Wednesday, March 13, 2013

#147. or, Less than I was

 Recent developments have led me to believe that I may have been misleading you for some time now. That I may have been painting a picture in your mind, that I'm this cool, happening dude, with a heightened sense of fashion, who can roll into a party, drink to my hearts content and come out the next morning, none the worse for wear. Actually, I might have done this inadvertently, because I think part of me had convinced myself that's who I was.

  Ya, well.........not so much.

  First off, I don't dress all that fashionably. I'd like to. I think I dress well. I'm just not that guy in the crowd that captures your attention when he strolls in, looking like he sauntered off the pages of some fashion magazine. I see that guy every now and then. I'm not him.

  The truth is, I'm sitting here typing this with at least 2 days growth of beard, wearing pajama pants, a zip up hoodie, and flip flops. When I go out to feed cows in half an hour, I'm going to be wearing my bib-overalls. Chances are, if you drove into my yard unannounced, you'd  find me in bib-overalls. Probably even if you drove in completely announced. It's how I roll.

  But when we go out, my wife picks out really nice things for me to wear. I'm thankful for that.

  Last weekend we went to help my wife's sister celebrate her birthday. Her and her husband live about an hour away and because of that, we were invited to spend the night there. So I had a few drinks. To be a little more specific, I had 2 beer, switched to Scotch and had 2 of those. At least that's what I remembered having as I was laying in bed the next morning, as I took a mental inventory,  trying to figure out why I was feeling a little worse for wear.

  Now it wasn't a hangover in the sense of, "God, get me through this and I promise, I'll never, ever, never drink again, as long as I live!", sort of hangover. But I felt a bit uncomfortable. Maybe a little more than a bit. But 4 drinks? That's rather pathetic. I remember everything. I remember my wife coming into the room where my brother-in-law and I were having a friendly chat, to tell us we needed to quiet it down because our conversation was overpowering the ones going on in the other room. I remember looking at bathroom renovation pictures of work my brother-in-law had done. I remember making jokes and having a good time. I remember sitting around watching curling. The thing that I don't seem to remember all that well, and it's only come back to me in flashes over the 3 or 4 days since, is there may have been a 5th drink. One that was about half booze and about half mix. But I'm not entirely certain that happened.

  It's becoming more apparent to me, that at 45, and just barely 45, I'm going to have to be a lot more careful in regards to alcohol consumption. Which is a bit sad, considering how much I like the stuff. Or more accurately, I'm going to have to be a little more moderate. I know there's going to be occasions left in my life, like when my boys get married and those type of things, that I think I'm going to have to save up the few good hangovers I have left in me for. Because they seem to hurt quite a bit more than they used to. And they take far longer to recover from.

  And this is all a little sad because these days you're more likely to find me drinking a cup of tea before I go to bed than you are to find me drinking a beer. But if you stop for a visit, I'm still going to offer you the beer.

  However, on the off chance that I can blame this all on the time change, you're welcome to go on believing that I'm still remarkably awesome, and a wonderful addition to your party.

   .............who am I to argue with any of you?





Dude Write

45 comments:

  1. You are remarkably awesome, and I would LOVE to have you at a party!

    I am not a huge drinker, but I have to say, when I have overindulged, I've never had a hangover. Not sure why, but I appreciate it :) I'll let you know how I'm doing when I hit 45, which isn't so far off anymore :(

    ReplyDelete
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    1. Hi Kianwi,

      Oh boy!You're pretty lucky. I've had a few doozies. Not like every weekend though. Maybe once or twice a year.

      I would be happy to come to your party. :)

      Delete
  2. Too bad you remembered the part about watching curling. Hehehe! Dude, I totally wear pajama pants, a zipped-up hoodie, and flip-flops while typing/reading blogs. You're not alone! Not the growth of beard though. I don't have that. :-)

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    1. Hi Bee,

      I think the majority of Canada was watching curling all last week. So it wasn't just me. :)

      I'm happy about the beard. That is my fresh out of bed attire. Going outside involves a few more layers. This time of year anyways.

      Delete
  3. Welcome to middle age, man. We've been expecting you.

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  4. So Ken-inacape is not bulletproof? I am sooo disillusioned! ;-) Age is a tough bullet to bite my friend, but it comes to us all. It makes you no less wonderful or interesting though, just think of all the stories you'll have to tell as the years go on!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Josie!

      You mean I'm not bulletproof either? *sigh*

      It's my hope that I can make my old age as enjoyable as I can. And I'm sure there's going to be a few stories to come out of that. :)

      Delete
  5. You are a refreshing male voice in the "blogosphere". You make sense and are very genuine and wise. I both like and respect you for these traits.

    ReplyDelete
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    1. Nice to see you drop by Ann. :)

      Your making me blush now. I'll do my best to keep doing what I do. :)

      Delete
  6. Ah, Ken, keep the curtain up a bit longer on Oz. I will continue to envision you as dapper and sauve and able to drink an Irishman under the table and then have raw eggs for breakfast. Um...like me. Right? Don't leave me Hangin man!

    WG

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. For you, Wily Guy, I would gladly endure one of the hellish hangovers to help perpetuate the myth.

      ....because you're such an awesome dude, and I'm good at suggesting people believe that I am too.

      Delete
  7. Ah yes alcohol, fair weather friend and double edged sword.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi holly,

      You make a very good point. Alcohol is always my fried the night before. Sometimes an evil demon when it decides it wants to get, violently out of my body.

      Delete
  8. I was under the impression Ken that you could sit at a computer with no pants on and a mustard stained t-shirt and still look dapper.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. .......I thought the no pants thing was a secret?

      Delete
  9. Um... I'm sorry to break the news to you that I did not picture you as a fashion plate... and yeah, pretty much expected you to be the way you described! ;) But that has nothing to do with whether you are remarkable or not... :)

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    Replies
    1. Hey BB!

      I'm hardly remarkable, though, you're welcome to believe that I am all you want. :)

      I guess when you write a blog that has occasional pictures of you going about your business in day to day life, It's pretty hard to have anybody believe you're something you're not. :)

      Delete
  10. I'm checking out this Dude Write thing. When you start drinking because you enjoy the taste and not just to get buzzed, you have reached a new level of maturity.
    Oh I'm not qualified to comment on fashion but your tractor looks good. Come to think of it I'm not qualified on tractors either.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. As a rule, That's a guideline that I try to follow. On occasion though, they get to tasting too good and I end up having one too many. It's been quite a while since I've gone into a function looking to tie one on. But I certainly won't say it's never happened.

      Delete
  11. Ah, you're better off without it. Alcohol never helped anybody.

    I gave you an award.

    http://michaeldagostino.blogspot.com.au/2013/03/oh-look-award.html

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You might be right about that Michael, but I haven't quite figured that out for myself yet.

      Thanks for the award, I'll pop over and check it out as soon as I get a moment.

      Delete
  12. Man, I'm just over 30 and my night-cap of choice during hte week is also tea. What does that say about me?

    Anyways, enough about that, me and the guys are going shark wrestling and bear hopping this Saturday. It's for awesome people only. Wanna come?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I think it says that you're a much wiser fellow than I am.

      Sorry I missed your Saturday thing. I had to deal with an angry cow blowing snot down the back of my neck as I tried to get her calf into someplace warm. Maybe next time?

      Delete
    2. There'll be no more shark wrestling next time. We've had an unfortunate Chtulu incident. I'd, I'd rather not talk about it.

      Delete
    3. Maybe over a few drinks?

      Delete
  13. At the age of 54 I'm with you all the way on this one brother.

    For much of my youth and early adulthood, I had hollow legs and was typically last man standing. But not any more. And it takes me days to recover.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. At least we still have all of those grand stores to tell? Even if all of those youngsters don't believe them.

      Delete
  14. I definitely overindulged in my day. I could drink the hardest stuff right out of the bottle and lots of it. Today, I have to counter every sip with an anti-acid and even two beers make me feel like crap the next day.

    I've almost completely given it up.

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    Replies
    1. Right out of the bottle is pretty hard core! You have me at that one. But I'm not quite ready to throw in the towel. I'll probably do a couple of years of useless research to see if I can come up with the magical combination that will leave me feeling at least a little less ill the next morning.

      Wonder if I could get a grant for that?

      Delete
  15. Last weekend I don't know what I was thinking. I had two mixed drinks, then 3 glasses of wine at a wine tasting and a couple hours later, two bourbons on the rocks. All I'd had to eat all day was a donut and some fish tacos. Somehow I didn't get sick. But boy did I feel horrible. Definitely not the days of band yore and drinking all night. Tea time !

    ReplyDelete
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    1. Hey Linda!

      That certainly sounds like a recipe for disaster! I think I would have probably gotten sick for sure with that mixture. I try to mix in plenty of water between my drinks these days to keep hydrated, but you know, every now and then, I suffer from a lack of good judgement. :)

      Delete
  16. I still consider myself a seasoned drinker, but I have definitely been feeling the difference the morning after a night of heavy drinking in my old age of 27.

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    1. 27! You have a lot of mileage left in you! You shouldn't even have to worry about it until you're at least 40!

      However, I'm less seasoned, and more, rough around the edges, so that may be the difference? I'm a little bit soft.

      Delete
  17. Dear Ken friend,

    I have been quite MIA lately. Tired of boring folks with the 'I'm working all the time' bit but it's true and when I am not working, I am comatose or so sick of staring at a computer screen reading the umpteenth paper online that I can't bear to get on it at home.

    So let me start by saying (obviously completely six days late and lotsa dollars short) that you are awesome. Awesome is an understatement, so less than you were? Phsh...naw. Never.

    I hear you on the clothing choice thing. What is it anyway? My daughter is about to stage an intervention. I think I hit 41 and forgot how to dress presentably. We are actually entertaining the idea of doing a blog version of 'What Not to Wear' over at the hammock so stay tuned. Should be entertaining.

    Anyway, we're not getting older, just more awesome. You hold the corner market on it, my friend. Next party I have, you're invited.

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    1. Hello, my friend!

      You will never have to apologize to me for having life get in the way of what goes on here. I understand that all too well. I know you'll pop in when your schedule allows.

      I don't know what it is about the clothes. I know there's things that I wear that are probably a bit younger than what I should be wearing. I'm conscious of "those" people that go out dressed like teenagers when they are middle aged.

      I think sometimes I just want to dress in a fun way. There shouldn't be an age limit on doing that? I choose my occasions to dress that way. Just because I've hit a certain age, doesn't mean that I'm done and have to spend the rest of my life being drab.

      I'm not saying that you'll find me in a pair of skinny jeans or whatever the latest fashion is. I just want to be slightly outside of the typical farmer stereotype and have people think there might be a bit more to me than one might expect.

      ......maybe have a bit of fun doing it? :)

      I'm coming to that party, my friend! We both can be awesome there, together! :)

      Delete
  18. Is it bad that I know exactly what you mean and I'm not even 40 yet? It takes me at least 2 days to recover from a hangover, sometimes more. But I still try to pound down the beers like a 21 year old. 6 seems to be my limit though, and it makes me feel pathetic!

    ReplyDelete
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    1. Hey Dan!

      It's not bad at all Dan. I get the feeling that you might have more than a few all nighters under you belt. I know that it sucks, but age catches up with us all.

      And to tell you the truth, 6 beers isn't too shabby. It's actually just the right amount to carry to a function and luckily, you can buy them in that exact quantity. Win win, all around!

      Delete
  19. Right there with ya Dude. I 'm 45ish myself and I don't bounce like I used to I just hit and stick. Good post. Your tractor's bigger than mine too :S

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    Replies
    1. Thanks for the follow, Sam!

      It's not about the size of the tractor, it's how you use it that counts.

      Delete
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    ReplyDelete
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    ReplyDelete
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    ReplyDelete
  23. No worries, Ken. I never thought you were cool.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. But I like the new picture of your big green farm thing.

      Delete