Drinking

[fizzwheel]

I always try to look at it this way, If I'm drinking at home I only have one or two and its because "I'd quite like a beer tonight" if I'm out socially I'll drink to the point where I know my limit is and then stop. I might reduce my limit if I have to drive / get stuff done the next day.

If I'm at home and I think "I NEED" a drink, then I dont have one.

I think the problem comes when you start using alcohol as a crutch or because you have other issues / problems.

Originally Posted by Biker_Billy

Couldnt agree more...spend 4 months around most of europe last year, staying in campsites...it was so nice to see families enjoying a meal with each other...from young'uns right up the the grannies, and all having a genuinely good time (thats what it looked like)...there was never, ever any trouble we saw with "locals" being drunk and making a scene like you see to often here...

I think it is due to many of them being introduced to alcohol at a young age, and learning to respect it...

my 2 penneth worth anyway...

Definatley agree with you but I think gernerally the southern europeans are more responisble with alcohol than the northerns. Big drinking seems to be a problem in scaninavia, whole of the uk, the germans I have met always seem quite partial to getting s**ted as well. And the russians well.......

Originally Posted by fizzwheel

I always try to look at it this way, If I'm drinking at home I only have one or two and its because "I'd quite like a beer tonight" if I'm out socially I'll drink to the point where I know my limit is and then stop. I might reduce my limit if I have to drive / get stuff done the next day.

If I'm at home and I think "I NEED" a drink, then I dont have one.

I think the problem comes when you start using alcohol as a crutch or because you have other issues / problems.

This is what I dont understand about addicts in general, there must have been a time when people think this is getting to much , but they still dont stop until it is incredibley difficult to solve.

I drink for different reasons at different times.

Sometimes I go out & do the whole binge-drinking thing with mates, like Fizz though I know my limits and rarely exceed them.

Other than that I have the odd beer after work, it's nice to come home and grab a cold can / bottle out of the fridge and relax for an hour or two.

I don't think I've ever got to the stage where I feel like I NEED a drink though, and quite often go without drinking for a few weeks or more, especially when I'm trying to save money (like now, with Xmas shopping to do).

I don't touch alcohol if I'm driving/riding.

Actually I'm quite intolerant to alcohol, so I rarely drink now. Only special occasions or with mates, and it'll be a couple of beers at most.

[the_lone_wolf]

i did the student thing when i was at university and found my limits there (getting lost in the park and waking up sprawled naked on the bed with your housemate standing at the door were enough for me to stop doing silly things) - but getting drunk and waking up feeling like ****e got old fast, and when you work all week the weekend is precious... now i hardly ever drink, might have a glass of wine or beer/cider if the evening takes me, but tbh i think i've got beer in the fridge that i bought on a whim which has likely gone out of date.

my big one is holidays, i go months without touching a drop, then put my father and i together with a good subject to argue about and we can quite happily go through 10+ bottles of wine a night, every night for 7 days on the trot - i'm sure it's not doing me much good but it's fun non the less, and considering he's the other side of sixty he's not doing bad...

plus less money spent on beer means more money to spend on bikes

Originally Posted by tomjones2

This is what I dont understand about addicts in general, there must have been a time when people think this is getting to much , but they still dont stop until it is incredibley difficult to solve.

Thats the point though isn't it. Addicts very rarely know when it is getting to a point where it's hard to stop. They get addicted to it. Funny how that happens isn't it. There are people out there who have a personality trait that makes them get easily addicted to things. Be it Something like Drinking, or smoking(which of course is aided by the fact that nicotene is addictive), there is shopping, and gambling too, also people get addicted to exercising, or at least the euphoria exercising can bring, endorphins and all that.

Originally Posted by Blue_SV650S

I only drink if I am going out on the lash, that means some weeks my intake is zero. I really don't see the point in 'just a few' ... you either go out and get lashed/have a good time, or why bother?
...

wot he said

most weeks i dont drink,


i dont see the point in having a few cans in the house, or popping to the pub just for 1-2 pints

its all or nothing for me.

although i do like a can/bottle or 2 after a long ride, while im washing my bike, but there is never any beer in the house, so it means getting it in specaily

coincidentally (or maybe not, I've not read all of the thread), on a drink-drive/ride tangent (sorry):

I was thinking this morning at 8am (whilst trying to keep out of the way of london couriers) how some people contemplate "a few pints" (or whatever) on a night, then get in the car, feeling "safe" or "yeah I'm OK".

I tried to recall the first ( and last) time I drove after the night before...and tried to apply that feeling to hurtling past cars within inches of them on the motorway at times this morning on the bike. All it takes is a bit of snooze-drifting by a car driver and you're "in the ditch", so to speak.

Its lunacy to think people even think its "ok".

Since I've begun to ride my view on drink driving has really been enforced more. Even I still sometimes don't see bikes. Depends how fast the want to go really.....thats what worries me.

</soapbox-ish>

Yep ooger. VERY TRUE!

A couple of pints the evening before should in theory gone out of anyones system if they had drank them 8 hours previous. That's not a hard and fast rule though.
The drinking laws over here in NZ are so slack it's MAD. You are allowed I tihink TWO beers in the first hour then one beer each hour after that WITH A MEAL!,. SO if you've got a big night on at a friends house then you could in theory get away with drinking 4 PINTS, or maybe 6! Now I don;t know about you guys but I never drink and RIDE, and I only have 1 pint or small glass of wine with a meal if I am driving. AND I must say I normally have a 3 hour gap between beer/wine and getting behind the wheel when having the meal. i.e. first drink, then stick to water or soft drinks. I know it's not the perfect solution, but the alcohol will have gone from my system or at least not be affecting judgement.