Beer necessities

Having a little trawl around blogs I look at from time to time (displacement activity as I have a presentation to write for another job interview on Friday) I see that Nev on Waterlily has foresworn the demon drink; the Beelzebub beer, in order to feel livelier and healthier. Following my fortnight's drinkathon (albeit a somewhat moderate one) this is a topic of interest to me. Nev has given up completely because, he says, he doesn't 'do' moderation. I, sadly, do little but...

Nonetheless, my reckoning was that if I want to average two beer-free days for each beer-enhanced one (which seems like a sensible and moderate position), then I too must relinquish the nectar of the gods for nigh on a month, which seems a bit extreme to me. It's three days now and counting - when do I start to feel livelier, become more witty etc etc?

I am certainly still recovering from the holiday; not only the beer (did I mention that my consumption was fairly modest), but the excitement, the fresh air, the diesel fumes, the late nights and early mornings, and the excess of white bread; in short, I am still knackered, and we weren't even boating hard. I have even taking to drinking coffee in the hope that it will make me alert, witty etc, but it is filthy stuff and so far has only made me feel slightly queasy.

The fact that in the course of the fortnight I spent about six months beer allowance can only aid my new found abstemiousness, of course. Unlike some people, I am very loath to go into a pub and not drink. I will not pay the inflated prices they charge for soft drinks that don't last five minutes (and contain so much sugar that they are almost certainly more unhealthy than beer). Also I would end up having to drive everybody home and I would get lost. But I think there is a way through this. I can simply add two more days to the remainder of that twenty eight each time I do nourish myself with the fermented grain, until eventually I will be back in credit; hopefully in time for Braunston.