Booze Journal

2008-04-07T10:41:00.000-04:00

What a lazy weekend. I really didn't do anything, other than sit on my ass and watch TV.

I had 5 beers a day for a total of 15 for the weekend. Not bad. It was Miller Genuine Draft so I'm sure that technically means I only had 10 beers all weekend.

My cold/flu is really hanging on. Although most of my symptoms have disappeared, I have this cough that sounds disgusting and feels like hell. It seems to be on it's way out, though.

One positive I can take out of having this evil sickness is I haven't had a cigarette in probably 3 weeks. You should see the shit I've been coughing up! I'm sure the incessant coughing is actually good for my lungs as it expedites the whole process.

Day 258

2008-03-31T16:26:00.001-04:00

Drinks in past 24 hours: 1

I'm staying relatively upbeat, considering the last few weeks I've had. I'll try not to bore anyone with the details, but basically I was working 3 people's jobs at work and it sucked.

So you can imagine how pumped I was for my buddy's party on Friday night, eh? Yeah, I was fucking pumped. So what happened? I got the flu! Yeah, I got the same fucking flu that I had 2 weeks ago, only this time it was worse!

End result: my weekend was a fucking bust. I had to sit around my apartment all weekend watching movies I'd never watch if I had better things to do with my time**.

I haven't really felt like having any beers since this evil virus invaded my body, but I managed to down one on Saturday and one last night. I know, I'm a party animal.

Now I've only got a mild headache and a dry cough, so I'll try to have a couple beers tonight.

** The movies? So I Married An Axe Murderer, Death Wish (actually pretty good, it's got Charles Bronson in it), and a couple others I can't remember. Maybe I hallucinated the others due to my fever and the fact my head felt like a pressure cooker.

Day 239

2008-03-12T10:56:00.001-04:00

Drinks in past 24 hours: 2
This week: 26
Avg/day: 3.7

Still slacking a bit with the posts, so I apologize. This week has been pretty good, actually. Like I said last week, I bought a case of 24 on Tuesday. It panned out like this:

Tue: 5.5
Wed: 7
Thu: 4
Fri: 5
Sat: 2

So that was my case & it lasted 5 days. Don't laugh, it used to take me 3 or 4 to polish one off. Side note: polish (PAW-lish) is spelled the same as the nationality of people from Poland.

Unfortunately, I picked up the flu on Friday & had to leave work early. My weekend consisted of me laying on my couch watching old cartoons and playing video games. I felt awful.

So I didn't have any drinks on Sunday or Monday, other than water and ginger ale. Actually, that's a lie, I remember making one of my ginger ales a rum and ginger ale on Monday. Hey, I'm only human.

Last night I started feeling a bit better, so my girlfriend and I went grocery shopping and picked up some paint for the dining room. I can't remember the name of the colour, but it's a light blue. If I had to name it, I'd call it Robin's Egg Blue. That's got a nice ring to it.

I pretty much can't stand grocery shopping. To me, it's almost like a challenge. It's something to get out of the way, so I like to breeze through the aisles and grab what I need while still pushing the cart. I shit you not, I can do all my grocery shopping in about 5 minutes. My girlfriend, on the other hand, loves grocery shopping. She'll spend 5 minutes deciding what kind of potatoes she wants. It takes almost an hour to shop her way, so I kind of have to grin and bear it. Yesterday wasn't too bad, though. I got a new debit card (old one was broken) and grabbed a 6-pack for the Leafs game while she was making her way through the produce section.

Damn you woulda been proud of me. I only had 2 beers all night, and there was a hockey game on! That's like a world record or something.

So now I've got 4 in the fridge, which will likely be gone by tomorrow. The good news? My beers per day average this week was only 3.7.

Hopefully I can regain full health by the weekend for St. Patty's day festivities. My beers per day average will likely be shot to hell, so stay tuned.

Cheers.

Day 233

2008-03-06T15:04:00.001-05:00

Drinks consumed*: 7
*In past 24 hours

I had a beer with lunch yesterday, then had 6 in the evening while watching TV.

Today I had a Coke with my lunch, didn't much feel like a beer. I think I've got a cold coming on - or worse, the flu. I'm coughing a lot and my throat is feeling dryer by the day. It could also be because I snuck in a few cigarettes this week.

Tonight I get to relax by myself as my girlfriend is at work. The Leafs play the Bruins tonight, so they'll lose, but I get to watch it anyway. Shoot, I just remembered I promised to build the Ikea cabinet we bought a few weeks ago.

I can't even have beers tonight because I've gotta pick up my girlfriend from work at 10pm. Well, that's not true, I just can't have too many beers tonight. I know from my Smart Serve training that a man of my height and weight can have 3 beers in one hour before being legally too drunk to drive. I'll probably have 3 over the course of 3 or 4 hours, with dinner and water thrown in for good measure.

I'm thinking about buying the non-alcohol beer from the grocery store so I can get the taste of beer without the compromising side effects of real beer (aka "the fun part"). Because I've noticed it's not that I drink to get drunk, I just really love beer. If I was drinking to get drunk, I'd have 10-15 beers a night, or skip the whole step and buy a 12oz bottle of whisky each day. If I don't have beer in the house, I don't substitute it with other booze - or worse, mouthwash. The other week I didn't have beer in the house for around 4-5 days and I think I might have made ONE drink one night just because we had the ingredients for something fruity.

Shit, who knows why I'm rambling on. Trying to convince myself I'm not an alcoholic maybe? Making excuses? Maybe I'm just holding myself to a higher standard than most. God knows my buddies get wasted near-on every night.

Ah the experiment continues. Maybe next week I'll abstain. Partly to see if I can go a week without booze, and partly because next weekend is St. Patty's so I've gotta give my liver a rest!

Haha, cheers.

Day 232

2008-03-05T11:47:00.000-05:00

Drinks consumed*: 5.5
*In last 24 hours
Drinks this week: 10.5

It's been a long-ass time since I wrote anything productive in this blog, so as Whitesnake said; Here I Go Again.

The past few months have been busy & I don't really feel like recapping everything at the moment, so bits & pieces will likely spill out in the next few posts. Makes things interesting & less like a history lesson if you ask me.

Yesterday was the Leafs game so I picked up a 24 case just before dinner. I made a conscious decision to take it easy on the beers, moreso for my girlfriend's sake than my own. She's pretty sensitive to my drinking habits, so I try not to make her too mad at me.

Dinner came and went, had a glass of milk and cleaned up the apartment a bit. I watched the first period, cleaned some more during the intermission, and cracked my first beer as the second period started. I guess that was about 8:15pm.

By the time the game ended (4-1 loss to New Jersey) I had downed 3 beers. I had one while watching TV right after the game, then another while I played some video games.

I cracked my 6th just as my girlfriend asked how many I had had. I knew she was mentally rolling her eyes in disgust as only women can do. I was pretty tired and I didn't want to make her mad so I finished half of my 6th and went to bed around 12:30am.

Tonight I've got plans to hang out with my girlfriend again, so I'll try to sub beers for milk and Fruitopia. Shouldn't be a problem.

Cheers.

Day 198

2008-02-07T15:45:00.000-05:00

Just keeping track of the day numbers...a new post will follow shortly.

-J

Off to Pick Up My New Wheels

2007-11-15T10:59:00.000-05:00

It's been a good few weeks since I last posted. Mostly I've just been getting everything together for this week-long trip I'm going on to pick up my car.

More or less, I'm going to Ottawa tomorrow afternoon to pick up the car, then I'll be staying with my family there until about Thursday. I'll come back home for the night, then on Friday I'm off to London (Ontario, not England) to see my girlfriend's family and some of my old school chums.

Should be good, I'm excited.

Booze Journal on Hiatus

2007-10-29T11:40:00.001-04:00

As some of you might have noticed, I didn't update once in the past week. The reason is, among other things, that I've simply been too busy and drinking too little to get the motivation to post.

I'm not sure if this is the end of Booze Journal, or just a break. I'll likely decide in the coming weeks and then make a post to clarify exactly what's going on.

This 3-month project really opened up my eyes to my drinking habits. Although I realized that I'm not a full-fledged alcoholic, I did notice that my consumption was less-than-healthy and impacted my life in ways I didn't really see before.

For instance, I realized just how much MONEY has been leaking from my bank account. Especially since I'm getting a car in the coming weeks, I'll need every last dollar for gas, maintenance, and insurance.

Anyways, I hope you've all enjoyed reading my ramblings for the past little while. I hope to pioneer a new blog in the next little while, with more of a focus on writing than rambling.

Cheers!

Day 91 / Week 13 Report

2007-10-23T10:03:00.001-04:00

Drinks consumed*: 5
*Since previous post
Drinks this week: 44
Avg/day: 6.3

I had one beer for lunch and four beers in the evening, and on the whole it was about the laziest night I've ever had in my life. Well, maybe that's a bit of an exaggeration, but I really didn't do much of anything.

I had 6.3 beers/day this week, about what I expected. This week should be less, considering it's my girlfriend's birthday this week and I'll have to spend most of my money on dinner and presents. Well, I won't have to, but if I know what's good for me.... :)

Anyway, it's rainy and disgusting and dark as night outside, so I wish I could take the day off sick.

Boo-urns.

Day 90

2007-10-22T09:45:00.001-04:00

Drinks consumed: 21
*Since previous post

I had 7 on Friday, 7 on Saturday, 7 on Sunday, and that was my weekend. I basically did exactly what I said I'd do on Friday (Day 87): I locked myself in my apartment and chilled out all weekend.

It was amazing, actually. I played a lot of Gran Turismo 3. I've got a PS2 so I could get Gran Turismo 4, but I'm so ridiculously unfinished GT3 (about 20% after probably a few hundred hours of playing) that I'd be cheating myself.

I also spent a bit of time thinking about my new car. In fact, I spent about 5 hours last night going through all my music trying to compile the best driving mix of all time. So far it's going pretty well, I'll try to post my songlist this evening.

Cheers.

PS: After 3 months of blogging, I can safely say that I'm probably not an alcoholic, so I'm considering re-naming my blog to something a little more reflective of me. What do you think?

Day 87

2007-10-19T10:21:00.000-04:00

Drinks consumed*: 6
*Since previous post

It's looking like a pretty safe bet to say my beers per day average this week is going to be 6. That's how many I've had each day thus far.

I specifically made no plans this weekend, for a variety of reasons. First is to save money. Second is to spend more time with my girlfriend. Third is to get some stuff done around the apartment. Fourth is just because I need a rest.

Last weekend was totally insane, party-wise, but I didn't get much chance to unwind. So this weekend I plan on stocking up with junk food, locking myself in my apartment, and wearing Superman pajamas for 72 hours straight.

Cheers!

Day 86

2007-10-18T10:15:00.000-04:00

Drinks consumed*: 6
*Since previous post

I got the car. Remember the 1998 SVT Contour from Day 66? Well I talked to my Dad last night and he gave me the good news: the car is sitting in my parent's driveway & is awaiting repairs to make it certifiable/emissions tested. I should be able to pick it up in mid-November, if everything goes as planned. The car is great, it's basically a European Mondeo on speed. They changed the name to Contour for North American buyers, because presumably we'd pronounce "Mondeo" (MAWN-day-oh) the same way we pronounce "Rodeo" (ROH-dee-oh), which would end up as "moan-DEE-oh". Us North Americans sure are dumb, eh?

Now the big hurdle is going to be affording insurance, which should be in the $200-$300/month range. I hope my girlfriend wants to help pay for it ;)

Anyway, it's good news because I won't be sitting at home every night watching Full House re-runs & drinking 6 beers. I'll be driving around, not paying $10 extra to have my beer delivered.

And that means every 4th case of beer is essentially free! Boo yeah!

Day 85

2007-10-17T10:27:00.000-04:00

Drinks consumed*: 6
*Since previous post

I'm finally getting things back on track on the work front, which is good news for my blog as well. The less stressed I am, the better I write.

Pretty typical evening last night; got home from work, took out the garbage, did some dishes, played some video games and watched TV. I got a case of beer and had 6 over the course of the evening.

I use that phrase "over the course of the evening" a lot, because I think it's important to note. There's a substantial difference, in my opinion, between downing 6 beers in an hour and a half and downing 6 beers between 6:00 and 12:00.

Don't you think?

PS: Check out the latest booze-related post over at Look At This....

Day 84 / Week 12

2007-10-16T12:13:00.000-04:00

Drinks consumed: Who knows
*Since previous post

I've gotta keep this entry quick as I'm quite busy at work.

Friday night I had a few beers at home with my buddy Andrew. We played MarioKart 64 for a bit before heading out to The Blue Goose Tavern in Etobicoke.

This place was the dive bar of all dive bars, and it was excellent. After a few beers, we went into Toronto and partied it up at a place called the Velevet Underground, which was a rock bar that I didn't much enjoy.

I woke up early on Saturday on Andrew's couch and took the train back home, where I slept for another few hours. I got freshened up and got on the train, back again into Toronto. In Toronto I hopped onto the subway for 40 minutes and met up with my friends who I was driving to London (Ontario) with that day.

We got to London, had some food and cracked the kegs. Several hours later and I was sleeping on the freezer in the basement. I don't know how many beers I had, but it was in the late teens I'd imagine.

Sunday I was supposed to meet up with my girlfriend & her family, but my ride left early so I got in huge shit with her for not calling to tell her. I still don't know how she finds it difficult to understand that if I know my phone call will be spent getting in trouble, that's the reason I don't call. Bit of a catch 22 I suppose.

I spent the remainder of Sunday feeling like ass and worrying about my busy week of work ahead. In the late evening I had the last 2 beers in my fridge.

Yesterday was Monday, I got some groceries but no beers. I will definitely be getting beers tonight.

(I know this is supposed to be a weekly report, but without knowing how much I drank this weekend, I can't exactly calculate a beers-per-day average)

Beer in the News

2007-10-12T11:30:00.001-04:00

A semi-regular post highlighting some of the latest interesting & quirky news of the beer world.

World-famous beer festival wraps up (Oktoberfest, with photos)

SABMiller & Molson Coors To Merge? (The USA's second & third largest brewers)

Man refused beer threatens suicide - Must have been one of those days :)

Beer, anyone?
Related: The actual pub-finding site mentioned: www.localina.com

A collective "whatever" resounds from beer drinkers:
Greenpeace Scaremongers Again -- Goes After Beer

Is that good news, or bad news?
After 30 Months of Free Beer, Arlington Hooters finally gets alcohol license

Need to get into the Halloween spirit?
A Guide To Seattle Suds - Pumpkin Beer

Best excuse to drink 20,000 beers:
Beer can couture

The Only Acceptable Excuse to Waste Beer:
Bathe in Beer in Japan

Day 80

2007-10-12T09:55:00.000-04:00

Drinks consumed*: 6
*Since previous post

Day 80, hard to believe eh? I never expected that I'd actually be able to record my drinking habits for this long. Is it doing anything? Yes, I think so. I feel a little older, a little wiser, a little less drunk on weekdays haha.

I had about 6 beers last night, maybe 5 or maybe 7 -- I can't remember. My girlfriend went home for the weekend last night to see her family & friends (it's her birthday coming up), so I had most of the evening to myself. I watched the Leafs game (they won, 8-1 against the Islanders) and sipped on a few beers, and fell asleep on the couch around 11.

I lead a pretty exciting life, eh? Well, Thursdays might not be what they used to (rib night at the pub...mmm....), but now that I'm working full-time as opposed to being in college, I gotta get my beauty sleep.

Today I've got a bit of work to do, make a few phone calls and the like, but tomorrow is the big kegger I was telling you about yesterday. Well, I mentioned it, I didn't really tell you about it.

Basically, it's a massive kegger in the University town a few hours away. It's at a friend's friend's place, and it's going to be epic. Three kegs, one giant cooler of vodka & lemonade, three DJs, awards for "raging the hardest", and tons of party people. It will be the ultimate test in pacing myself, especially since I may or may not have somewhere to crash at the end of the night.

We'll see! Have a great weekend people.

Day 79

2007-10-11T10:37:00.000-04:00

Drinks consumed*: 11
*Since previous post

This post is a bit delayed as I've had a couple of busy & somewhat miserable days at work. And when that happens, the last thing I want to do is spend more time in front of the computer.

Tuesday I had a somewhat rough day at work, got a case of beer in the evening, and had 4 beers between dinner and bed.

Wednesday (yesterday), I had an alright morning at work, had 2 beers at lunch, and had a dreadful afternoon at work. Basically there's some stuff I have to get done that I probably should have gotten done during the lazy summer months, but didn't. So it's not too bad, but my work life is about to get more structured and less laissez faire as it has been. Whose fault is it? Mine, which is why I can't really complain about it.

I had 5 beers in the evening, spent some time with my girlfriend, and even woke up a little early for work this morning.

I've got loads of work to do today and tomorrow, but I feel strangely fine with that. It could have something to do with the massive kegger going on this Saturday. I can't wait for that one.

Anyway, wish me luck & I'll keep you posted on how the kegger went this Monday.

Cheers.

Day 77 / Week 11 Report

2007-10-09T10:39:00.000-04:00

Drinks consumed*: 7
*Since previous post
Drinks this week: 24
Avg/day: 3.4

Pretty low-key weekend (long weekend, actually) -- only had 8 drinks over the course of 4 days. One beer on Friday, one beer on Saturday, then 5 beers and a shot of Southern Comfort on Sunday (over the course of the day/night).

In fact, this is the first week that I've actually hit my target of 3.5 beers or less.

Today is rainy & miserable and I'm back at work, but I feel rejuvenated from my weekend at home. The only bad part of the whole weekend was when we got a flat tire on the highway on the way home. Otherwise, great weekend and should be a good week.

Cheers.

Day 74

2007-10-06T10:30:00.000-04:00

Drinks consumed*: 1
*Since previous post

Got in late to my parents house last night (around 12:30am) and all but my sister were asleep. Had a beer, watched Conan O'Brien, went to bed.

Pretty exciting stuff haha!

Day 73

2007-10-05T12:20:00.000-04:00

Drinks consumed*: 0
*Since previous post

No beers last night -- gotta save my money if I'm getting a car in the next couple of weeks (knock on wood).

I've got the day off work, but I've gotta do some work from home before I head out of town to see my family. It's Canadian Thanksgiving, so I'm looking forward to an amazing weekend full of turkey and stuffing.

Not sure if I'll be able to update much while I'm there, but I don't expect to have too many drinks anyway.

Cheers.

Day blah

2007-10-04T10:53:00.001-04:00

Drinks consumed*: A gazillion
*Since previous post

I was supposed to go see the Hives concert last night, but my buddy lost the tickets. It woulda been a kickass show, similar to this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ER5UOrfdwsY

We tried some scalpers, but they were charging $70 a ticket. Bullshit! Tickets were $12!

Anyway, we decided to get drunk and watch the Senators-Leafs game at my buddy's buddy's house. The Leafs lost (no big surprise there).

I don't know how many beers I had, and frankly I don't care. I would pay a thousand days wages to not be at work right now, nursing (albeit poorly) a hangover. If I had to guess, I'd say I had 10 drinks, but that's pure estimation.

After the game, we went to some pool hall for a bit. Not sure exactly how the night ended, but this morning started with a raging case of the hangovers.

Shit!

Day 71

2007-10-03T14:13:00.000-04:00

Drinks consumed*: 6
*Since previous post

I finished off my case of beer from last Friday and watched the movie Broken Flowers on TMN. Great movie about a guy (Bill Murray) who gets an anonymous letter, presumably from a distant ex-girlfriend, stating that he has a 20-year-old son. Bill Murray is astounding, and this movie was a prime example.

Tonight I'm going to see The Hives in Toronto. Should be a good show.

Believe it or not, I do not plan on getting drunk for this concert.

Day 70 / Week 10 Report

2007-10-02T10:18:00.000-04:00

Drinks consumed*: 6
*Since previous post
Drinks this week: 34
Avg/day: 4.8

Well I had about 6 last night & just relaxed. Watched the movie "Collateral" with Jamie Foxx, who is an amazing actor. I remember watching In Living Color back in the early 90's and there's no way I would have guessed his acting depth.

This week I kept my beer intake to a minimum, and with the prospect of getting a car this weekend I'm not planning on partying too hard this week either. In fact, if I get this car, I'll have to seriously sit down and work on a budget. My monthly party budget will likely be cleaned out by insurance and fuel costs. To me, it's worth it.

It's rainy, dark and quiet out today. Perfect day to stay home watching the AMC channel. But I'm at work, because a man's gotta eat.

Cheers.

Day 69

2007-10-01T09:39:00.001-04:00

Drinks consumed*: 22
*Since previous post

It was a good weekend. I spent Friday night with my girlfriend & got Domino's pizza, which was just what I needed after last week. I had 5 or 6 beers, I think.

Saturday was amazing. I had plans to see the Jays game with a couple of my buddies, but I woke up late and we made plans to chill out and play video games instead.

I picked up a 12-pack on my way, and basically the 3 of us had about 6 each (they had beers too) before heading to the Maddy for a few cheap pitchers. We each bought a pitcher -- so for those of you counting, we were at about 9 drinks each at this point.

Then we headed to the party. Hammered already, we got to this party where everyone was sober and proceeded to continue drinking. I don't remember much, but I think our embarrassment level was minimal.

On Sunday I reaped what I sowed. My head was a throbbing mess most of the day -- cured only after about 10 glasses of water, 2 extra strength tylenols, and a 3 hour nap. I spent the evening relaxing, and had 2 beers at around 9pm.

Tomorrow is my weekly report, and so far I'm at 4 per day (average) which is right where I want to be.

Cheers.

Day 66

2007-09-28T10:37:00.000-04:00

Drinks consumed*: 0
*Since previous post

No drinks last night. I've got a lot on the go right now, so I'm going to be drinking less for the next little while (a good thing).

I finished up painting the living room last night & took care of my girlfriend -- who unfortunately scratched her cornea (eye) yesterday morning. Painful, but it'll fix itself in 24-48 hours apparently.

Also talked to my parents, who are checking out another car for me. This one is PIMP, even more so than that Jetta I was interested in. It's a 1998 Ford Contour SVT like this one:

Colour: Black
Interior: Navy Blue Leather
Engine: 24V 6-Cylinder High-Output
Power: 200hp
Brakes: ABS
Other stuff: Power moonroof, 5-speed manual, A/C, body kit, fog lights, white-faced gauges

I'm not getting my hopes up too high, but this thing is awesome. Beer runs would be a blast.