Going Dry

The obvious replacement

2012-01-26T08:23:00.001Z

Almost feels like a no shit Sherlock but here is the replacement for booze.

Been a while

2012-01-19T11:36:00.000Z

...and my ability to monitor my finances sucks.

I had hoped to give a cost analysis of doing hee-haw boozin' as I suspect that I drink soft drinks so damn fast that I buy 2 drinks for everyone 1 alcoholic drink I'd buy. Now unfortunately in all my good intentions I tend to get distracted with the whole socialising bit of being out and completely forget the nitty gritty. Sorry to anyone who cares.
In a more positive bit of news: I still haven't had a drop of booze since the 31st of December.

In fact, this whole thing has turned out to be quite easy. No one minds my lack of booze, nowhere I go has difficulty with providing my soft drink of choice (Orange & Soda) and I have no irresistible need for a drink.

Overall this seems like a less worth challenge, so I'm going to extend it from now until I finish my PhD. That should be ~ June this year.

Let's see how it goes.

Friday Night

2012-01-14T00:06:00.000Z

I've found my replacement addiction: Star Wars : The Old Republic.

Running a guild on that thing takes up waaaaay too much time.

Better than expected

2012-01-12T11:58:00.000Z

When I began this minor journey/test I did think I had an alcohol problem. I don't think anyone goes cold turkey without thinking they have an issue with what they are going cold turkey from. I do have an alcohol problem, though not the one I thought i had.
Usually the issue with alcohol is one of necessity, "I need a drink", and over the last few months I found myself saying that in response to any bad day at the office.

I'm pleased to say that I've had bad days at the office in 2012 and successfully negotiated calming down with soft drinks, tea or coffee. Wait, did I say pleased at having bad days? You know what I meant.

So where's the alcohol problem?

It turns out that, snobby connoisseur that I am, I like tasting beers. I've been to the Bon Accord, an ale pub, and thought "I like that beer." or "That sounds nice." or similar taste-based sentiments. I've been to Brewdog Glasgow, where they have a nice selection of their own brews and some excellent craft imports. I've been to Firebird where they serve some tasty WEST brewery concoctions. I've been to Blackfriars, again an ale pub with some good beers on tap.

I won't lie, I feel chatty and merry after a pint or 2 and that's a pleasant feeling. However I'm usually chatty and a soft drink usually covers the fluid needed for the amount of talking I do- dry mouth is nasty. My main alcohol issues is a drink beers i like the flavour of. When I go to a pub like the ones above then I have the issue that cola or lemonade gets clawing after a time, and the flavours of a full-bodied stout are frankly more appealing. Sure the alcoholic content isn't unattached to the thinking, but it is in the passengers seat.

Can I last without wanting to go on a new-beet tasting session?

Hmm....

The first steps...

2012-01-06T10:29:00.000Z

...have been taken.

As I explained in my lengthy last post, the reason behind this isn't (just) the usual "I can go without booze and prove you wrong!" or equally it isn't purely a New Year's resolution. I wanted, instead, to see if I can do all the socialising that usually involved alcohol.
So to that end I have been to the pub for the first time this year. In fact since I last posted I have been not once, not twice but thrice! I must confess, however, that two of these pub trips were for lunch - a time when it is altogether decent to not be imbibing a pint.

Unsurprisingly neither of these trips took much on my part, I don't normally drink during the day and I don't often like a drink other than wine with a meal. They did, however, cost and that's certainly part of the project too. Still at £7.50 both times it was hardly breaking the bank.

Last night was a altogether different beast.

A good friend of mine was in need of some distraction, having asked a young gentleman out and not had a reply, so we headed to our usual haunt. After wandering in and ordering a fresh orange and soda, to the regular barman's slight surprise, I sat down with my friend and we chatted away. She was slightly more nervous so had a stronger drink to calm herself down a bit.

After that we sat, as we normally do, and drank for about as long as we normally do talking about nothing important as we normally do. The only side note is that one of the barmaids (I'm a regular, so I chat to bar staff on quiet nights) questioned if my no sauce was a New Year's resolution. Damn them knowing my weakness ;-)

Still, a simple enough first test and and simple enough pass. Success.

Total cost of three trips: £22.50

My Goals

2012-01-02T20:41:00.000Z

As a comment to my previous post I pointed out the areas that made me think about doing this. Broadly speaking they fall into 3 main categories:

1) Socialising

2) Economy

3) Well-being
Let's go through them in turn shall we?

Socialising

This is probably my main motivation for giving this a try. I know a number of full-time teetotal people, all of them that I recall are practitioners of the Straight Edge way of life. Whilst this isn't a bad thing it means they have a ready made sub-culture and social events attached to it, usually gigging in the case of the folk I know.

So clearly it is possible to go and listen to music/see a band and not drink. Not unexpected, the music is the star attraction and really you're only going to enjoy it less if you're pissed. For me though my gigging days are behind me, I don't much enjoy the loudness of the event. Frankly I just like to sit and have a chat.

The same "have a chat" mentality rules out going to the cinema. Not that I don't go to the cinema, just it isn't really the backbone of my social life and probably never will be. 2 1/2 hours in a dark room where you really shouldn't talk? Once in a while sounds good, but not a few times a week.

I already have friends I want to meet so I don't feel the need to join a group or society beyond those I already have, just a place to see them.

Going to someone's flat/house is also good, but again more often than not people like going to the pub to get out the house in the first place. Also it gets rude if every night I fancy a chat with someone I bring them to my flat and either have to include my flatmate - which rules out a private chat if they don't know my guest as well as I do - or I exclude my flatmate - frankly rude.

So coffee houses or bars it is.

Can I replace bars? Unlikely as all my friends still like a drink. Also unlikely as coffee shops open until 11 or midnight - "Not round 'ere mate". The question has become going to bars without drinking.

Economy

This one is simple: Beer is £3-4 a pint an lasts 30-45 minutes. The question is, does a pint of cola, orange juice with soda or such represent a better value for my £ than beer? If it comes down to it I'll be calculating price per minute here :-P!

I'm really not sure how this one will go, my gut says beer is better value as it takes me longer to sit and enjoy, whereas cola I sip constantly and finished quickly. We'll see on this one

Well-being

Alcohol is bad for you. Therefore not having alcohol must be good for you?

We've all heard about binge drinking, units per week and all the problems alcohol causes so lets see if ditching it makes me feel any better.

There's no real way to measure this, I'll either feel better or not and I'll have to judge if that is because of the booze or the many other factors. Also replacing alcohol with high sugar drinks is probably not likely to be a good idea for health.

Well that's my goals and why's. No grand idea other than "What's going to happen?"

Surviving

2012-01-02T20:00:00.000Z

So I survived the first full day without booze.

Huzzah!

That probably makes things sound a lot worse than they are. It isn't that I can't spend a single day without booze, it's that New Years Day without booze is very difficult. As I usually drink at family gatherings I'm not used to be sober. This is an issue when most of the older members of the group see it as an excuse to drink a little too much.

I should probably have just got on with it a while ago, but I really do find it difficult to enjoy myself when everyone around me is getting drunk. It is part of the reason why I decided to take on not drinking for a month. I want to see if my social life, usually centred on a quiet drink or two of an evening, dies a death if I don't, in fact, drink. I know it is very possible to have a night in the pub here or there without a drink, but if every time I go it gets to the stage I feel "sober" - read they are drunk - I just won't enjoy it as much.

Well one day down and most of day 2 also in the bag, Uni starts back for me this week so we'll see if coffee/tea/sodas can fill the gap sufficiently, and if I am any better for it.

Last drink :-)

2011-12-31T18:09:00.001Z

Some vino with my girlfriend.

By way of an introduction

2011-12-29T20:19:00.000Z

First, if I may, a spot of background. I'm a 26 year old bloke who likes a drink.

That about does the background.

Out of sheer curiosity I've decided to experiment with going a whole month alcohol free. I won't be skimping on my usual pub visits, going to restaurants or such, I just won't be consuming alcohol.

I can;t say there are a great many reasons for doing so, other than I want to see how easy it is to be the pub going socialising type without needing booze to do so. In a city famed for drinking.

I also want to see how much the whole thing costs.

That's about it for the opening post, I'm sat here with a glass or two of wine on my third last evening of available booze. Let's see how this goes!