Overheard in my local shop just now …
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^ For the price of that overpriced foam (even in my thirstiest craving days, I never saw the point of champagne), they could’ve thrown some money back to the charity.
I’m in a running/sports club, and barely anyone drinks, and if they do, it’s half a beer once a week or so. There’d be some funny looks if a bottle of champagne appeared 🙂
Hope you enjoyed the run, Forwards, and well done 👍
I’m in a running/sports club, and barely anyone drinks, and if they do, it’s half a beer once a week or so. There’d be some funny looks if a bottle of champagne appeared 🙂
Hope you enjoyed the run, Forwards, and well done 👍
^ It’s worth trying to fix these things naturally first. I used to have high blood pressure but sorted that by changing lifestyle. Up until recently, I’d been on too much carbs, too much food in general, an excessive amount of coffee and a few bad habits such as eating late. I’ve changed most of these and keeping an eye on my cholesterol. It’s not dangerously high, but it needs to come down. A GP doesn’t have the time to review my diet and lifestyle in detail so would probably prescribe medication. [...] don’t want to start on any pills yet unless absolutely necessary 🙂
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^ I read a book called The Great Cholesterol Myth. I’m not going to give details as it’s off topic, controversial and also very medical-related and everyone’s situation is different. However, I’m not giving too much away by saying the book includes lifestyle advice too. I remember as a drinker Googling my aches and pains and tiredness. I remember also every Monday morning thinking I must’ve had cancer as I felt so bad. Needless to say, the change in lifestyle sorted that and so many other things.
I witnessed another person in psychological pain, manifested physically at a convenience store this afternoon (I had to go inside to get a fuel receipt), and I know how the person felt.
She had the shakes and had to be anxious or having a panic attack, shaking while putting the card in the reader and having the look of someone with drinking issues.
It had me thinking about this topic from earlier this year. Again, at least for me, I want to talk and help, but then again, I know the person is so anxious and nervous and under the influence it's not wise.
She had the shakes and had to be anxious or having a panic attack, shaking while putting the card in the reader and having the look of someone with drinking issues.
It had me thinking about this topic from earlier this year. Again, at least for me, I want to talk and help, but then again, I know the person is so anxious and nervous and under the influence it's not wise.
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We’re too kind, joe 🙂 but sadly our well-meaning words will likely be badly received.
One of the things that stopped and made me think were news items on the morning radio about the effects of alcohol or another celebrity taken before their time due to alcoholism. But that was in the mornings when I no doubt had a hangover but I didn’t have my beer head on. Come evening time, such reports were ignored and I wouldn’t have taken kindly to someone interrupting my drinking schedule with well-meaning advice.
It’s not nice to see what you saw, joe, and it’s very unpleasant to walk on by whilst someone is wrecking their life.
One of the things that stopped and made me think were news items on the morning radio about the effects of alcohol or another celebrity taken before their time due to alcoholism. But that was in the mornings when I no doubt had a hangover but I didn’t have my beer head on. Come evening time, such reports were ignored and I wouldn’t have taken kindly to someone interrupting my drinking schedule with well-meaning advice.
It’s not nice to see what you saw, joe, and it’s very unpleasant to walk on by whilst someone is wrecking their life.
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I’m too nosey for my own good. I stood and watched this today.
An old gent, possibly 80, came out of my local shop around midday today clutching a bottle of whisky. He opened his car door and went to great lengths to place the bottle on the floor behind his driver’s seat. In the UK, there are no restrictions on carrying alcohol inside a car, so I reckon he was hiding it carefully. Hopefully I’m wrong and this gent (who looked perfectly nice) is a normie. But he certainly caught my attention today.
I must admit I used to hide empties behind my driver’s seat. I remember giving my wife a lift somewhere and being embarrassed by the clink clink clink of glass against metal. Not good memories.
An old gent, possibly 80, came out of my local shop around midday today clutching a bottle of whisky. He opened his car door and went to great lengths to place the bottle on the floor behind his driver’s seat. In the UK, there are no restrictions on carrying alcohol inside a car, so I reckon he was hiding it carefully. Hopefully I’m wrong and this gent (who looked perfectly nice) is a normie. But he certainly caught my attention today.
I must admit I used to hide empties behind my driver’s seat. I remember giving my wife a lift somewhere and being embarrassed by the clink clink clink of glass against metal. Not good memories.
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^ My (now ex-)wife was a chef. She didn’t drink at all, but used wine occasionally for cooking (this is naughty as we all now know alcohol isn’t normally cooked off). I had to clear out the house last year in preparation for renovations and found a few smaller bottles stashed around the house. My poor wife had hidden them because she knew I’d just have drunk them.
I had planned to offer the bottles to the builders, but I was surprised to find I felt uneasy having the bottles in the house, and this was after 3+ years sobriety. So down the sink they went!
I had planned to offer the bottles to the builders, but I was surprised to find I felt uneasy having the bottles in the house, and this was after 3+ years sobriety. So down the sink they went!
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Just out of preference, I started drinking soy milk a couple of years back, and I drink a lot of it in my numerous cups of tea and coffee as well as protein shakes - very middle class 🤪
But the soy milk I like isn’t available so I buy loads at a time. At 10pm just now I realised I’d almost run out! So I walked twenty minutes or so to the nearest store that sells it.
Wow! The store was busy, but no one else was buying milk. A few people were buying one or two beers, which is fair enough as they’re normies and it’s a Friday. But many more were buying bottles of vodka. I’ll admit I watch people in these situations and make judgements. I reckon a lot of them were planning on drinking that vodka alone tonight and finishing the bottle. There’ll be hangovers and not much else going on tomorrow.
Those poor people. They’re being mugged off by cheap alcohol. It wasn’t a nice vibe at all in that store, and I’m not going at that time again.
But the soy milk I like isn’t available so I buy loads at a time. At 10pm just now I realised I’d almost run out! So I walked twenty minutes or so to the nearest store that sells it.
Wow! The store was busy, but no one else was buying milk. A few people were buying one or two beers, which is fair enough as they’re normies and it’s a Friday. But many more were buying bottles of vodka. I’ll admit I watch people in these situations and make judgements. I reckon a lot of them were planning on drinking that vodka alone tonight and finishing the bottle. There’ll be hangovers and not much else going on tomorrow.
Those poor people. They’re being mugged off by cheap alcohol. It wasn’t a nice vibe at all in that store, and I’m not going at that time again.
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^ I prefer soya milk in my cuppa tea too! Slowly gone off the taste of cow juice, particularly the skimmed & semi skimmed! Gimme the fat!! 😂
I remember once walking for about an hour to get to the only open shop to buy more booze late at night. In the rain! I suppose I should be somewhat grateful that I didn’t drive. But it shows how desperate I was. These days they have those booze delivery services, which are so expensive, but I was using those more & more towards the end.
I was in Boots a few weeks back and this bloke in there absolutely REEKED of stale booze. It spread around the whole shop (and it’s a medium sized store). I was quite taken aback by how potent it was. And he was oblivious. I did a little inward cringe thinking of all the times I’d been in a shop after ingesting a tonne of booze & wondered how smelly I’d been! It also brought back the humiliating memories of my boss-at-the-time (this was well over a decade ago) pulling me to one side (on multiple days) and asking me if I had been drinking!! I never drank before or during work, so what he was detecting was from the night before. So. Incredibly. Humiliating.
Yet more reasons to stack alongside the others why I’m done with that nasty stuff.
xxx
I remember once walking for about an hour to get to the only open shop to buy more booze late at night. In the rain! I suppose I should be somewhat grateful that I didn’t drive. But it shows how desperate I was. These days they have those booze delivery services, which are so expensive, but I was using those more & more towards the end.
I was in Boots a few weeks back and this bloke in there absolutely REEKED of stale booze. It spread around the whole shop (and it’s a medium sized store). I was quite taken aback by how potent it was. And he was oblivious. I did a little inward cringe thinking of all the times I’d been in a shop after ingesting a tonne of booze & wondered how smelly I’d been! It also brought back the humiliating memories of my boss-at-the-time (this was well over a decade ago) pulling me to one side (on multiple days) and asking me if I had been drinking!! I never drank before or during work, so what he was detecting was from the night before. So. Incredibly. Humiliating.
Yet more reasons to stack alongside the others why I’m done with that nasty stuff.
xxx
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^ I didn’t realise booze delivery was a thing until recently. What a dreadful thing and clearly aimed at alcoholics. I’m glad you broke out of that trap, KP 🙂
Actually, I didn’t realise food delivery was a thing. I did a run a few weeks ago and went inside a McDonalds for the only thing I’d touch in there - the £1.29 tea 🤣 Waiting alongside me was a queue of Uber drivers. I realised that people must have been at home where they could easily make some food but choose to order that! For all my other bad habits, I draw the line at takeaways and definitely not deliveries.
Actually, I didn’t realise food delivery was a thing. I did a run a few weeks ago and went inside a McDonalds for the only thing I’d touch in there - the £1.29 tea 🤣 Waiting alongside me was a queue of Uber drivers. I realised that people must have been at home where they could easily make some food but choose to order that! For all my other bad habits, I draw the line at takeaways and definitely not deliveries.
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^ I love the little cheeseburgers from Maccies, they’re delish! (as a treat) 😂 How do you only order a cup of tea?! (the coffee is minging, I don’t know why they big it up so much).
I feel thick for saying this, but it hadn’t occurred to me til you said it that the delivery services are aimed at people with booze problems! Duh! But of course it is! No one is ordering baked beans, tin foil or cat food at 11:30pm are they?!
Oh and btw, the price for these services is at least double. They know what they’re doing !
xxx
I feel thick for saying this, but it hadn’t occurred to me til you said it that the delivery services are aimed at people with booze problems! Duh! But of course it is! No one is ordering baked beans, tin foil or cat food at 11:30pm are they?!
Oh and btw, the price for these services is at least double. They know what they’re doing !
xxx
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I don’t mind McD’s coffee. It’s a decent size and that’s the extent of my coffee knowledge 🤣 I get bemused in cafes paying £3.50 for the smallest latte on Earth.
McD tea is just a tea bag and hot water with sachets of milk. We’re not talking tea at the Ritz here 🤣 but it does the job. Not sure I’ve had a cheeseburger from there.
McD tea is just a tea bag and hot water with sachets of milk. We’re not talking tea at the Ritz here 🤣 but it does the job. Not sure I’ve had a cheeseburger from there.
I've heard people say they particularly like McDonald's coffee. It has the reputation of being hot. I brew my own coffee. It's nothing special. I use a Black and Decker drip maker (the company that makes saws and drills). I used to pay the big bucks for Starbucks Sumatra, but now I just drink it for the caffeine, so I buy the cheap brand from a grocer.
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^ You’re a cultured guy, Dri 👍 A lot of Brits, including me, drink only instant coffee. I draw the line at the ready mixed sachets - it’s not so much the sugar, it’s the powdered milk - but anything else is OK for my clueless palate.
I used to work with some Italians. They were very friendly and invited me for coffee. I thought this meant 30 or maybe even 40 seconds in a kitchen to add hot water to some instant powder, but no. They took 45 minutes to make the smallest coffee I’ve ever seen. They probably tell stories about the English guy who drank instant powder coffee that tasted like mud 🤣
On the road, my only criteria for coffee is BIG! I was in a pub recently and got a tiny latte for £3.50. That’s just unreasonable.
I used to work with some Italians. They were very friendly and invited me for coffee. I thought this meant 30 or maybe even 40 seconds in a kitchen to add hot water to some instant powder, but no. They took 45 minutes to make the smallest coffee I’ve ever seen. They probably tell stories about the English guy who drank instant powder coffee that tasted like mud 🤣
On the road, my only criteria for coffee is BIG! I was in a pub recently and got a tiny latte for £3.50. That’s just unreasonable.
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I think everyone that has had a problem with their drinking rotated liquor stores. I know I did. One time I was there and the owner actually said to me that I better be walking straighter the next time I came in. Another time I dropped a 40oz beer bottle carrying it up to the counter. I would go to gas stations for beer. I was always nervous buying liquor too. In a small town, everyone knows everybody else. Putting beer or liquor on the counter and then running into somebody from work? Good grief. I would drive miles to go to another store to avoid that. I was embarrassed to be buying booze. I am sure there were whispers about me. I am glad those days are over.
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