On that topic, got mah flu shot about a month ago, hope it works this year

Yes, we are talking about a bottle of whisky per week. As I said I had the choice: either raising the consumption (because my tolerance had increased) or decrease it. Easy choice. I really think I'm a one shot guy from now on. And I don't mean a flue shot (which only btw helps against influenza, not against the countless common cold viruses)

In some cases, total abstinence is the only way to deal with a drinking problem (Alcoholism). I speak from family history (Grandfathers, Uncles etc) and knowledge (I'm sure there are studies, research etc). My brother had to quit, completely, no other way. He has been free for a dozen years now. My other bother quit, but then thought he could handle "a few beers". Did not work. He will drink himself to death in the future. Genetics I think plays a part in this as I alluded to. This of course does not necessarily mean you can't proceed as you plan, or applies to your particular case - just use caution, which you seem to be doing.

You can handle it, I guess.

I had one shot today, even if it's Thursday, it was Irish cream, yummy! Got out everything positive I can imagine I can get out of alcohol during an evening, that is, a limited amount of pleasure, more booze would not contribute positively. Will be fine tomorrow.

Glad I got free from this before it became a bigger problem, it doesn't even feel like a real fight anymore, that's what's giving me hope. But I got a hint of what an abyss it can be. Want to play some games with myself, but only so far. I even drank a whole bottle of whisky during 24 hours once during a weekend, the liver is burning almost that much in that time! The time of experiments with great amounts is over, the liver is simply burning one shot away every two hours, nothing special with that, didn't get especially drunk. But the real drunks are doing that on a regular basis, often destroying their health and social relations.

Will not keep any undrunk booze at home though, because it looks like when drinking a little, I get the desire for more, if at home. But when I stand in the liquor store, I easily can choose to take only one miniature, 50ml. The Irish cream was 100ml, but the percentage only 17, so it's the same. At parties I have good control, and they are happening so seldom that they will not have a great impact on the total consumption.

I'm rolling the dice, and are not totally convinced about that quitting totally is the best decision. We'll see. This is the first strong assault on the partial addiction I have made. I will use math for getting a correct picture, no fooling of self here.

If I were on a resistance bike or rowing machine hooked up to power a 25W lightbulb, would I really have to burn >2150 Calories just to generate 1 hour's worth of light?

If so, then how do those flashlights work that you shake to charge? If bulbs require that much energy then how come you can get light from those things without having to shake for a week straight? Is the light just at reduced brightness?

Scientists Have Finally Found The First Real Reason We Need To Sleep

http://www.businessinsider.com/the-f...-sleep-2013-10

geez, finally....

Food calories are actually kilocalories, so you only need 21.48 food calories. It was 21480 calories, not 2150. A calorie is 4.19 Joules, and 25 W is 25 Joules/sec.

Basically human beings consume on avg about 100W (brain 25W) and we know a typical daily diet is like 2000 kcal. Those 2 numbers are consistent if you check them using the relationship between joule and cal (4.18 to 1) and the fact the day has 86400 seconds, Joule=Watt*s.

So operating with some dynamo mechanism (Faraday's law of induction, same method of electric energy production worldwide) a bulb at 25W for 1 hour requires 3600*25/4.18~21500 cal or 21.5 kcal (just 1% of your daily food energy intake). This is not a lot of energy actually only 1% of what we need daily to function, work, just exist/survive (as all those body functions ie organs like heart, brain, your other muscles etc all require energy they get from chemical reactions, even if you sit down and sleep or do nothing, ie see metabolism).

In reality due to efficiency (between bike and bulb) not being 100% you need somewhat larger energy than 21.5kcal but not particularly larger than say 20-30% that i suppose, it would depend on the system you have.



The small flashlights operate using the same Faraday's law of induction where a changing magnetic flux generates an electromotive force in a circuit (ie current is produced). (Basically the same effect with the bike only different method). Either the shaking through some spring mechanism forced the movement inside the flashlight of some magnet inside solenoid or other methods are exploited.

In principle one could even use the magnetic field of the earth (maybe in watches?) as you move randomly. Your random motion exploits the magnetic field of the earth to produce a time changing magnetic flux in some closed circuit because your motion changes that magnetic flux.

The energy is stored using capacitors.

In some flashlights its still a rotation mechanism rather than shaking.

eg look here for what is going on;


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Faraday...araday.27s_law

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Faraday_flashlight

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LED_light


For those flashlights the power is actually much smaller than 25W even less than 1 W maybe and for watches far less than 1W for sure.

This is why for those little devices the effort needed is much less significant.

The power of a LED flash light is probably from few mwatts to 1 watt depending on how many you have, type, current used etc.

Given the genetics of my family I am fortunate in a way. I have a sister and another brother that have no problems with Alcoholism, also, my parents did not. I don't either. But then I'm an outliner in more ways than one.

Enjoyment of alcohol in the proper quantities and qualities is one of the great joys of life. Required Abstinence from this fact is rather sad, but the only way for a minority of people. Hope that doesn't include you.

This is important stuff.

The quantities are not the issue, its the relationship with alcohol that matters. I'd drink what Plaaynde does in a week in a really good day, so would many people I know. Some are unlucky and have, I guess mostly a genetic issue with alcohol, the rest of us get to enjoy one of lifes great pleasures.

We were talking about it over many pints and drams this evening, how under stress/pressure some turn to drink and some abstain. That seems to fairly well delineate the types.

For half-addicts, that I may be, the quantities are important though. The amounts have a tendency to increase, and you are starting to think more about alcohol, get a "better" relationship with the stuff. So the relationship itself isn't a constant! There is some kind of positive feedback loop in it, but if some part of the loop is restricted, the whole loop decreases in strength.

I'm hoping that taking out sheer amounts I will trick the system to somehow give less importance to the whole issue. The outcome is uncertain, it may be to late, and then total abstinence is the best decision. But then I will know I didn't give up booze totally too early.

Overheard conversation tonight:

Girl one: There is such a thing as too long

Girl two: Yes, I know. I didn't know whether to suck it or give it a peanut.

Somewhat but mostly I disagree. All the people I know/see who qualify as non-addicts drink less as they get older without making any effort to do so. The reverse is true of addicts. (and I've known/seen one hell of a lot of drinkers over the years including the good old days when copious drinking during the day was part of normal working life)

It may be different if you're from a country that has a disfunctional attitude towards alcohol like the USA, Europe has a far more sensible attitude, but I'm not sure I buy the concept of half-addict. The fact you think about is so much suggests you have a dependency issue but it may be that you're just suffering from the bad cultural attitude instead and just feel there's something wrong with drinking.

How do you feel about your relationship with water and exercise and participation on the internets?

There is some decent research on people who drink irregularly vs. those that drink every day. None of it involved people who averaged a couple of drinks per day.

Hey, plaaynde...

What will you be drinking tonight guys? I'm about to open my Friday-saver: 50ml of Chivas Regal 12 years old. Recall it was the favorite whisky of Stu Ungar! Count on that I will be sipping and feeling every ml of it.

I slipped this week. Had a miniature at Monday and Wednesday as planned. But then I got the two miniatures of Irish Cream yesterday! But that's the charm, you can be rebellious at times.

Strange I did type kcal into the converting tool. I must have typed kWh by accident. Yeah it's only 21.51 Calories, makes much more sense.

Also makes sense. Yeah I knew it was a magnet in a solenoid etc. but couldn't see why my little bit of energy from shaking could generate more power than my legs spinning a bike. The reason is ofc that it can't.

Ok so next question -- why don't we give people the option to have bikes in their home to contribute to their electricity? Save on energy while watching TV, get exercise.

Originally I was thinking maybe for clean energy and job creation we can have mills where people get paid to haul ass on bikes. But really that would be an expensive and inefficient way to supply energy. However, people in their own homes doing it when they wanted might be more practical. People already eat a surplus of Calories so it's not like they'd necessarily eat that many more Calories, I think there would be a net energy gain (it would come from people's extra bodyfat, or what would have been even more extra bodyfat).

Course this isn't better than solar power but doesn't seem like solar is happening in the US anytime soon. First we gotta use up every last ounce of oil on earth and pollute every last drop of clean water via fracking. Some time in the future when we're all drinking distilled water is when we might finally get a clean form of energy.
/politarding

The Lash spiced rum. And cranberry vodka with some really tart 100% cranberry juice (you've never had cranberry vodka til you had it with real cranberry juice!).

Finished! It took one hour, now the effect lingers for about an hour, then I'm ready for other activities.

And heehaww: good idea to make drinks, I may buy 50ml of vodka at Monday and mix it with something, have in fact never done that at home, always drank the pure stuff.

I had a glass of Merlot with dinner. Then a shot of Grappa for a nightcap.

Tonight I will probably have an ale or two and perhaps a shot of single-malt Scotch, again as a nightcap or while I'm writing an essay for a friend.

Pure vodka? Stuff is like rubbing alcohol I wouldn't do that unless my goal was simply to get buzzed asap. But the rum I mentioned I drink straight or with ice, tastes great highly recommend.

Oh haven't been reading the posts but skimmed a few just now. Are you someone I should be recommending drinks to? Heh..

I applaud the idea to make the US energy independent by utilizing our most abundant natural resource - fat people. Of course fat people generally are that way because they are lazy and not inclined to pedal bikes. No matter though. We now live under a socialist dictatorial regime whereby the government can simply mandate that the fat pedal bikes for the good of all, and fine them massively if they fail to do so.

Well I wouldn't like that mandate but I would secretly be lmao if it happened. Just thinking of some of my fat friends having to work those thunder-thighs all day they'd be like this is some buuuulllll****

Skinny beautiful people like myself could also save money by doing it in spare time (like when watching football) or while we would have been exercising anyway.

This I disagree with. They're that way because they've been misled by marketing and the govt's laughable guidelines (thin people are victims of that too but are just luckier that it's not showing on their exterior). 99% of the "food" in stores is utter junk, most of which is marketed as non-junk (e.g. people think Cheerios are healthy). Exercise is less important than diet when it comes to staying slim.

That's like saying that the money you spend is less important than money you earn when it comes to maintaining a budget. What's important is the number of calories that you take in relative to the number of calories that you expend. There are 3500 food calories in a pound of fat. If a non-exercising person expends 2500 calories per day, and he eats 3000, he will gain about 1 pound in fat per week on average. If he eats the same 3000 per day but burns 500 in exercise, he will not gain fat. Additionally, exercise builds muscle which increases the number of calories expended even when resting.

Elite Olympic athletes that train all day long often chow down on big macs. For them it's all about taking in massive numbers of calories. Everything you eat is converted to the same thing before it can be used for energy - sugar. The sugar doesn't know whether it came from Cheerios or tofu. What you eat is far less important than how much you eat and how much you exercise when it comes to staying slim.

Beer is food!

I have nothing else to add in the matter.

You can ask ancient Egyptian workers and architects/engineers etc building Pharaohs' pyramids 3000-4000 years ago what they had at their lunch break and the 2 first things that are registered are beer and bread. The next thing is a delicacy like dates lol!

Beer or something similar from cereal farming has been produced for at least 11500 years now since the agricultural revolution began.

http://www.fitsugar.com/Calories-Popular-Beers-1504697



I mean my point being if it was just fun and games why bring it to lunch when you go to work?


PS: I almost never drink beer or wine for recreation just for the drink itself. Its not a rule thing, i simply dont get the adoration of it like for example i do get for chocolate or almonds, cashews, chestnuts, pecans even peanuts etc (those are gone within a week lol and i am a thin person with no beer belly yet but i can seriously abuse those delicacies if available. Run for cover!). I always consume wine/beer with great meals (not just any meal, only nice long elaborate meals that you look forward enjoying rather than quick eating to get done with it examples). Some high spirits or after desserts some traditionally created homemade liqueur by the fireplace or while watching the sunset in a beach maybe with some other side delicacy is a good idea too. A drink with the elders (lol) in traditional weddings back in Europe without food or very little food is also ok. But i never got the whole lets go get drunk or lets drink because we are unhappy or whatever fix mood thing. Drinking should be a pleasure that enhances your eating experience in my opinion. I also use wine for cooking all kinds of sauces and meats/chicken. I may take months to have a drink with food that way though. When i do i may enjoy it for a few days until i run out and then its back to months and months of not even a beer. Sure rarely when out with friends in some bar but its the friends you enjoy then not the drink. I never feel the need to go to the store to stock up again until i eventually run out of the wine i use for cooking lol. Yes its like that. Same with chocolate or almonds or strawberries juice (etc other fruit juices like that). I will enjoy these and run out of them pretty soon. But then i wont run to the store to replace them until months later. Its nice to have some great meal to look forward to and know that you drink only to improve the experience after first you have earned it by putting effort in the cooking.