You've spent *how much*? And for what?

[Jester]

Beer is sold by distributors and they only sell cases of beers. No six packs.

NO SIX PACKS?!?!!? What madness dost thou speaketh!?!???!?!

Seriously, some Pennsylvanians would probably be shocked if they knew about the "mixed six pack" possibilities I've seen in liquor stores in both Arizona and Florida (though presumably they have them in other states as well). To wit, in liquor stores that feel like doing this, they allow you to take single bottles of different beers and make your own six pack, sometimes for a discount if you fill out the six pack. I have even seen this offered in grocery stores in Arizona! Sure, the six pack still ends up being more than a regular six pack would (say about $15 or so, depending upon what beers you fill the six pack holder with), but it gives you the opportunity to try a lot more beers without committing to an entire six pack or twelve pack.

Or, say, an entire case.

Yep, PA is still very much in the Dark Ages when it comes to booze.

For anyone interested in finding out why so many places have such weird (by modern standards), draconian liquor laws, and in learning more about the history of alcohol in America, and how it was part of the social, economic, and political fabric of the history of this country, I HIGHLY recommend reading "America Walks into a Bar," by Christine Sismondo.

It was only recently that you could buy booze on Sundays.

Many places have different laws for liquor on Sundays than on other days. In Arizona, for instance, six days of the week you can buy booze as early as 7 am. On Sunday, the starting time is 10 am.

In Key West, for decades you could buy liquor as early as 7 am, except on Sundays, when you had to wait until noon.

Until 2011, that is, when that particular law was repealed, and as of July 2011, 7 am was the legal start time on every day. And frankly, I never thought that even in a town like Key West that we'd ever see that law changed.

And yes, since you asked, there WAS much rejoicing!

[Racket_Man]

NO SIX PACKS?!?!!? What madness dost thou speaketh!?!???!?!


In Key West, for decades you could buy liquor as early as 7 am, except on Sundays, when you had to wait until noon.

Until 2011, that is, when that particular law was repealed, and as of July 2011, 7 am was the legal start time on every day. And frankly, I never thought that even in a town like Key West that we'd ever see that law changed.

And yes, since you asked, there WAS much rejoicing!

Jester, since there was much rejoicing, I present

Monty Python's Holy Grail Ale

Yes this is an actual beer.

[Jester]

Yes, I know. I've had it many times, actually. Rather tasty. I have have even reviewed it somewhere in the CS Booze Club.





(Honestly, are you all that surprised?)

[Greenday]

NO SIX PACKS?!?!!? What madness dost thou speaketh!?!???!?!

Seriously, some Pennsylvanians would probably be shocked if they knew about the "mixed six pack" possibilities I've seen in liquor stores in both Arizona and Florida (though presumably they have them in other states as well). To wit, in liquor stores that feel like doing this, they allow you to take single bottles of different beers and make your own six pack, sometimes for a discount if you fill out the six pack. I have even seen this offered in grocery stores in Arizona! Sure, the six pack still ends up being more than a regular six pack would (say about $15 or so, depending upon what beers you fill the six pack holder with), but it gives you the opportunity to try a lot more beers without committing to an entire six pack or twelve pack.

Or, say, an entire case.

Eh, where I was, we were close enough to Delaware that we could just drive across the border to a place that did that. But really, I didn't mind buying beer in bulk. Cheaper that way and I was going to drink it all anyway.

[Panacea]

Quick question, what the hell does Ritalin do for people?

Ritalin has interesting effects on the brain. It is believed to speed up the parts that are slow, and slow down the parts that are too fast, allowing ADD/ADHD sufferers to concentrate and focus. It just revs up normal people.

Ritalin is also used as a drug to enhance studying. I know a fair number of people take it near texts to allow them to study more.

There is no scientific evidence that taking Ritalin if you don't have ADHD helps you study. You could just end up writing a lot of nonsense on the paper.

Better to start studying from day one, and begin your papers early than pull all nighters.

But I will tell you that I've had many nursing students who were ADHD who'd refuse to take their meds fearing stigma from taking them. I have had to urge these students to take their meds: it's not a crutch, they need those medications, and it really does help them succeed at school.

Regarding alcohol laws (and ONLY talking about alcohol laws here!), I am proud to say my home state of Arizona has some of the most sensible laws out there.

Grocery stores can sell beer, wine, AND liquor.

California could as well, though the stock of liquor usually wasn't very high (just the most popular types and brands for the mass market). I got so used to it, that I was startled by the change when I moved to North Carolina.

Things have gotten better here in 7 years, but when I first got here you could not buy any kind of alcohol at the grocery other than beer. Liquor had to be purchased at an ABC store (Alcoholic Beverage Control). Wine had to be purchased at a wine store. Liquor stores did not sell beer or wine, wine stores did not sell beer or liquor.

It was a pain in the ass; I had to run all over town to find one of a handful of wine stores in town to buy sake (rice wine) that everywhere I've lived I could get at a liquor store.

Now you can buy wine in convenience stores, along with beer and hard lemonade. But you still can't buy liquor out of any place but a state controlled ABC store.

Yep, PA is still very much in the Dark Ages when it comes to booze. <snip> Certain brands are sold at grocery stores. Now, there's a movement to privatize the state-owned liquor stores. I don't know if that'll ever happen. The state seems to enjoy the markup they earn on those sales...and the monopoly that they currently have.

It's the same thing here in North Carolina. A lot of people would like to see liquor privatized, but the fire and brimstone crowd fear seedy liquor stores on every corner if that happens (they'll only be seedy in the seedy part of town).

[Nyoibo]

Ritalin has interesting effects on the brain. It is believed to speed up the parts that are slow, and slow down the parts that are too fast, allowing ADD/ADHD sufferers to concentrate and focus. It just revs up normal people.

Explains a bit, so what you're saying is I could have been selling my ritalin all those years at school? Damn it.

[AccountingDrone]

And marijuana is notably less worse than alcohol or cigarettes. Medically, there is no reason to keep it illegal and a rather large pool of reasons to legalize it and regulate it. Economically and socially, as well.

^-.-^

I have a list of URLs from someone who spends inordinate amounts of time researching the demon weed, mainly medical usage stuff.

Actually, apparently there is something about combining weed and tobacco that makes it worse for your lungs than either one of them alone. There is actually a fair amount of research happening now [finally].

I have witnessed, for example, coworkers who "had" to take a smoke break even while we were busy, leaving me behind the bar alone when it was clearly a two person job. But do I get to have a "beer break"? No, of course not. And even were I allowed to do so, I would never do so while in the middle of a rush.

I used to have one of those cigarette sealed in the glass tube 'nicotine emergency' things. I figured if they let anybody out once an hour to have a cigarette break, there was nothing saying I had to actually *smoke* the damned thing.

Seriously, some Pennsylvanians would probably be shocked if they knew about the "mixed six pack" possibilities I've seen in liquor stores in both Arizona and Florida (though presumably they have them in other states as well).

We have a boozeria here in New London that has over a thousand different brews on hand, they will let you make a mixed six - they price by the specific beer you buy instead of generic pricing. Last time we got some pretty odd stuff from Dogfish and some South African stuff. [Rob and our roomie Phlip like beers, I normally only do a sip or two - I am more into hard liquors and wines.]

And I have tried a number of recreational pharmacuticals in my past, and I will say that I seem to prefer natural stuff, hemp, certain mushrooms, opiates. Having been on morphine medically for 3 months solid, I can say I seriously understand *why* people get addicted to it [and not for the physical pain control aspects, though that is seriously nice] - it makes me feel like I am wrapped in the warmest, snuggliest blanket in the world and floating in space. It is really *nice* to not hurt, and any pain there is just sort of doesn't seem to really be an issue. I am sure that deep inside I was actually screaming in agony, but it just sort of didn't float to the surface of my mind. Hemp just makes the pain diminish until I can function, without wiping me out [which is the dosage of other stuff I am prescribed when I have a nasty body day.]

[Panacea]

Explains a bit, so what you're saying is I could have been selling my ritalin all those years at school? Damn it.

Be glad you didn't. It's a federal crime to resell controlled prescription substances. If you'd been caught you would have been charged with Distribution, a felony, and done serious jail time.

[Jester]

I used to have one of those cigarette sealed in the glass tube 'nicotine emergency' things. I figured if they let anybody out once an hour to have a cigarette break, there was nothing saying I had to actually *smoke* the damned thing.

I'm sure I've told you the story about my "Sprite break" from years ago, yes?

boozeria

Now THERE is a word I'll be using in the future to describe kickass bars!

...they price by the specific beer you buy instead of generic pricing.

Actually, I have seen it done both ways. At the (now defunct) Beer Monger here in town, a mixed six pack was a total of the individual prices of the six beers you chose, minus 10% for getting the six pack. Still came to about $15 or so. And in an Arizona grocery store that did a mixed six, as I recall it was ten bucks for the mixed six, whatever you want. Of course, their craft beers weren't in the high end, so costwise it worked for them. But it was still a nice option, and the method by which I tried Newcastle Werewolf, which is a LOVELY red beer.

[Nyoibo]

Be glad you didn't. It's a federal crime to resell controlled prescription substances. If you'd been caught you would have been charged with Distribution, a felony, and done serious jail time.

I'm in Australia, being charged as a minor, I'd have been unlucky to even get a slap on the wrist.