I've always been a non-drinker / water drinker, which I think is a good thing for me - I've reason to suspect I'd have relied on the bottle too much if I'd started.

I once worked with someone who talked about a "vice gap" - something in most people that had to be filled, so that non-drinkers would (in her experience) do something else to "unwind", often to excess. I suspect it's not so much a gap as a coping mechanism when life is out of balance, but either way it might explain the amount of time I spent on games last week in my youth...

It could be that you'll need to cut back on the coffee next. If you're adapted to a certain level of caffeine in your system then you'll always feel rough before your first hit of the day regardless of how much sleep or beer you've had.

I drink mostly when I get together with my friends or after an extra long and stressful week. Or maybe if I'm traveling and want to experience what other countries have to offer in terms of alcohol.

Same as most of you guys, did some drinking in younger years, but now a LOT less; occasionally on weekends...

My all time favourite is Reverend from Avery brewing in Boulder, CO: https://www.averybrewing.com/beers/the-reverend
It is hard to find here in South East US, so mostly I will have Belgium beers in my fridge.

PS. Not sure if I should post a link of Beer here; if it's against the rules, I will remove it.

I don't disagree with you; but my point was that if alcohol is still a "drug", then whatever kind of test it is; it's still a "drug test" either way.

Did you used to work on breath testers out of interest?

Yeah, just knocked back a slab; do I get the job?

Sorry, I couldn't help myself

Going back over 10 years, I was almost shocked at the big city drinking culture in London. To fit in, you had to go out at least 3 times per week at around 4pm and drink until around 1am, then stagger back home or sometimes crash on someone's sofa - that kind of thing. I could not tell you how much we would drink, but it was way too much!

Now, things are very tame, but I "know" I should drink less and less often, however there are no problems as such (health or otherwise). I only drink after 10pm and I get up by 7am every single day. I never have hangovers, but I know that at least the number of calories I am putting into my body is a bad thing. I have started going to the gym every other day 10pm-11pm to burn some calories and lessen the impact, but I find it hard to not crack open a beer or pour a glass of wine in the evening. No harm, no foul? The scary thing is that some days I can knock back a whole bottle of wine in an evening without feeling at all drunk, sleep just fine and wake up at 7am feeling fine. But a bottle of wine in one evening or a 4 pack of beers should be really bad for my health and I suppose that I am paranoid that I am building up over the years to an irreversible state of health, even though I am getting fitter at the gym every week...

So it is a strange relationship for me - I have no problem controlling myself - I will happily be a designated driver on a night out and drink no alcohol at all, but at home, I just enjoy the taste of beer and wine over anything else (and have had enough tea and coffee throughout the day). I almost wish I did not like it, but I also get bored of water and any other soft drinks. I sometimes have alcohol free beers (but wine is gross), but they do not taste the same and somehow make me feel more bloated than normal beer - I also, like others, go for more artisan beers and enjoy trying different ones each time.

Moderation is key!!! https://i.imgur.com/FURMjnm.jpg

right now i am absolutist, no booze or cannabis products.

I don't need to write anything rtmistler already did it for me.

Old joke: I don't drink any more. Of course I don't drink any less either.

I quit drinking in 2002, I also quit smoking back in about 1992, & I have never been a gambler.

I have never been a gambler and I have never smoked. My father was a smoker and he didn't want me to become one, so when I was about five years old, he gave me a cigarette. Of course it made me sick and I never wanted to try one again. Nowadays I suppose that would be considered a form of child abuse but I'm actually very grateful that he did it.

Gambling has always struck me as a mug's game. Why spend money if you don't get anything in exchange? Even as a child, I remember I only played penny arcade machines if they gave you something in exchange for your penny, like a kaleidoscopic display for instance. I wasn't interested in the ones where you put in a penny and perhaps you got five pence out but mostly you got nothing at all.

I've never seen the point of gambling. Why throw away money for the slight chance of winning more? Gambling plays on our greed.

I don't get it either, you have more chances by investing your money in some stocks

Securities trading is just one big gamble and it is done with the money of people that aren't gambling. If I had my way there would be laws requiring any security be held for a year before being sold. That would put an end to the shenanigans big brokerage firms and banks play. I'd also outlaw "short selling" and other dodges - if you don't actually possess the stock you shouldn't be allowed to gamble on it.

By the way, I never really understood "gambling addiction" until I spent a week in Las Vegas. I played there with the expectation of losing it. It was in fact fun to play and of course winning makes it even more fun. When you win you want to continue to see if you win more and if you lose you want to continue to try to win it back. It was on my drive back across country on leaving Las Vegas that I realized how many places have Indian casinos. Every time I saw a sign for one I had a compulsion (successfully resisted each time) to stop for "just one more hand" of blackjack. It was then that I understood how strong the compulsion was and how some people might not have the will power to overcome it.

I know we're @off-topic with the gambling discussion. Either case, I agree. It's sort of like throwing your money at someone else.

Worse in my humble opinion are the lottery tickets, and scratch tickets.

Anyone have that relative who gives a bunch of scratch tickets as holiday gifts? So you all stand around with coins, scratch 30 or 40 cards between everybody, and one person wins $2!

And what is that scratch off stuff made of? (Probably lead! Yeah, I can search for it ...)

Edit: And yes I did. It's two layers of ink, a base and then the silver one. Obviously they needed something where shining a light on it would not reveal the information behind it. Yes, all deemed to be safe by our current standards. But what do I know, I used to chew the window sills in our house when I was a kid ...