We have a contract doing site work for a city wellness center. Rink, gym, pool. We are a sub contractor for a large local construction company. It's shaping up to be around 5 years work.. Construction here is mostly seasonal, and most of our company is laid off for the winter months. Mostly between late November, to mid May. With this project, there a lot of us still on the payroll. There is no grader work, but I had been running hoe, and dozer up until around January. Most of our truck drivers are older, and really prefer to be off for the winter months, so drivers are scarce. I am a trucker as well, so I said I'll grab a truck, if you can get another operator in. They bring this guy in. In his 40s, he works at the quarry. The property is in an old sandstone pit. Beautiful material, a shame really. One area is a 9 meter, so almost 30 foot cut, so it's pretty hard digging. A 470 Hitachi, and a 350 Linkbelt digging, and another 350 Linkbelt with a ripper tooth ripping. Anyway this quarry man. I have been watching him, and you talk about an under used man, in the quarry. He out loads the 470. I backed in to the 470 with a tandem truck at the same time as a 350 John Deere wiggle wagon backed into him on the 350, and the rock truck was loaded before me. His side of the cut is smooth and consistant. I messaged the crusher forman, and he said he is an awesome operator. He can run anything, and when it comes time to change screens, he is the first one to pitch in. But he has a bad drinking problem. Other than that he said, he would be perfect. He said there have been many times when he had to take him back home after his wife dropped him off. Too bad. So much going on with drugs these days, you sometime forget about the bottle getting someone anymore.
Oh no I don't. I grew up in a household with a professional drinker for a father. He kept it together but I think he was the exception by far. It is a powerful thing and I chose not to flirt with it anymore. I do believe it has a genetic component to it and I was not cut out to drink responsibly so I don't drink at all. It's a dang shame about your operator. You hate to see somebody struggle so.
Really what is responsible drinking--cutting it off at one drink not one in the morning. I haven't drank for 14 years, don't miss it or the cost. If one has a CDL in their pocket and are in a pool- that means no drinking if you value your license car or truck. It's a hard thing for some to break and some never do. The bad part is if children are present when domestic stuff happen. I don't care about people drinking just as long as it doesn't effect me or others, and out from behind a wheel.
My dad was a working alcoholic, least he couldn't ever drink on the job.
This young fella has lost his drivers license several times. He has one of those things in his car where he has to blow into the tube to get it to start. My father was a drinker. He quit when I was young, so I only have a few memories of the fights he and my mother had. Mom was raised on a farm and she could hold her own. My sisters and brother have more memories of his drinking, and I don't think my brother, who is the second oldest, really forgave him.
We had a rough summer of 1975. My brother drowned, dad could not keep it together and he drug up and left us. My brother in law was crushed and paralyzed. Dad got in a zone working for the state. He drank in the bar till midnight, got up and showered and put on cologne to cover the booze oozing out of him, and went to work every day it was required. Then he would stop at the first dive on the way home and "take the edge off the day". His words. They would have 5 well shots of the cheap stuff in a chimney next to a glass of water. He would drink 3 of those, 15 well shots. Get back in his car, drive home, and then walk to the bar by the house and get drunk until midnight. He got two DUI's. First one he was turning left into the driveway towing his boat home and got rear ended hard by another drunk. The second was the same deal. He was perfectly functional, and got rear ended by another drunk driver. After he died I drank for another two years and then gave it up 34 years ago.
According to VA (Veteran Affairs) hospital standards if you have more than 7 drinks per a week or 5 then you are an alcoholic. Well fk'em, I guess I am one then, damn the luck. If they only knew half the ***** I have seen or done they might be one themselves just from listening.
Now do they specify the size of the drink because a bottle is only one drink lol
I get "the talk" and I might have a 12 pack a month, if that.
My dad was already drinking pretty hard when he went into the Marines at 18-ish and fought his last battle on Iwo Jima. I hear your sentiments. I know that did not help him.
My dad went to AA before I was born and still kept in contact with his sponsor. His sponsor was a pilot which was awesome. He'd rent a plane from the flying club and take us for rides. My dad was close to getting his pilots license. My dad said he never got into any problems because of his drinking but couldn't just have 1 drink. He realized he had a problem so did something about it. When he was in the air force in WW II he said they would get drunk just to get drunk. Triple rye with a beer chaser. He was blown out of a 4 engine bomber so there were certainly some horrific things they didn't want to have to think about. My mom drank a little bit but not very much. There was never much alcohol in the house and drinking never really appealed to me. I'd have a couple drinks sometimes when out with people but never felt the need to get a good buzz on. I'm not going to risk anything now with the meds. I'm taking. Really wish my dad could have quit smoking too. It's worse than drinking in a lot of ways. I know a guy that drinks beer worse than a fish. He's lost his license 3 times and requires a portable breathalyzer in his truck. He was telling me how good of a deal he got on his insurance like he was proud of it. Only $3200/yr. and that was about 8 or so years ago. I'd say he was the definition of a high functioning alcoholic. He was a computer whizz and would troubleshoot and fix major issues for large companies. His drinking was so bad that his son moved out of the house they bought together. I think his son didn't want to get the same way. However one night after midnight the son called me drunk as a skunk. I had no idea why but could tell he was pi$$Ed out of his tree. I think it's hard for light drinkers or non drinkers to understand why other people feel the need to drink to excess on a regular basis.
$148 billion. * Economic Costs of Alcohol and Drug Abuse Estimated at $246 Billion in the United States | National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) A new study released today by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) and the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA), National Institutes of Health (NIH), estimates that the economic cost of alcohol and drug abuse was $246 billion in 1992, the most recent year for which... www.niaaa.nih.gov
And that's just one country
Just think how many roads & bridges could be repaired.
I contribute about $140 a month to that bill and I did build a few things with that money I spent. Sometimes sanity comes with a price. Want to see me design and or think something up beyond most would want or could comprehend, pour me a drink and I will explain to you the answers of the universe, life and everything is more than just 42.
Case of beer usually lasts me 6 months. I hardly ever drink, might crack open a beer or 2 while working around the yard or in the garage on the weekend but that's really it. Can't afford to drink in the pub anymore, a pint is around $7 now. Stopped in at the pub for a plate of wings and a pint last week and the bill was almost $24 before the tip. Glad I know how to cook lol.
I knew a guy that was really smart, very smart, too smart for his own good. He graduated CWU 4 point for four years. Went to University of Washington medical school {at one time rated in the top 5 med schools} graduated top of his class highest honors. Went through his residency at Milwaukee County Hospital where he assisted with the first surgery on a baby in the womb { was on the nightly big three NBC, ABC, CBS. One of the top in his field a very accredited surgeon, had written papers about certain surgery strategies. --Smart as all get out, still is, has read the over 4,500 books in his privet library. * But he was the biggest fool I've ever known. He lost his operating license at 53 years old------ cause----was alcohol. It damn near ruined his life, the good thing is while drinking he didn't ruin someone else's. All that smartness shot down the tube for alcohol. He hasn't drank now for 19 years, but he is bitter as bad almonds in allot of ways. A man who was respected by his piers and had the world by the ass {no pun intended}. During those years I hardly talked to him, only saw him about 5 times in 20 years. * I still know him--he's my brother.
My family tree has it share of people how liked a drink. There all dead now dad and his twin never really hit it in my time. I got to the point where things where not moving at the pace I knew they should and that was enough. Plus I'm nuts enough in a normal state. If I was a drunk or high on something besides life it would not be good.
He is/was a highly functioning alcoholic too and figured the drinking wasn't a big deal (until it caught up to him)? Now he's bitter and mad mostly at himself for not doing something about it a long time ago?
I'm predisposed to be an alcoholic with those genes from both sides of the family. I chose long ago not to be one. I do not consider it a disease but a conscious choice of my own free will not to be dependent on substances. I could do a lot of stupid stuff in my life but I choose not to. It's all about taking responsibility. Labeling any bad choice as an addiction is the same thing as affirmative action for dummies. You're just providing an excuse for poor choices.
Not necessarily. That's why the tobacco industry had to pay billion dollar fines for putting addictive substances in cigarettes. Addiction is a real disease but some people do things excessively on their own. My dad considered himself a dry alcoholic and had enough willpower to go to AA and never drank again. He was smart enough to know he was best off without alcohol. He could even be with people that drank and just drink pop or something non alcoholic. Unfortunately he couldn't quit smoking. He had tried a few times though. I think it's really hard for people who don't smoke or only occasionally drink, and can control it, to understand people that can't control it. You really have to want to quit and it's not always enough. That's why organizations like AA are great. Sometimes it's not enough and you can't help everybody.
John Dunsworth, RIP, was the best alcoholic that never drank. I’m going to take a sippypoo in your memory.
And for the fact--there is the righteous--they don't make stupid choices for they are driven by ego plus narcissistic ideas, they are the perfect in there mind living in a imperfect world, and if only the weak could understand then they too would be perfect.---That's not a place I would want to be.
I don't have much to add to the conversation other than I'm a drinker from a family of good natured, light alcoholics. I think we all have the ability to not drink, but we enjoy having a cocktail or beer when we can. I've gotten into bourbon and to ease the expense and the amount I drink I started going 50/50 water/bourbon a few days ago. It's not as tasty. The $140 per month Spud quoted is about right.
Alcohol has done a number on the family's older generations great grandpa killed grand ma and him self back in 48 he was a mean drinker according to my grandpa, he was the only one out of his 4 brothers that didn't drink or so it would appear I think he did just quit when he got married cause it made him angry like his dad his brother's were all functioning alcoholics. Onto my generation of family between boose and drugs about half of my cousins are hopeless. Then there is my brother absolutely the most talented artist I have ever seen and I mean he is so good he can draw really well still when he is out of his mind but that guy has abused every substance known to man out of all the friends he grew up with we've buried all but 2 for the same thing it's no wonder I won't mess with it a case of beer last me close to a year cause if I sit down and have one I usually will have 4 or 5 before I know it so I don't have time for that vice
I come from a long line of drinkers on both sides of my family. My mom’s side was drinkers, smokers, and drug use. none of them even tried to ever kick the habits. My dad’s side is casual drinkers and smokers. I think I’m the first member in at least 3 generations that isn’t a smoker. I like a pinch of skoal now and again but never got hooked on it. I also like a bourbon and coke or two on the weekend. it’s never been a problem for me and I’m probably not gonna give it up anytime soon.
There is-truthfully--a family line of drinkers, smokers & drug users in any American family. * At this point--all have descended from old Boomers---Which were Smokers {with allot of pot too}, Drinkers and trip'in on lsd. Peace symbols, ty-dye T shirts, long hair, bell bottoms, scroungy beards, VW's {bugs & vans} macramé this and that. Take a long look in any year book from 1982 back, Boomers started the drug culture-and 80% now will say I never smoked it and if they did they didn't inhale--BS. In high school it was a case every Friday or Saturday night for me. Pot { A wheel barrow full}. I just love it when I run into a boomer who lies about there druggy/drinking past. Walking around now looking righteous as all get out---look them up in a year book--hair when they had it hanging down their back. Hypocrites, need a hose reel mounted on their chest to wind up their nose.
My parents were hippies and would admit to it. The ones that don't are, in my opinion, a societal problem. Nothing wrong with doing things in your past and learning from them.
As a kid I remember that drinking heavy and then driving and riding sleds seemed to be fairly normal. Half the people I know got drunk at least once a week and nobody seemed to care. Now that the last generation has mostly passed I can count on one hand the number of people I know that get drunk on a regular basis.
After the 2 great wars, men came home, and sank into the bottle to try and forget what they had seen. A neighbor of my parents, when I was a kid came back from the war, and began selling farm equipment. He and his wife married after the war. He would get drunk and beat her. I was just a kid, and remembered him being the old man that fell down a lot, and would crash his car a lot. She said her mother didn't want them to be together, and she figured staying with him was her punishment for not listening. Now they call it PTSD, and there are harsher things to help the forget, but the result is the same or worse.
I am the Liquor
Ol' Ray was hard on the booze too.
Wow, when I was around 30 I could count all the drinks I have had till then on 2 hands. Now at over 2 times plus some that age, I'd need to use my feet and hands times maybe 3 or less, I think. Every time I have tasted it, I could not understand the big thrill. I am one that actually has used it for medicinal purposes. I'd rather burn it in an engine than drink it. During high school it was the rage to have keggers and getting drunk, I had more fun not getting drunk.
And Julian always had a drink in his hand too.
I'm surprised how many of us know Trailer Park Boys.
Same here buddy. I drink 4-6 beers a year. Drinking is just an excuse to not deal with your problems and they are there in the morning. TV doesn't help as shows always say they need a drink after a hard day. Same goes with breaking stuff when mad, I hate both those tropes on the TV.
You're surprised? It started as an obscure tv show, filmed in a real trailer park in Nova Scotia Canada, and shown on a late night Canadian tv channel. Dunsworth was the only real actor on the show.
That show was simply masterful in its original run. The Netflix reboot was ok but it just doesn't hold up well against the first few seasons.
I met Ricky, Julian, and Bubbles, well a hand shake at a bar in Halifax. Randy used to work for Sparkling Springs water company, and he was in my home town for work, and was at a local night club. Everyone kept yelling at him to take his shirt off. I just missed Rae at the university of New Brunswick in Fredericton, giving a talk on creative writing. I went to pick up a girl I was dating at the time.
J to the R-O-C. I spin more rhymes than a Lazy Susan, and I'm innocent until my guilt is proven.
TV certainly makes it seem like alcohol is a requirement if you have a high up position or apparently a higher stress job. I don't think it's a good thing to promote though. Just like smoking was made to look like the cool thing to do. Contrary to popular belief alcohol doesn't usually solve any problems but can make them worse. Recovering alcoholics don't normally like being around people who are drinking. Seeing people drinking on TV as a way to reduce stress or solve problems might cause people trying to stay dry to think it's OK to drink if you had a tough day.
One of my drunken lawyers I listen too on rumble says only to drink when you are happy.
One thing I learned recently was Barrie Dunn (Ray) was also a lawyer.
"When he was in the air force in WW II he said they would get drunk just to get drunk.... He was blown out of a 4 engine bomber so there were certainly some horrific things they didn't want to have to think about." Having had 12 or so first cousins and other relatives in WWII and seeing the rate of alcoholism among them and not making excuses, my money is on your dad's having had PTSD, known then as "shell shock" or something similar. It is a horrible affliction where the affected believes himself to blame for having the horrible memories and or nightmares from which he cannot escape except perhaps with professional help, but then, they believe, there is the stigma for seeking professional help for the mind. The VA, according to those I know, is hugely staffed to help those with PTSD and in many cases can provide some relief. Me? I did Vietnam for a few months and seem to have escaped most of the problems such service can bestow.
I'm very glad to hear that tarhee driver. My trucker friend slim. I've told some stories about him, he also spent quite a bit of time in country and did not get damaged by it. I think it's the nature of the job you had. He was in the navy but on shore working on moving materials and somehow it kept him out of the worst of it.
Thank you, skyking1. Yes, I was very lucky, but some of my friends not so, including a couple of guys who were in combat in the Middle East in combat. I do get excellent medical care from the VA (all servicemembers who were in Vietnam at any time are eligible for VA medical care, albeit some are subject to very-low copays). Once in the VA system, I hugely recommend that communication with the service-member's primary-care team or pharmacy be by email using a no-cost VA account through the VA portal known as Myhealthevet with a no-cost "Premium" account. It is easy to use once established. The VA's phone service will work, but emailing is best.
My trucker friend Pete where I took all those stumps out, he did not have a good go in Viet Nam. He had two Hueys shot out from under him as an infantryman. That would indicate he was on the very pointy end of the sharp stick, and he does not talk about it.
My dad didn't have PTSD. He certainly was a prime candidate for it but thankfully didn't get it. He realized he couldn't have just 1 drink and did something about it. He never got in any trouble from drinking but did realize he had a problem so did something so he wouldn't get in trouble from drinking. He was lucky to be alive. He was offered a high ranking position in the Canadian Air Force after the war but turned it down. He figured he had done his part for Canada. He continued target shooting and became the 3rd master marksman in Canada. Master was the highest ranking and my dad was the youngest by almost 10 years. He carved his own gun stock from a rough blank. He won the Alberta championship so many times in the 50's they gave him the trophy. He could hit a target about the size of a dime from 100yds. He quit shooting not long after that because it wasn't fun anymore. It became all about beating him. He didn't boast or act differently, he was just a really good shot. Some other shooters would mock him and/or rub it in his face if they beat him or he missed having a perfect shot or perfect round. Who needs that. He didn't have to prove himself to anyone. He liked shooting and happened to be really good at it. Did he have a perfect bullseye everytime, no. It's very hard for any shooter to do. He had a friend who was a cop years later that was impressed when my dad took a few shots with a pistol. He was always going to teach us to shoot but never did and sadly I never got to see him shoot. I do have a bunch of his shooting medals though. Unfortunately his Alberta championship trophy got broken by my brother and me when we were pretty young. My dad had a lot of friends and I don't know of any enemies. He set a good example and would help anyone out if he could.
My dad didn't talk about the war much but there were exceptions. If he was with another vet he would share some stories and when my sister had a teacher that thought knowing about the war was important he opened up. She got an A plus on her report. The teacher was very impressed. My dad later met the teacher and thanked her for letting students know about the war. I think it's really hard for most people to fathom that the average age of people in WW II was about 20 years old. A big majority volunteered and many including my dad lied about their age. Nobody ever questioned it.