When you first started to drink.....

I learned early on that wine is not a drink to be guzzled in large volumes.

Or vodka, for that matter. Did you know that at one time, Eric Clapton downed a minimum of 3 bottles of vodka a day? Hemingway did all his best writing before noon, because generally, by noon, he was pissed out of his skull. He was a whiskey man, minimum 2 litres a day.

Whew! That's too much vodka

I think a wine hangover is the worst of all.

Wine, beer, or hard liquor -- stick to one or at most two in any given session... Drinking from all three categories will make you soooo sick! (Now I drink more reasonably and probably could have one of each -- at the time I learned this lesson, moderation wasn't in the vocabulary...)

ooo, wine is a bad hangover but so is gin....

One of my favorite drinks is a Tom Collins but a few of those babies and the next day I am hangin' over hard. Eesh.....

However, the easiest hang over? Tequila. I can do tequila shots all night, be piss drunk and the next day have a minimal hang over. Amazing...don't know why.....hm.

Kristie, Tequila has that effect on many people.
I think it is due to its high percentage of alcohol with
nothing else in it. No sugar, no preservatives - just
ordinary worms.

I never had a drinking problem, your body tells you the
next morning, what quantities are acceptable and what
not.

First time I got drunk - been out partyin' with the big kids, out way past my curfew, fulla beer - I tried to sneak into the house and slink off to bed .... didn't work.

The Old Man busted me as I came in through the window. Grabbin' me with both hands, he hauled me upright, gave me a goo-ood "Pay Attention" rattle, and shouted "Have you been drinking?".

Well, take a teenager, fill him fulla beer, and shake him up, what do you expect is gonna happen?

That'll be enough outta you, young man!

You mean you can drink too much? Jeez, who knew?

But seriously...I recall the first time I recognized what alcohol could to me (and for me): I was about 13 and at a Thanksgiving dinner with my family. I was among adults who were highly intelligent and usually intimidated me, just because I was young and not very worldly. One offered me a can of beer, which I drank, and all of a sudden I was the life of the party. Or at least it seemed so at the time.

I learned something that day...

I remember another time ... a much older me, sittin' in a tavern of an afternoon with some freinds, when in walks a skinny local youngster just a day past having reached legal drinkin' age, which event he had celebrated in that very tavern the night before. "Damn!", said the kid, stridin' proudly to the bar, "I sure got real drunk last night, didn't I?"

Down at the far end of the bar sat a fella known, naturally, as "Tiny" - you know the type; bald but bearded, levis-and-leather of ancient vintage, no sleeves, tattoos all over, has to squeeze through doorways and be aware of stuff like ceilin' fans. Anyhow, without lookin' up from his beer, Tiny rumbled, "Kid, if ya drink a lot, one of two things is gonna happen ... yer gonna git real drunk, or yer gonna git real stupid. If yer gonna git real drunk, ya gotta weigh well over 200 pounds and have years of experience".

This is an interesting topic for me because youngest son and I have been
discussing kids and booze.

I am being straight with him and telling him of my early mistakes. Since
I spent a lot of time in a very restrictive environment, overdrinking was
logistically impossible. That has its downside. I thought I had a far
greater capacity than I actually had.

Once I had the oportunity to find my limits, I quickly did. Alas, I often
saw them fading into the distance in my rearview mirror. For a while I
was in a situation where I was trying to be a square peg in a round hole
and I used booze as a release whenever I could. I was forced to conceal
the results as best I could. Not a good life.

I parted ways with that life, but brought my tendency to overdo drink with
me. Even after I knew very well what I could handle, I went ahead and
got plastered anyway. Life of the freakin' party, that was me.

I never really cleaned up my act until I became a husband and then
father. I still drink, but know my limits and stay within them.

Interesting topic.

At one time in my life I had a drinking problem. I thought I was cute... life of the party, could drink the biggest drinker under the table, partied hard, and partied often.

Vodka.....it was. straight, mixed, it didn't matter. Straight Vodka is rough...equivalent to swallowing rubbing alcohol...lol.

Had the Tequilla kick for awhile...God, just thinking about one night inparticular.....lol, makes me want to die. A few of us (5 of us) drank 7, liter jugs of the good Tequilla...shots. The next morning, you couldn't mention the words, salt or lime to me...it caused a major gagging reaction.......lol

Whew...makes me sick to my stomach to think about it now. I would be ashamed to admit the volume of it on a nightly basis.

Lots of stupid mistakes made along the way. Loads and Loads.

I'm so proud that I have grown up. Yes, I still drink, but its once in a blue moon...and/ or social occasions.

BEER........lol, MGD lite. I stick with that, keep my wits.....have fun at the same time.....yes, I still get silly, and I learned that sober I can still be the life of the party.

Labratory grade ethanol can make you so pissed you can't stand up without you even realising.....until you try and stand up.....

To avoid this you need to mix it at least 50/50 with OJ.....

Important lesson that one.

Also injecting it may seem like a good idea.....but it's REALLY not.

Oh, and when drinking beer, avoid the first trip to the toilet for as LOOOOooooong as possible. That first pee is called "breaking the seal" and once you've done it you'll have to pee every half hour from then on.

Don't drink straight vodka unless it has been in the freezer all day or you're Polish.....or you've run out of everything else....

Bloody Mary triples are NOT a nutritious breakfast....

lol...Strawberry daquari's are not a breakfast item either......unless your getting some hair of the dog that bit ya!

And given your above advice Adrian...drinking straight... Yager miester is not a wise choice either. (hopefully that was spelled right) thats an aquired taste. One that i'm NOT Aquired or inclined to learn. :wink:

Makemeshiver33-

Jagermeister I've only had a few times and don't really like. For spicy liqueur I stick to Drambuie.

You raise another important lesson as well.

Hair of the dog is the best hangover cure there is bar none!

All kids need to learn that one.

Yea...but damn, don't it just kill ya to take that first sip?

Yeah, but...you know...ya just gotta take it for team.

Jagermeister ... and I rank it somewhere close to Nyquil. I enjoy premium tequilas amd mezcals ... without the condiments; don't need no trainin' wheels.

An ethanol tip: if you're gonna use it to make jello shots, be REAL careful how ya heat it, and don't use styrofoam cups ... otherwise the results will vary from embarrassin' to downright inconvenient as all gitout, usually in some combination involvin' both extremes.