Drinking and stuff that is never completed

[Guest]

What's the big deal?

I'm working my way through a mug of red wine right now, because I've had a very hard week and I'd like to sleep better. It feels like antiseptic when I taste it, much like rum and whiskey and other adult beverages tasted like.

The feeling afterwards is a sort of heightened tiredness. I can stand light beer much more and have had some on a few occasions to the point of general tipsyness. I took a single hit of weed, just once but deeply, and associated the mild buzz that night with the beer, instead of the illicit herb. Second time I had more beer, I didn't care for the feeling that much.

My bodyfat % is pretty low so I'm feeling the thing where you move and it's a little faster than you expect, but I think that's being tired too, and I did take a melatonin tablet.

I can understand tasty things, or wine with food, or even beer with food (my dad was a huge fan of Amberbock with his pizza) but drinking just to get screwed up doesn't really make sense to me. I guess doing it socially would make it easier to loosen up, like the first time I tried that light beer, which was actually a really fun time because of the people and the banter.

And why can't this stuff taste better? I've seen "mudslides" but the idea of an alcoholic milkshake really doesn't appeal to me. Besides, it took me long enough to get a taste for coffee and I didn't need to go through mocha to get there.

Also, what's with the people who will post online about how they're drinking a sixpack or a bottle of hard liquor or whatever. That does not make them look cool, it makes me wonder if they have any real friends / psychological problems.

I'd really love to see various people's opinions on this.

Another thing. Five months ago I decided, out of the blue, that starting a webhosting company would be a great way to use my skills and make some money and do something with my in-limbo life. My plans were modest, even slightly halfassed.

Fast forward to the other day, and I realize that I've been continually raising the bar on quality and company image far beyond my first plans. I'm a perfectionist, and this is something that is highly addictive.

Finally emptied the damn mug. Oh crap, I'm not 21 yet. I had better drink a bunch of water.

So, every week I've been telling myself "almost done, almost there" and then I go and move the finish line. What's up with that, and more importantly, why am I such a lightweight that just one mug makes me feel tipsy? Ok, it's a really big mug. I feel inadaquate.

My face feels weird.

I guess you could say that when you mow a lawn, you mow it andthen you're done. You don't go over it again obsessively making sure it's all even. An artist has to know when to stop chiseling away or laying the brush to the paper before he spoils his creation. This, this I can't stop. There's always some improvements to make, some copy to polish up, package lists to work on and streamlin, and some design I can make look beyter. My face feels slightly numb, WHY? Also, I'm laughing at stupid stuff. This is stupid.

i Have some real customers already mostly because they went and bought domains, and now even though i'm setting stuff up and still in the dirt road stages of development I'm trying to make sure they have a real good experience, but I didn't suggest for them to go get domains and I feel bad that I wasn't fully prepared to start supporting some people on hosting accounts when I was just giving them some free FTP storage and bandwidth because they were aquaintances with connections who would be great free advertising.

I am never experimentng with adult beverages at my computer again.

[Sindawe]

Many, and complex are the issues you've skimmed.

Red wine really should not be consumed by the mug full.  In a nice goblet of glass, crystal or hammered steel, yes. By the mug, sorry, not unless its been cut with water, seven parts water to one of wine.  Adult Kool-Aid if you will, but not of the Jonestown variety.  The Romans were not fools, at least when it came to their wine.

Common weeds?  Well, as one author once wrote, "...Hemp is everywhere.  Some fools like Oneeye even smoke it..."  Indulged a time or three years past, but realized the sirens song that lay within those flowers, and the shoals they hid, that I would founder on if I were not careful.  Lovely plant, interesting pharmacology, but I'll pass, thank you much, HOLY &#$& DID YOU SEE THAT!!!

Pounding down the simple alcohol, CH3CH2OH.   On the order of others things Crazy Gonzo, like leaping out of working aircraft at 20k feet, or grinding the knees to hold the line in a turn, while the engine screams 'tweens one's thighs.  Silly Machismo, or just an adrenaline rush.

Moving the finish line?  Thats just the nature of the beast my friend.  Set the goals, then when they come close, move the line again.  Most of us are not truelly happy unless we are stretched, and failure is a strong possibility unless we give the utmost.

The Holy Bean?  Well....

It is by caffeine alone I set my mind in motion.
It is by the Beans of Java that thoughts acquire speed,
The hands acquire shaking, the shaking becomes a warning.
It is by caffeine alone I set my mind in motion.

[Art Eatman]

My momma done tol' me when I was barely outta kneepants that teenyboppers (we didn't yet have that word, but what the heck) looked stupid when drinking; if I wanted to drink, do it at home.  With that sort of parental attitude, I had no interest in drinking.

I've seen a lot of drunks and alkies.  Thinking about the whole deal, I sorta worked out the reasons why my doings with booze are the way they are.  It's simple:  I don't like being around people except when I'm in a good mood.  I don't like to drink when I'm by myself, beyond maybe a beer or a wee drop of good bourbon at sundown.  So, drinking is a social thing.  And, I'm in a good mood or I'm not social, which makes me a happy guy.  Or a happy drunk.

This is not to say I've never been taken suddenly drunk, and I gotta admit to a couple of times of worshipping at the porcelain altar.  And there have been a couple of times of, "But, officer, I gotta drive.  I'm too drunk to walk!"  (This is rhetorical; I've never been busted for drunk driving.)

But I've made it to age 71, so I can't have been totally stoopid.

I don't advocate that anybody drink just for the sake of drinking or seeking approval from those who are drinking.  There ain't a danged thing wrong with drinking non-alcoholic stuff at a party, although Hell might be being sober when surrounded by drunks.  Solution:  Leave early.

My view is that drinking is more of a sipping process than guzzling.  Only drink what tastes good, which means trying different things:  Different brands of beer, different types of wine...Generally, scotch drinkers don't like bourbon and vice versa.  

Learn your limits, preferably at home--and stay home.  Learn the difference between the effects on a full stomach or on an empty stomach:  The latter can get you in deep doo-doo in a hurry!

Common sense and pragmatism generally keeps a guy out of trouble.

The best thing about booze is that it helps ugly people get laid.

, Art

[Felonious Monk/Fignozzle]

...so, let me get this straight:  You've got sufficient webdev skills that you set up a hosting company.
Now, you've got more on your plate than you expected, because business is good.
Impressive.
...oh, and you're not yet 21?
Darn impressive.

Alcohol can enhance your enjoyment of life, if you are EXTREMELY careful (which I wasn't when young).
It's like nitroglycerin; it blows up sometimes with seemingly no warning.
It can ALSO destroy all you've worked hard to build.  Got any relatives who've been in rehab? Go to AA?
If so, you'd better treat it like nitroglycerin.

Re: delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol: Sindawe said "Indulged a time or three years past, but realized the sirens song that lay within those flowers, and the shoals they hid, that I would founder on if I were not careful."
+1.  
My 27 year old brother was an amazingly talented athlete.  He was awarded full-ride baseball scholarships TWICE (had one, lost it, got another from a 2nd Univ.), and lost them both.  He was one of the most promising players both coaches had EVER seen.  Marijuana clouded his vision, sapped his motivation, and he quit playing--walked off the field--his junior year.  
He regrets it every day of his life.  
He hasn't held a job longer than 7 weeks in the last 5 years.
I get sad every time I watch a major-league game, because I see lots of those guys who are truly less-talented athletes than he was.
Don't go down that road.  The dead end runs right off the cliff.

[Monkeyleg]

Re the weed: I smoked quite a bit of it in my youth. This month will mark thirty years since I smoked my last joint. It was reducing my motivation, as Felonious Fig mentioned. There are people I grew up with who are still tokin' away, but they really haved failed to live up to their potential.

Years back I drank scotch. I enjoyed the flavor, but it tended to make me too quick to get angry.

Now I just drink beer. I like the taste. Sometimes too much. Can't remember the last time I "worshipped at the porceilan altar," though. And there's no driving, gun-handling, motorcycling, or other important activities after even one.

Blackburn, I'd also like to congratulate you on getting an early start on serious business.

[buy guns]

blaming weed for having a shitty life is like blaming guns for killing people.

[Sindawe]

blaming weed for having a shitty life is like blaming guns for killing people.

+1  I do not wish to give the impression that consumption of C. sativa guarantees the consumer is gonna be a waistoid for the rest of thier life.  For *ME*, I knew it would be a distraction and a danger, since I liked it A LOT.  So I obstain.

For others, EtOH does the same thing.  It becomes a detriment to their lives, rather than an enhancement.  I've not a few friends who use C. sativa as I and others here use EtOH, as an augment to their lives, not the focus.  I think the problem lies within the individual, and the external chemical supplement only acts as a trigger, not the source of the problem.

[Felonious Monk/Fignozzle]

blaming weed for having a shitty life is like blaming guns for killing people.

Hmmmm....
Weed is not as much the problem as is an addictive personality, a predisposition toward abusing sex, drugs, or too much fried food.
Weed's just the vehicle that my brother rode off the path of success and into a backwater eddy of regrets.  Could be booze, loose women, blow, meth, or anything.

[Gun Runner]

^ "Hallucinating heavily"?  

He must be paying an awful lot for that reef' laced with PCP.  Marijuana can be a very mild hallucinogen.  If it goes very far your friend is either already crazy or it's laced with something.  Maybe he's just talking out his ass too.  By the way, nobody is just gonna dust some dope with some kind of powder and sell it for the going rate of unaltered weed.  That's not economically sound.

As far as not liking beer, drink more, it starts to taste damn good once you get used to it and drink often enough.  You sound like a light weight.

[Vodka7]

Re: Drinking

I drank a lot my first year of college.  I had a lot of good experiences, and more bad experiences than I would wish on almost anyone.  Learn your limits and stick by them--drink on a full stomach (a loaf of fresh bread if you can find it goes great with anything), and remember that one shot = a can of beer = a glass of wine.  Just because you don't feel one, two, or three shots right away is NOT A REASON TO DRINK MORE SHOTS.  They're going to hit you just as bad as three glasses of wine would have.

Come to think of it, that reminds me of a friend from college.  I met him when I was a junior and he was a freshman, and that year he threw himself a birthday bash.  He started the night off with three shots and kept making himself more drinks.  I told him he was going to throw up if he didn't stop, and he bet me he wouldn't.  I told him I didn't need to take his money since he was already going to feel bad enough the next morning.  Well, cut forward an hour, he's drunk, sitting on a chair, telling a story, and his head just kind of falls forward and he throws up all over his shirt and the floor and passes out.  Two of his roommates and I had to carry him into the bathroom, where I sat for the next hour propping his head over the toilet and trying to get the rest out of him (I won't go into details, but it was not nice.)  He was passed out the entire time.

So anyway, learn your limits.  If you don't know where they are, stick to something you can't drink fast--for me, it's beer.  I can't chug beer no matter what I do, so I can always feel in advance when it's time to stop.  If you don't know when that is, listen to your friends.

But, if you're looking for something that tastes great, try out Bacardi Big Apple.  I mix it 50/50 with Sprite when I want something crisp to drink, or in 50/35/15 with pineapple and cranberry juice when I want something for a hot day.  You should probably stick to two fingers of alcohol until you figure out what tastes good to you and what doesn't (in a tall glass like a highball, not a short one like a tom collins, put two fingers up against the bottom of the glass and pour that much booze in.)

[Art Eatman]

Always remember with "two fingers":  Sideways, not longways.

, Art

[grampster]

Spoilsport. Heh.