What's your favorite stout or any beer?

Yes, that was a strange bit of terminological debris..."liquor store" is actually the native term here, I believe. It comes from having lived in too many states and nations, a blurring of jargons and lexical sets...that, and the booze, of course.

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is my favorite at the time

What can't we all just get along?

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"And from water we made all living things."-- The Quran

Two things. First, I have only ever had Sam Smiths from a bottle, and I will tell you that I have enjoyed them all (Russian Imperial is listed as one of my favorites). Second, if I can ever afford to make it across the pond you can bet your bottom dollar that I will try just about any beer available. On a related side note...my wife as been asked to teach a course for a friend of ours in Portugal this Spring. If so, I will do all I can to accompany her on that little trip, let me tell you. So maybe (and it's a very BIG maybe), I will be drinking some good European beers next year. I love sharp, bitter beers. I do not recall ever having this version of Guinness. I will look for it.

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Are you an alcoholic?

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No.I drink wine, at most, one or two evenings a month in the form of having one or two glasses of wine with a meal. I've drunk a Belgian wheat beer maybe once or twice a year for the last several years.It never occurs to me to use alcohol to relax or relieve stress; I have never used alcohol at the end of a difficult day, for example.I grew up in a house with a violent, vindictive alcoholic, and I am lucky that I do not seem to have the same drives as that person.This message has been edited by schrafinator, 12-14-2005 08:31 AMThis message has been edited by schrafinator, 12-14-2005 08:39 AM

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Later I came to understand that the state budget depended heavily upon DUI fines, so we were being encouraged to drive to bars. Now they have liberalized and close at 9, so the hazardous driving time starts an hour later.

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It's so nice to know that you take the lives of everyone you encounter on the roads when you are driving under the influence so lightly.

You mistake me utterly, schraf.I do not mix drinking and driving. I drink almost solely at home; if I drink more than a single cocktail or glass of wine outside the house, I will not drive.My remarks were intended to point out the perversity of closing liquor stores early but leaving bars open late.Over the years, I have on occasion resorted to sober friends, taxis, and walking home or back to the office (once, after an office Christmas party, I slept on an exam table) to avoid that hazard.I consider it an important ethical issue not to expose others to the consequences of my risk-taking--I claim my right to indulge as I will; I acknowledge my responsibilities as well.BTW, my rap sheet is squeaky clean.

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My sympathies, schraf: I grew up with a violent, vindictive, borderline psychotic teetotaler.Also, my older sister was a high-functioning alcoholic until she was caught drinking vodka from a water glass in her office. When she learned that the family was planning an intervention, she killed herself. She was only 38, and one of the kindest and brightest people I've ever known.I do not scoff at your concerns about the potential destruction found in the bottle. I have seen all too much of it.

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i agree.i was at my brother's wedding in july and i was poking around for an early breakfast (he had is at a campground [in idaho; read: cabins and central lodge with full kitchen] and we all stayed for the whole weekend. best time at a wedding ever) the day of the wedding. i really, honestly considered having a beer for breakfast. and then i was told we'd be making blueberry pancakes with a blueberry, redwine syrup and bacon and eggs and stuff in a little while so i held back. greatest wedding ever.

But we can all look down on liquor drinkers eh?Personally I find there are times when I want a beer, times I want a glass of wine (preferably red, dark red) and times I want the hard stuff.And times I want to just have a drink, no alchohol necessary.Right now being on medical restriction from drinking any alchohol at all though ... you folks really know how to hurt a thirst.

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RebelAAmerican.Zen[Deist
... to learn ... to think ... to live ... to laugh ...
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From one extreme to the other? Sorry to hear about your sister.I have some misgivings about "interventions" in general. I consider them a result of the extreme level of reality that needs to be imposed on people that are in severe denial, usually after being rescued from a cult where the victim has been subject to {propoganda\brainwashing} and needs to be de-programed.Not sure this really applies to other situations where the {propoganda\brainwashing} element is missing.I also have to question if "correction" is needed for a "high-functioning" alchoholic - if they truly are able to function then what is the problem? DUI? limit driving to only sober hours. If their drinking does not affect others what is the harm?I would say that my parents are both high funtioning alchoholics, btw, drinking almost non-stop now from before noon until bedtime, and always questioning if others are not drinking. They are 85 and retired, after professional careers (both PhDs) that were not infringed by this behavior. I also have a brother that tends to binge drinking - once started 'wants' to continue until totally wankered.Just some thoughts. Interested in your perspective.Thanks.

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RebelAAmerican.Zen[Deist
... to learn ... to think ... to live ... to laugh ...
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beer pancakes.

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RebelAAmerican.Zen[Deist
... to learn ... to think ... to live ... to laugh ...
to share.

I believe it was the threatened loss of liberty that killed my sister.She admittedly drank a great deal, more than I do or did, but she also achieved much: employee of the year that very year, she had attended her first computer course at company HQ and finished tops, armed with only a GED and competing against college grads.She began to drink after her high school sweetheart, who was formerly her husband and was about to be again, was decapitated in a freak automobile accident (no drinking involved)--since she was no longer next of kin, she learned about it from the radio.They had reconciled at the hospital after my toddler nephew suffered severe burns (family curse?) in a house fire (no drinking involved). She was a devoted and capable mother of three.She sometimes stopped drinking for extended periods; those periods were lengthening, and her own sense of self-esteem and self-reliance growing. She was participating in psychological therapy and had begun to write poetry (family gift?).She was finding her own way.However suboptimal it may have been, alcohol was her form of self-medication: no DUIs, no out of control behavior, no child neglect--my parents, uncles/aunts, etc., simply felt they had the right to incarcerate her to make her stop, esp. since they were embarrassed by the phone call from her supervisor telling them about finding the glass of vodka on her desk: her drinking was not news to them, only the "public" embarrassment. Her job was in no danger. Left to her own devices, and those of her employer, she would probably have been counselled and advised to seek/continue therapy.If I had been living near there at the time, I would have put a stop to it. Although the family council of elders didn't drink, they were to a person at least deeply neurotic and emotionally destructive; not one of them was as kind and generous as the person they planned to lock up.I will always wish I had been there. I miss her.

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Brown beer bread made with a good stout...mmmm...

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A beer with bacon and eggs with a side of homemade wheat bread, or with corned beef hash, is a Sunday morning delight. Decades ago when I lived in a commune, we started Sunday with a smoke and our best records before settling down in the workshop; we called it our Sunday morning service.On Sunday I start the day with coffee, open that special Sunday breakfast beer when the meal is about 15 minutes from serving, and then switch back to a cup of coffee afterwards over the NY Times before gettin busy around the house or yard.Beer is good food.

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