Panorama,--"Old , Drunk And Disorderly."

[Red Lead Ted]

Its just stating on bbc as i type this is real hardship? Watch it lads now!! Terry.

[Lou Barron]

While most of us when wewas going to sea would drink maybe a wee bit to much but as we got older we would tone it down a lot Whats wrong with a couple of drinks before dinner then a glass of wine .That brings me back to the styleof drinking in the UK when i came my mum would like for me to take her to the local pub she would have a stout and i would have a pint the people use to have a sing song and it you to be a good night out .When i came to NZ we got told off for singing in the pub in them days itv was called the six 0/clock swill .Things have changed a lot with the drinking habits to day

[j.sabourn]

Brian, I spill more than I drink. Cheers John Sabourn

[happy daze john in oz]

At the tender age of 8 I had my first drink, a glass of Cider. Then 8 years alter i joined the MN and became a professional drinker as did most of us. Like all of you a bottle of Brandy a day on the Cape run was quite common, but once at sea it was often abstinance cos what they sold in the pig could never really have been called beer, well not on the Lavender ladies anyway. As the years went by my habits chanmged and now I drink more wine than anyhting else, though I still like my Dr, Gordons elixier but as Kong says we now have a few days between to recover. Gone the days of the 6'O'clock swill, such happy days, well I think they were!!

[Captain Kong]

Hi men,
thanks for the input,
The idea of the program was not to stop people from drinking but to drink wisely.
you can get drunk as much as you want to, but if you do, just have two or three days a week to let the Liver recover, that is all.
Update on my niece, referred to on previous page, I phoned last night, she has just had one week in rehab, she was plissed. £3,000 wasted for that week. She was in the Priory a well known rehab used by celebs in Manchester., a few months ago her brother paid for her to go for five weeks, it cost him £15,000, she lasted one week then, they have all given up on her and she will die an early death. she is 46, her daughter had a baby last week and she does not want to know, just wants to sit at home with her bottles. What a waste of a life. drinking sensiblly she could drink for another 50 years. That is the message.
My mate`s wife is completely destroyed inside, all her tripes are rotten, she cannot drink anymore or she will die,
They are loaded but cannot spend it, cannot go away on holiday, and he is also in severe trouble, He was ex galley boy, Second Cook and tabnabs and Winger on the Cunard. then joined the army and retired as a Major, he is bleeding heavily from his tail pipe, so far this year he has had two blood transfusions, The blood is black, it squirts out, so it is coming from the Liver stomach area, I usually have a drink at the pub with him every Tuesday , last night, I phoned him, No I am staying in with my faithful bottle of Gin. He is shifting a bottle every day, he buys the cheap, unknown brand of gin, He has a good pension plenty of money and is on his way out of this world. We have been mates since we were at school 65 years ago, sad to see someone go down hill so fast.
So a lot of people become dependent on it, So all you have to do is have a few bevis BUT have a couple of days off to recover. and you can then enjoy a few more years enjoying it.
Cheers
Brian.

[Rocky]

I found an old wage slip where i was paid £1100 for the month but in them days i could get a pint for under 50p the same pub is still trading and i went in there with some old friends from years gone by and a pint was over £4 i think to keep undesirable old folks with no cash out well looking at the way prices have gone 8 x 50p and 8x £1100 nope the job does not pay anywhere near £8800 a month so even working never mind pensions you can not go out and have a good drink like in the old days


With the minimum wage working out at around £250 a week or £1000 a month and everyone trying to pay as little as possible is it any wonder why all the old pubs and clubs are closing 10 in the town center here a few years ago 1 and 2 clubs a workers club and the con club now yes we see the pensioners in there making a pint last as long as they can just so they dont have to sit in all day and can go see old friends for a chat and also cut down on the heating bills in winter

[Red Lead Ted]

Hi men,thanks for the input,

Your post saddens me greatly, As i said its her choice know one on this earth will change her attitude towards the drink only her ? When you enter rehab and you get a liver count kidney,s E.T.C. You are told then how far you have taken it some people have more tolerance than other,sadly it is a known fact that woman have a less tolerance than men. You are given a choice unless cirrhosis has set in you can come back if you are not that ill. You can as you say go for a control drinking lifestyle or total abstinence. I come from a family that like to party there are hundred,s of us and if you think about it there is no middle ground if you attend a funeral you all have a drink/ A wedding you all have a drink/ Win the lottery you all have a drink/ New born baby you all have a drink/ xmas and new year you all have a drink/ If you are on a daily high or low you have a drink. It is a very hard thing to do to control your drinking if you choose that route, But although i wasn't at deaths door i chose controlled drinking. That was 14 yrs ago and it worked for me i make the rules and stick by them which may be an option for your niece i am no councilor Brian i can only pass on my personal experiences. At the time i went through a detox and chose controlled drinking. Two other former seaman friends of mine also had a drink problem they chose total abstinence never to drink again they have both died since in there early 50s very rarely works. If you could sit alone with your niece and have a sensible conversation with her and she was honest with you she would tell you she hates herself when she drinks to access. I cant give you all the answer,s but i wish your niece and family all the very best in her quest. I wouldn't mind having a wager with you that someone in her family before her was also alcoholic. Because i am one of those people that firmly believe it is an heredity passed down from generations gone by. And if you abuse the stuff to much you don't choose the booze.......... The booze chooses you. All the very best m8 with your family,s problem. But always remember one thing she isn't the first and she certainly wont be the last Pass on my Regards to her Terry.

[Captain Kong]

Thanks for that Terry,
Cheers
Brian

[Keith Tindell]

i also think the old booze can be a habit, before i retired was sent on several residential course, so come the evening, a few bevies, at the end of the 14day course go home, sit down with the wife, and come 7 oclock you are missing the booze, a few days of abstinence, and you are back on the straight and narrow with the odd glass couple of times a week. KT

[Lou Barron]

The question is why do we drink . In my younger days i use to drink then have a party mood singing and dancing i use to love it .But now a lot of the younger ones want fight and break things up life now is in the fast lane and i think that some of the younger ones cannot handle it .Who in the hell heard of counseling i blame the welfare state of a lot of our problems these days