Work Musings

An excerpt from a chatroom at work between my boss's boss's boss, the director, and a bunch of other coworkers. There's a candy bin at work usually well-stocked with chocolates and other goodies. They were joking about extending that concept to liquors, which led to a discussion about the different kinds of alcohols.

Director: oh, slivovitz
Director: yeah, I had some of that in bratislava I think
Director: terrible, as I recall
coworker1: ouzo should be banned from the modern world
Director: the first time I had a lebanese raw lamb dish in chicago, they made me drink the lebanese equivalent of ouzo with it
Director: it worked pretty well together, actually
Director: the next time I got it, though, I insisted on sticking with beer
coworker2: what was it called? hope not camel milk
Director: err
Director: unless camel milk is clear (slightly cloudy when chilled), tastes strongly of aniseed, and is about 2000% alcohol, then no, it wasn't camel milk
coworker2: it would be interesting to try this Ouzou
coworker2: not sure what will happen though
Director: is there a uk equivalent of everclear here?
Director: as close to pure alcohol as you can bottle
Director: just grab a handful of bertie bassets liquorice allsorts from the candy drawer, and wash them down with pure grain alcohol
Director: and you have an ouzo simulator
coworker2: ok I agree with MH, definately for a ban
coworker1: yes its very unpleasant, second only to raki
coworker1: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rak%C4%B1
coworker1: nuff said
coworker3: raki is awesome, you need to drink the good stuff
coworker3: similarly you can't let your impressions of whiskey be formed by the "imperial stag" brand
coworker3: i recommend tekirdag gold or something of similar calibre, and you need to mix it with the right amount of water
coworker1: like 30 gallons?
coworker4: some elderly holocaust survivors at the synagogue i grew up in used to drink 192 proof alcohol. they called it "ninety-six" (in yiddish, of course). after what they went through, they're entitled to abuse their livers all they want
Director: they were smart enough to skip the fruit brandies then
coworker4: oh, definitely
Director: and as I guy I used to work with observed, "there are a lot more old drunks than old doctors"
coworker4: ninety-six as in % alcohol, of course...
coworker5: Abstinence wont make you live forever, it will just feel like it.
coworker5: Anyway, in a few years if you blow out a liver, you'll be able to have a new one grown. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/6727269.stm
coworker5: Probably not on the NHS though...
Director: why do you think I had kids?
Director: good supply of extra organs
coworker5: Yes, but that plan means you have to remember their birthdays and be nice to them.
Director: their mother covers those aspects
coworker5: But doesnt that mean she gets first call on the organs?
Director: I haven't mentioned the organ-donor plan to her yet
coworker5: I guess you could cover that by being nice to her, and remembering her birthday. That way, she could pursuade the kids...