8 February 26

Friedlieb Ferdinand Runge was born on 8 February 1794. In his career as an analytical chemist, he is famous for identifying caffeine and belladonna. My tie shows steaming cups of coffee! I'm holding Beth's chemis-tree ornament of the caffeine molecule.

29 September 24

It's National Coffee Day! I don't like coffee myself, but I fully support and enable Beth's several-cups-a-day passion/dependence. My steaming coffee tie originally belonged to my friend Allan Stephens (1940-2010).

29 September 22

It's National Coffee Day! And please note that you can celebrate International Coffee Day on 1 October. As I have reported many times, I don't drink the stuff myself but I do provide daily or more frequent support for Beth's habit/obsession/indulgence.

29 September 21

 Today is National Coffee Day! I don't drink the stuff, but Panera® offered free cups all day, and so this one is for my own coffee lover (addict?) Beth.

8 February 21

Today marks the birthday of Friedlieb Ferdinand Runge (1794-1867), a German analytical chemist. Runge identified the mydriatic (pupil-dilating) effects of belladonna extract, identified caffeine, and discovered the first coal tar dye. See this Google Doodle from 2019 for more facts about Runge. Caffeine is "the world's most widely consumed psychoactive drug. Unlike many other psychoactive substances, it is legal and unregulated in nearly all parts of the world." (Wikipedia) My own favorite caffeine-bearing drink is hot chocolate, which has about 10% of the caffeine concentration in coffee. Our mug helps us remember the chemical structure of caffeine!

26 November 19

Twenty-three-and-a-half years ago, a pair of Genes/Jeans started working together for Academic Computing Services at Eastern Kentucky University. We were both "Consultants On Duty," which meant that we answered phone calls for computer help and went on "house calls" to university offices to fix things. One of our favorite (???) tasks in 1996-1997 was installing Windows 95 on many DOS machines, using our sets of 12-15 floppy disks. By 2019 I had become "Manager for Online Learning," while Jean had progressed to be "Deputy Chief Information Officer." Today we're celebrating Jean's retirement! (while I continue working with no particular end in sight). She chose my "steaming coffee" tie for today, because she said from now on "I’ll be enjoying a leisurely cup every morning!"

11 February 19

Today's tie honors the birthday last week (8 February) of Friedlieb Ferdinand Runge (1794-1867). He was a German analytical chemist who identified the mydriatic effects of belladonna extract, identified caffeine, and discovered the first coal tar dye. On his special day, Google celebrated with an animated Doodle about his research with coffee! I don't drink the stuff but I am happy to indulge Beth's mostly-harmless addiction. The steaming-coffee tie came to me recently from the collection of Alan Durand Stephens.