Yeah, it was always something planned down to the last detail! Once I was in another state visiting my dad in the hospital and unbeknownst to me they had "blue laws" where they couldn't sell on Sundays. And only liquor stores could sell, even beer, so nothing at Walmart or convenience stores. At home there was always that balance to be struck; enough to get as drunk as I wanted but not so much that I'd be utterly destroyed if I drank it all. Because I normally drank everything in the house no matter how much I had on hand.
Then there's the other side of the coin, the desire to spread out your purchases across different stores so the clerks would "know I was a drunk". Which is funny because I later learned that 10% of the customers spend 90% of the money! Going to the grocery store I always bought other items so it would look like I was there for TP or soap and just picked up booze as an afterthought!
