Explanation of Clumps in Coffee

Just about every day I make coffee at work using the company Keurig machine. These days I prefer my coffee with a little bit of skim milk - just something to take the bitter edge off. Sometimes I'm out, so I endure the spark of purist black coffee, but if I am so prepared, the luxury of milk is where it's at. Until, that is, it starts to look like this:

What you see there is not exactly "chunks" of super old milk, one of the most horrifying experiences of the first world, but rather a coagulation of sorts, a ball. In this photo most of the ball of coagulated milk is lurking under the surface of the coffee, much like you might imagine the Loch Ness Monster. Anyway this has happened a few times, with multiple types of milk - I used to think it happened only with soy milk, not so. Interestingly, it doesn't make the coffee taste nasty - it's really just fine, except you wind up sipping in a modified fashion so as to avoid slurping up the solid oddity in the middle.

I have so many questions. Do I have to toss it immediately? K Cups are expensive! I don't want to just throw it out if I can stomach drinking around the blob. Is it harmful? I doubt it. But seriously what is going on?

After wondering about this for approximately 4 years (first time I can remember was sophomore year in college with library vanilla soy milk), finally, someone on the Internet has answered my question as to what exactly is happening:
"The clumping is not a function of fat separating, but protein clumping together in curds (curdling). Even though your milk is not 'off' yet, as milk ages, the acidity increases, and when you put into something acidic and hot (like coffee), the milk can curdle. Fresher milk will be less vulnerable." (Original here.)

User szep_ilona of chowhound.com, I thank you. Now I know. Seemingly it is safe to drink around, just gross.

Crest 3D White Professional Effects

I have had the good fortune of receiving a box from Influenster.com! Influenster.com calls itself "an exclusive community for trendsetters to share news,products, and reviews with the opportunity to be rewarded by brands." I've been nurturing my profile for several months now and am very excited to have gotten my first product trial! 

I have done Crest Whitestrips in the past, and have the benefit of experience with an earlier iteration of the product such that I can tell this version is much improved. For starters, it has Advanced Seal technology, which really makes a considerable difference in the way it grips to my teeth. Typically I get a little spitty (who doesn't) and the product slides around on my teeth, and normally it works its way back to the backs of my teeth which ruins the point altogether. I basically suck on them to keep them in place, which gradually makes it slide back. Basically I'm saying it's my fault, but it still happened. I'd adjust the strips once or twice during my 30 minute session pretty routinely, which is not awesome since it can be goopy and spitty and generally sticking fingers in your mouth is considered gauche.

The Advanced Seal technology really mitigates this issue! They really stay in place and the only fixing or poking I wind up doing throughout their wear is to get the seal away from direct contact with my gums. My gums tend to be fairly sensitive and don't love touching the whitening goop.

I have also noticed a change or upgrade to the duration of time it is suggested to wear the strips. The pamphlet suggests 5 minutes to do minor anti-yellowing, 30 minutes for a typical whitening experience, and 2 hours for an express professional job. I believe past products I've used suggest using 2 strips per day for 20-30 minutes at a time, so 40 minutes or an hour total. As far as I can tell, the suggestion to do it for 2-hours is new, and it is a fairly significant upgrade that you only have to wear 1 strip (2 total since there is 1 for top and 1 for bottom row of teeth.) So there's no goopy switching process; once you finish with the half hour or 2 hours or whatever, you're done. 

At 3 days I have already noticed an enhancement in my smile's pearly sheen, though I'm willing to attribute that to the placebo effect. One significant perk of this product is that, so far, fingers crossed, I haven't had to stop usage because of gum pain. In the past my gums had shooting pain every so often with the product that felt brain-meltingly powerful. I would try to get the strip as far from my gum as possible, but it seemed like the damage was already done, and they continued to be sensitive. I have stopped usage before the 20 days are over in the past due to this issue. So far, no pain! A little sensitivity, but nothing terrible. Hopefully nothing kicks up in the next 17 days. 

Great product so far! Thanks influenster.com!