For what it's worth, the older you get, the less control alcohol should have over you. You seem to be in the *"one is too many and a thousand's not enough"* phase. You start to get the reins on drinking when you realize *"14 is too many, but 8 is not enough."* Then adjust those numbers downward from there over the years. But one of the best deterrents is, before even taking that first drink, recall if you will how sick you're going to feel the next day. Ask yourself if it's really worth it to spend 10 hours slowly recovering from the poison tomorrow just for that warm buzz tonight. The fact that that 10-hours-recovery time turns into 18 hours, then 28 hours+ as you get older also aids that deterrent. Alcohol is great. The ride up is so much fun. But never let a substance be your master. .... I just lit a cigarette. Forget everything I just said.