80

This apparently is just what I need today.

That and a full night’s sleep for a few days in a row. My neighbours on both sides have been waking me up for years. On one side, there’s a couple in their thirties with two kids—and a large noisy extended family. Both of them work out, in the house, on old wooden floors and on an elliptical and with other devices plus a Wii. Guessing that the kids do too, so there are several hours of action over there. All their devices are wireless and there seem to be several of them running at the same time. The adults appear to need little sleep.

On the other side, there’s a family of six plus several tenants who all seem to be running some sort of surveillance operation from their house throughout the night. All night long, their house is lit up from multiple screens inside. There are also people coming and going all the time, and their devices are in motion.

Between the two sides, I am woken repeatedly and kept awake for hours at a time. Not by noise but rather by electro-magnetic frequency of all these devices at close range.

If anyone has any suggestions, I am all ears.

It would be awesome if I could block their signals or jam their devices in my proximity, but it is illegal in my country, so it is not possible to purchase items which do this.

Sorry about the rant. It’s been a long long haul and I am not in the best of health to begin with.

Anyway, this tea was good. Milky floral good.

Martin Bednář

Sorry you have to deal with it and not sure if I have some other opinion than moving out. Earplugs were tried I suppose.

Evol Ving Ness

Thank you, Martin. Yes, I tried seven different kinds of earplugs—foam, hard and soft rubber, two different kinds of wax, also some with metal cores.

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Martin Bednář

Sorry you have to deal with it and not sure if I have some other opinion than moving out. Earplugs were tried I suppose.

Evol Ving Ness

Thank you, Martin. Yes, I tried seven different kinds of earplugs—foam, hard and soft rubber, two different kinds of wax, also some with metal cores.

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A monk sips morning tea

A monk sips morning tea,
it’s quiet,
the chrysanthemum’s flowering.

- Basho

(1644-1694)

Note to self—-you do not actually need any more tea.

My real tea obsession began in February 2015.

Not, sadly, when I had been living and working in China, though I very much enjoyed sampling a variety of teas during my travels there as well. No, no, that would have been far too sensible.

I am a reformed coffee drinker. I still enjoy a long double espresso with a good quantity or milk or cream from time to time, but for now, tea is my thing. All day.

*note—this is way out of date, so if we are doing a swap and you are checking to see what I like and dislike, mostly never mind what you find below. One of these days, I will update this. In the meantime, check what I’ve been drinking and use your own judgement. I like all the teas. Well, I am open to trying all the teas.

I tend to drink black, green, or oolong tea in the morning to early afternoon. Rooibos or
Honeybush or herbal in the evening. And perhaps some sort of sleepy-type tea in the wee hours.

This year, I’ve been discovering flavoured teas, so it may look like that is all I drink although that would provide a false impression.

Not a big fan of chocolate or mint in teas, but I will try them and, from time to time, have been pleasantly surprised. Also, usually I dislike a prominent cinnamon flavour, if untempered with other things, in teas. Again, I say usually, because there are exceptions.

Also, please note that haven’t quite gotten into the habit of updating my tea cupboard on Steepster, and it is unlikely that I will do this on any kind of regular basis.

I drink my tea black and unsweetened. If there comes a rare moment that I add something to it, I will mention it.

Finally, while I thank large and successful tea companies for tantalizing and beckoning me to the world of tea, I prefer to support independent ventures with real people, real enthusiasm and commitment, and real dreams.

Currently, I am researching monthly tea subscriptions. Perhaps it will keep me out of tea shops.

And here is Shae’s rating scale— which I am using with permission, of course— which more or less describes the way I have been rating teas. I am going to make more of an effort to stay very close to these parameters now.

Rating Scale

1-20: By far, one of the worst teas I’ve tasted. I most certainly will not finish my cup and will likely “gift” the rest to my sweet husband who almost always enjoys the teas I dislike (and vice versa).

21-40: This tea is not good but if I mix it with another tea or find another steeping method I might be able to finish it.

41-60: This one is just okay. I might drink it again if someone were to give it to me, but I probably won’t be buying more for myself.

61-75: This is a consistently good tea. It’s reliable but not necessarily special.

76-90: This one is a notch above the rest and I would gladly enjoy a cup of it any day of the week. I’ll likely be keeping this in my cupboard, but it isn’t one of my all-time favorites.

91-95: One small change and this tea would be perfect. I’ll definitely have a stash of this in my kitchen if you come over for tea.

96-100: No words can describe this tea. It’s an experience, an aha moment. Closed eyes, wide smile, encompassing warmth. Absolutely incredible. Perfect.

Location

Mostly, but not always, Toronto, Canada.

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