Last modified: Monday, September 18, 2006 12:31 AM EDT BRYCE: Sign me up for iced coffee 12-step program I'm a junkie. The first step is admitting my problem and the next step is doing something about it. Only problem is, I can't. Even as I write this, it's right by m y side. I'm hooked on Dunkin Donuts iced coffee. No, it's not crack, but it may as well be. I get cold sweats when I don't have it in the morning. I get withdrawals if I don't get one before work. If there were kegs of Dunkin Donuts iced coffees, I'd be first in line to do a keg stand. If it were possible, I'd have those same iced coffees fed to me intravenously. Excuse the corny expression, but I feen for caffeine -- apparently, though, only the stuff concocted by Dunkin Donuts. I mean, drinking homemade iced coffee is just not the same. We got a hoity-toity coffee pot as a gift about a year ago, and my wife and I tried -- we really did -- to make iced coffee at home. After all, spending at least $2 on a coffee each day puts a seemingly unnecessary dent in your wallet, so we figured we'd save a little if we just made our beloved iced coffees at home. Yeah, that happened. For about two weeks. But then, inexplicably, I found myself veering into the Dunkin Donuts drive-thru line. Despite the fact that I had enough time with the 17 cars in front of me to instead turn off and drive away -- and never mind the fact that I had a home-made cup of coffee sitting in my travel mug by my side -- I stayed in that Godforsaken line to get my smack, er, iced coffee. Many of you know my pain (because, well, many of you are probably in the 17 cars ahead of me every time I make my way through the drive-thru). Some of you don't, though. What makes Dunkin Donuts iced coffee so special? Honestly, I don't have a clue. It certainly doesn't have anything to do with that Godforsaken commercial that creeps onto my television set every chance it gets (`` ... and last but not least ... KARATAYYYYY ... '' ). I've asked myself just what they were thinking with that commercial. I haven't yet come up with an answer. But, I'll tell you, there are things that drive me nuts about Dunkin Donuts. E Like when certain ones charge $2.11 -- I'm past the fact that they're charging two bucks a clip, but 11 cents?!? How annoying is it to come up with 11 cents instead of them just making it an even dime or nickel. I've never had more use for pennies than I've had with my addiction to Dunkin Donuts. E Like when they put too much -- or too little -- ice. Too much ice and you're paying a buck per sip. Too little ice and you're drinking lukewarm iced coffee that doesn't sit well. Just the right amount of ice and, well, you're in iced coffee heaven. E Like when they open their whole spiel at the drive-thru by suggesting I get a Smoothie. Whatever happened to a simple `` Can I take your order?'' There's just too little time to convince me to get something else, so hand me the crack, er, iced coffee and let's be done with it. Still, despite the many annoyances, I find myself with a Dunkin Donuts iced coffee each morning. Despite it costing me roughly $1,000 a year to drink coffee, I give in to my cravings each day. What can I say? It's a habit. As it says on the commercials -- as well as smack-dab on the coffee cup itself -- America runs on Dunkin. I know it all too well. ANDREW BRYCE is a part-time editor at The Sun Chronicle. He may be reached via email at brycedrew74(at)cox.net.