Things you hate IV

My landline being 'spoofed' and all the 'help' I'm getting from BT to deal with the irate mobile phone numbers returning 'my call'.

On the booze front I was told there was a risk of liver damage if I drank through chemo (my profession of physical scientist, in medical schools, is fairly 'hard-drinking'). I can't say I've missed it (since March '21) and I've been told my sleep apnea/snoring's "...gone...".

 

Not really, my brother-in law get really irate with me (the feeling's mutual you racist ****) in Bang-Bang the other week when I pointed out (a) that I didn't want an alcohol-free beer AND (b) that the bar didn't stock them.

 

Interesting that you still have a landline. How many other posters out there do?
We have been on the brink of getting rid of ours for some time. We only really used to have it for the benefit of older relatives who couldn't cope with the idea of mobiles, but they are now gone and the vast majority of calls we get are from scammers/firms touting for business. On the other hand, I quite like the idea of having another number to lessen the times I have to give out my mobile number, e.g. when booking a restaurant or registering for stuff online.

 

What’s a landline?

 

Sorry, I should have said 'mobile phone location device'. A couple of the SEND activity groups I'm a member of will only communicate verbally to a registered landline - they claim for "...child protection issues..."

 

We do and use it far more often than the mobile.

 

We still have ours as my wifes mum calls on it sometimes. I haven't had a call for me on it for over 5 years

 

Still have one, think it comes free with the sky package. Don't know the number though. Never answer it as only cold callers use it. Only ever use it when calling 0800 call centres as they used to "not be free" from mobile - not sure if that's still the case ?

 

Yes, our landline is almost entirely free which is a main reason why we still use it.

 

We have a line with Virgin but only because it makes the cost of our broadband cheaper. We don't have a phone plugged into it though. Ditched that about 3 years ago and despite some reservations about switching to just using mobiles it turned out to be absolutely fine. Though like @WillisWasTheWorst, the demise of our last remaining very elderly relative was probably the final nudge.

 

Interestingly those two tie together in our experience. When Mrs D was going through chemo the hospital would ring every other day it would seem, (for chemo sessions, methotrexate sessions, blood and covid tests). Sometimes they rang her mobile, sometimes my mobile, but usually the house phone. Even now when it rings it'll either be the hospital or a spam call, nothing else.

 

I think you'll find it's the alcohol that makes stuff taste good....

 

Have you tried any non alcoholic wine? It’s an absolute joke, tastes like slightly gone off Ribena, it’s totally pointless as it isn’t even remotely close to the real thing, at least with the non alcoholic beer they’re vaguely similar.

I think it is strange that in this day and age nobody has been able to invent or engineer something that simulates the taste of alcohol more closely. I have a friend who works for a well known soft drink/mixer company and his theory is it’s not really I’m anyones interests to come up with something like that, because one of the great things about alcohol for those who sell it is that it’s addictive, and having one normally leads to wanting another. If you invented something that tasted the same and didn’t give you a hangover, make you gain weight, you could still drive etc then it would potentially make alcohol redundant. Don’t know how much truth there is in that, but I guess it makes some sense to an extent, as you don’t normally sit there and chug 5/6 soft drinks in a row.

I did find in the summer when it was hot some of the non-alcoholic Gins made into a gin & tonic were passable for giving the illusion of having a a drink.

 

I don't buy that. Surely it must be possible to invent a tasty non-alcoholic adult drink?

EDIT: wrote before reading A19's post above.

 

Well, we already have coffee, tea, fruit juices etc. The epithet of a non-alcoholic 'adult' drink seems to mean 'a non-alcoholic drink that tastes alcoholic'...people I know who drink alcohol rarely, if ever, find the taste of most alcoholic drinks vaguely unpleasant and so would not be interested in such a concoction.
I would imagine that the profit potential for a truly non-alcoholic drink that satisfied people who like alcohol would be attractive. Pitch the price for a pint 30p lower than an alcoholic pint & pocket the 20p-ish per pint extra profit as you would be saving approx 50p per pint by not paying duty.

 

Tea, coffee, fizzy pop, fruit juice not tickle your fancy?

I like a nice ginger beer when not in the mood for alcohol (and it's too late for caffeine).

 

Why would they not be interested? Personally I would be very happy to drink something which was a non-alcoholic subsititute for wine on an 'off' night. Better than water and I don't like drinking hot drinks in the evening.

I've tried some posh grape juices from Waitrose but they were a bit sugary and relatively speaking quite expensive (that's Waitrose, I guess).

 

Pop is too fizzy for the evenings and personally I prefer not to have hot drinks then.

Fruit juice - yes, but I still think there is a niche for a 'wine-like' fruit juice - you'd think grape juice would do the trick but I've not yet found one which seems an adequate substitute.

 

Gira (Kvass) is a Lithuanian drink all of my family enjoy (my kids still call it "baby beer"). This is our usual brand:


My son took a few bottles of this into his class (majority ASD who are extremely fussy eaters/drinkers) and all liked it.

 

I drink to avoid the crushing reality of everyday life.

Not interested in a beverage that can’t achieve that.

 

Cheer up, we haven't conceded a goal for a week.

New manager bounce

 

Regarding non alcoholic drinks as alcohol substitutes, the problem we have in this country is that we have very little selection. You may think that's not the case but my eyes were really opened when I used to visit Japan and Singapore. The range of non alcoholic drinks in both those countries put us to shame, so much so that I rarely have a beer with any meal out there as the selection is so d*mn varied and tasty.

 

I suspect it reflects the fact we're a heavy binge-drinking society where alcohol consumption has always been acceptable.

Countries with a lower historical tolerance usually have more non-alcoholic options. Probably doesn't reflect well on us as a nation, really.

 

Also, in Japan, you can buy a can of beer from a vending machine on the street.

What a country.

 

And used knickers.

 

I refer the right honourable gentleman to the answer I gave some moments ago.

 

Because they don't much like the taste of alcohol in the first place, so a non-alcoholic drink that tasted like it was alcoholic would not appeal to them. They'd simply prefer drinks that have no pretensions to have anything to do with alcohol.

 

I’m not clear who it is that you are talking about.

I’m talking about people, like myself but I’m fairly convinced there would be many others, who sometimes want an evening alternative to an alcoholic drink (mainly, wine), which isn’t a kid’s drink, isn’t fizzy and isn’t hot. It doesn’t have to taste like alcohol, I guess it would probably be fruit based so - in essence, an adult-oriented, fruit-based drink.

As I have said, the nearest I have had is “posh” grape juice but it’s a bit sugary. I like tomato juice and for some reason it feels a bit more adult than other fruit drinks to me (can’t really explain that) - but it tends to give me the runs if I have too much!

 

People who don't like alcohol very much.

I am also putting forward the idea that the reason why it is difficult for many to find a satisfying non-alcoholic drink, despite the plethora of existing non-alcoholic drinks, is that it is the presence of alcohol (or at least a taste approximating to alcohol) that make them satisfying in the first place.

 

I would imagine the amount of people who don’t like alcohol because of the taste is relatively small in the wider scheme of things. I’ve met many people who don’t drink or don’t drink much, and their reasons for not doing so are nothing to do with taste, more hangovers, how they behave, the impact it has in them mentally etc.

All we’re saying is that in the year 2022, surely it cannot be beyond the wit of man to more closely simulate the taste of alcohol.

 

Chicken and egg really...people who don't start to drink alcohol when young probably don't 'force' themselves to like the taste at the start, and so when they try it later in life, they still don't develop a taste for it.

Seeing as we're in 2022 and in many markets there would be definite profit generated by selling a non-alcoholic 'satisfyingly alcoholic' drink, then maybe it IS proving too difficult.

 

Does alcohol actually taste of much? Genuine question, I really don’t know. Probably need @Bwood_Horn on that.

But anyway, even if you are right, fruit based drinks are perfectly tasty, al least imo. But I can’t see that anyone has made any effort to reposition those as a genuine alternative to wine. Do people really want to drink orange juice all evening? I don’t think they do.

 

I really don’t want to get crude, but I don’t think I have a choice so here goes…

Maybe alcohol is like having sex compared to having a ****, technically it’s the same thing, but your body just knows the difference?

As keighly says, hopefully Bwoodhorn can shed some light on it.

*I'm honestly not Moosegasms second account by the way.

 

I have a landline attached to an old GPO 746 handset. I have to admit the landline is part of a bundle. Its a novelty piece for the nieces and nephews. But if it was a choice between it and proper alcoholic beer or a modern mobile and alcohol free beer. Its the 746 for me.