Ideas from student employees

One of the more interesting things about my work is that I get to work with a group of student employees. It can be really fun. It's also really challenging at other times. I really appreciate some of the new ideas they share with me. Here's two of my favorites, if you have any other interesting ideas then leave a comment.

Root Beer Dreams:
One student said that if you drink root beer right before bed, then you'll have the craziest dreams ever. The only catch is that it has to be A&W root beer, other kinds don't work as well. When I heard that, I though "well, that's simple enough to try" so I bought a can of it on my way home. That night, I drank the whole can, brushed my teeth, and went to bed. And you know what happened? I had super crazy dreams! I don't remember exactly what it was, but I remember having a very vivid dream. That was odd because I don't normally remember having dreams.
So the theory seemed to work. However, it became a bad habit for me. I started buying root beer every Friday night so that I could have at least one root beer dream a week. It got worse when I realized that a 2-liter was more cost-effective than buying smaller bottles or cans. Then I had a lot more to drink, and I'm not really a fan of carbonated drinks.
Eventually, I realized it had become a bad habit and gave it up altogether. I'll give it a try every now and then when someone gives me a can, but I don't buy root beer specifically for the dreams anymore. It was fun while it lasted though.

Calcium Tablets:
There was a period of time where I was sleeping horribly. It lasted for over a month and I would wake up every couple of hours and had a difficult time getting back to sleep. One of my other students said that she takes calcium tablets to help her sleep and encouraged me to try it. I looked it up online and the theory seemed to have some validity. The suggestion was to get calcium and magnesium tablets because the magnesium helps with absorption of calcium. I wasn't totally convinced with the idea, but thought it wouldn't hurt to get a bottle and give it a try.
I was expecting the tablets to help put me to sleep. Unfortunately, the tablets didn't help me sleep any better. I still stayed up late and still woke up every few hours. Nevertheless, they did have an interesting affect. I didn't get any more sleep than I had been getting, but I realized that I didn't feel as tired the next day. It seemed that it made the sleep I was getting more effective. When I woke up in the middle of the night, I wasn't dying to get back to sleep. Also, I felt just fine the next day when I really did wake up for the day. So the calcium tablets seemed to help after all.
In the end, I passed out of my horrible sleep stage. I still take the tablets, hoping that they will help me sleep less and not feel tired. It doesn't have the same effect as it did back then, but I think it does help some.