NFR Alcohol going out of style

Non-fishing related
Alcohol affects people differently. It's been a long while, but I read that among people of European heritage that about 10% of us are disposed toward alcoholism, presumed because alcohol has been present in the culture since time immemorial. Contrasting that, roughly 90% of Native Americans are disposed toward alcoholism, again presumed because alcohol was not present in the culture until introduced by Europeans. Kind of like with the effects of diseases like smallpox and measles. I don't know what or if time, culture, and genetic components might affect how Asians and Africans are affected.

Moderation might simply be too God-awful boring for some people. I'm finding that moderation works well for me. I've been drunker than I should have been more times than I know, but I only got to that "commode hugging" stage of puking my guts out maybe a half dozen times or so in my life. That was not a stage I'd consider extreme enjoyment; quite the opposite. I had a work colleague who told me about her youthful past. As a teenager she would go to parties to drink and get black out drunk. Passed out drunk. I could not relate. Then she told me that she couldn't wait to do it all over again the next weekend. Her only alternative was choosing complete sobriety; otherwise acute alcohol poisoning would likely have been her destiny. Makes me thankful for my genetic predisposition and moderation.
 
Evan B said:
My kegerator and all supplies were $500ish. Paid for itself pretty quickly as I'm paying all of $0.20 per gallon on my sparkling water now vs about $20 or more per gallon on the grocery store stuff. Plus, it tastes so much better.
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So to break even you have to drink 2500 gallons. Are you there yet?
 
Serenity lane

The lane
I walk down,
Quiet, pastoral
Haven of the true self.

Help me
To find strength
Where no bright
Light illuminates

Yet a path is lit
With striped light
And emerging
Self awareness.

Free from pity
And gratuitous pain.
This cluttered clay;
Living in
The triumphant

Cradle of now

Lyrics by Leslie H Skip Enge
Music by Richard Alan "Crane" Krieger
Copyright 2013
 
Zak said:
I really miss having a local bar "where everybody knows your name" where I would hang out, drink, and shoot pool.
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I know that "bar" in more than a few places! Let's go!
 
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Phil K said:
What the heck, I’ll pitch in another individual data point. Like so many of us, I LOVE beer; the taste and also that sloppy euphoric relaxation that comes when the ETOH kicks in. I’ve also realized that my ability to metabolize the stuff isn’t what it used to be, and if I drink more than one, or too close to bedtime, my first thought on waking up is “Oh, crap, why did I do that again?”

Over the past year or so, I’d cut way down, because I also realized how much more I can accomplish without drinking, and that I’m old enough that time is a precious resource not to be wasted.

The last time I drank was in mid December last year. I was down in Santa Barbara at a celebration of life for my mother, had a few glasses of wine, then back at my sister’s house got absolutely falling down drunk on Jameson. It snuck up on me- really. : ) The next day, was of course a complete loss, and I decided that a month off was called for. It’s now been close to six weeks, and I just don’t have the desire to drink right now. I wouldn’t say I’m done, but doubt it will ever be a regular thing again either.

Pretty much all of my regular friends drink, and most of ‘em smoke weed, but I can socialize fine without participating.

One final rant: NA beer is too danged expensive. I might enjoy a crisp NA malt beverage, but the curmudgeon in me thinks it shouldn’t cost as much as the real thing.
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I've found some very good NA beers, like a few of the Athletics and Best Brewing. While they are the same price, I believe that the "brewing process" is the same, calories about the same.. etc.

Finding great NA options for myself like sparkling water with lime has helped me a lot. Even when drinking a lot, I've always had a big glass of water with it and basically it's been 1 drink, 1 water throughout the night! Because of that, and my many medical issues like gout I've rarely had a hangover. I just practiced and trained too much! (LOL!)

Now that I've been diagnosed with NASH, another name for Cirosis, it is important that I cut out alcohol for the foreseeable future. Maybe forever, although the liver can heal itself and I'm always open to a PIG liver! Maybe a fish liver, with my passion... don't think that's possible!

There are plenty of other NA or nearly NA options. Last night I had an Aperol Spritz, didn't drink much of it at all. Instead of adding prosecco I just did OJ, Club Soda and Aperol equal parts. Add a slice of orange and some ice! Mmmmm.

I went to the Beardslee Pub recently, a John Howie restaurant, and had a fantastic NA margarita! It was $14.50 but we only live once and it was delicious with a wagyu burger and fries. So while not cheap, neither am I!

I'm focused on my health for a number of reasons, beyond my NASH diagnosis. I'm caring for my mother, basically full time, and don't want to pass before her or before my niece Hannah get's married and has beautiful kids. And my two nephews! I want to be around to pass on my passion of fly fishing and all that it entails and of conservation and service through volunteering.

Life is too shot to drink bad wine, whisk(e)y, beer and bad women! Well bad women can be fun.. seriously they can, and living dangerously once in a while is great imho!

So carry on! I'm taking some friends, mostly friends from Issaquah High! We had our 40th year reunion last year.. I don't act that old, but feel older! And if anyone is interested, please feel free to join us! It's at Brown Family Winery in Bellevue on Old Main. 1pm and I have room for 12, about 1/2 full atm.

Cheers and peace!
FlyBill
 
Salmo_g said:
Alcohol affects people differently. I had a work colleague who told me about her youthful past. As a teenager she would go to parties to drink and get black out drunk. Passed out drunk. I could not relate. Then she told me that she couldn't wait to do it all over again the next weekend. Her only alternative was choosing complete sobriety; otherwise acute alcohol poisoning would likely have been her destiny. Makes me thankful for my genetic predisposition and moderation.
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Salmo, so true. My wife can drink like your work colleague and have no ill effects, no hangovers ever. Her dad, uncles and a lot of the male line can do the same. Unsurprisingly there's a strong streak of alcoholism there, fortunately not for her. I have an inherited tremor (essential/familial) that does great with alcohol. So a lot of people who have this same tremor self-treat and run into problems with booze. I can't do that as most alcohol shapes up with a later headache, there's a rebound of worse tremor when the booze wears off, and because alcohol tanks deep memory-making sleep stages, the next day I end up feeling dumb and more tired, i shake more and have more anxiety...

Tucked into those examples there's neurotransmitter equivalence, presumably GABA-ergic that suggests alcohol like effects are really important for normal function (eg smooth motor movements, anxiety moderation, A Hunter's confidence/long haul resilience in spite of dumb odds (modern day equivalent below average guy gets the courage up to ask the girl way out of his league to "dance")) But given the array of GABA-ergic subsets that do slightly different things, there's also vulnerabilities to replacing more than we need and that vulnerability is genetically influenced.

It's interesting you can see paradoxical improvements with most drugs of abuse in certain situations. sometimes there's a useful flip-
Nicotine- makes some types of frontal lobe epilepsy less likely and may slightly lower risk of Parkinson's
Cannabis- may help some seizure types, let alone anxiety, sleep and day behaviors in special needs/autism
MDMA- may help with PTSD
Psilocybin may help with PTSD and Depression
Amphetamines help with Attention deficits, awareness and fasting tolerance
Ketamine- - may help in depression
opiates legitimate phenomenal analgesia, also useful in heart failure
Amyl nitrate/cialis/viagra- boosted blood flow to periphery and improved (over time) forced vital capacity and ? memory preservation

The problem might be a level of self awareness of how too much of any of those might hurt us, too much might saturate way more parts of our brain that also house receptors for those drugs that are seldom, if ever, used, unless intoxicated. (Maybe those less used receptors were important in developmental stages that were needed for a time- say language acquisition in early childhood- but are not needed after those learning genes are dialed way back as we age. What is the individualized ratio of that laundry list above that makes life better for us and how might it change with age? And if it is meant to change with age how much messing with it can we truly tolerate?)

How good would it be to know your need and limit for those effects? (ALternatively was there a time, maybe childhood, where those needs were near perfectly tuned and met with no need for supplement....)

Ok so this essay is getting way speculative, but if there was a drug that nailed self awareness, what would the intoxicated state for that one lead to....or what one already out there actually gives a true bead on your vulnerabilities and confidences that leads to maximal best self without turning into a blundering self-absorbed jerk...I guess, genetically, that chemical mix is slightly different for each of us...
 
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Wadin' Boot said:
Ok so this essay is getting way speculative, but if there was a drug that nailed self awareness, what would the intoxicated state for that one lead to....or what one already out there actually gives a true bead on your vulnerabilities and confidences that leads to maximal best self without turning into a blundering self-absorbed jerk...I guess, genetically, that chemical mix is slightly different for each of us...
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Huey Lewiscibin.
 
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