The year was 2008 when I kept track of my drinking and I would write down my consumption on yellow note paper and attached it to the month . This was , very interesting ( as Sgt . Schultz would say ) looking back at 2008 and my notes . But what is going to be more interesting , is the comparison between me and Mr . Cottonwood . Hold on to your hats an epiphany is coming . Since I did not write an article about this in the past , I must thank Mr . Cottonwood for lighting a beer under me . Before I give totals and comparisons , I found a couple of interesting drinking days on my calendar . Seems , January 12th , 2008 we were at Miners and I drank 17 beers that day . Ouch ! Gawd only knows what went on that day .
That number ( 17 ) was not my high mark for one day though . That day came on July 12th , 2008 at the Nordlager show in Duluth , whence I downed , 22 . That was my daily high mark for the year , glad I do not have to relive that day or the day after . It seemed I particularly liked to drink on Sundays that year , not sure why . Now , let ’ s remember I was 47 that year and much younger . The liver and the head could take much more pounding back then .
Now , some totals and comparisons . I drank 135 gallons in the year 2008 versus Mr . Cottonwood , whose lifetime average is 140 gallons per year . Spot on Bro !!!! Breaking it down further , I drank 17,280 ounces versus 17,920 ounces , which would be 8.43 sixteen-gallon kegs versus 8.75 sixteen-gallon kegs . As you can see these are very favorable comparisons between us . My tracking is just a window of one year and is , to my knowledge quite accurate , whereas the other is an estimate divided out over many years .
Now what does all this mean ? It means my brother lives in Cottonwood . I am betting there are quite a few brothers out there , that we do not know about . I would say to Dewey , ( yes , I remember your name ) who I hope reads this , that you are spot on in your estimates . We can send our livers to the Smithsonian when we die . I will also say , in my advanced years ( age 60 ) that there is no way , I could keep up to my totals set in 2008 . As far as Dewey goes , if you are still pounding 9 kegs a year at your age , you are a rock star ! Pound on !
One more thing . When I was digging through my boxes and trying to find that calendar for this article , I came across an old notebook . This contained my notes from our trip to Canvention in August 2013 to Ft . Wayne , Indiana . Teri , our son Charles and I , took a week off for Canvention and stayed a few nights in Chicago prior . We also met up
with Murray “ Furray ” Srock and had a night out in Rockford . Tom T . and Judy did not attend . It is always enjoyable looking back and reading about the beers , the places and the madness of it all . I turned the page and here was a little poem I had written for myself back then . I had completely forgot about it . I had to laugh . Here it is , “ Rolling down highway 30 Feeling life , oh so pretty Heading to Ft . Wayne It ’ s going to be insane No worries , not in a hurry Just thinking about the “ Furray ” Oh , where have you gone Tom T . Canvention turns a lonely eye to thee Wendl , Jackson and micro night Oh my , it ’ s going to be a sight My side will ache The trade floor will quake In a blink , it will be over Then we can think about it sober ” Hope you enjoyed this . Till next time ,
Jay . # 16605
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