I had run out of diet soda — I’ve been trying to take a cooler to work instead of buying from the vending machine — and I saw something called “Diet Pepsi Max Invigorating Cola” tonight at Wal-Mart. It sounded interesting; I looked for a product description, but all I could tell was that there was ginseng in the ingredient list. I bought a carton out of curiosity.

Now, looking online, I see that the “invigorating” part refers not so much to the ginseng but to extra caffeine. On the one hand, I have a lot to accomplish over the next week — but I’m not sure extra caffeine is the way to do it.