasting...I used to describe it as a little more "flat" but after this I realize it's not flatness as the soda definitely has feels carbonated, I think Mary Beth came up with a good word for it, "muddies" it sort of "muddies" the flavors, and moreso as it keeps going. Again, I've always been fine with Pepsi but definitely like Coke more. And part of that effect has been discussed, that the flavors of Pepsi seem sharper in short doses but wear down as you drink a whole can or bottle making the whole experience less enjoyable. I did notice another thing. In the act of comparing different products, it felt like my brain was working differently than when I just casually drink something. The act of comparing the drinks seemed to make my brain process the tastes differently. It's kind of interesting to think about. I'm sure some real research could be done in that area and I wouldn't be surprised to find that idea validated (if research hasn't already been done). Also with Coke, while I was doing the "challenge" it was the one that seemed the most straight-down-the-middle in all respects. The others had more acute attractions or detractions, but I can see that "down-the-middle" effect as carrying the best throughout drinking a whole can/bottle. Anyway, I'm kind of rambling right now. Other than that, I did a lot of reading yesterday. Working today. Mary Beth just found out her dad's in the hospital for a broken hip. Hopefully everything's okay, but it's a weird time to be in the hospital and he can't have any visitors. It's all kind of weird, we'll see how it goes.