Going off the wagon
Sometimes tea just doesn’t cut it….
After a particularly stressful three week stint in the kitchen I gave my cup of valerian tea a miss last night and opted instead for a couple of cold beers, despite the fact it was the coldest night of the year so far.
My days of speed drinking after service are now long behind me, quality rather than quantity is my motto after twenty years of drink fuelled activities which I shall save for later posts.
I must confess to a slight pang of guilt by reaching for the bottle in order to alleviate the stresses of the day and thus sought some form of solace in the words of those far more qualified than myself:
Oscar Wilde: “Work is the curse of the drinking class”
W.C. Fields: “Always carry a flagon of whiskey in case of snakebite and furthermore always carry a small snake”
Hemingway: “An intelligent man is sometimes forced to be drunk to spend time with fools”
I soon felt better! If it’s good enough for Ernest I told myself…My beer of choice was a particularly fine local ale called Lincoln Red Ale, complete with a picture of a Lincoln red cow on the front. So there you are, I have sacrificed my liver to support local produce 
I shall leave you with a comment I read before I turned the lights off, it reminded me of Spike Milligan’s request for a tombstone inscription-”I told you I was ill”..it is purported to be Humphrey Bogart’s last words: “I never should have switched from Scotch to Martinis”
Now that’s style.
Miles
style indeed from a bygone age of classy drinkers.
No Bacardi Breezers for them !
I also like Frank Sinatra on people who didn’t drink
“magine waking up in the morning and realizing this is as good as it’s going to get”
Cheers
Rod
February 20, 2008 @ 9:08 am
Miles,
Today saw me in Harvey Nics, surrounded by gorgeousness I got all flustered and couldn’t cope. Safely back in Lincolnshire, fire radiating a warm welcome, I feel like a drink. For what it’s worth the best dressed man I saw today was sporting a huge orange cardigan and woolly scarf while working in Vivienne Westwood…. I think it was love at first sight, we clashed so beautifully
Cid
February 20, 2008 @ 7:28 pm
Cid,
It was an orange on legs and you just wanted to squeeze it, didn’t you
Elsie
February 20, 2008 @ 7:51 pm
Miles,
Roll out the barrel ~ ~ ~ and we’ll all come round
Elsie
February 20, 2008 @ 7:53 pm
Elsie,
It was a religious experience, a meeting of two great scarves
Cid
February 20, 2008 @ 8:58 pm
Rod,
Exactly right, I would have liked to have lived in that era-with plenty of money of course! As for ‘ol blue eyes’-class personified.
Miles
February 20, 2008 @ 10:25 pm
Cid,
Glad you enjoyed your day, I’ll have to take your word for it about the cardigan and scarf though
Miles
February 20, 2008 @ 10:26 pm
Frank Sinatra and class? Hmmm, he fared better in crossing the pond I think. Can’t beat his smooth tones, however. Now for class I would named David Niven, Fred Astair. Alas, all the gents named are from a by-gone era, and we are sad for the loss of their ilk. Now for MY drink, a nice Seagram’s VO on ice with a splash of water. Takes away the aches, pains, and sad thoughts of dead gentlemen.
February 21, 2008 @ 2:16 am
Annie,
David Niven was indeed a fine gent although I’ll never forgive him for Casino Royale!
Miles
February 21, 2008 @ 8:07 am
You’ve got me there. But a gentleman is entitled to a mistake every once on a while.
February 22, 2008 @ 2:51 am