A Drinking Problem

[WinterDeere]

At 103 years old he broke his hip & died soon after. Without the smoking & drinking who knows how long he would have lived.

Geez... 103 is enough! Was it Ron White or Jeff Foxworthy who said, "Married men die before their wives, because we want to"?

I've told this before, but our former director of design retired, and then came back part time to work for me after I'd assumed his old role. I'd always go to lunch with him on the days he was in, and that almost always meant the local dive bar for their lunch special and a beer.

Walking out of the bar one day, I made some comment about beer with lunch probably not being "doctor-approved". He just shrugged and said, "I've known a lot more old drunks, than old doctors."

I still have one beer with lunch and one cocktail with dinner, most days. More than that isn't needed or productive.

 

[1Mech]

That and wasted hard earned money for me plus one DUI can lead to job termination and thousands more for insurance…

Regarding DUIs, a few years ago, my son was pulled over, just a few blocks from his home. He had been to the local casino, he said about 5 hours and had probably 5 drinks over that time. I doubt he was sloppy drunk and probably drove quite well, but it was between 1 and 2 in the morning as I recall, when he called me to drive his car home (to avoid a tow charge) because he was going to jail! Early mornings like that and cops are on the lookout for anything suspicious. It cost him north of $10,000 to get the charges expunged plus, the thought of losing his job as an over the road truck driver!
Compare that to when I was about 17, the mid 70s. My older brother came home late, our parents were already sleeping, he wakes me up because he was caught drunk driving, and the cop gave him a ride home, telling him he cannot drive his car home until morning. My brother, Dan wants me to go with him to get his car. I said, but the cop said you can't drive it home. Dan says, we will take Tom's car (another brother) and Dan will drive Tom's car back and I will drive Dan's car home! The logic of a drunk! I never knew if my parents ever found out what happened that night.

 

[rontaki]

DAMM
Drinkers Against Mad Mothers - that was a real bumper-sticker organization at one time.Ithought it was funny, though I, too, do not want people drunk behind the wheel.

I'm just imagining the rolling bars enabled by autonomous cars.

 

[JasperFrank]

In Annapolis, we say we are are a city of people that have a Sailing problem. And then we admit we have a drinking issue.

 

[Yander]

Last Tuesday, 2/3/2026, was one year of sobriety for me. I'm never drinking a drop of alcohol again. As Ron White said, "I've drank all the alcohol I'm allowed to drink in a lifetime!"

I have a stressful job, and for many years I used alcohol to forget about work every night. I don't miss it. I was destroying relationships and my body. It's literally poison for your body.

 

[Yander]

Regarding DUIs, a few years ago, my son was pulled over, just a few blocks from his home. He had been to the local casino, he said about 5 hours and had probably 5 drinks over that time. I doubt he was sloppy drunk and probably drove quite well, but it was between 1 and 2 in the morning as I recall, when he called me to drive his car home (to avoid a tow charge) because he was going to jail! Early mornings like that and cops are on the lookout for anything suspicious. It cost him north of $10,000 to get the charges expunged plus, the thought of losing his job as an over the road truck driver!
Compare that to when I was about 17, the mid 70s. My older brother came home late, our parents were already sleeping, he wakes me up because he was caught drunk driving, and the cop gave him a ride home, telling him he cannot drive his car home until morning. My brother, Dan wants me to go with him to get his car. I said, but the cop said you can't drive it home. Dan says, we will take Tom's car (another brother) and Dan will drive Tom's car back and I will drive Dan's car home! The logic of a drunk! I never knew if my parents ever found out what happened that night.

I also got a call from one of my sons at around midnight a few years ago. He got a DUI and had his driving privileges suspended for two years, except for work. When I went to pick him up, I would have blown a higher blood alcohol then he got picked up for. It wasn't a good time for us.

I almost never drove drunk, always at my house when drinking. But I had to go get my kid.

 

[QRTRHRS]

My father's favorite gin mill was about a mile away from the house. Even so, it was not unusual for the sheriff to drive him home then he would have to walk back for his car the next day. This was back in the fifties. I guess that the sheriff had his time frame figured out and would swing by for him. LOL

 

[ultrarunner]

Regarding DUIs, a few years ago, my son was pulled over, just a few blocks from his home. He had been to the local casino, he said about 5 hours and had probably 5 drinks over that time. I doubt he was sloppy drunk and probably drove quite well, but it was between 1 and 2 in the morning as I recall, when he called me to drive his car home (to avoid a tow charge) because he was going to jail! Early mornings like that and cops are on the lookout for anything suspicious. It cost him north of $10,000 to get the charges expunged plus, the thought of losing his job as an over the road truck driver!
Compare that to when I was about 17, the mid 70s. My older brother came home late, our parents were already sleeping, he wakes me up because he was caught drunk driving, and the cop gave him a ride home, telling him he cannot drive his car home until morning. My brother, Dan wants me to go with him to get his car. I said, but the cop said you can't drive it home. Dan says, we will take Tom's car (another brother) and Dan will drive Tom's car back and I will drive Dan's car home! The logic of a drunk! I never knew if my parents ever found out what happened that night.

There was a time when someone with too much to drink might have been brought home…

I think those days are long gone…

I’ve been pulled over leaving a Indian Casino and in Europe twice from a beer tent…

I don’t drink so nothing too it…

The German officers at the beer tent were certain I was drinking because they saw me leaving the tent…

I said I’m on holiday and friends said to join them but I left because they were all drunk…

 

[bigtiller]

Last Tuesday, 2/3/2026, was one year of sobriety for me. I'm never drinking a drop of alcohol again. As Ron White said, "I've drank all the alcohol I'm allowed to drink in a lifetime!"

I have a stressful job, and for many years I used alcohol to forget about work every night. I don't miss it. I was destroying relationships and my body. It's literally poison for your body.

Did you loose any weight?

 

[drssg]

For anyone that is not aware, the OP passed away from smoke inhalation from a house fire. It was likely caused by him passing out while smoking.

 

[Yander]

Did you loose any weight?

Yes, but then I put it right back on. Still working on that!

 

[Yander]

For anyone that is not aware, the OP passed away from smoke inhalation from a house fire. It was likely caused by him passing out while smoking.

Oh, that's too bad. Probably alcohol is involved in that too!

 

[RayIN]

No offense, but addiction has nothing to do with willpower, strong or weak, or personality.

I gotta throw the BS flag on that. I saw my dad lay his pack of Kool cigarettes on the table and say I am quitting smoking. Mom left that pack lay there for a year before throwing it away. Dad never smoked after that day he laid the pack down.
That was 1968, he died in 2004.

 

[dstig1]

Yeah Crash died like 10 years ago. Not sure why this got resurrected... Go look it up in the Family and Friends subforum...

 

[Yander]

Yeah Crash died like 10 years ago. Not sure why this got resurrected... Go look it up in the Family and Friends subforum...

Well, a large number of the guys on this site are dead, but that doesn't make the thread they started any less relevant.

 

[Yander]

A year ago last November I watched my younger sister slowly and painfully die from a lifetime of drinking and smoking. It's something I wouldn't wish on anyone.

Sorry for your loss of your sister!

 

[WinterDeere]

I am quitting smoking.

 

[Yander]

I gotta throw the BS flag on that. I saw my dad lay his pack of Kool cigarettes on the table and say I am quitting smoking. Mom left that pack lay there for a year before throwing it away. Dad never smoked after that day he laid the pack down.
That was 1968, he died in 2004.

In my case, it came down to me saying in my mind and spirit, "Enough" and meaning it. And it sounds like your dad did the same thing. You could put a bottle of my favorite bourbon in the cabinet right now, and it would not be touched.

 

[tacticalturnip]

For anyone that is not aware, the OP passed away from smoke inhalation from a house fire. It was likely caused by him passing out while smoking.

That's a damn shame. I hope he is resting in peace; small comfort that it was smoke inhalation and not burns.

 

[Jstpssng]

I gotta throw the BS flag on that. I saw my dad lay his pack of Kool cigarettes on the table and say I am quitting smoking. Mom left that pack lay there for a year before throwing it away. Dad never smoked after that day he laid the pack down.
That was 1968, he died in 2004.

Just because he did does not mean that everybody will find it that easy.