Dollyangel17

Was at a party tonight with plenty of booze flowing, and a very fleeting moment of longing was squashed when I heard a woman calculate aloud how many hours she had before work the next morning when deciding if she should have another drink.

I can't tell you how many times I did this math in my head as a means of rationalizing how I could have more to drink....

Something like this..."if I have 1 more, I will get to bed at such a time, and that would give me 7 hours sleep....that's good". Fast forward an hour..."if I have another, but don't shower in the morning, I would get 6 1/2 hours sleep...not bad", and so on...

This game of drinking math would continue until I was falling into bed with only about 4 hours of possible sleep before work, and thinking...if I sleep 4 hours, I won't still be drunk going to work right?...sure I won't;-)

So happy to know I was heading home sober with no "math" to do:-)

DefconOne

I've done a lot of computer programming in my life. Here is my drinking algorithm that is currently operating in my brain.

If Benefits > Costs

Perform KeepDrinking

Else

Stop run.

In my life, the costs of drinking finally exceeded the benefits which were reduced to nothing and in fact became a negative number over time. So I stopped.

SnowDawg

Fantastic post! I became a wizard at this calculation! And we called it 'sleep?' My problem was cheating and 'oversleeping' an hour or more throwing all that genius math out. So long to that!

melki

So freeing, isn't it?!


I used to do that math also. In the later stages mine included daytime math too - ok, no more than two glasses of wine now, then I have two hours before it's time to drive the kids, then I can finish the rest of the bottle after dinner...

Fatboyanon

I used to do the "math" all the time too. How many shots could I have before my wife got home and then add a beer or 2 = she wouldn't know how much I had. It never added up. The only math I do now is 5 days sober and tomorrow I get to add 1. I hope never to have to subtract and start from 1.

Croissant

My Math originally started with...."as long as I don't drink after 8.30pm on a school night, I'll be fine for work tomorrow", to;

"Hmm, it's 2am, work tomorrow - how many sick days do I have left? F--k it, I'll just take it out of my holidays, who cares".

FeelingGreat

Hi Dolly, and they say having a drink is relaxing. I found the opposite to be true; sobriety is much more relaxing for me.

queenofheartz09

I used to do that all the time!!

Flying4Life

I remember that awful "math" and the struggle the next morning when I miscalculated. Oh how I love being able to go to work after being sober the night before! And being able to actually do things that are both fun or productive on my days off. The sober life is the life for me.

bellaboos

What about the dodgy maths where you fill a big glass of wine, drink half, top it up then say you've only had 'one' when really it's two. Then times that by ten plus a few sneaky top ups when no ones looking. Suddenly one glass has turned into two bottles. I was never v good at maths. I finally accepted it 30 days ago

Pipping

I always miscalculated. I guess 10 glasses of wine a night is going to bite you the next day, no matter how early you went to bed!

PurpleKnight

My math seemed to get a bit ropey as the night went on, so it was less likely I was getting my figures right, the only calculation I became concerned about was the volume ratio of how much alcohol I had in my house compared to how little was currently in my glass!!

My math is a lot more reliable these days!!

Seanfox

Haha I also used to do this. I'm so grateful I don't have this issue anymore.

lostinthetrees

In addition to the sort of math you mention, this was one of my favorite calculations:

Cost / (ABV x Volume) = $/ounce of alcohol

Being an underpaid graduate student, this was how I would choose drinks...

doggonecarl

I couldn't balance my checkbook without a calculator, but I could walk to the beer cooler in any convenience store and immediately calculate in my head which beer/ale/malt liquor would give me the biggest bang for the buck.

Drinking math.

SoberLeigh

What a fantastic post, Dolly.

Oh boy; do I ever remember those days. (Unfortunately, they were almost nightly). I pray I never go back; I can't go back; it would be my undoing.

Go soberly, everybody.

ccam1973

Who would have thought it would take a terrible addiction to bring out the "math wizards" in us.

I so remember the days calculating how many drinks I have left, how much I had drank, how much time was left until I had to go to bed to be coherent at work in the morning, etc... Btw, my cutoff time was 10 pm with a margin of error of 4 hours.

Can't believe I functioned like that for so many years!

soberclover

LOVE this reminder post! The only "math" I do as of late is if it is close to the "no more snacks time of night" and if I have enough time to have a bowl of ice cream

SoberLeigh

Right on, soberclover - (and with M&Ms on top!!!!)

ElleDee

There's probably an app out there somewhere for your smartphone...