Hi G-A,

I've been playing a little game with myself ever since I left my original
post last Thursday. Thursday night, at home, I had a glass of wine. Friday
night, my usual "Hit it WAY too hard" night, we went to our usual steak
house. We had grandkids with us which made things much easier... and I
drank club soda all evening. My excuse was the grand kids, and that I was
making my wife the "designated drunk" for the night. I must admit that I
didn't have nearly as much fun as I would have with a couple of Southern
Comforts under my belt, and all-in-all it was a pretty damned boring
evening.

Saturday we stayed at home. I bought a 6 pack of St. Pauli Girl Non-alcohol
beer (which really wasn't all that bad) and had one of those in the
afternoon. I had a glass of wine with dinner. Would liked to have had more
for the taste (?), but didn't really need any, so I didn't. Woke up Sunday
morning "un-hung" for the first time in a while. Hmmmm....

Yesterday (Sunday) I had another bottle of the non-alc. beer just cause it
tasted good. Last evening my wife decided to have one of her little temper
tantrums which usually sends me to the liquor cabinet... and I managed to
pass... had a cup of green tea and a couple glasses of Diet Coke through the
evening.

Tonight when I came home from work my wife was still on the war path, so
instead of getting shit-faced (normal solution to that particular problem),
I took a little nap. No alcohol with dinner and green tea for the rest of
the evening. I might get crazy and have a Diet Coke too, but what the hell,
a guy's gotta' cut loose now and then... (lol).

My drinking in "moderate moderation" over the last few days has worked
pretty well. Like anything else at the beginning though, (weight loss,
quitting cigarettes, etc.) the first few days are "fun". I'm going to keep
at it as a (I hope) new "life style" and see what happens. Week two may not
be fun anymore... but we'll see. Also may not have the grandkids as an
excuse next Friday night at the Steak House... that could get interesting...

I really don't believe I'm an alcoholic although I think I could be without
too much trouble. I love the taste and smell of Southern Comfort and love
the way it makes me feel... the first couple at least. I really don't like
how I feel (or act...) after the next two or three though, and really HATE
the way I feel the next morning. We'll see what happens... and I really
don't want to give up my wine.

Keep in touch... maybe we can help keep each other out of trouble :-)

Dave


"G-A" <ga@net> wrote in message
news:ulevd0lns63er8n71pre57i5l4tjulpa14@4ax.com...
> On Thu, 24 Jun 2004 02:19:04 -0400, "Dave Wolff" <dwolff@modsoftware.com>
wrote:
>
> >Hi All,
> >
> >I'm a 62 year old male in good health. Up until about a year-and-a-half
ago
> >I drank a lot... 1/2 of a fifth if Southern Comfort every night,
sometimes
> >more. I decided that was WAY too much and something had to be done.
> >
> >I decided to cut down, drink one or two glasses of wine per night and
skip a
> >day or two now and then just to prove I could do it. I've gone as long
as
> >10 days with no alcohol at all just to see what would happen and had no
ill
> >effects. I've actually managed to stick to the 1-2 glasses of wine per
> >night... except when we go out on weekends when I'm liable to drink as
many
> >as 4 glasses.
> >
> >Three weeks ago we went on vacation and I decided "a little Southern
Comfort
> >couldn't hurt". Well, it did! I drank quite a lot when we were away for
a
> >week, and now every evening on the way home from work I have a craving
for
> >the stuff. I've managed to get back to my moderate wine drinking pretty
> >much, but tonight bought a pint of Southern Comfort, drank about 70% of
it,
> >and as of this writing, feel like crap.
> >
> >I really enjoy knowing about and drinking wine, but I hate the "hard
liquor
> >compulsion" I seem to have now. Am I alcoholic? Can I drink wine
> >moderately and maintain control or do I have to give it ALL up (which I
> >really don't want to do)?
> >
> >Bottom line is that I really don't think I'm alcoholic but am willing to
> >admit that I am... if I am. Am I wrong in thinking that one or two
glasses
> >of wine in the evening is too much and if I stick to that and no more,
I'm
> >okay? If I can get away from the Southern Comfort (or the like) 100% and
> >stick to the one to two glasses of wine, am I okay?
>
> Dave, my situation is almost identical to yours except that I am younger
> and have brendy and rum. When it's got to the point that I was constantly
> trying to finish my work as earlier as I could *just* to get a drink
> ASAP, I decided that, yes, I am an alcoholic.
>
> I hate the idea of giving up drinking wine (I am a bit of an enophile),
> and currently am trying moderation, but if that fails, I feel that
> ultimately I will have to go totally dry.
>
> G-A
>